running away

Everything is running away at the moment, time, days, projects, deadlines, ok really it all comes back to time. No matter how organised I think I am I seem to be forever running to catch up.By Sunday night I had got myself into such a state I had to sit down and draw up a massive planner with all my due dates, appointments, work etc.  Phew! it is pasted to the window next to my beloved imac, and is scaring the bejezus out of me!! I must learn not to say yes to everything! well at least not before checking my schedule.  In short this is why I haven't responded to your lovely emails and comments, and haven't dropped by to say hello (boy you guys all write alot!!).  However, this post is not about boring you with my inefficient time management skills.  Once again the whizzme clan have been taking in some sights.

Last week Mum was over (the mother who lovingly finishes my knitting projects for me) again.  Mother whizzme, Miss whizzme and myself went to Bendigo for two nights so we could once again visit the wonderful Sheep and Wool Show that the town hosts each year.  This show never disappoints, and if you have never made the trip and love yarn, I would suggest booking it in for next year.  I was restrained in my purchases this year, but still enjoyed the wonderful colours and creations and textures on show.  That ol' sheep has got the right idea. Miss Whizzme enjoyed the nursery farm - for about 2 straight hours!  On the way home we also stopped into Kyneton, a lovely town with some great shops, and a yarn store of its own.

Mum came supplied with the Sarah Dallas wrap cardigan knitted ready for sewing up - and it looks lovely so far.  It meant confessing to the fact that I had not yet sewn up last years cardigan, and was thoroughly falling down on my part of the bargain. Enough said!

I luckily received one of RicRac's wonderful little birdcages - they are so adorable, he is hanging here now keeping me company - thanks Jodie.

Meanwhile, I am slowly finishing my mockery socks (boy are they aptly named - they mock me every day!), trying to ignore the morning surf scarf (on ravelry) I started in Bendigo and attempting to squeeze in a quick gift making session for a new baby.  Most mornings however, I can be found rushing Miss Whizzme to school while brushing my hair, knitting a few rows at traffic lights and wondering how I managed to put my top on inside out again!

IF

If I was going to make a Babette blanket I would probably use colours something like this

and my squares would start to look something like this...

but I wouldn't be doing anything so silly as starting another project, so instead here (finally) is the progress I have made on the hexagon blanket:

This blanket is actually the reworking of a wip that was looking like this.

A gorgeous striped cardigan for Miss L in Rowan wool cotton.   Unfortunately, the completed back you see here is a size 2, and given that Miss L is now 5 I might have just left this project a little too late! (now there's an understatement).  There wasn't enough yarn to complete a bigger size so the perfect excuse to start some hexagons.  Miss L is monitoring the blanket's progress quite closely, including sizing it up to her bed!  Nothing like cracking that whip over your mother!!

When my little overseer has retired for the night, I have been trying to still work out a colour way I like for the chevron scarf.  I won't bore you with photo's of all the versions I have tried, but I think I finally like this one - I think!  

And I've also grown attached to this version - in 3 ply hand dyed cashmere (purchased from AK).

So you can see it is really very lucky that I haven't started any other projects this week (she says nudging the Babette blanket under the cushion).  But I know you are really here to find out if you won this month's giveaway.  My helpful little barrel bunny (or bowl bunny as the case may be), Pebble was very excited to be able to choose this month's winner.

The prize is this great book.

And the winner is

so Gwen email me your address - whizzme (at)bigpond(dot)net(au).

Finally, because so many of you have been so lovely about my knitting tote's, there are now 3 available in the shop - all sporting great Aunty Cookie fabric. (hey Jo, look, I finally made something for the shop?!)

Now I hear Miss L saying something about blankets....

chevroning

the whizzme family don't like to stay still for too long, so we popped over to Sydney on Sunday to see one of our nephew's confirmed.I managed to convince R (or Mr whizzme as he is now known) that even for only 24 hours it was very important to bring along my knitting and hence we would have to check in our baggage! sheesh! Miss L complained it wasn't long enough (we only stayed 24 hours) but managed a dip into the sea, lashings of hot chocolate and to bring home a bag of lego.

Thanks everyone for the lovely feedback on my little bag experiment. I am currently still getting back to everyone. But this post is to show you the progress of the Chevron so far (or the knitting project that came to Sydney). I oohed and aahed over the lovely chevron scarves Alex of Moonstitches knitted. The pattern is from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Even though I had no Koigu I thought one of my *cough* many luscious hand dyed skeins might be suitable. I picked out this beautiful alpaca yarn from Becreatif.

However, after a few rows it wasn't making me gooey with pleasure. I purchased these lovely Koigu's from Purl, so cast on again. Nope - not that either.

(sorry forgot to photograph this version so just trust me ok? it wasn't working!)

I dug around in my stash and found a lonely skein of Koigu (KPPPM P511L) so I combined that with the KPPPM from Purl. This is it so far - ick!

who knew this was going to be so bloody complicated! (and yeah I bite my nails)

I have since purchased the following Koigu's from ebay - hmmm, what should I try next?

or maybe I should combine my alpaca with this another colourway from Becreatif?

any suggestions you have would be most appreciated.

I am also on a Koigu hunt, as I want to try the Babette Blanket next (always one for a bandwagon!!). If you have any Koigu skeins in your stash looking for a new home and you would like to do a swap, please email me whizzme(at)bigpond(dot)net(dot)au

While I ponder the chevron dilemma the hexagons continue, maybe photos of mine by the next post. I also have some more purchases to share and there will be another giveaway this month, so stay alert!

catching up

(the post could also have been link bonanza - you have been warned!)
well with the lurgy all but gone it is time for me to knuckle down and get this blog here up to date! Firstly the little holiday was a lovely break for our small family. We stayed at a cosy old house in a small little town, Stanley. The heating was on, and the fridge provided local produce for breakfast. We stopped on the way up on Friday in Beechworth to purchase more local produce for dinner - sensational. Saturday we ambled our way to Rutherglen, did some antiquing before venturing to All Saints Estate for a sumptuous lunch, wine tasting and more local produce buying. Sunday after sitting around the fire and playing games we headed up to Mt Buffalo to partake of some snow play. Miss L and I made a snow woman (very p.c.!) and R and Miss L did some tobogganing, while I watched with a comforting cup of homemade soup. It lightly snowed while we were there, which was magic. Before we knew it was Monday and time to be heading home. We did managed to stop in Beechworth so I could make some small purchases from The Ardent Alpaca,
and we could enjoy the Beechworth Bakery and Beechworth Sweet Shop. Some wine and cheese tasting stops before getting home and falling in to bed. (Holiday photos can be found here).

Now of course I had to take some crafting with me - which was fortunate for Penelope, as Miss L decided on Saturday that she needed some more layers, especially if she was going to be hitting the slopes the next day. Of course I had my trusty little case of fabrics, needle, thread, buttons, elastic and scissors - ready for just such an occasion. Miss L decided that Penelope would be most warm if she wore all her clothes, and I think it makes a lovely ensemble. I am certain Penelope does as well as she hasn't taken them off yet!

My main project however was to finish my scrappy scarf, which I started on my bestfriending weekend away. Finished. I am very happy with the result - stripey, soft, goes with anything! and just the right length.I knitted this scarf on 4 needles, size 12 (4mm) with odds and ends of 4 ply from my stash. The majority of yarn is Rowan 4 ply or from Greta's yarns. I sewed the ends closed using Kitchener stitch which provides a neat and smooth finish. I made the dimensions and length up as I went along, but I noticed the other day that Interweave Knits as a free pattern for a similar looking ribbed scarf if you wanted to make one.

With all the time spent in bed last week, I was craving some crafting time. Lucky for me the Master Chef wanted to cook all weekend, and Miss L had a friend to play. So Saturday Miss L and Miss H and I spent a few hours making softies, with an idea from this book.
Although all the text is Japanese the pictures are easy to follow, and the girls had a lot of fun designing, choosing fabric and buttons and watching their softie come to life.

Although this little craft session with the girls required quite a bit of sewing from moi there were also several hours where the girls disappeared to play their own games, leaving me like the proverbial pig in pooh!

I managed to finish up quite a few WIP's that have been sitting around for quite some time but they are for a future post and shop update coming soon. I also mucked around with another idea from the Japanese craft book used for the girls softies. The book produced a cat and mouse balancing toy made from paper and wire. I decided that it would be nice if the cat and mouse were softies - so I set to work. It works a treat, and Miss L has spent quite some time seeing what objects they will happily balance on.

Next I put together my prototype bunny for an idea I have for the shop. It has been floating around in my head for ages, so it was great to finally get this one made. Meet Pebble. She is quite a shy little bunny, and only 15 cm tall, but I am hoping that as time goes by you will get to know her well.

Lastly, I decided to try something from one of the new books I have (there are a few, and that's a whole 'nother post). Having recently treated myself to a new wallet, I wanted to make something to hold all the extra cards I seem to have that usually bulk my purse up and make it hard to close. Jocelyn Worrall supplied the answer with her Accordian Wallet from 'simple gifts to stitch'.
This pattern was very easy to follow and came together really quickly, despite the pain of sewing oil cloth. I altered the pattern slightly so that my cards are vertical and provide more pockets. Even one for my moo cards. I'm not sold on the magnetic closure yet, but I'll give it a few outings before making any judgements.
Fabrics used are oilcloth from Sew Mama Sew (that particular one isn't there) and stripes from Amitie Textiles.

Now I am going to give the tote from the front cover a go. I have some great Aunty Cookie fabric which is dying to be used. And Moonstitches has enticed me with another of those beautiful chevron scarfs so I'm winding some yarn as you read - who doesn't need another project?!

P.s. Nanna and Poppa there is some photos for you here.

a little bit of this, a little bit of that

so Harry Potter is finished and I'm sad that now there will be no more, but I was satisfied with the ending - don't worry there will be no spoilers here - you'll have to read it for yourself. I guess I'll just wait for the movies now! Anyway, thanks everyone once again for entering the giveaway I wish you could all win, and I have even included an extra prize this month, because I have so many magazines taking up precious space, so here are the winners

please email me your address at whizzme(at)bigpond(dot)net(dot)au so I can send your goodies to you. And for those of you who didn't win this time, there is always next month's giveaway. However, as I do have so many magazines that need to go I have the following magazines available to anyone who is interested to swap or purchase, once again just email me: whizzme(at)bigpond(dot)net(dot)au.

Piecework issues:
2007-July/August, May/June, March/April, January/February
2006 all 5 issues
2005 - March/April
2003 - November/December

US Knitter's issues:
2006-Summer
2005-Spring, Winter, Fall, Summer
2004-Fall

UK Knitting issues:
2006-March
2005-November, August, April, March, February
2004-October/November, April/May, February/March, January/December
2003-October/November

Australian Creative Knitting issues:
1 to 10, 13 & 15

Now, on to some crafting items that were finished before Harry Potter arrived on the scene.

I entered in the second round of the Doll Quilt Swap. This is my finished quilt sent of to my partner.

I was very happy in the end result, which is hand pieced, embroidered and quilted. It isn't the original idea I had for this swap, that little mishap is still sitting waiting to be saved from "stupid thing" pile!
I received a beautiful quilt from Ros in the UK (who studies in the US).


A little project commissioned by Miss L when we were in Wangaratta - a poncho for her elephant. Yes, elephant's get cold too. As it happened I had just that day bought some sock wool and mum had picked up a poncho pattern, so with a little bit of swatch testing and guesstimating it wasn't long before Elle was sporting her new winter wear.


And here is proof of just how much my mother loves me! A wonderful cardigan from Knitscene, with some beautiful wool I purchased a year or two ago from La Lana.

It was originally planned for a shrug from Interweave Knits, but once the wool arrived I wasn't so sure anymore, and had never started. Mum and I flicked through patterns, worked out tensions, wound skeins, re-wound skeins trying to figure out how best to balance out the hand-dyed colours. Unfortunately I cannot show you the finished beautiful product, because my part of the project is the sewing up - ah yeah, any day now!!!

I have so many other projects that are in varying stages of chaos production, but the next two days will be spent sewing with some friends. Catch you soon....Oh and here is Miss L's latest photo shoot.

and, and, and, and...

and then we....and also.... this is what this post is going to be like, rambly, shambly, all over the place. bit like myself at the moment! So, I warn you now there will be no linking of one random piece to another, because really I have several things to show and tell and no intelligent or witty way to present them, so you are stuck with this! (It is also because I have started this a few times and had no luck so now you just get the quick and dirty version).

My new dish cloth (starting with the elegant!). Purchased from my favourite soap shop, which is very frenchesque.
The artist is swedish illustrator Lotta Glave Why aren't more dish cloth's this pretty? Has my brain ticking over about the possibilities of printing designs on to the wettex, but not sure how to get them waterproof - any suggestions? And you should see some of the other beautiful things Lotta has designed - I would like one of these please. (my birthday is only a few weeks away - hint, hint!)

Anyway, next I found this fantastic photo taken by Miss L, when I was downloading the latest photo's.

It is of our grape vine which covers the next door neighbour's wall, and presents a stunning wall of green in summer and spring, beautiful reds and yellows in autumn, and bareness in winter. But this photo has made me look at it differently, for its own beauty.

And, I think I mentioned Mum being here, finishing wip's for me (three cheers for Mum). So, Miss L, myself and Mum headed up to Wangaratta during the week to check out the Stitched Up Festival. It's about a 3 hour drive from Melbourne, so we decided to stay a couple of nights, so we could also check out the surrounding area. Although the festival itself was small and quaint, it was nice to visit. I would however, recommend visiting the Bendigo Sheep and Wool show rather than trouping up to Wangaratta - but that is just my opinion. We browsed for a while, then sat by the fire and added a few rows to their scarf knitting challenge. I would love to show you pictures, but photos were not allowed. Shame. If you do find yourself in this part of Victoria though, there were also a couple of good fabric/yarn shops which helped to add some new goodies to my stash.
Also, at the festival Miss L and I paid $2 each for a lucky dip. I got a little paper bag of brightly coloured fabric, and Miss L scored a little bag of green hued wool. She was so excited about all the knitting she could now do, now she had her own wool, that I was coerced into buying some children's knitting needles. Below is a photo of her progress. Not bad for a 5 year old.
She has since pronounced that "now I can knit" and has shown no further interest in adding any more stitches. oh well! As it is still school holidays I guess there are just far too many other things to be doing.

And school holidays is still my excuse for not finishing much lately, but starting several new things, running out of time on some due dates like the Doll Quilt and really just enjoying the complete haphazardness of our days. I have managed to add a few new scrap bundles to the shop - vintage japanese silk and some hand dyed yarn from Marta's, but everything else is on a FWE timeline (finish when ever!). I have'nt forgotten about this month's giveaway either, and am currently assessing my craft books - the give away pile isn't nearly as high as I had hoped! Oh well.

eight is enough

My favourite Miss Homemaker tagged me, so here goes:

A. Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves.

B. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed.

C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. When I was growing up Mum always folded our underwear, and taught us to too. So now I fold all of my family's underwear, I just have to. R thinks this is very funny and completely unnecessary.

2. About once a month I have to sharpen every pencil in the house. I hate blunt pencils - hate them. R recently wounded himself trying to reach for a pencil to take a phone message. That's how sharp they have to be!

3. I am the only one in the house who can put the teacups, mugs and glasses away correctly. They have a specific way of fitting together to fit in the small cupboard space and no one ever seems to get it right. Anal I know!

4. I can sleep anywhere, anytime, for any amount of time. I think I may have been a cat in a former life. (R made me include this one!!)

5. I bite my fingernails.

6. I go to the gym twice a week, for a work out with my trainer - I am still rather proud of this.

7. I get really antsy (and slightly grumpy) if I don't get to read some of my book(s) each day. (I am usually reading two or three books at one - currently they are Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar and Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Mineral)

8. Miss L and I run late to school every day -every day. Usually it is my fault.

I asked R and Mum to help me with these - R's included things like, hates doing dishes, doesn't rinse out things for recycling, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And Mum thought I should include the fact that "I buy everything on the spur of the moment". But like, yeah, so? I mean who doesn't? right?!

Anyway, I find this very hard to choose who has and hasn't done these things, especially since I am always way behind reading all my blogline entries, but taking a stab I'll say,
linda
kate
jo
tiel
kristen
leslie
tatania
kirsty

Phew!
We have just recovered from the sleep over party, which was a big hit and now we are onto a week of crafting and playing with Mum who is visiting this week. She is already finishing one of my knitting project's from last year - with much mumbling of 'very peculiar'!

scraps - literally!

The pleasure of using up odd ball's in my stash with beanie's knitted for charity and modelled by Miss L's teddies, and wiggly woo hat's (coming to my shop soon) while also continuing to add stripes to my scrappy scarf,
and enjoying the smell of rhubarb cooking - mmmm
after repairing tea party mishaps,
then having a little girl who was excited about having Dad home again.
But, starting to become nervous about having 5 little girls for a sleepover tomorrow night.....