getting cosy

I'm quite fond of a bit of a cosy. Mug cosies. I'm all over them. Hot water bottle cosy. Ditto. Tea cosy. You guessed it.

But just quietly, I think the rest of my life needs a bit of cosy-i-fying. Looking around there are just too many objects in my life that could do with a cosy. I am seriously coveting a tv cosy to cover the ugly black thing in the corner (it's not really even a box anymore, is it?).

And I'm very tempted to craft up a cosy for my bicycle helmet. That would be quite sweet, I think.

And how about a cosy for the swing seat? Or the iPad? Or even a vase cosy or two?

Yes, I think along with the dishcloth domination, 2012 could be the year of the cosy. I've started small. Our peach glut and the impossibility of peaches in the school lunchbox, resulted in a peach cosy.






I'm not sure why I've never made one before! Totally fabulous. Keeps Lily's peach all perfect until fruit time. This will be equally fabulous through winter as an apple cosy too. I suspect I'll need to whip up a pear cosy though, as that's another favourite fruit that is doesn't lunchbox well.




I think it won't be long and every cool kid at her school will be wanting their mum to whip them up a fruit cosy. I mean, how could they not covet this cuteness?

I offered to knit her a sandwich cover cosy next, but I think she's worried about the jealousy this would cause her peers and said no. I can't say I wasn't a wee bit disappointed though...oh well, Toby starts kinder next year. I'm sure he'd love a set of lunchbox cosies.




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peachy keen

We've hit that time of year again where we are almost quite figuratively drowning in peaches. Despite windy weather and ill-timed heavy rains which I thought was going to destroy our crop, we have had a bumper peach season. So much so that I am considering becoming a professional peach farmer.. the peaches we grow are that damn good. Even the dude who delivers our organic fruit and veg box each week thought so when I gave him some. They are sensational.





So while I am wallowing in peachy goodness with "millions of peaches, peaches for me..." playing endlessly in my head I have been getting down with the peach preservation party. I've made peach cake, peach cobbler, dried peaches, stewed peaches, flat packed frozen peaches, peach sorbet, peach compote, peach jam, peach preserves, peach cordial, peach daiquri and some other peach drink I can remember the name of which was champers and yep, you guessed it, peaches!

We're eating peaches cut up every morning for breakfast with our yoghurt...yum yum!

I've given away a tonne of peaches and we're always eating them straight from the tree but I still have a date or two with the kitchen left for some chutney and more preserves and compote.


What's your favourite thing to do with peaches?
do you have any great ideas of what I can do with the last of the glorious peaches?


I think I can just about see the bottom of the last bucket... then I best pick the last of them from the tree!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

a wrap

Last night I was cruising through the back blocks of my blog in the vain hope that I'd blogged the recipe for peach sorbet from last summer. I hadn't. I had blogged some lovely beetroot relish and my very famous zucchini yoghurt carrot cake, but no peach sorbet.

I did, however, stumble across this post. A wrap up of what I'd knit in 2010 and my PLANS for what I was going to knit in 2011. Plans, I thought! I had plans! Who would have thought! Obviously, I  had forgotten completely about said plans, which is pretty understandable given that I am the type of person who deliberately avoids anything approaching routine or a plan. Just ask DK. If he ever asks me what time I'll be back, or what time will I be going to the shop or whatever, I always answer, "Time? You know I don't work on time."  He probably finds that pretty frustrating, hey.

Anyway, it was pretty fun to look back on and compare my 2010 to 2011. Apparently I knit less last year than I did in 2010.  17,788 yards knit last far in comparison with 18, 411 yards from 2010. I had hoped to knit 20,000 yards in 2011 but not to be.

My tally for projects in 2011 was a staggering 73!
14 dishcloths
13 cardigans
3 jumpers
6 vests
2 skirts
1 blanket
1 pot holder
2 dolls
16 items of dolls' clothing
11 hats
1 pair of socks
1 pair of leg warmers.

What was most interesting from this post was my knit list for 2011. It was, perhaps a little optimistic for one who doesn't do plans. You can probably guess how I went, but hey, let's assess it properly.

Here's the list:

so with that in mind my to knit list for 2011 is going to be a little indulgent, a little selfish and a little bit about ME! 

(well, as much as knitting from stash will allow it [yes, yes, I'm pretending that I'm attempting to knit from stash again this year... the joke's on me..yes, I know])

hmm, so what would I like to knit for ME? Browsing my Rav queue elicits these suggestions:

1. Whisper Cardigan by Hannah Fettig.
I've wanted to knit this cardigan EVER since it came out.  I even have the yarn to do so, some lovely Knittery Merino Lace.... it's just the prospect of balling over 1000 yards of lace weight yarn is a little daunting!!!
FAIL!  I did put the yarn in a project bag ready to be balled...but I'm guessing that didn't really count.


2. Kerrera by Gudrun Johnston
Another Cardigan I've had in my queue forever and also have the yarn for. I'm going to knit this in WOOLganics worsted. Just have to decide on the colour; Gondwana or Sangha. Hmm, perhaps the Gondwana and then I could use the Sangha for Gudrun's Shaldar
FAIL!  Did not even come close to knitting this. I do still love it, though!



3. a new winter hat, something slouchy and comfy. maybe Rose Red or ripely.
SUCCESS!!! I actually knit myself two winter hats... go me!!!


I knit meret

as well another one I'm still yet to share photos of.


4. some mitts, not really sure on contenders yet.
Any suggestions?
FAIL! I did start some Elizabeth Zimmermann mitts in some noro but admittedly they were for Lily, and they never got finished.

5. A little red cardigan; possibly lacy suitable for layering as well as over sundresses. maybe liesl
Ohh ohh, I nearly said a FAIL! BUT I DID knit a little red cardie, just not the liesl... but rather one of my own design... and one I haven't blogged yet either.

on the not so selfish front to the list needs to be added:

6. a school cardigan for Lily (Can't stand those horrible fading navy windcheater things that pass for school wear) Just need to find some navy organic yarn?? any suggestions??
Done!

7. A couple of skirt designs I'm already itching to get started on.
Partly done! I did knit two skirts, but both are the same design. I still have to knit the prototype for the second one.

8. A couple of tops that ditto, I want to whip into shape.
Honestly, I'm now not sure what these were..so I don't know whether I did knit them or not! perhaps not!

9. Design my first adult garment. I have two contenders here.
Yes! Success...but this garment (which is now in testing) was neither of the two contenders I was thinking at the time. Still working on those.

10. A beautiful pair of embellished longies with chart from watermellish for Toby. His last pair of longs probably!
FAIL! And truth be told, I doubt I'll knit another pair of longies until we have grandkids (OMG the thought!!) I suspect Toby might be a bit old for longies now... might have to embellish a jumper with that beautiful design I was considering.

and that is it. 


Most of all, Im pretty proud of the fact that I published 19 new patterns in 2011. WOW!
That's actually more patterns published last year than I'd previously published in total!

So what did you achieve in 2011?
Did you get your knit list done?

Is it just crazy to have such a list?
What's on yours for 2012?

dishcloth domination

I have this plan for 2012, it's not really a resolution but more a plan to get more people knitting.

More people knitting is always a good thing, I think. Knitting makes people calmer and happier and less likely to commit stab other objects, that may or may not be human. Well, that's what it does for me anyway.

So yep, that's my aim...more people knitting.
How am I going to do this?
Well, I have a little secret weapon in my arsenal. A little weapon that has proved successful so far.

That weapon is the humble knitted dishcloth.

Have you ever washed your dishes with a knitted cotton dishcloth?

They are the bomb! And seriously once you've been there, you won't go back.

I've started the last two years with a bit of a dish cloth knitting blitz.

Last year I gave a couple to my older sister. She love love loved them. And guess what? She's now knitting them and passing them on to her friends.  I knit them regularly for my other sister.  She's too lazy to knit her own. Well, she's not really. She just knows I will knit them for her. 

I gave one to a friend the other day, and guess what she love love loves them. I suspect she will knit herself some. I've given one to my MIL as well.  The seeds are being planted...

So this got me thinking.  Dishcloth domination.

Get.People.Knitting.Through.Dishclothes. 

I think most people who don't knit or can knit a wee bit, would look at a dishcloth and say, "I could knit that."  And they could! These things whip up in such a short time, you know.

So my plan is to gift two dishcloths per month for 2012 to susceptible targets.

I have my non-knitting sister in my sights next. She has coveted the dishcloths (which were really facecloths) that I knit my Mum.  I'm going to send her a couple...but I'm going to include a ball of cotton with them and the pattern. Subtle. She will be putty in my hand.

You know how the rest goes from there.... knit a few dishcloths then perhaps decide you want to try something bigger.... and then before you know it, you're a knitter. woot!

So that's my plan. Do you want to join me in my dishcloth domination?
Please do!! It will be fun. We can share our conquests.

Or perhaps as a non-knitter or beginner knitter you're feeling the need to knit a dishcloth?
Well, here's my pattern of choice. Grandmother's Favourite

My favorite yarn for knitting dishcloths is Lily Sugar and Cream, but any hardy 100% cotton will do the trick. I'm pretty sure I've seen something at Spotlight, but if not you can buy it online at yarn over



P.S. sorry about the lack of recent blog love.

our favourite boy turns three

The weekend just gone we celebrated a very special birthday, Toby's third birthday!
And what better way to celebrate than to meet up with some cousins and go to the Werribee Open Range Zoo.

Toby is just a wee bit animal obsessed; that and trains are his constant thing, so a day out at the Werribee Zoo is like Nirvana for this little lad. So many animals to see. Our favourites for the day were the lions,

the zebras,

and the giraffes.

Toby and Lily did so love the hippos, but not the real ones so much as the crazy concrete ones that squirt water out of their bums! I think they spent more time there in their undies playing in the water spray than anywhere else!


Here's a photo of the exact moment the milo boy turned three. It's easy to take exact time photos when your birth time is 11:52am. He's pretty pleased with himself as you can see. Just quietly, I'm pretty pleased with him too. He's a charming, gorgeous, extremely funny, sweet little lad who tells me daily "I love Mummy and Daddy and Lil. But best of all I love my family."

The best thing about spending your birthday with your cousins is getting to hang out with Sage, who is just 3 months younger than Toby. These two are mischief together, for sure. Can you tell?  

And of course, the obligatory blowing out the candle shot. This was one very big long and forceful blow for the little boy, but he got all the candles out. Too funny!  It's a very serious business blowing out your candles!

I guess he's really no longer my baby now, hey!

new pattern: ziggidy doo

A new pattern for the Spring months here, and the Autumnal months in the Northern hemisphere.

This little pattern is quite a bit later to be released than I anticipated. Who would have thought that the start of the fourth term of the school year would be so out of control! I started the term looking forward to a chance to catch up on all things knitting related after spending the school term break sick and then away. you know, I'm still waiting for that chance to catch up now, how many weeks in? I have no idea how many weeks in we are now, four maybe, quite possibly five.

Anyway, I digress...so with loads of crazy school related and other general stuff going on, this wee pattern was a bit later in being added to the zig-zag ebook. You know, I guess that's all part of the indie designing-Stay-At-Home-Mummy juggling school kid, full-time at home toddler and a business of sorts gig. I think the schedules we (ok, maybe that's I) set ourselves are probably a lot tighter than they would be if we were publishing in a magazine or book. But you know what, Ysolda Teague's new book took a lot longer to get out than she expected, so I figure I'm in good company here!

So this skirt, hey.

It's knit seamless from the top down and has a super dooper perfectly fitting to your size waistband, that covers the range from 19-25" (or sizes 9months to girls size 12).

From there it's divided into three sizings; small, medium and large. Hidden increases throughout the skirt create a simple A-line shape.

The pattern also includes instructions for optional short row shaping to suit those little sticky out tums and bums that some toddlers have. They're also perfect for those in nappies, particularly cloth bums.

Lily's skirt is knit in MonsterKnits Blue Face Leicester DK, colourway 'Sock Monkey'.
Unfortunately, Kris is no longer dyeing yarn but there are some suggestions for other great yarns to use in the pattern.

Lily's skirt is a size 4 waist, knit to a size 6 length.

You can purchase the pattern via my Ravelry store; as part of the zig-zag ebook or just by itself.


Right now I'm working on the adult version of this skirt for me. Wanna see a sneak peak???

so when last I pimped..

it was October.
and I was giving the old Blogtober thing a go.
Did you participate? How did you go?
If you went better than I did you deserve a big HIP HIP HOORAY!.
I managed six posts for Blogtober... ahum, yep, a wee bit crap really!

Oh well, November is another month, one that looms a wee bit less crazy than October. Today I'm feeling a bit of a weight lifted from my shoulder as I managed to get through two big outside imposed deadlines this week. A couple of things that have been stressing me out just a wee bit... but all good now, as that is all behind us for the year!

so how about another pattern pimp?

Last post I shared one of the zig-zag patterns, so while we're on that train let's chug-a-lug along and meet a few more of the zig-zag patterns.

These, I think are the funnest of the zig-zag patterns.
They're zeg warmers. What else would you call them, hey?

Really quick to knit and super fun to wear. The pattern is written for a dk/8ply weight yarn, but it has included in it the finished sizes if you decided to sub with other different weight yarns; 5ply/sport, 10ply/worsted and aran/heavy worsted weight.

Sizing ranges from baby to large adult, so you could make a pair for all the Flashdancing floosies in your house if you wanted.

These ones are knit in madelinetosh tosh merino dk, a gorgeous single ply dk weight yarn that I am a wee bit smitten with now.

Lily's are the XS size knit to a wee bit longer than child length.

The pattern also has a number of links to tutorials and videos to learn a few new skills that make these little zeg-warmers look very professsionally finished! Gotta love that!

Just like the ziggy pattern, you can purchase zeg warmers either individually from my pattern store for a mere $3 or as part of the zig-zag ebook that will contain 5 patterns for $16. (just between you and me, the last pattern which is long overdue will be released this week)

as you were ;)