Some utterly gorgeous 19 micron organic merino I was gifted was dying to be knitted into something lush. So I picked up my needles on New Year’s Day and had this done by the 9th. You simply HAVE to go get yourself some of this yarn, it’s the softest EVER! Its Pluto from Jolly Jumbuck.
I used Orlane’s Textured Shawl Recipe from Ravelry.
Remember that yarn I dyed at knit camp? Well, it has begun a new life as a Luna Moth.
And I have finally conquered my fear of cables. What was i worried about? It’s easy! Here is 2 tiny little Milo Vests (also available to purchase from Ravelry) in cotton, for a friend expecting a baby boy in a few weeks.
Well it’s almost that time of year again! My goodness this last 12 months have flown by. Now, if you are anything like me, you are now at the point where you realise you have run out of crafting time, and you’re desperately trying to come up with thoughtful but quick gifts to give to family and friends. So I’m going to share with you a recipe of mine that I guarantee you will make more than once! It’s so easy you won’t even need to write it down. But be warned, this fudge is extremely delicious, and highly addictive!
Ingredients:
500g of Dark cooking chocolate.
400g of Sweetened Condensed Milk
1tsp of coffee (optional)
Method:
Pour your can of sweetened condensed milk into a saucepan, and turn on low heat. Break up your chocolate into squares and add to the saucepan. Stir slowly until the chocolate melts into the sweetened condensed milk.
*note, try not to stick your fingers in. It’s very hard.
When the two are thoroughly combined, add 1 tablespoon of cold water and combine thoroughly. If you are a coffee lover like me, add a teaspoon of coffee to the water before you add it, for a mocha fudge bonanza.
When the mixture has reached a nice consistency, pour into a lamington pan, baking dish or rectangular cake tin lined with foil. Allow to cool on the bench.
*note, try to keep sneky little children’s fingers out of your cooling fudge.
You may now lick the spatula 
After the mix has cooled and the top is starting to harden, stick it in the fridge until it is completely solid, about 2 or 3 hours should do it.
Now cut your fudge into squares and enjoy!
In previous years, I have added my fudge to chinese noodle boxes that I picked up in the bargain stores. But this year I found a very easy tutorial HERE for these neat little bags. So i have lined them with some greaseproof paper and filled them up with fudge.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, and Happy and Productive New Year!!
Well, this is a bit of a monumental post coming up. This week I conquered a pattern I have been drooling over for about a year. If you are a Ravelry member no doubt you will have heard of it, it’s the Gail aka Nightsongs pattern. When I first saw it I gasped and lamented “Oh how I wish I had the skills to knit that!” So I kept going back every now and then, and reading about how hard people were finding it my fears, and my longing, grew and grew. Until finally i decided to throw caution to the wind and just jump into it. And oh boy, I am glad I did! Enough blah blah, here’s the photos!
So, I just had the best weekend ever! A bunch of us from around the area decided to hold a knitting camp weekend. It was amazing. An entire weekend of knitting, crocheting, spinning, eating, drinking and of course, quite a lot of talking! The whole idea was to just chill out, share some skills between each other and have a great time. And let me tell you people, I sure did!
Ok, so here’s some photos, because I am better at pictures than words:
This is only a few of the wheels. I loved how the cottage was empty at the start, and so quickly was
filled with yarn and fibre everywhere you looked!
Some talented ladies in action!
a plethora of dyes!
My first attempt at Landscape dyes…. more to come on this one!
My first turn on a spinning wheel!
A most amazing wheel!
And I even tried wet felting too!
Thank you so much ladies for an incredible weekend….. When are we doing it again?
Hello everyone! I can’t believe I haven’t posted since September! How slack am I? Since then I have been very busy with various things. Most of all, I have been bitten by the spinning bug. I bought a gorgeous spindle and a friend of mine gave me a few lessons and that was it. I’m totally hooked. So here’s some pictures of what I have been up to:
The last two are navajo ply on the fly, using this technique. It’s genius!
Named so because that’s what this colour makes me think of! I found 200g of Bendigo woollen Mills cotton in my stash and knew it had to be a shawl. Cotton is not usually used for shawls because it doesn’t block like wool does. But I wanted something that was wearable in summer without being hot or scratchy. And this worked out really well. I do have to admit, am I pretty proud of this one. Not as tricky as the Swallowtail, but I really love it to pieces. The pattern is the Forest Canopy Shawl.
A very dear friend of mine has just tied the knot! And unfortunately, I couldn’t travel to attend the wedding. So instead I picked up my needles and started on the biggest knitting adventure I have ever been on! I have made her a shoulder shawl, complete with beads. I am amazed at how it turned out, and the whole construction of the pattern really. It began with 5 stitches, it ended with 323. The pattern was Swallowtail Shawl, By Evelyn A Clark. At the first read of the pattern, it was very daunting. And the charts made me want to hide in the corner. But the pattern is supplied with both written instructions and charts to accompany them, and very quickly I was finding it much easier to go by chart than the traditional wording. Towards the end of the pattern, I decided to use beads instead of knitting the nupps, and I have to say, they really do it for me!
Hot of the needles, unblocked.
The blocking process underway.
Finished size
Beading detail.
The yarn was Araucania Ranco Solid sock yarn, in colour #102 – Lime.
Well it has taken me a while to get my knit mojo resurrected after the mammoth haul that was the lace wrap! But today I finally have a new FO to share.
A good friend of mine is baking a new bub, so I have made her some newborn size longies. My goodness they are tiny! It was doubly exciting for me, as I got the Knit Picks Harmony interchangeable set for mother’s day, and decided to put them to good use and magic loop the whole thing, from cast on to cuffs, working both legs at the same time. Someone tell me why I had never tried this before? It was great!
The yarn is Panda Concorde, which I adore for its handspun look. And the pattern is Wonderpants.
With mother’s day approaching I decided this year I wanted to do something really special for my mother, who has helped me tremendously over the last 12 months. I recently discovered a new found obsession with knitted lace. Oh so pretty, but looks so difficult. I’m not possibly good enough to do that…. Or am I crazy enough? I think I am crazy enough. So whilst pattern surfing on ravelry I came across the Falling Leaves Wrap by Dory Brown and fell in love. I just needed the perfect yarn…. I soon found it at my LYS, araucania ranco solid in teal. Perfecto!
Now that week I had injured my back badly and was in a lot of pain. So loaded with pain killers and feeling sorry for myself I rushed home to cast on, throwing caution to the wind and diving in head first. After the first few repeats, the pattern became very easy to work, and it began to grow at a nice pace. WOW! I was knitting PROPER LACE!
So after a few weeks i was finally ready for casting off and blocking. And without further ado, the photos:
Pre- Blocking
the blocking process in action
Finally Dry
quickly being modelled
Blocking is amazing. while it was a huge pain in the bum, the whole piece changes when it’s done. I couldn’t beleive it. Magic!!
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