fini

specs.

Springtime Bandit Shawl.one extra repeat row.Grignasco tango yarn.4.5mm needles

creative hug

In my last post I wrote a little about my sister's battle with MS. I want to say thank you for the lovely comments. I thought I would let you know that the good news is that she does not need to find a suitable donor, that they use her own stem cells. It is an amazing things isn't it?

We won't talk about how they do it though - that bit isn't so impressive.

I asked for some suggestions on a shawl for her - and now have some great shawls in my queue! It was so hard to choose - eventually I settled on the springtime bandit.

Except, I couldn't work out how to start it.

I scanned the internet for clues and even met a knitting friend for coffee. Working together it still made no sense. I tried to fudge it.

It didn't work - see?

The peak is more like a bite. I got a few inches in and found another mistake and this settled it. I realised I needed to make this shawl with love and mindfulness and not take my usual approach of ignoring mistakes and pretending not to be bothered by them. I took it apart and went back to the research stage.

I took another hour or so looking at lots of cast ons and finally found what I needed. It wasn't quite the deal but made enough sense to help me find my way. I am much, much happier with the result.

This is such a beautiful and quick knit, and I know will be perfect. I just want to finish it before the 13th, when my sister has her appointment with the Haematologist. Whether she proceeds with the transplant or not I think she will be needing a warm wool hug from her big sister to keep close.

for more creativity head over here.

getting by

I posted recently on the virtues of frugal comfort. This fortnight some things popped up which meant my income dropped by 30% and I suddenly found I had live totally by those ideals.

The really frightening thing is that it has been possible. I couldn't sustain it for a long time, cause that means not enough wine!, but I could definitely manage it much more often than I have been.

And it has come at one of my peak birthday gift times. Which is rather good as it has given me the opportunity to practice my handmade pledge using all kinds of things from the stash.



firstly I made the pinni for Edie



Then the 2 days, which turned into 2 week, scarf for Jo

and yesterday the handwarmers for Karen

And now for the details.

The Pinni is taken from the wonderful 'Absolutetly A-line' book. It is a little shorter than planned, which happens when you are using left overs.

The scarf for Jo was knitted using Cascade Heritage Yarns -a totally divine soft yarn.
The pattern is a simple one I made up. I like the body of it, but the edges are very wonky, even after blocking, and it hasn't held any shape at all. In fact blocking for two days seems to have been a complete waste of time. But having said that I think it will be lovely to wear.

The pattern is
1st row k*yo, k2tog* repeat to end
2nd row Purl
continue with row one and two till it is long enough. Though I threw in an additional purl row a couple of repeats in at either end for effect. I am wondering if I had a k2 at either end I might have ended up with something more stable, or if I had used smaller needles, or....? Any suggestions are very welcome.

Finally the handwarmers are the easiest thing I have ever made and look totally lovely. They are made from Bendigo Rustic 8 ply in Red Currant - an old favourite. Pattern can be found here.

I really want to make so many more things than handwarmers to comfort my lovely sister. I may have mentioned before she has MS. This week she found out that it is worsening even with the wonder drugs she has been on. So now her only option for keeping or improving her mobility, and keeping out of a wheelchair in the next short while, is a bone marrow transplant. We are all scared. I have this need to make her shawls and wraps and things to snuggle into. I would love some suggestions for easy but beautiful ones I can complete in weeks rather than months.

scarf

Now I know it isn't complicated, or radical or completely amazing, but I made up a pattern and I am feeling a little pleased with myself.

You see, I had a dilemma. My sister suggested at 9pm last night that I make her partner a scarf as a 40th birthday present. I wish I had thought of this sooner. The party is tomorrow.

Then I had a yarn crisis - I just don't have anything at all in a colour that will suit.

Zip.

So I put in an emergency call to my friend just around the corner. She has a magnificent stash. Lucky for me we are both home sick with a cold - perfect for stash raiding and knitting. We greeted each other in beanies and woollens this morning, looking not very glam at all. But she did have the perfect yarn.


It is a Cascade Heritage sock yarn in colour 9872.

Now for the pattern. I only recently made a scarf that would have perfect, but this was for someone special and has already gone. Making another scarf in similar shades with a similarly easy and simple pattern didn't sound like much fun. And repeating a pattern feels a little impersonal. So I decided to waste time and devise a different pattern based on a scarf a friend bought.

I will let you know how it goes. I particularly like the bottom - which was a mistake to begin with. I just have to work out exactly how I managed it when I get to the other end. I estimate I have at least 10 hours of knitting time and only 3 hours till school pick up, a couple of hours tonight when kids are settled and then, provided I can convince someone to drive, 3 hours in the car to Sydney tomorrow.

I had better get off the computer and back to it!

icase

I am working on being much more diligent this year with the handmade pledge and gifting. This month is a busy one with both of my nieces having birthdays.

The first is the lovely Anouk who has just turned 8. I love that she appreciates a handmade gift so much. I love that she gets it and treasures it more than some piece of plastic all new and shiny. This birthday I pondered what to make for some time and finally settled on a case for her iPod.

It is made from a felted op shop jumper, wool felt bought at the stitches and craft fair last year and a piece of fabric hanging about. I love that it didn't cost me a cent to make and that it turned out rather well if you ignore my inability to stitch neatly.

stealth scarf

I have been working on a quiet little project. By stealth.

Now it is finally finished and turned out beautifully I think. Just the right amount of interest in the pattern for someone who does not like a lot of decoration. It drapes beautifully because of the lace detailing and the fine yarn. It feels gorgeous to wear.

The specs:
Pattern: one row lace scarf
Yarn: Jolly Jumbuck Hercules 4 ply.
Yardage: about 2/3 of a skein

creative space

I recently went to a party. It was a very unusual event for me.

It was fancy dress - I would have said I hated fancy dress but I made a decision to just go with it. And several hours before the event I finally decided on a costume. Obi-wan.

In what will seem a theme, I made the costume at a friends house while we were there for a leisurely lunch. As soon as work started I had 5 small boys all playing starwars around and on the sewing machine with little figures. The excitement was palpable and I must say there is little better way to impress a 6 year old son than to decide to be a jedi. way cool.

The costume wasn't bad. The party was fabulous. I crawled into bed at 3.30 in the morning.

At 6am the pirate woke me. He NEEEeeeeDED to get that costume on.


Given all the interest I decided that Jedi cloaks should be the christmas present this year, so when the pirate and I were invited back to visit the first mate on the weekend it had to be on the condition of taking the sewing.

Again I took over a friends dining table for the jedi cause.


and because sewing lots of brown poplin on a hot day does get tedious I had a little support.



6 down and 2 to go.