Aussie Baby Blanket

Hi
An update on the ripple baby blanket I was making.

I was originally planning to take my time with this blanket.  Think about the family and baby it was being made for, who are overseas.  Lots of love and cuddles being put into each stitch.

But due to unforeseen circumstances, I was given 24 hours notice that they were having to make a quick trip to Australia for only a few days.

So my fingers, arms and brain went into overdrive.  If I could get it finished, it would save me postage (about $50) and stress, worrying that this special gift would make it to its destination.

So 48 hours later and totally exhausted ......

My details here on Ravelry

Washed out look.  Sorry no sunshine photos

Note my "Made with love from Grandma" ;-)

So lucky that this is an almost brainless project

Pattern is from Meetmeatmike's

And is called Cheery Wave Ripple

Yarn used, is of course, Bendigo Woollen Mills 8ply Cotton. (Link in side panel)

In the shades of Kiwi, Latte, and Daffodil

Hope your having a great day

Somethings don't change

Sorry for the intermittent posts.  

Despite my idea of trying to get back to posting at least once a week-ten days, life seems to be passing by at breakneck speed, and now its over three weeks.

So I'll check my photos to see what I have been up to ...

A few pairs of these for my Made For Little Ones Shop

These pair of booties as a challenge from my local Knit4Charity Knit&Natter from this pattern ....

and, for the first time, really disliked making booties.

Project was too fussy and difficult to seam up for me to enjoy

And started this .... 

... for a new grandchild due early next year.

My fourth!!!!!  (vbg)

Yarn, of course, is Bendigo Woollen Mills 8ply Cotton

This blanket has a very long way to travel.

Close to a mile for every stitch

Hope you are all having a great week and are prepared for Santa :-)

Crafting Mistakes or Errors

I read this a long time ago and really loved it

So I thought I would share

One mistake means you love the recipient,

Two mistakes is humility,

Three or more mistakes is a design feature!!

Yarn Shop Video

This link was shared on Knit 4 Charities group

And I just had to share it

Just wish our shops were like this one

Have a wonderful weekeend

Sights and Wonders

Just a couple of photos of our short break away in the Megalong Valley at Kanimbla, Blue Mountains

The sunset view

 

Our friendly neighbours

And some small projects.

Not much done, as I found the view entrancing

Wool at top is Bendigo Classic 8ply – Pumpkin, Aztec, Raven, Smoke & Brick Red

The other wool is a long held, but now used stash – Yeah!!!

Baby Vintage Patterns

Do you remember this?

The Chickadee Vest with Mods

 

Well, I decided to re-visit this pattern and actually work the pattern it’s suppose to have

I again modified the pattern a little – Chickadee Singlet

The original does have the rib hem, I worked garter

And the lacy bit is supposed to be in garter.  When I tried that it just reminded me of a beginner knitters project with holes  .  I also knew I was limited in the amount of cotton I had, as you can see by the contrast crochet around the neckline and armholes – I ran out. So I tried it in stocking stitch.  Much prefer it that way

Yarn used is Bendigo Woollen Mills 8ply Cotton Daffodil (so very soft) on 3.75mm needles

Pattern worked up about 3-6mths size

 

The pattern is from this old Patons booklet

Have a lovely weekend

Here is another singlet I made from this pattern book

Again with mods :-0

Heartbreaker, again with mods (worked a lace border on bottom and in the round)

Again from Bendigo Woollen Mills 8ply Cotton New Ochre on 3.75mm

 

 

I’m off for a romantic, freeze-your-butt-off holiday.

Will tell you about it on my return – maybe

K4C May Charity of the Month

so I sent these items off for The Footpath Library

A granny square blanket

Birthday Cowl (Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic)

Plain thick garter stitch cowl

Surreybelle Scarf

The nights and mornings have been chilly for Sydney

So I’m glad these will be of use to someone who may not have a home

Hope all is well in your section of the world 

Weight Loss & Craft

Yahoo!!!!

From Family Circle Winter Edition

and for the Crocheteers!!

Trend-setters!!!!

Pattern is included

 

There is also a scarf that is finger-knitted with a particular yarn

Pattern included – ha ha ha

 

I have absolutely no affiliation with the magazine

Granny Slippers

I have just seen these lovely slippers on Karin's blog

With our cold weather approaching they would come in very handy

Karin works such lovely colour combinations

Pop on over and have a peek

April’s Charities of the Month

H-e-l-l-o
This are the items that I sent off to the Australian Inland Missions collector

For some strange reason it is rotated 
2 x Milo’s (top of photo) ; 1 x Hexagon Baby Jacket; 1 x Southern Star

To Sydney Homeless Connect Day collector
Sorry no group photo as I forgot because I was trying to stuff it in the post-pak, but it included some scarves and …..
Granny Square Vest
 Surreybelle Scarf
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/AussieMaria/first-project-fingerless-mitts
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/AussieMaria/bow-knot-scarf

Chullora Chullo

Knit4Charities COTM

For February I chose to donate to Wallsend Aged Care Facility

Here is what I have sent

25cm squares to be made by the coordinator into blankets

(Used up all the bits and pieces of yarn I had laying around)

and can you guess what the little things beside it are???

Yep, they are these very cool slippers/socks

Dzonba – The Himalayan Slippers

I was dubious about the pattern, but decided to give it ago, as I was sure there was some charity that could use them

And I have fallen in love with them

Very simple pattern

And on only 2 needles – except for the bind off (which is so easy)

I did a 3-needle and stretchy bind-off

Think I found out what all the hulla-ballo is in blogland about hand-made socks

Totally surprised me

Need a pair for ME!!!!!!

And yes I have knitted a pair of socks with DPN’s

But with 8ply/dk yarn and totally hated them

Did not fit properly and I hated the feel

Yep, that’s right – cheap acrylic yarn

P.S – one of the other charities for February is C.A.R.S. (Chris' Animal Rescue Support)., Dorothy of Hooks ‘n’ Grannies, is the coordinator for this one

If you read Dorothy’s blog, you will know how important something like this charity is

So I just will have to send something for this one too – very soon

Camel Grannies

You just never know where you will spot Grannies

Courtesy of The Daily Telegraph

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/gallery/gallery-e6frewxi-1226255272205?page=3

BTW - It's Tamworth's Country Music Festival

Fwd: Ripples

Fwd: Ripples, originally uploaded by Aussie Maria.

I am trying a new way to write this post, until I get some necessary add-ons

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you may have noticed the lack of crochet ripples, even though I really love the look of them.

I have had trouble with my starting rows, and even though I worked the pattern out ...... Eventually, that first row bothered me greatly. It just was not right. So I ignored ripples and admired them from afar.

Btw I found out since that I really don't like going back and forth. I am crazier than that, round and round is my thing

I have had a pattern sitting in my Ravelry queue for forever, and last November The time was right to give it a go - A Very Special gift was required

So .............

Projects

Hi everyone

You may have noticed my lack of projects over the last couple/few/lots of months.

Well I have been crafting

Just felt that my posts were getting a bit b-l-a-h

But today I felt like sharing a few of my favourites with you

All have been Ravelled here

Borrowed the baby to see size and fit, as I sort of designed it.

Her Mum loved it, so bought it from me  :-)

By the way, you may have noticed a new button at the top of my side Bar

"Made It" - Made For Little Ones

Well that goes directly to a little shop I opened

I'm hoping I might be able to sell a few projects

At least enough to help pay for the ever-rising costs of posting away my charity items

Fingers crossed for me please

And you thought there was no crochet ......

I really wanted to make this pattern (old memories), but had so much trouble with the starting chain - no give and so very small.

Then I tried foundation dc/sc - that gave me the little bit of stretch and width I wanted.

Don't know why it took me ??? times to work that out   :-)

And for those in Australia

Hope the horses are lucky for you today!!!!

Field Wonderful

Well Allison, from Field Wonderful, certainly made me feel wonderful, when I received these beautiful goodies in the mail from a recent give-away that she ran

I have never used this yarn before and it feels wonderful

And thank you so much for the little packet - any guesses what's in it?

I must say Allison, you must have a little ESP going

As these particular items have been on my mind of late, searching, searching, searching

Very, very handy for me

P.S - Just noticed that it is Canadian Yarn - my very first and goes well with my fascination with Canada and north - very happy  :-))

Thank you for the lovely parcel, Allison

And this lot is off to Brisbane for K4C (sidebar) COTM - PIPA

Many of these projects you will already have seen, others have been stockpiling to make the postage worthwhile, especially as it just went up 20%

Got to love making preemie outfits, its a fantastic stash-buster!

PS - Glad you liked the Anzac Slice recipe like I did  :-)

Old is New Again

Hi everyone

Well it seems that a couple of you already had the same idea as me and dug out your old patterns.

Pat from Hooks and Books reworked the lovely little Hug Me Tight.  And boy does it look cute!

Jane from Papillion Gold had already beat me to it.  She has a lovely little 'Puss' project which got swamped by the big He-man jumper she made  :-)

Jenny from Justjen has worked a vintage pattern for gloves.  And then worked another beautiful cable pair.

Here is another vintage pattern

Which I think is very cute

Sleeveless Hug-Me-Tight

Details here

From this pattern book

And if you thought I was not crocheting  :-)

Well I have had some granny squares hanging around for mmm..... well a very long time

And I went looking to make something practical with them, just not a blanket, and it would be for a charity

So .....  I loosely used this pattern and got this

Yep, unblocked.  It's an acrylic, so I don't like to touch it too much.  Probably explains why it was sitting there for so long

And to end this post with a weird question - anyone else enjoy 'Wild Boys' last night?

Nice to see "Australian" history for a change

Oh and did I mention Gourmet Farmer Series 2 has started - Thursday nights SBS

Thoroughly enjoyed Series 1.  Missed the first show of Series 2.  But I'm hooked again  :-)

Hope the sun is shining where you are

Unless you would prefer it to rain - gently though please  :-)

New or Old, Old or New

Hi everyone

This post will have to have a few photos to explain the story.

Recently I have wanted to do some lace knitting, but only small projects, what better than baby items.  There is always a charity that can use them throughout the year.  So I thought I would build up my stocks and be ready for them.

And for the crocheteers that visit, well I have been trying to work those beautiful lace baby clothes, but for some reason I struggle with the first few rows.  The sizing seems way off no matter what yarn or hook I try.  But I will soldier on, as there is one pattern in particular that I want to make, for sentimental reasons  :-) It was a gift for my babies, and I loved it.

So saw this pattern book and thought "that's a good start"

And yes, it does have one very cute crochet jacket too, if I can master the starting size issue.

Decided that this pattern would be a good intro back into the world of lace and babies - well it has been 30 years  :-)

I would like to share with you a little something I have a LARGE love of - old patterns and clothing.

So using this Heirloom pattern reminded me to have a look for a particular old pattern book I was after.

Ended up buying 4 of them  :-)

This was the one I was after

For this pattern, as I made 2 of them, one for each first/second born  :-)

And then I spotted this  :-)

Funny how some things just keep popping back in to grab your attention

Also spotted this, which I remember making, but just can't remember who for, lots of water under the bridge.

 And no, I have NEVER had this pattern book.  But I have had a few Patons Pattern Books!!

I am curious as to how some of these patterns were ever knitted.  The photos I have shown you are quite large and clear compared to a lot of the patterns in the other books.  It would be guess work, or just loving a pattern name as to which to knit

There are a couple of crochet patterns too, if anyone is interested in having a look-see