I Feel Chuffed

Yesterday I was given back my entries to the Boonah and Kalbar shows

I won prizes!!!

1st and 3rd- a commercial wool, sold as a thick yarn, that I respun extra super fine. Plied it. 
Even for me it was too fine to use (it would take absolutely forever to make anything). So spun it in opposite direction and a bit tighter so I could navajo ply it. It became a 6 strand yarn and knit up beautifully as a lace weight yarn.
It is a semi circle , using a pattern called Cats Paw
(I'll do a full blog about it later, when I have a little time to find the pics)

2nd prize- my handspun merino, knitted lace triangle shawl.

I spun this yarn years ago. I have tried at least 9 different patterns with it. Not one of them worked til this one. 
A quick knit, used only half the cake. Another project with the remaining is in progress

3rd prize- 3 bags, all using same pattern, different hooks/plys. Acrylic, cotton/acrylic, cotton. 
From an online pattern

I made these last year as a part of an exhibit. There are 2 other, much larger bags that are part of the set. As it was such a big part of my life for a few months, I need to take some time to put down the part I played in our groups story. Soon.











1st and 2nd- merino, cashmere, yak, glitz. Spun fine then navajo plied.

I bought the fleece a few years ago at a spinners camp. It was a little tricky to work as I wanted a super fine yarn and it is such a slippery mix that I had to take quite some time to finish it. I have a long term plan for this yarn, and some others in the works

1st and 2nd- flax. Spun only. No need to ply

I was reminded that I had a small amount of unspun flax by a friend who had spun her flax this year, and made a linen hand towel with it for her reenactment events.
Bee in the bonnet time. Hand to give it a go. Pleased with the work. Now, what to do with it...?







And lastly, the only entry that didn't receive a prize. This is another commercial yarn in a different colourway that I respun. I spun it thin, not fine, then navajo plied it. Again, happy with the work. Now, what to with it...?

A Request

 Last term John borrowed a book from the sch library called The Bush Jumper -Jean Chapman, Ali Beck, and it's not about a kangaroo 😄
The Mum Koala had a bag full of yarn, and made a jumper. However, there wasn't enough to make the 2nd sleeve and it had to be stripy
I asked John if he liked the story. He said yes. Then "I really like the jumper too. Can you make it?"

So the search began. For a pattern, and the yarn, and the book.
I took some time going through my kids section in my bookshelves to find just the right style. I hadn't realised how many kids patterns were raglan. Finally found one with set in sleeves and round neck (top right)
The yarn I wanted had to be wool, but the colour range I needed at the local large craft store was mostly acrylic. I remembered that Bendigo Woollen Mill had a range called Candyland. I hopped on their site and they had just the colours I needed!!



                                         The yarn arrived Monday morning - 6 days ago.
                                                           Clockwise from the bottom,
                                   Sour Lemon, Blue Sherbet, Watermelon Jelly, Green Frog

Time to start. I usually do a k1 p1 cast on for a rib. I find it makes a nice elastic edge.
I also change to the larger needle on the last row of the rib before stating on stocking stitch. The hem doesn't curl or flip up nearly as much
The other changes are to make it in the round, and to add 3 cm to the sleeve and body lengths
I used 4mm and 4.5mm circular needles

First week of sch hols so Gwen, John, and I packed a picnic (and the Jumper) and walked, rode to the park.
I found a small branch near the picnic table and thought it would make a lovely centrepiece for our lunch. It wafted a gentle eucalypt smell

The day was delightful, the trees were stunning, the kids were having a ball. A lot of running, riding, playing.

I got a reasonable amount done while I relaxed, watching the kids running hither and thither 😊



And I took home the branch, to use the leaves for dyeing

Photo on the left is a bit dark. Finished the main body well after bedtime. Quick pic and do the sleeves in daylight.

I made the plain sleeve first, taking notes. Then a little bit of maths to work out whether I did 3, 4, or, 5 row stripes.
Four row works well to start with pink stripe and finish the top of the sleeve with a pink stripe, just like the book.









Finished the sleeves, all ready to sew up, and look what I found in the soft toys.... A koala crocheted by my mum! She sent it up a few months ago. The memory was waiting for the recall. And is the same type of koala as in the story

                                                       So guess what I just /had/ to do??







Yep. I had to design and make a matching jumper for the toy koala 😊













                                                                                                     
                                     "Looking Absolutley Fabulous In New Spring Colours"

John loves his new jumper and he loves that his koala has a matching one.
I asked him if he wanted a koala beanie to go with his jumper.
He said "Why? I have a grey hat"

I have really enjoyed doing this project. From start to finish it took 5 days, in between cooking, crocheting, clearing, playing, meeting, spinning etc, etc,etc. This yarn is a delight to use. The colours are cheery. The pattern is a very neat fitting style.

Also.
My Guide name is Koala 😃

Quest Complete

John is getting too big for his Lighting McQueen vest, so time to make another

I found a pattern in a Vogue Knitting magazine I found at the library. Checked with John. Style ok, and blue yarn ok.
"Do you want Pokemon patches or pockets?"
"Pockets please. It has to be 6 pockets"

Not mine to reason why....

I have a rather large amount of 50g balls of blue 8 ply wool (there /may/ have been a sale on a while back...). I have made a cardigan for myself, which I'll post about later, a beanie, a crop vest for a teen. Still heaps left!

 I did make a few changes to the pattern, starting with making it in one piece. I changed the collar a little as I don't like the square ones.

Then, partly to have more texture, partly because I didn't feel like picking up stitches, I made 2 inkle loom strips for the button band; also crocheted the armholes for the same reasons.

I had thought of making one of the inkle bands with buttonholes in it. I asked John if he wanted buttons or studs. Studs it was.

Some discussion went into where to place the pockets, then John was off to bed while I finished working n it.


All finished and waiting for John to wake to in the morning.

He was very happy to have his very own Pokemon Trainer vest.

The Pokemon fit in the pockets perfectly!

All set for a trip to the park

The Things I get Myself Into...

Some time ago, while talking to a lady at the Historical Society, I mentioned that I might be recreating some patterns created by Mary Card, circa 1916. She said that was a great idea! And would go really well in the permanent ANZAC exhibit that was being created...

So, me being me, I got started 😄
(I'd like to point out, I had never done filet crochet before, and I /had/ to pick these as my first 😜)
One of the first problems is reading the old patterns. There is always a certain amount of "do this, and that, then cont. and see how you go"




 The first piece was taking some time to do, so started on one I originally thought would be the hardest.

I used a natural colour 20 ct cotton, with the smallest hook I have. As you can see above, next to the pen it really is quite small. I started wearing a bandaid on one of my fingers to prevent the stabbing of my cuticle.
Each leaf/petal had to made, then joined together with little petals and a first row of border before a star picot border was worked all around.

So many picots!!!
Next was a decent blocking out to make it neat and tidy for the next stage
So many picots!!!!!

 While the filet was drying, I started on the linen centre. I cut the linen to size, and took some care about pulling and cutting the threads to make the cross shape.

Next was crocheting around the linen to make the hem and a border to make it easier to add to the filet.

With several deep breaths, and no kids, TV, or appts, I crocheted the linen into the filet. Finished. Phew!
Total time approx 50 hours

Mary Card designed this d'oyley, for the pattern to be sold to raise money for the Red Cross. At sixpence a copy, the sum of 60 pounds was raised and sent to Red Cross headquarters.

I handed this recreation to be accessioned for the display. 

On to the next piece.

 I had thought that this d'oyley would be the easiest. However, the pattern effectively said "start with this many chain then follow the photo"
Fortunately I had been looking at a book buying site, and thought I might as well try - and I found that someone has been putting Mary Cards' patterns into modern terms and charts. So I bought it. And it arrived within a week!!

I got along quite well with the chart to start with. As this was also 20 ct cotton and the same small hook it was back to bandaids on finger again.

The centre section caused me some issues but got through it all.

Got the main piece finished. Onto the border. Read it. Read it again. Give it a go. Read again. Get it started...oh boy this is going to take forever. And only a couple of weeks til display.
Decision- leave for later. Start on other one.
Total time - tba

*Mary Card designed this to raise money for the French Red Cross.
"Life is mostly froth and bubble
Two things stand like stone
Kindness in anothers trouble
Courage in our own"

 I had originally started on the ANZAC soldier piece before Christmas. As the design included some tricky stitches that were very awkward to manipulate, I had decided to leave it for more time. When I picked it up again I was taking about 40 min a row.

I then did the two above pieces. After some thought, and confirming my memory of what Mary Card had written, I opted for an option she suggested. I made it without the eucalypt leaves and flowers border, and to a size that could be put on a scrapbook (for keeping news articles, memorabilia, and letters). I had a frantic 2 weeks of visitors, appts., holidays, etc, etc while trying to fit in making this whenever I could to be ready. Finally finished last Friday night. Washed and pinned it out to dry, before I handed it in to be accessioned on Saturday morning (Bit of a rush that morning too. I also had to be somewhere for spinners demo, and then a family thing)
Total time approx 45 hours
Rather proud of my efforts. Very proud that they are going into a permanent museum exhibit. I'll get to see it in the display next week. Will take photos 😃