All Things Mum

You know I-am-so-glad my husband isn't home when the postie knocks on my door. My lovely parcel arrived today from Hawthorne Threads (US). They were sooo speedy as I ordered this a week ago. I love how they used tissue paper to wrap up the fabric and didn't add an additional invoice paper. I was inspired by the iPod cases that Janelle Wind created and the fabric that she used. So I decided I needed to have some Meadowsweet at home. I also decided I had to have some pink unicorns, some flowery diamonds and something for the boy. I hope to use this for something wearable for the boy. It's quite a decent size print of trucks so I hope to applique some shirts and make some shorts for spring/summer. What is it about boys clothes that I find challenging? Perhaps it is just a matter of using more cotton knits and jersey. There isn't much I like to make during Winter unfortunately. I do enjoy some aspects of Winter but I really prefer Spring and warmer weather....

The following post contains a few pictures, some cute, some not so much. Some kinda blurry. Crafty admiration and lovely comments are advised. This is the progress of the cardigan/sweater I am knitting for Miss Almost 4. I am becoming aware that I am running out of wool. I only have three balls of the Baby Layette. At least I think so, I am onto the second ball already. Unless of course she is happy to wear it as a bolero? I really thought it was going to come out much bigger. From the notes I used with Soulemama's February Girl Sweater (adapted from the Baby Sweater) she made it to fit her daughter who is size 5. Hmmmm. I will have to finish this for her before Winter is over so that she can still wear it otherwise the baby gets it next Winter. It does fit nicely in the back but I am not finished so I am hoping it won't stretch out too much. I did pop over to Spotlight to source more balls of wool but only saw two balls of this one left. Here it is next to the original. Can y...

Sound the trumpets, I've started my first knitted garment! I decided to go ahead with the February Baby Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman but upsize it for my almost 4yr old girl. I'm using notes from various sources on Ravelry including Soulemama's, and hoping it will turn out well enough to wear. Yes, I'm still in my jammies, it's cold here you know. See that chubby wubby hand in the picture? She's now very good at grabbing everything, even with her eyes closed. I cast on 60 stitches, am using Addi Turbo's: size 4mm 80cm circular needles. I am also using my very small stash of wool. I think this is Baby Layette 4ply I picked up from Spotlight ages ago. The pattern calls for garter stitch (the purly bumps you can see curled up) but I prefer the look of stockinette which is the knit stitch in the front of the work. There's something about purl knitting which I do not enjoy. Anyhoo, I also used her Make 1 increase, which is essentially a backwards loop hooke...

I am a blogger. This is me. On many days. It's mid-morning. No make-up. Just plain 'ol me. I read a post about Bloggers with No Make-up a while ago and it's stuck in my head. We see other blogs with perfect pictures, perfect rooms, perfect families, perfect crafts. While it is enviable I believe that there are moments where it's not perfect. Where there are messy floors, messy kitchens, messy kids and messy moments. Yup, that's life and believe me, it's good to realise that once in a while. Good not to get caught up in perfectionism or the want of. I haven't had much time-out for myself these days so I am getting more frustrated and the lists of things I want to do are piling up in my head. I found that crocheting allows me a little time to be creative but it definately works better when a little hand isn't grabbing at the wool. On the sewing front I haven't been able to cut out any pattern yet. There's something holding me back. It's like I ...

For some reason I thought I could teach myself crochet, in one weekend! But I've become stuck. Hindered by impatience, bad wobbly web crochet instructional videos, being half-focused, chores and children. You know. You are nodding right now. So I've figured out how to chain, slip stitch and double treble. What I lack is how to count, good tutorials and time. I know I made a few mistakes above and then Baby J decided to yank on the yarn and I gave up. I did find this nice tutorial on the flower I want to make. It's called the Tawashi flower . I didn't know if Round 1 means you start with this or you do the magic ring and then start it. Hmmmmm. I'm dying to know. I might have to ask the Ravelry gods tonight. On the other hand I have this little gem to deal with. Along with my other two, yes I know I still have other two toddlers but the cute factor on this one is too good not to share. Oh and it's tax season down here too. That means lots of June sales and bargain...

I finished the beanie! Woo hoo what an adventure that was. I tried circulars and double-pointed needles for the first time. I wish I'd watched the knittingtipsbyjudy video's on youtube. She had some great tips and showed you what to do with those loose ends. Anyway, the beanie came out a little bit 'pointy' so maybe it requires some blocking? It fits her 3.5yr old head quite well but I wish it would stretch slightly bigger so it's a teeny bit looser. We like it very much though. I went to my local library which is conveniently located just in the opposite room to our playgroup. I grabbed all the kids and with a baby in the sling and one arm grabbing hold of my run-a-way 2yr old boy I snatched up the only knitting book I could find. It seemed to be quite a good investment when I perused through it at home. Even though it looks very daggy and outdated it was printed in the early 80's, I found really great information on shaping, colourwork and even this pattern wh...

I finally made a start with the Little Girl's Prism Beanie. I was having a bit of trouble with the pattern from Lincraft and now I know why. I'm not a beginner knitter nor an experienced knitter but I know my knits from purls and have even done cables before. So I was stumped when my single knit ridges were all over the place. After some help from Ravelry members it was deemed that the pattern needed to be corrected. In order to achieve this type of ribbing it is simply a K1, P1 (knit one, purl one) pattern repeat. Simple as that. The instructions say to do that for the first row and the second row is K2, P1. Whaaat? Go figure. Don't they have pattern testers at Lincraft? Anyway, the Prism yarn is luscious and soft. I adore it. Needless to say I am so in love with my new Addi Turbo's I bought from The Thread Room that I cast on another set to knit up the February Girl Sweater (rav link) for my almost 4yr old. Let's just say I have great expectations of myself with...