Weddings and gifts

I’m getting married on Saturday to the loveliest man I have ever met in my life. Aside from some pre-wedding nerves and being pretty tired over the organisation, I have to say that I’m really looking forward to it.

We have just returrned from the wedding rehearsal. Our priest took us through the words we will say to each other when we make our vows and exchange rings. A huge wave of emotion hit me at that moment and I giggled hysterically in between trying to wipe away a few tears. We have been together for long enough for our love to be content and quietly joyful. I’m not used to a rush of emotion like that.

I’m very lucky that my Nanna has sent me a crocheted lace edged linen hanky. But, remind me to make sure the make artist uses waterproof mascara!

We are also lucky that we will be joined by wonderful people at our wedding. Including friends who are expecting a new baby in May.

These friends are not as impatient as we were and have chosen not to find out their baby’s sex. But I think little girl’s (if this baby is a little girl) can wear blue.

This is Debbie Bliss’ Classic Cardy pattern, and can be found in many places, but I have it in her book Ultimate Baby Knits. It’s Socks that Rock (again – I LOVE that stuff) mediumweight from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. The colourway is frosty. It’s navy blue through to white but with little places of a silvery grey and a bronzey shot of dark gold. I just adore it.

The colour repeats have landed in such away so as to create a big patch of white in the middle of the front and the back, interestingly. If I could change one thing about the cardy, that would be it.

Now, onto my most recent finished project. Check out the Sadie Baby Dress

Look! Isn’t it beautiful! It was love at first site when I found this pattern on ravelry http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sadie-baby-dress 

Cute little pink pearl buttons!

I knitted this Sadie for our cousin Elise. She is bringing her parents out from Toronto for our wedding and we are so very excited to meet her.

Some technical details. This little dress is knitted in Sublime extra fine merino 4ply. It’s super soft and has a really lovely drape to it. The colourway is raspberry. It hasn’t come up so well in these photos – it has a cool undertone, rather than the warm shade pictured here.

You knit it from the waistband up, joining at the shoulders with a kitchener graft, then you pick up the bottom of the waist band (though the pattern advises a provisional cast on initially. I hadn’t learnt how to do that when I cast on in December!) and knit down.

I adore the moss stitch detail, though I abhore k1 p1 knitting. I wish you could get moss stitch without having to k1 p1.

I found the fabric a little delicate and so it was a little difficult to pick the stitches up for the neckband. I’ve pulled the fabric and created holes on the left side of the neckband. Though, unless you really knew what you were looking at you probably wouldn’t realise.

I hope this will be a pretty little dress for a pretty little girl through a warm Canadian summer.

I don’t really think there’s a nicer way to welcome a new baby into the world than by wrapping them up in warm cosy knits to help them feel safe and secure and loved. And I feel it’s such a privilege for me to knit for new babies, so much so that I feel warm and cosy just thinking about it.

A new yarn and two gifts

I’m on leave this week, and yesterday I was at a bit of a loose end. So after the obligatory leisurely breakfast at the snooty nosed Manuka institution that is Urban Pantry I did what every knitter does. I dropped into The Woolshed. An event that always causes my credit card to shiver in its boots. In my defence, I did want to discuss a possible replacement yarn for Lorna’s Laces (which I’m finding a little difficult to track down in Australia) for a pattern I’ve recently been obsessing over (but that’s another post.)

And, as so often happens when I’m the only customer at Woolshed, the attendant and I spent a good half an hour talking yarn and UFO’s. And, as so often happens, I fell in love.

Here, my friends, is Touch Yarns 100% kid merino in 2ply. The colour gradually moves from a rich royal blue through to bright turquoise and then to a purple-y navy, and yet it’s so subtle. Sigh. It’s beautiful.

I can’t quite say why I bought lace weight. I’ve only knitted a couple of lace objects, and they have been in 8ply and 10 ply. I tried knitting 2ply about 9 months ago (Misti Alpaca – gorgeous. Now stashed away in a big tangle waiting for me to pay it some love and attention.)

But, this yarn spoke to me. It has so much promise. So it’s safely stashed away waiting for the right pattern to present itself to me. Perhaps It will be a big stole in feather and fan stitch, perhaps a soft fluffy scarf in stockinette. Who knows? But it will be a pattern that does this yarn justice.

 

Twitter is the gift that keeps on giving. I have been so lucky to meet so many interesting and lovely people there. And I have been even more lucky to meet a few people in real life and have them become actual proper real life friends. In particular, two ladies who have recently contributed handmade items to my trousseau.

These little pearlers (hehe) were made by my friend Tina – freshwater pearls and little turquoise beads. They have come up so beautifully and they match my great grandmother’s pearl necklace so nicely. Tina has been so supportive of me as a new mother, listening and understanding, as well as making these pretty little earrings.

Earlier this afternoon I had lunch with the lovely Helen, aka Bellsknits. Helen and I share a love of beautiful knitting. About 12 months ago all I knitted was scarves, because they basically straight lines. Helen was a real inspiration, proving that you can knit all sorts of beautiful modern things in amazing colourways. It was her gentle encouragement that prompted me to pick up my pointy sticks and have a go at something a little more complicated. I have not looked back.

This is my beaded wedding purse, made by Helen. You can find her post about it here. It’s perfectly sized for my lipstick and a hanky (because I am going to overflow with tears the minute I hit the aisle on Saturday!). I love the fanned lace at the top. Helen is so talented.

Handmade gifts are the best. I love making handmade gifts and I love receiving handmade gifts. I am very lucky to have these two gifts for my wedding day.

Love and knitting

There’s something profoundly loving in the act of knitting. Into each and every stitch you can breathe love into a piece of fabric. And people always look so loved wrapped up into a warm cosy piece of knitting.

This gloriously rainbow piece of knitting is my honey cowl. Canberra has been unseasonably cool this summer and I found myself at the beginning of February itching to knit something for me. Just for me. Something that I loved that was all mine and unapologetically so.

This is the honey cowl. Ravelry users will find the pattern here http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/honey-cowl

I made a few minor adjustments. Mine is knitted with Socks that Rock (Blue Moon Fiber Arts my friends. Lust.) mediumweight – probably the equivalent of a 5ply. The pattern calls for an 8ply. Oh well. To adjust for the weight of the yarn, I cast on 300 stitches on 3.5mm needles. I wish I’d had another skein of this colourway, Cattywampus, because for a cowl this has turned out quite narrow.

But on a cool autumnal day, this will be a lovely piece of love for me to hang around my neck while I walk through the park crunching the freshly fallen leaves. Can’t wait.