Alegria Socks

Hello friends!
As you may already know, I have recently discovered the joy of knitting socks :-) I am so addicted to sock knitting now that I lay awake at night thinking about all the socks I could knit and different variations I could try and all the gorgeous sock yarn I "need".
Yesterday I decided I would attempt to write my own sock pattern, and I came up with the sock pictured above. I wanted something pretty and lacy but practical and not too tricky to knit... and the Alegria Sock was born :-)
I really need to get some good sock blockers so I can show you the socks at their best. It's a little difficult to really see the detail of the lace in the Alegria Sock in the photograph.
The yarn I have used for this particular pair is Rico Design Superba Bamboo and it is SO lovely to work with and wear! It's super soft and smooth, easy to knit, good stitch definition, pretty colours... all the qualities you want in a yarn :-) Also, just in case you're curious, this sock weighs 19g, the yarn comes in a 100g skein so I should be able to get 2 pairs from one skein! Yay!
The pattern is now in the testing stages and will be available on Ravelry soon!
P.S. These socks work well with my other addiction...clogs!

Addicted to Socks

 Hello friends!
As you may already know from THIS post I have recently discovered the joys of knitting socks :-)
I have now finished two pairs. The pair pictured above are for a friends Birthday and all the details about the yarn I used is HERE
The pair pictured below are made using Rowan Wool Cotton 4 ply which was a real treat to knit with :-) I really wanted a pair of summer socks and when I found this yarn and THIS pattern I knew they would be a perfect match. These socks don't even use a whole 5Og skein of this yarn!
Do you have a favourite sock yarn or a favourite sock pattern? Share in the comments!

Undergrowth Mitts

 Hello friends!
I have only recently discovered the joys of Tunisian crochet and I am wondering why I never really dabbled in it in the past.
Tunisian crochet is a lot more versatile than I previously thought and it allows you to make some very interesting stitches and fabrics that are not achievable with regular crochet.
I made these fingerless mitts from some 100% Australian wool that I have hand dyed, and I used a double ended Tunisian crochet hook so I could work in the round.
I was lucky enough to be given the hook as a gift, and although the hook came with instructions on how to use it they weren't particularly useful. After struggling with the instructions for an hour I finally figured out the technique once I got rid of the instructions and just used my intuition :-) Sometimes this is the best way to get things done :-)
Despite it taking me some time to figure out the technique, it's not actually any hard than regular Tunisian crochet :-)
As you can see in the picture below, it creates a very interesting stitch pattern. The fabric is thick and warm and squishy :-)
I didn't use a pattern to make these gloves, I just adapted my own standard fingerless mitt pattern to the Tunisian technique.

These fingerless mitts are available in my online store HERE

Blogtoberfest 2012

Hello friends!
I'm happy to say that I am taking part in Blogtoberfest! This is the first year I am participating, and what it means is that I will be posting on my blog every day in October.
I'm excited about it and I'm enjoying it so far :-) I had been trying to find something to inspire me to post more often on my blog... and this is the perfect inspiration! :-)
The photograph above is of an echidna that I came across waddling on the side of the road in Swan Reach, Victoria, last week. He's pretty sweet, don't you think? :-)
Thanks to Wikipedia, here is a little bit of information about echidnas:
"Echidnas and the platypus are the only egg-laying mammals, known as monotremes. The female lays a single soft-shelled, leathery egg 22 days after mating, and deposits it directly into her pouch. Hatching takes place after ten days; the young echidna, called a puggle, then sucks milk from the pores of the two milk patches (monotremes have no nipples) and remains in the pouch for 45 to 55 days,^[7]at which time it starts to develop spines. The mother digs a nursery burrow and deposits the puggle, returning every five days to suckle it until it is weaned at seven months. The average wild echidna live as long as 16 years."
What animals have you seen around lately? Do you get to see much wild life where you live? Share in the comments! :-)

Little Lost Egg

Hello friends :-)
This little egg was found in a pot plant in my garden. It's been abandoned. I don't know what sort of bird it belonged to, but it's very beautiful.
I have no idea how the egg got in to the pot it was in, as there is no nest in the plant in the pot and there are no over hanging trees... Maybe another animal carried it there?
We are lucky enough to have a very wide variety of birds in your garden: King Parrots, Sulphur Crested Cockatoos, Black Cockatoos, Crimson Rosellas, Eastern Rosellas (my favourite :-), kookaburras, Wattle Birds, Owls, Rainbow Lorikeets, Magpies, Bower Birds & Kurrawongs, as well as non-indigenous birds like black birds, starlings, sparrows & mynas :-)
Do you have any birds nests in your garden? What sort of birds do you have at your place? Share in the comments :-)

Knitty Gnomes

Hello friends!

I have been busy knitting lots of little gnomes :-)

 The fabulous free pattern for these gnomes can be found HERE

 You only need a teeny tiny amount of yarn to make your little gnome, so they're a perfect stash buster for using up all the little bits of nice yarn you have hanging around in your stash :-)

 The size of your gnome just depends on your yarn weight and needle size. Mine range from approximately 10cm to 15cm tall, from the toes to the tip of the hat :-)

 They're the perfect size for a child to hold in their hand, to take on trips to keep them company :-)
Also, HERE is a cute song about a gnome :-)

 P.S. When I made my first one, I thought i would be "clever" and knit it in the round to save myself sewing in some ends and sewing any seams... Don't do this! I was a fool! Just follow the pattern :-) It will work much better that way :-)

Entrelac Tunisian Crochet Blanket

Hello friends!
I always have lots of different projects in progress at any given time... For some reason I find it difficult to just work on one project at a time, especially if it's something big like a blanket. This Entrelac Tunisian Crochet Blanket is one of the things I'm working on at the moment, I started it in August 2012, I just do a little bit every now and then and it's slowly growing :-)
I'm not really using a pattern as such, I watched this great series of Entrelac Tunisian Crochet tutorials and made a square version instead of the rectangle version shown in the tutorial :-)
The yarn I'm using is Merino Angora Silk DK (8 ply) by Cleckheaton that I purchased at Crumbz in Healesville :-) It's a very interesting yarn to work with, it's super light weight, but super warm. I've made a few other things using this yarn and I really love them (a cardigan, a 3/4 sleeve sweater & a loom woven scarf).
I have n't decided how big I'll make this blanket yet, or if I'll keep it when it's finished or maybe give it away at Christmas time (it should be finished by then!)
Do you have more than one piece of work in progress at the moment? What are you working on? Share in the comments, I'd love to hear what everyone else is up to :-)