Summer

Posting remains stalled, the weather has been so amazing that you will more often than not find me outside enjoying the warmth while it lasts. Auckland is enjoying an extended summer, it is 23 degrees (I think that is around 75F) and it is Autumn, the sun is shining, birds are singing and all is well with the world.

Our darling is growing at a rate of knots, almost 4 months old and she has trebled her birthweight! Such a sweetie, she laughs, smiles and coos, loves story time and rolls over.

Here is a close up of the hat, your standard Aviatrix (worsted weight) in Just Jussi Full and made my favourite Frothy Flower in Malabrigo worsted
I added an extra round of petals and embroidered some french knots resembling stamens to hold it in place.

I have a little interview posted on the Knitographer site   talking about Just Jussi and whats up at the moment. Go have a look see, and meet some other lovely knitters, dyers, writers.

5 random things about me meme

If you read my blog regularly you will know that
a. I don't post enough and
b. I no longer do memes, if you read my blogs you know everything about me!

However, Julia of Just one wip asked me to, and she is such a sweetheart, so I will this time, but this branch will die with this post as I can't think of anyone who will thank me for asking them to blog it.

1) I've been blogging since 9 January 2005, that is more than 8 years. I only just realised that. Wow. I set up my first blog as I was lonely, having recently moved to Sydney. My life changed so much in those couple of years and the first couple back in NZ that I actually ended up setting up this new blog to break from the past. The old blog is much more about me, this one tries to stick to the knitting.

2) I have 3 daughters, 2 stepdaughters, 1 stepson,  and share 4 grandchildren with my husband, with another due next month.

3) here are 38 things you may or may know about me, so this will count for from  3-5! this was written in 2006 - some things have changed.
1. I am right-handed most of the time, but left-handed when I eat.
2. The first time I was ever admitted to hospital was to give birth to Holly. The second time when I went into premature labour with Charlotte.
3. Blaise was born at home.
4. The third time I was admitted to hospital it was for a tubal ligation.
5. I don't like olives, I try, but I can't.
6. I drink coffee in the morning, and Earl Grey tea the rest of the day.
7. I have an official (3x tested) I.Q. of 154...it is wasted on me (My Mother had me tested....thanks BBT)
8. Dogs are tolerable, cats are mandatory.
9. Prefer blankets to quilts (duvets, doonas) cotton in summer, wool in winter.
10. When I was at school I wished my name was Lisa or Angela like everyone else.
11. My children think I am psychic (It's really just my Mother instincts)
12. I have never been in trouble with the law.
13. My first memory is of me telling Una from next door that if she kept putting a plastic bag over her head she would suffocate, my sister wasn't born yet, so I would have been 2.
14. I only like 2 peices of furniture in my entire house, I only love 1. (This has changed a lot since I wrote this)
15. When I was 15 I was anorexic.
16. My second toe is longer then my big toe.
17. I hate catching the bus.
18. I have twice as many tastebuds as the average person.
19. As a child I hallucinated often when I had a fever, I still remember a lot of these hallucinations.
20. When I was 10 I bred mice and sold them to the pet shop for 30c each.
21. I was so upset when I found out that I couldn't go to Mallory Towers that I threw up.
22. My eyes change colour, from navy, through light blue to grey.
23. I can't stand bad manners.
24. I am painfully shy.
25. I would rather climb the stairs than take the lift.
26. I have been trapped in a stairwell, but never in a lift.
27. I sleep on my back with my arms above my head.
28. I am not a team player, but I try.
29. When I was 15 my step-mother told me I couldn't be a vet, (because her daughter didn't get accepted for Vet. college) I didn't tell anyone, just stopped trying because I thought she was an adult so she must be right.
30.I have raised all of our kids not to take "no" for an answer.
31. I make time to worry, I think to myself "I can't worry about that right now, I'll worry about it after dinner"
32. I came top of my year in School Cert. Biology.
33. I am so afraid of the women at the cosmetic counters in department stores that I give my husband a list of what to buy from Dior and Clinique duty-free.
34. I can't borrow books I really like, I have to buy them.
35. I am truly afraid that in 20 years time, they won't sell basics like flour anymore, and I won't be able to teach my grandchildren how to bake cookies.
36. I fidget - a lot.
37. I was smacked on my first day of school, because I couldn't sit still
38. My dream vehicle is a long wheel base LandRover Defender in black with stainless steel step-plate, and spotlights. (2013 I sold my Landrover discovery today )

Where I work

I love reading about other people's studios and workspaces, the way they range from the amazingly opulent, purpose built architectural masterpieces of the fortunate to the one tidy corner of crafting sanity in an otherwise crazy family apartment.

I am always amazed and encouraged by the inventive storage solutions, the repurposing of common items into the perfect spool holder or ribbon tamer, even IKEA furniture looks exotic when you live in a country to which the ubiquitous blue and yellow box store has yet to arrive.

When I was child I dreamt of many things, which I have shared with you over the years, and a huge dream of mine was a room all of my own, not a bedroom, but an arts and craft room, a room where I could follow my hearts desire and no one would touch anything (you can tell I had a younger sister)

Now, this is exactly what I have, a room for dreaming and imagining, a room for bringing to life all those ideas in my head.

This panorama takes in two thirds of my room, starting with the door and moving left, you pass my armchair (soon to be reupholstered and joined by it's twin) these are Ercol armchairs  which my Grandfather bought for my Grandmother one Christmas, you know he worked for the RAF as an instructor, and built toy garages and dollshouses in his spare time to save the money to buy my Gran whatever her heart desired every Christmas, i think of him everytime I look at those chairs, I never knew him, but I know his creativity runs in my veins.

We then move past the post its and packed pin boards to my desk, with the computer, printer and in tray one one side of the room, and wips on the other. 

The plates above my iMac are repurposed side plates from the 60's and 70's painted with the names of the seven deadly sins from Trixie Delicious (do not click if curse words offend you!) I love these, they are fun and I do love to buy local.

The wire basket rack holds adult garment lots of yarn and current projects, the Billy bookcase next to it contains handpainted yarn, account folders, a mailing centre and my dyeing equipment behind the glass doors.

Yarn is contained within the nine cubby unit, the blue baskets hold balls organised by weight, with the upper cubbys reserved for skeins (which will soon hang from a peg board above my armchairs) and lots of special books above that.

What you can't see is the bookcase full of books and baskets of "notions, fabric, thread etc" and the built in wardrobe with it's own complement of yarn and sample garments.

I love the colour of my room, the light that floods across the desk, the fact that everything has a place (even if it is not in it!) the peace that it fosters and the encouraging space to create. 

Bad blogger

I know, I know, I'm a bad blogger.

Facebook is to blame (and I'm not getting into a FB discussion here) it is just so quick and easy to post something on the fly and the response is immediate. However I can't talk in depth about anything there like I can here.

Baby Isla is growing fast, such a sweet natured wee girl she has us all enchanted. Cody adores her and they both love their family dinner night stories with Granddad (we all gather round, lots of grown up kids and two little ones) and soon there will be another little cousin to love.

The knitting is continuing apace, firstly Fat Kitty which has been a big hit

The Sprinkles skirt and Sakura cardigan which will both be released soon (join my newsletter - link in the sidebar to be informed of when)

The effects of leaving my day job and becoming a fulltime designer are starting to become obvious to me now, I've been fulltime for almost 3 months now and it has been a very positive change, in terms of my health, family and happiness. I look forward to being able to bring you lots of interesting designs in the near future and I'm having fun finally publishing paper patterns and teaching a lot more.

Thats me for now, I won't talk about my sourdough adventures...maybe next time! Happy Easter everybody.

Gauge tension! (or how to tame your swatch)

There are two main objectives to swatching, the first is design, and the second is gauge. Take all the time you need with this step, time spent here is never wasted and will save you hours of mis-knitting.

Think about the properties you require for your garment, do you want a loose, drapey fabric or something thick and firm? These properties affect the type of yarn and the needle size you will choose. 

Design swatch basics:

1. Using the suggested needle size for your yarn, cast on a minimum of 20 st (preferably more) and work a few repeats of your chosen stitch pattern (at least 20 rows). Examine the work and decide if the pattern is to your liking, if not what needs to change? Needle size? Colour combination? A new stitch pattern? Keep experimenting until your fabric meets your expectations.
2. Be flexible and open to ideas, try lots of different st patterns or colour combos, think about what may be going wrong and how you may be able to fix it, can you add a couple of rows of garter between the rows of the stitch pattern? Can you make use of a website like Kuler or Colourlovers to get some colourway ideas? Remember common colour issues like colour dominance in fairisle and tonal compatibility.
3. There may be some technical issues standing between you and your perfect swatch, “you don't know what you don't know” so don't be hard on yourself, just get out the knitting technique books, ask on Ravelry, ask your friends or the staff at your LYS. 
4. When you are happy with your design swatch it is time to knit your gauge swatch.

Gauge swatch basics: 

1. Using your chosen needle size, cast on with a smooth, plain yarn in a similar weight to the yarn you are going to swatch, cast on a minimum 40 stitches work 2 rows stocking stitch in this (waste) yarn. Using waste yarn ensures that your swatch is not distorted by casting on and off.
2. Weigh your swatch yarn skein before starting, note the weight of the skein, and the size of needle you are using
3. Start knitting with your swatch yarn, leave a 5 cm tail.
4. Work in your chosen stitch pattern for a minimum of 40 rows (write down the number of rows). You want to ensure you have completed at least 2 repeats of any pattern widthwise and lengthwise.
5. Work 2 rows in your waste yarn (don't cast off yet).
6. Examine your swatch, is it the type of fabric you were hoping for? If it is you can skip to step 9, if not continue.
7. Change to a larger needle (use your judgement to decide how many sizes to go up to get a looser fabric or down to get a firmer fabric) and work another 2 rows in waste yarn.
8. Repeat steps 2-7 until you have a fabric you are happy with.
9. Work 2 rows stst in waste yarn and then cast off. 

(laundered swatch bottom (not blocked, just patted into shape), unlaundered swatch top.

1. Launder your swatch using the method suggested by the yarn manufacturer, if the suggestion is to machine wash use little safety pins to pin all of the yarn ends to the swatch and launder in a laundry bag or pillowcase.
2. Pat the swatch out on a towel, and leave to air dry.
3. Does the fabric still meet your expectations? Has it become denser or loftier, repeat steps 1-11 until it is right.
4. Measure your swatch.
5. Repeat for all elements of the garment e.g. If you are working a fairisle yoke with a stst body you will need to swatch both fabrics.

Measuring the swatch

1. Ensure that your ruler / measuring tape is correct.
2. Lay your laundered swatch out flat on a firm surface.
3. Place a pin a few sts in from the edge, measure 10 cm and place another pin, count the number of stitches in the “course”(line of stitches).
4. Repeat this with the rows, ensure you count the sts within the “wale” (column of sts).
5. Measure again.
6. If the swatch you want to measure is quite difficult i.e. A lace pattern where you cant discern sts and rows, you can use the “whole swatch” method of last resort as follows.
7. Measure the entire width of the swatch, divide the number of sts by this number e.g. 40 sts / 20cm = 2sts per cm.
8. Measure the entire length of the swatch, divide the number of rows by this number e.g. 40 rows / 8 cm = 5 rows per cm.
9. I prefer the first method as the end sts can become quite distorted depending on the stitch pattern, but the whole swatch definitely has its merits for complex st patterns.

Record

1. I often staple the yarn ballband to the swatch, and write the gauge, needle size and any other info on the ballband.
2. Keep all of your swatches, you will develop favourite methods, stitch patterns and yarns, being able to refer to previous swatches will save you a lot of time in the future.

Whoops here it is!

I wasn't planning on releasing this pattern today, I had actually thought it was a few more weeks away, but my tech editor and tester both surprised me by getting back to me today with the same little issues which were quickly rectified and so here we are!

The Fat Kitty sweater pattern.

You know I didn't want to call it The Fat Kitty, you know that I wanted to call it Skatryk which is the lovely looking Afrikaans word for fat cat, but you wouldn't have it, my test knitter wouldn't have it, even some outspoken family members wouldn't have it. So here we are with the Fat Animals!

This sweater is knit in the round from the top down, but under the armholes you start working flat (back and forth) because working intarsia in the round is something my darling daughter in Christchurch would call a "mare", and you can then choose to work short or long sleeves.

Anyway, it's out in the world now getting a nice reception, if you wish to purchase the pattern it is only $3.75NZ (approx $2.90 US)  until 14 Feb, when it will revert to $7.50NZ.

Six sizes from 1-10 years and charts for three animals - Fat Kitty, Fat Bunny and Fat Bear!

45

Today, on an immensely warm, sunny, big blue sky day I turned 45 years of age.
It's a bit scary this middle age, my role models seem to be Jules from Cougar Town or Helena Bonham Carter you have to be hanging onto sexy or working hard at being interesting, I'm really not that bothered! It was hard, having the girls so young, but now, on the flip side I am enjoying the freedom that comes from having an empty nest (and really fun young adult children).

I'm a (proud) Nana, a Mum (Mummy, Mama), a wife, aunt, daughter and granddaughter, lucky to live in the crazy, rambling house of my nightmares dreams, in one of the most democratic, least corrupt and safest nations on earth. I haven't got my sh*t together by anyones standards, but I sure know who loves me and what is important in this world. Family, love and a job which has me leaping out of bed every morning, and not minding if Flash has to work on the weekend because I'll happily work too.

I'm so cross with myself for not getting a photo of the 5 girls together when they were here for dinner on saturday, I was just so happy to see Donna and David that I forgot to take photos! Today just before Holly (my eldest) left for the airport I managed to get a photo of my 3, so lovely they are (and there is another grandchild in this photo...Holly is 26 weeks pregnant).

Thank you to my family for making this another memorable birthday. I love you all very much.
Blaise hurry up and find a cure for dementia before I get it!

PS. Most awesome present - the Gorilla pod tripod from Joby, now I can finally film better tutorials!