Help Me Out, Please

10:54 PM Giveaway 3 Comments

I'm planning a little competition (or three...)

But what do I give away as prizes?

The problem is that I don't really know much about you as my readers.  I don't get that many comments to link back to blogs to read about you.  (I know somebody must read my blog as my stats tell me so!)

So I'd love a little help from you, please.

What sort of prizes would interest you?  I'm assuming most of you would be crafty folk (as my blog is mostly about crafty stuff - knitting in particular!) so was thinking craft supplies etc would be a start?  But as I don't have too much of a craft stash I was thinking that maybe online shop vouchers would be the way to go?  But what shops?  Knitting/yarn shops?  Sewing/quilting shops? And what country/ies? (I don't want to limit to only NZ people!)

I do have a small stash of NZ yarn, though mostly 4ply/fingering, that I could look through to give as prizes also?  Maybe with one of my patterns?  Or maybe a knitted-by-me item?

Make your suggestions in the comments!
(Maybe this could be a competition too?  Or an extra entry for the competitions to come?  Or maybe just an extra helpful thing to do?)

A Catch Up Post

4:21 AM knitting , WWFY , Yarn Clubs 0 Comments

I'm in need of a quick catch-up post on the happenings going on around here...


I took part in another swap on Ravelry just before the school holidays.  It was a 'Small Things Swap' - minimum of 50g yarn, pattern to suit and small gift to go with it.

Here's what I sent off to my swappee, Kathryn:


And here's what I received from my swapper, Deborah:



As we're nearing the middle of the next month, I'm expecting my next yarn club installments in the next week or two, so here's what came in last month's packages:

From Vintage Purls:

From Red Riding Hood Yarns (I chose to go with the boy's club this time as I figured that my big girls can wear any colours and I have a lot of girly colours already!):


There's two KALs happening on Ravelry that I really want to take part in.  One is for Jodulbug yarn and the other is for Olive & Emma yarn (both of which I have yarn and projects ready for). 

But as I committed myself to that scarf, I haven't been able to join in any KALs yet.  Though for the last two weeks (the school holidays, where I've had a bit more home time/knitting time) I have forced a monogamous relationship with it, which has really paid off...

I've gone from this:

to this:

...in just under two weeks.

The plan is to knit until I run out of yarn. The pattern says to do 9 repeats in total which I might pass by half a repeat.

Fortunately for me, both KALs are running until the end of August so I should still have time to join in once I finish the scarf.  Though, Jo (from Jodulbug Creations) is doing a spot prize draw this week for any project entered in the Jodulbug yarn KAL (whether finished or just started) so I was thinking I might just cast on her yarn tonight being that close to finishing the scarf anyway...
(once I pass the 8th repeat - I was 4 rows away from it this morning!)


I've had to buy some new clothes in the last two weeks.  I'm at that point where all my tops are just a little too short to cover the 'bump' (I usually wear low-cut jeans/pants so they sit under my tum and saves on buying maternity bottoms), which doesn't matter when you're at home but can be embarrassing when going out!  I'm just glad that modern fashion is all long tops now and stretchy ones too as it's a lot cheaper than buying maternity clothes that will only get worn for another 6-7 weeks.


We're almost at the count-down now and I still don't have my office/sewing room turned into a baby room.  I've still got basically no clothes for the baby, but I'm counting on some hand-me-downs from my SILs that have been promised (mostly boys stuff, though).  I will be knitting something for bubs out of the Jodulbug yarn as well - the first knitted item for my own baby, how useless am I!?


So, what stuff have you been up to lately?  Please link me to your blog if you have one as I'm in need of some fresh blog-reading!

Yarn Galore!

9:44 PM girls , Nattering , yarn post 0 Comments

So I've been spending a bit of money on yarn lately (my PayPal balance is rather empty).

But it's all gorgeous and mostly from new NZ dyers that I haven't tried.

First up:

This yarn I actually purchased a while ago (when I was buying yarn for the MYB swap) but I never posted about it on here.  Then, Rachel, the dyer, moved house and put the business on hold until things were all settled down.  She's just started up again with her first yarn stocking last Sunday and theres lots of great extras going up for sale in the shop lately, including WIP bags, stitch markers and cute handmade buttons.

I'm still deciding what I'm going to use it for, possibly something for the baby, though it is quite a boyish colour and we don't know what bubs is!



This gorgeous yarn I actually 'won'!  Every so often, Emma, the dyer, runs a different kind of yarn stocking method via her FaceBook page called a Ballot Sale.  This is where for a certain period of time everyone that's interested in purchasing can comment 'sold' on the yarn photo and then, using Random.org, Emma draws the 'winner' of each colourway/yarn.  Normally it's a matter of first in, first served (and I never manage to be online at the right time!) so it was nice to be able to browse the yarn and not feel so pressured to make a split-second decision on the colourway I wanted the most.  And I figured, that because I won the only yarn I asked for, that it was meant to be!

This I was thinking would be either for the baby or MiddleMiss (this sort of blue suits her really well).  I figure a soft blue like this is fine for a baby girl (if that's what bubs is) when mixed with pink in the outfit (BigMiss wore blue and pink together as a baby).



This yarn I had to have because of it's name.  And because it hadn't sold immediately (I thought about it for a full day saying 'if it's still there tomorrow I'll get it!'), I decided it was another meant-to-be!  Jo, the dyer, dyed up a collection of yarns to match her 'Memories of being a Kiwi Kid' moodboard and Snifters certainly hold memories for me too!

This I plan to use for bubs as there just isn't enough of it for anything decent for my girls and it really is a perfect neutral baby colour (not to mention I have several different chocolate browns in stash to choose from that will go nicely as trim yarn).

A Knitterly Update

5:01 PM Creative Space , gift , knitting , LittleMiss , MiddleMiss , My Designs 0 Comments

It's school holidays here at the moment.

Which is why it's taken me this long to write a post! 
(I always try and spend extra time at work the week or so before holidays so I can spend less time there during them!)

A lot has been going on for me crafty-wise.  Knitting like crazy to finish things, buying yarn, getting yarn club parcels in the post and, would you believe it, I even did a spot of sewing!

So, here's a quick photo round up of a few things I've been knitting:


I knit this little NB hat for an online friend's new baby girl.  She's named Rose which is why I thought this was the perfect hat pattern for her!
It's Rosy Scalloped Hat by Tot Toppers/Kate Oates knit in Vintage Purls sock yarn (held double) colour Amythestos.


This is the progress I've made on my cardigan for LittleMiss that I first mentioned here (for Red Riding Hood Yarn's KAL).
It doesn't appear that it will be finished in time to be included in the KAL (even with the deadline being extended to the end of this week), though Hannah did mention that 'started, but not finished' can be included in the WIP category.


Because I couldn't see me finishing the cardi, I decided to whip up a quick cowl idea I'd been wanting to try for the girls to be included in the KAL.  This is based on the stitch pattern of the Big Herringbone Cowl and knit in RRHY's Riche (worsted/10ply) colour Sweet As Pie Light Trim (this was a custom colour Hannah dyed for the sleeves on my Sweet As Cardigan but I only used the darker trim).

As this colour was technically MiddleMiss' (as the cardigan is hers) the cowl had to be for her too.  Now I have to make another one for BigMiss as it was her that I'd promised it for first (but the yarn she chose wasn't RRHY so couldn't include in the KAL!)

And as soon as I've knit the next one, I'll be putting the pattern up for free on Ravelry!  (It's so simple and quick - knit on 10.00mm/US size 15 needles - that I got this one made in two evenings!)


Sharing with the other crafty types at My Creative Space.

P.S. I'll try catching you up on all the rest of my crafty stuff in posts to come - I have lots of fantastic new yarn dyers to talk about (and show off yarn purchases from!) as well as other things I've been working on.