Thoughts From My Tent

Let me just put it out there that my mom is extremely talented in thread work. Sewing, Knitting and Crochet came to her naturally. Even more amazingly, she is fantastic at shuttle tatting, which is a relatively rare type of lace-making. More on this another time.

I admire my mom. She is loving, smart and strong, and I must add specifically that she is a super grandma to her 3 grandchildren too.

Because of her heroine-status (to me) when it comes to craft, I often feel like a little girl when I show her my projects. Now, since mom has become all FB-savvy, I’ve discovered that I also get kind of giddy when she comments on my finished pieces

Anyway, I decided to knit her a scarf as a quasi-Christmas pressie (quasi because she hasn’t received it yet and it’s almost her birthday…UGH!! :p). I was 3/4 done when I showed it to her. Why did I show her? Because I wasn’t sure if she’d like the colour scheme :p So I brought it out and she said “don’t make so many scarves.” To which I replied, disappointed, “Oh but I’m making it for you…” (there’s that little-girl coming out again), and she says, “Well in that case, it’s alright then, HAHA.” Doink…:p

I finished it last week before NY, but I couldn’t find the right surface to block it on. So here it is, unblocked:

This is the first time I’ve used Noro yarn! I have very sensitive skin, and Noro yarns tend to be on the slightly scratchier side (for me). However, Mandy from Twisted Threads said that it gets softer with washing, and truly it had the kind of colours that I thought mom might like, so Silk Garden it was

As a bonus, the pattern came free with the purchase of the Noro yarn, so, SCORE! You can find variations of the same pattern on Ravelry if you search for “Sea Foam”. Here’s a close up of the pattern pre-blocked):

The colours blend more gradually than they look in the photos.

This pattern is basically created by making YOs (yarn overs) and then dropping them (like making button-holes of various sizes), while framing the knitted piece with garter stitches.

Wish me luck with the blocking!

P.S. I only have 20ish rows left on the second sleeve of the Manly Boy Jacket left! Woot!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I trust that whether you had a loud or quiet evening welcoming the new year, that you enjoyed yourselves, and may 2011 be a year of joy

Hubby, Bubs and I went to New Zealand for 12 days in November 2010, and it was such a lovely trip. The people, the food, the landscapes were all so wonderful, I know we’d definitely go back in the future. Craft is really big in NZ, and of course, due to all the sheep they have over there, they produce plenty of gorgeous yarn. I was still amazed however, that I kept stumbling into yarn stores wherever we went, and am terribly ashamed that I only bought two hanks of cotton yarn the whole time I was there (Hey the hubby was watching!)…seriously the least I could have done was bought WOOL!!! Sigh :p

I did however, return from NZ completely inspired to design something for bubs. You see, we got caught without the spare change of clothes for bub when he did a “Code Brown” on the second day of our trip, and had to find a kid’s clothing store quite desperately (we were too far from the hotel) :p As we rifled through the cute outfits, I spotted a really cool cardigan/jacket. It was striped in 3 shades of blue, with a grey border. I loved that it looked kinda adult, yet so boyish. However, we couldn’t justify buying it due to the price-tag, so I sadly walked away from it :p I vowed to try and make it myself.

Sooooo…we got back to Aus, and I made a quick trip to my favorite LYS “Woolsy Trade Post” and walked straight to the Sirdar Baby Bamboo shelf to choose my colours. I think I picked almost exactly the same shade of blues for the darkest and the medium colours (for the stripes), but for the lightest shade, I decided on a pastel lime colour, just to be a tad different. I chose this yarn because 1. it’s great for both warmer and cooler climates; and 2. it has an awesome colour palette. Unfortunately though, it doesn’t come in any shades of gray…so I did the unthinkable, I mixed yarns.

I had some spare Filatura Di Crosa Zara 8ply at home in the grey I needed, so that would have to do. I’m praying that when I block the pieces later, it won’t get icky!

As for the design of the cardigan, I looked at several patterns I had at home, and tried to come up with something that might look remotely like a jacket in the end. No wonder so many engineers love knitting, the stitch/row calculations, and structural design etc. were quite a challenge!!

I’m going for a raglan cardigan with a shawl collar (I think). I cast-on on 29th Dec, and have progressed really well. The back, right and left front, and first sleeve pieces are all done. I’m casting on the second sleeve tonight before I sleep! I think I’m knitting it up so frantically because I really want to see how my first ever cardigan design would look Oh, also because I’m a “Power Knitter”, according to my mug (not my face, a real mug :p).

Anyway, really hope you like the colour scheme.