Ahem, did I say multiple knits?

I don't have much time left in my holidays left, however next week I will have a testosterone free zone in my house, while all the male members are away... see my other blog for reasons why knitting has been minimal.. call it books and swimming...

While I promised bags of amigurumi knits we have one lonely nautie minus his tenticles..though there are plans for more

Annoyingly the book Amigurumi Knits by Hansi Singh which I ordered on Amazon is backordered and due in at the end of January..and I just joined the local library and guess what is there??

Four copies in Brisbane of this book!! damn it they are all out, regardless I am hoping between the library copies and the US snail mail..one day soon I might get to see a copy of this book...

Anyhow time to take the small boy to the movies..and then cast on a new nautie perhaps..

Clapotis Mark 3- "Ivy"

I tend to favour patterns, and the clapotis is one of these..I've started three ...finished one of these babies..

Using the exquisite hand dyed yarn of Evoke Melody in "Ivy" hand dyed by the gorgeous Elissa of the Yarn Cafe fame. At first I felt using this special yarn was a waste. Given the exordinary usage of my othe Clapotis at work (and the fact people steal it from me!) I decided only the best yarn would be needed for something I spent so much time with..


So another Clapotis is born...I am sad to admit that this is the only knitting I have done since my last post..I dropped the needles with the lack of energy so to speak.. but getting that back and hopefully my knitting mojo in time for my Xmas leave...

summer plans..

With my leave time looming I am dreaming of the things I am going to make (in between summer swimming, sea world visits and bike riding of course) oh and spring clean the house..

I am hoping that some of my leave time will be spent with a set of Addi clicks, a bag of wool scraps and making these little guys...

Hoping also to redo the boys room, I bought them new beds and I feel a new theme coming up!

stay tuned for that..but finally these are the guys I want to make.... I've loved them from afar for so long...

The extraordinarily talented Hansi Singh is responsible for these patterns....just hope I can get through them all!

Also Nautie (who Mr G says is an ammonite) as above right

I also have 3 new books..do you think I'm overly optimistic?

New edge for the hybid jacket..

I wish I could I credit myself for this glorious cable design..but no.. its the work of Kate Gilbert' cardigan for Arwen and also seing it in mini form here in the form of cardigan for merry..

Its not going to be the final design of this hybrid jacket but given the need for a firmer edge and that I've been yearning to ever since I saw the pattern..however I didn't like the deisgn of the rest of the jacket (too many flat sections)

Its a slow but enjoyable process, as its quite an intricate cable , and I'm no cable guru..but looking like its just what the hybrid jacket needed!

Hooded mischief

Its nearly done..but its not as I'd dreamt..I am wishing I'd chosen a cheap yarn to play with a at $10 a ball the Debbie Bliss eco despite its glory is getting expensive to frog..

there are a few bits the dont work for me, the neck line needs work, the ribbed edging is too frilly looking and floppy..the section across the chest is not as I'd hoped....

But you know the boy loves it, he thinks its done I need to move on....

What do you think? any suggestions?

I *heart* my Zuma

I love my knitting bag.

When I pick its soft purple straps up in my hands I feel instantly calm, I know my peaceful time of knitting is not far away..

I have owned a variety of bags over the years, never invested in a "proper" knitting bag before. I guess I thought I'd rather spend that money on yarn instead..


My knitting time is less frequent now, and so to have a special bag that holds my current WIP is amazing, I love the way the top opens and I can sit my yarn inside and it feeds out..I love that when its closed the magnets seal it tight..I love that when I am carrying it down the street it doesn't look like i am carrying a knitting bag but a large hand bag..

I also love my olive buddy case and the little mesh bags, its like having these special tools that make my knitting time even more perfect. I buy small little investments, like my leather bound measuring tape..its small and sweet and again makes me feel great when I pick it up..

If you want to check out Zuma Bags they are made by Namaste , I bought mine from Tangled Yarns while you can buy them online its really something I would rather buy in person..

Felix the Knitting Guru...

My son has seen me knit all his natural life..

He has had times when its been ever present (like the Baa Bum days) and other times where it gets pulled out in my limited spare time..like now..

He has strange relationship with knitting, he loves the needles and the bits but the knitted items have been something of a wavering fashion..recently I realised he doesn't like variegated yarn and wants the plain colours ..hence I am agreeing to knit for him again..

Today he visited Tangled Yarns with me to find some buttons for the jacket that is nearly his, ask Kelly , he fell in love with the orange cottons in the shop, and the gold yarns..and the black buttons and the row counters and the rainbow knit picks.. thanks to him I now have a Halloween special (see picture 1) on the to do list...as much as I appreciated his enthusiasm, he was worse than me on a yarn mission...seriously the boy can shop..if he had his own credit card he'd be a worry...

1. felix-wool-choice, 2. cardie-for-Felix, 3. cardie-for-Felix-2, 4. rowan-cotton-jeans, 5. cardie-for-Felix-3, 6. louise-harding-nautical-cotton-black

I've included some of the sneak peaks of the hooded jacket (which is still very much a WIP) the hood is still under some debate as to size and length..

pic # 4 is Rowan Cotton Jeans, and pic #6 Louise Harding's nautical cotton which was worth the gamble, looks so lush and shiny..plenty to keep my new obsession happy...

I'm learning plenty about cotton and tension, its really completely different to wool in its behaviour when knitted...stay tuned we're nearing the home run on version #1 of the Hybrid Jacket

Why buying online is dangerous...

no I'm not talking about over spending, this is about colour....I bought what I thought was speckled with brown blue tweed cotton..turns out its very much pink speckled..the exact colour Felix rejected the last knitted garment for him...hopefully Kian wont be as fussy?

And I kind of read the mix wrong I thought it was 70% cotton and 30 % silk..nope its 70% silk and 30 % cotton


Ah well it was a bargain (I see a little more of why now..) at $45 for 10 skeins of Rowan Summer Tweed well it does look like beautiful yarn!

Cottoning on...

..yes just like the person that is last to dress in the fashion of the moment, I am a late comer to loving cotton..


...yes I live in Queensland and you would think the realisation would have hit sooner, but if you know me you'll realise I am a stubborn individual and I rarely do things because they make sense...

.. I have knit with cotton blends and I remember the stringy little cottons of my childhood that my Oma gave me to crochet with, and then later around university when Crochet was my thing and money was scarce, cotton was yarn of choice...but then when I could afford to buy wool ...I did.. and I learnt how wonderful wool was to dye and knit..and that love affair with wool stayed for years..


.. when I saw others knit with cotton, I thought of that stringy-ness and static yarn and thought ugh..give me wool's flexibility anyday...


... not sure what has caused the sudden interest, I think it was falling for the Debbie Bliss Eco Yarn and realising that cotton could possibly be my friend too...


Please dont look too closely at my test piece, I realise that wool has hidden many years of sloppy knitting and I need to stop knitting close to bed time with a DVD and low lighting.....put it sunlight and presto out come the flaws...hopefully a good blocking will sort that out...

the start of the hybrid jacket on our front door ..which closed and locked me out shortly after

The lovely timber door makes a wonderful display..*note to self bring keys in pocket next time

Oh I love knitting to my own tune, I am brimming with new ideals and modifications....

Eco-developmental..

How do you choose your projects?

Do you pick a Pattern, and then choose the yarn that'll suit ... Do you see some gorgeous yarn and seek out the pattern to suit..

Maybe you see someone else's creation combination and imagine how it will look with your specifications..?

Perhaps you are likely to be similar to me, sometimes its the pattern (though its often hard to get the yarn and imagine how it will look reworked with the chosen yarn) and sometimes the yarn inspires you..

Occasionally I see a project in my head and then seek out the elements, often the pattern doesn't exist , I need to rewrite it in my head..the perfect pattern you have created take ALOT of reworking..I dont think I've ever struck it lucky first time. My longies pattern for example took 3 months of reworking then a few years of tweaking.

It was important to me then to make it look unique as there were several around with distictive styling. I think it would be harder than ever to get unique styling due the amount of similar patterns avaliable. That was important to me then as I was asked to make them to sell, what I do with my patterns is purely up to me..as I dont intend to make money from knitting for the time being, mainly because I dont have alot of time, and knitting is all about love for me at present..

Anyhow I am completely off track..essentially I have a pattern in my head that needs to be put into reality. For some reason I see this pattern intially in cotton and then by next year it will be in wool. Its called for now "the hybrid jacket" as its using several ideas from the recent knits and some other elements...


I found Debbie Bliss Eco Cotton at Tangled Yarns and its my testing yarn. Its 100% organic cotton and I am seeing it on Kian. I also sourced about 10 balls of Rowan Summer Tweed from a wool shop in England in a colourway that might appeal to the Fussy Felix, who it has been revealed that might like a*only blue* jumper...

I was going to make Felix's in the Debbie Bliss ECO but given Kian's senstive skin I'm saving the organic one for him and Felix will get the hardier Rowan version. I love the idea of summer knits..I've always favoured wool but something is drawing me with the idea of cotton!

I am not promising anything just yet, but say I manage to get this pattern the way I am seeing it from my head into yarn form.. I will write it down for public use..a sort of thank you for all the free patterns I've used over time..just be warned (as my Baa Bum knitters know well) I am not a brilliant pattern writer..but I do like simple patterns so I'll try my hardest to do a good job...