Stitchmarkers

I was hit with a creativity drive and went off and made some stitchmarkers...

Is it really July?

Gosh it's been a long time since I posted anything as there has been so much going on!


Alice is growing by the second and is not my little baby any more - At 8 months old she looks like a 10-12 month old.

It's been very cold here this last month, Alice sleeps in a baby sleeping bag but gets cold hands, so after a quick search on Ravelry I managed to find a cute pattern for fingerless Mitts - Sucky Thumb Mitts by Marianne Cant

The Legwarmers have worked a treat as She has mastered crawling backwards commando style and rolls to get forward, she has on many occasions got up onto all fours and rocked but she shows no inclination towards moving forward into a crawl.

I managed to finish the cardi (Sunday Brunch by Sublime Yarns)  my Nana-in-law started and I was quite pleased with the finished product considerign the pieces were all different lengths and widths

June was the month of hats, I had to make hats for three of my friends little girls:

Cara is also growing up, she is at Kindergarten three afternoons a week and is a sponge for learning at the moment, really interested in everything. Her artwork is beautiful and she really is good at puzzles.

Its the end of the month...

So what have I acheived this month? not a lot really.....

I finished Alice's stripey Cardi, and I am reasonably happy with it.

I taught myself to magic loop using u-tube video's and made leg warmers for Alice. 

They are a big wonky on the ribbing but not too bad for my first efforts,  and they have proven very useful over the last few days of bad weather. Next time though I will make them longer as they are a little short.


I have made a start on all the hat presents that I have promised my friends kids  - I have three to complete and its already winter!

I bought more yarn....

Some lovely Cinque Terre from Knitsch, she also sent me some cute notecards.

I participated in another swap in the Ravelry $10 Swap group, which has been really fun so far. I got loads of great stuff this month from a Chicago Raveller and it included some lovely Bamboo yarn.

May, BRRR it's winter already

Its May over here in New Zealand and that means even though its still technically Autumn, its basically Winter because its soo darn cold!

My hands are so cold right now I must knit some nice gloves...

I participated in another yarn swap with a lovely american lady and got the most awesome package which included some Malabrigo Silky Merino, Some hand Dyed Cotton, a bag, 2 patterns, and she even included a colouring in book, crayons and sunglasses for my daughter and a catnip toy for my cat.

I sent her some Sirdar Calico, a Pattern for the Noble Cowl, some buttons, and coloured pins, a gift bag, a sheep magnetic notepad, and a bag of Pineapple lumps

















I am very excited about trying the Malabrigo, I think I'll make the scarf pattern she sent as it looks gorgeous.

Its been a trying week at home, my baby daughter Alice has just cut her first tooth  - not a moment to soon as she is dreadful whilst teething. My older daughter Cara has started on tantrums again, sigh, I know I have to be patient but GRRRR! On the bright side, my Great Aunt is visiting and its been lovely to see her.

Just Checking in....

Well its been a lousy 4 days so far....
I caught a nasty gastrobug in the weekend and haven't been able to do anything! It's been so bad that my dear husband has had to take time off work to look after the kids and I haven't been able to knit even one stitch! Worst of all I missed my knitting group meeting yesterday and I am very sad as I really enjoy those meetings. Thankfully we are meeting up tonight so I shall drag myself along for an hour or so as I am no longer sick - just tired.

Anyway I am trying not to be a drama queen so lets focus on what else I've been up to since my last post.

I finished a hat which I had intended for a friends little girl, however my daughter Cara went mad for it because its pink, so I let her have it and I'll make another one in green.

My kids are growing up! My eldest is now at Kindergarten (USA equivalent = preschool)  three afternoons a week and my youngest just started solids and is trying to crawl.
It leaves me with a bit more time up my sleeve and I have been eyeing up some more challenging projects to do - now I just have to wait for my Knit Picks order to arrive from the USA.

Book and Yarn Swap - Parcel Received

I received my parcel from the USA!
Many thanks to Vanessa from New Jersey who was my swap partner.
Unfortunately, New Zealand Post opened up my parcel and broke into all the Easter eggs, but it didnt stop my daughter making a beeline for them!

I received a Ball of Chunky Green Sugar and Creme yarn, (which I will turn into a hat for my daughter), a copy of  The Sword and The Chrysanthemum by Susan Scharfman, an activity book called The Girls Doodle Book for my daughter (who loves it) and lots of yummy chocolate Easter eggs.

Slow going with this AWFUL yarn...

I am tring very hard to finish this sweater for my eldest daughter, its not a hard pattern, its on 4.5mm needles and you'd think that I would have finished it by now considering its been on my needles for 3 weeks! Alas there is a hiccup - the yarn - its AWFUL! its Panda Magnum Soft - a 100% acrylic that my daughter chose for herself so I couldn't say no .... 

It was fine in the ball, seemed soft enough but once I started knitting it I began to hate it - its scratchy, itchy and not soft enough for my liking! Its not that I hate acrylics in general I just hate this one and its enough to make me vow to never buy a 100% acrylic again!

Panda Magnum Soft

I decided to test myself on a different acrylic to see if its just the panda and yes it is, I started knitting with the King Cole Splash I was given and successfully finished the back of a Cardi for my younger daughter over two nights, whilst also struggling to do about 10 rows of the other....... (sigh). The King Cole is fine to knit with - no problems at all and I like the self striping pattern.   I promised myself that I will finish the magnum yarn and then never buy it again.

King Cole Splash