All Things Mum

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 Even though it looks very daggy and outdated it was printed in the early 80's, I found really great information on shaping, colourwork and even this pattern wh...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...

Over the weekend we celebrated a great blessing. Baby J had her christening and in her true style she was fussing most of the way through it. She did manage to stay quiet while the priest walked her around the altar. My kids don't do well during their christenings. There's just too much fuss going on for their own liking. We don't get many good photo's either. However, I managed to snatch some really lovely ones during quiet time. The gorgeous headband is a creation of Grace Designs . Rosalind worked with me to design the prettiest headband which made her look all too beautiful. My sister in law found her a christening dress so I didn't need to make her one. Which was rather fortunate as I was sick before and left a lot of things to the last minute. We had a cheeky priest who was quite funny and good with Baby J. She cried when the water was poured on her head. I took this snap with the camera held high as I could not get close enough. There were many other cameras ...

My kitchen table. The only space which is sort of clear and wide enough to place fabric. I picked up some lovely charcoal linen today and set to work on arranging the pattern pieces for a shirt for the boy. It was hard to find the right fabric but luckily Baby J had fallen asleep. Probably bored from waiting for me to pick up a bolt which was taking far too long. When she woke though she was too cute, smiling at the lovely ladies in the store. Thoughts: Linen. Shirting. Linen. Crinkly. Shirty.. Ugly... White... Messy.. Hmmmm. Charcoal it is. As with all Japanese patterns you must not forget to include your seam allowances. The standard is 1cm but there are places where they will trick you and add a little more if you're not paying attention. So I chalked in my lines, making a few mistakes here and there but it's chalk so it's all good. You know. Some really cute curtain fabric for the kids room. It was a bargain at $6 a metre. Could not pass it up but it came in wonderful c...

A hat trick: three littlies asleep at the same time. I armed myself with some tools of the trade and snuck into the sewing room. I did some rolled hems for the first time. Excuse the cloudy day, late afternoon pictures. I just bought this sewing and knitting gauge. Oh my, what a great little tool and it was so cheap. At $1.60 it was well worth the tiny investment. It even allows you to do scallops! (perhaps more on that later). Hemming and buttonholing will never be the same again. I went to work on the lining of my silk dress. I know it's winter here and all but I am going to wear it this weekend for Baby J's christening. I had my sister pin up the hem for me the other day. Tips: When someone is taking up hems for you look straight ahead and keep your posture upright. You should also wear the shoes you intend to wear with the outfit. So I ended up cutting about 5 inches off, as that is where I wanted the hem to finish and chalked the points along the hem so I knew where to cut...

The kids went to daycare. I went shopping. I bought goodies. I rejoiced in kid-free time but of course, it all went by too quickly. At Lincraft I found some chambray to make a shirt for my Little Man. There wasn't anything else that looked even remotely available for shirt making. I was much disappointed. However, their lace range is quite extensive. I found this beautiful guipure lace. If you can't pronounce it, then certainly it is special! I also found a free beanie pattern for my 3yr old. I bought the yarn in the world's greatest colour. Isn't there a pink gene in most little girls??? They had a shocking non-existant amount of circular needles in stock so I will have to make this one up with two needles. Unless I make it to Spotlight in a few weeks. By then the cold of Winter would have set in really good and I will be too cold to venture out. Anyway, more creative spaces at Kootooyoo !