Better late than never!

We're away for the Anzac day weekend. Hubbie was lucky to get the public holiday's off so we came back home to Albany to enjoy family time together. Hubbie at his parents with our dogs and his sister visiting and me at my parents place while my brother and his family were staying here as well. We've had a lovely time!
We went and saw the Anzac march, spent time with my bright, active little 5 year old niece, enjoyed ribbing my brother and girl time with my mum and Kim, and a great time (I hope!) was had by all!

I have done a lot of knitting. I'm churning out beanies like it's going out of fashion and using up quantities of cone yarn combo yarn. I gave David and Kim a beanie each so that's  two off my hands. Now I have to make one for Mackenzie, the lively 5 year old. I'll be posting it to her when I've finished it but they had to go home today. I'll have it ready no doubt by the time I arrive home in Kellerberrin tomorrow.
It has been a lovely weekend all round!
Really lovely!
See you all later.
Dx

Okay,...I think this time I've got it!

The right day, I mean!

I'd have done this yesterday but we went to Perth so Hubbie could do some swimming in a proper sized pool undercover instead of in a 2/3 sized pool subject to the nightly temperature plummet that only the wheatbelt can deliver! Not quite cold enough for ice but, By Gee! it feel like it!!

A productive day was had by all. We got to hang out with the sons, eldest cheerfully and carefree as usual and youngest burdened with the stupidity and foolishness of the world in general...but specifically his older brother. These two board together if you can believe it! I was forced to note as we sat down to eat lunch, youngest glowering at sniggering eldest that there were times I could not believe that they came from the same womb! More sniggering from oldest, faint smirk from deep and thoughtful.

I have a tooth in the front giving me hell at the moment making biting anything before chewing it nearly impossible and consequently didn't eat enough lunch to match up with my insulin (I've been an insulin dependant diabetic since I was 14...so it's been a while!) and energy expenditure. Meaning I became uncomfortably low in blood sugars while at a shopping complex and had to be herded to a table at a cafe while hubbie bought a hot chocolate for me, and the boys made sure I didn't fall over before I sat down. I hate feeling helpless! And stupid!

SO! anyway, since I'm a disaster on legs stumbling from crisis to crisis, on to the things I'm actually good at. CRAFT

So far these are the beanie's I've knit with the combined yarn I made up with my various op-shop finds. The first one I knit with 3mm needles. For the white yarn you see in the second beanie this was way too small. The fabric I knitted up was like a slat of wood! So I unravelled it and the next beanie I knit after the first one is the blue and black one and I used 3.75mm needles. This particular yarn combination feels lovely, cosy and warm! But I wanted to use up the white/grey stuff and since it could only be classed as chunky, I went up another needle size. Even knitting with 4mm needles the beanie is quite firm, but not so much that it's uncomfortable. It's also bigger than the proceeding two and youngest son has already put his hand up to give this a home...once the weather obliges of course.

Now I'm knitting another beanie using the same chunky white/grey yarn but on 4.5mm needles. Using another chunky yarn I have in my stash so we'll see how big this one turns out. These are all using the same beanie pattern I got for free on Ravelry. Garter Stripe Beanie by Terhi Montonen. It's absolutely fabulous and makes such a neat folded beanie when you're not wearing it.

And of course, the ubiquitous Monty Python cross stitch. Still plugging along with the three headed giant (I think that's what it is anyway.) I am enjoying putting the stitching together but I'm not sure what I'm going to do when it's done. I guess I'll worry about that when I get there. After this guy there are two other characters on this line and then I can start the next line! Onward and upwards! 

(Or downwards, really, in regard to the cross stitch anyway!)

The weather is finally beginning to turn around here. The nights are definitely cooler. We can even sleep under a doona at the moment without feeling smothered! And the farmers around our district are starting to get the paddocks ready for the next crop. They first sign of this is usually burn-offs of last years chaff and trash out in the paddocks. As we were driving back from Perth last night it looked like the place had been invaded by small dragons. Ribbons of fire running down the lines of chaff up and down the paddocks. Really impressive looking but I couldn't capture how awesome it looked on my phone. But this was the best I could get. 

I love fire, it's colour,and warmth. Mind you, only tame fire. Wild fire is entirely different beastie and not at all nice. Every summer we're reminded of that here in Australia.  But at pre-seeding time, fire is just another one of the tools of the farmers. Useful but only under certain circumstances.

Today is another day

And more hours to put craft into to keep fidgety hands busy!

It does puzzle me why I can sit hunched over a cross stitch or drawing up a picture or nutting out a new technique I've  never tried knitting before for hours! But when I have to tidy a bathroom or hang out laundry...blimey! It suddenly takes on the proportions of some enormous, insurmountable chore, sucking all the fun out of my creativity and rudely breaking in to my own little world. It's so inconvenient!

So what have I achieved so far this week?

The Marvellous Vest is all done and put away. I dusted off the Monty Python and the Holy Grail cross stitch and have actually managed to progress to the next line of characters! The light issue still remains so I can only do it during the day, so at night I knit.

I'm knitting a pair of socks with a lace insert with some yarn I dyed about 2 years ago but I still don't have a pic of those so I'm keeping them as a surprise for later when they look more like socks.

Also I realized I had accumulated a large number of left over cone yarns with ridiculously thin yarns on them that I really couldn't use in their present state. So I dragged them all out and combined a lot of them to make useable yarn for beanies. I must say, so far I am very pleased with the results! Much better than I'd expected and since they're almost all acrylics, they should be easy to wash. I'm going to see how many I can make and then I'll donate them to my local charity.

So there you have it. Does anyone else suffer from excessive creativity and nil enthusiasm for useful accomplishments?

Maybe it's just me :)

See you later!
Dx

Today is another Day...

...And onto other projects!

But before I do, I have to cover the wonderful Alcott Vest. Wonder of the Shetland Islands and their glorious wool and bright colours! Ahh, I could wax lyrical for...well, longer than I should but I'll get it out of the way since I'm sure you are all sick to death with the thing!

 Here is the vest pre-blocking with the amazing steek stitches behaving like arm and neck interfacing's, as they are supposed to!

And here, TA-DA! is the completed blocked AND worn Alcott vest.

To say I am pretty pleased with it and myself is a gross understatement, but there you go. It is shorter than I would really like but that just means I have to be good and stop tugging at the bottom because it isn't actually too short at all! I just like wearing things too long! But now, I swear, I will no longer bore everyone with my creation. It is beautiful and wonderful and,...and everything, but I will desist...

I swear!

But I have been good! I immediately got back onto the cross stitch poster I've been making for Eldest Son, the mad Monty Python fan!

Look! I finally finished the first line of characters! Don't ask me who they all are supposed to be because I've never watched The Holy Grail that I can remember. And besides the first character on the left who I assume is a character played by John Cleese, I've got no idea of the rest!

But I have realized again why I put it away. I can't do it at night! I just can't see properly and so at night I knit. Another pair of socks using up some of the yarn I dyed a couple of years ago so it's nicely variegated (unintentionally but it's still nice) in a rich crimson that fades in and out of blood red and then petal pink. Very nice. I'll get photos of it soon but I keep forgetting to during the day and by the time I'm doing it, it's night and the light is terrible! Oh well. First World problems.

So there we are. I'm still toiling away on the second line of characters and again questioning my sanity in choosing such fine cloth gauge (muttering to myself, about strands of thread, bad light, constant blinking to try and focus...mumble, mutter, whinge...) and knitting a hole in my finger with my pointy 2mm circular needles so I can knit two socks at once...

Because I can!

Is any one else keeping their hands out of mischief with crafts? What sorts? 

See you all later!

Dx

I have a Cushion!

We went to the city to pick up youngest son to spend the Easter Break with us and while we were there (and the shop's were open too. And absolutely EVERYONE was on the road!) I went to Spotlight and bought a cushion insert! Oh joyous day! Huzzah!!

Back, with flap opening

Front, and looking so pretty!

So I am pretty stoked with that! Pretty, pretty, pretty!

And other than that worrying at the back of my brain (The cushion's not finished until it has a cushion insert! Must get cushion insert!!) I have been busy with my Alcott Vest. I am getting closer to the first stage of actually finishing the vest, by completing the knitted body. 

See the lines of colours? They are my steek stitches. I have three, two armholes and the v-neck. When I've reached the length I want I am going to bind off the shoulders together and then...I am going to CUT the middle of the steek stitches and pick up stitches to do the rib stitch rows around the armholes and the v-neck. How awesome is that??

I must confess I am both excited and worried and really hope I don't screw it up.  But I really want to master this great technique so I am boldly going where I have never gone before!

Has anyone out there master any craft techniques that both excited and scared them?  Tell me I'm not the only worry-wart out here!

See you all later!

Dx