The finished product.................

I FINALLY got outside long enough to take some photos of the shawl i finished last week :) (please excuse the freshly washed hair)






I will be putting in the post tomorrow!

A Virgin no longer.....................

Vintage Purls virgin that is!

I have been drooling over Morags beautifully hand dyed sock yarn ever since i learnt how to knit ( actually i think even before then ) and for my birthday next week i thought i would treat myself.

Well look what was in my letter box this morning!
Left: "Nursery Rhyme" Right: "Caberet"



I even trapesed out in the howling wind and rain in my dressing gown to check if it had arrived yet haha.

I was allowed to open the left one because i am using it to make a gift, but the right one is for me so i have to wait for next tuesday to open it :)

The gift im making is in fact another Ishbel Shawl but the yarn is perfect for the recipitant :)

Im still looking for a good pattern for the Cabaret and my first ever pair of socks, so if you have any sugestions let me know.

Hoot Hoot

Here are some cute little buddies ive been working on for a swap im doing :)

All finished off with some gorgoues gifted vintage button eyes :)

Woops!

So i forgot to post yesterday...................... WOOPS!!!!!
Well i didnt infact "forget" but i didnt have time after a hugely busy day at two differnt markets, supermarket, classic Gordon saturday "siesta" and icecream eating across the road hehehe

Today has been just as busy with a truck load of gardening this morning then the inlaws over for lunch and a stroll on the beach, followed by a siesta and icecream! hehehe

No knitting has been done this weekend though but i should be finished my shawl tomorrow to take photos!

Drumroll please........................

Ive made my decision and i am going to make the "Summertime Tunic" with my yarn.

It is a very simple pattern but i think thats fine for my first adult sized knit!

I have a few little crafty bits and peices i need to finish first and then i will get onto it!

My Shawl is almost finished too, only 1 more section of lace to do then cast off.

Where to find the time......

...............to do some Selfish knitting?

Ims till tossing up on what to do with my handspun yarn ( previous post).
I have it narrowed down to a shawl, or a tank top. Im leanigng towards the tank top though ;)

But where to find the time to actually knit for me?

The list of people with new babies, kids brithdays, friends birthdays, christmas to start making for etc is endless so how can i justify making something for ME!

How do you stack your priority's?

What shall it be..........

So a few posts back i posted about my gorgoues new handspun, handdyed wool i have recieved.



I have got almsot 200grams of this and it is an inbetween ply but will suit 8ply projects.

Now my delema is, i have no idea what to do with it :S it is so beautiful i dont want to make just "anything" it has to be beatiful!

I also want to make somehting for myself, as all i seem to do is knit for other people and not myself.

So, any ideas people?

Im thinking maybye a tanktop for summer?

Candy

My secret Gift project is finished and given :)

It was my dear friend Kates birthday a couple of weeks ago, as well as both her girls. Kate has been mentioning how she needs slippers so i thought i would whip some up for all three.



We took action shots this morning so will put some of those up once i get them :)

I adapted the Mary Jane pattern i have been making to make "princess" and "Bubba" sizes but it was pretty easy :)

Here are some action shots :)

A shawl for spring

What is a more perfect spring project than a light lacey shawl?

This little number is the large version of the Ishbel shawl, and is destined for another swap i am doing.





The yarn is hand-dyed but im not entirely sure what the yarn is as i bought it on a trading post. It is super dooper soft though!

I have finihsed the first section of lace ( only 7 more to go hahaha)

Meme

Ok so i was blog browsing this morning and happened across Jo's Meme and i was tagged................. 2 months ago woops!
So for todays post i will finally fill this out!

What is your current obsession?
Hmm this one is easy: anything YARN related. Knitting, yarn dyeing, browsing knitting blogs, websites, store etc. In Particular hand dyed yarn.

What are you wearing today?
Spring floral skirt and tshirt :)

If you could change 1 thing about yourself, what would you change?
My obsession with worrying about what people think of me

What would you eat for your last meal?
Morracan chicken, or traditional Italia pizza, wine, sorbet

What’s the last thing you bought?
Craft supplies :)

What are you listening/watching right now?
Listening to my two big boys squeeling and giggling while washing the car.

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
To the beach somewhere on the Amalfi coast in Italy

Which language do you want to learn?
Italian

What do you love most about where you currently live?
We live in Oakura which is a tiny little coastal comunity in Taranaki. I love that we are semi-rural, but with the gorgoues beach right there and town only 15 minutes away. I love the peace and quiet :)

What is your favorite colour?
RED! but also purple and arich earthy colours ( browns, greens etc)

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
My little black dress ;)

What were you doing ten years ago?
Living on Pitcairn Island, about to turn 13 :)

What would you like to be doing 10 years from now?
Living the simple life somewhere exotic

Describe your personal style?
A little bit gypo, a little bit quirky and a little bit "MOM" hahaha

If you had $300 now, what would you spend it on?
Boutique hand dyded yarn

What are you going to do after this?
Housework :(

What are your favourite films?
Across the universe, Juno, empire records

What inspires you?
Women who can keep there houses tidy and raise a family at the same time! haha, people who are living their dreams.

Your favourite books?
Twilight and Harry Potter

Do you collect anything?
apart from clutter? haha

What makes you follow a blog?
Liking to keep in touch with friends, people who are inspiring, gorgoues photography

What was the most enjoyable thing you did today?
Its still morning and all ive done is housework :(

What is your favourite FO and why?
My very first shawl that i knitted for my sisters 21st

What are you making at the moment?
Im surrently knitting some surprise birthday gifts, and in the middle of another shawl.


People for meme: Kate E, Kate S-M, heartfelt, Sam, Nikki


The rules:1. Respond and rework; answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention, add one more question of your own.2. Tag eight other people.

shhhhhhhhh

here is a sneaky peek of the gift project im working on currently....

Pledge

Right.

I am going to pledge to write in this blog once a day untill i reach 100 posts! This is post number 61, so should only take me just over a month.
When i reach 100 i will have a giveaway to celebrate :)
This is a great motivation to up my creative undertakings and cut down my computer time ( except for updating my blog of course ;) )

Hand Spun Goddess!

My second yarn swap arrived in the post today and i almost fainted when i saw what was inside!
My amazingly talented yarn fairy had not only hand dyed my yarn she had also hand spun it!
This swap was based on a painting of my choice and i chose a few paintings that were all similar and involving the generla theme of a "goddess" including this one



My yarn fairy chose the rich purply tones with hints of peach and real sparkly gold to create this beautiful masterpeice



My swap also included a hat pattern, a chocolate fudge brownie recipe ( food of the gods) and some lovely vevlet fabric impressions.

I dont think i will use my yarn for the hat pattern though, i need to find something equally as beautiful as the yarn before i start knitting it up :)

Fathers Day

For Fathers day this year i thought i would continue my slipper binge and make both my husband and father some wooly's :)

I used the Aunt Maggies slipper pattern for these ones as alot of friends have been using this pattern and i wanted to see what the fuss was about. I think it really works for "man" slippers.

I used The Wool Company's "mangrove" for my husband Rob and mixed in some "Oatmeal" for my Dad.

Out of the dye pot

I am currently involved in two yarn swaps with the themes "Spring" and "A painting of your choice"

I thought i would try out some acid dyes for the firs time for these swaps and i am SUPER impressed with the results.

For the painting swap, my swapee chose this painting as inspiration


here is the yarn drying after dyeing it



Amd reskiened ready to go!




For the "Spring" swap i decided to go for a "Lion in the Meadow' theme with golden yellows and grassy greens.

here it is being rinsed....



Drying.......


And i cant believe i didnt take a photo of it all balled up before sending! doh!

i have so far recieved my "Spring" swap and it was to "dye" for ;)
It was themed "lettuce seedlings"



Cant wait to recieve my painting one!

Hoot Hoot

A very special online friend of mine has a beuatiful baby boy recently and i wanted to make something for him as a "koha".

I chose the ever popular Milo pattern with the Owl cable adn added a bit of colour verigation to the hem.

Another friend of mine had a (long awaited ;) )baby girl yesterday so cant wait to knit something feminine! its a rareity in this house full fo testosterone haha.

It will be in the post winging its way tomorrow!

Toasty Roasty's

After falling in love with my slippers. Master 3 decided he had to have some too ;) i didnt think the mary-jane style would suit him so knitted these up instead, although we still matched in yarn colours.

Pretty in Purple(ish)

i was in desperate need for some toe warmers and found this cute easy pattern on Ravelry. made from The Wool Companys Blues and Periwinkle

Ishbel

It was my Little sisters 21st last week and i wanted to make her something special :)

I thought i shawl would be perfect but i was quite nervous about a full sized lace project after only knitting lace dishcloths before.

I used Touch Yarns deep red 4ply Merino




I will try and get some "action shots" off her soon

Gloves for mum

My mum requested some fingerless mitts after seeing the ones i made for my sister and i.

I knitted them in natural yarn (the wool companys "oatmeal") and then dyed them with red food colouring. My test swatch came out deep red but then the glovs came out all in semisolid pinks :)