And So I Don't Forget...

Can I Knit With Crossed Fingers?

Source: The Yvestown Blog

I pinned this cowl by Yvonne months ago. I absolutely adore it.

Needing to order another skein of yarn to finish off my current knitting project, I looked up the pattern, all eager to choose yarn to make this cowl too. That's when I realised it's crocheted.

I'm just managing to get my head around knitting right now, I'm not going to add another method to the mix!

I searched and searched for a similar knitted cowl - multicoloured stripes, knitted in the round, how hard can that be? - but I haven't found a pattern for anything like it. (I did find my next three projects after this though!) So, I'm going it alone.

I have my yarn - beautiful colours - and I've bought my needles and I think garter stitch sounds like a good idea. Beyond that, well I'll just have to start knitting and see.

Wish me luck, I'm going to need it. Luck and Youtube tutorials.

7 Pots

They certainly aren't perfect, but I'll just call that character. Love 'em.

Hobbies / Interests

I don't understand people without hobbies, without some interest that just lights them up when they talk about it. Life can become a tad too routine without something to research, plan and dream about, to learn and improve; without something you can never find quite enough time to devote to it as you'd like.

Scrapbooking, blogging, photography, knitting, travelling, reading, baking, gardening, climbing... My problem seems to be that I have too many! There are so many projects that I want to pursue, so many ideas clamouring for my attention.

With that in mind, I might be lucky if I finish this latest knitting project by the time I'm ready for retirement!

Sidetracked

I had intended to get a few things done tonight. Somehow that just didn't happen.

Decorating Cakes

For the last four Monday evenings I have been attending a cake decorating class. Prompted by a voucher for my birthday (thanks Dan and Peta!) I enrolled in Cake Decorating Basics which uses (an incredible amount of) buttercream.

I enjoyed the first class - it seemed to be a great group of woman - and felt a  touch daunted by what were meant to achieve later in the course. Mainly though, I was amazed by the sheer amount of 'stuff'.

I suppose it's the same with any hobby, the more interested you are and the better you get, the more specialised and expansive your equipment gets. I think I started scrapbooking with a pair of scissors, pens and coloured paper. It's fair to say my supplies have grown a little since then. ;) Anyway, cake decorating seemed fun but I was good with this class - a nice level of achievement. I wasn't interested in another hobby that needed so much 'stuff'.

I felt pretty proud of myself after class two. And somehow I decided a cake leveller and turntable were necessary.

Class three was cupcake week. This is the class that really sucked me in. Although set up with all the colours and tips took a while, decorating the cupcakes themselves was quick, easy and very effective.

The ribbon roses from week four were a little trickier, and my writing could do with some work. Lots of fun making leaves though. 

And that brings us to week five, the final week. Tonight's challenge - decorating a shaped cake of our choice. After flipping though folders full of options, I've chosen a Noah's Arc, complete with giraffe, elephant, lion and rainbow.

Wish me luck! With eight different colours of icing, I think I'm going to need it.

30 While 30: Knit Something

Knitting always reminds me of my Nanna. That click clack of the knitting needles. She tried to teach me how to knit, years ago when I was a kid, but we ran into some left-handed / right-handed difficulties. A lonely pair of knitting needles with only a couple rows of stitches lurked in the bottom of my sewing box for years. It might even be there still.  

But, with the help of some Youtube videos and simply ignoring the fact I'm left-handed, I can now tick off another 30 While 30 goal:

4. Knit Something.

I started before Christmas and was still knitting it at Easter. And I accidentally made my scarf was so wide I turned it into a cowl - a very long cowl - but they're just pesky details. ;)

I can knit!

In fact, turns out that I quite like knitting. I finished my cowl one day and the next I was buying yarn for another project. This time I even used a pattern. Still ended up with a cowl, but this time it was intentional. ;) 

I think it's possible to learn pretty much anything with Youtube!

With wool already purchased for my next project (or two), I think knitting is another 30 While 30 goal that's here to stay. 

7 down, 23 to go.

New Obsession

I think it might just be possible that I have a new obsession.
Knit one, purl one, knit one, purl one...

Tiny Chairs

The other week I found myself standing at the pedestrian crossing on Flinders St, cross-stitching as I waited for the lights to turn green. It was a tad unusual!

I was cutting it fine to get this secret project complete before my sister's birthday celebration. (10 days before her actual birthday mind you!)

These frames are temporary stand-ins I had lying around home. Getting them framed nicely had no hope of happening in time! They were unwrapped, admired and then I yoinked them back to take home again. ;) 

I think they are really cute! I might stitch the Eames Shell Chair again for myself. ;)

I purchased the patterns from The Tiny Modernist.

And you know that time crunch I mentioned....

This one didn't quite make it. Not even close. I hadn't even started it!

But, it did mean I could give Jenna a choice of third chair - the Eames Lounger or the Barcelona Chair. She was pretty emphatic in her answer - I'd barely finished the question! I think she likes them. ;) 

And I'll sign off with one last photo to give you an idea of scale.

Tiny and cute! 

Be Yourself Word Art

I was reminded of this quote recently while browsing Pinterest and decided to turn it into some word art for my bedroom.  

I did consider printing the words but wanted to get a little messier than that. So, I turned to my Silhouette.

After playing with spacing and fonts for ages, my first cut didn't quite work. At that point, I changed my mind about the white cardstock and picked a light olive colour instead.

(And yep, that is white in the photo above. I was too impatient to wait till tomorrow to take photos in natural light so the colours are a bit off. Sorry about that!)  

Instead of using the letters I cut out, I wanted to use the negative and back the words with colour. I pulled out some water colour paints and after a few tries and a few sheets of paper, I had something I was happy with.  

 Then I needed to let it dry. I wasn't good at this step!

I used the frame matt to position and cut the negative page into the right shape.

Then, when the water coloured paper was kind of dry, I attached it to the back of the negative page. 

I had left the letters on the Silhouette mat which made it easier it take the little inner bits of letters and stick them in place on the water colour page. Such a fiddly step that isn't really necessary, but I prefer that look. 

Then, it was just a matter of putting it in the frame. Hanging it can wait for another day. :)

Complete: One Quilt

It has been a long time in the making (see this post, this post and this post) but I have finally finished my quilt. 

Love it. Love it. Love it.

Despite it not really being warm enough (it's intended to be for summer and even spring weather has gone into retreat here in Melbourne the last week or two) it's already on my bed. I couldn't resist. :)

 

I began this quilt without any real idea of how to make one. I'd helped Mum with small quilt once previously but, while I enjoyed sewing the fabric pieces together, I handed it back to Mum for everything that came later. This time it seemed that with every step I completed I learnt another that needed to be done. No one mentioned hand sewing the entire binding!  

I'm pleased to say that I worked on every stage of this quilt. Designing, cutting, arranging, sewing, sewing, sewing. But, when my enthusiasm was lagging recently, my Mum helped. A lot. I'd work on it at her house on a Thursday night then pick it up again the next Thursday and discover she had continued on. Love that. Thanks Mum.

This is the quilt that Mum and I made.