A small but special gift

We have all scurried back into lock down here.  Two young women returned to Queensland from Melbourne and lied on their entry forms and then tested positive for the virus.   From the list of places they had been since their return it seemed everyone knows some one who had been at the locations listed.  The lines at the testing clinics are long, with most people having to wait hours to be tested, but better safe than sorry.

So looking at this small gift made by a friend it has added a ray of sunshine to my life.  Some times it is that special small gift that touches you.

Janie only started knitting a few years ago when her first grandchild was due.  Since then she has made some lovely things and come to appreciate the value of good quality yarns opposed to the cheap one.  So, the washer she has knitted me is of a linen/cotton mixture, soft on the skin, and the soap is destined to go into my underwear draw.  Such a lovely smell.

When I visited we had to make a stop at the yarn store that is near my city townhouse.  I have avoided this place for a few years knowing that the yarns would be too beautiful.  Plus, it is owned by a friend and I wouldn't be able not to buy some thing.   Yarn Glorious Yarn is all the things I thought it would be.  I was very good and only bought a couple of balls of the Linen/Cotton mix yarn but I saw all these beauties.  I will have to return.

Reading the instructions

Ten years ago I received this cute knitting kit as a gift from friend Pammie.  I knitted it up and right near the end I misread the instructions. 

It said "kit until 9cm long", I thought it said "kit until 9 inches long".  I thought I didn't have enough wool to finish it.   (I went looking for their website but they are gone!)

I should be working on my collage, but, whilst looking for something else this jumped out of the cupboard and said "finish me!!!"  (Great excuse not to work on what I should be working on.)  The other reason I hadn't finished it was that my daughter had nicked my little teapot and there was no white wool in the kit as there should have been, so what was the point?

I found a similar teapot in another colour recently and thought "I must finish that tea cosy".  So for a couple of hours I sat and completed it. 

It is cute.  Thanks Pammie.

Maybe I will knit another one for my daughter so she can put it on the original teapot?

 

Finished just in the knick of time

It has turned really cold here and there is a lazy wind blowing up the bay and it goes straight through you.  I got the mittens and beanie finished just in the nick of time for this cold weather.

I was able to wear them and my new cardigan on my walk and stay reasonably warm.  This is my first ever pair of mittens that I have made and now I have the taste to start on some gloves, which I have never made before either.  I had used a different wool to the one recommended in the pattern and to get the guage  correct had to use larger needles.  Although it achieved the right size I'm not really pleased with the look of the knitting.  I think it would have looked better with a firmer stitch.

But, I need to get started on the jumper I promised my husband.  I bought a new pair of bamboo needles which started to split before I have got more than 2 rows into the knitting.  I will not be buying them again.  Then I made a mistake in the pattern and have had to go onto reverse.  I left the wool I pulled off the needles so that I would know when I had caught up to were I left off.  (That old Ikea plastic bag makes a great wool holder.  It feeds the wool evenly and keeps everything else neat, then I can stuff the knitting into it when I leave the piece.)

Still, it is great weather to sit in a warm room and knit or sew.

New Knitting Project

That yellow cardigan is now being blocked.  I knitted it in 8ply wool, which is rather heavy, so I expect it will take 3 or 4 days to dry properly.

Now I need  new project.  I find sewing at night takes a toll on my eyes, so night time is the time for knitting.  As the nights start to close in there is nothing nicer than sitting in Aunty Katie's old chair, which really should go to the dump, and knitting whilst listening to music or the radio.  After the amount of time the last project took , just over a year, but it seems so much longer, I need something that I can get finished in a couple of weeks.

To that end I have decided on some mittens and hat.

Now I know that the wool in the illustration is thicker than the left-over 8ply I have to hand so I am going to have to swatch the wool and change the guage.  That might take a few attempts but I have so much left over wool I am not going to buy more.

I also  promised my husband a new sweater in a moment of rashness.  He has long arms, from rowing all his life, and he just can't get the length of sleeves he needs.  This time I bought a pattern to match the wool but after swatching find I will have to select a smaller needles.   This will take a month or longer to knit so I will do this next.  Then I have the wool for my gloves!  They will be next on the list.  And the girls need new cardigans.....

 

Knitting

I have reached the final row of my cardigan and am at a stand still.

I am having trouble knitting a icord edge finish with button holes.  Tried it about three times now and am just hot happy with the finish.  So, I took a long walk and will try again tonight.  This cardigan has taken so long due to ill health and a couple of bouts of frozen shoulder  But I have hung in there with it and I am not giving up yet.  I have also had to learn a number of new techniques that I haven't done before.  And I thought it would just be a simple job to knit it!

The mail arrived today, we only get one delivery a week at the moment.

One was local, and I know what is in there.  My Mother's Day present from my quilting group.  I'm keeping that one to open on Sunday.  I might be the only present I get!  The other one is from Scotland and is my next knitting project.  Lovely little bag to keep it in.

And great colours.  This is for my gloves.

Good thing I am off to the mainland.  I need extra needles.

 

New Books

Two new books for me to get into. 

The first is a knitting book.  I have to finish last years cardigan but I thought some mittens might be easier to finish and I MIGHT have these ready when the weather turns cold.

I also received a copy of an ebook so the hard copy may go to my sister down south.  It is colder down there.  My favourite pattern at the moment is this one.

A bit of colour work but they are so cool.  I'm also taken by these ones as well.  They are more practical for our type of weather.

Here are all the patterns included in the book which you can purchase on-line here.

The second book is semi fiction.  I say 'semi' because it is one person's recollections.  It is called "The land before avocado" by Richard Glover

Not deep and meaningful but still an enjoyable read.

WIPW

Here I sit knitting whilst it seems the world burns around me.  I can't go outside because the air quality is so bad.  I have really bad asthma and sinus problems.  It feels as if I am breathing in a plastic bag.

This is the normal view to the border ranges.

Now we are enveloped in smoke haze.

With every breath you taste the fire.  And this is just being down wind those poor people who are up close.

Because I can't go outside I decided to un-pull my knitting.  I just couldn't work out the pattern after I came home from hospital.  After one day I am nearly up to where I was before and that had taken me 3 weeks.  Looks like the brain is switched on again even if I can't breath.

A strong wind has now arrived but the reports say to stay inside tomorrow as well so this knitting might grow a bit more.

Christmas Ideas No 2

I have just been doing a bit of surfing and look what I found?

You can get the pattern over on Little Cotton Rabbits.  I have already purchased mine.

Cool Weather

I have been hoping for the cool winds to come and they are here.  It is blowing about 35 knots out on the bay and the wind is coming from the South West, that means it is cold.  The sun is shinning but there isn't a lot of heat in it and the wind is racing through the trees, making quite a noise.

I have been preparing for this weather.  My patio at the back of my sewing room is hot in summer and a beautiful sun trap in winter.  I bought a set of table and chairs so that I could sit out there.  I have a fold up deck chair as well if I want to read.  At the moment I have picked up my knitting again and have been sitting enjoying the warm, along with a cup of coffee.

I also purchased a stand to put my flower pots on. 

I don't know how long the flowers will last in this wind so I picked some for my bedroom.

This patio will get a lot of use from this point on.  For reading, sewing, knitting and drying the washing.

I do like this time of year.

Knitting and my shoulder.

Wouldn't you know it?  Just when I need to rest my shoulder I find something I simply have to knit.

Mini bunnies and teddies from Julie Williams at Little Cotton Rabbits.

I have finished the full size rabbits for my grand daughters for Easter, along with the chocolate eggs but a mini rabbit would have been nice to go with the originals.

I might have to keep these till next year.  You can buy the patterns from her Ravelry shop