Getting Ready for Halloween

We're having our traditional Halloween party on Wednesday, and I've spent the weekend making scary fodder in advance of the big day!

Coffee with my girl

I love taking these rare moments to chill and enjoy Girly time with my little Isobel! Nuts About Cofffee in Blackburn, our favourite haunt, reminds me of my north London Saturday mornings at the coffee shops in Crouch End and I LOVE IT! Izzy's pretty keen too.

Pink Parties

My littlest person, Isobel, turns the ripe old age of 4 next week (where did THAT go?).  Saturday is the day we are having her party, so I've got a few things together for her party bags, which included a little hand made felt hair clip.  Time was not on my side (when is it ever?) so they were very basic, but cute enough for a 4 year old to love.

I also found these gorgeous party bags, hand printed by a lady in on Madeit, who's store is called Little Molly Mae.  She kindly express posted them to me and they arrived just in the nick of time.  How sweet are they?  Better than a plastic bag.

The weather promises to be perfect blue sky and sun, so I'm hoping we can head outside with the kids, blow bubbles, play in the cubby house, and hide in some pink pop up fairy castles!!

Miss You!

Happy Birthday Mum.

We miss you.....
x

I'm Running!

I've mentioned once or twice (or perhaps a wee bit more) that I have four children.  I had said children in fairly rapid succession, with less than two years between the last three.  As a result, I've been busy.  With children, with work, with life.  In the last 4 years, I have put on quite a bit of weight, and like the rest of you in my situation, it gets me down.  I have wanted to get back into exercise for a long time now, but a knee injury has prevented me.  But, recent physio on the knee means that I am more confident about getting out there and making a change to my body.

So, this morning, I started my 'couch to 5k' regime, and began week 1 of my training.  It wasn't too taxing (they suggest you start easy, and build up) and my first outing began with 30 mins of excercise.  I walked 6 minutes, ran 1 minute, four times.  It felt good, not too tough and the knee held up.  I'll do it again Sunday, then next Wednesday, and when Week 2 comes along, I reduce the walk time, and up the run time.  I think it's a 10-12 week program, that should see me running 30mins or more, three times a week on a regular basis.

I have several friends who went down this avenue of exercise and their bodies have been completely transformed by it and they have more flexibility when it comes to the odd 'naughty treat'.

Wish me luck......

Sewing by Numbers

When I was 8 or 9, we had a big trip to the USA, to visit relatives living there.  My Mum came across an 'all year round' Christmas store and picked up a couple of felt stocking kits.  I've been hanging mine out for Santa ever since.  When I started making babies, I wanted to carry on the tradition and make my children felt stockings.  I did well with child #1, and his was made by his first Christmas.  Even child #2 managed to get his by his second Christmas (he was born on December 17th).

As life got busier, and I made MORE children, so their dreams of a handmade stocking started to fade, poor buggers!  Still, with the passing of my Mum earlier this year, I have been reminiscing and I decided that Mum would have been horrified that I hadn't completed one for each of her grandchildren, so I have pulled out the kits that are stowed away for child #3 & #4.

These Bucilla kits are fantastic.  They come with all the beads, thread, sequins and needles that you need, as well as the 'sewing by numbers' felt pieces.  Just follow the the instructions for piece #1, #2 and so on, and at the end you have a fab little stocking that looks amazing and is a great size for Santa to fill (ie, not enormous).

This is Charlies, child #3.

Limited Edition Rose

I managed to snaffle one of these beautiful Majacraft Limited Edition Rose wheels.  It will be available for test drives at Spun Out, but I must admit that I am very excited to be able to spin on this stunner when the wheel is not 'working'.

Wollemeise DK

Yes, they have released a DK/8ply yarn!  Curses to them, was I not addicted enough to their yarn?  Does the thought of fighting over a new base every Friday afternoon fill me with dread and excitement?

If you are wondering what I am going on about, it's the delicious German yarn from Wollemeise.  They have a cult following, which I find myself heavily ensconced in!  They have an update every Friday, 4pm EST (which changes when the clocks in Australia and Europe change).  Previously they had three bases.  Lace, Pure & Twin (both 4plys).  The yarns are beautifully dyed with rich, saturated colours, both semi-solids and variegated.  On an update, it's pretty much a 'supermarket sweep', no time to browse or ponder, you just chuck it in your cart and hope that you don't lose it at checkout.  It's a learned technique just to find the best way to get what you want, but SO worth it.

I have an exorbitant amount of WM yarn, and I buy mainly sweaters worth each time, or the odd skein for shawls.  I felt I was happy that I had collected all the colourways I wanted, in most of the bases, but with the arrival of this new DK, I am totally thrown again.  A whopping 200gm skeins with 468yards in each, you would only need 3 or 4 to knit a sweater or cardigan.  Lethal for an addict!

I put out a plea on Ravelry for just one hank of this new DK, so that I could squeeze, inhale and generally rub the yarn against my person.  I was lucky, someone had too many skeins (are you sure) so was happy to let this one go to me (YAY!).  The colour is Flaschenpost, as gorgeous teal green.   SO, the VERDICT!  Oh My GOD!  Yes, it's all that and more (in my opinion anyway).  Very soft and squishy and I am just hanging out for the next update, hoping that I'll be able to grab some in the Mont Blanc colourway!!!

  

The Wollemeise  Down under Group on Ravelry is a great place to start your Wollemeise journey, but we warned, if you get sucked in, it's very, very hard to get out!

Mme Sock Monkey

This has been on the needles for over a year!  My son Charlie, has his own sock monkey that he adores (the 'cannot go to bed without it' kind of adoration), and so Izzy has been asking and asking and asking....

As part of my 'complete all your WIPS' regime, Isobel's Mme Sock Monkey was pulled out of the WIP bag and polished off.  As for Charlie's, I used Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran & DK, and they are soft, squidgy and very much loved.

The pattern is knit flat and sewn together (do people really do that any more....clearly they do!) so I just adapted it and knit it in the round with a magic loop.

Getting closer to getting shot of all my WIP's and cracking open a new ball of yarn.

Fathers Day, Walking & Knitting

Our Fathers day was a relaxed affair.  Pressies for Dad in the morning, then off to explore a new parkland area with the kids.  We went to Jumping Creek Reserve with picnic in tow, and then went on a lovely long walk.  It was a beautiful day, blue blue sky, warm weather, and the kids LOVED it!  The big advantage of living in a new state is that everywhere is unexplored.

On our walk, I discovered that I could actually knit and walk at the same time, without falling over or being swiped by branches.  It was extremely relaxing and I got quite a few rows completed!

If you're curious, I'm knitting Dream Stripes, after frogging my Flukra due to the yarn I used being too variegated, and the lace pattern was just lost!

We had a very 'famous five' kind of day, with the kids getting wet and muddy (is there any other way to be!?) and being little explorers.

Big Pink Pig - The Yarn

Android Hat

My Hairy Man doesn't often ask for a hand knit, but this year, as we are now living in a part of Australia that needs warm clothes in winter, he requested a hat.  Theres a technical divide in our household, with me being the Apple girl and he's the Android boy, so I felt it was totally fitting to create a hat with an Android motif on it.

There's a pattern on Ravelry for an Andriod Hat, but after doing the 'blind faith' thing, and just knitting lazily from the pattern, I realised that it was not going to work.  So, I went to a 'sure thing' pattern for the actual hat, Brooklyn Tweeds Turn a Square, and then duplicate stitched the android onto it once I'd completed the knitting part.  I am yet to master intarsia in the round, but hoping to soon, as I prefer to knit motifs rather than sew them.

One very happy hubby....bless!

Mirror Mitts

I have recently spun up some gorgeous Thylacine Grey Merino, Grey Llama and Silk, but only 50gms so far.  I saw this new pattern for Mirror Mitts pop up on Ravelry and I knew they would be perfect for my little bit of spindle spun yarn.  So I set about finding a complimentary solid colour to spin up, and I think this lovely green will go very well with the grey and green of the Thylacine.  A quick and easy project that will make a small dent in my very large handspun collection!

Pizza Fondue

My new toy......

Big Pink Pig

A while back I knit the jumbo Snowy Owl from Purl Soho.  It sits proudly in my craft room and I LOVE it!

A Big Pink Pig pattern has just been released by them, and I intend to spin up the yarn using Pear Tree Fibres pale pink roving, and knit this oink to sit next to my owl.  I'll post pic's of spun yarn and progress once I get going.

Camel Bunny Silk

One of my all time favourite, desert island fibre choices, is Ixchel's Camel Bunny Silk!  I try to resist (ok, not THAT hard), but every time I see Charly from Ixchel, I have to rifle through her colourways.

Strangely, I always choose to spin CBS on a spindle, as I need to have this gorgeous stuff in my hands for as long as possible, plus I feel more in control of the fibres on a spindle. A new colourway of mine, is this walnut dyed, peachy blend.....just stunning!

Spun on a Jenkins Lark, it was a joy all the way.  I spun up and plied 50gms, and my next 50gms will be Navajo plied, so that the beautiful colours won't get so lost in the plying.  

I have a buttery soft 4ply, that I intend to incorporate into a cowl of some kind, possible an Encadre.