Christmas Tree Ornament Swap

Since 2011 I have been part of an ornament swap throu trademe.
2011 was the year mum died, she helped me with my first years ornaments so each year since then the swap has been something i do in memory of mum.
This year i decided i wanted to use up the felt that has been in my stash for a number of years.

 Materials needed: felt in your choice of colour. I'm keeping mine christmasy with red and green. Cotton thread to match felt. Checkered ribbon to match felt. Scissors, bells, toy stuffing, 

 Cut your felt into a rectangle shape, fold it over and blanket stitch around 2 sides and half way along the 3rd side.

 Stuff the pocket with toy stuffing so it's nice and puffy. Sew up the opening

Wrap the ribbon around the "parcel" like you would a present

  Tack a couple of stitches to attach the ribbon to the parcel

 Make sure you add a little "hanger" as well

 Make a bow with more ribbon

 Attach to parcel adding a bell as well

Voila!!!
The idea behind the swap is that you are on a list of 10 people.
You make 10 ornaments, keeping one for yourself. On the 1st of Dec. you post the rest of your ornaments to your other list buddies and in return you receive 9 beautiful hand made ornaments for your tree.

Self promotion ;)Get Growing : 3 Oct 2014, Page 18

Get Growing : 3 Oct 2014, Page 18

Dad's 70th Birthday

As you know i love baking and so with dad's 70th today, you can guess what i did.
Dad is a retired Beekeeper who still has a few hives to keep friends and family in honey.
Dad used to work for the ministry of transport in Twizel and his nickname was "Buzz"

Happy birthday Dad, our only regret is Mum couldn't be here to help celebrate,
Love you and miss you heaps mum

Lupin Scarf

On our family road trip in July we stayed in Blenheim of 3 nights. While there i found Quilters Barn. Inside i found this...

 I didn't want to knit a hat or mittens so i searched on ravelry and found this....http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/marmalade-scarf 
The colour is called "Lupin", which is funny cos where i grew up we have Lupins growing along side the road, so i have called this scarf Lupin.
And with it being 1 row of pattern repeated every row, i knew if i had to put it down for a period of time i could pick it up and know where i was at.
I wanted a stretchy bind off so googled and found a frilly bind off. I did a provisional cast on and when i got a few rows done i went back and bind it off.

I wanted to get it finished in time for dad's 70th on the 8th August so pushed myself to knit 30 rows every day with more if i had the time. Finished it yesterday with 2 days spare.

Very snuggly and warm.

Babies Rattle/ Pet toy

I found this pattern by accident, i can’t even remember what i was actually looking for in the first place. lol
This was a very quick knit.
Using 4.00mm needles i cast on 20 stitches and knit 60 rows, perfect!!!

Then you had to entwine the strips and sew them up.

I added stuffing inside to bulk it up and I had an empty kinder surprise container and some wee bells left over from my Christmas tree ornament swap project so i was able to put a rattle inside. A friend is due on 19th Jan 2015 so will gift it to bubs.
Wasn’t too hard placing the 5th and 6th strips, just fiddly for my fat fingers. lol

 http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/gevlochten-bal---braided-ball

Milo Top/Vest

Wanted to Dye wool For ages.
Spotlight had upto 40% off wool and this lot only cost me $2.99 a ball.

 Then i had to unwind it into skeins

 Then i got my powdered dyes from Hands Ashford on Normans Road, Christchurch

And it boils for 30-40 mins and the dye soaks into the wool

 The vinegar sets the dye into the wool. You know its finished when the water is clear. And the wool dyed.

 Now to the knitting...

and I’ve wanted to knit a milo for ages.
A friend is 14 weeks preggers (finds out sex of bubs in 5 weeks time) and is due on 19th Jan. 2015.
I will dye some more wool in blue to cover both bases :)
Enjoyed knitting the milo top but i think i will use double pointed needles for the top half and then change to a cable needle for the body.
I did break my cable needle ( Knit Pro Symfonie interchangeables ) and will look into another brand.
Will defiantly make this again :)
Cost was less then $7 when you add in the cost of the powdered dye.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/milo-3

Tania's Birthday jersey

My grandmother taught me to knit when i was 8. As i have just (6 days ago) celebrated my 42nd birthday, that means i have been knitting for (cough,cough) 34 years.
And this was my latest project.

My sister is 2 years older than me. (I'll let you do the math) and she is obsessed with orange so what better than to combine my love of knitting with her love of orange.
The link can be found here .http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/121-7-jacket-with-lace-pattern-knitted-from-side-to-side-in-karisma-superwash.
And my finished project can be found here  http://www.ravelry.com/projects/handknitted/121-7-jacket-with-lace-pattern-knitted-from-side-to-side-in-karisma-superwash.
Everyone that has seen the jersey said it was gorgeous, but I'm the kind of person that is not happy with a finished project, there is always something wrong. The jersey does look gorgeous and sometimes i look at it and think wow, did i make that!!
I love you to the moon and back Tania. Happy birthday.