Models at Last

Finally I've written up the pattern for the Little Vesta and Little Vesta 2 I knit for my nieces Jaycee Mae (5yr) and Karlia (7yr).

The hold-ups were that I knit these vests for their birthdays and had to wait for their special days to pass, and then I wanted photos of them wearing their vests.

And now I have photos:

Jaycee Mae in Little Vesta

Karlia in Little Vesta 2

The patterns are now published in Ravelry.  Yeah!

Gathering of Sticks and String

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA!

Last evening at The Bloomin Bog a wee group of friends gathered for an S&B, a BBQ and a Canada Day celebration.  The binding yarn thread - friendship, a love of knitting, and all things to do with sticks and string!

The weather was perfect - a wonderful sunny 20C, no humidity, and a gentle breeze.  Even the bities had a day off [nodding upwards and giving thanks!]

Amidst the pouring of wine, the clicking of needles and the laughter of women-folk (barr Deb's brilliant man-slave, Dan), the BBQ sizzled and the aroma of wonderful salads, sausages and steak filled the air.  Mmmm......BBQ...... 

Following the culinary delights that only a pot luck and BBQ could offer, our group of 15 wandered down to the back yard where we set up to knit and nibble on donuts and these cute little sheep (made from cherry chip cake, sprinkles and liccorice)!  They were good!

As the fire subsided Dan braved the super hot flames and embers and made us all marshmallow smores graham cracker thingies.  They were good too!  I believe there may be videographic evidence of me eating my first one ever.  Let's hope that never sees the light of day Rebecca [chuckle].

Around 9pm we figured it was time to start a fire for our fireworks. Ably led by Barb and Erinkate [Girl Guide Extraordinaire and Scout Leader], and a candle flame from Laurie, a crackling fire warmed the air. The smell of fire soon brought out my fire-bug Nick and his never-ending supply of wood.  Our sweet little fire grew into a rip roaring bon-fire.

Right at dusk we let the firecrackers rip. A zinger here and there, a coupla rockets, some awesome fountains, a comet or two and a screamer. Wish I’d thought of sparklers.....:-(

We were missing a few friendly faces – peeps with previous engagements. Wish you could have all been here. But one friendly face in particular was absent, and she shoulda been there since the party was her brain-child – Kat we really missed you!

Thank you everyone for your part in making yesterday’s gathering a wonderful event!

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Em's Blu-ange Chullo

Last week at this time I was on the phone to my family in Australia.  The whole gang was there.  They had gathered at Mum and Dad's in Grafton to celebrate Mother's Day, Mum's birthday, my brother's birthday and my niece Karlia's birthday.  And yes, according to another niece, Emily (6yr old), there was indeed three birthday cakes!  I asked her which cake she liked the taste of most.  She diplomatically answered that they were ALL the best.

When I spoke with my sister, I asked her what gift I could knit for Emily for her birthday in July.  She suggested that I knit her a beanie (translation = toque) with earflaps. 

When I was on the phone to Emily I told her to keep an eye on the letterbox for a BIG package from Canada that would be arriving for her in a few weeks.  She was of course very excited.  Then she told me that she knew what I was going to send her.  I queried how she could possibly know.  She replied that I was sending her knitting.  When I asked her how she knew that, she replied "Aunty Isa, you always send me knitting".  I giggled and told her that I might not send her knitting this year.  She insisted that she knew what colour I was going to knit for her.  I asked her how she could possibly know since I didn't even know yet.  She reminded me then that her favourite colours are orange, blue and the rainbow!

So whether it was fated or not, I present:

Emily's Blu-ange Chullo

And, in the immortal words of Monty Python, now for something completely different...

Apparently, I might be old and faded, but I'm not beyond being a bridesmaid at a friend's wedding!  Ugh!  C'mon now...really?  A dress and shoes?  Ugh...ugh!  The last time I wore a bridesmaid dress was in 1985.  It was hideous.  Long, with puffy lace sleeves, a hoop in the bottom and lime green in colour.  Eeeeew!

My friend's wedding is scheduled for 2011 in September and will be held in our own lovely gardens at The Bloomin Bog.  Oh man..........  I haven't worn high heeled shoes and a dress for 11 years.

So there's the news this end.  I'm off now to start a new knitting project.  And I have absolutely NO IDEA what it will be!!

Coupla FOs

Time is not my friend at the moment.  So many things are pulling me in all sorts of directions, and it's hard to find a few minutes to sit down and be quiet.

Tonight I didn't have to cook - that's my Sunday "reward".  So that means I have a small window of opportunity to blog.

Not that there's anything much to blog about, but I did finish two projects since my last post.

Last month I knit a vest for my lovely little niece Karlia.  Her birthday is next week, and she'll be turning 7.  You'd be correct in thinking that you've seen this pattern before.  I wrote the pattern for my other lovely little niece, Jaycee who turned 5 in April.

Karlia's vest was knit from Diamond Yarn Fine Merino Superwash DK.  It knit up very nicely, but when I washed it to block it....UGH.  The vest GREW quite long!  Very disappointing.  I hope it still fits Karlia and doesn't become a dress!

Here's the finished project:

Karlia's Vesta

Last month I got a new cell phone - a Sony Ericcson.  So I decided I needed a sweet little cozy for it.  I bought some glass beads, and used some left over Koigu from the Gerlinde Fingerless Gloves.

This project was mindless and took no time at all to finish.

Beaded Sony Mobile Phone Holder

Crikey, Blimey and Poop!

The title says it all.  Remember back in January when I had all that good luck and was worried about cosmic forces crashing down around me?

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaa..........

Well, enter April!  Whatever could go wrong did.  Brutal month.

Things have settled down again now, but the drama and stress held me hostage for a while.  I've got the cold sores and husky voice as proof.

I didn't even have the energy or inclination to knit much.  I finished a little jumper for my new nephew in law, Hunter, a dazzling little tooth fairy bag for my niece, Emily, and a pair of fingerless gloves for my Mum for Mother's Day.

Here are some pics:

Hunter's PC

Tooth Fairy Pouch

Gerlinde Fingerless Gloves

Lookin' Good in the Hood

La, la, la, la, la, la, laaaaah!

I've got a new hoodie!  After knitting for what seemed like an eternity, my Chocolate Rogue Hoodie is finally finished!  Perhaps it seemed to take so long because of other knitting interruptions; namely the Little Vesta for Jaycee and the Gattsbaby Jacket for Hunter.

Looking back at my Ravelry project page, I note that I cast on my Chocolate Rogue on 6 February, 2010.  Then from 4 -23 March I put the hoodie aside while I worked on my other two projects.  So I guess it really only took 5 weeks to knit.  Hmm.....just seemed so much longer.....

Anyway, here are some photos of my finished hoodie:

It's Been a While

Sometimes when I blink, I swear that more than a moment passes.  Seems like the last six weeks have been nothing more than a wrinkle in time.

Not that I haven't been busy - it's the opposite actually.

• I made it through the Olympics - knitting furiously, but not finishing my Rogue Hoodie.
• I wrote and desktop published a 56 page colour catalogue for our business.
• I built a new website for the business.
• I bought new software for the business sales computer and entered 700 inventory items (each with 15 fields!).
• I interviewed 20 job applicants and selected two additional staff to the four I already have.
• I ordered a whole load of stock for the business.
• I had a birthday - lovely day.
• I knit my niece a vest.
• I knit a baby jacket for my NIL's (niece in law) baby shower.
• And I wrote and desktop published a spring newsletter.

So here are some photos of my knitting:

Little Vesta for Jaycee Mae

Gattsbaby Sweater

P.S.  Since the photo I fixed the alignment problem on the baby jacket.

I Told a Lie

Yeah, I told a wee lie in my last post [smack, smack and three Hail Marys].  I wrote that after I finished knitting the Blackforest Hilja Vest, I'd be casting on a double-knit scarf.

Therein lies the lie!

Since I mostly knit in front of the TV, and double knitting requires concentration and looking at what you're doing, I decided the scarf would have to wait.

Besides, I'm crook.  Real crook.  Grumble....grumble.....  Landed myself a fabulous bout of the flu.  It started on Friday with the sore throat from HELL.  By Sunday, my voice was gone!  I know it's hard to imagine ME quiet.  And it was damn hard not speaking for two full days!  Bloody hell!

And now it's Monday.  I still feel yucky, but the sore throat is tolerable, the voice - although deep and husky - is also back.  BUT now I've started the coughing (reads "bad night's sleep").

So since I've been unable to do much of anything, I've been knitting.  I needed fairly mindless projects since my feverish condition rendered my concentration quite useless.  Amen to the Turner Classic Movie channel!

Blackforest Hilja was finished on Friday:

Front

Back

And so, on Saturday I cast on for another hoodie.  This one is called Rogue, by Jenna Wilson.  Not only is Rogue in my queue, but the yarn was in my stash!  (long live NYE resolutions!).

I'm knitting Rogue with Cornelia Hamilton Heaven's Hand Wool Classic yarn .  It's a worsted weight, variegated yarn in chocolate and dark chocolate brown.  I actually love the yarn and the colour, but I'm glad this project is very light on the cabling because the cables are lost in the darkness of the browns.  I figured they would be.

No matter - Rogue is a good TV project during my hiatus from work!