New Directions, new ideas...

On a trip to Spotlight I found these wonderful clear key tags designed, I think to put photos in. Since anything that can fit a photo can almost certainly fit a small tatted motif I instantly bought them and brought them home to experiment!

The results were actually really pleasing. This is the perfect vehicle to display my slightly bigger motifs in a way anyone can enjoy them without the pieces getting soiled. The only difficulty I have is finding a cutter or punch that will accommodation the 5cm diameter disc I need to give the motifs adequate backing. This 4cm cutter does for the minute but I think it would look so much better if it actually fit the recess. What do you think? A key tag with a unique piece of hand tatted lace preserved for your continued enjoyment with no fear of soiling or damage to fibres? Would you buy such an item? I hope so :)

  

Easter!!

The other night I knitted up another bunny from the original pattern but in a much chunkier yarn just to see how well it would turn out, especially since I actually knit the arms and legs the way I was supposed to instead of making it up as I went because I wouldn't take the trouble to read the instructions (duh!) All in all I think it turned out pretty good.

The hardest part was attaching the arms, legs and ears properly. Even being as careful as I could they are by no means even in placement, which drives me a little nuts. But I can live with it. It's still better than my first so every gain is an improvement.

As it was anyway, it was fortunate that I had the bitty bunny. I wanted to give a gift to my non-religious friend that she would like and that my conscience could put up with as a born-again Christian. I thought of my first bunny and imagined with a few alterations, it would fit the bill! My friend and I have been knitting together and enjoying it very much lately so I thought she would love the cuteness of this wee little bunny while I could also share (without being a killjoy)my beliefs in the Easter celebration. I hope you like it and enjoy your own celebrations. 

Happy Easter!

Now for some Cute Instant Gratification

After I finished the vest I needed something fun and QUICK. The vest had been heavy and although a simple knit it had been a lot of stitches. So I decided to do one of the few toys I have in my queue. I'm really glad I did. It uses a tiny amount of yarn too, so great for scraps!

Little Baby Bunny

 It was a little fiddly and in an attempt to do as few repeats as possible I messed up some of the instructions along the way but the finished result exceeded my expectations. She is so cute!!

I will definitely be repeating this pattern. Very basic and very enjoyable. So much scope for adding personality to the little cutie!

Another Stash Busting Project...done!

I actually quite enjoyed this. The pattern was very well written and easy to follow. I had the yarn on hand to give it a try and that also would use up some of my massive stash instead of buying more!! And more importantly, once knit up it actually fits and looks really nice. And so simple! What's not to like?

See? About the only thing negative I have to say about it at all is how extremely fluffy the yarn is I used. I'm hoping it will settle down after I've washed it because at the moment it sheds like a golden retriever at the onset of summer!

Sigh...I wish it was winter already :)

Okay...Enough already!

This started out as a simple attempt to clear a nice pattern from Ravelry off my queue but somehow I ended up knitting three of these. I never started out to do that! I'm not completely nuts but it just kind of snowballed.  Here's how.

When I first looked at the pattern I thought this pretty wool that I only had two balls of would be a good choice and thus enable me to use up more of my ridiculously extensive stash. But after knitting with it for a while I realized it was more like a chunky 4ply than 8ply and I'd begun to question my previous belief that the body of the bonnet was felted since there was absolutely no mention of felting in the whole pattern, just an oblique reference to washing the bonnet and blocking it before attaching the ties and the floral details. I decided I would try another yarn to see if I could get it a better size since this one turned out more suited to a child. 

So I found a semi-felted yarn I'd reclaimed from an old op shop jumper and gave that a go. It was easy enough to do since the pattern was so easy and took hardly any time at all to knit up. This was much closer to being an 8ply. But I wondered if I could get a larger bonnet...

Well, it turns out I can! I'd just recently bought this bulky yarn from Spotlight so I immediately cast on. Yes, it is much bigger, almost bucket-big to be honest. And my experiment is complete...and now I have three bonnets that are lovely...and completely superfluous to my needs! How the heck did that happen??

Knitting, knitting!

I've been busy knitting up some of my odd balls of yarn in an effort to use up more of my stash. I'm managing to do that but I admit I keep buying more yarn when I get near a yarn shop (which isn't often!) I wanted to do some small projects and this collar pattern and that bandana cowl were just what I needed!
These collars use up a tiny amount of yarn and are perfect for instant gratification. About the only thing I wish is that I could figure out how to knit them in a finer gauge.

 These cowls are excellent largely because of the number of ways they can be worn. I used about two balls of yarn for each cowl and they were ridiculously easy!

 This I am especially pleased with. I reclaimed this yarn from an unattractive op shop jumper a while ago and I thought I'd try this pattern with it thinking that if it didn't turn out then I hadn't wasted good yarn on it. But it has turned out really nice and so soft too for an acrylic yarn. I call it my saw tooth edged shawl. Bring on winter!

I have mail!!

I went to my eldest son's intern commencement for a couple of days and when I got home a whole heap of the display and lighting things I'd ordered had come! So exciting!!

This is what came in the mail!

This is my new head display and hand display. The head was in a whole box by itself! The one on the chair!

This was how the lighting kit was packed. 

 And this is the whole thing unpacked! The lighting cube was all folded up in that black circle thing in the previous photo. I haven't actually managed to fold it up and put it back into the black cover again though. I might have to get youngest son to help me do that when he comes to help teach me how to USE it!

 There are two short stands, one tall stand, one long extender pole, two strobe light fittings (at least I think that's what they are.) two light bulbs, large light reflector, one light bulb and a lot of other things I don't know the name to much less exactly what they do!!!
I think I may have outsmarted myself there. I bought it to improve my photos on my etsy store but I'm lacking some pretty basic skills! Fortunately I'm pretty sure Jordan probably has the skills I lack and can help me nut it out. But it's still all pretty cool :)

Finally!...Vintage Stockings!!

and I am NEVER doing them EVER AGAIN!!!
Okay, this was a kind of fun experiment but there are a few things I have discovered from the 40's-50's knitting pattern.

• If there's a hard way or an easy way to do something, let's do it the hard way! Like knitting a sock flat despite the fact that we clearly know how to knit in the round because we do it for the toe of the stocking and ONLY THE TOE!!
• That sewing miles of seams obviously has some moral lesson in it that escapes me because there is one looong one right down the back of the stocking and, just for good measure there are TWO seams on either side of the foot to join the sole to the instep! 
• And just to make sure that you smarty pants don't try and squib out on all this convoluted construction, let's use a very simple appearing stitch that is IMPOSSIBLE TO CONVERT to a seamless version!!

You see I had a few issues with it. It was far and away the most frustrating thing I have ever knit and I've knit a lot of socks and even over the knee socks so you wouldn't have thought this would be such a fraught project!

See? Strange construction!!
 I unravelled the heel and foot portions over and over again, trying to make sense of the instructions. But finally, I climbed that mountain! I completed the Stockings!!

 I still don't like how the heel is formed, it's not smooth like a heel at all but pointy. But I have completed the pattern and BOY! am I thankful!!
:)

Silky Threads and Tatted Lace

Sounds alluring, doesn't it? Actually it's pretty pragmatic. I bought these absolutely gorgeous silk thread from a lovely shop on etsy - https://www.etsy.com/shop/Thecraftmagpie

Aren't they absolutely the most wonderful autumn tones you've ever seen??

Anyway, I'd always meant to try tatting with them since really lovely intense colours are ridiculously hard to find especially at the fineness I tend to want to use. These were a lot finer than what I usually tried but what the heck! I'd give it a shot!!

There is no way I am putting in any of the poor deformed attempt I tried before I got the combination of tension and looseness right. I snapped so many rings of tatting trying to draw the thread through that for months I didn't even look at the threads! But recently I had another go, having calmed down enough to look at it logically and know that while each knot needed to be complete it didn't need to have a death grip on the supporting thread because it simply wouldn't support the force needed to pull the thread through. And I'm pleased to say I succeeded!

Isn't it sweet?? The glass it's between is about 3cms square and the motif would fit comfortably on the pad of your thumb! Not to say it wasn't tricky to do. I had a couple of heart stopping moments when I broke the thread but fortunately I was able to rectify it fairly easily. But now I've had a success I might try this again. the possibilities, oh the possibilities!!

:)