Sacks 'n Socks

I seem to be hooked on making little gifts at the moment. It's also a great way to use up some odds and ends.

I made this little soap sack from some left over Moda Vera cotton/bamboo. I didn't have enough yarn to knit the full pattern so I skipped quite a few rounds but it was still large enough for a lovely little block of fragrant soap.



Then I decided to use up the last bit of 8 ply Bendigo Woolen Mills cotton on this Shetland Shopper.



And of course I had to knit something out of my new Cat Bordhi book so I knitted my first learning socks - the Little Sky Sock.



Before I launch into my first pair of full blown socks, I need to finish these Firestarters.



I'm knitting as fast as I can!

Surprises!

This morning I got the best present ever. The wonderful kelebek sent me this great parcel.



I have been lusting after Bordhi's sock book for ages. I keep checking it out on my favourite online bookshop but its been out of stock for months. And then it arrived this morning. I'm still bouncing with happiness. And yummy chocolate to sweeten matters even more.

And look at the great stitch markers.



Now this morning I had planned a post on the visitors in my garden at the moment but they pale in comparison to my wonderful book. Nevertheless here they are. First the glorious little Eastern Spinebill feeding in the Banksia.



The White-Eared Honeyeaters have moved in the last few weeks and tend to chase the other birds away from the trees they are feeding in. This one is sitting in a Calistemon (Bottle Brush).



And this cute little fellow turned up yesterday morning. Can you see him?



Now I am running away to knit some socks!

More for the gift pile

I seem to be hooked on knitting little gifts at the moment. These two little soap sacks are the latest. I got the pattern from the Holiday Mystery Gift group.



Both sacks are knitted with 6mm needles which makes it a really quick kit. I used Bendigo Woollen Mills 8 ply cotton for the lilac one and Filatura Di Crosa Millefili Fine for the pink one. The soaps I bought at our local Sunday market. The stall stocked a wide range of deliciously perfumed handmade soaps. Now I need to whip up a couple more of these sacks.

Mandala progress: 9 more rows to go and then I can start the edging.

FO: Moebius and lone heart heel socks

I've manged to finish a couple more things in the last week. The first is Cat Bordhi's Moebius cowl/shawl. Now why did I knit warm winter apparel at the start of summer? Because I felt like it, of course. It so happens that the other day I bought 2 skeins of Joy because I loved the colour and I couldn't resist. When I got home I wanted to cast on immediately and opted for the Moebius. I've never knitted one before, wanted to learn the technique and I thought the yarn would suit the pattern. So here it is.



My only modifications were to knit 2 rows less of the lace edge and one row less of the garter edge because I could see I was running out of yarn. Even so I ran out of yarn with 16 stitches still to cast-off. Fortunately as its a variegated yarn I nabbed a bit of a totally different yarn in a similar colour and finished it off. This will go in my growing pile of gifts. (Thank you T, its your fault that this pile has developed.)

I also finished these socks. I used Cleckheaton Bamboo again. I really like the feel of this yarn.



Even though these socks are knitted from the toe up I was still concerned that I might not have enough yarn so I only did one and a half pattern repeats but increased the rib from 12 rounds to 17 rounds.


Okay, back to my Mandala. Only 27 rows to go and then I can start the edging.

Stocking up for Christmas Swap

On Friday I received my fabulous stocking from fitknit. I've been waiting for the weather to clear to take some pictures. (I loved the rain we had over the last 3 days - 114.5mm). She did a great job stalking me and put together a terrific parcel.

To begin with a lovely felted stocking:



And then a seemingly endless procession of little individually wrapped parcels were pulled out of the stocking.



Holiday reading matter (I love reading), stitch makers from Moggy and Me (they are always on the top of my list of things I would like), a great dishcloth (I've had this pattern in my queue to do someday), a bookmark (of course!), a tape measure (you always need one and now I have one for my keychain), a cute pen, egg cosies, a cross stitch for Bruce (how thoughtful is that!) and muppet remains (as a result of a discussion which took place on Ravelry).

Don't you think it's just the best stocking ever? Thank you fitknit - you done well!

Stockings, mice and elves

I usually don't get involved in Christmas knitting, mainly because we don't bother to celebrate Christmas but this year I got sucked in. How did this happen? Well I signed up for the Stocking up for Christmas swap on Ravelry. Spiraling organised this and provided us with this cute little pattern. Well once I did one for the swap I then decided to knit up a few more for the kids in the neighbourhood.

And here they are:



Then I needed a few fillers. Most of the little boys are getting little cars but the girls are getting mice and elves. These are Alan Dart patterns in the latest Simply Knitting.






Almost all the Christmas stockings, elves and mice are done. I'm still short a stocking and an elf but that will be done in time.

Home Sweet Home

This mound is the home of a spotted pardalote. The mound is in our backyard and we spotted these gorgeous little birds when they flew out of the nest. They are often referred to as the jewels of the bush.

Here is a close-up of the nest entrance. It's very strange that these little canopy dwelling birds choose to make their nests in the ground.



I have been busy knitting see:



All of this is a result of the Stocking up for Christmas swap on Ravelry. I sent my parcel off to my swap pal yesterday and only realised in the post office that I never took any photos of all the goodies I knitted for her. Ah well...

Ever since I have been knitting more things for the kids in the neighbourhood. All will be revealed when I've finished.