How do you top the TOP?

What a top week! It had everything: knitting, dyeing, felting, pics from home, and a wedding! Crikey!

Let's talk yarn first. I finished two knitting projects this week; my Green Anacardias (On Your Toes sock yarn) and my Double Trouble Cat Pi (Cascade Yarns Ecological Wool).

My Green Anacardias (pattern: Summer Sneakers No.2 "Anacardia" by Wollhuhn) turned out really well. I love the colours, but am not sold on the yarn:

My Double Trouble Cat Pi (pattern: Kitty Pi by Wendy D. Johnson) turned out fairly well. Next time I think I'd use the yarn held doubled for extra thickness and sturdiness. Although, my sweeties don't seem too worried that the kitty pi is a litte squishy:

Last Monday a package arrived. It was, of course, full of yarn! Whoot! My Blue Face Leicester Aran yarn had arrived! I ordered this yarn from a lovely lady on Ravelry (weetsie). I needed four skeins of it, and didn't want to spend $40 a skein plus shipping. So I bought bare yarn and dyed it! Each skein holds 410yds! So I had to do the dyeing in two stages. The whole process took me FOUR hours, but the results were worth it. I love the colours - very subtle semi-solid. I call this colourway Ozmoss:

Oh, and I suppose you're all wondering what I'm going to knit with it? Well, I bowed under pressure and bought the Central Park Hoodie by Heather Lodinsky pattern. I'm going to start swatching tonight!

On Friday, 14th August, a very special event was held at TBB. A wedding! And not just any wedding, but Kata & Will's wedding! What a fabulous day - sunny and warm weather, lovely setting beside the ponds, a very talented flautist who played so sweetly, beautiful and meaningful vows, stunning knitted ishbel, one handsome groom, and one beautiful bride:

Roxanne and I made some topiaries for the wedding, and they turned out so well! They looked gorgeous beside the lovely archway that Kata and her Mum decorated:

And then yesterday an email from my sister-in-law, Theresa. She sent me some wonderful photos of my beautiful nieces in the snow! Not only are they wearing the hoodies I made them for Christmas 2008, but they are also modelling the backpacks I felted for them for their birthdays! Awwwww:

(Karlia in blue; Jaycee in pink)

There's only one other thing that could have topped this week....but I won't tell. A gal has to have some secrets [smiling].

Etsy Shop

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later, and so without further ado, my Etsy presence:

OzB's Corner

I only just opened the store today, so there's very little available - just a few zippered project bags and a couple of project grab bags. I hope to get some knitting in there too, but that'll have to wait until later in the year when I have some spare [ha, ha, ha, ha, ha] time.

I already have a load of lovely fabrics, linings, zippers and zip pulls. My sewing machine needs a good service, and I think I might get that done later this month. Once October hits and the [ahem....I'm sorry to say} snow starts flying [according to the weatherman], I'll have time to sew and knit!

Oh mercy! Does life get any getter than this!

Bagmania

I've been bit by a bug! The bag bug. I've been sewing little project bags and needle bags, and they are such fun.

I've been knitting too - got some new socks on the needles. So, of course, I had to sew a project bag for them [laughing]. Then I needed a project bag for my Jewel Lacy Top. And then I needed a ONE big knitting needle case cos I was sick of searching endlessly through all my little make-shift needle cases.

Then my friend, Roxanne, jumped on the wagon, and asked for a bag for her tapestry threads. She loved it so much she asked me to make her a knitting needle case too.

So, here's the results of my labour:

Project Bag 3

Project Bag 4

Tapestry Yarn Bag

Knitting Needle Case 1

Knitting Needle Case 2

I'm quite the pro now. Maybe I should go into business?? If only I didn't already own one [laughing].

Yesterday we held our end of season staff break-up party. We had a fabulous bbq, and a great night! I baked dessert. What do you think I made? Yup, my signature pavlova:

That's it; that's all :-)

Life in the Creative Lane...

Despite work bogging me down [punn intended] I had time to do some much loved things this last week.

On Monday I planted! A grass garden for around our Inuksuk [glorified bird house]. I chose native grasses because of the birds, and designed the garden to look like a snake. The Inuksuk is of course made of wood, but he does stand over 8 feet tall!

On Wednesday I baked! Nothing fit for royalty, but none-the-less some good home-style baking. I made some chocolate chip muffins. There's a funny story behind the chocolate chip muffins. Every time this year that I made muffins or a birthday cake for one of my staff, Dave (salesman extraordinaire) always askd "where are the chocolate chips"? So, with this in mind, I made him the world's biggest chocolate chip muffin! Of course the staff hassled him and complained about favouritism and brown nosing [laughing].

On Thursday I shopped! Our mission was to get to Cannadale Garden Center's Customer Appreciation Weekend. And we weren't disappointed. We got some fabulous plants, and our staff built this lovely little garden from them. Total cost: $100 (including the cedar chips)!

On Saturday I sewed! Yep, I dragged out my old faithful Singer and whipped up some totally awesome knitting project bags. I found some great fabric - chocolate brown with knitting needles all over it! What was a girl to do but make project bags.

On Sunday I knitted! And much to my delight, I finished off my Seagreen Easy Goings socks. I used Lornas Laces sock yarn in the Huron colorway. This is the second time I knit a short row heel and love it! Thankfully I don't have a high arch, so the short row heels fits me just fine. I also improvised a little and added a bit of cabling to the instep.

Then on Monday I baked again! This time I built a pavlova for a pot luck dinner. It was delicious, as was all the food! Knitters sure can cook well [smiling].

Of course the week was not all fun. Afterall, I have a business to run. But, quite honestly, I don't remember a more creative week. And it felt GOOD!

These Socks Were Made for Walking

...and that's just what they'll do.....

My new socks that is. I cast them on last week, and completed them last night.

So, OK, they are only shortie sneaker socks, but another project is completed and ready for wearing [smile]. And it's still summer....or is it??

This was an easy knit pattern. Although a five row pattern repeat, it was simple to remember. The most notable thing for me is that this is my first short row heel with wraps! And I must say that I LOVE SHORT ROW HEELS. Up until my Shibui Reds, I'd always knit a heel flap and picked up stitches for a gusset. Somewhat painful when knitting two socks at a time on circs.

With this pattern, I did knit a short heel flap since they are short little ankle biters. The pattern, Summer Sneakers No.1 "Lotta" by Wollhuhn, called for a short row heel of my choice. So I followed along with Cat Bordhi's - Wrapping & Turning, Concealing Wraps YouTube video. It was brilliant!

I'm a convert!

Since these socks were knit from Lang Jawoll Color Aktion (cotton), I used the supplied reinforcing cotton and held both strands together for the heels and toes.

So, without further ado, I present to you my Jaywoll Sneaker Socks:

The next technique I'd like to learn is toe up socks. Maybe over the winter months when I have room in my head for something new [heh!].

My Limozeen

Nah, I don't really have my own limousine....but I do have my own limozeens! A pair in fact.....

Let me back track just a little - if you all recall, last year in August there was a big dyeing party down at Mega Pond at The Bloomin Bog.

Well, I dyed my first ever KnitPicks 80% merino, 20% nylon bare sock yarn there. Remember this:


I know it's taken me 10 months, but I finally used the yarn to make a pair of Nutkin Socks.

I was delighted to find that my dyed yarn didn't pool at all, and that the Nutkin pattern is quite visible despite the heavy variegation of colour.

So, here they are:

Limozeen Nutkins

Hat Trick

Do they say that good things come in threes? Oh who knows, and quite honestly, who really cares anyway?

Oh, wait....

I DO!

I got a hat trick....a lucky trifecta. Three completed Ayla Backpacks! Each niece, her own. The first one I knit was for Jaycee Mae. Hers was sunny yellow with a big red and white flower on it. The second backpack was for Karlia. Hers was a beautiful ocean blue with a seahorse on it. And the last in the trilogy..... Emily's. Her's is a fabulous orange with a brown burmese cat on it.

This last and final labour of love is called Tangerine Ayla. I lined this backpack with a gorgeous quilting fabric - beautiful cats! I'm sure she'll love it.

Photo gallery:

Quickie

My life is a blur. Work, work, work, knit, sleep. Over and over and over. It's like that movie - Groundhog Day.....

My working life is totally interfering with my knitting life.

As a quick update regarding the Red Sock competition - I did not win a prize for my red socks, however, my friend Laura and another Londoner, Mary Jane, did win prizes! Good for them both!!

I have so many WIPs, and not many FOs. From mid April to mid July I have six birthdays that I knit for. These birthdays couldn't occur at a worse time for me in terms of my lack of time. However, I've been soldiering along and my production line is moving, albeit slowly.

Last week I sent off the Cerulean Blue Ayla (felted backpack) for Karlia. Her birthday is on 12 June, so it should arrive in Australia in plenty of time. It turned out really well, and I hope she loves it as much as I loved knitting it.

Cerulean Blue Ayla

Last week I also finished off the Gerlinde Wavy Feathers Wimple for my Mum for her birthday on 8 June. I already phoned her and apologised profusely for its late arrival. She was very understanding [smiling].

Gerlinde WFW

Yesterday I cast on the last [hopefully] of the felted backpacks! This one is for Emily (birthday on 16th July) and I have called it the Tangerine Ayla. Emily's favourite colour is orange, so I figured I would hand dye some Cascade 220 for it. Well, I should have stopped when I had a couple of very pretty skeins of orange, but noooooooo....I had to go spoil it all by sprinkling a bit of blue on it before nuking it in the microwave.

Although it's not HIDEOUS, it isn't gorgeous either. I suppose it's growing on me, but it just doesn't yell ..... Tangerine Ayla for a 5yr old little girl. So I bought some pretty orange Cascade instead.

Mouldy Oranges

And now I'm off to knit!