Newborn Hats

Don’t ask me why but I’ve made some newborn hats lately. It’s not like I know anyone who’s having a baby soon. Maybe it was just the need for a quick knit because they sure are fast to complete. One of them was a pattern test knit for a gorgeous little Pumpkin Hat.

There are so many of these pumpkin designs on Ravelry so there’s lots of patterns to select if you wish to make one. I love the top of this hat.

I used Cascade 220 Superwash wool to make my hat. It’s such a lovely wool to knit with.

My second hat is really a premmie size (because of the yarn I used) and it’s called Little Knight Newborn Purple Hat although I made mine in pink.

The yarn I used is Bella Baby Angora Blend (that is actually my yarn in the Ravelry page picture) and it is so soft. I used a round polystyrene ball to give some shape to the hat. I really need to invest in a baby doll to be my model!

And the third hat is this cute little Sheep Hat which I instantly fell in love with.

Even the back of the hat is cute 🙂

I used a combination of Cascade 220 Superwash and Lana Gatto Super Soft. Both incredibly beautiful wools to knit with.

My friend Helen recently visited New Zealand and she brought me back some lovely little sheepy presents. Here’s some of them in this picture indicated by the arrows.

And this lovely little cutie.

Yesterday it was so hot and humid in Brisbane and today’s it’s about seven degrees cooler so I am going to try and attach a new tabletop that I bought yesterday to the table that I am using for my wool combing which is so old the bottom part is flaking off and leaving a mess. I’ve charged the drill and now just need to hope that the carving board I bought can be adapted to a table top. Will keep you informed!

That’s my news for this week. Until next time…

Melanie

Margarita Hat

I don’t often wear hats in winter but when a pattern catches my eye I feel compelled to make it as was the case with this gorgeous hat called Margarita.

It’s one of the patterns in the 2015 Knitting Calendar which my son gives me every Christmas. It’s the best present I could ever ask for!

You could even place a small brooch on the brim of the hat as shown in the pattern picture.

Isn’t it a delightful little hat?

I love the foldback brim although I must say you need to concentrate when completing some of the rows for the brim. I had to ‘tink’ quite a few rows at one stage. Maybe it was because I was sitting on the banks of the Noosa River and kept glancing out and gazing at the tranquility of my surrounds 🙂

As the brim could have a tendency to fall forward I will probably stitch it back in about 4-6 places (one of these days!!). I always seem to avoid using a needle and thread at all costs so I wonder how long it will take me to do this!!

The wool I used is Lana Gatto Super Soft in a lovely soft milk chocolate colour.I can highly recommend this wool; it is incredibly soft and luscious and feels wonderful against your skin. I picked it up from Sheep Thrills last year on sale for AU$6.50 a ball and I used 75g for this hat.

I have quite a bit of this wool so I am tempted to make another hat as it is such a quick and easy knit.

As you know I made my first Corner to Corner crocheted throw while I was at Noosaville and I have since started two more! I managed to buy a couple of lovely KnitPro crochet hooks at Sheep Thrills and have been quite spoiled using these lovely hooks.

Unfortunately I only bought three sizes so I hopped onto Ebay a couple of weeks ago and found these nine crochet hooks for only AU$9.89 with free postage from Darwin. Bargain!!

I’m using the 3.5mm hook on my C2C Baby blanket and it’s fantastic! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back to the traditional thin steel hook again 🙂

I also picked up this spoon on Ebay recently with a little spinning wheel on it. Very cute I thought.

One of my friends recently holidayed throughout some remote parts of Australia and sent me these two photos from the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame.at Longreach. It’s a kangaroo sitting on top of a bale of wool doing some knitting 🙂

And lastly here’s a sneak peek at another gorgeous yarn bowl that Kimberly from Earth & Stones Creations is making for me. It’s a lot larger that my other two and this one looks like the sheep mugs that Kimberly made for our 2015 Open Day. This is the drying stage for the bowls and mugs. I am so blessed to have found such a wonderful artisan who makes these amazing bowls and mugs.

That’s all my news for the moment. Until next time…

Melanie

Now for

C2C Afghan

I’m not a great crocheter as I prefer knitting and can read a knitting pattern a lot easier than I can a crochet pattern. However, when I was recently at Sheep Thrills I noticed a lovely crocheted afghan casually thrown over the back of a chair. Upon asking, I was told this was a C2C (corner to corner) afghan. Quite a few of the ladies in the QldBaysideYarnClub of which I am a member are addicted to crocheting C2C throws so I thought I’d investigate further.

Leah from Sheep Thrills suggested I look at The Crochet Crowd video tutorial which explains how these afghans are made, which I did. It didn’t take long to get the gist of how they’re created and I was on my way.

The yarn I used was Lotus Yarns Winter Sun Aran in the colours chocolate brown and apricot. The yarn was on sale at Sheep Thrills for $4 a ball.

In total I used 13 balls of each colour (yes, I had to buy more than the 10 balls of each colour that I had).

From this small start in a corner…

to this slightly larger afghan…

The finished size is approximately 4 foot (1.2 metres) square.

I must admit on the cooler days here at Noosaville it was great to be working on this project as it kept me warm at the same time!

When I finished the afghan, I added a chocolate brown border of three trebles, two chain in each three-treble space followed by the final border in apricot of seven double trebles in one two-chain space, a treble in the next two-chain space and so on. I had to do a bit of cheating to make sure the seven trebles always occurred at a corner.

I am very happy with my first C2C afghan. In fact, when I get home I’m going to make one using different coloured 4ply baby yarn. It shouldn’t take too long as it won’t be as large as this one.

Have I tempted you to maybe start a C2C afghan?

Until next time…

Melanie

“Sheep Thrills” at Noosaville (the best little yarn shop!)

Utopia….heavenly…bliss….magical….those words sum up the hours between 9.30am and 1pm today! I discovered Noosaville’s best retreat ever…..Sheep Thrills Knitting and Crochet Club / Yarn Shop.

And how did I find this shop? Well I saw an advertisement in the local paper so I sent an email to find out whether you could attend just to sit and do some social knitting. On Tuesday this week, I was doing my normal riverfront knitting when a woman who was walking her dog, approached me. To cut a long story short, she is the owner of Sheep Thrills and we had a good old yarn! It was just meant to be!

Who’d have thought this older style home would house such a wonderful Aladdin’s cave of yarnie goodness!

The entry stopped me in its tracks as I tried to take in all the crocheted and colourful garments…

Now this is my kind of sign!

A group of four of us settled into some social knitting as well as Leah (a very talented crocheter) and Bonnie (the very welcoming owner of the establishment).

It always amazes me how a bunch of women who don’t know each other can sit down and just start connecting and swapping stories. We had so much fun knitting and yarning to each other. Sheep Thrills has such a welcoming vibe to it and the decor is so homey and relaxing. You can just be yourself and absorb all the creativity in the comfortable surroundings.

The house/shop is a riot of colourful yarns available for sale (yeeesssss!!!)

Don’t you love that wood stove…

Leah assisting Margaret with her knitting. Bonnie in the background.

Beautiful silks…

Lots of little sheep can be found sitting on the yarn shelves…

I bought this stunning Colinette Yarns Perugino Throw Kit in the colourway ‘Ginger Nut’. Thanks Bonnie for pointing out this very last kit to me as I would not have even thought of purchasing it without realising what it contained.

Bonnie even provides ‘free of charge’ the circular needles required for this project. That’s what I call looking after your customers!

These are some of the yarns I bought as well (you didn’t think I would only buy one thing did you???).

Ella Rae Lace Merino, a 4ply / fingering 100% merino yarn. I love this luscious orange colour.

Lana Gatto Super Soft, a 10ply / worsted 100% merino yarn. An end of dye lot sale at only AU$6.50 per ball. I already have some of this yarn at home but I just love its softness. It’s a delight to use.

Stitch Nation by Debbie Stoller Washable Ewe, an aran / worsted 100% superwash wool. Only AU$4 for each 100g ball. What a bargain! And it’s green so I had to have it 🙂

Patons Regal 4ply Cotton, a 4ply 100% cotton. Fell in love with the colours. I’m thinking a nice lightweight summery scarf.

To think I have to go back home on Saturday after finding this welcoming little yarn shop. I could weep!!! That means I will have to come back to Noosaville next year just to visit Sheep Thrills again.

If you live at the Sunshine Coast or you’re travelling through make sure you drop into Sheep Thrills at 61 Hilton Terrace, Noosaville. Sheep Thrills is open Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, from 9.30am to 1pm Saturday from 9.30am to 11.30am. Classes are held every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, from 9.30am to 11.30am. Everything is supplied including a basic pattern, instruction notes and two hours’ instruction.

You will be made very welcome!

Thank you Bonnie, Leah and the lovely ladies I met today for making my day so special. I’ll be back tomorrow before I leave on Saturday.

Until next time…

Melanie

Snazzy Knitted Slippers 1 and 2

After receiving a copy of Alison Howard’s latest book Knitted and Crocheted Slippers, I was keen to start making some. This cute little pair made from simple knitted squares caught my eye. In fact it’s called Simple Squares. Each slipper consists of five squares.

The secret is to make sure the maximum number of stitches is correct for your foot size. Alison provides guidelines for this however as the yarn I used would normally be used with larger needles I had to increase the number of stitches for the larger square.

The yarn I used is from a huge stash of Ashford Tekapo 8ply that I bought on Ebay a couple of years ago for just over $1 each!! Yes, that’s right; how cheap is that. An online store was getting rid of their last balls so I managed to get some great bargains. I used 3.5mm needles.

Don’t they look cute when they’re not on a foot! They do stretch quite a bit I might add as only garter stitch is used. My foot size is an Australian 9.

The second pair I made is called Aran Anklet. What I love about these slippers is they’re perfect to slip into your bag and take anywhere if you need to take off your shoes and don’t want bare feet. Perfect for travelling.

Plus the yarn I used is simply soft and luscious. It’s Lana Gatto Super Soft which is a 10ply  / worsted 100% merino wool.

And if you’re wondering what all those wrinkly bits on my feet are…well I’d just taken off my boots and socks to take these photos and realised the socks left their impression on my skin!

You’d never guess this was a pair of socks would you?

So far so good. I am quite impressed with these slippers and will make a few more from the book and show them to you in due course.

Have I tempted you to buy this book and tackle some of these very easy patterns?

Hopefully I have. Until next time (when I’m in Noosaville 🙂 )…

Melanie

Not More Yarn!!!!!

This gallery contains 37 photos.

I guess you’re wondering whether I’ve been buying any more yarn recently hey? Well surprise, surprise….I have been stockpiling quite a few new purchases and thought it was about time I showed them to you. I am keeping Australia’s (and … Continue reading →