Tiny Pillow for playful little heads

 I really like the Bobble-Shell Edging devised by Lucy at Attic 24.

 It was the perfect finish to this little pillow I made for my precious little Eee to use for her little toys as she lays them to bed around the house each day, every day.

 I had just finished making a tension square for a new top I plan to knit for myself this summer.
Not bothering to frog it back, I couldn't see the sense in throwing it out when it would be a simple job to crochet around the edge to join them, stuff with some poly-fill, then finish with the bobble-shell edging.

It makes such a precious sweet pillow for little Emily (I think that's what her name was today!).

One Sock

Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John,

Went to bed with his stockings on;

One shoe off, and the other shoe on,

Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John.

~ English Nursery Rhyme

Oh dear!

Look at my poor Ess! She has been wandering around one-socked for a little over a week now.

Why is it just so hard to complete that second sock? It took only one relaxing wet Sunday afternoon to complete the first slipper.

Here is the next one. So near to completion. Just a few more rows until the toe decreases are complete. It is quite hard knitting those last few rows with the smaller needles on the bulky wool. Although that is the combination that makes these Mary Jane Slippers such a great asset for slip sliding on tiled floors without wearing too quickly.

It's made of two strands of Lincraft Fairy Floss Yarn in a pink rainbow colour combination combined with one strand of yellow Panda Zoomy purchased through eBay last season. Rainbow yarns are a big favourite in our house so I knew the yarn would come in handy for something for my precious Ess.

That nursery rhyme I sang so often when Ess was a baby with those socks continually coming off those sweet tiny feet seems to be pertinent today as well. In so many ways the little ones change, yet in some they remain the same.

Diddle diddle dumpling my daughter Ess

Went to bed with her stockings on;

One sock off and the other sock on

Diddle diddle dumpling my daughter Ess.

Looking forward to another little pair of teeny tiny, sock-removing feet coming soon! :)

Needles Clacking

If the knitter is weary the baby will have no new bonnet. ~Irish Proverb

Writing a previous post about focus must have been just what I needed as I have found that the last week or so have allowed me some more creative time, space and energy to begin working again on the blanket I have been knitting for little Eee ever since she was a baby. I am determined to finish it this season. We have both been using it lots already as the mornings have been very cool these past few days, leading into the house staying cooler during the day. This is particularly so when the pilot light on our central heating refuses to light and we are left waiting for the tradesman to replace it. (Fortunately it is all repaired as of this morning).

I really love this blanket, as do most visitors we have here, and I will find it hard to give away to little Eee however it will stay around our home for many years to come.

I have even got my hook out also in order to make a little gift for my nephew. I hope he likes his little 'blue' pear.

I'm hoping this newfound energy will last so I can complete some unfinished projects (am counting on the nesting phase to take care of that) and then to create something new for our new little cherub.

The last of the cotton dishcloths

I know I'll keep making more, yet Mel's cloth create-a-long will be winding up shortly.

I really enjoyed crocheting this Tulip Stitch Dishcloth. I think one of the best things about making dishcloths is the opportunity to learn new stitches and styles. My babies have used a sweet pink crocheted blanket over the years. As it was a hand-me-down from my sister's in-laws I do not know the people who made it, even she is uncertain. So I could not find who to ask about the unusual style of crochet. Yet I believe it is very similar to the one used in this cloth. So I am delighted to have finally discovered something which has long been in the back of my mind. Now I might consider making myself a whole blanket...might! There are a few mistakes in my cloth, learnt on the journey into the new style. Yet I have left them as a reminder of what not to do next time and because this will be a cloth I use in my home and not as a gift. I'm pretty sure I've learnt from my mistakes...at least I hope so. That's what they're there for aren't they!

Now on my needles can you guess what it might be?

Here's a different perspective with a hint or two.

The pattern can be found here.

I just love embossed prints and patterns.

I am very glad to have increased my little cloth stash from three...

to ten.

They'll serve me well as gifts for when I'm travelling and visiting family in the next couple of months.

Valentine Heart and Kissing Cloths

How did it happen that their lips came together? How does it happen that birds sing, that snow melts, that the rose unfolds, that the dawn whitens behind the stark shapes of trees on the quivering summit of the hill? A kiss, and all was said. ~Victor Hugo

This little Valentine Heart cloth was a quick knit I did on Valentine's Day. I found it via Ravelry but for non users the pattern is here.

Here is my kissing cloth, the Xstitch cloth I referred to at the end of my initial cloth post, complete and ready to go. I think this will be the first one my husband will use for scrubbing some of those dishes.

So here are a couple more to add to my stash - one knitted, one crocheted. I like keeping all my needles working and both balls of blue wool diminishing at once.

I've a couple more on all my needles as we speak.

Creating Cloths

Another cloth completed for Mel's Washcloth Create-a-long.
This is Aimée's amata facecloth by Sew Funky.

It doesn't look quite the same as the one Dione has illustrated but I am sure it is how the written pattern knits up. Let me know if you notice the same.

The soap is a lovely olive oil soap made in the Adelaide Hills by Greenleaf Natural.

My blue balls of yarn are finally diminishing. I have another two cloths which are completed to show you, but for now I am off to find a couple more patterns to try.

Cloth Create-a-Long

There's something like a line of gold thread running through a man's words when he talks to his daughter, and gradually over the years it gets to be long enough for you to pick up in your hands and weave into a cloth that feels like love itself. ~John Gregory Brown

Over the weekend I joined Mel's washcloth create-a-long. Just like she, I had a big stash of cotton waiting to be made into cloths. I have previously made many and used some as gifts, but a little motivation to increase my pile didn't go astray. The yarn I am using is Lion's cotton bought for about $2 a ball at Spotlight. It is a little course, but does knit or crochet up to be a nice sturdy cloth.

Here is my first cab off the rank. Believe it or not, it is exactly the same yarn as the above, only photographed on a different day at a different time. This bright blue looks almost unreal, the light must have been so bright when I snapped this.

It looks so sweet when it is folded in quarters. This little wedge with a cake of soap on top will make a delightful gift. Sadly the blog on which I found this pattern no longer exists so you'll have to leave me your email address in a comment if you'd like to use this pattern. I think it's my favourite.

On my knitting needles and I have another one on the go.

Just to keep me interested I am hooking this cool X stitch pattern from Celtic Mommy.

Morning Tea Anyone? Child's Play.

It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain

What better way to spend a beautiful springtime morning than at a pretend morning tea party with your two year old daughter in her bedroom. Who could want more than this?

The sun shines into her room so brightly each morning and I long to return there after cleaning my kitchen which is sadly situated in the centre of our home rendering me very very little light in which to prepare our meals. Oh how we wish the designers had included a sunlight. Why don't they do that with stock standard homes? We'll plan better for our own, sometime down the track.

The dolls also very much enjoyed their treats of tea and fun felt food.

They usually spend their mornings resting in their little bed. Here is Baby covered in the sweet quilt and pillow set inspired by Mel and featured in her recent magazine Australian Homesewn.

Mel also inspired me to make a little baby cot blanket with the snowballs I have recently enjoyed knitting with yet having very little idea of what to do with!! This is how I found them after entering the bedroom to photograph them. Just too sweet to rearrange. I love child's play.

Casting on and off the snowballs is quite frustrating so I incorporated some crochet. I started by crocheting a chain to knit the balls onto. It was very easy to pick up every 3rd chain of crochet to knit rather than wrestling with the snowballs while casting on. I cast off loosely after changing yarns to a bright pink cotton which I used to added a decorative edge. Here you can see a little scalloped edge (YouTube) added to the completed blanket for a little decoration in the girls favourite bright pink.

Baby has gone to sleep here without her clothing on. In other pictures you have seen the little jacket and beanie I have knitted for her. She is still awaiting some pants still sitting on my needles, yet I have become distracted by these couple of patterns.

Off for more fun childhood play! ;)

A Little One's Fun with Finger Knitting

I like making a piece of string into something I can wear. ~Author Unknown

Fingerknitting is the perfect way for a little one to learn how to ravel a piece of string into knots to form a piece of material of some use. Ess has enjoyed this very much and can often be found with a ball of wool in one hand and stitches wound around her fingers in the other. That is, when there are no books in sight, of course ;)

She has completed a lovely scarf for her doll Anna using this simple tutorial. We watched it together, I tried it, I cast onto Ess' fingers and we were away or should I say she was away. She is now halfway through a scarf for her other precious doll, seen in my header pic above.

You might notice also that the pants I was knitting for Baby Anna are now successfully completed and fit her beautifully. I am really stoked at their success with a pattern of my own creation. This is not something I have ever really done before.

Have a happy creative weekend. We're planning to squeeze in some beachfront bike riding as the weather is forecast to be warm, albeit quite windy. Perhaps I'll find a minute to create something as well.

Grandma's Bedsocks

A garden of Love grows in a Grandmother's heart. ~Author Unknown

Where, oh where, has winter gone? We are seeing Signs of Spring already - warmer nights, inviting sunny days, flowers almost bursting into bloom. It has been a warm winter, yet I have no doubt there is some more "weather" due to arrive here. Usually it is coldest after our birthdays ;)

I knitted these lovely red bedsocks early on during winter to ensure my feet would be kept warm during the cooler parts of this season. I have not needed them yet, preferring my old pink threadbare ones, the last ones Grandma knitted for me, which I have continued to darn and mend over and over. Perhaps we have had warmer nights, or perhaps I have just not had to endure the absence of my warm husband this winter as we have done the last few years.

My Grandma has knitted bedsocks for me and others in my family for many years. In recent times I gave Grandma wool for her to knit some for me but this year, at 89 years of age, I think that she is past knitting. I didn't feel right asking her to knit for me anymore, especially when I am sure I can do it myself. So after some searching and asking various relatives, I managed to receive the pattern for the socks from my Aunty who no doubt wants to keep the family tradition going along with me.

This is the first pair I have made and I am quite proud of them.

Grandma started knitting these particular socks for her grandchildren's cold wintry toes as the pattern was a particularly easy one for socks she remembers. No knitting in the round, just a pair of needles. I can vouch for its' simplicity. The pattern is very easy to follow, although I still managed to make a couple of errors in my haste. Bet you can't spot them! Now there's a challenge for you.

If you are interested in the pattern, be sure to let me know. I am sure Grandma won't mind my sharing it with you.

Baby Anna's Jacket and The Snowballs Revealed...

While my precious Ess is away playing with her best friend this afternoon I thought I'd reveal to you the finished product after having knitted many Snowballs.

If you can't decipher what it is in the first photo, here it is in another, much less glamarous shot.  It turned into a bag.  The warm rich colours of the variegated wool were used to form the strap and a flap to fasten the bag with a button.

With the leftover wool I knitted a little jacket for Baby Anna using a pattern of Waldorf Mama's called the doll sweater pattern.

It has turned out to be quite a nice fit for Baby Anna.  However now, of course, her legs are very very cold in this cold and rainy weather we are experiencing this week.

So I have a devised a little pattern for some warm pants to cover her little legs to keep them cosy.  No guesses as to who chose this colour. Pink for my Ess.  I think it should match quite nicely however.  It complements the rich rose of the variegated yarn very well.

The bag is used to contain the dolls' clothing and provides a resting place for the dolls and weary little girl's heads.  It has also been used to transport two dollies, their clothing and a collection of books on a spontaneous drive we took the other afternoon.  The scenery was so lovely in the Adelaide Hills however, that the books were not read.  We were fortunate to see water flowing down the usually dry creek bed.  We saw Arum Lily starting to bloom and snowbells as well.  We usually see cows and sheep, and calves and lambs, along with horses and donkeys, yet this time we were surprised to spot a couple of emus and three kangaroos.  Sorry the camera was left at home that day! :(

Sending chilly greetings!

The Snowballs

The aging process has you firmly in its grasp if you never get the urge to throw a snowball.  ~Doug Larson

We have had some wild weather here the last couple of days but no storm has left any snowballs for us to throw :(.  Only rain and branches, sticks and twigs falling from above, gathering on our paths making our ride and stroll to school quite bumpy.

My soft snowballs are now fully entwined and I am left with a snowy blanket with no home...yet!  I just don't think I could have snowballs decorating my home - although someone else could possibly use them in their interior design quite beautifully.  Equally I just don't think I could wear these.

So what I am to do with my snowballs??  The girls love them.  When I knit they come and rest their head on my soft, snowball-filled dreamy lap and ask, "What's it going to be Mummy?"

I have decided now.  It won't be long until it is completed...I hope.

It will be something they can use.  I have no doubt they will continue to enjoy this unusual soft texture for a long time yet.  (When will the internet be all touchy feely so you can understand, dear reader!)

Watch this space.

Snowballs

The aging process has you firmly in its grasp if you never get the urge to throw a snowball.  ~Doug Larson

Wouldn't it be nice!?  A romatic notion.   I have the urge but never an opportunity to throw a snowball.  There are none here, neither will there be.  Apart from the above, that is.

Knowing the unique texture of this snowball/pompom yarn would delight the senses: the eyes and hands, face and fingers of my little treasures, it has managed to enter our house.

However I am not sure just what to do with it?

It knits up quite nicely...perhaps I just like the uniformly ordered pattern.  Mind you, it looked nothing like this until I watched this little tutorial.

I have an idea or two.  But I am curious to know...

What would you do?