Nearly time to go back to work

I'm really glad I've started blogging regularly. One of the major reasons is I am currently a lady of leisure! I quit my job that was taking up way too much time, and have been spending time at home. During this time I've participated in Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, iHanna's Postcard Swap and worked on a few projects. I've been able to go to Brown Owls meetings and meet friends for lunch or dinner.

I've found a new job though, and am starting back after the Easter Break.

My new job starts early and finishes early, so I'm hoping I can continue blogging and crafting. 
Baudelaire progress sockon
In fact my goal is to finish this pair of Baudelaire socks. We are going away for the Easter long, long weekend, and I want to do a lot of work on these socks!

BaudelaireProgress

Wool Addiction - Yarn store review

On the weekend we visited Bowral, in the NSW Southern Highlands, for a wedding. While there, I managed to fit in a trip to the yarn store, Wool Addiction. I actually grew up in Bowral, so I was very interested to see what the new shop was like. It was amazing!

Wool Addiction is one of the nicest yarn stores I have seen in Australia. It is big, there is lots of room to walk around and display the yarn. It is a nice, light, store, with big windows. It had a good range of yarns, at good prices. Some of the yarns I saw were Debbie Bliss Cashmerino, Aslan Trends, and a big selection of Noro. The staff were pleasant and helpful. I was asked once if I needed help, then left free to browse. When I was making my purchase, the woman raved over the colour, and asked me what I would use it for. I also asked about classes and workshops, and was given some info, and told to check out the website for upcoming stuff.

I'm going to try and do a class or workshop, because I'd love to go back! It is definitely worth a trip to Bowral, especially as Bowral is such a pretty day trip from Sydney with lots of cafes, lovely gift and homeware shops.

I did accidently buy some sock yarn, it was so beautiful and I hadn't seen the brand before. So I have made myself start working again on my Baudelaire socks
.
Yummy


Info: Yummy by Fibra Natura, 100% Superwash Merino Wool. It is 130g - 370 yards, and it's pot dyed. The colour is 41360, a gorgeous blend of purples.

Has anyone else been to any good yarn/craft shops in NSW recently?

Cute Amigurumi Easter Bunny

I saw this tutorial on Craft to make a crochet amigurumi style bunny. It inspired me to finally try one out. I have a Japanese book on amigurumi, and have tried a few free tutes before, but just never got it.

Amigurumi bunny side

I sat down on Saturday night, and started it in a cream cotton I had in my stash. It kept splitting and I got through the head before realising I wouldn't have enough for  the whole toy. So I dug through my stash and found some old brown yarn (not sure what brand, I bought it in Japan, I know it's 100% wool, but that's all), and finished it on Sunday.

I think it looks really cute, I'm sending it off to The Boy's sister for her birthday/ Easter.

If you look closely, you can see the ears are slightly different, I must have missed a row somewhere, but I think it adds to its "homemade" appeal!

Amigurumi Bunny

Completed postcards for iHanna's Postcard Swap!

Okay, after days of creating mess, I've finished all my postcards for the handmade postcard swap on iHanna's Blog.

handmade postcard-countrysidehandmade postcard - red patchworkhandmade postcard - rainbowhandmade postcard - pink patchworkhandmade postcard - lavabursthandmade postcard - greenshandmade postcard - flowerhandmade postcard - fishhandmade postcard - circleshandmade postcard - beach
They were quite labour-intensive! I first went through all my old magazines and cut out and pictures with interesting colours, patterns or textures. Then I tore those into small pieces and sorted out by colour. I sketched basic designs as a plan, then pasted each torn up piece individually on to the postcard using Clag glue. With two of the postcards, I was losing motivation and inspiration with the mosaic style, so I instead, I pasted larger pieces in a patchwork style, with little pictures on top, using colours as a theme.

In the end, I'm pleased with how they turned out, I haven't done paper craft since highschool/uni, so it was a new craft method for me. I have always loved mosaics and that was obviously a big inspiration for me. I will post them out today, my postcards are going all over the world!

There is a Flickr group if you'd like to see what other people have been creating!

My Creative Space - and my 1st postcard!

My first postcard in the iHanna Postcard Swap from A Bird in the Hand
I have been very busy making postcards for the iHanna Postcard swap. I have the addresses for ten people to send postcards to, and will be getting ten handmade postcards sent to me!

I found the first one in my letterbox yesterday afternoon, isn't it gorgeous! You can see the others she made at A Bird in the Hand. It makes me feel a bit embarrassed about my own. I have been working on them a bit everyday this week, and am hoping to finish them today.

My creative space is the lounge room floor:


My idea was to create mosaic pictures with torn out scraps from magazines. I started putting the little scraps in shoebox lids, but quickly ran out of room, and am now using the floor. Of course, little pieces of paper are being tracked through the apartment....

I  should be finished them all by today, and tomorrow I'll do a post showing the completed postcards! If you'd like to see more handmade postcards, check out iHanna's blog post.

If you'd like to see more creative spaces, check out Kootoyoo

My Knitting and Crochet Time - 2KCBWDAY7

I've made a Polyvore set illustrating my knitting and crochet time. I would usually wear jeans and a T-shirt, and maybe a cardigan or hoodie if it's cold. I like to knit sitting on the couch in our loungeroom, looking out at our courtyard with little colourful snapdragons. I like to glance at my tropical fish, swimming in the tank,which is next to the couch. I get distracted by books and the internet!

I listen to:

Triple J An Australian radio station

Cast on A knitting podcast by Brenda Dayne
So Frenchy, So Chic A CD collection of cool French tunes

I drink:
T2 Blue Mountains Loose leaf black tea with a hint of sweetness
Dr Stuarts Wild Fennel Tea Tea bags with a strong licorice flavour

........................................................................................

And so ends Knitting and Crochet Blog week. I've had a lot of fun, blogging every single day, and reading other people's blogs too. I've learnt that it doesn't take as long to create a blog post as I thought, so I should just get to it! My most popular topics were my easiest, which proves that you should blog about what you love! I knew my unfinished socks would be a popular post, as it was always a joke at my knitting group night, and although I struggled on the creative day, once I decided to just take photos of my gorgeous alpaca toy, it was easy and effective.

In fact, if you were one of the people that loved my cute little alpaca, I am going to make him a regular fetaure of my blog! Whenever I travel, I'll bring him along, and have some fun photos of him in front of landmarks and tourist attractions. It should be fun!

Something to Aspire to -2KCBWDAY6


What I really aspire to is amazing fair isle or colourwork.

Recently I saw this Debbie Bliss Magazine (Issue 5), and was blown away by the sweater on the front.

V neck Fair Isle sweater by Debbie Bliss, Debbie Bliss Magazine Fall/Winter 2010
I've always loved this sweater from Interweave Knits:

Venezia Pullover by Eunny Jang, Interweave Knits, Winter 2006
These sweaters, and others like them, are so inspirational to me. I haven't done any colour work, so my goal for this winter is to learn, and make a hat. If that is successful, and I enjoy the technique, I will reward myself by purchasing the required yarn to knit one of these sweaters.

Have you seen any other Fair Isle style or colourwork sweater or cardigan patterns that you think I might like?

Check out other blog posts on this topic by Googling 2KCBWDAY6, or click here

And Now For Something Completely Different! - 2KCBWDAY5

Who doesn't love alpaca?
















Where are they now?

These hats are hats that are no longer with us...Lost on the streets of distant countries.

The first hat, a simple cable beanie was knit for The Boy when we lived in Japan. I can't remember what pattern or yarn I used, and it was done before I had a blog, or even a knitting notebook, so I have no notes. It would have been one of my first projects. It was lost one evening, very sad...

The second beanie was knit without a pattern, just a basic hat, and random stripes according to how much yarn I had left. It was completed in England, for The Boy, and again, lost.

Now this sounds like The Boy is very irresponsible and disrespecting of hand-knitted goods. Quite the opposite. He is the most appreciative and supportive of my knitting and craft hobbies, and is always pleased and proud to wear something I knit him. I've heard him tell people (completely apropos of nothing) that the article he is wearing was knit by me. But everyone can lose hats, and this is proved by the fact that I too have lost one.

The third hat is the Cabled Newsboy Hat (Ravelry link) from Debbie Stoller's Stitch 'n Bitch Nation. It was the first project I made that used knitting in the round and cables. I was so proud of myself, and I loved wearing it. The yarn was a Japanese yarn, Puppy brand, and had alpaca in it. It was so cozy and warm. I lost it one day when we were in London, I had lots of bags with me and was getting hot and flustered, I took it off and put it on the top of my handbag. I realised soon after that I had lost it, we looked in the streets and asked at the counter of shops we had been into but it was gone. I do wonder what happened to it.

I've always meant to knit another one, this might be the year I do. And the boy has had the same beanie that I knit for him as a replacement for the other, he's had it for years now and not managed to lose it!

Check out other blogs posting on this topic by clicking on this link or searching for 2KCBWDAY4 in google.