Sidelined

OMG! as they say. I see I have not posted here for a long while (August). All 5 of my faithful followers must be very distressed.
So what have I been up to?
I went to LA for a week and then on a cruise to Mexico for a week. One of my nieces got married on the cruise so it was a lovely family time - plus sun and heat.
I haven't done a lot of knitting - I'm still working on Hazelhurst and will update on that another time.

I've been sidelined by the making of cards. I had read that they were planning a new market in our new stadium so I suggested to a friend (who knows a lot more about card-making than me) that we have a stall. She agreed - and I'm glad she did as she has a lot more experience in these matters as well as being fun to work with.

So we started making cards. They took a lot longer to make than I had factored in to my plans so I've had to focus mostly on that recently. As a money-making venture I'd be better off working at the local supermarket but for fun and creativity it has been superb. My friend has a lovely subversive streak which I have copied with some of my cards, others have just been plain pretty because I enjoyed playing with the colour combinations so much. With the smaller square cards we also made the envelopes to get the right size. We used coloured/patterned paper which added to the 'prettiness.' We also made a few Christmas cards - seemed a bit early but they were popular.

OK - here are some photos. Excuse the quality as they were already in cellophane bags by this stage.

And this week...

 I made another Little Wildflower Shawl. Just counted them up - this is my ninth!
It's a birthday present for a friend.

And I'm chugging away on Hazelhurst - it might take some time. It looks a bit uneven but I'm hopping the final process of washing and blocking will sort that out

Normal service resumes

 With the Ravellenic Games over it was time to get back to other projects. And so I have now finished the Rowan Kidsilk Stripe scarf - the stripes are in the wool not the pattern. It is so soft and going to be very cosy to wear. Thanks cousin.

 Hats and I don't really have a great relationship but in winter they can be handy. So I'm always on the lookout for one that seems to suit me.  Morag, from Vintage Purls, showed me this one; it is Tweedle and made from her DK Max. It was a pretty quick knit and I like the result although I think I could do with better photos of the result. I would knit more of these in different colours - and could even omit the pattern and just do in stocking stitch.

And the big news is that I won a prize for my Ravellenic Games project - the Flag wrap. The prize was for the best use of national colours and I won 5 balls of Icelandic wool (Einband) in the colours of the Olympic rings - can't wait to see them and work out treasures to make with it.

Ta Daaaaaa

Well - it's finished - and even done before the Closing Ceremony.

I am well pleased. 

The photo below looks a bit odd because of the way I have folded the sleeves.

I really need someone else to take some photos - but I wanted to get them posted now so as to qualify within the timeframe.

I think it's worth a medal....

Progress report

Halfway through the Olympics - I guess I'm about the halfway mark. I hope....

Let the Games Begin

Before the Games started I was looking for something else to be knitting, a little extra variety because I am also making the Kidsilk Stripe Scarf. I've had this project on the list for a while and bought the yarn back at the March Unwind weekend - so it was time. It is Kate Davies' Hazelhurst. The yarn is Verandahyarns BFL (Blue Faced Leicester) Sock in Elizabeth Bennett (the red) and Naked. 

But finally the Games began and I could cast on. At times there have been 13 colours in a row however I am following Helene Magnusson's (the pattern designer) tutorials on yarn management and that has been brilliant. So far so good...

In Training

Well I had a rush of blood to the head last weekend - and decided to enter the Ravellenic Games - a kind of Knitting Olympics. This used to be called the Ravelympics but Ravelry got a 'cease and desist' letter so had to change the name !!!!*!*!*

Anyway, the aim is to select a challenging project and make it during the course of the Games.

I was inspired by designer Helene Magnusson's offer of anyone making one of her patterns and being in Team Iceland thus qualifying for a prize of a 4 day tour in Iceland in November. That could be an expensive prize for me - however......

I plan to make Flag. It means learning the technique of intarsia - another way of working with different colour wools. So I have been practising - and it is paying off!

I am also working on stripe scarf with the most beautiful Rowan Kidsilk Haze sent by my lovely cousin in Canada. It is great for Knit Nights as it doesn't require heavy concentration. The yarn is dyed that way - it's is so soft.

We received our second Winter Sock Club project - and they aren't always socks. This is a beautiful shawl in a soft violet. Not too demanding and I am happy to have it complete before I move on to my Olympian Challenge. And I can wear it of course.

New projects

 Well my house is full of potential projects so I tackled two this weekend. The first being the skull above - my niece, Lizzie, gave it to me for my birthday a while back. It was a basic polystyrene mould.
I decided it would look good with glitter - and it does. I am still varnishing it - in the hope that the varnish will protect the glitter.

 And I finished 'Anchor Me' - the first WInter Sock Club project. I wanted to get these done because I think we get the second project soon. The anchor is on the toes. There is also a small cable on each side but I haven't shown that too well in the photos. The colour is a lovely deep blue.

 The other project that had been hanging around for some time was the mini Afghan chadors - bought as souvenirs in Afghanistan a few years back. I think they may have been designed as wine bottle covers. I had thought of making a mobile with them  but I prefer this arrangement.

Mid-Winter Swap

Last night was the BIG night for our Thursday group's mid-winter swap party. And what a night!

The participants write down some details of their likes and dislikes and then we draw them out of a hat. And it all remains a secret until the BIG night.

I drew Stella, of knitknitfrog, and read that she liked blues, blue-greys and greys with touches of burnt red and orange. So that lead me to the Little squares scarf by Vanessa of doyoumindifiknit. (Vanessa has a great tutorial for making and joining the squares on the left side of the page on her blog).

  

I went and bought some plain alpaca yarn from Flagstaff Alpacas and proceeded to dye some and crochet a few squares every day. Slowly the pile grew and then I had to decide on the final arrangement - probably the hardest part of the assignment. Lastly I sewed up a few rows every day - and finished it just in time. It's pretty cool.

Stella also collects fountain pens so I couldn't resist when I saw this fabric. I found the pattern/tutorial on the net  (mini zippered bag tutorial) and it went so well that I made second one for Morag, our hostess with the mostest.

Seeing all the gifts that people had made was amazing. The things people think of and the work that they go to.

My gift was INCREDIBLE. Ana had seen that I liked Islamic geometric

 patterns and made me these mitts - and they came with the book!!!

 The pattern is Ruba'iyat Mittens by Heather Desserud

 Ana had modified the design on the thumbs and added a Latvian braid on the cuff - all beautifully done. And what made them so, so special are the colours she chose - my favourite gold/orange and then added the turquoise/blue that is so reminiscent of Iranian mosque tile work.
They are truly a work of art - I feel I need to frame them.

It was also about to be Stella's birthday and she had casually mentioned at our Knit Camp in May that she had always fancied a swimming pool cake. The idea of the pool hooked me and so I then launched into my first ever decorated cake.  It's a bit 'clunky' but it was fun.

All in all the Mid Winter Dinner and Secret Swap was a great success and we will all be looking forward to next year's.

Another shawl and something completely different

Firstly - another Wildflower Shawl - this is for my niece, Laura. She chose the colour (I had 3 possible choices) and it is lovely and will really suit her.

 Next is the project of last weekend. I went to see my cousin in Christchurch and we both had a go.
It was decoupaging with fabric - as per the pdf below
Fabric Decoupage pdf

 I did the stool and cousin Beth did the chair. The chair proved to be a lot trickier but we managed. It was 1am by the time we finished all the glueing. They still need a few coats of polyurethane to finish them. Aren't they cheerful?

The latest 'stuff'

 Well I finally finished the Murex socks - these were from the 2012 Summer Sock Club - meaning they were well overdue for completion.

 And another Wildflower Shawl - an easy knit and a great gift - I can't seem to stop making them

And now the first of the 2012 Winter Sock Club projects - except it is a blacker blue than the photo. I'll show more of the pattern as I go along.

Honey Cowl

 A couple of knitters in my Thursday Group have made this cowl. I like it - it is a free pattern, can be varied as a short or long version and it is a fairly easy knit when you don't want to concentrate too much. I made the longer version using  a Joy of Yarn hand-dyed wool that I bought from the James at Unwind earlier this year. It is a lovely mix of colours

First snow

With snow sprinkled on the hills this morning it seems a good time to have this finished and passed on to the recipient.
I am enjoying making these Wildflower shawls - not too difficult, a fairly quick knit and super cosy and cute.