Knitting Accomplished

This is what I made with my pale yellow knitting practice piece.

And here is my finished Baby Building Blocks Blanket.

Finished by candle-light last night as we have had power cuts with the gales from the tropical storm that swept North Island.

It's not as 'straight edged' as I'd like, but hey! I'm just happy that I can knit now, lol.

Happy Stitching

Digital Art for Inspiration

What do you do when you can't sleep at night?

Me?....... I have a PLAYTIME on my computer.

Last night I produced some weird and wonderful digital art which I will share with you here.

I would love to use them as inspiration for fibre arts. 

I can see quilts in them.

Patchwork - Crazy Quilting - Mosaic - Collage - Embroidery - Canvas Work - Colourwash

Embracing My Knitting

I am taking my new knitting skills and running with it, and having such fun.

Knitting along with the Tuesday Stitchers, here is my baby blanket.

A friend is about to give birth to a boy (any moment now), so this is for them.

I call it Baby Building Blocks, and I have 'built' up three blocks high so far.

It is eight blocks wide and should end up at least 10 - 12 blocks long.

Size in inches is roughly 24" wide. 

I'll keep going either until I run out of wool, or Hayley has her baby boy, whichever comes first.

Happy Stitching

Crochet White Wrap Progress & That "Eureka" Moment

The White Wrap/Shawl is progressing along nicely now.

I have a lot of scrumbles joined together and it is really starting to take shape.

Lots of lovely texture...... I love texture.

Some lacy delicate dainty parts.

Waves ruffles bobbles and fluffles.

Loose threads still to weave in, and more scrumbles to join up.

It's fun.

And now.................on to the other title of this blog.............

 THAT   EUREKA   MOMENT 

Yes, I have had a 'moment' of that description this week.

I have learnt to knit.

I am able to knit.

I CAN KNIT

All my life I have admired knitters but never been able to master it myself. My mother tried teaching me, my school teacher tried teaching me, various friends over the years have tried teaching me. I even had a 98 years young lady try to teach me.

I couldn't understand how to cast on, and even when someone else did the casting on for me, I still couldn't get the knitting bit right.

I could never get the hang of it and gave up trying in the end. 

I was Doomed to call myself a NON-KNITTER for ever.

Until last week that is.

I have been so inspired by the creative knitters on Tuesday Stitchers:

Debra

Deborah

Judy

and

Barbara

I spent two whole days watching youtube video's on how to knit.

I've lost count of how many video's I watched, but it was definitely A LOT.

And NOW, just look what I can do...... I CAN KNIT......

A tentative start after the cast-on.

Still a bit unsure at this early stage.

 The ribbing starts to appear.

I lost half a row of stitches about half way through this ribbing, and although I managed to recover the loops without dropping a stitch, I think I put the loops back onto the needle the wrong way around, hence the midway 'bumps' along that row.

Oh yes, I think I've got the hang of the ribbing now, so I tried a different stitch.

Hah! So that is how stocking stitch is made, lol. It's all becoming clear now.

More rows dropped, damn it's annoying when I do that.

More care needed, but at least I managed to pick up the loops the right way around this time.

WooHooo look at me go.

I CAN KNIT 

excuse me while I shout louder

I CAN KNIT

That was my eureka moment.

Can you tell I'm excited about being able to knit. 

I'm sure my mother is looking down on me at this moment with a big smile on her face.

Perseverance, see, that's all it needed.

____________________________________________

Lessons learnt this week

• You can teach an old dog new tricks
• If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again
• It doesn't matter if I knit slow and clumsy, as Iong as I DO it somehow
• Slippery needles are, well....... slippery (duh!)
• If it doesn't work one way, try it another
• Check each row for mistakes before moving on
• Big Boobs and a deep cleavage make a great needle grabber in emergencies
• Knitting takes about 30% LESS wool than crochet does
• Relax and enjoy the ride

White Wrap Scrumbles & "Brock" Needle-felting

White Wrap Scrumbles & "Brock" Needle-felting

 The latest work on my needle felted Woodland character "Brock" has included a tunic change and a new hairstyle.

He is now 'Brock the Wayward Wannabe' and I can just imagine all the fun and mischievous tricks that he will be participating in.

He still needs more work in certain areas, but he's fun to work with and I keep dreaming up new characters to join him in his Woodland abode. 

Here he is now.

Progress on my White Wrap has been happening this week too.

Some scrumbles have been joined, and more scrumbles made to fit the gaps.

Not all joined together yet, but it's coming along nicely I think.

Gardening has taken up a fair amount of my time this week. 

It's Spring here in New Zealand, and everything is starting to bud and flower. 

The first lot of daffs have come and gone, the swallows have returned to the nest under the eaves on the deck (one egg so far), the rosella parakeets are busy chattering away to each other in the orchard, the ducks, pukeko's, plover's and pterodactyls (sorry, I mean herons)  are nesting around the woods and stream.

I love Spring.