Lace Bonnet

If you are a liker over on the facebook page you would know last night I finished a lace bonnet and I was so happy I did a little dance. A Crafty friend of mine who usually makes wonderful photo props for a photographer friend of hers had a request for a lace bonnet, but unfortunately she didn’t have the time to make one so she asked if I could maybe, possibly take the order on. And so I had the task of knitting lace for the 1st time. I say for the 1st time, but I have knitted lace before but only ever on the sleeves or edges of a cardigan nothing this involved. The pattern the photographer had didn’t have sizing either so I began the search for a similar bonnet to knit in a size to fit a 3 month old. Yet I couldn’t find anything I liked. Everything was too chunky, not chunky enough, no frill, too much frill, nothing was just right. So instead I thought hey I’ll just make it up. Why not.

I found this lace pattern No.23 and this bonnet pattern and decided to use them both. I used the lace pattern to create the effect I wanted and the gauge and sizing from the  bonnet pattern and ta-dah!!!

It worked, It bloody worked. And not only did it work I’m smitten with it. I think I might need to do another little dance. The lace wasn’t too hard to memorize the rows, but it required serious concentration. No children and no tele in the background. I already want to make another one. The yarn I used  was Moda Vera Willowy  and it was  simply delicious even if a little difficult to knit with. It’s a little splitty, but it has a beautiful shine to it that gives the whole bonnet that vintage feel. It was also the first time I have knit whit 4ply and I had always thought 4ply would be hard and take forever to knit with, but I loved it. It’s so delicate and gives the whole thing an air of sophistication. All in all I think you can tell I love this bonnet and I do hope Esme’s friends likes it too.

Love to all

xx

Season Return Ep1 of The One a Day – Finally

You may have noticed there has been a obvious lack of hexipuffs on this little blog of late and I have to say I have not really been knitting very many at all. In fact it was way back in may over here I even showed you a hexipuff at all and I have not counted or done a tally since Episode 23, where I was way behind my deadline.

So lets recap

I started knitting this project on September 20th 2011 my plan was to finish this by September 27th 2012

At the end of last season we were up to 139 Hexipuffs  and was way behind schedule on our grand plan.

The puffs had been on lots of adventures but the knitting was lagging behind.

Fast forward to Season 2

I have knitted 200 hexipuffs, I’m now over half way of my goal but far behind the deadline and I now believe I am going to have to admit defeat. There is just no way in a blue moon I will knit 183 puffs in 79 days. But hey you never know I might just get a massive buzz and go on a hexipuff binge. But let’s not hold our breath. Though I’m not prepared to calculate a new finish date yet. I just can’t face.

So since March 14th I have knitted 61 puffs its been 118 days

that’s far from one a day but

As Gingerbread girl has restarted the One A Day

I may just reclaim the motivation to complete this blanket some time soonish

Love to all

xx

 

 

Mr C’s Hat

A couple of weekends ago we headed up to one of our favourite places, and went to ‘The Chestnut Festival’. It was a lovely outing even if the weather refused to co-operate, B and I were happy in our gumboot’s though Mr C who refuses to wear gumboots had to dodge mud in his designer shoes. Apart from the few little showers and mud it was heaps of fun. We had Poffertjes, roasted chestnuts and wandered around the festival looking at all the goods on display. A lot of the market was hand made goodies from soap to cakes and of course there was the hand-knitted stalls as well. Most of them were not my cuppa tea. Those knitted poncho’s with all the browns in them, I call them hippy knits and they’re just not my taste. But amongst all of those hippy knits Mr C spotted a hat that he was in awe of. I thought he was pulling my leg having a joke at my expense. My serious, can’t wear gumboots, has perfect tables manners fiancee could not possibly want one of those. But he insisted it was the most awesome thing in the whole festival and when I told him that I could probably knit him one he was beside himself. ‘Really, you can really knit me one’ he kept asking. He was truly smitten with the out there hat and so I give you Mr C’s new Mohawk Beanie

I did find a pattern for a Mohawk beanie, but I just could not read the pattern. All the project notes on Ravelry said it was an easy knit and there is over 400 projects using that pattern, but I just could not get my head around it. Maybe it’s because I learned to crochet first so I like my patterns to be in rows with numbers, not in paragraphs with lots of words. After reading it many times over I gave up and just decided to make my own up. I knitted a basic ear flap hat and then attached the Mohawk every 2nd stitch and the alternate stitch on the other side. I added a crochet trim and tassels and there Mr C had his hat.

Mr C loves it and thinks it’s even better than the one at the Festival and has been wearing it around the house as soon as he arrives home from work the last few days. It has yet to be worn out  of the house though, but this Saturday when it’s coffee time I’m going to insist he wears his Mohawk hat out to the cafe. hehe

Love to all

xx

Edit: I just added this hat to my little Etsy shop.

A Beautiful Winter

It is a miserable day here, dark and gloomy but I am feeling far from gloomy. Normally I am a summer person all the way I love the sun and look forward to it all year but this year I have wholeheartedly embraced the winter spirit, I’m loving that the days are getting shorter the sun is setting sooner and the cuddling on the couch can commence early. Even Mr C has been amazed at my winter mood which is normally quiet blue but seems to have retained much of the summer warmth about it.

I’m just finding so many wonderful thing about winter (yes I know we are not quiet in winter yet) this year new gumboots with little hearts on them made my heart almost leap out of my chest when spotted in the shop.

and of course they just had to come home with me.

I also have so many wip on the go right now, I’m never bored and I’m loving everyone though of course the hexipuffs do seem to get more neglected then all the rest

but this April I declared puff month and went on a mammoth puff and got quiet a lot done

and of course the crochet that is bringing me so much joy in winter is a little project I’m working on in colours I don’t normally go for but are making me excited every moment I hook a new square and make a new colour combination

And of course like most of my projects these little squares started off as something little and then I realised how small that blanket would be so has gone from ‘I’ll need 10 of each colour to I’ll need 25 of each colour’ but I’m loving it and they are so simple to work up I get 10 a day done no worries.

And lastly the sunshine in my little world at the moment is a little blanket I have been requested to make after a kind lady saw the last blanket I made

it’s another rainbow ripple baby blanket this one will be the miracle rainbow ripple as it is for a little miracle baby.

Hope you’re all loving winter as much as me

xx

And finally . . .

I can begin showing you all the pressies I’ve been working on.

Today I put the finalizing touches to one of the little pressies that has been on my to do list.

But over the weekend I actually got to give a little present to a very delighted mum to be of twins at her lovely baby shower.

Her reaction was exactly what makes giving a hand made gift so delightful, the little shriek as she realised what I had made and the big smile that said that’s exactly what I wanted

 Ok do you want to see

I was so excited when I thought to make it

here we go

.

.

.

She’s having twins remember, oo I wanna squeal now they are just so cute.

Though in case your a bit confused and are thinking ‘Oh how mean to call the babies thing 1 and thing 2′

don’t despair it’s a little joke playing on the Characters from the famous book

by Dr Seuss

The Cat in the Hat

I can only hope that her twins don’t bring as much mischief as thing 1 and thing 2 did in The Cat in the Hat.

I used the same pattern I used for this little hat here.

and I totally love how they worked out

Isn’t it just wonderful when you find the perfect colours for a project and it all comes together so well.

And now to just wait for the arrival of two little munchkins.

xxx

It’s a weird old funny day

This beautiful scene is what we woke up to this morning, and I just couldn’t resist grabbing the camera and running outside to take a quick snap before starting the morning school rush. The whole backyard was covered in the most beautiful dewy pink glow. It made you all warm and calm inside. But the weather man was reporting 21 and showers but they didn’t seem anywhere in sight. Fast forward a couple of hours and it turns out the weather man was spot on our beautiful pink sky is no longer and has become a dreary grey mass.

It is so dark and gloomy now I have had to turn the light on inside so I can knit. I should be knitting hexipuffs as you probably gathered from the lack of one a day post, I haven’t really been into it this week. I might have knitted one but really that’s being pretty optimistic with myself. Instead I have started one knitting project 3 times. 1st I cast on the wrong number of stitches and didn’t pick it up till I had knitted 1 round, secondly I stuffed up the ribbing somewhere and finally after getting to the required length realized I was using the wrong size needles. So I went rip rip rip and have finally got it on the right needles with 1 round of ribbing done right and the right amount of stitches hopefully by tonight I’ll be back up to where I was before I ripped.  I have however finished a few little crochet projects but I can’t show any yet as they need to be wrapped and posted off to a little one who will soon join us. But I will give you a teeny tiny sneak peek.

Hehe no colour for you yet. Can you guess?? I can’t wait to show you I’m so excited by these little pressies they have really been an absolute joy to make. I also stuck some art up on the wall and it has been met with mixed response’s. I’m quiet liking the splash of colour to our beige lounge room and this is the beginning of a our new gallery wall. I can’t wait to hang some more little family objects up.

xx

One a Day – Episode 23

Oh I’m so embarrassed it has been far too long and yet you lovely readers have still been visiting my little world. Thank you so much.

It has been a busy no scrap that hectic time. The days just seem to be flying by in a whirl of crafting, decorating, playing mummy and making home. But all of this was interrupted the last week with a little trip to the hospital that turned into a long stay.

You see part of the reason for my absence has been a persistent pain in my tummy which has made me exhausted, cranky and left me with a complete lack of motivation to do anything. I have to admit even my beloved crochet and knitting has been neglected over the last couple of weeks.

But I’m glad to report that I’m all better after a few days in hospital, where they made me fast for so long, I feel much better and it was so nice to finally get a reason for my pain and have it all fixed up and made better.

I have been trying to get back to hexipuffing too and have tried to always have one on the needles at all times.

I now have a total of 139 hexipuffs

and I need make 254

in 197 days

Oops I seem to have fallen another week behind. I am really struggling to hexipuff lately. I still like making them I even made Mr C admire how perfect one was the other day. He was rather amused and agreed it was very lovely, but I’m not getting that giddy with excitement feeling. I guess part of that is that I’m not joining them together as I go, purely because I want to be able to play with 383 hexipuffs before I put them altogether, but I’m left with just a big box of hexipuffs – no blanket in progress and it’s leaving me a little empty and with that need to make a blanket feeling. But I’m already doing such a big project can I start another huge project too?

Even though I’m falling even more behind I’m well on my way to having a

truck load of hexipuffs.

Nigh Nigh

xx

One a day – Episode 22

I actually managed to make 7 hexipuffs this week and finish off this book above for My bookclub on Goodreads “Bookclub Bitches” xcuse my language .

Now this book has had rave reviews and was even a finalist for a National Book Award, but I just didn’t get it. I mean I understood it but I just couldn’t put faces to the characters I felt they were all very one dimensional and the fables that ran through the background while being intriguing resulted in me being disappointed by the end without giving away anything.

But hexipuffs we shall talk

With the 7 made this week I have a total of 121

I still need to make 263

in 212 days so as you can see I have done no catch up knitting and am still far behind. But I’m totally amazed that I managed 7 while reading a book and also a little sickie. Poor Little Princess has come down with a bad case of tonsilitis. Monday she had such a high fever that her little body looked like it was all sunburn she was so sick she couldn’t even crawl, she would get up on all fours and than flop on the floor unable to gather anymore strength. But through all this she has been so cuddly and just been cuddling into me which as an active 1 year old hardly ever happens now. Today she is much better just a bit grisly but oh so ever cuddly still.

I noticed that Carole over at Gingerbread Girl hasn’t posted in a while I hope she does today but if not pop over to raverly and check out all the other great one a dayers.

xx

P.S. I’m not sure if I have said this but I’m having trouble commenting on blogger blogs using my wordpress account and can only comment if the blogger account allows you to use your name and address.

Is anyone else having this problem or is just me I would love to know if any other wordpress users have had this problem and if any blogger users no why this is happening to me.

xx

One a day – Episode 20

Well I seem to have broken the promise to myself and only made 6 hexipuffs this week and now this post will have to be flying post too, so I’m apologising in advance. But I am busy packing and cleaning the house as we go on holidays in 2 sleeps. Yep thats right I’m counting sleeps I’m that excited. This will be my first holiday in so long I just can’t wait to have 6 whole days of no cooking, no bed making and no house cleaning just fun times realxing in the sun.

I’m also planning little princess’ 1st birthday and this may have played a part in me being one short this week

Hasn’t pinterest made party planning so much easier you can find everything on there. I’m in love and addicted again.

I also started several new projects this week but I’m not sure on the colours on one. So it is sitting around the house for me to look at, you know catch it out of the corner of my eye, sit next to it and see if the colours grow on me or whether it’s just needs a good old froggin. The other project I started is Nana Squares, I’ve loved these little squares for so long and decided I need more cushions for the couch and one made of mini nana squares is just the thing.

I need 8 of each colour and there is more colours to come. I plan on sewing on a fabric back.  Being a bit lazy this time but also I love crochet cushions with fabric backs, maybe I subconciously think they are prettier because they are easier, hehe.

Well like I said flying visit today off to finish packing have managed to pack B’s, K’s and half of little princess’ into one suit case now for mine and Mr C’s plus toiletries. Wish me luck to fit it all in.

Don’t forget you check out more one a days over here.

Edit – P.S lovely one a day ladies I am having trouble commenting on people’s blogs ever since that reply button popped up I press publish but nothing happens or it just keeps saying the letters I entered are wrong (they are not) any one know what’s going on and how I can fix it.

Edit 2 – I have figured out how to comment on blogs Yeah! But unfortunately I can only comment as Name not from my wordpress account, so ladies if I haven’t commented I visited and all your one  a days look amazing xx

xx

A doxie in a coat

Warning this post contains irresistibly adorable photos.

Ok I warned you. You may begin to swoon over the cuteness of the upcoming pics.

A little while back I came across a cute little pattern for doxies, after reading that it can be considerably hard to find sweaters that these adorable puppies don’t just walk right out of I instantly thought of my friends who are proud parents of their own little doxie, and straight away cast on the xs size for their minature doxie (yes these tiny little dogs come in minature).

Do you remember me showing you the beginnings of this little pressie, way back here. Well my freinds have now received the little presents but not before I added some little touches for their sweet little girl

A nice little puppy picture for the chest and of course to top it off the little doxies name on the back.

But I promised irrestible cuteness and here it is courtesy of some very proud puppy owners I give you a doxie in a coat

What a poser even looking at the camera for her mummy

I told you irresistible cuteness in miniature

‘Ok folks show over, Ruby’s out of here’

And ruby’s parents love her coat too and she can’t walk out of it so if you’re a doxie owner out there grab this pattern.

xx