Saturday, December 27, 2008

Here is some Knitting - at last!

I have managed to get quite a lot of knitting done since May! I remembered to take pics of most of it - unfortunately, the last lot of knitting I did for the Homeless Connect Day at Brisbane City Hall in November, I forgot to take pictures of ! DUH!


These first two sets are adaptations of the Precious Layettes patterns from Leisure Arts Booklet #3202
All these baby knits were knitted for charity - for a Yahoo Group I belong to called Knitting for Brisbane's Needy.






















The little blue and white pullover has been sitting in my UFO basket for longer than I care to relate ! So glad it is finished.



These are two little cuff to Cuff Sweaters, from a Patons Fairytale pattern I found in my pattern stash. It is very easy to make and I have adapted it so there is no seaming, of course!
















The little blue cotton set is made in Patons Coconut Ice and is an adaptationof the Precious Layettes Pattern.












The little pink matinee jacket is from my UFO basket - I vaguely remember making it a couple of years ago - I am being good and feeling very virtuous at clearing up my UFOs! Only a dozen or so more to finish!







I invented this little yellow and blue set - I used 3 ply baby wool doubled to make a nice thick and warm baby set.













Just a plain and simple little Baby Raglan Sweater made in Red Heart Super Saver in Red - the multi is Red Heart Kids in Crayon.













I haven't made a full size BSJ for a while - I tried a bit of fairisle on this one. It is in Red Heart Super Saver, Cornmeal solid and the Multi's name escapes me right now














As in one of the cuff to cuff sweaters above, I made a lot of beanies in black, yellow, and red combinations.
These colours are our indigenous people's flag colours. The red is the earth, the yellow is the sun, the source of all life, and the black is for the blood of the aboriginal people.





Whenever we go to Homeless Connect days or other places to distribute clothing and blankets etc,knitwear in these colours is always the first to go and is in great demand!



The little lavender dress was from a free pattern on the net - but I had to adapt it a lot - there was something peculiar about the neck and raglan shaping.









This year I tried felting (fulling?) for the first time. Last year I bought a pattern for some felted clogs from Fibertrends.















They really came out well - I was amazed at how easy it was!They were so big originally I was a bit worried, but after following instructions and placing in the washing machine for the required time, they shrank up beautifully. I made these all one colour.They were a gift for our Japanese Homestay student who was living with us in August/September.

Here is what they looked like before shrinking!




So having made one pair successfully - I decided to make some more. I had entered an exchange of gifts project on one of my groups so decided to make slippers as part of my exchange.













I made slippers for two people, both two tone, with a dark solid colour on the soles.






On the left is how big they were before felting! See the same ruler is in each picture!



I was so thrilled with my little self that I decided to make another pair for my daughter's partner, Rick, for Christmas. Here's how they turned out. The size of his feet is ELEVEN!!! Absolutely huge!!!!

Of course, the washing machine had decided to pack in a few days before - so I tried to shrink these gi-normous slippers (original measurement 28 inches from heel to toe) by steeping them in hot water in a pot on the stove! Well it doesn't work! So in sheer desperation, I dashed over to my daughter's and stuck them in her washing machine - to my relief they shrank beautifully!

After I trimmed all the little fluffy bits carefully with scissors, they looked so professional!! And they fit him perfectly!

On the needles - a Pi Shawl in palest apricot very fine lace weight wool, I am as far as knitting on the border so when it is blocked I shall take pics for my blog. I have a nearly finished pale pink and raspberry combination baby jacket, hat and leggings set on the needles, as well as a pale blue fine baby yarn set.

Jumpers and Jazz in Warwick

July is the middle of our Aussie winter - and on the Darling Downs in Queensland it is very cold indeed. In Warwick just a few miles away from Toowoomba, they hold the annual Jumpers and Jazz Festival in July. Jumpers, for my American friends, just means pullovers, not a pinafore dress! The main street is decorated with knitting! Everywhere!





































































Trees, lamposts, even the balconies of historic Victorian buildings get the treatment!








There was even some crochet on display














A statue of one of the City Fathers got a beanie and scarf!



























Here is - wait for it - a shoe tree!!!!!!
















Not only is there jazz to go with this eye catching knitting display, but there was a country markets, the Warwick Spinners and Weavers had a display - I was so thrilled with this - I must try my hand at Spinning!




























There was also a sculpting competition - marvellous entries all made from the local sandstone



















































I was particularly impressed with this sculpture of a miner!

I don't mind telling you - this was the coldest I have ever been since I left England! It was absolutely freezing.

Could you stand some more flower pics?



Peach Blossom - so delicate!












Look at this magnificent Candy Tuft!


Being Spring, of course there were masses of Azaleas ! Feast your eyes on these!

























Then there were Day Lilies, and Hollyhocks.















And because of the drought there was a lot of effort made to use materials other than plants, to make flower displays
These magnificent blooms are made out of - Umbrellas!
Since the Carnival - we have had some very good falls of rain and the catchment areas are filling up. Maybe next year Toowoomba will have more parks able to be planted out. Can't wait to see it!