Love for Christchurch

As most of you will know, 2 weeks ago tomorrow, on the 22nd of February, Christchurch city in my home country New Zealand, was hit with a devastating and fatal earthquake. With the city center in ruins and the lives of over 200 lost, it is love, support and strength that we all need to get through this.



While there is nothing most of us can physically to do help the thousands effected, the one thing we can do is donate to the relief fund. I don't have a lot of $$$ to give, but what i do have is time and supplies and blog followers to call out to.

As well as donating 20% of all proceeds from last weeks Red Riding Hood Yarn update, i have been busy knitting a shawl to raffle off and raise more money to Donate to the cause.

I present to you "Love for Christchurch"

Love For Christchurch, is a "Connie" shawl designed by Morag of Vintage Purls .
It is an exclusive yarn Club pattern so not available to purchase until next summer.

It is knit in deliciously soft Touch Yarns wool and works well as a scarf as well as a shawl.
It comes from a smoke and pet free home as is knitted with the utmost love.


I am going to raffle it off with 100% of the money raised going to the Red Cross earthquake appeal. I am happy to send anywhere in the world.

Tickets are $5 each and i will accept bank deposit and paypal payments.

my bank account # is 03 0195 0466088 001
Name H Gordon

If you would like to pay by paypal then leave me your email address and how many tickets and i will send you an invoice.

Please comment below with your name, how many tickets you have bought and a way to contact you if you win :)

I will draw the raffle at 1pm Monday the 14th, so you have a week to enter.

My first ever SOCK CLUB!!

I had saved and saved over the Christmas period to be able to afford my first Vintage Purls Sock Club ( three months of yarn parcels containing exclusive sock yarn, exclusive patterns, and extra goodies). Then the week of sign ups came and the money was needed for other (less selfish) things ( like 5 year old boys birthday presents ;) ) so i was GUTTED!!!!!!!!

I tortured myself by going online during sign ups and left everyone know that yet again i wouldnt be able to participate. The a super dooper AMAZING woman came to my rescue and told me she had paid for my spot and i was in the club! I couldn't believe her generosity! Turns out she had had some awesome news that week herself and wanted to pass on the good will xxxxxxxxxxx

Soooooooooooooooo, last Monday the firs installment arrived and i am IN LOVE.

The pattern is GORGEOUS and the magnets super cute ( there was chocolate too but that is long gone lol) and the yarn OH THE YARN!

it is a gorgeous rich vibrant Burgundy, that will look great on ME hehe.

So all in all i am so so so happy to finally be a part of the special "club" hehe and cant wait for the next two installments!!

Blogtoberfest Day 23 - 10 in 2010 update

Blogtoberfest day 23

Way back in December last year i decided to set myself some knitting challenges for 2010. I signed up to knit 10 shawls and 10 pairs of socks and learn ten new techniques.

So far i have learnt:

1. cable cast on
2. toe up sock knitting
3. Provisional cast on
4. Crochet cast off
5. lace chart reading
6. 2ply lace knitting
7. wrapping stitches
8. moss stitch
   

so only 2 left!! not sure what these will be yet

The ten pairs of socks are just not going to happen haha, think I've made 3 pairs? have at least one more planned before the end of the year ( for Dads Birthday) but no way am i going to make 7 more!

The shawls however i have been churning out and will definitely finish my challenge, so far i have made these:

Only 2 more to make and 2 months left!! ( last two will be for Christmas pressies ;) )

Blogtoberfest Day 16- MAIL!

Blogtoberfest Day 16

Well after my post yesterday about receiving yarny mail, i had another box of goodies on my doorstep this arvo!!

I have been taking part in a "Purple" themed swap on Ravelry and my end of the deal had arrive woppee!!!

Here is what i scored

A gorgeous hand knit shawl, some Knitsch sock yarn, some gluten free fudge ( so thoughtful) some soap, chocolate and a sponge puff!!!

Here is be wearing the beautiful shawl ( i JUST my colours)


I sent off my package across the ditch to Oz and here is what i put together

Some "Veyla" gloves in Vintage purls sock yarn, some 100purewool 4ply in deep rich purples and some flash kiwi dip sachets ( gift wrapped in shop so no pic sorry!)

Here's a better pic of the gloves

On a side note, i will be closing off the Summer Yarn swap Tomorrow and allocating partners. There are only 4 of us so far so i would love to make some people join up! Click the button on the top right of this page for info.

Also, today is the last day of the giveaway scavenger hunt! so take note of all the highlighted words over the past week and get ready to post the sentence tomorrow :) i will draw the winner at 8.30pm tomorrow night NZ time.

My Creative Space, and giveaway winners!!

Well i did it!!!!!!! and with 12 to spare! i cannot believe i have had an extra 32 followers since this time last week, you guys are AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!

Julia over at Just One WIP generated 7 of those all by herself by pimping me out on Ravelry and her Facebook and Julia it paid off!!! You are one of the winners!!! I drew your name first too (thanks to random.org) so you get to choose which skein you would like first.

Rachel (xmasangels) was the second winner so congratulations to both of you!!!!!! Rachel and Julia could you either PM me ( on TNN) or send me an email with your details please and i will get these beauty's into the mail!

I thought it was hilarious that you are both TNN ( thenappynetwork for those who have no idea what i am talking about haha) members, and i even drew two more names after yours just to see and yup, two more TNNers haha, lovely to see so many of you supporting me :)

right onto the yarn!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man oh man was it hard to dye this yarn!!! it took AGES for the yarn to absorb the dye and then when it did it just sucked it all up and it hardly made a difference. i had to use ALOT of dye and still the colours are quite "dull" and not nearly as vivid as i was going for. They still look great mind you, just not quite what i was trying to do.

I went with blues and purples, and pinks and greys in the end :) Both would make beautiful shawls i think, but then again I'm a bit biased don't you think? haha

hmmmm that last pic doesnt look right, there is no green, just rich blues and purples
Pop on over to kootoyoo for more creative spaces

Mabel Barbara

My husbands grandmother turns 75 next week and i wanted to make her something beautiful and special.

Morag put up some gorgeous deep red sock yarn on her site Vintage Purls the other week and it was a perfect fit for Barbara. I wanted a pattern to could churn out quickly so went with my old faithful Ishbel pattern, this time trying a little different construction.

I used the small stocking stitch section and the large lace pattern, as i had seen other projects on Ravelry who had manged to get that size out of a single skein of sock yarn. I didn't unfortunately and had to cut out the last 4 rows in section D to make sure i had enough yarn for the cast off. i had JUST enough so lucky i didn't just keep going! I think it still looks beautiful and you can hardly tell :)

This is shawl #7 for my 10 in 2010 challenge!!!!! i am so proud i have made this many so far and i know i have many more than 3 left up my sleeve.

My Creative Space - and a giveaway.

My creative space this week has been a little quiet.

I started and finished another shawl, #7 to be exact! It is for my husbands grandmothers 75th birthday next month but i haven't taken photos of it yet.

We have been away for a few days at my own grandmothers funeral, so i haven't had any more time for crafting.

HOWEVER! I am 20 followers away from 100, after last weeks mammoth blog visiting expedition and i wonder if i can make it up to 100 by next Thursday??? If i CAN then my creative space next week will be a giveaway of some lovely hand dyed yarn by me, drawn from my followers.

So tell your friends, and if you refer someone here and they follow me, get them to leave a comment saying so and i will give you another entry in the draw :)

here are some examples of my dyeing

I have some gorgeous and soft 100purewool waiting to be dyed!

Head on over to Kootoyoo for more creative inspiration

Shawl #6!!!

Well i am past the half way mark now for my "10 shawls in 2010" goal!!!
I finished shawl #6 2 weeks ago but have only just gotten around to blocking and taking photos of it.

It is my second "Traveling Woman" shawl and i modified it a little to end up with a central point as well.

The yarn is Jolly Jumbuck, not sure which base and not sure which colour lol but it was a vibrant reddy/orange with hints of purple throughout.

The recipient of this shawl will be a surprise as it is going into a swap box so i will have to wait and see who picks it out!

Shawl #7 is in progress at the moment and should be finished tomorrow!! i Think i am going to get alot more than 10 done this year :)I still only have one myself and it is a small shawlette version and i would love a large one.

Emily Rose

It was Emily rose's 21st over the weekend and as she is a dear friend of the family ( and my little sisters best friend) i wanted to make her something very special.
I used some beautiful hand dyed yarn i received a few weeks ago in a shawl swap to make a "Damson" for her. She adored it and wore it for the rest of the day as it suited her dress perfectly!





I had given myself 4 days o knit it up which turned out to be not quite enough time! i was knitting in the car on the way down to wellington, then knitting first thing on Saturday morning to finish it, then had my mum blow drying it after pinning it out to block, up until the minute we had to leave for the party! haha next time i will give myself more time!

This was shawl number 5 for the year! so i am halfway through my 10 Shawls in 2010 goal and it is only the start of may! have only done 1 and a half pairs of socks though so need to get onto those!

I have noticed my followers list climbing over the past few weeks too which is so exciting! once i hit 100 followers i will have another giveaway so tell your friends ;)

My Creative Space.....

...needs tidying.



seriously. But i would rather be knitting, which is what I'm doing haha.



Current project: a gorgeous deep blue damson Shawl for a gift. I had a three Day timeline to get this made form start to finish so i need to get cracking to get it done tonight, ready to block tomorrow!

Pop on over to kootoyoo for some more inspiring creativeness

I love Shawls

I love shawls. So much infact that i participated in a specific "Shawl" yanr swap.

We eahc gave a list of shalws we liked and intended to knit to give our swapper somethign to go off. My swappee loved the "Land of Oz" shawl and i thought i would play with the wizard of oz theme for her swap and created a "Good witch or bad witch?" swap.

I dyed up the yarn (100grams each baby merino)in shades of the wicked witch of the north ( blanks and greens) and Glinda, The good witch of the north ( pinks and whites)



I also made up some Oz themed felt hairclips (she has two little girls) with a crown, toto, ruby slipper(yes it really glitters!), emerald city and a rainbow.



I gifted a copy of the pattern too and she LOVED IT! Turns out she played the Wicked Witch in High School as has a great fondness of the story :)

In return i got some AMAZING blue 4ply yarn to make a "Hibiscus" with some delicious lindt choclate and the copy of the pattern :)



I am in love wiht this yarn but i have a special project ready for it in the next week or so so keep your eyes pealed ;)

Travelling Woman

Nope not me ( i wish!), but it is the name of the latest shawl pattern i have tackled. I FINALLY decided ( and had the time) to make a shawl for MYSELF! i Used some gorgeous yarn i had received from a co-op from Uruguay.





This is my 4th shawl of the year an it is only the beginning of April so i am well on my way to to 10 Shawls in 2010 goal! next one on the list is a special 21st present ;)

A shawl for an Alpha

Alpha wolf that is!!!!
I was honoured to be asked to knit Chaske Spencer a scarf as a token of the NZ Be the Shift movement.



Chaske (who plays Sam Uley in the Twilight Saga) is the founder and US "ambassador" of the cause and is in New Zealand this weekend at the Wellington Armageddon expo. A bunch of my lovely Twilight girls are heading down and will be meeting him on Saturday and will be giving his this shawl that i made for him!
(Hubby is modeling it too to show that it is unisex ;) )



The pattern in "Herbivore" By Stephen West, and was knit in gorgeous hand dyed yarn in the colours of the Twilight woods, so was perfect yarn to choose!

"Be the Shift" was set up to shine the light on the struggle of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

From the shift website:

MISSION STATEMENT

To Empower people to create sustainable, lasting change in their communities and countries through:

■Creating Awareness of the current issues and conditions
■Creating Alternatives that promote Dignity, Justice, Unity, and Accountability
■Taking Action that supports the creation of these alternatives
Saturday
20Feb2010
AWARENESS

WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW:

South Dakota's Lakota Sioux- Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe 2010 Crisis

■February 1st, 2010 Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has declared state of emergency after severe ice storm devastates reservation
■Storm topples more than 3000 power poles
■13,000 people without power, heat and water

Pop over to www.shiftthepowertothepeople.org to read more.

A good friend of mine has set up a "knitting for the nation" program to send scarves over from NZ, which i will be contributing to greatly and this shawl is the first one!!! Pop over to our facebook page if you wish to be involved!

Im baaaaaack :)

Well I'm back from our holiday and a wonderful one it was!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Swimming in the lake everyday, spa's under the stars every night, pizza from the pizza oven etc BLISS.
I didn't get as much knitting and writing done as i had planned but i have a few things to update you with :)
This shawl hadn't finished blocking by he time we left so i couldn't take photos of it but i manged to do it yesterday :)





I made this for a personal swap with my friend Viv in return i will receive some gorgeous cloth napkins and place mats :) It is the wool i dyed here and made to the Ishbel pattern ( #5!) It is be second entry for 10shalws2010. The pattern will be ceremoniously ripped up and burnt now haha i have had ENOUGH and am branching out to new patterns!

I also whipped up some gorgeous things for a current "RED" swap i am participating in but i cant show those till they have been received and they are currently winging their way across the Tasman :)

Time for reflection and relaxation

We are off on holiday in a few hours for two whole week!
Two whole weeks of no Internet
Two whole weeks of no agenda
Two whole weeks of nothing bu family
Two whole weeks of knitting!!!!!!! haha

We are off to the family Bach on lake taupo in Kuratau, i been looking forward to this for ages and can SERIOUSLY do with the down time.

I will be filling my time with reading, knitting and even plan on doing some writing, something i haven't done for a very long time.

The past couple of weeks have seen me and my husband doing some serious reflection on our future and plans etc. Bubba #3 is now on hold for another 2-3 years, untill we have started our travel plans. Baby making was going to be the agenda in a month or so but after some soul searching we have realised this is not the right time. I need to concentrate on getting my mind, sual and body back into shape and being who I want to be. This involves some serious weight loss for me ( already lost 4kgs in the past couple of weeks) and bringing into my life things that make ME happy and that i can do for MYSELF! Singing will be hing on this priority list with a recording session planned in the near future.

This holiday i am going to spend an hour alone each morning, walking along the lake and breathing the fresh air. I am going to sit and write, and knit, and just enjoy spending time with my family.

here is the knitting i am taking with me:


Two pairs of socks ( green and red) and some beautiful Uruguay lace yarn i received in the mail yesterday to make MYSELF a shawl :)



I cast off my second shawl of the year on Wednesday night but haven't had time for a photo shoot so you will have to wait till i get back for photos.

See you in two weeks!!!