Merry Christmas!

Today is my last day working in the office I have been in for the last four years - its going to be sad to leave.

But - I have tomorrow to look forward to - I leave for America! (Just for a holiday...)
I'm sorry I haven't been around to blog in the last couple of weeks, but its been crazy around here, training up my replacement - which was harder than I thought it would be, and trying to catch up with as many people as possible before heading off. Its a good kind of crazy though.

I may not be able to speak to you again until well into the new year, so I leave you with this message...

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Safe travels to those of you who are going away, and I hope that everyone has a nice relaxing break with family and friends.

Ballatrina xx

Crafty links!

Image from here

I'm getting to the stage now of ticking off what needs to be done at work, and counting down the days until I hand over to my replacement in a week. I had a day of lasts yesterday - last day of board meetings, last day of full corporate-wear, last time i'll see most of the people i've been working for for the last two years... and I must say, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face! I was kinda excited about it all!

Work is not the only thing i'm organising and ticking off - i've got to think about my crafty side too! I've made the decision to leave alot of my crafts at home when I move away - WAIT, before you start scowling and throwing things, let me explain! - I will have very little space, and honestly probably very little time to work on things between classes, readings and assignments. So - i'm going to sort my knitting into project bags, with patterns and yarns and needles as much as I can, and just take a couple with me for term time, then swap them out when I head home for the holidays. I'm not sure what i'll do about my sewing stuff, i'll be taking my machine and my box of threads and other bits and pieces, but i'll probably leave my fabric stash at home and just repurpose old clothes rather than making new things.

My other crafty area to look into is the ol' blog. I've said before that i'm switching it over to Wordpress to have a fresh start for next year (want a sneek peek? Here it is! Feedback is gratefully accepted!), but that leaves the problem of all the blogs i've stored in my blogger reader, if i'm not checking in on blogger that often. The answer? Google Reader of course!

Since its so easy to add new blogs to Google Reader, i've managed to add quite a few to my reading list in the last couple of weeks - a mixture of knitting and sewing, with lots of tutorials and easy things to try at home. Here are a few of my favourites...

• Crafterhours - I want to try their t-shirt 'side panel refashion' - what a great idea to extend the life of a t-shirt!
• Knitting to stay sane - I love these Wizard of Oz-themed socks!
• Lilley's handcrafted lovies - Check out these awesome little ninjas!
• MADE - these are oh so sweet hair clips for little ones
• Made By Rae
• Make it and love it - she made a QUIET felt Mr Potato Head!
• Oh So Crafty - complete with crafty cakestand from a plate and candle holder
• Ruffles and Stuff - I want to add ruffles to everything after seeing these creations
• SouleMama - have a look at the family halloween costumes!
• this mama makes stuff
• Totally Tutorials - alot of this list is made up of posts by these other authors - seriously, if you're looking for a tutorial on ANYTHING, this is where you'll find it!
• Wardrobe Refashion - i've mentioned this before, but its very inspiring to see how others are recycling old clothes and accessories
• French Press Knits - creator of the slippers that made the most popular pattern on Ravelry!

Just a few more quick ones for good luck - I could spend all day reading these!

• Sumo's Sweet Stuff
• Get Your Craft On
• Look Ma No Patterns!
• Samster Mommy - this is the blog that started my addiction, I think now i've read all her posts right back to the first one!
• U Create - another kind of hub with profiles on different crafters

So go and check 'em out! Tell 'em I sent ya :)

Tell me - what are some of your favourite crafty blogs to read?

~Happy crafting!~

Refashioning fun!

I've been reading the Wardrobe Refashion blog, and particularly Sew I thought's posts, about making clothes and accessories from what you have or what is second hand, rather than buying new all the time. This includes giving new life to vintage clothes, or making something from the fabric in your stash.

So, after a quick stop in at a Recycle Boutique and a browse through their vintage sections...
This...

...became this...

The original dress had a dropped waist, and the arm holes were crazy long. There is a button tab on the shoulders, so I just unpicked that, bought it up a few inches until the armholes were right and attached the buttons again, then took in about an inch on the sides. Some work is still needed on the hem, but I quite like the raw edge, so I may just straighten it up and snip those loose threads. Its a little tight over the bust so I may have to have another look at the arm holes, and i'd like to bring the waist in a bit so I don't have to wear it with a belt all the time, but that will mean putting in a zip at the back so I can get into it! I'm happy with it for now, but more adjustments will come.

I also got this....

...and i'm thinking about this...

- but any suggestions are welcome! I was thinking of just shortening it to a knee length skirt, but I had the belt out so I thought i'd try this, and its growing on me! It wouldn't be hard to attached a length of elastic under the bust to get it to fit right.

What do you think? And have you done any refashioning projects yourself? Are you game enough to take the Wardrobe Refashioning Pledge and not buy anything new for two or more months? (I'm not at that stage yet, but this is a good start!)

~Happy sewing!~

Feels like winter

So, here in the southern hemisphere, its supposed to be spring. Its pouring with rain and freezing cold outside, so I don't think so! Therefore I don't feel weird at all about looking at the preview of the winter Interweave Knits magazine.

Not that I really need to add anything to my queue, but I think my favourite pattern from the preview is the Aquitaine Pullover...

Photo: Interweave Knits. Bonus photos here.

[Rav link for pattern]

It would probably look best in a plain yarn, but i've got ten balls of this marbled-blue Patons Zhivago just sitting there that i'd like to use for it. Too crowded/busy do you think?

Also, the pattern calls for worsted weight yarn. Zhivago is only DK, but as the smallest size in the pattern is 34 1/2" and i'm smaller than that, I think working with the lighter yarn might make it the right size. What do you think?

Tell me - what's your favourite pattern from the winter issue?

~Happy knitting!~

FO: Poppy hat

Have I mentioned recently how much I love Ravelry? No? I love Ravelry! I don't think I would be where I am with my knitting today without it. I love that you can do research before you start on a big project, have a nosey around a whole bunch of designers that you wouldn't otherwise know about, and save patterns as favourites in one place so you can find them again.

That is how I came across the Poppy hat. I'd seen someone's finished Riverstone sweater that i'd saved, and I was looking at the pattern's main page at some of the awesome FO pictures. I noticed that some of Just Jussi's other patterns were showing there too, and Poppy caught my eye. The next step in my Ravelry browsing is to have a look through the projects page to see how other people have made it. For this one I was just browsing for the sake of it, since it was a baby's hat. Then I saw this one. I thought, I must be able to make a me-sized one too then!



I made the 12yo size, CO 30st with 7.5mm needles, and did 7 repeats rather than the 5 from the pattern. In hindsight I probably could have done with 6 repeats or a few less rows of ribbing, as its a little longer than I would like in the back, but other than that its PERFECT! I used Shepherd 100% Lambswool Felted yarn from my stash, which is great to work with. A fast and easy stash busting project - it used slightly less than one ball, and I started at 5.30pm and (with a dinner break in between) finished at 11pm! The construction is really clever - you start with the top section on straight needles, then pick up stitches and knit the ribbing down on circular needles, although back and forth because of the button flap.



Of course, with my Twilight obsession, I had to use a Twilight button to finish it off :) I will be keeping my eye out for a nice flower to attach to the side though, to give it a bit more of a 'flapper' feel.

If you have a baby shower coming up, why not knit a matching pair for mum and bub!

Techniques I learned:
* provisional cast on
* short rows

I promise a modelled shot soon - i'm getting my hair done tomorrow so it will look much nicer after that.

For the comments - what feature do you love most about Ravelry?

~Happy knitting!~

In a holding pattern

I applied for my student loan yesterday - it only took 15 minutes online - so now we wait... It doesn't seem like there is alot to do between now and February - other than packing of course, for both my christmas holiday and moving cities, but right now I feel like i'm in a bit of a holding pattern until things can really start moving again. I suppose I should be grateful and just appreciate the calm before the storm!

Store update
I've made a little soap sack to go up in my Etsy store!

I still have some cute cotton colours left over, so I'll be whipping more of these out over the next couple of weeks. Great stocking stuffers! Any ideas of other easy embroidery designs I could do?

Knitting update
I have finally started on the Central Park Hoodie! [Rav link] I chose to start with the sleeve, just to get the cable pattern sorted, and i'm not far off the sleeve cap now. I'm using Needful Yarns London Tweed (again, I hope I have enough, its another discontinued yarn!). Here's what it looked like on the weekend:

Of course, I was aided by my ever-faithful (and ever-hungry!) puppy dog, who against all odds is still with us...

I had a brief thought that I could get this done in time to wear in the -15 degree weather in New York in January, but I am now resigned to the fact that that isn't going to happen! I don't want to push myself during what will be my busiest time of the year. Oh well, there's always next winter :)

How to...
I tried my hand at something else a little crafty this weekend. With all my stitch markers in use on my clapotis scarf, I had nothing to use for the cable pattern, so I grabbed some old paper clips and beads and got to work with some SUPER basic DIY stitch markers.

They aren't the greatest things ever made, and they are a little big, but they are good enough for me - real stitch markers are REALLY hard to come by in New Zealand! You can see them in use in the sleeve picture above. If you're interested in making some basic ones for yourself, i've done a little 'How to' photo series on Flickr. You can find it here.

Chat for the comments
What WIPs have you got at the moment? Or is everything on hold while you work on Christmas presents?!?

~Happy crafting!~

Share the love award

I was honoured to be one of the recipients of the Neno's Award from dear Karen over at Musings of a (mostly) Self-Taught Knitter. Thanks Karen for all those lovely things you mentioned about me!

The Neno’s Award Rules and Regulations:

1. As a dedication for those who love blogging and love to encourage friendships through blogging.

2. To seek the reasons why we all love blogging.

3. Put the award in one post as soon as you receive it.

4. Don’t forget to mention the person who gives you the award.

5. Answer the award’s question by writing the reason why you love blogging.

6. Tag and distribute the award to as many people as you like.

7. Don’t forget to notify the award receivers and put their links in your post.

I love blogging because its great to be able to share. Whether its the book i'm reading, or what crafty project i'm working on, I can share it with people all over the world - its great to get my little voice out there, and to get feedback about it too! Its also great to record what progress i've made since I started knitting, which really wasn't all that long ago.

And the award goes to...

Susan at 2BKnitting! This lovely lady is a knitting machine! The reviews she does on all her knitting projects are super helpful, and she takes great pictures of what she's working on. She and I have had many conversations about alterations to projects and trying out different techniques, its good to have someone to bounce ideas around with. Although i've never met her in person (hopefully one day!) she's a good friend.

Leeshie at The Knitty Gritty! She and I 'met' over at the 20-something bloggers group (I think, is that right??) and she's a great blogger, with a cool sense of humor, and she's made some lovely projects since i've been reading over the last few months - check out her new Owls sweater! (And she's in Ysolda's knitting group! How cool is that!)

Let's have a chat in the comments - what is it about blogging that you love?