Civic Homespun Market

Tomorrow will be the last market for 2009, the last chance to come along and pick up a lovely handmade Christmas present. I would have loved to have a few new items for the stall but unfortunately or fortunately I guess, I have been very busy with custom orders in my Etsy Shop. I will however have some crocheted berets:


suitable to wear all year round.

As well as fruity baby hats:


gorgeous shower gifts!

tea cosies:


and my usual range of hats and knitted accessories. So pop along and say hi, you can read about who else will be there on the Civic Homespun Markets blog.

Proud Mummy

As a mother I have always encouraged my children to be creative and use their gifts and talents, with my boys this has definately been sport but with Janelle she has been creating since she was little and used to blow people away with her little drawings and neat colouring in as pre-schooler. She can do most crafts but sewing is her passion and my house is being over run with fabrics and sewing notions which is fast overtaking my knitting stash, I kid you not!

Well of course as a student she is always looking for a bit of extra income so I suggested that she open an Etsy shop and start selling her items, she has been very busy creating and so I thought I would share some of them with you.

vintage fabric bunting


ipod cover


Adorable little hair ties


Her shop is called janellish.

I have been creating a few new items too, Sringtime Bandit shawl for the BWM op shop karma swap on Ravelry


and fingerless arm warmers for a customer


Until next time,
happy knitting.

Just A Few....

The trouble with slackness in blogging there are many projects to catch up on and add so here are just a few of them.


Midwest Moonlight Scarf, made from Cleckheaton Country 8 ply, this was made for a swap on Ravelry.


Gail aka as Nightsongs, made from some merino 4 ply from the Knittery, which I gave to my mother in law for her birthday, someday I will make another one for me.


04 Cabled Beret a Debbie Bliss pattern, made from BWM Luxury 10 ply, this one also was given in a swap on Ravelry.


Last but definately not least, Janelles Luxury Wrap Vest made from 4 ply BWM Luxury, she loves it and wears it all the time, yay I'm a happy knitting mum!

Am I Mad??!

Cutting into perfectly good knitting? My very first attempt at steeking and I must admit that it wasn't as daunting as I thought it would be, it was actually a lot of fun. And after picking up the stitches to knit around the edges it gives a much neater finish as there are no loose edge stitches which quite often become a bit distorted. The pattern is Colorwork Wrap Vest and I am using Bendigo Luxury 4ply in colours #355 Cork Brown and #343 Stone. I am up to the finishing off and so should have it finished by the end of the week, which is just as well as Janelle is just itching to wear it! But there is still 115 cms (45 inches) of I-cord to be knitted on 2.75 needles so that will be a bit tedious I suspect.

I have finally finished the Log Cabin Blanket and I love it so much that I have cast on the moderne log cabin blanket, plus it gives me an easy garter stitch project to have on the go.


Till next time, happy knitting.

Cupcake Hat Pattern

I have my first pattern for sale, the cupcake hat pattern is now available for purchase from Ravelry and Etsy it uses 8ply (DK, sportweight) and is in sizes prem through to 18 months.

A special big thank you to the test knitters on Ravelry.

Oh Dear.....

I think it is about time I blogged about some knitting, any knitting really!! I have been working on plenty of items but haven't actually got around to posting any of them here so here goes:


These were a request for a customer and have little embellishments that obviously have significant meaning, I used a Drops pattern but changed it to a short length glove and added a faux fur trim. I had to rewrite the fingers section though as it would never have worked as the fingers would have been far too small. I used 4mm dpns and Bendigo Woollen Mills Mystique 8ply, a gorgeously soft yarn.



These are a matching set of hat and gloves which are currently for sale in my Etsy shop.


And last but definately not least I made the Jacques Cousteau Hat for Janelles boyfriend for his birthday, this would have to be my all time favourite mens beanie pattern. Very tedious with all that rib on 3.5mm needles but well worth the effort, I used totem 8ply which is so soft and still a favourite of mine after all these years. Yes it was the first wool I ever knit with as my mum used to knit with it all the time and I got her leftover scraps.

I have just about finished another Mason Dixon log cabin quilt, so hopefully will have some photos of it finished soon. Until then happy knitting.

Twist and Shout KAL

Occasionally a pattern comes along that I just fall for and MUST knit and this one is definately a must knit! I have even joined a knitalong on Ravelry even though we are heading into summer and I am busy working on shop orders and also making a jacket for the summer holidays for wearing at night while outside sipping on the red stuff!

But all that being said I am looking forward to knitting Twist and Shout, but the dilemma is which yarn to use? I have narrowed it down to two choices, Jo Sharp silkroad aran and Patons Jet. But I am having doubts about the Jo Sharp, I have heard that it pills terribly so if anyone has any info on this yarn I would love your advice please.

I have been knitting heaps so I will finish off with some items that were made for my Etsy shop.

Firstly a pair of squirrel mittens complete with acorn trims, this was a design I worked out for a lovely girl in Sweden and she has since let me know that they are being well worn and getting lots of comments.


A blue denim cloche hat, a new idea I had which I must say was inspired by crocheted hats.


Oh well that is about it for now, please leave any comments or recommendations as to which yarn to use for Twist and Shout, I really would appreciate some advice, till next time,

happy knitting!