Starting to find my creative mojo again..........very happy about that!

I bought a new book last week and it has so many great small projects.  I've started with this small buttoned pouch with a hand crocheted flap.  I did it all by myself!  I can actually read a crochet pattern fairly easily now and it makes sense!  Hooray!  I plan to use vintage linen scraps to make the pouch.  Stay tuned for completed project photos.  Book available at Steph's Fabrics in Moruya.  

These are my felted slippers that I made way back in May 2010, they have served me well but in the last week or so I found they were threadbare in three places on the sole.  As the tops were still in great as new condition and my inability to locate the pattern I have got out my grandmothers sock darning mushroom and set to work.  See the freckly patches, I also couldn't find the matching wool so used a darker shade of the same brand and wove horizontal and vertical threads and then chucked them in a good hot soapy wash and felted them up again.  They now 'like new', I'm sure they'll last a few more seasons, maybe by then I will have found my pattern!  

This is my project that I've been plodding along with, since late January.  I took it to New Zealand as their are only two rows to remember.  I bought 150g of this Australian Wangaratta Woollen Mills 3ply laceweight pure wool on a cone at a thrift store for $1.50.  I had no idea how far it would go but a triangular shawl/scarf just keeps growing, I've used almost 100g now so about a third of the way to go.  I just have to decide when enough is enough and then do the border design and hopefully not run out of wool.  This pattern is called South Bay Shawlette and it's a free one from Lion Brand, available on Ravelry.  It can be crocheted out of any sort of yarn you have and is a really easy pattern to read and decipher, there are both row by row written instructions and a great diagrammatic pattern which I find the easiest to follow.

Filati felting

Picked this knitting magazine up recently.  I've bought a few copies of Filati Handkitting in the past but this one with the gladioli on the cover really caught my eye.  As a designer of knitted and felted bags I was pleased to see a felted bag on the cover and there a few more felted projects in the magazine too.  The cutest one is a small felted stuffed toy fish, might even try this out with my new crochet skills so I can show you how cute it is.   I have personally thought felting had probably had it's day, now maybe I am not right............in Germany at least!  Other than the felting the magazine is full of great home wares projects, very contemporary and stylish.  Worth a look if you can still find Issue 46 on the shelves near you.

Finally something to make me blog again............

...................it's only been about 6 months! So what you might ask has prompted this little blog post? I'm not sure what it means but today while in town searching for a pair of pre-loved Levis jeans for a project I'm working on at the moment I came across this sad little selection of old patterns and I did a double-take. I've made it! I've found one of my felted bag patterns at a charity/thrift store, it really made me smile. Did the previous owner knit one of these bags from my pattern, did they love it enough to pass the pattern on to someone else, or maybe they couldn't make head nor tail of the pattern and they threw it away in disgust????

I am sorry I seem to have stopped blogging, it wasn't intentional, I'm not even sure why it has happened. I haven't taken any photos either, not even while on holidays in Tasmania late last year, no Christmas shots either! Weird isn't it? This photo I snapped with my iPod touch and it's not too bad, maybe that will motivate me to snap more things in the future. I do still think about blogging, there is a small pile of subjects to be photographed sitting in my sewing room waiting.

Returning to work has changed my life, I've been back nursing now for just over 2 years, working 3 days a week. Very soon I will begin working full time, this is a bit scary, I haven't worked permanent full time since I was pregnant with my first child who turns 19 this July. Will I survive? Who knows, but I'll give it my best.

New slippers for me

My usual Bev Galeskas ballet slipper pattern but this time I knit them the largest size with two strands of double knit wool together and they turned out just the right size for me (Euro 39 or Australian 8.5) and so thick and cozy. Winter is just beginning here and I can't stand having cold feet or the rest of me is cold too. I used a Sullivan's 100% pure Australian wool, but found in small print on the label..........Made in China!!!!! What the!!!

All ready for giving.............

...............this weekend. I hope this pair is well received and that they keep her toes cosy after a hard day at work. Six pairs now, I nearly know the pattern off by heart, time for a change I think. I have started a shawlette in sock wool maybe I will show you that next.

Now the rains have gone.................

..............and the sun has come out again, the autumn crocus are flowering and I'm knitting to my hearts content with cheery colours. It's such a shame Panda don't make Woolbale anymore, I'm down to the last of my supply, I saw their new Feltable Wool yesterday and the colours are yuck. Maybe Panda Yarns doesn't like it either because it's not shown on their current webpage. They do have a cute free felted hat pattern which uses the Feltable Wool. Found the wool colour chart here.

Stripes this time

Another pair this time for a friend who is recuperating from surgery this week. Colours inspired by my friends love of a great blogger, Attic24 in the UK who creates the most amazing colourful crochet with a new baby in her arms sometimes. I am really enjoying knitting these little slippers as gifts, I bought 5 sets of cute buttons yesterday as inspiration for the next few pairs so stay tuned for more felted feet.

Felting Fun in the Sun

Finally I've had the urge to knit again, it's been hot and humid but with aircon on I can knit and these little ballet slippers are the result..................also one very happy friend who had a birthday on the 1st! I cast on another pair last night, I use Bev Galeskas' pattern AC14, double knit pure wool, largest size in the pattern, 5.5mm needles because I don't have 6.5mm ones suggested, and then I felt them down to the size I want.

Random things

Finally, time to sit down and let you see what I've been up to in the last couple of weeks, I've become a very seldom blogger. Not good! The good intentions are there but the light is terrible in the late afternoon for photographing anything when I get home from work and well I just seem to be too busy or tired.

Anyway, I'm pleased to show you I have been teaching myself to crochet very basic squares in 4ply Heirloom cotton in lovely French country inspired colours, maybe a nice lightweight throw for our bed in the making once I work out how to join them all up in the easiest possible way. It did take me 3 nights and much cursing to follow the crochet pattern, stitch instructions and trying to make sense of the diagrammatic pattern...................patience is one of my talents I'm pleased to say and I did eventually get it, now I just need to get into it before I forget how.

My mum knitted up an Angel Puff Scarf but was very worried about the felting process, she handed over the macadamia nuts and her knitting and left me too it. It just seems torturous to felt this gorgeous 1ply lace weight mohair in the machine with a pair of old Levi's, lucky she wasn't present.............but all ended well with a wonderful light and fluffy unique scarf which she'll have to put away for next winter as the warm weather has hit us with an avengence over the weekend.

Finally a very zoomed snap of our gorgeous Ruby dog through a very dirty kitchen window early one morning. Ruby has taken to sleeping on the raised garden bed outside Surfer Boys bedroom window even though it poured rain all that night, she just has to be near her family all of the time. She does have a deluxe kennel inside the garage with a big soft and warm blanket. The other thing she wouldn't want to miss is the very early dark'o'clock run down to the beach with Surfer Boy on his yard waste bike to check the surf ready for a before school surf or swim as the case may be. Ruby has turned one and she is a big part of our family whether we like it or not, she really makes her presence known!

Look what I found..........

.........a local textile artist is selling 200g hanks of hand painted pure Australian wool in 8ply and 12ply at our local markets at Riverside Park. I don't know what I will do with my hank but I'm getting some ideas for a new felted item. Mischi does lots of dyeing, knitting, felting and spinning, she sells a bit of everything. Make your way to Moruya one Saturday morning and chat with this very creative woman who sits and spins through the morning. Great food, fresh produce, handcrafts and so much more at this little country market.

Time to post...............

............these slippers, they are a very belated birthday gift, I mentioned way back in late June. This wool felted very well and should wear well, hopefully not too slippery on the polished boards where they will be used.

Working with wool and needles

I knit a tea cosy this week for a friend who had requested one quite some time ago. As I'm not a tea or coffee drinker I didn't have any patterns for one so after checking Ravelry I headed off to the local thrift stores. I found a few patterns but this very textured SIRDAR one took my fancy because I thought I could make it look a bit more contemporary. My friend is an art teacher so I knew it would have to be a bit special. I really enjoyed knitting this cosy, I trimmed it with green Icord as it's my friends favourite colour and it looks fab on her tomato red teapot.

I've been knitting a lot lately, it's mid winter here and the days are short so knitting infront of a blazing fire is very appealing. This Shalom Cardigan is a little free pattern that I found over at Ravelry, not quite my size but with some mods I increased the bust by 5" and it fits great. I used Cleckheaton Country Wide pure wool that I picked up locally at Kmart of all places. Found the perfect button while out walking in my lunch hour one day last week. This was a super easy knit and fast! As you can see my two assistants were working hard keeping me and my Shalom Cardigan company.

Next project is a pair of felted Maryjane slippers for my sister-in-law who had a birthday this week. I'm using Sullivans Cozy Wool which I'm sorry to say is not very environmentally friendly, 100% Australian wool made in China!! How could that be economic!

Rouge fleurs..............

.............correct me if I'm wrong, "Red flowers" in French "Rouge fleurs"?? I don't know! I sat in my pj's this morning and began fiddling with wool scraps to make some roses and leaves that I will later felt so they can embellish bags, hats, slippers, tea cosies or whatever you please. I am teaching another felted knitting class over the next few weeks so am gathering my thoughts and samples for show'n'tell so I can hopefully inspire more knitters. My local yarn store (LYS) is selling off discontinued lines and reducing her stock at the end of the financial year and she won't be carrying much stock in the future as the global financial crisis seems to be preventing knitters from purchasing yarn...............I'm very sad about this. One way to help your family through a financial crisis is to be more handy and producing garments for you family by knitting, crocheting and sewing, even if you are recycling yarn and fabric to do so. There is nothing as lovely as wearing a handmade cardigan, jumper, socks, scarves, beanies so I implore all you readers out there who did once knit, crochet or sew get to it and produce something handmade for your family and then let me know about it, even send me a photo and I'll blog about it for you. We have to continue to teach each other how to knit, crochet and sew, they are valuable life skills that should never be lost to future generations. Check out Ravelry if you need inspiration.

Obsessive

I didn't really need more sock wool but how could I resist this new Regia range created by Kaffe Fassett, wonderful colour combinations and available locally...........amazing, and it also comes with a free pattern! Next up is my recently found obsession for knitting garments from the neck down and absolutely no sewing up at all. This latest cardigan/jacket is called the Diminishing Rib cardigan for obvious reasons from Interweave Knits Spring 2009, it's knitting up really fast. I'm using Cleckheaton Country Silk 8ply in a really dark slate grey, also bought locally. I'm trying really hard to use every mm of the 11 balls I have, as you can see the body is on a stitch holder waiting for a few more inches once the 3/4 length sleeves are complete, the bottom of the jacket does kick out like the sleeves, you can't see this at the moment with all the stitches bunched on the holder. I've added a buttonhole at the neck so now need to find a great button to finish this cardi off. Finally I bought Material Obsessions new book, really like this one, seems more appealing than their gorgeous first one, lots of inspiration in there. This book was also bought locally and well before the official release date for some bizarre reason.......lucky me! I don't have nearly so much time for being creative these days but I don't let a day go past without delving into textiles in some form, I really crave creative time and it keeps me calm and semi sane.

Linky love

As promised, it my chain link scarf felted up really well and I wore it to work yesterday, very cosy. It received a few lovely comments also. Apparently it reminds people of the paper chains we used to make as kids to decorate classrooms and Christmas trees. Another winner! Now what to knit next?

Linked up

Wow, I've been a bit flabbergasted at the response to my Windshield lace knit pattern. This blog has been averaging 400 visitors a day for the last week mostly because it has been linked to Knitting Pattern Central and the pattern has also been downloaded 205 times from Ravelry. Thank you! As you can see I've completed my third Windshield, I thought I 'd show you a pre-blocking photo so you don't panic when yours is all buckled too.

I have a felted knitting class coming up locally and I like to take along show'n'tell to inspire others to get creating. I decided to make a woollen dog lead for Miss Ruby, leftover sock wool made into about 4m of Icord then plaited, ready to felt later today. I have been experimenting with magic loop knitting again making chain links for another winter neckwarmer, hope this works out as I really like the look of it so far but I think felting will make it even better.

Must be off, time to take the dogs walking while the sun shines. Hope you are all enjoying the cooler months in the southern hemisphere, perfect for knitting by the fire..............sorry to those in the north but you can start planning your knitting for later in the year when the hot weather is over.

Many thanks for taking the time to read my blog and I am encouraged now to add more free patterns every now and again for you to enjoy.

Free neckwarmer pattern

Long time no blogging.................I know, not good but I have been knitting a little bit in the evenings and have developed a new free pattern download over at Ravelry. As you can see my trusty photographic assistant Ruby was very helpful this morning. This neckwarmer is an essential item when walking dogs on the cold and windy beach in winter. I have loved knitting lacy pattern for so long I've decided to spend a bit more time researching very old patterns and reworking them to make them much easier to knit. If you already belong to Ravelry then you can find me 'lisajane' over there and I have two free patterns available and 8 knitted and felted bag designs for sale.

If that is too much for you to struggle with then here is the basic pattern for my new neckwarmer for you to enjoy.

 

Windshield Loose Lacy Neckwarmer

Cast On 120 stitches with 4mm small circular needle using a DK yarn (less than100g)

Work 1 row purl then join into the round, place stitch marker, work further 2 rows purl, then 1 row K.

Begin Shield Pattern as below, alternate rows are knit because you are knitting in the round. Row 28 also knit.

Work 2 and ½ repeats of Shield Pattern, finishing with a Row 14 of knit (70 rows of pattern).

Work 3 purls rows and Cast Off with a 4.5mm needle loosely.

Shield Pattern - a variation of a vintage pattern from Cornelia Mee’s 1846 book, Exercises in Knitting although her pattern didn’t have the decreases sloping in the directions that I think lie nicely and it her olde world writings were very tricky to work out. I spent some time reworking this Shield pattern so it works up beautifully and have provided the pattern in a written format below and a graph on my free pattern over at Ravelry. The pattern is a 15 stitch repeat which does increase to 16 stitches for rows 9-22 inclusive.

Row 1 - ssk,k3,yo,k2tog,yo,k1,yo,ssk,yo,k3,k2tog

Row 3 - ssk,k2,yo,k2tog,yo,k3,yo,ssk,yo,k2,k2tog

Row 5 - ssk,k1,yo,k2tog,yo,k5,yo,ssk,yo,k1,k2tog

Row 7 - ssk,yo,k2tog,yo,k7,yo,ssk,yo,k2tog

Row 9 - k1,yo,k2tog,yo,k3,k2tog,k4,yo,ssk,yo,k1

Row 11 - k1,yo,k2tog,yo,k3,k2tog,ssk,k3,yo,ssk,yo,k1

Row 13 - k1,yo,k2tog,yo,k3,k2tog,ssk,k3,yo,ssk,yo,k1

Row 15 - k1,yo,k2tog,yo,k3,k2tog,ssk,k3,yo,ssk,yo,k1

Row 17 - k2,yo,ssk,yo,k2,k2tog,ssk,k2,yo,k2tog,yo,K2

Row 19 - k3,yo,ssk,yo,k1,k2tog,ssk,k1,yo,k2tog,yo,k3

Row 21 - k4,yo,ssk,yo,k2tog,ssk,yo,k2tog,yo,k4

Row 23 - ssk,k3,yo,ssk,yo,k2tog,yo,k2tog,yo,k3,k2tog

Row 25 - ssk,k3,yo,ssk,yo,k1,yo,k2tog,yo,k3,k2tog

Row 27 - ssk,k3,yo,ssk,yo,k1,yo,k2tog,yo,k3,k2tog

Suggested yarns

For the pink neckwarmer I used 2 x 50g balls (100m each) of Eki Riva Casual 8ply (100% Baby Alpaca) from Peru.

The cream neckwarmer which was my prototype was knit with 2 x 50g balls (110m each) of Heirloom 8 ply Capri (70% cotton 30% wool) from Australia.

I hope you enjoy knitting this old world style knit and that you continue to explore lace knitting.

I love wearing my Windshield pinned with an English antique silver brooch.

Enjoy, Lisa x

Dashing about

I've a new bag to felt today. I have high hopes for this bag, I really like all the dashes and think it should look great when felted. Just one more load of necessary family washing then the machine will be ready to get to work on my 'Dashing About' bag. It's a great drying day today so might have finished shots later today. As you can see I also have a bale of sugar cane mulch to spread on the vege garden this afternoon when it's nice and shady out there.

Bue mavue

The last few weeks have flown by. I'm loving my new working life and am starting to get my life a little more organised. Still finding time to create so hopefully I will keep up with photographing things and posting about them here so you know what I'm up to in my spare time. Made this larger than usual glasses case as requested by a neighbour and it had to be in shades of mauve and blue, as you all well know these aren't my colours so I had to scrounge around to find a collection of feltable wools to work with. It felted up beautifully and was delivered yesterday to a very happy neighbour who is giving it as a gift very soon.

Latest batch done

If you knit any of my Knitted and Felted Bag patterns up you would need a set of four stitch markers to mark the four corners including an odd one to denote the beginning and end of a row in the circular knitting. I've been busy this morning filling an order for the local knitting shop so thought I would show you too. My hands are tired and I'm still in my PJ's, time for a walk on the beach with Miss Ruby and Old Casper I think.