Knitting Machine

I have just returned from a wonderful weekend here with Sooz, Maria, Amanda, Michelle, Kirsten, Jules, Leslie, Di and Ellen.
I really should unpack and clean up, but after watching and having things explained by very patient people I am making the worlds tiniest scarf.

In Bloom

I finished the quilt I was making with a jelly roll of 'Bliss' (have you seen the new fabric Ruby by Bonnie and Camille - I think I like it even more than Bliss). It is a lovely size - 70" x 72". Perfect for one of the girls beds. It is made from 2 quite simple blocks and used pretty much the whole of the jelly roll and a few metres of background fabric. I free motion quilted it with swirls, loops and flowers.

Now back to finishing the pattern writing.

Crocheted Flower

A crocheted flower. I used this lovely tutorial and some Bendigo 8 ply cotton.

A little bit more progress on the Single Girl quilt. All the arcs have been sewn and I have started on the the curves. These curves are so large that they are really enjoyable to do. I have been marking the middle of the arcs and the background fabric and matching and pinning them and then pinning the ends and then a few pins each side of the centre. Then sew.

Queen Anne's Lace

While I have been pondering which cardigan I want to knit for myself (the only downfall to ravelry is having all the information in one place and too many choices) I whipped up a couple of scarves for presents. The pattern is Queen Anne's Lace and each one used a whole skein of Malabrigo Merino Worsted which is incredibly soft and perfect to wear around the neck. I have another skein here so I think I need to make one for myself.

Liberty Necklaces

I have been spending a little bit (ok quite a bit) of time on Pinterest. Yesterday I thought I should go through some of the tutorials I have pinned and make something. I came across these necklaces and then discovered this bracelet tutorial last week. I used some Liberty fabric from my stash and cut the strips the width of the Liberty. Each necklace used 5 wooden beads and I just tucked the ends in and sewed them up so they could be tied at any length.

I also finished a block for Helen in the Around the Block quilting bee.

New Smock and Cushions

As soon as my girls caught a glimpse of Sherbet Pips they had all picked a favourite and wanted a smock like top. Amelia chose the scooter fabric in pink and I used a pattern from Ottobre 1/2011 I left off the ruffle and bow and just gathered the tops of the pockets.

While ordering the fabric for the smocks I came across some tractor fabric on Fabric Shack. I knew it would be perfect for cushions for my Dad who collects old tractors. I bought half a yard of two different fabrics and used one fabric for the front and the other for the back with a hidden zip in the back just like I did for this cushion.

Eva's Grey Cardigan

I have finished Eva's grey cardigan. I think grey it is the perfect colour for a child's cardigan, it goes perfectly with everything. I used the Cardigan Rose pattern I bought on ravelry. It is a very easy to follow pattern. I made a size 4 and fits Eva perfectly now. I used 4 balls of Moda Vera 8 ply pure wool I bought in a Spotlight sale for $1.50 each and I bought the 2 buttons locally yesterday for 20c each. So in total this cost me $8.40 (plus my time and labour). More details on ravelry.
I wasn't my intention to knit a bargain cardigan, I never intentionally knit to try and save money. I mostly knit to make something nice that I can't find in a shop as it is nearly impossible to find anything nice that is made from wool rather than acrylic.

Crochet Hook Roll

After playing 'where have I hidden the crochet hooks?' for the umpteenth time I thought making a crochet hook roll was a sensible idea. I used my pattern from the Meet Me at Mikes book and just made more stitching lines inside to fit all my crochet hooks. I used some little Echino fabric scraps for the outside. I had planned on using leather cord to tie it up but after searching everywhere I couldn't find any, but I did find rather a large amount of red ric-rac so used that instead.
So after spending much of the week searching the craft room for little things I can't put off a big clean up any more. I know I am never going to have an amazing clean room that you would find in a magazine, but it would be nice to know where everything is.

Outstanding Customer Service

Occasionally you come across places with outstanding customer service. Places that go up and beyond the normal great customer service. I have dealt with two of those places recently.
Tessuti in Melbourne is one. I explained to Nikki what fabric I wanted and she sent my 2 lots of samples with all the information I needed and when I rang to order it was sent so fast and arrived in no time at all.
I emailed Hotpatterns to find out where some patterns where and there was no response which was odd so I sent another email and the next thing I knew they rang me, all the way from the US as they realised their emails were not getting to me and answered all my questions. Two places I have ordered from before and will definitely order from again.

Single Girl Progress

I have finished the arcs for 2 quarters of the Single Girls blocks. I am chain piecing so it is not taking that long, but it is slightly monotonous. All the As to the Bs and then then Cs to the Bs etc.

Birthday Clothes

My niece Emmeline loves her chickens so for her birthday I made a chicken top. The pattern is from Ottobre 1/2008.I have made a few of these before. It is still one of my favourite Ottobre patterns. Emmeline was bigger then the biggest size for this pattern so I just lengthened it as it is quite a wide top.
I also made some Oliver & S Sandbox pants to match out of navy corduroy and some left over chicken fabric. As usual with any pattern from Oliver & S the pattern and instructions were great. The tips included in these patterns are fantastic. Once the girls had seen this pattern made up they were asking for a pair for themselves.

There has been a bit of quilting. I have been slowly working on my Single Girl quilt and I one last border on my jelly roll Bliss quilt and the top will be finished.

Hopscotch Dresses

I love those days you walk into Spotlight and find the exact fabric you want. Red and navy spotted cotton interlock. Perfect for the Hopscotch dress by Oliver & S.
Perfect to wear out to lunch at the Wine and Truffle Company. It was delicious - I recommend it if you are ever down that way.

Edited to answer Laura's question: Is it toddler friendly? There is a lovely lawn at the front where all of our kids played and ran, but there is a dam through a fence and I did have to keep an eye on Evie. The staff were very happy to have children there (and the staff were great) and there is a kids menu. I would definitely take my kids back.