Catching up

Hello! Today is the first day here that truly feels like Spring. It’s also the first day in a week that I feel well (stupid virus, nothing serious) and maybe it’s a combination of those two things that has prompted me to tidy out my iPhoto library today and come say hello with pictures.

It’s not that I haven’t been busy creating (apart from last week) but quite the opposite and once there’s too much to say I find it becomes harder to say anything.

In the last weeks the dresser got Spring cleaned – I found myself picking out yellow and pink china and it snowballed from there.

I was thrilled to get the opportunity to begin teaching one of the MAC’s adult evening Textile classes (insert whooping and cheering). This has taken me on a journey back in time and a re-birth in skills once learnt and used. I studied all kinds of Textile art for my degree before specialising in Print and it has been really invigorating prepping samples to show the students – here’s some batiking I did inspired by these gorgeous anemones.

I’m excited to see how teaching this class will develop my own work as these things always have a synergistic effect.

You know the saying “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” well this couldn’t be truer in the context of me teaching my daughter to crochet. First she knocked out her own gorgeous Granny Square blanket as her first project, then set about a huge Granny Square blanket as a friend’s birthday gift (here’s where I got jealous!) then for Mothers Day she made me this beautiful cushion cover for a pillow on our bed 😍

And the making = love message has been strong in our house of late as we celebrated a BIG birthday this weekend. We can’t believe our kids are 18 and 20 – where did the time go?

Lemon and Blueberry Buttermilk Cake with edible flowers for the girl who gave up chocolate for Lent.

And following the tradition to have a special item to commemorate a landmark birthday like 18, this little pumpkin asked me to knit her a cardi! Ahh…

It did nearly kill me as it’s the most complex thing I’ve done yet but that’s how you up your skills level isn’t it!

Here’s a little snap of my Spring inspired work table to leave you with. Hope the sun’s shining where you are.

Socks!

Hi – can you guess what this post is all about?!

 

It is one year and three months since I first learnt to knit a sock and since then I have knitted 9 pairs –  6 as gifts, 3 for me.

 

 

I thought I’d quickly show you my Christmas knits – Auntie’s purple socks above, HB’s (self-chosen yarn – cute) below and underneath that my SIL’s pair.

I think it’s safe to say that I’ve pretty much mastered the plain sock and I declare 2015 the year to try a sock with a knitted pattern to it (as opposed to a self striping patterned yarn) or maybe both!

It’s nice to make a record here of the 9 achieved so far and make myself accountable for stepping up a gear (excuse the pun!)

 

Stash busting

Sometime ago I was lucky enough to be given a sack of my M-I-L’s project leftover’s and that added to my own growing collection of To Do’s, has meant a lot of wool in storage. This past year I have tried to actually use some up rather than keep buying stuff for new projects. This has worked out well mostly except for my weakness for buying new sock yarns.

It has been a struggle to identify the yarns sometimes and then find patterns to suit or do the maths to convert yarn and pattern to match. This baby-wrap above was a case in point but I managed to make something which turned out the right size and shape and it’s now donated to the Made4Aid site if your interested in purchasing it for charity.

I finally edged my granny’s blanket from years back before the yarn got re-purposed for another project.

I made a granny square cushion for a friends birthday…

and knitted some hanger covers in some cottons that look lovely but are hard to use for wearable things as there isn’t much stretch to the yarn.

I bought this wool years ago in Whitby for a scarf for myself and whilst I still love the yarn with it’s changing hues and specks of gold, I knitted it into a tie-able scarf for my mum for Christmas.

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All that hasn’t really made a good dint in it yet – there’s more to come!

In the pink

I have just cast off these lovely pink socks and I think they have been my favourite knit so far, for many reasons.

Number one has got to be because when I began them I was dog-sitting Lottie who had just come home from the vets having had her knee surgery. I bought the wool while we were killing time waiting for her operation to be done so we could bring her home.

Once she got back, for a few days I just couldn’t leave her downstairs alone for long stretches of time while I worked upstairs, so I found myself sitting beside her bed knitting these. Now they’re finished they bring happy thoughts that, that difficult time was worth it as she is recovering nicely now.

The second reason is this yarn. The shop owner who said I’d never go back after trying Debbie Bliss yarn was SO right. I don’t know why it’s so heavenly – this is Rialto 4 ply 100% Merino wool – but it feels like nothing I’ve ever used before and it knits up beautifully. Now I’m not a perfectionist, I drop stitches and find them later, but would you look at how perfect this knitting is!!

The third reason is my down to my new pyjamas!! Oh, how I love new pyjamas – for some women it’s too many shoes, my weakness is my constant need for new pj’s! It wasn’t conscious (but it had to unconscious) that I chose wool in the exact same colour as the trims on my new pj’s – man, I am now warm, snuggly and matching from top to toe! lol.