It is that time of year again! Lots of posts are being planned here and a few giveaways too.
If you are new to Blogtoberfest then pop over here and read all about it. Basicly it is a post every day in October. I think last year I did well for the first half of the month and not so well in the second half! Oh well I will see if I can do better this time!
Pop over to Tinniegirl to join in the fun.
Mummy: Elsa please close the door it is cold
Elsa: Isla can you close the door
Isla: Mummy please close the door
Mummy: No Elsa I told YOU to close the door!
Elsa: Mummy you are so bossy!
Do you use cloth nappies? I love the big butt look! So cute and cuddly…but some pants just don’t fit! Jeans are terrible to get on a cloth nappied baby so I tend to stick with leggings. Then I found this pattern. I just love the back panel and I look forward to doing one with frills. I think a plain pair first up though. Just need to decide on my contrast cuffs! I am thinking denim for the main part of the pants maybe the reverse of the denim for the back panel and one of the printed fabrics for the cuffs. I also have a boys pair planned for a friends little boy…I am hoping he will fit the same size as Eve. Time to get cutting I think…I might even get the machine out tonight. It has been a while…
I love this pattern! I have knitted a few longies patterns and my favourite for a very long time has been the Ladybug loops pattern. It has the best bottom shaping with heaps of room for a big cloth nappied bottom. Oh but I do love the Ultimate Longies Pattern! It seems to be very sparing on the yarn as I got a medium pair out of less than 100g (plus trim). The legs are narrower than some other patterns which I love on a baby girl. I think it is more flattering and girly then the big wide legs.
Pattern: Ultimate Longies
Yarn: Mosaic Moon Malayan Orchid on 3 ply Uruguay Merino
Needles: 4mm for waistband and 4.5mm for body
Adjustments to pattern: Hem-feather and fan pattern without the purl row, Ties-chain with crochet flowers attached. Both of these were inspired by Kathok’s projects on Ravelry.
Wow! how did that happen? Here I was happily posting every(well most) day and I get a little distracted and it is now one week later. I guess that is just life.
So what did my last week consist of? Well, there was test knitting, frogging test knits, re-knitting test knits and eventually casting on something else so I could have a break from thinking about test knitting! It is a gorgeous little lace dress patterns but the few little errors did my head in after a few nights working on it! So I have now almost completed a gorgeous pair of longies for Eve. I used the Ultimate Longies pattern by Shannon Passmore and although at the beginning I was wondering what I was getting myself into with all the increases at different stages once I got started and referred to her cheat sheet it was a very easy and enjoyable knit. I really like her method for short rows too. It is one of the most effective for hiding them that I have used!
Apart from the knitting we have had snow! It only settled a little bit and then the sun would come out and it would melt…20 minutes later it would be snowing again and the ground would slowly begin to turn white and sure enough not long after that the storm would break and the sun would peek through! A bit disappointing really! No snow to play in for the cold weather we have been having. The hill opposite our house got snow settling though…I think we were just below the settling line!
It has been a balancing act in my creative space lately. I have another test knit I am working on and with the lace pattern I really can’t do it with the little ones around. I am also finishing off some basket liners for baskets for a friend nursery. Her little one was born a couple of months ago now but I am only just now finding the time…I feel bit slack but I think she now understands the lack of free time that come with being a mum.
Do you have a favourite designer? Or a few favourites? Well I have to say that Tikki is one of mine. I have made numerous Rainbow Dresses, Milo Vests and also an Oriental Lily and a Bloom. Her Olearia Cardigan is on my must do list and I have recently added her Eden to my list for Summer knits. Yes I love every one of her patterns! So I was so excited to be asked to test knit her latest pattern. This gorgeous dress/tunic is perfect for both Summer and Winter depending on the yarn you use. I used Woolganic for this one so it is definitely a Winter knit for us. The most exciting this about this knit is that if fits both Isla and Eve! Their age may be 2 years apart but their chest circumference is only inch apart!
So watch out for the release of this pattern…very soon I hear.
It doesn’t happen very often but when it does I feel rejuvenated! I didn’t have a massage, facial or anything like that. In fact I had my legs waxed! But to lie down without kids jumping on me and knowing that they were happy and safe somewhere else and that I could just relax (as much as you can when having your legs waxed!) was blissful!
I made the most of being childless for a couple of hours and went and spent the gift voucher I received for my birthday from my dad. It was from a home wares store and it is a place that I would be a little crazy to go with my 3…something would surely be broken within minutes I think! Don’t get me wrong it is not as if I let them run around and do whatever they want but at 3, 2 and 7 months I challenge anyone to take them into a store full or glasses, plates, mugs, vases etc and come out without a few more grey hairs! It was lovely to browse and come away with a new Thermos to take on all the bush walks I plan on doing as a family as the weather warms up and a pizza peel and baking stone to get the most out of my bread which I make using the recipes in Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day (the healthier version of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day)…which reminds me, I must make another lot of our staple Wholemeal Bread this afternoon.
To top it all off I had enough time to buy a magazine and sit in a cafe and have a coffee…BLISS!
Photos of Better Homes and Gardens October 2010
My knitting friend Jess and I had a catch up this week. We both have little ones born within a week of each other and enjoy catching up and seeing how the babies are growing and seeing how different but also similar they are. It is nice to have someone to talk to about these things which I am sure bore my childless friends! We also both love to knit so there is no shortage to things tto talk about. If we run out of baby/children related topics there is always knitting and this week also dyeing! Jess brought along her dyes and some undyed yarn and I got mine out too and between nappy changes, feeding, breaking up fights (between my two older ones!), eating lunch and putting little ones to sleep we managed to dye some yarn.
Here is my finished product! I had left over dye as I made up way too much so I threw it onto some roving and dyed it too. I can’t wait to knit this up and also to spin the roving! I am thinking a pair of Bayside Britches with the yarn as long as I can get gauge.
Yesterday I received this gorgeous cotton yarn from Japan. I plan to make 2 Summerlins. One for Elsa in the red, and one for Isla in the blue. Both with matching confection shrugs which are much needed for our unpredictable Tassie weather! The purples and blue in the middle will become a Chloe for Eve with a matching skirt for the summer and the cream and pink(just peeking into the top of the picture!) will be a pair of Baby Mary Jane “Skimmers”. So today in between feeding, cleaning, cooking, and all the rest I will be sorting patterns and fabric to get some of these started…spring is here and I am loving it!
To join in with My Creative Space head over to Kootoyoo
