More Unraveling And A Pre-felted Bag

Well I finally finished unraveling the green jumper. I took a long time but I think it will be worth it. I did get alot of wool out of it. There were alot of breakages so there are alot of little balls but when felted it wont even matter. It will just be a hassle weaving in the ends when it comes time. I just have to figure out now the type of bag that I want to make with such a colour.


Here is the knitting bag that I have been working on. It is in its pre-felting stage at the moment. I am hoping to felt it tomorrow because I am anxious to see how its going to look. Once the wool has felted up to my liking I will then have to make the decision to either make it a rounded bag or more of a rectangle shape. This will affect how I shape it while its drying. Hmm should be interesting. I am felting the pink handles and the bag separately and then sewing the handles on. The bag actually looks more teal in person than it does in this shot. I just noticed how blue it looks in this photo.


Tomorrow I need to finish of the mint green bear. He has been waiting all week to be put together and tomorrow will be the day. Poor little guy just wants to be in one piece. He has to be all ready to hopefully be taken to the yarn shop on the weekend.

Some New And Exciting Stuff Just For You

Ive been sitting here playing around with some stuff on my blog tonight trying to figure out how to put links to other blogs on my page. Well in my search I stumbled across this program that you can put on your blog so that put can subscribe to your blog and every time I make and entry it will let you know in an email so you know as soon as something happens. So if you look to your right and scroll down a bit you should see a subscribing box. Try it out and see if it works. Let me know if it works and if it doesnt. If I didnt do it right and you arent receiving your alerts let me know and I will see what I did wrong. I will have to do some more posting this week so we can test out this new little toy.

I also discovered that its very easy to add links to your favourite blogs and I figured it out all by myself. So also on your right just below the new photo of the crazy girls you will see a list of other blogs that I frequently love to check and see what they are up too. Maybe you will find you enjoy reading them too. Its always great to read other knitting blogs and discover that I am not the only one who has this obsession hehe.

On a knitting update, the headless bear now had a face. He just needs and ear and to pull himself together hehe. The green wool jumper is nearly all unraveled as well so things are moving along nicely here.

Unraveling

Megan recently went through her clothes to get rid of some that dont fit her. I went through her pile of stuff and found some jumpers that I decided to keep and unravel for some free yarn. Ever since she got this jumper I have been eyeing it up to unravel. Yay for not fitting anymore.

So this is what the jumper looked like before.


This is what it looks like now. It only took me a day to unravel it because it is pretty smooth yarn. I think because they are the colours of her room I am going to reuse this yarn and make a cable pillow to hopefully put in this chair that we found at Samaritan House up the road. Fingers crossed that no one had bought it yet because we havent put our deposit on it yet. It is an orange velvet wing back old fashion sink into chair with wooden legs. It would look so cool in her room but it needs a pillow to go with it. If Megan gets this chair then Victoria can have Megan's old chair which she has been eyeing up for years. It is a fluffy pink velvet chair.


I must be in an unraveling mood because I spent yesterday unraveling a 100% lambswool jumper that I found at Samaritan House when we found the chair. I also got two other woolen jumpers but I think they have been felted alot already and are multiple colours so they will have to be felted some more and I will just cut them up and use them. I debated back and forth on whether to do the same thing for this other one but decided to take the plunge and just unravel it. I just love the colour of this yarn. Its like a bright grass green with little flecks of light blue and cream in it sparingly. Its very thin yarn but I think it will make up a great bag once I get it unraveled. It is taking longer than the other one because its wool and its thin. The yarn tends to break easily and you have to kind of take your time. It will be worth it in the end I think. I will take a shot of it when its all unraveled. There wont be a before shot because I was too excited to start unraveling to stop and take a picture.

I bought a sheet of felt on the weekend to finish of my headless bear. For some reason there must have been a rush on sheets of felt this week. It was very odd. There were all these spots where colours use to be and no felt. I found three different colours and no brown. So I picked black and just hoped that it will look good as well. The pattern did call for black anyway so it cant be too bad. I will have to sit down and finish his ear, do his face and finish off putting him together this week. I want to take him to the yarn shop this weekend.

Before all this unraveling started I was working on my knitting bag that I mentioned in a previous post. The main part of the bag is all made up and I am very close to have the handles done. Then its on to the scary process of felting. Its exciting but scary at the same time because you just never know what exactly is going to happen even if you do sample tests. I have high hopes that all will go well.

So with all that going on Im sure there will have to be some shots of finished projects during this week. I'll keep you posted.

Im Surprised Its Finished

On Saturday night I finished my mother in laws crochet blanket. I didnt realize I was so close to finishing it. I put it on our bed to measure how much further I had to go to finish it and realized that it was at the perfect size. All I had to do then was weave in all those ends. That wasnt fun but I was watching a movie while doing it so it didnt drag on as much as I thought it would. So something that I thought I still had alot of work on is now finished and being used. I like using this blanket on our bed as well. I have actually slept much better the last couple of nights with it being on our bed. I think its because it has some weight to it and it just stays in place all night and keeps you nice and cozy.


I must be in a finishing off old projects mood because after I finished this blanket I pulled out the teal knitting bag that I started quite a while ago. I have one and a half sides and the handle left to go before felting it. I really hope this turns out the way that I want it too. I think I will have some wool left over to use on a small project or two so that would be nice. I am thinking about putting a zipper on this bag because its suppose to be for toting a knitting project around. I have never put in a zipper in my life but how hard can it be hehehe. I am also trying to figure out how I want to do the inside. I had a look on Etsy and found some great material to use for lining this bag. I am trying to figure out how I want to go about making the sides and ends more solid. Any ideas of what I can use? I cant use cardboard because if it got wet it would be ruined. Perhaps I will have to go to the craft shop and look around. Perhaps a kind of thick foam put in before lining would work. I hope to think of something good because I might like to use this idea for future bags.

I found a great pattern for a bag I would love to make today. I would love to make it. I think I would do the handles in a different stitch because I dont think garter stitch would stretch too much. Here is the pattern, http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/en/visoppskrift.php?d_nr=98&d_id=54&lang=en
Isnt it cool? I love the colour they used as well.

Some Favourite Gifts And A Headless Bear

Well we all survived the sickness of last week and everyone is back to normal. Yay, sometimes when everyone is sick like that it feels like its never going to end.

I thought I would post some photos of favourite Christmas presents I got this past holiday. They arent in any particular order.
This Knitted Flowers book came from my mum. There are lots of cool flowers in here. There's something for every kind of knitter. There are easy flowers, difficult flowers, flowers you can felt and even flowers to make from felted knitting that you just cut out. Im sure I will have to make something from this book to add to future projects. The felted flowers in particular I am anxious to try out.


This necklace came from my lovely sister. I have worn it many times since getting it. The beads are fun to fiddle with when you are wearing it. You cant even help yourself. I think its the textures and they are very slidey if thats even a word hehe. Thanks big sis for the cool necklace.


These are the pointy toe black leather boots that I got from my husband. It took me a while to get use to the heel on these boots because I usually wear chunky heel boots. I think I have the hang of it now although now I have said this I will probably fall on my butt the next time I wear them. These are alot more comfortable than I thought they would be and look really good with jeans.


This is my knitting pattern calendar that I got from my husband. This is where I got the pattern for the knitted rings. There are alot more patterns that I'd like to try in here. I still have my knitting pattern calendar from last year with lots of patterns I like in that one too. Aahhh so many patterns and not enough hours in the day.


I got this big box of yummy hot chocolate from Megan. It has 28 packets of this hot chocolate we discovered last year. Isnt the bear on this box just the cutest. Doesnt he make you want to drink his hot chocolate? I know that why we first started drinking it hehe. This hot chocolate came in very handy last week when I had a sore throat. It hit the spot just right when I needed it most. Thanks Meggy for the cool pressie.


Now I promised a headless bear and here he is. I am knitting this bear to take to the yarn shop as soon as he is done. The pattern came from the Debbie Bliss Simply Baby book I borrowed from the library. I think I am going to have to copy this pattern before sending the book back because its been fun making it and I can see myself making more of these. There are two reasons this bear is headless right now. One reason is that when I was sewing up his parts the other day I discovered that I had somehow made one ear smaller than the other. I will now have to figure out which is the right one and detach the wrong one and reknit it otherwise it will drive me crazy that one ear is smaller. The other reason he is headless is because I need to buy some brown felt to cut out a nose and some eyes and sew them on. I like to sew the facial features on before adding the head because I find it easier to finish off and hide the ends. I wont be able to get the felt until probably next week so this little guy will have to be headless for one more week before he looks all cute. He was knitted using the mint green wool that I had used for the bag I tried to felt and then discovered this wool doesnt felt. I think I like it much better as a bear. I still have a pretty big chunk of this yarn left over so I can make something else with it. I will have to post of picture of the bear when he has a face and head attached.


I got a call the other day that my bear that I ordered a long time ago from the Falconer Yarn Loft from handspun alpaca yarn is all finished. Now I just have to pay him off. I am so excited to see how he looks. It will be even more exciting to bring him home. I have to get my shelves that I am going to use for all my yarn, bears and knick knacks so I can display all this stuff and my new bear will have a cool spot to sit. I guess these things come with time. Another good reason to get my Etsy shop up and running to try and make money for this stuff hehe.

This Is The House Of Sickness

This week is the week that everyone but Megan is sick in our house. Victoria started being sick on Saturday and cant quiet kick it. I got it on Sunday but was just bad for one day. I am just left with a cough and half a voice right now. Joe got it on Sunday night in the middle of work and is sitting along side Victoria being the sickly twins. Victoria was doing better on Tuesday so she and I went to preschool because I was to be the parent of the day. The kids in her class are dropping like flies with this virus. One of them had to go home because she got sick and others were complaining of not feeling well. It was one half who had it the week before and others who were in the middle of it or getting it. Its crazy. Yesterday Victoria seemed to be back at square one so we decided that we would take her to the doctor just to make sure it wasnt worse than we thought. It turns out she just needs more time and rest and she should be good. Her cough isnt coming from her chest and we just need to keep doing what we are doing. He did give us some extra tips on things that would help so we have an arsenal of things to use right now. I prefer to not use drugs to heal and do it the natural way if at all possible. This doctor seemed to be on the same wave length even without me telling him my thoughts. He suggested dark honey for the cough, saline drops for the sniffles and a vaporizer at night. We forgot to get the dark honey yesterday but she now has Tylenol, saline drops for her nose, Vicks Vapo Rub for chest and a vaporizer and humidifier at night. We also bought some Gatorade, juice and lots of soup for fluids. If this doesnt kick it then I dont know what will hehehe.

During all this madness I have been knitting up one of the bears from The Knitted Teddy Bear book. The knitting part is easy, its the sewing up part that is freaking me out. If I dont sew it up nicely then its going to look crappy. I just finished doing all the body parts last night. I have to pin them and steam them flat before sewing them up. Once they are sewn up they will need to be stuff and put together. I will have to buy some special teddy bear eyes and sew the claws and face. I also have to knit the dress that she wears. Slowly but surely its coming together. I feel bad that I was given this stuff a while ago and havent got a finished one yet even though she said take my time and get them to her when ever. I will have to call her and let know that I havent forgotten and they are being worked on. I would also like to check up on the bear that I am having made for myself. I think she has forgotten. I hope not.

Oh well I better get back to looking after the sick people and see if they need anything. I hope everyone else is feeling healthier than we do here.

Knitted Rings

These are the knitted rings that I have made so far. I have put them in the order that they were made. They are so much fun to make and the possibilities are endless. A second person has told me that I should sell knitted rings as well. Maybe there's something there. The last one that I worked on I knitted a little ribbing in the back so that it would be more stretchy to fit different sized fingers. I have really skinny fingers or ET fingers as my sister will tell you. I think the ribbing worked well. I think definitely when you knit these you need to use thinner yarn. The last one that I knitted I like but I think it would feel more comfortable on your finger if the yarn was thinner.
So what do you think?

I Havent Disappeared!

After being really busy at Christmas time and hibernating after that I am finally able to get on and type something.

We all had a very good Christmas in our house. Christmas Eve with all the family went off without a hitch and everyone had a good time. Christmas day was just as good. This year I was able to talk to all my family members and even my Dad at 3am. Hmmm one of these days I will get the time difference right hehe. Tomorrow the children go back to school and Joe goes back to work. Its time to start turning those pesking alarm clocks again grrrrrrr.

I got some very nice Christmas gifts this year. Some of them were knitting related. I will have to take some shots of some of my favourite gifts. I got a Knitted Flowers book from my mum which has given me all sorts of new inspirations for creating. I got a calendar set from Joe with a knitting pattern just about every day. I couldnt resist and already knitted a pattern from the collection. I have so far knitted 3 knitted rings for myself. They are so easy and fun. Definitely a stash buster and instant gratification project. Tomorrow I will post the ones I have made. Im sure they arent the last. Joe has suggested that I add them to the list of things I sell because he could see how much fun I was having making them and thinks lots of people will like them. Let me know what you think when you see them tomorrow.

I have posted a couple of pictures of Christmas presents I gave away this year. This first picture is of the felted bag that I gave to Victoria's preschool teacher. Her name is Molly so I thought she would like a big M on her bag. She just loved it and we received a thank you card from her the other day saying how much she loved the bag and scarf.


These are the socks that I knitted for Megan for Christmas. The colour is called Choco Cherry and the match her new PJs perfectly. She says they are oh so comfy. This girl just loves socks. She got 19 pairs of socks for Christmas and do you know what she tells her Dad she wants for Christmas when he asks a couple of days ago, YUP, SOCKS!


Victoria got her purple socks which I have yet to take a photo of. Im not too sure if I like how these came out. Because I couldnt try them on her while knitting them as they were a surprise, I got the length a bit too long even though I measured the other socks I had made her. Oh well she likes them and they match some PJs her Grandpa bought for her.

The other Christmas gift that I have shown a photo of is the scarf I knitted for Lindsey. This scarf was completed and wrapped on Christmas Day just in the knick of time so I forgot to take a picture of it. If she ever wears it to our house I will have to get a photo of her in it. Its very very soft, light blue and very very long. I may have gotten carried away on the length of it but at least she will be able to wrap it around as many times as she wants hehe.

Im not very good at keeping New Years Resolutions but this year I am really going to try hard to keep the ones I have thought of this year. My sister has lost 13 kilos doing Weight Watchers and I have had a huge points list all printed up, in plastic sleeves in a folder for about 2 years and never started. So if Kylie can do it then so can I. Im not really overweight to much but I would like to be fitter and be more conscious of what I eat. I think the Weight Watchers point will make me make healthier choices than eating what I want, when I want. I am also trying to drink at least 2 litres of water a day. I dont drink water enough and I think its a good idea to start. I have started doing the points thing today and I think I did pretty good. I am also trying to kick the nail biting habit that I have had forever. A big thing that I want to accomplish this year is opening up my Etsy shop. I have drooled over doing this for 2 years and I dont know what has held me back. This is the year I am just going to jump in the deep end and do it. I would love to make some money to help buy the things that we need to make our new house the way we want it. Now I just have to stick to my goals and not give up.