More knitting...

Look! Jasper's jumper is all done! I finally sewed up the last underarm hole this afternoon, while having a cuppa with my Mum. He's actually already worn it, despite the holey pits - but it felt good to finish it off totally, even though I wasn't super happy with how I did so. Those final seams don't look as good as they could, but hey, who's going to see?! Better just to be done, cos my attention and motivation had already moved on to other things...

I think he looks pretty good - I'm still loving the colours...

Last week, seeing as Jasper's jumper was almost (but not quite!) finished, I had the urge to start something bigger, with plenty of mindless knitting. What I really want to make is this Jo Sharp cardigan from her Knit 6 book (see the third piece along, with the two buttons?), but instead I'm knitting the one in the photo (above), from her Knit 1 book, cos I bought the yarn for it years ago and have never gotten around to knitting it up. Feels good to use what I have, but I still want to knit the other one, so I think I will, once I finish this one, and then I'll have two handknit cardigans, right when I'll need all the cardigans I can get, breastfeeding through autumn and winter!

Incidentally, Jo Sharp just put out another book, Knit 7, but I really can't see myself making anything from it! Bit too frou frou for my current stage of life - what would a posset look like on one of those pieces, I wonder? Or bits of dinner from when one of my kids has grabbed me?? =)

Some completion

One finished quilt. Now I'll wait and see if it's adopted - no guarantees!

Piper took this one of Jas...

I made two Oliver and S Lazy Days skirts, a mermaid one for Piper, and a pink/green apples one for a friend turning five - forgot to get a photo of it before we'd wrapped it up! It was VERY satisfying to wake up in the morning and come out to two finished skirts, completed the night before. This pattern comes highly recommended for its ease, and I love that it's free - love the generosity of the craft community... Note to self: buy more fun ribbon!

Drawing today, loving watching Piper's creativity in action. She doesn't say she can't draw anymore, which is ace. I always love what she comes up with - today, dressing up a rubbing of a queen, above, and drawing lions in cages and a witch in a cave, with lights and darkness!

I attempted some too, but added too much, in the end. Still, the simple process of drawing is good in itself, hey...

Our art line in the loungeroom, to respect the creative output of my children and be inspired!

Handmade love for Jasper Sage

I've been working on a jumper/sweater for Jasper lately, with yarn I brought back from Canada. I couldn't start it over there cos I needed to finish all those hats! I love the colours, browns and rust red, and how it's knit in the round - less finishing to do! I bought the yarn and pattern as a kit from KPixie, but you could also get the pattern off Ravelry. I bought enough yarn for one for Piper too, but the colours were terribly garish - not how they looked on my computer, so I sent that yarn back. This sweater is going in spurts, but I think I'll get to finishing it soon - I seem to be in a completion stage of life, the last few days. Although I couldn't bear knit any of it today, given it was 35 degrees!

And here's what I did two Sundays ago - laid out my whole fabric stash into vague colour collections, mainly just to reaquaint myself with what I have, but out of this mess came the idea for a quilt for Jasper. Well, not the idea, cos I've been thinking of that for a while, but at least a pragmatic direction!

I had thought at first to focus on a chocolate/emerald/turquoise kind of colour scheme, and bought a few bits, such as the elephants, with this in mind. But when I'd laid out all my fabric, this is what materialised for Jasper.

A neat stack of squares, ready to go.

The elephants, and some of the other fabric, came from A Little Goodness, but some of the other stuff has been with me for years, some of it ten years!!! I think that's why this project feels so satisfying, to FINALLY turn these odd bits of material into something of value. I have lots of ideas for using up more of my stash - I don't want to keep it for another ten years...

Strips ready to sew together - which I managed to do yesterday, and I managed to layer it all together today, so soon I'll post a completed project, right when Jasper has no use for a blanket whatsoever! Until it cools down a bit, anyway!

Knitted helmet

What's wrong with this picture? Oh yeah, it's spring and past the time for hat/scarf combos! Still, at least I'm ahead for next winter (which will be a while coming cos we're flying back to the southern hemisphere in October, towards warmer weather - yay!). I've started another one as a gift for a friend, cos I was so pleased with how it turned out, despite its old-fashioned military look! The pattern is from Knitty: Toasty Topper. I added the red diamond detail after it was completed - very satisfying to add stitching/embroidery to a knitted work. Finished it off nicely, in MHO...