Sid the Clown auction at ozebaby for SIDS and kids

Megsie and I have put together a little collaborative auction to help raise money for SIDS and Kids, a charity close to every parents' heart. Megsie created this gorgeous tshirt handpainted with a little clown she has named Sid. He's very very cute!!
Anyway, I made this beanie to match. The wool is Bendigo Woollen mills 8 ply which has been hand-dyed with food colour. I love the brightness of this yarn, it's very happy!!! I made this pattern up pretty much as I knitted the beanie, it's not a difficult concept as it just involves gradual decreases. But for those that are interested, I've written up the pattern below.



Here's Lily trying on the beanie; looks cute on !!


sid the clown beanie
DK (8 ply) yarn approx 50grams
4mm needles (4o cm circ or dpns) and whatever option you like best for small circ knitting ~ I used the magic loop method,
one 4mm dpn

cast on 96 stitches, join the round mark with stitchmarker and K2 P2 for 30 rounds.
knit 15 rounds of stocking stitch. While knitting the 15th row place a stitch marker after the 24th, 48th and 72nd stitch. This will give you four markers evenly spaced each quarter of the round.
16th round: K2tog, k22, slip marker, repeat to end of round.
k2 rounds
continue decreasing every third row by K2tog after slipping each stitch marker.
When the knitting gets too tight you will need to switch to either dpns, magic loop or two circulars to knit the small circumference.
When You have 12 stitches on the needle you may find it easier to transfer them to one dpn and knit as for an icord.
When you have decreased to 8 stitches continue knitting the icord for an inch(or desired length).
Next row: K2tog, repeat to end. (4 stitches)
Knit next row.
Next row: K2tog twice. (2 stitches)
Next row: K2tog. (1 stitch)
Pull yarn through loop and tie off. Wrap yarn around hand many times to form tassle. Wrap yarn around the tassle end near the hat several times to secure. Cut yarn, and secure the tassle and cut ends of tassles.

The copyright of this pattern remains with myself. This pattern is provided free for personal home use only.  Commercial use of this pattern is a violation of the copyright. Selling products made from this pattern is prohibited under the copyright unless express written permission has been granted by myself as of February 11 2009.

And something I made earlier...

quite a bit earlier actually.

Well, with a delicious winter happening here I've had to dig into the hat box to find some suitable head attire; after all a girl can't be seen wearing the same hat everyday (and I wonder where Lily gets her hat and shoe fetish from LOL) I seem to have temporarily misplaced in my wardrobe somewhere my favourite Scottish peasant cap that I bought at the portarlington celtic festival two years ago so I have been seeking out other groovy hats. I have a good collection, out of necessity from when we lived in Ballarat. It gets very cold there, especially when you don't drive and walk everywhere... even in Winter. and I digress.....

now where was I? hats?

ah yes, so digging through the hat box I found some old beanies I'd crafted earlier. All of these predate the arrival of Lily.

The brown beanies is one of the three variations of a brown beanie I have knitted for Andy, I have no idea where the others are (probably in his shed or truck), the stripey one I made a jumper to match (I hate the jumper LOL but like the hat), the bright one is knit in intarsia on dpns (I know, what was going on in my head), the cream and grey one is again intarsia and made from recycled wool, and the bottom one is from the days of the fluffy novelty yarns ~ but I still think it's quite cute.

I'd like to knit myself a new beanie actually .....

doin' stuff...

Maestro Wide Leg Pants ~ Size 0


Koi Bootleg Pants ~ Size 1


Spiral Black Velour Polar Fleece Longies ~ Size 2


Nova Black Cord Bootleg Pants ~ Size 1


Flouncing Flowers Peasant Skirt ~ size 2/3

Working towards our next stocking, which will probably be Sunday night. This weather, however, is not very conducive for taking photos in so when we had about two minutes of sunshine this afternoon I raced outside and took some photos. I shall slowly add more as I get things photographed between now and Sunday.

An Apple A Day Velour Fleece Longies ~ size 1

apple applique cut from quilters cotton; the gorgeous apple fabric comes from Leah at Kidz in Cloth, satin stitched.

Ruby Any Day Dress Pinnie ~ size 2

made from ruby red and a pale blue with red floral pattern pinwale cord. finished with cranberry ric rac.

Ole Twirly Peasant skirt ~ size 2/3

made from brown and pale pink pinwale cord and a floral apricotish velveteen with an orange ric rac hemline.

Wintery goodness

Well, it's been raining so much here the drought surely must have broken! Every day for soo long it's hard to remember what a day without rain is like. We have a corrugated tin roof so it's lovely hearing it pitterpattering down all snugged up in front of the combustion wood fire or all toasty under the doona. But now a cold snap has hit, OMG, I thought the other morning I woken up in Ballarat it was THAT cold; jackets that haven seen the outside of the wardrobe since we left Buninyong are now being worn again. We couldn't walk to our music class the other day as the rain was just way to heavy and the wind was fierce. It's really nice having a real winter again, instead of the pithy efforts we often get here.

I've been working on the custom fleece longies, customs are always so much fun but do take much longer to get done. This lot have been really fun :D I've also been doing a bit of knitting, have nearly finished one leg of Lily's longies, I'm leaving the cuff to do when I finish the other leg in case she grows again. Started the socks too ;) but a progress pic would be pretty unexciting at the two inch stage. Cold weather really makes me want to knit.

Finally, my hemp denim has arrived ~ yeah!!!!! Now for some drying weather so I can prewash it and sew up some pants for my testers :D It's a lovely lightweight denim, much different from Andy's old hemp jeans. I've also started working on some pieces for a stocking; tonight made a cute little cord twirly peasant skirt... very cute in pink, brown and a tinge or orange.

You've got to love a hoarder...

Because it means you get these lovely things eventually. One Holly Hobbie curtain from our childhood bedroom

And this dress made by my mum. It does have a matching headscarf, which for some reason my little sister Lana chose to write her name on in texta, even thought this was never her dress or headscarf. Wasn't mine either (shhhhhh) mine was blue, I remember and I was only young ;)

How special is this!!

I admired some fabric that the gorgeous Fi had used to flash up a hoodie (the most stunning brightly coloured horsey fabric ~ Miss Lily has a bit of an obsession with horses (loves ballerinas too ~ two predilections I'm hoping she grows out of early LOL) , and would you believe it, in today's mail arrives a piece of the fabric.



I show it to Lily and she says "WOW!" Then she precedes to wrap it around her neck and cuddle it :D This will definitely be going on something special for the little one.



Thank you so much Fi, your thoughtfulness and generosity have blown me away :D

When everything seems to be working against you..

you've just got to give in to what fate is telling you, well perhaps that's a little bit deep.

So it's no work Wednesday night and for once the little night owl is in bed at a reasonable hour, after my nightly viewing I decided to break my golden rule and chance a little sewing. I've been wanting to make some more twirly peasant skirts for awhile, so I dragged out the cord and a little velveteen and set about cutting. Then I went to sew, thwarted, I had only the smallest amount of brown thread on the spool and no matching bobbin. Grrrr!! yeah, I know I could have cut out some different coloured skirts, but I really had my heart set on a pink and brown one.

Next up I decided to make a little shirred top that I've been wanting to make for awhile, it's a little long sleeved style with shirring around the neckline; very cute!!! So I cut out all the fabric, did the gathering, and started working on the seams. It was then that I looked at my overlocker and for not the first time thought how convenient it would be to have two of the damn things, as yes, it was all threaded in black and the top I 'm working on is predominantly a white cotton. Yeah, I know it's not a big deal to rethread it, but frankly I couldn't be bothered, so took it as a sign that I really shouldn't be sewing on my night off.

That'll learn me LOL

What I really wanted to be doing was turning this gorgeous yarn from Monster Knits into these socks The only problem being the three UFOs you'll find pictured below, oh and the lack of the right size needles. I need some 2.5mm dpns which I have none of. I did spy a stack of dpns at the Op Shop the other day, so may have to go back to check out what they have.

Caitlyn is my Number One Favourite Customer

Yes, I know it's not ethical or correct to have publically favourite customers but....

how cute is this!!!!

It arrived in the mail today from a gorgeous little 6 year old girl who I recently did a custom for. And even more sweet is that she did this all off her own bat and went to her mum for help with the address. What a gorgeous little girl, truly made my heart melt!!!

Thank you Caitlyn!!! You made my day!

Knitting weekend

We've just spent the long weekend up at the family bush block near the Grampians, a long 3 hour drive away ~ just perfect for a good knitting stint. We drove up in our Toyota Troopcarrier which only has the front seats and thus has been specially fitted out with a big thick thingamajog to attach Lily's carseat too. Fabulous, except that it leaves me squeezed into the corner. On the way up I tried to knit my Jo Sharp zig zag rib vest and must say persisted for most of the way. Unfortunately, I am knitting on lovely rosewood straights, which I am really enjoying but they are just not ideal for cramped knitting spaces.

I must admit, so desperate and excited was I about my knitting time over the long weekend I set myself some very unrealistic expectations. My goal was to finish the vest (had just done the ribbing on the back), complete Lily's longies (up to the gusset) and finish a scarf (30 rows down of 160cm approx). Once all that was done I was hoping to get restarted on Lily's rainbow dress.

Ridiculously optimistic, I seem to have forgotten that I have a two year old who loves to roam. And roam we did, we had a glorious time rugged up out wandering through the bush, splashing in puddles, climbing on sticks, walking in leaves, chasing sheep, climbing in and out of the trenches in the tree plantations and looking at flowers. Lily, most impressively, found an epacris impressa, a tiny little red native flower, very few and far between. She was really proud of herself!!

On the trip home, I pulled out the addis and worked on Lily's longies, a project far more suited for the cramped front seat.

So my progress, is as follows: front of vest completed, nearly finished the first leg of the longies and the scarf was untouched.

Lily and her new dolly

One of the perks of being sisters to the very talented pint chick is that you get little pressies like this in the mail, well, really it's for Lily to wear but for me to admire!!
As you can see Lily loves it and I couldn't get her to leave her tshirt down to take a photo of it, but it can be found in more detail on Megsie's blog. Lily wore this out down to the local shops and told the lady in the fabric store, "Megsie painted my dolly." It was interesting that her first response when I told her that Megsie had made it for her was, "Megsie painted it?" complete with the cute little raise in her voice intonation that heralds her questions. LOL AFter spending time in Adelaide watching Megsie paint, that's the association she has of her.
Any way, it is very cute and the mad doll fiend Lily loves it :D

World Oceans Day

Today is World Oceans Day

sooo

we're planning a little stocking with an ocean based theme.

I am planning to stock on the tide times, with previews to be up by high tide here at the Port Phillip heads (5:11pm) and stocking at high time in Geelong (8:27pm)

This are in Victorian times. :D

Given that we live by the beach and Andy is an underwater film maker, you could safely assume that the ocean is fairly important part of our life. I actually prefer the ocean in the cooler months when it is less crowded and I think more beautiful in its moods.

Lily loved watching me do these appliques, she wanted me to do a dolphin next but I didn't get enough time... maybe I will anyway. I am absolutely in love with the boysenberry velour polar fleece, the colour is so bright and vibrant! I've been working on three pairs in this colour this week, including a custom which is just about done :D I think Lily needs some pants in this colour.

Remember respect our waterways, eat only sustainably fished seafood and enjoy the beauty of the ocean.
For more info on ocean conservation
www.amcs.org.au
www.wwf.org.au

(oh, there will also be a little visitor who was supposed to appear on World Environment day but got a little held up *oops*)

Prancing Prissy ~ Size 00


Moby Blue ~ Size 0


Gnarly ~ Size 1
(so named for Lily who has been saying "Gnarly" nonstop ever since watching Finding Nemo, I think she learnt it from the turtles on there LOL)


Piko Panda ~ Size 2