Monday 24 March 2014

African Flowers on a Dull Grey Day......


It's funny that I finished this blanket on such a grey, slightly rainy and overcast day.....the first day that I can really feel that Autumn is on the way.....and I for one am glad to see the end of Summer.....it really was the long hot Summer!!

Anyway the blanket is done....I blocked this like there was no tomorrow, because after completion in the early hours of this morning, it sort of looked twisted, tight and sort of mangled, if I can use that term for a woolly blanket....anyway this blanket I had to wet first before I could even get some give out of it to lay it flat for blocking.....the fibres were sooooooo tight.

Anyway it's now beautiful, soft, drapey and the patterns in the flowers have spread....the seams of the joins have all flattened out.....and now it's the perfect blanket for a baby girl that is coming soon.










































































































































































































Well for now it's back to the knitting.

Have a good week. Vx

Saturday 22 March 2014

Saturday......


Well the 2nd blanket is well underway.  I'm more than half way but I'll save any final photos for early next week.....and the blanket as it is, is in pieces on the floor in the lounge room, and the light is bad in there....and truth be told I just haven't got the energy to pick it all up and move it to photograph it....but I did take one shot this morning before I got stuck into crocheting like a woman possessed.

My sleep pattern is way out of kilter now because of the 3am finish the other day....I've managed to get through today without a 'nana nap' so hopefully an early night tonight might see my sleep or lack thereof get back to normal!

I've managed to get 2 rows completed and photographed.  I'm using this pattern here.  Not only is it free, but it also fits in well with my love of straight edges.....most of you who have been around here for a while, know I hate uneven edging, so I knew I had to find an African Flower pattern in a square.....and this one fit the bill and it's incredibly easy to follow and really well written and the other bonus is there is no half flowers to do!!

I'm joining them together with the right sides facing out so picking up the two inner rows and slip stitching them together, although that has caused a few issues as it means I can't join all the squares together in the other direction in one continuous line. I'll have to join those edges individually.....I'll show you what I mean when I'm done....I did look at this join as you go edging here, and as much as I liked it, for my taste it was too fussy with all the patterning of the flowers, although it is a perfect joining method for a solid square in my opinion....so I unpulled it and went pack to the original join.  If you look here at Epipa's blog I got the idea for my join from hers on this gorgeous blanket she has made.  For mine, I'd rather have a simple join for the squares and something more fancy for the border like the images show.

Anyway the pictures shows, 2 rows, I'm at 4 rows, and I have 3 more to do....it's a 5 x 7 baby blanket, and with a large border it will be a small cot, large pram size.

Anyway off out for a stroll before it starts to get dark.....stretch the legs and get some fresh air.






Cheerio. Vx

Friday 21 March 2014

Back to the Blankets.......


For some reason it seems like an age since I posted about a blanket....I've been back on the knit sticks for a while and the hook has been put away for a little time.  I have 2 blanket orders to complete, both being for friends so I have a little bit more freedom with these.....in the sense that my judgement is trusted in colour work to get these right......so one got finished last night.....and oh what a late night it was.  I started this blanket yesterday at lunchtime so at around 12pm, noon.  I worked right through with only a few tea breaks, and a phone call and blocked it at around 2.50am this morning....I was in bed according to the clock at 3.06am!! So a baby blanket has taken me around 15 hrs, give or take 30 minutes.  Yes I am tired this morning and have a crazy sore neck.

This one is using my favourite organic merino wool from here.  Oh how I love this yarn....I often talk about it.  The company is back up and running after being taken over by a new owner.  Very happy I was about that. I used my own Squircle pattern, link on the side of this page.  I used all the colours in the organic range except the dark green....I don't know why I didn't use it,  just didn't think it fit in at all....every circle has pink in it, and I also have a touch of navy blue in there, that I had left over before the colour was deleted from the range......the colours in this yarn all just work so beautifully together.....I guess you may have gathered the blanket is for a baby girl, but you'll notice I didn't exclude, blues, browns or grey.....they all blend in so well.























































































































































































Ok, I'm finished here....I'll be back with the second one when it's done.....little bit excited about that one!

Cheerio!

Vx

Friday 14 March 2014

Camilla......Coming Soon


My next pattern wasn't going to be a hat, but after much consideration, I thought I'd get hats out first...other things later......So coming late April......Camilla Pixie Hat ©.   Here on Ravelry....I'll keep you updated.































Thanks Vx

Thursday 13 March 2014

Little Images












Thank you for your kind wishes about my job situation, I'm keeping everything crossed myself.....Yesterday afternoon, Katherine Heise from Lamb loves Fox sent through some images for me....Her delightful family has been quite unwell so her yummy images were delayed for the front cover of her copy of her Finley Pattern, but wasn't the wait worth it?  Cute as a button her little guy is.

I'd also made a little bonnet from from a Norwegian knitting pattern, that she also photographed.....yesterday was a good day, I love images popping into my Inbox.

I have one final order to complete today, and a few new Clover hat to make for the upcoming Southern Hemisphere Winter to knit.....I feel like the pressure is slightly off now.....oh and 2 blankets to finish which I'll share once they are completed.

Hope you're all well, thanks for stopping by.  I'm going to make the best of our glorious weather today.

ps.  Here are the out takes from Katherine's photo shoot.


Vic x


Wednesday 12 March 2014

Positivity....
































I've never been the most positive person I have to say....I'm the glass half empty type of person.  I worry about what will happen before it does, and I do always think of the worst possible scenario......a trait I picked up from my Mother....she still wears that hat well, I try my best to leave that hat off.....I do really try!

I applied for a job a few weeks ago, I won't go into it, but I wanted this job so much.  These positions don't come up that often.  It offers job security and in this day and age....that's a plus.  It comes with a very decent wage, although hours and shift work make up some of that decent wage.....but hey that doesn't bother me so much.  Being on the wrong side of 40 I knew this job was earmarked for me as my choices are sort of becoming limited.....Anyway I had my interview and I've got through 4 phases of testing and I'm just waiting to hear the final outcome, but it looks very positive, and I've been told to sit and wait for an email advising me of the next step.

There you have it, I thought positive thoughts, I wished and wished and I believe my little ducks all lined up in a row!!

I'll keep you posted as it may have some big repercussions for my little knitting world.

So for now I just sit and wait and knit and bask in the last warm days of  Summer. 




Vic x



Wednesday 5 March 2014

Testing, Testing, One, Two......Grey


Pattern number 3 is in the works.....and possibly number 4 at the same time.....This one is stumping me a little.  For something that will be quite basic, you need to make sure it does its job.   I have 4ply, 5ply, 8ply and 10ply for testing.  I have wool, shetland wool, alpaca, acrylic wool mix, organic merino for testing......what will I choose, which yarn will work the best......but my colour choice of all grey yarns is summing up my mood this week....I've gone from free and elated, to anxious and upset this week.  Job hunting is a full time job in itself.  I'm sure there is a job out there with my name on it......somewhere!






























Vx

Monday 3 March 2014