knit n bitch

Gemma

I decided not to beat myself up about starting a new project.  I have my Vanilla in Rowan Summer Tweed, my Ruffles Scarf, the IV's Tea Cup, and now I am embarking on Gemma from Rowan Book 37.  It's a mix of Rowan Calmer, I will be using a now discontinued colour called Zeal, which is a dark purple, & Rowan 4ply cotton, I have chosen Flirty as a contrast.  I'm definitely a purple girl, so these shades are right up my alley (the photo doesn't really show up the real colours, but hopefully the WIP shot's will reveal more).

Cute Stitches

Miss Nicole got me hooked on these beauties.  They are embroidery transfers in very groovy designs.  Just iron them on to your fabric and stitch over the top of the outline.  Buy them from Sublime Stitching.  I shall be adornding some long sleeve t-shirts for my little tackers!

Tea Cup Pain!

Remember agggggeeeeeessssssssss ago, I mentioned that a knit along project of the IV's was a tea cup, knit with fine cotton and 1.75mm dp's?  Well, last night, through gritted teeth, lots of swearing, tongues hanging out and 'who chose this bl***y project anyhow?', the tea cup knit along began.  This is my efforts so far (it IS on 1.75mm DP's, so don't expect a quick knit).  The fineness makes it look very pretty already and Marge and I thought that it used intarsia for the flowers, but it seems they are embroidered on, which makes the project less scary!  The kit can be bought online from Four Seasons Knitting.

 

Two Cuties!

It's not about knitting exactly, but they are cute and the main recipients of my knitting.  Little Luka and Big Joe!

Cozy Squiffy Quilt

I'm not really much of a sewer.  I can do it, but I don't have the same patience for sewing that I do for knitting.  Having said that, I do enjoy a bit of quilting, however it has to be your 'dead basic' patterns, ie, sewing fat quarters together.  These kinds are my favourites, especially when the lovely lady at the Fat Quarter Shop is kind enough to do all the cutting for you.  When it comes to quilting I take the 'near as damn it' approach, which basically means I look at the squares not quite matching up and say 'that's near as damn it'.

So, when my Cozy Flannel Free Spirit fabric by Amy Butler arrived, I got straight on the job and in about 2 1/2 hours flat had rattled out a quilt just under a Queen Size.  I don't do binding (it's against my religion), so this little number was bagged (which basically means you sew it together like an inside out sandwhich, and then turn it the right way and sew up the hole). It's cozy, due to the flannel, and squiffy, due to my lack of patience.  Still, I think it looks lovely (I love the striped backing) and it will be nice to snuggle under when it gets chillier here in Perth (hurry up cold weather) and do my knitting.

The only thing I have to do now is to secure it together, so that the wadding doesn't move, and I am going to use the tieing method, which can be done by hand and I think is quicker and easier than machine or hand quilting it together (I did tell you I wasn't much of a sewer).

For all you purist quilters out there, I do hope I haven't offended with my slap-dash approach, but I guess any quilting is better than none.

Harry on Joseph!

Finally polished off Harry and bribed Joe to wear it for a photograph (he received a Thomas The Tank Engine book).  Colour looks great on him (excuse the red eye) and he seems to like it, but it could have just been the book warming him up.  Not to be outdone, I thought I would slip in a photo of Joe's little brother Luka.

   

I now have only 2 official WIP's, which I'm very happy about.  Got to finish the sleeves of my Vanilla in the Rowan Summer Tweed, then my Ruffles Scarf and then I will be a free woman!  HORRAH! 

Harry's Nearly There!

This is the Harry sweater from Rowan Pipsqueaks using the All Seasons Cotton Melange.  It's for my son Joseph, who's about to turn 3 years old.  He's tried it on and it fits, so I just need to finish the neck line and sew in all the ends.  If you have kids, then I HIGHLY recommend the All Seasons Cotton for their sweaters, as they wash and wear so beautifully!

Ruffles Progress

Update on my Ruffles scarf. Tis fun!  Nice and easy, but not so dull that it bores, or requires no concentration at all.  I also like the fact that it knits up relatively quickly and is a bit different.  It's supposed to be 218cm long (ohmygod), so I'll either just keep knitting until I run out of steam, or stop when I think it's at a wearable length.

Ruffles

I have started a smaller project, but this time it's for ME!  It'll be the thing that's a bit of a no brainer - pick up and knit - put down 'till next time, kind of project.  It's from the book Scarf Style and it's called Ruffles.  I am knitting it with Jo Sharp Soho Summer Cotton using a 'yet to be introduced' colour (Old Rose).  I'll post ongoing shots, but so far it's fun to knit.  It basically uses short row shaping to create the wiggly ruffles.