WIP Wednesday.....

Wow three posts in one day! A record I think. Haha, I am making up for all those times I don't blog for ages thats for sure.

I thought I would give you a little update on Serenity today. I pinned it out to get an idea of the pattern, which is a little hard to see with all that colour. I think I will fix it a bit better and block it while its there.

It's coming along nicely now that I seem to have worked out those kinks. I am really glad I kept going despite the set backs and am looking forward to see how it comes out in the end.

Hugs all xoxoxo

Bee inspired - 4KCBWDAY2

Buzzing into day two of Knitting and Crochet Blog Week..........



A Mascot Project.

Your task today is to either think of or research a project that embodies that house/animal. It could be a knitting or crochet pattern – either of the animal itself or something that makes you think of the qualities of that house. 

Alternatively it could be a type or colour of yarn, or a single button. Whatever you choose, decide upon a project and blog about how and why it relates to your house/creature.


One of the things I love just as much as playing with yarn is buzzing around my garden.  I love each and every plant, yes, even the weeds and can happily spend ours just hanging out there breathing in all that glorious beauty. Like a bee, I am constantly drawn to the sweet nectar of plants. :-)

So with that in mind I wanted to embody my project not only with the bee but with nature itself. Flowers and pollen, bursting with colour and joy. But it was about there that I came to a stand still.

I have to admit to doing a bit of a search last night and coming up with quite a few little bee creations on the internet but nothing was calling to me to get creating any of it. I mean really there is a tonne of cuteness out there, and I have had a little bee fun in the past..







A while ago I am pretty sure I was feeling a little bit bee inspired when I came up with this little version of the 5 hour baby sweater.

It was fun and quick to knit and pretty cute. A little small for my model here but you get the idea. She had fun trying it on anyway. :-)


So I went to bed last night none the wiser as to what I would come up with for todays post.

Then whilst driving around this morning I was dwelling on how the universe always makes things obvious to us if we pay attention. Several incidents came to mind, such as random books falling on my head at the library when I needed them or internet links popping up at the weirdest times to remind me of a particular thing. (This happens to me a lot).




Anyway with that still in the back of my mind while hoping for some bee inspiration, I sat back down and started to think about Bee's again and Bee projects and then thought I will just randomly search and see what I can find.

So I googled "Bee inspiring" and had to laugh when up popped "Bee Inspired Yoga" (Well if that is not a direct message from the powers that bee (pun intended) I don't know what to think).

You see I have been procrastinating on a daily basis for the past few months that I really need to get back with my yoga fitness routine but keep putting it off. A gentle reminder I guess but also I immediately knew what I wanted to make.

A bee inspired Yoga Mat. Not very practical I am sure.  But a mat for sitting outdoors on. Maybe!

So now my research takes me in another direction, one being the shopping direction, I am going to need some cotton in just the right colours. I think I shall crochet and knit some squares so as to get a bit of everything I desire in there. I will have to include flowers. Lots of flowers. And of course a bee. maybe something like this...

I have never tried the bee stitch, have you? Not sure that I like it much but might give it a try.

Oh I really do not have time for this. But the Bee inspiration is now upon me. Oh my! Not sure that I will be able to cast anything on by the end of the week but maybe I can make a start. Maybe.

Newsflash....

We interrupt all my buzzing around for the House of Bee to share the excitement that comes when one sees ones own patterns re-produced by others.... drum roll please.....HRStuart from our Ravelry group, Everything Zen has made not one but two of my Roman inspired helmut's....and what an awesome job she did too.  She has so kindly given me permission to share her picture so here it is....

These were made for children so its nice to see that the pattern works out no matter which version you choose to go with. Very excited over here. I am absolutely loving the colourful one too. :-) 

Love and light to you my friends. xoxox

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week - The House Cup - 4KCBWDAY1

Roll Up Roll Up, knitters and crocheters of the world, choose your house and jump on board, its knitting and crochet blog week I hear and thanks to the lovely Hazel for reminding us on facebook ;-) I am actually on time. (Well almost, its really early Tuesday morning down here but meh better late than never hey?) 

So whats happening you ask? Well grab your glasses and cuppa and have a read...

Today Eskimimi explains.....

KCBWDAY1 The House Cup.

A bit like Harry Potter, but not quite, this year’s Knitting & Crochet Blog Week is split into 4 houses. Don your favourite knitted or crocheted hat and let it guide you to which house you will be in.

The House of Bee: Bees are busy and industrious, but can flit from one interesting project to the next as bright and shiny things capture their interest.

The House of Manatee: Manatees are gentle, calm and cuddly. Relaxed and unflashy they represent the comfort and soft side of knitting and crochet.

The House of Monkey: Intelligent and with a fun loving side, Monkeys like to be challenged with every project presenting them with something new and interesting.

The House of Peacock: Peacocks take something good and make it brilliant. Buttons, embellishments and a bit of sparkle prove that perfection lies in the details – like a Peacock's Tail.

So choose your house. You may be a combination of more than one of these noble beasts, but think about which house best embodies your qualities and declare your place. You can use one of the graphics above to display your house crest, if you like (though this is totally optional).

You could of course decide that you are so unlike any of these creatures in your style of crafting that you set up a rival faction and adopt your own house, though whether you get invited to the end of term disco remains to be seen, you rebel.

Hmmmm, Decisions decisions, I have to admit that at times I have been all of these, but thats no biggy afterall, we are all, everything even if we don't know it yet. ;-) 

I am like a Manatee, gentle, cuddly although not always calm, just ask my kids.  I do love to create soft warm things especially for babies.....

I do also love a challenge and I am always learning, I tend to jump in the deep end and force myself to swim. If faced with a challenge I will usually re-write a pattern or at least attempt several ways before I would even think of giving up. Of course my diving into a free form project, however, nearly did my head in. I could not cope with all that randomness and changing things around. Don't think that was my forte at all. LOL Someone else found it very exciting though...

And we all know I can be a bit of a peacock, in fact I think its safe to say that I always personalise projects with a bit of pomp....or dress them up with a crazy  hat....

gif make

A rebel?  Naturally. Designing my own house hat would be fun but its too early in the morning and the coffee has not quite hit my veins yet. And there is a teenage butt pointing at me because I told him to get out of my face for a moment. He wants my computer. Minecraft is calling and he and his friend need to sit side by side and play. Really my son, pointing your butt at me is not helping your cause. Just saying! 

And so we come to the BEE,  I would have to say that for the most part, this amazing little creature would describe me. BUSY being the operative word, always busy and buzzing around between projects, and/or plants :-) Sharing the love, the light, the healing, oh hang on we are talking about knitting hey? hehe....the healer in me was getting a bit excited....so yes, anyone who has been visiting here long enough knows that I always have a at least a dozen projects on the go, I can't help myself really, I flit from one project to another and have them placed randomly strategically around there house and in many sized bags that I can grab on the way out the door. Even the smallest handbag is equipped with a hook and yarn, lest my hands become idle when out and about. Really, just like a bee,  I am not very good at sitting still. 

So yes, I think we can safely say that I will be happiest in the House of the Bee! Looking forward to meeting you all and visiting your blogs. 

Bee Happy, Bee Healthy, Bee Creative! 

Love and Light my friends xoxoxox

Scattered minds require........shhhhhhhh......

or perhaps yet another unplanned, unscheduled, uncalled for even little project.

Yep I did it again, but when you add to the excuse that my mind was feeling a bit cluttered, due to the fact that I have not been meditating regularly, doing my yoga, teaching or keeping to regular routine...blah blah blah...etc etc etc (Yes its school holidays down here, that said, the older kids were off on a cruise, one son is staying at his sisters and the other is away at Bible camp for the week so I have a bit of free time on my hands).

Oh hang on, should my mind not then be rested, and should I not have more time to relax and create to my minds content? Of course not, I spent the first teen free days, decluttering and CLEANING the house, running around doing errands, replacing a rather over used cooktop and then when I finally had time to sit my mind was cluttered and full of so many other things I wanted to do and planning ahead and of then course realising that my time really did not run that extent.

I wanted to sit down and work on my WIP's, I really did but as even with my crochet project I had miscounted where to place the pattern in the sleeve when really it should have been obvious. I was reluctant to start working on the lacy sleeve of my cardigan and have to work out increases in the pattern.  I decided that what I really needed was some therapy knitting (or mindless knitting as I often refer to it as). Something simple that requires not a lot of though but is satisfying to create.

So I went and surveyed my Ravelry Queue and narrowed it down to about 3 simple patterns. Then I went to see what was available in the stash pile to play with. I decided to give this one a go simply called the Plain Vest. I re-named it fern.... because this week I learned a few things I did not know about our native fern...

and because for some reason only known to myself the swirling of the cotton and yarn reminded me of fern.

And I have to say I was feeling the love from the get go. The simplicity of the pattern, no real concentration required, the softness of the cotton and the yarn mixed together and of course the speed with which is was completed was a complete joy!

One happy customer over here! One project very almost completed over night! I am undecided on the buttons, I would really like some larger wooden leaf buttons for this one. But as I don't have any I  am trying to decide whether or not to put these on for now......

I used not quite two 50g balls of Moda Vera 100% pure wool in a pale khaki colour and about half a ball of Bendigo Woollen Mills 8ply cotton in white.

If you are not on Ravelry (the blog link for the pattern is here).

Love and Light my friends xoxoxx

WIP Wednesday......confessions......

So as my WIP's pile up around me, I thought I should fess up and tell you that I started yet another project. Norty Norty me!

In my own defence my girls took me shopping down in the big smoke last weekend and while they were having their nails done, I wandered into a book store and happened to stumble across this little gem....

Its not often that I will buy pattern books in store as of course it is generally so much cheaper at the Book Depository. However, in this case, the book was under $20 and had more than two patterns that I liked. This is my excuse that it was well worth grabbing. hehe.

Seriously though, there are some absolute gems in this book. I just want to get started on them all. However, there is that ever growing pile of WIP's that need finishing so I controlled myself and just hooked up one. I chose the Cabled hooded cardigan and so far the pattern is really easy to follow and a pleasure to hook up. I think this book and I are going to get along just fine. :-) I would recommend this book to beginners too as the designer has given plenty of pictures and line by line instructions to help you keep count and on track. And it is very very pleasing to the eye. Loads of gorgeous babies sporting their beautiful little outfits. Yep I love this book. Can you tell? :-)

So back to business, here is what I have so far....I am using Moda Vera pure wool in a pale aqua colour..... I have six balls of 50g and am beginning to worry that it won't be enough.... typical of me, I really should over buy my yarn..... its my first time trying cable so I am loving the way its working....

Next up I have been chugging away at Serenity, you may remember I was struggling a bit with the front. Problem after problem arose and while everyone around me suggested I frog it. I could not. I want that cardi, I do. I love the yarn colours and I really do like the lace pattern. But for some reason it just was not working.

I joined in the Pour Moi KAL, in the Project Stash group on ravelry and decided to use this project as my gift to myself. Why? Well because I thought it would give me that extra push to get it done. That little extra, YOU CAN DO IT, vibe! And yes it helps to have people working along beside you to chat to, even if they are not physically here.

I managed to contact the only other person on Ravelry who had finished this cardigan and she was an enormous help to me. Bless her! Lets just say I am pretty sure I need to get glasses. I was completely skipping the fact that I needed to BO six twice on the neckline. And I have just re-arranged the pattern flow a bit to get it to fit in nicely. No worries. Drawing, and/or writing things down really does help. LOL

So what else am I working on? Well, we have....

Crochet....

The IN-A-SPIN blanket ...... which would be all those squares I have been posting on and off.
Hospital Charity goodies
Little Hoodie which I frogged a while ago, but have decided I should finish after all.

Knitting

Vintage Baby Cardigan - leaf design - 4ply

Purple wrap - sewing and crochet edges

To do list - Not yet started

2 toddler boy sweaters - July
2 toddler boy hats- July
1 toddler girl birthday gift - July
1 gift for 50th birthday gift - for May
1 pair of socks
2 newborn baby boy gifts
2 knights helmuts

Oh Yikes, I am going to stop writing as all my want to do things are not even on there yet. I think I should go get to it hey?

Love and Light to all.

May your hearts be filled with love and joy  xoxox

Charity Morning Tea

Or all day crocheting, chatting and eating loads of goodies day! Yep, that sounds more like it.

Some of the crew getting creative

 Last week a group of friends came around and we attempted to make some goodies to donate to the local hospital charity shop. 

The ladies Auxiliary at the local hospital have a shop where they sell all kinds of lovely handmade creations to the public in an effort to raise funds to buy much needed equipment for the hospital. I thought it would be nice to lend a helping hand. 

I have to say I was rather impressed with everyones efforts. Several of my helpers were beginners and they managed to produce at least two items each. 

It was a fun day and there was talk of making this a regular event. Pictured above are some of the hats including a couple I had already made.  

Here we have a joint effort - she made the hat - and he made the pom pom...he became quite proficient at pom pom making... a marvellous helper...

Having a try at crochet.....

A couple of headbands....... the pink one was made by an absolute beginner! What a great job she did. :-) 

And these little lovelies were sent to me by a member of the Krista crochet group. They are simply adorable and I do think they will be a hit in the shop. My youngest daughter wanted to buy them all herself. 

I am hoping to deliver these at the end of this week. There are a few more hats on the way from friends.  All in all, it was a really fun day. I am sure we are all looking forward to the next one! 

Hugs and love to all xoxoxox

WIP Woes....

Do you ever have one of those woe is me projects going on? You know the one that you are actually loving but just is not working out right? 

Well this is one of those. I love the design. I love the yarn. However, (insert loud Le-sigh), the pattern is a little off. At first I thought it was me. I have finished the back and then started on the right front and the woes began. 

First I got to the decrease and discovered the pattern printout was different to the back for the decrease. Thats ok I thought and tried again. I pulled it back three times as it was not working when I finally looked at the website which was different to the printout. Really? Arghhhh... I said, that is all. (Yes I actually wrote that on Facebook haha!) 

And then I finally started to progress when I look at the work and once again....arghhhhh....do you see what I see? 

Yep that is a hole where there should not be a hole. Of course I have since ripped the whole thing back and started again and am once again up to that decrease part and forgotten what I did last time. (may I say arghhh again? I am feeling a bit like a pirate!)  I have also started a baby cardigan in 4ply, re-discovered my purple wrap which is nearly finished and I have been working on my In a Spin (no I did not frog it just yet :-) ). Besides working on some more charity bits and pieces. Busy week for yarn around here. 

Here is my latest square.....it was fun to make....

I am hoping to show you a FO soon.    What are you working on right now? 

Hope you are having better luck than me! 

Love and Light to all.  xoxoxxo

Trend Setters - part 4

Hello my lovelies. Hope your Easter Weekend went well. We had some lovely weather and now it is pouring down with rain and turned a little on the cold side. So I thought I would take the opportunity in between projects to give you the next part of our project. 

So by now you should have completed the head piece and the mask of your (if not see previous posts for clues).  

Today we are going to do the embellishments and again there are choices with how you would like yours to look. 

You can choose either the plain top...... this is worked in only one row and was my first attempt. The problem with this one is that it is not stiff enough to stay upright. If you like this look I would suggest that you work two rows and join which I will explain in a minute. To work this style. You start from the back of the beginning circle on top of the head and work down the centre joining seam.  Work 2 or 3 DC, 2HDC, and continue on in SC till you reach the desired length. Turn and work one row of SC to the top. 

If you have more time on your hands, you can add some fringes. In this case I have used a thinner yarn and gone for the bushy mane type look. If you want to cut it off and make it shorter like a brush I would suggest using chunky yarn as it will stick up better).   For the second version I worked it this way. 

Beginning from the bottom this time and along the centre seam (I started on the last row of DC before the back flap.)  Join yarn and Ch3 counts as 1st DC. Work 2DC into each DC space all the way over the top of your beginning circle. You will need to pick up one on either side of your circle between the stitches to cover your hole.   Next work 2DC, 2TR, 2DTR and then end off leaving just enough thread to sew along the last stitch length later. 

Go back to the bottom and now work in the row in front of your last one. Rpt 1st row along the front making sure to match all stitches. It will look a bit like this from the top. 

Now turn your work, ch1 and then SC along the top working through both rows of your work to join the whole thing together. 

For this little section at the back you can join using ss or you can sew it with blanket stitch. I sewed mine. 

I found that sewing it together helped with getting it to stand upright. Don't forget to do the same for the other end. ;-) 

For the plain style you are now finished. If you would like the fancier look (which most of the kids seem to like better) you now start the long job of cutting, threading and looping. 

The way I did this was to cut 4 strands of 8ply yarn into about 20cm lengths. You hold them together place your hook through one side of the top single chain (working alternately from inside to outside along the row. You do not have to do this but it helps to rough up the whole brush look) pull the middle of your four strands through the loop then pull all of the ends through your red loop. If you are unsure how to do this I suggest you google how to make tassles. Sorry but I  don't have the time to make a tutorial right now. 

This is probably the most time consuming part of your project but I must say it is well worth the effort. 

And now you are finished! Yippee! Hopefully your project will look a little bit like this. If you chose the chunky yarn you can work it the same way but cut off your bits to around 6cm long and you will have a spiky brush top. Don't forget to let me know when you are finished so I can add links to your blog. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask. 

I hope you have enjoyed our fun project and that you have been able to decipher my instructions. 

Love and hugs to all xoxoxox