Freezing Here!

Well we are well and truly into the swing of winter here with the last few days being -3 deg for a few mornings but afterwards we have a glorious sunny day. .
I have been away to Christchurch since last post, visiting family. It was a sad time as their faithful dog Shilo had to be put to sleep. He was 11 years old and the most lovely pet and companion.
Was going to the market today but have had a virus or cold all week and don't want to stand outside for hours freezing, its a shame as I was so looking forward to it. Must set up a website to sell my yarns and knits . Its on my to do list!!
Now it s been so long since writing trying to remember what I have been doing. Ive made a few pairs of socks. A nice green pair for me as my stock is going down.

I made this really nice cardie that I have had in my queue on Ravelry for ages I wanted something like a blanket that you can just wrap around yourself indoors and I think this fits the bill nicely. What I am most happy about is that I managed to use up all my stash possum yarn that Ive had for years so nice to see it put to good use. Oh the pattern is Caramel by Isabell Kraemer it is a free pattern and I love that you can so totally make it your own with stripes or not. Check out the project page on Ravelry their are some stunning finished garments. I havent blocked it yet as dont know when I would get it dry!!
I also managed to makes 4 Milos for Milo May always enjoy this pattern and now Georgie Hallam has brought out a new Milo pattern in 4 ply called Milo  Bambino, Ive yet to make, it  cant wait.

Yay a a knock on the door brought me some yarnie goodness from Vintage Purls in the form of undyed sock yarn that I cant wait to dye up.
I did get the dye-pots out the other day but it was freezing out in my shed and my feet were numb. I dyed the yarn I got from Hokotika Sockworld, this seemed really fine like a 3 ply but I must say it has taken the dye lovely and has really bloomed, it is so soft and cuddly. I dyed up a bright sunshiny yellow first time dyeing yellow! a bright blue and purple shades. The picture doesn't do them justice much brighter in real life.

Another project I started yesterday was another crochet blanket I have made many many of these in the  past and I have so much stash hand-dyed

yarn that I want to use up. This is a great winter project as when it gets bigger it keeps you warm while crocheting it!! Hoping to make it double bed size will keep you posted. I followed a YouTube tutorial and was slightly different to the ones I have done in the past, How to knit a granny square blanket for beginners
Give it a try as these blankets are great I put 2 extra on my bed these cold nights and they look so cheerful.
Well keep warm on my side of the world and have a great weekend wherever you are.
Cheers
Janet

Away! & Back Again!

The week before Easter my daughter managed to get The Greymouth House for a few days ideally we would have like Easter but this worked out well staying Thursday through Saturday.

 I haven't been here for a couple of years and I love it because it is so relaxing, you can truly get away from it all. no internet,. I think I have written about this amazing house before run by the CCS Disability Action.
 They have a small number of these homes in NZ. They are amazing as everything is wheelchair friendly and don't have to worry about accessing everything.
  It is called Bradley House and is located at the beautiful Paroa on the West Coast of the South Island, near Greymouth. We also had a very friendly Weka that visited us everyday!!

The first 3 days it rained which it usually does on the Coast! the first night we had it all, thunder lightning and hail for hours.. After that it was lovely and did some fun things like Gold Panning at Nelson Creek

The  best was going on the Tree Top Walk15 min drive south of Hokitika. It was absolutely fantastic, was wheelchair accessible, so Josh could enjoy it too
. Now I don't like heights at all so I didn't look down but it was not too bad as you are just looking out onto the native trees which there is information on the walk.
Needless to say I didn't   climb the Hokitia Tower 40 mtrs above the forest floor so i missed out views of the Southern Alps and the Tasman sea.  Josh and I just chilled out looking on as the others climbed up. Poor Joels legs were trembling when he came down!!

Loved the driftwood art at the beach in Hokitika

While i was away my landlords decided to paint my unit so I stayed at Linds for another week so the kitchen could get done. There is still another couple of weeks more to go already it is feeling so light and spacious.

We also went out to Rabbit Island to take the kids biking.  Josh took his trailer to gather pine cones, it was lovely, had a picnic too.

Well must rush, just off for a walk round the airport.

 Back now and exhausted,....... we only did half of the course and came back took about 1 hour, out of practice!! lots of planes going in and out though, so always something to look at, the tide was in so it looked lovely must take pics next time

Catch you later perhaps with knitting  news.
Have a good week all,
Janet

 

Looming!!!

Well what have I been doing this last month or so.
I think by now I have had my fill of shawls, I finished 3  Summer Butterflies love this pattern. I was lucky enough to get this when it was a free pattern, but it is a lovely shawl to purchase. I like the contrast black I put into the knotted edge now which one shall I choose for myself? I did a brown too but cant find pic.

I have done a little Gradient dyeing but knitting those blanks took forever so we were in Spotlight the other day and Linds spied this Martha Stewart Knit and Weave loom Kit and she thought it would be great for doing these. It was half price so we brought it. I thought it would take ages to do but she did one in no time using the circular loom. I will say this be very careful when purchasing we found we had to take back as some of the pegs and one other component didn't fit they changed it okay not before we opened the box and checked them all!!!This one is fine and I dyed up a Gradient straight away here it is cooking

and the finished results

I also made some Camp Out fingerless mitts getting ready for winter.Lovely done in variegated yarn, not my own this time must be the first time buying any for ages. Had more to write but pics took longer to download 

Have a great weekend wherever you are in the world

Janet XXX.

.

Blessings - Laura Story (with lyrics)

Shawls and More Dyeing

Well I seem to have a craze for knitted shawls. I haven't done any for years but felt myself drawn to this pattern that I have always loved, its Feather and Fan Comfort Shawl, it looks so lovely when its blocked out and no charts which i hate!! just line by line written instructions and it seems to showcase variegated yarns. The blue was a yarn that I over dyed because didn't like the other 2 were my own hand dyed yarns.
It takes one skein of yarn but you could make it much larger depending on the amount of wool  you have. You really do have to block this out in my opinion to show off the pattern.

I decided I loved the blanks I had dyed but not the time knitting them up, so thought I would try dip dyeing again, I had done once before but wasn't happy with the colours, this time I loved what I did! The blues and grey are 4 and 8 ply. I really wanted to see how they knitted up so cast on for a Pueperium (It is a free patten on Ravelry, 6028 people have knitted it you could try it too!)straight away using the 8 ply and some grey I dyed that had flaws in the skein ugh!! Here it is and I am pleased its knitting up nicely.The other 4 ply was supposed to be more purple but its more teal and blue but that's the name of the dyeing game ha ha !! you never know what to expect.
I have lots of colours for dip dyeing playing around in my head!!
Its been quite a bit cooler here in Nelson but today is lovely, just right for drying.
Quite a productive week really. Couldnt make the market today and Washbourne Garden Market last weekend was a washout, but I did manage to sell a bit of yarn (so thats all good) in between the rain.
Have a good day wherever you are
Janet

Summer Days

Well this has to be one of the hottest Summers I can remember here in Nelson. It has been very hot with no rain for ages and everything is  so parched and dry.
I haven't been doing much knitting or dyeing, but a few weeks back I did some gradient dyeing and was happy with what I did. Of

course I had to knit it up to see what it looked like! This is the 'In Threes Cardigan' that I have knitted up lots and it looks great in Gradient yarn. I also did a Gradient Milo and a lovely Bloom dress .

We went to Mapua yesterday for a picnic it was so hot but we found a spot under some trees. Georgia and her friend had a great time jumping off the wharf, while Joel climbed trees. We had fish and chips and fruit ice creams..... Heaven!!! What a beautiful spot so close to us.
I have done a few markets lately.  I am doing Washbourne Gardens Market on Monday that's if it doesn't rain, there are going to be lots of stalls so hope its good. Its not really the weather for hand knits and hand dyed yarn is it?
Well lunch time calls.
Have a good day wherever you are>
Janet XXXXX

Merry Christmas

Here's wishing you all a very Merry Christmas from my family to yours wherever you  are!
Family tradition of the Grand Kids decorating the tree, treasure hunt and yummy things!
See you all in 2015 and hope you have a happy holiday with much fun and relaxing.

Christmas day have a good one!

Christmas With a Capital "C"

I.m Still Here!

Been away from the blog far too long !!  dont seem to have lots to report this time.
Its hard to belive it will be the start of our summer in Dec. It has been quite cold and very windy here in Nelson, even more so than usual for this time of the year.
I have knitted 2 pairs of socks for my brother in the UK he has very big feet!! but managed to get a pair out of 1 skein. He was thrilled with them.

I have also entered into the indie designer GAL Gift-a-long on ravelry where some designers put up a few patterns at discount prices and there are games prizes and lots of fun plus you have the incentive to finish some Christmas gifts! It goes for 2 months so there is still time to join. If you are not a member of Ravelry you must join up, its great fun.
My entry (there may be more!) is a sweater for next winter, or it may be sooner than that if the weather is anything to go by! Its called Briquette by Alicia Plummer and I have liked it since seeing it on Rav. Havent attempted a jersey before so will see how it goes.  I'm liking the look of it so far but  i am pleased i opted for the size 39 even though I am 37,  it fits where it touches so far!! I dyed the yarn myself in a sort of winey brown that I am calling Raisinberry, even though dyed together I can see slightly the difference between skeins. not bothered too much about it though if I like the fit etc will probably make another, it does have a hood and never done one of those before, so its a learning curve for me. Here is my project page on rav.

Just used the last of my lemons up to make a yummy dressing, it is so simple. Looks like there will be lots of blossoms on the tree, it sure does suit being moved from its cold part of the garden.

Here is the Recipe.

Equell  parts of lemon juice and oil. I use canola but can use what you like. About 3 lemons you could use more.
I large teaspoon of honey or you could use sugar, I think honey better myself.
1 large teaspoon of Wholegrain mustard.
Mix all together in glass jar and shake well
Enjoy!!
Have a good week wherever you are.
Janet

I'm Back

Well I am back after house and pet sitting for my daughter and family while they took a well deserved trip to Australia's Gold Coast, this coincided with the twins 13th birthday and much fun was had! The twins had a very hard start to life being born at 24 weeks, and weighing 710 grams, so its amazing seeing them grow up into lovely young people. I didn't have far to go just the next suburb and being close to Richmond Mall meant that I could walk there most days when it wasn't raining!! The animals were fine and Coco loved her little walk each day. On the knitting front have just finished another Featherweight Cardigan that is just blocking at present, it is quite bright one of the colours being a bright red!

I have finished my Criollo cardigan minus the buttons, love how this fits and lovely for Spring. I was lucky enough to win some yarn and stitchmarkers in a Rav KAL. The yarn was from Featherbrush Yarns and is lovely. Love the colours! The next exciting bit of news is I brought myself a new tablet, it is a Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 just the right size for me and has a great camera on it which is why I bought it really. Well our weather has been great after all the rain we had, it was 22 deg yesterday but very very windy. Loving the Spring with all the lovely flowers out. I an sure I had more news but have forgotten I want to get back into dyeing some more wool, have just ordered some from Skeinz so will have to get winding by hand!!!! I would love a swift to make the job easier, Oh I did dye a gradient blank, dip dyeing a first for me not sure I like it will have to see how it knits up. (Show and tell, next time perhaps)
 Well have a great day wherever you are.
Janet

Living In Gods Own!

Well I forgot to mention here that on 26th July 1974 we emigrated to NZ from the UK. I cant believe I have been here 40 years!!! I haven't regretted a minute of it even though I still miss family and friends a lot. I love this land called Gods Own and I believe I live in the most beautiful place.... Nelson. Lovely sunny winters with the snow capped mountains in view and not too hot summers, lots of walks, national parks, stunning beaches, lakes etc etc! Blessed!!! I have had a desire to dye up some pale green yarn to make myself another cardi Criollo, this pattern fits so well and I am hoping that I have enough yarn to do long sleeves this time. I do have another skein of a slightly paler green in a different 4 ply that might do at a pinch Here it is cooking in the pot.The colour in the pot is closer to the real colour the other is too yellow. This co-lour reminds me of spring that is not too far away the daffodils are budding already and lots are out when I go walking. I also knitted another Gidday Baby this time with 4.5mm needles as the other 2 I made came too small, I use some merino that I dyed that I wasn't fond of knitted up but this mixed in with the natural yarn looks lovely I think. Again I used my hand made buttons. It would be great for a boy or girls there are not too many boy cardi's out there! Another pattern I have been wanting to try for a long time is called Cascade a sweet little girls cardi I did it in 8 ply Utiku wool and it came out about 6 months size. I put my handmade buttons on for a finishing touch I love this cardi the pics are coming out too red it is a really bright bright pink! Well have a happy day wherever you are! Janet xxxxx

Anzac Bikkies!

Today I felt like making some Anzac Biscuits These are my favourite biscuits at the moment I just love the crisp outer and chewy centre. This recipe is the best and I never have a fail. Here is the recipe
 Anzac Biscuits
 Preheat oven to 150 cel
 Ingredients 1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
 1 cup sugar
1 cup coconut
1 cup rolled oats
 Mix all these ingredients together

 Then
 2 Tbsp Golden syrup
150g butter (But I cut the butter down to 120g)
 Melt these into a large bowl until bubbling.

 Then
 2 tbsp hot water
1 tsp baking soda

 Dissolve soda in water then stir into bubbling butter mixture. Pour into dry ingredients and mix well. Roll into balls and press with a fork onto tray Cooking time 15 to 20 mins. I find mine takes 15 mins in my oven, you need to watch them as they catch easily
 Enjoy!!!!

I finished my shawl 

The Age Of Brass and Steam It turned out lovely would recommend this pattern to all.

I also made a In Threes Baby Cardigan This is another lovely pattern if you want something not too complicated.Over 4000 people have made it on Ravelry. I dyed up some wool for this sort of speckled and wanted to see how it knitted up. I forgot to use 5mm needles and used 4 mm and it came out NB to 3 months it is really cute this was done on 8 ply wool instead of worsted.

I have just finished another sock Hermione's Everyday Sock this is a great pattern if you want to knit something a bit different to a plain Vanilla sock.
Well it is quite mild today seems like we are going to have a mildish winter! I am happy with that.
Have a good day
Janet