WIPW

This week has been knitting.  I have finished the bodies of a couple of bears.

This is Henry.  He is knitted in Alpaca yarn and was the first.  That means that he was actually knitted 3 or 4 times until I got him right.  The face and especially the nose was problematic.  But, I'm quite pleased with him now.

This is Olaf and he is a polar bear, at he moment he is being put together.  I used some left over sports weight wool for him and he was a dream to knit.  After all the problems that Henry presented this boy was very easy to live with.

I hope I have enough yarn from Olaf left over to knit Gu Gu.   I have finished his head and doubled the black yarn to make his ears.  I hope he doesn't become a problem.  He is quite a 'chunky' fellow.  It's funny how there all have their own personalities as they come off the needles.

I still have to manipulate the stuffing  and sewing those noses to get each of them looking how I want.  As I am only using left over yarn they will never look as good as Julie's plus she must have knitted 100's of them and has really perfected their construction.  All this will come with time I hope.  (My friend said I had to add the size of these animals.  They are 9" tall.)

Next will be the clothes.  As this lot are all boy bears I think it should be shorts and sweaters.

I do like Julie's patterns.

Scouting out a new shop - 'Mean Mothers'

I can still knit although I will have to put the embroidery away for a few days with this finger. (This story is a bit complicated.) 

I normally have coffee with a friend on a Friday morning, which I did last Friday.  My daughter had said  "don't go and see Guy (my son) he is sick".  Alarm bells started to ring.  The only reason I wouldn't see him is if he had the virus.  Well, he didn't have the virus, we think, because he hasn't had a test, but he had been in a known hot spot so he locked himself in the townhouse for the 14 days just in case.

He must have been ill because when I rang he was out of food, didn't have a mask to go out, and actually said he was a bit hungry.  (Mum to the rescue.   He might be 40 y.o. but he is still my boy.)  I bought him a supply of food and pre-cooked meals from the Deli and dropped them around.  First question was "I don't suppose you brought any beer?"  Really!!!   His mind must not have been working because he had forgotten he could ring and have food delivered, and he is a Techie!!

So I had been up early to get the barge and had been driving around so I thought I may as well make the trip to Beenleigh,  which is half way between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.  Reason,  I had heard of a new Yarn shop that had opened up down there.  "Mean Mothers Creations".  Cute name.  Like lots of shops it is in an Industrial complex but there is parking out the front.

 

The last time I had been to Beenleigh,  (I had flown up from Sydney to go to a ball on the Gold Coast and was staying at a friends farm and I was still a teenager), there were still trams running in Brisbane, they had just started building a new highway and I had to catch a Greyhound bus that dropped me in front of the hotel.  All I could see were 2 hotels, a milk bar, a shop and a post office, and I knew there was a rum distillary somewhere.  When I got there this time it wasn't anything like that.  The traffic was horrible and there were one way streets and no numbers on the buildings.  But I did eventually find the shop. (Beenleigh has a colourful history and is worthwhile reading about.)

Mean Mother's has a great web-site, so I can order online, which will save driving.  The shop is very well stocked with yarn and notions. 

It is not a boutique type yarn shop with the very expensive yarns but they do stock quality brands and the price range is in that middle section of the market and they are super helpful. 

They have discounts for pensioners , which I have never seen before, and there were quite a few customers in the shop. 

I just can't knit with cheap yarn or synthetics.  That rules out most of the stock from the Chain stores like Spotlight and Lincraft, and I will not pay $40 for a ball of wool no matter how beautiful it is.  So, this shop really fills a hole in the market.   I don't need any yarn at the moment but I got some needles and a counter so that I don't keep loosing what row I'm up to.  I think this will be my go to yarn shop now.

Some good, some bad.

My husband gave me a voucher for IKEA for Xmas, so, I thought I would buy some bar stools to replace the ones I have, which are more than a little worse for wear.  I looked up the stock levels on-line, yes, there were 4 in stock but I couldn't use click and collect as I was paying by voucher.  That meant organising myself to get to the mainland and pick them up.  All that went fine but when I got there, and finally found where they were stored, there was a man ahead of me who bought them all!  Bugger!!! 

I did get my storage bins so now my wool stash is sorted, along with moth protection, and I know just what I have there.  Far too much wool.  (There are more boxes out of the picture.)

I found all the knitting needles I was looking for at my local Vinnies Op shop.  All still in their packets and in brand new condition $5.00 the lot, so I paid them $10 knowing I would have to pay a whole lot more if I had bought them from a shop.  AND the ladies told me about another knitting shop down the track at Beenleigh.  This is about half way to the Gold Coast and when I lived in Brisbane I would have thought it too far away.  Not now.  It is closer than Brisbane to me now.  It is called "Mean Mother's Creations" and looking at their website I think it deserves a visit.  Not to buy anything, just to look.

My first knitted toy is finished. 

I think I will call her Dorrit.  She is knitted in left over Debbie Bliss baby cashmino wool and is a bit smaller than if I had used the recommended wool.  I blocked the little dress and it made a noticeable difference to the finish.  Such fun to knit.

Knitting Wools

When I said that I had a stash of knitting wools I really didn't know how much I actually had.  I pulled most of it out and put it on the bed.

Boy have I got some stash.  Some of it was bought from growers in N.Z.  Some when I visited Scotland.  Some in Denmark, some in South America. Some from India and some from local sales and Op. shops.

I was thinking about getting some more wool to knit my animals, NO.  I am just going to have to get in and use this lot up.

My next animal is a bear.  I went to buy a pattern and found I had already bought it, back in 2013!  Thank goodness Ravelry kept it safe for me.

I have a ball of Alpaca that I will knit the body in if it isn't enough I will just have to give him spots.

What I do need are fine knitting needles.  I went to both Spotlight and Lincraft and neither keep fine needles any more.  Looks like I will have to make a visit to Yarn Glorious Yarn.  That is very dangerous territory for me.  They are not open again until the end of the month so I might do an op shop search first and I definately need some more storage boxes.

The list for 2021

So, the list of "To Do's" is ready for the coming year.  Last year saw me take the opportunity to finish many outstanding projects.  This year, although that list has been reduced, I haven't added all the things I could have.  I know that with Home Schooling my time is going to be limited so no use setting goals that will be impossible.  I might find time to do some of them but then again I may not.  No need to set impossible expectations.  I have left lots of spaces to add extras.

(Oh dear, I forgot the charity quilt! I will have to add that.)

The "Stitching Faces" class with Sue Stone and the book "Faces of Friendship" are linked.  Those are the faces of my quilting friends and the friendship blocks they gave me all those years ago.  It just so happens that the classes facilitate my portraits of friends.  The first section was of those friends who have died.

In the next section the portraits will be more detailed.  These will be of members of the group who have moved away but whom I still count as friends.

That Graffitti Quilt requires just one more applique to the main section.  I was going to add a border but now I'm not so sure.

 

I am way behind on the 'Stitch Club' classes.  I'm not sure that I want to stitch all of them so I will 'cherry pick' the ones I find interesting.  I will keep my subscription for the year to these classes and then review where I am going.  Those quilting gifts for Easter are well on the way to being finished so I will keep these for my weekends when I visit Toowoomba, then again it might be better to just 'get in' and get then done.

I did decide to make my Charity donation knitted animals this year.  I have nearly finished the first one.  Just her dress to go.  These are really relaxing to work on at night listening to music or a podcast.  (I have to re-do the mouth.  I didn't have any tapestry wool.)

But high on the list is my teaching sample for "Exploring More Stitches".  That is now drawn up and needs to be finished by the end of the month.

The Kogin stitched bags will be for Xmas gifts at the end of the year and they are my indulgence.

Now I just need fate to step in and blow it all out of the water!!!

I have started some knitting

Well, there wasn't anything else I could do!

I made the mistake of mowing the lawn to have the house looking cared for when everyone came over on Boxing Day.  Problem was that I got severely over heated and pulled some large muscles in my hip and leg.  On top of this I forgot to get my Vit B injection, so I am walking around like a zombie!  All this has stopped me in my tracks.  I have to keep still and just let my body repair itself.  I hate sitting still, with a passion.  So, I found some needles and yarn and have started on a bunny.  Just the legs and stuffing to go now.  (Oh, and the clothes.)

I get to see the Doctor tomorrow so hopefully the injection with help bring me back to life again.  Although all the other ailments are still there.  Not much I can do about those.  But actually, knitting bunnies is a great night time activity.  I don't have to do it all at once.  I can knit parts and as I finish a head or a couple of arms I have the satisfaction of reaching a mile stone. I am seriously considering making bunnies my charity activity for 2021.  Lets face it I don't have to buy any supplies, you should see all the wool I have.  This one is going to be for the daughter of my cleaning lady.  Amy is a non verbal autistic woman in her early 20's and she loves toys.  I hope she loves this one.

If you are tempted to knit rabbits I can highly recommend buying one of Julie's patterns which you can find here.

I must do some knitting!

I have to make some more of those rabbits.  Julie keeps putting up such cute patterns and these little scarves are great for a quick easy sit and knit.  Problem is I don't have any rabbits to put them on, but I will.

I am becoming addicted to computer games.  I have to stop that and knitting might be the answer. These are small enough to finish in a night.

Cuteness over load.

I really don't have time to indulge in knitting at the moment.  It is just over a week till my daughters wedding and she is still waffling about what she will wear.  We have a day tomorrow to try and get this all under control.  I am apparently supervising the catering!  First I'd heard about it.  And then yesterday, sadly, her dog died.  We have lost three dogs this year and what with everything else going on in the world she will remember this wedding!!

So the knitting,  Maybe when I have some spare time, if that ever will happen, I will knit these.

I have to knit some more rabbits to put them on, although they fit some of the dolls the grand daughters have. 

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?