bright ripples

I warned you that they were bright, didn't I?



I've decided that my bedroom needs uplifting... and this ought to do the trick, don't you think???

Plus, of course I will be adding MORE colours into the mix...



Click here to go and visit Lucy over at Attic 24 to see the tutorial I am using for my blanket. The only thng that I am doing differently, is that when I change colour... I work that first row into the back loops only... which gives that gorgeous overlapping effect.

While you're over at Attic 24, you should stop and browse for a little... and enjoy the magnificent colour inspiration!

skull beanie #2

Master Eight loves his skull beanie, too...

but he's equally as uncooperative as his brother when it comes to having a photo taken!

Here's an idea of how it looks:







It's actually black, with a light green contrast for the skulls... but you can't really tell that from the photos. They look almost white!

Still love the pattern. It's available as a free Ravelry download here.

This time I have modified the decrease shaping, more in line with a regular beanie (the original shaping is here if you want to refresh your memory) I've just decreased by one, at eight different points around the hat. It's a shocking photo, but it'll give you an idea of what I mean.

what I'm reading this week

Free Range Knitter by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.

I've been wanting to take a look at one of Stephanie's books for a while now... and I've finally managed to sit down and have a bit of a read.

It took me a while to get into it, but I think that might be more of a reflection on my reading skills than her writing skills. Over the years I've become quite a lazy reader. I favour books with lots of illustrations, and simple point format. So sitting down to a novel was a bit of a challenge.

There's so much to relate to in this book. For example, one of the early chapters is a letter of apology, addressed to a designer. Any designer, really. Just a generic apology for the author's compulsion to modify patterns. No matter how well written the pattern is, she feels a need to personalise it, and not necessarily for the better!!! Stephanie explains this compulsion as being like a disease for which she cannot be held accountable, and begs forgiveness from the designer... I can totally relate to that! As you would know, I very rarely manage to follow a pattern precisely. I am compelled to give everything the Goldfish Touch!

Anyway, loving the book... but I still have a fair way to go with it.

You might be interested in checking out the popular blog which Stephanie Pearl-McPhee writes... she is the Yarn Harlot

adorable flutterbye

Little Miss Five has just turned Six.

And to celebrate, I made her this adorable butterfly - in her favourite colour - PURPLE.

The pattern was written by Jacqui Delaney, who is one of the girls from my craft group. I've been keen to try it out for a while now. It's called Flutterbye and is available for sale here.




Did I follow the pattern as written?

No. Of course not.

It didn't actually NEED changing, but I fiddled about with it just a little bit anyway!

Firstly - I turned the whole thing inside out, so that the reverse side of the sc is showing... just because I like it like that...

Then - I worked a bit more detail around the wings.

Plus - I couldn't help but add eyelids... I love eyelids. And a felted heart for the mouth.

Oh - and I didn't stuff the antennae stalks. Because they were worked inside out, there wasn't much room for stuffing... and I thought that they semed stiff enough without it. But the more I handled them, as I stitched them to the head - the softer they became, and they're now quite droopy.



Our favourite part of all is the way the wings wrap around the butterly when it's time for bed.

So snuggly.

Goodnight!

skull beanie #1

Master Ten loves his skull beanie...

but he doesn't love standing still while I take photos!

Actually...
I think that maybe he doesn't actually KNOW how to stand still...

Never mind, I should be used to it by now!

Here's an idea of how it looks:



Love the pattern. It's available as a free Ravelry download here.

One thing I don't love is the shaping at the top. It's all boxy like this:



That's BOXY... not POXY... or maybe both!

I could see from the pattern that the decreases were going to work up like this. I haven't ever made a hat with this type of shaping before, so I figured I would give it a go as written.

Ugh.

Don't... like... the... shaping...

At all.

So I've made the other ones differently. Will try and get photos of them over the next few days for you

bellie bug

Remember the Junk Drawer Challenge???

The idea was to take three or more items from your junk drawer, and create something new with them...

I didn't think that I was going to have time to play along, but then I managed to put this little bug together while chatting on the phone the other day.

Multi-tasking... it's the only way that I ever get anything done!









Don't know what will become of him...

I'm sure he'll end up embellishing a bag... or a hat... or something...

textured stripes

Already finished a beanie from Lisa's new crochet booklet...

Supposed to be worked on a 5.0mm hook - but I couldn't find one, so I just got stuck into it with a 4.0mm... my tension tends to be loose anyway, so it's turned out just fine.

This one is for my brother... so the colours are fairly subdued - I had to choose something that I thought he would actually wear!

Really loving the textured stripes in this piece... they're way more striking in real life than you expect from the pattern booklet.

I blogged about the booklet here, if you're looking for pattern details

And here's the obligatory celebrity shot...