a slouchy beanie = warm head....

Next up in my knitting list was a beanie for my son

We both decided this was a cool beanie in the pattern book

so I set to work knitting away...

It is a simple beanie knitted flat and seamed down the back.

Perfect for a beginner and we were both pleased with the results.

The pattern comes from Lincraft Creative Book Volume 17

Knits for Men and Boys Comfort with style.

page 20, Boy's Slouchy fold-up rib brim beanie.

I used Moda Vera Pure Wool Extra Twist & 4mm needles

My son is 13 so I made the size for a 14-15years.

have a lovely day

~ Gillian ♥



waffle knit dischloth + more gartering....

 Still working on more wash cloths for our bathroom

this pattern was mentioned in the book Down to Earth

The pattern is called Waffle Knit Dishcloth

by Debbie Andriulli

It is a simple 4 row repeat pattern, great fun!

You can find the pattern here on Ravelry

or on Debbie's blog Homespun Living Here

I worked mine up in more Lincraft Bamboozle

in two colours I have used for my previous wash cloths.

and on size 4mm needles (US 6)

Because the Bamboozle yarn is a DK weight my washers ended up being around 18cm x 18cm square, which is fine for a face washer in our home.

.....................................................................

To finish off the balls of bamboozle I made some little makeup remover pads,

I have made many of these over the past couple of years, and they have all been round crocheted ones but while in the knitting mood I thought I would work up some little garter stitch ones :)

 

Made using Lincraft Bamboozle and 4mm needles (US 6)

cast on 14 stitches

knit 23 rows
cast off.

= cute little garter squares

ready to cleanse, tone and wash to use again :)

......................................

oh and do you like my pretty leaf dish?

I thought I might start to share some of my pretty collectables on my blog from time to time...

I have collected many pieces over the years and thought you might like to see some of them.

I love this one I picked it up at a Charity Shop for $4.00!

(I was pretty pleased with myself that day)

It is English Ware by Lancaster Sandland Ltd, Hanley England.

Well I hope you are having a happy day

~ Gillian ♥

garter stitch ♥

 Moving on with my knitting practice

This pattern caught my attention because of that

lovely garter stitch and the beautiful leaf shape...

 this was an excellent exercise for me,

reacquainting myself after many years with the following stitches k2tog, m1,ssk….

I made an error at some point in my green leaf (my first of the three)

somehow I ended up with an extra stitch at the point.

oh…and I think I was a little over zealous with the blocking of these poor little leaves ;)

the bamboozle yarn is much better to knit with than to crochet with,

so it was very nice to work with on this project.

I used all of the left over bamboozle yarn from my washcloths from last week

each leaf only took 0.3 skeins = 24.6 yards (22.5m) of the Bamboozle

I used 4.5mm needles (US 7)

the leaves do need a good blocking when finished.
after blocking mine measured approx 21cm x 15.5cm

You can find the pattern by Megan Goodacre

on Ravelry Here 

and on her website The Tricksy Knitter Here

the pattern also has a Stocking Stitch version of the leaf :)

Hope you are having a delightful day

~ Gillian ♥

a mouse made of twine.....

Our little dog loves cat toys!

so last night I hooked him up this super easy little mouse :)

I love that it has little ears.

This is such a great little pattern,  the tail is the first thing you make and then the body is worked at the end of the tail, the ears are made in the round so nothing is sewn on afterwards - less things for my dog to chew off ;)

I used some 100% cotton twine from the stationary section at Big W.

and a 4mm hook.

I stuffed it with toyfil and also put an eraser inside so that he had something a little more solid to chew that wouldn't hurt his teeth it also adds some weight to the mouse, which I think he likes also.

the pattern can be found on Ravelry Here

ps...sorry for the bad photo, I made it in the evening and we couldn't wait for daylight to take a photo of it before giving it to him....So a night time photo was snapped before it was chewed on ;)

have a great day

~ Gillian ♥



3 little dishcloths....

 We are in our final week of school holidays this week

so all sorts of projects are happening all over our home...

from Ginger beer making to setting up a little aquarium with sea snails!

The kids and I have been busy and having lots of fun :)

This is one of the projects I have made this week -

another set of washcloths for our bathroom

 When you have a busy week...a simple project is best,

So this pattern by Amanda from Chalklegs

was a perfect on to pick up and put back down again when needed.

I used Lincraft Bamboozle (70% Bamboo, 30% Cotton)

and a 5mm hook

they measure approx 20cm x 20cm and so soft.

You can find the pattern on Ravelry Here

Have a happy day!

~ Gillian ♥

just love this pattern....

 I really do love this simple little pattern

great for my knitting practice!

 so I made a pair for my daughter in this lovely Teal Cleckheaton wool

and another pair for my son in Charcoal....

Both are made using Cleckheaton Country Tartan 8ply

and 4.5mm (US 7) needles.

The pattern by Roxanne Richardson can be found on Ravelry here

if you are new to knitting or just want an easy pattern this one is great!

hope you are all having a lovely weekend,

~ Gillian ♥

Easy Fingerless Mitts....

 What a simple knitted project these little fingerless mitts are!

 Knitted flat and sewn up along the thumb side,

 they are a perfect beginner pattern!

I knitted this pair with

1 x 50gm ball of Patons Australia Jet (70% Wool, 30% Alpaca)

and a pair of  4.5 mm (US 7) needles.

You can find the pattern by Roxanne Richardson

on Ravelry Here

I am really enjoying doing a bit of knitting again....

I am also working on a couple of crochet projects and

the ever growing tunisian crochet dr who scarf :) 

It has been cold and rainy here the perfect weather for working with yarn,

be it hook, needle or nook!

have a happy day

~ Gillian ♥

warm bread and a little book love....

 My bread making skills are growing each time I make a loaf,

I know I still have a lot to learn, but now the bread I am turning out of the tin is so much better than my first efforts.  This loaf was made using my Kitchen Aid, with no hand kneading at all. 

The only problem with home baked bread that I can see is that it just doesn't last very long....

because every slice is devoured and enjoyed :)

  I finally gave in and ordered a copy of

down to earth

by Rhonda Hetzel

and it arrived TODAY - yay!

 Guess where my head will be buried for the next little while ;)

all I can say is LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!!!

I'm off to read my new book

have a happy day

~ Gillian ♥

Prism Scarf....

 I really enjoyed working with knitting needles again
to make this cute little scarf.

I know there are a couple of small mistakes and maybe my tension isn't perfect...but hey, its warm and soft and pretty :)  and I am sure in time my knitting skills will improve, at least I hope so..lol!

I used almost 4 balls of Lincraft Prism (wool/soy) and 6mm needles

and the pattern can be found on the Lincraft website Here

My scarf measures approx 11cm x 185cm (unblocked)

I really love the way the colours of the wool worked with the stripe pattern of the scarf and it was a joy to work from start to finish.

I hope you are having a lovely day,

~ Gillian ♥

Giant Granny Square Blanket....

 I finally finished my giant granny square blanket a little while ago, but I have been waiting for a good dry day to take some photos.  So pleased to have this blanket complete :)

 It is 182.9 cm (6 feet) square 

and weighs approx 2.85kg! (heavy but cuddly)

 made by holding two strands together.
Repeated colour pattern for the main body of blanket is -
Red & Cream x 2
Cream & Cream x 2
Brown & Cream x 2
Cream & Cream x 2

My granny square has 2ch in each corner and 1ch in between each granny cluster.

For the Border - (holding two strands together as per the blanket) First Round - I worked htr (UK/aust) in each tr (UK/aust) and chain space, with 1htr, 2ch, 1htr in corners. work another two rounds 1htr in each htr of previous round and 1htr,2ch,1htr in each corner.

It has worked up beautifully soft and chunky :)
I have used this yarn before for other projects,  and I know it wears beautifully and washes well.
That is why I was keen to create this blanket using Coton-a,

even though I know it would require a ‘LOT’ of balls!
I love how the cream & colour hooked together look like red & white packing string.

Made using Sullivans Coton-a and 6mm hook.

Hope you are having a creative day

~ Gillian ♥

Two pointy sticks.....

 I've been toying with the idea of picking up some knitting needles again...

It has been a few years since I knitted a scarf
and even then it was only Garter Stitch.

When I was in high school, my mum and I went off to evening classes to learn everything you could want to know about knitting....

only thing was we seemed to spend the whole week knitting little sample squares ready for the next class and I got a bit feed up with only making them and not a real project.

This made me put my needles away for years and

I forgot almost everything I had learned except for a few basic stitches.

Recently I have been falling in love with many of the knitted projects on Ravelry and this morning I was reading Omlair's blog and her post inspired me to get on with it and relearn how to knit!  So off I headed down to Lincraft and bought some wool and picked up a leaflet and came home and started :)

.........................................

I am making a simple rib scarf called Prism Scarf (named after the yarn used)

and using Prism yarn, it is a worsted weight wool & Soybean yarn and has a lovely colour change working through the balls and I am using size 6mm needles

The pattern can be found on the Lincraft website Here

Actually I have found the rhythm of knitting enjoyable once again and hopefully I'll soon have another scarf to wear :)

Bye for now

~ Gillian ♥

a little handwarmer love.....

 What a great pattern!

so fast and easy you can crochet them in an evening.

 I whipped these up last night with some of the left over yarn from my wool eater blanket.

As today was a rainy cold winters day, I enjoyed wearing them.

I think I'll pull out some other colours and work up a few more pairs.

You can find the pattern by creativeyarn

on Ravelry Here
and on creativeyarn's blog Here
The pattern only has the scalloped edging on the finger end of the gloves, I also added it to the foundation edge. 
..............................

I thought I would show you my current big project for this winter.
I am making my son a Vintage Dr Who Scarf
(Tom Baker season 16)

I love these gorgeous 1970s colours :)

The original scarf was knitted, but I'm not much of a knitter so am working it in Tunisian Crochet Purl Stitch...this is also the first time I've made anything in Tunisian Crochet and I'm quite pleased with how the front side of the purl actually looks quite similar to knitting purl stitch.
I've got a long way to go, If you are familiar with Dr Who you will know this is an extremely long scarf, and so far I am only about 20% of the way.

Have a great week everyone

~ Gillian ♥

sweet little hat for a sweet little girl....

 Last night I worked up this sweet little hat for a dear little girl....

she makes our whole family smile each time we see her ♥

 The pattern for this hat is called

Any Size, Any Yarn Hat

because you can make it using any type of yarn and you can make it in any size you want from micro preemie to adult male as all of the measurements have been worked out in the pattern.

I love the way the front post stitch is worked in this pattern, it really keeps the pattern interesting and it is so quick to make.  The designer, Thomasina Cummings has done a wonderful job with this pattern and I would have happily purchase more of her designs to work with in the future.

You can find the pattern on Ravelry Here

and for the flower I used Mel Paton's free flower pattern

which is also available on Ravelry Here and on her Blog Here

For this hat I used lincraft cosy wool 8ply (100gm ball) & 4.5mm hook

I worked the 6-12month size and I used a little over 1/2 of the ball of wool.

Have a creative day

~ Gillian ♥

a little kitchen love....

Last week I was given a big bag full of Chokos, we have been enjoying eating them but as we had plenty I decided I would make some Choko pickles.

I found this easy and really simple recipe Here. 

So cut up the Chokos and Onions last night and soaked them as per the recipe. 

This morning I got to work at making a batch.  It was so easy and really fun, I haven't made pickles for several years and had almost forgotten to sense of pride filling those little bottles gives you.  Preserving food is such a simple and worthwhile process, when you have your own veg garden or are given some from a friend's garden.  I know my friend who gave me the chokos will be pleased to receive a couple of bottles of  choko pickles in return for sharing her lovely garden produce...

This recipe made 12 & a half 200ml bottles of Delicious Pickles.... I might try the same recipe when our cauliflowers are ready to be picked.

have a happy day

~ Gillian ♥

wool eater blanket CAL - finished!

My wool eater is finally finished!

 it is 146cm square and weighs 1698gms

I'm pleased with the edging,

I think the straight edge gives it a really finished look.

A big thank you to everyone who has been so interested in this project, it always feels amazing to finish a blanket, it is already in use in our home.

I may be finished this blanket, but if you would like to make one

it is not too late to  join in on this Crochet Along

details can be found here on Sarah's blog.
there is also a Ravelry group here for this CAL
my ravelry project page for this project can be found here

Have a happy weekend everyone

~ Gillian ♥

Autumn Reflections Doily.....

 This is such a sweet pattern to work...

 It is called Autumn Reflections

is my first attempt at making a doily.

and the recipient was as pleased as I had hoped :)

I really like that it has two interesting patterns in it,

the filet flower in the middle and then the shells around the outside....

I used Cébélia Cotton size 10 & a 1.75mm hook

I forgot to measure it exactly, but it is approx 20-25cm in diameter.

The pattern for Autumn Reflections by  Cylinda Mathews

can be found on Ravelry here

Have a lovely week!

~ Gillian ♥

Ribbed Cowl 'aka' Coffee Cozy Cowl....

 I have finished another little project...

this one was a quick one to work up.

 I adapted a pattern for a coffee cozy (see below)

to make this cowl.

 I really enjoyed working the ribbing made of  fpdc & bpdc stitch

 and think I may make another couple of these cowls.

I used 2.85 balls of Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Silk (discontinued)

& a 4.5mm hook

I followed the pattern except for the following changes

I started with a chain of 110 and just worked until it was a width I was happy with.

It measures - folded flat 32cm across, 66cm around, 16.5cm high

below is a coffee cozy I made using the same pattern

You can find the free pattern for this cozy

on Ravelry Here

Designed by Theresa Grant

hope you are having a lovely day,

~ Gillian ♥

wool eater blanket CAL week 8ish...

This is last of the scalloped rounds on  my wool eater,

I will now begin working my edging.

I have added another two rounds of pattern (4 actual rounds) 1 round of duck egg blue and one of  olive green.  My blanket now measures approx 135cm square & weighs 1474gms.

I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has been interested in this project, I don't  normally post so many pictures of one project...and you have been so generous with your comments x :).  I will be glad to wind up this blanket as I have so many other things I am ready to start working on, but it has been such a worthwhile piece to make and I would really recommend it to you as a project, working with the little 'weekly' or 'not so weekly' ;) time frames  of a CAL seems to be a good way to go, and being able to follow along with others who are working the same project is a great source of encouragement and very helpful if you need to ask questions.

If you are interested in joining in on this Crochet Along

details can be found here on Sarah's blog.

there is also a Ravelry group here for this CAL

Have a creative week

~ Gillian ♥