Dotty

What a lovely bunch you are! Thank you for your good and kind and considered comments on yesterday's post. Belinda's formula sounds just perfect - two days for taking care of the business/admin stuff, two days for creating and making, and a fifth day for seeking inspiration or "filling the well," aka Julia Cameron.

Last night I let myself go off piste for some play. Bumpy dots, or dotty bumps. Do you like them? They're not hats (yet) so I guess that's something!

I'm working away in the background on an exciting project. Those of you who were here this time last year may remember my Very Bloggy Morning Tea in aid of the Cancer Council. It was such fun, and such a success, and this year I'm going for it again, only bigger and better. There'll be guest bloggers, cuppas and sweet treats galore, and a fabulous giveaway that you won't want to miss. And guess what? You're ALL invited!!!! 

Stay tuned. If you're on Facebook, make sure you hit 'like' over here to stay updated.

Spring Tee

The Yarn Along has me in its grip. I awoke was awoken early this morning, and had a busy day ahead, but most of the morning's energies were directed towards getting this little top off the needles, the ends woven in, buttons added, and the washing and blocking done, all so I could meet the Wednesday deadline.

It happened, miracle of miracles. A second version, slightly adapted, of this other little tee. I cast on fewer stitches to make the neckline less gapey, and played around with the increases because I felt the other one was a bit puffy on the yoke. The yarn is Jo Sharp 8ply wool. My Pearl thought it was itchy today, but that's because I made her wear it with nothing under it for the photos. It will no doubt spend most of its time over a long-sleeve top because, as much as I want to declare winter over after this run of glorious sunny days, I suspect it would be a bit foolish of me.

I'm still working my way through The White Tiger and, despite my incremental progress, it has become a book I want to retire early for each night. A good thing, given the early starts these days.

Ravelry notes here.

Beautiful wooden buttons from here.

Yarn Along here.

And the pattern for this t-shirt coming soon.

Bumpy Bonnets

Wow, way to make a girl feel special! Thanks so much for your beautiful comments yesterday. What a lovely bunch of good souls. Next time I feel like a little boost, gosh, I'll rattle off a few meandering thoughts about this blogging lark and hit 'publish'. As good as chocolate, with far fewer calories.

A while back, I was bemoaning the state of my working life and wondering how/why/what/when I might seek out something that satisfies my creative urge rather than just the pesky financial burdens. I think it was Evelyn who said to be open to the signs. Around that time, there had been a rush of people commenting, in real life and here on the blog, about the hats my girls were always wearing. It felt like every other day someone said, "If you go into business, I'll buy one."

Now, whichever way I look at it, knitting kid hats, by hand, just me, will never be all of the answers to all of my prayers. But maybe it's a simple answer to one of them, a supplementary one, if you will. 

With that in mind, I've been busily knittering (that's like tinkering only with knitting needles) away in the background coming up with a few little patterns that are slowly turning into a few little actual hats that sometime soon may appear in a teeny-tiny Etsy shop bearing my name. Why all this incy-wincy, tiddly-widdly talk? 'Cause I'm nervous just mentioning it...

But you know what? I'm sick of meeting new people (and I seem to be meeting a lot at the moment, such is the life of the newby in town) and cowering behind a description of what I do for a living* and yet being so tentative to tell people what I WANT to be doing for a living. More on that soon. More on a lot of stuff soon.

In the meantime, one of my favourite people recently called and asked for a hat for her baby girl. She meant for me to send her a hand-me-down. Instead, because this is a very special little girl, I knit up one of my bonnets. I dug into the stash for some beautiful Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky, because it's so soft and luxurious and I love this colour. And Stella, with the promise of a lollipop when it was all over, agreed to be my model for the shoot. I can call it a shoot now. I've been to The Nursery.

Oh, reading? Why, still 'Simplicity Parenting'. I've taken two huge bags of toys to the charity bins. The girls didn't even notice. I'm struggling a bit more with culling their books. You're readers, you understand.

Yarning Along with the best of them. 

* It's not that I do anything shameful or embarrassing for a living, it's just kind of boring and uninspiring served with a hefty dose of unfulfilled potential.

Bumpy with Swinging Pompom

Red hat.

Bumpy.

With a swinging pompom.

Ravelled here. No pattern...yet.

Textured

Playing with texture.

Thrilled to have worked out this dimple pattern after seeing it recently and falling in love with it.

Grateful for how easy it is.

Wondering how different it will look with a wash and block.

Reading vintage knitting patterns for inspiration.

Excited by old-fashioned merging with modern.

Trying it out with a new bonnet.

Adapting a pattern from 1965.

Loving this gorgeous chunky Cascade yarn.

Marvelling at how much more I love it than the teeny delicate soft pink 3-ply the pattern called for.

Hoping these girls will have new hats before the week is out.

Readying myself to defend the lack of pink.

Joining in with all the lovely Yarn Along-ers.

Giggle, Giggle, Whack!

Yesterday, I lay curled in blissful darkness beneath a blanket. I could hear someone counting in the background. They got to 10 and, within seconds, the blanket was pulled off me and there were one, two, three giggling girls on top of me. 


"Found you, Mummy!"

It was one of those moments you want to pause, grab hold of, file away, then press play again and have it go on and on and on forever. Infectious giggling, all of us, for what seemed like minutes. The pure delight in their eyes. The love. The joy.

Then Pearl whacked me across the side of my head.

And that is what my days are like lately.

Pure bliss...and then a firm and fast plummet back to reality, whinery, whingery, moanery, screamery, "She pinched me"-ery, all-day-ev...ery.

But once again, it is Wednesday, Yarn Along day, and there is not only a finished project to show, but one I'm very proud of because I made it up as I went along...and it worked! Kind of. It will need some tinkering, so it's a good thing I have another two-year-old to experiment on.

The pattern is a basic circular-yoke, short-sleeved top with a pair of buttons at the back, though it would probably look just as cute worn with the buttons at the front. The yarn is Bendigo Woollen Mills Rustic 8ply in 'Elm' and the buttons came from here.

There has been lots of other knitting going on too - a trio of Easter Bunnies for the giggling gerties, and a winter cowl for me. I'll show those off next week when they're (hopefully) finished.

Ravelry notes here.


Knitwear modelled by Miss Pearl, she who confuses affection with violence.


Still reading, and loving, 'Accidental Tourist'.


Ginny's excellent Yarn Along here.