Roy G Biv...

I can spin a rainbow!

Sorry for shouting but I'm so excited

 This is spun from English Leicester Fleece

Hand Dyed by Jane at Moseley Park.

It was part of last years Fiber Club

 I'd let the dyed locks sit in the bag a little too long

And after some advice from Jane, I washed it in hot water and it was saved.

 I carded and spun thick singles.

 It's all balled up and ready to knit.

The kids were really impressed with the rainbow ball.

Now what to knit with it?

I was thinking maybe an Eva's Shawl...

or maybe this  dress for Heather?

Or This one?

Or maybe this top?

Or maybe design something?

Decisions decisions .......

I like ...

Op shopping...

In her wooden case in immaculate condition. 

I couldn't believe my luck when I saw her sitting there.

She is incredibly heavy.

Baking ....

Bread and putter pudding recipe here.

The colour Purple....

Spun from Batts made from Alpaca, Tussah silk and Merino.

The latest Fiber club from Jane at Moseley Park 

Psst: Jane has a Batt club in November.......

Watching my kids play...

Another sunny morning on the front lawn.

Rose and Michael kindly entertained Heather while I did a little spinning.

Spinning beautiful fibers....

Spun from the fleece that followed me home from Wirrabarra a little while back.

I used my new wool combs and after washing the fleece combed it into sliver and spun this so beautifully fine. 

And going a little wild ....

After all that fine fine spinning I wanted to go a little wild.

This is spun from Merino tops in the Colour way "anchors"

Another treat from Jane at Moseley park.

She has a little sale on her Merino tops right now ..but I'm not looking!

Allsorts Hat Pattern

 Mad Quilter's

Allsorts Hat

Size: 12 months 

Yarn: 10ply / worsted weight  I used My Friends 45% Cotton 55% Acrylic

Needles 5.5mm

Crochet hook 5mm

Hat

Knitted in the flat.

Cast on 50

knit stocking stitch for 10cms (20 rows)

shape top

Row one: K4, k2tog, (k6, k2tog) five times, knit last 4 stitches. (44 stitches)

 Row two and every even row: purl

Row three: K4, k2tog,(k5,k2tog)five times, knit last 4 stitches (38 sts)

Row five: k4, k2tog, (k4, k2tog)five times, knit last 4 stitches 32sts

Row seven: k4, k2tog, (k3, k2tog)five times, knit last 4 stitches 26sts

Row nine:  k2tog, (k2, k2tog)six times 19sts

Row ten p1, p2tog to end (10 stitches)

Break yarn leaving a 40cm end, thread end onto a wool sewing needle

Thread end through remaining stitches and pull tight. 

Thread through stitches again and pull tight again. 

Use the remainder of the yarn to sew together the side seam with mattress stitch. 

Weave in ends and trim.

Brim

Join contrast colour yarn with a slip stitch to the base of the hat.

Foundation round: 60 dc around edge, join with a slip stitch. Break yarn and change colour.

Shell round:  Join yarn with a slip stitch to any stitch. 3 chains, work 2 trebles, chain 1, 3 trebles all into the first stitch of the foundation row, miss three stitches from the foundation row and (3 trebles, 1 chain, 3 trebles) into the next stitch. (3 trebles, 1 chain, 3 trebles) are from now on called the "shell"

  Miss 3 stitches and shell into next stitch, continue all the way around, join with a slip stitch to the third chain. There are fifteen shells in my round.

Break yarn and change colour.

Shell round two: Join yarn with a slip stitch to the center of any shell. 3 chains, work 3 trebles, chain 1, 4 trebles all into the first shell,  (4 trebles, 1 chain, 4 trebles) into the next shell,  continue all the way around, join with a slip stitch to the third chain. 

Break yarn and weave in ends.

As with all my patterns...

It's ok to share these patterns for free
It's ok to make things from these patterns to sell
It's not OK to sell my patterns
It's not OK to claim my work is yours.

Edited 26th Oct :  to fix up a mistake on the knitted part

Another Allsorts Dress for Heather

 I made Heather another Allsorts Dress.

I changed the colours.

I bought a pile of this yarn for 50c a ball in Kmart about 18months ago and I'm slowly working through it all.

I really like it the cotton gives it drape and the acrylic gives it that softness.
A nice combination.

I'll be sad when I use up the last ball.

I've woven, knitted and crochet with it.

 I need to make Heather a few more bloomers to cover that nappy. 

I've been a little lazy of late and had Heather in disposables.

Michael never wore a disposable until after Heather was born.

But two in cloth is hard work at times, especially when Pete travels away for work.

James is such a proud big brother.

I'm very fortunate to have such wonderfully sweet kids.

None of them have lamented being part of a big family or resented the arrival of a new sibling.

If the kids had their way I'd be having another baby!

They are fabulous with Heather, all love tending to her.

The only time I wish my family was smaller (like for 2 seconds) is when I see a small family in the shopping center all compact and under control. While I'm trying to keep my eye on seven kids!

I'm finding as the older ones get bigger they are helping out with the little ones and making things easier for me. 

If Heather or Michael need a cuddle there are many loving hands to help out.

Heather's Allsorts Dress

Mad Quilter's

Allsorts Dress

Size 12 months

 

Little girls grow quickly. 

And new seasons bring a change of wardrobe.

I love licorice Allsorts and this little dress reminds me of them.

I designed and made this dress in a day.

It's a very quick to finish little treat, a lot like Allsorts.

Disclaimer:

No one, but me, has test knitted this, nor proof read. 

But then you are getting it for nothing!

And I'm happy to offer this to you for free as long as you are happy to accept this may be full of errors!

If you do make this please give me some feedback as to how you went.

Terminology:

AUSTRALIAN, 

I thought I'd make my American friends work at doing some translation.

Requirements:

Worsted weight yarn (10 ply for us Aussies) I used My Friends 55% Acrylic 45% cotton

I used less than 50gms of four different coloured yarns.

5.5mm circular knitting needles ( I used Denise interchangables)

5 mm crochet hook.

The Bodice:

Cast on 68 stitches and join in the round. 

Be careful not to twist!, but I'm sure you already know that

Round 1 : Knit one row and place four stitch markers.

I use odd scraps of yarn tied into loops for my markers.

The stitch markers go after stitches 17, 34, 51 and 68.

There are four sections with 17 stitches in each.

Round 2: This is the increase row.

Knit one stitch and in the next stitch knit into the front and back.

Knit to two stitches before the marker and knit into the front and back of that stitch.

Continue to increase into the stitch two stitches before the marker and the second stitch after the marker all the way around.

There are 8 increases in total, 76 stitches.

Round 3: knit with no increasing.

Repeat row 2 and 3 three more times. 

at the end of the repeats you should have 100 stitches on your needles.

Casting off for the armholes:

Knit to the first marker and then cast off all the stitches to the second marker.

knit until the third marker then cast off all the stitches to the fourth marker.

In other words - K25, CO25, k25, CO25

Underarms and body:

Knit 25 stitches, cast on 4 stitches and knit 25, cast on 4 stitches.

We are casting on 4 stitches for the underarms, you should now have 58 stitches on your needles.

Work a few rounds of plain knit until you are happy with the length of the bodice.

I knitted ten rounds.

Cast off loosely.

That's the end of the knitting.

The Skirt:

I worked the skirt in three colours.

Foundation round: With a 5mm crochet hook work a round of double crochet on the bottom of the bodice.

When I say double crochet (dc) I mean Australian dc, 

which is American single crochet (SC)

The number of stitches isn't that important, they just need to be even and not stretching the bodice out. 

 Crochet is very forgiving and you can always smudge it a little.

 I worked 60 stitches 

Join with a slip stitch to the first stitch

Australian Trebles are American Double Crochet.

Shell round:  3 chains, work 2 trebles, chain 1, 3 trebles all into the first stitch of the foundation row, miss three stitches from the foundation row and (3 trebles, 1 chain, 3 trebles) into the next stitch. (3 trebles, 1 chain, 3 trebles) are from now on called the "shell"

  Miss 3 stitches and shell into next stitch, continue all the way around, join with a slip stitch to the third chain. 

There are fifteen shells in my round.

Break yarn and change colour.

Next shell round: Join a different colour with a slip stitch to the center of the first shell of the previous row. 3 chains and 2 trebles, 1 chain and 3 trebles into the first shell. 

Shell into the center of each shell all the way around and join with a slip stitch to the third chain.

Repeat this round until you have the length you want.

I made thirteen rounds, changing the colour each round. 

The skirt covers Heather's nappy 

and it's not long enough to slow her crawling down!

 Finishing the neck and armholes:

Double crochet in contrasting yarns around the neck and armholes.

You don't want it too tight or it won't go over the head but not loose either or it will gap and not sit right.

I made 32 Double crochet around the armholes and 62 around the neckline.

Finishing

Time to weave and sew in all those ends.

If you were smart you would of woven them in as you went along.

You could make a crochet flower  (link to my pattern) to embellish the bodice with.

She just didn't like staying still for those photos..

As with all my patterns...

It's ok to share these patterns for free
It's ok to make things from these patterns to sell
It's not OK to sell my patterns
It's not OK to claim my work is yours.

Oh and I'm adding it's not ok to paraphrase my work either, 

especially if you don't give me credit for inspiring you.

Striped Slouchy Hat - handspun and knit

 I made myself a new hat.

Knitted from the cross breed handspun yarn, I spun a couple of weeks ago.

 Michael was kind enough to model.

He likes having his photo taken.

Pattern: Striped Slouchy Hat - A free pattern

Needles: 5mm addis circulars

Yarn: My Handspun

Nice easy pattern. 

Eva's Shawl

 I saw Lara's version of this shawl on her Blog Thornberry and just had to make this shawl.

I didn't have enough yarn to make mine as big as Lara's.

I like how this sits on the shoulders.

This is a very easy pattern that works up quickly.

Pattern: Eva’s Shawl (a Free Pattern)

Yarn: My Handspun from Romney Fleece

Hook: 6mm

New tools and yarn.

 My new tools are wool combs and a diz

Used for making roving from fleece.

Dangerous with all those sharpened points.

I've had a little play and I'm in love with what they do.

It's true that the time you spend in fiber preparation is worth it in the spin!

 Another Cross breed wool spun into singles.

 Here's the Dyed Fiber Club yarn off the bobbin. 

Now what to do with it?

 And here's the Natural fiber club all spun and plied.

I'm building up a stash of handspun yarns

I need to do something with.

And Rose at her wheel. 

Learning to spin with some Coopworth Sliver.

Fern is humbugging to have more fiber to spin her next yarn and I've told her she needs to do something with the one she has already spun. ( Do as I say not as I do!)

It's lovely to have the girls spin with me, but now they want access to my fiber!

I had a lovely big bag of fluff arrive from Jane at Moseley Park and the girls were trying to claim some of it for themselves.

Tunisian Crochet

 I treated myself to a new set of Crochet Hooks

These are Interchangable  and are perfect for Tunisian Crochet.

This is my first attempt at Tunisian Crochet.

 I made a simple potholder.

It was quick to work up and is a nice dense fabric.

I loved the challenge of learning something new.

Pattern: Easy Afghan Stitch Potholder

Yarn: My Friends 55% Acrylic 45% Cotton

Hook: 5mm

The joy of learning

Heather has leaned to pull herself up to stand.
She's even shuffled those little feet to cruise a couple of steps.
The delight and joy of her achievement shows clearly in her giggles, gurgles  and smiles.
Learning brings such joy and self worth.

When we are babies we learn because we want to.
We don't do it because someone else wants us to.

I enjoy learning new things.
I love the challenge and the feeling of satisfaction it brings.
I love to show off my new talent and skill, just like my babies.

I didn't love learning at school.
I struggled at primary school.
I failed grade 5 and I failed grade 7.
I knew I wasn't clever.
I knew I was stupid.
There was no joy.
My mum would have to drag me to school each morning.
I would cry and hide.
I hated the tests and always being at the bottom of the class.
The embarrassment of everyone knowing how stupid I was.
No matter how hard I tried. I just couldn't learn to spell.
We had graded reports and mine was constantly 'U'  or 'D'
My dad would be angry and I was scared of him reading my reports.
I was lazy, I was told. I should try harder, I was told.

When I was at high school I would skip school at every opportunity.
I'd hide out at the local library, reading!
Or stay home as both my parents worked. I'd intercept the letter from the school.

My mum could never understand why the teachers kept telling her I couldn't read.
"She's always got her nose in a book!", my mum would exclaim. And I did love reading. The words I didn't know I'd just skip, the story still made sense to me. I didn't have to sound the words out in my head. I'd just guess at the words meaning and that worked. I had to read in a quiet place to be able to remember what I had read. I'd often have to reread the page twice to work out the story but I worked it out.

I did better at High School than Primary school.
I didn't have to do spelling and reading tests anymore.
And by the time I was Year 12 I was getting A's
I did so well I ended up going to College and completing an Education Degree.

And I never realised, I had dyslexia.
Neither did the teachers or my parents.
 I only realised when my son James was diagnosed.
The psychologist who assessed James mentioned Dyslexia runs in families and asked if anyone in  either Pete or my family had Dyslexia.
I finally had an explanation for my own struggles at school.

My heart breaks when I see James hiding in the bathroom not wanting to go to school.
When he tells me he's stupid because he finds learning at school hard.
I understand his pain, his anxiety and his lack of self worth.

Did you know there is no special Education funding for kids with Dyslexia?
Did you know people with Dyslexia are generally above average in intelligence?
Did you know around 10% of the population have dyslexia?
 Do you know how frustrating and self esteem destroying Dyslexia is?
Do you know you can't cure Dyslexia?
Do you know it's not a matter of making children work more and do more?
That children with dyslexia work so hard to understand in the classroom, that to just add more work is too tiring?

When James tells me "I'm stupid."
I can now tell him why he finds it hard to learn.

Gosh I didn't start to write a post about Dyslexia just share the joy of learning!
I got sidetracked by the thoughts of when for me learning wasn't a joy.

When do we stop praising our kids for every little step they make, every new word they speak?
When do we start telling them what they do isn't good enough?
When do we start measuring our kids to others and finding them wanting?

Those of us who never measured up, go through life with that constant fear of failing again.
That biter feeling of failure is something you never forget.
I don't think it has made me a better person, it has just made me fearful of failure.

I love my iPad

We have two iPads

We pre-ordered them and had them delivered the day they were released in Australia.

We got the Wi-Fi only version not the G3 as I already have an iphone for mobile browsing. I can  use my iPad for surfing and reading email in places that offer free wi-fi.

We've had them a few months now and they have been used everyday.

The kids love them and I'm glad we did buy two.

Michael (aged 2) loves the ipad! He can use it with no help. If a 2 year old can pick it up and use it without being shown then you know how easy it is to use. It doesn't require the fine motor skills a laptop or a gaming system require making it perfect for a 2 year old. There are a large number of low cost and free applications which can be downloaded and used. Michael loves Monkey Preschool and a iWritewords. At 2 he can now identify all his alphabet, colours and numerals to 10. I love the ipad for those times we are in the car with Michael he can watch a movie or an episode of Dora on the ipad or play a game. He's dropped it a few times and it survived so they are pretty robust.

The older children also use the iPad for games but also for school work. The ipad gets used a lot for goggling homework and with the app 'Pages' they can write up their assignments and email them in Word or PDF format to their school email account. 

I use Good Reader and store my PDF knitting and crochet patterns on the iPad. I also download and read ebooks using Amazon's Kindle app, Kobo app and iBooks. There are a lot of free books to download too. I read in bed at night and I don't have to have a light on so don't annoy Pete.

I surf the net with my iPad too, mostly in bed while feeding Heather. I really like using my iPad as a recipe book in the kitchen and have a timer app to remind me to take whatever is cooking out of the oven.

I find the ipad a lot lighter, easier to use and portable then my laptop.

It has a lot of the family photos on it and can be used as a digital photo frame.

We claimed some of the cost of purchasing the ipads back on the Educational Rebate. The kids do use them a lot more than Pete and I but by saying they are mine and Pete's we can control their use easier.

I'd like to get Fern and James one each instead of a laptop for high school. they are a lot easier to carry around in a backpack.

Disclaimer: Apple did not pay me or request this review. I'm just a really happy iPad user.

More spinning...

 Spun from cross breed wool batts sent to me by a friend.

This spun up lovely the colours are very earthy.

I'm going to leave this as a single.

 Singles spun from Romney fleece.

Fiber came from Jane at Moseley Park. 

It was this months Dyed Fiber club parcel.

It is spinning up wonderfully. Lots of bounce and luster.

It's just seems to jump onto the bobbin and is a lot of fun to spin.

I'm not going to ply it's coming up fabulous as a single.

This fiber is also from Jane at Moseley Park.

This is 50% Wool 30% Alpaca and 20% Mohair. 

And was the first installment of the Natural Fibre Club.

As you can see it spun very fine. 

It's currently resting on the bobbins. 

I'm hoping to ply it tomorrow.

The kids are back to school tomorrow.

I'm going to miss them, it's been a lovely holiday.

Lots of sleep ins and staying up late.

No shoe hunting either. 

Just bliss.

We've had glorious weather today perfect for sitting in the shade and spinning.

Storm Cloud Shawlette

I spun up this 20% Silk and 80% Merino a little while ago.

 I knitted it up over the last couple of days.

Rose is modeling with a little help from Michael.

Michael had his first haircut yesterday.

He looks so much older now.

 This is such a lovely simple and quick pattern.

I only had 100gms of the Silk Merino but I had spun it fairly fine.

Pattern : Storm Cloud Shawlette ( a free pattern)

Yarn Hand spun Ashford Silk 20% Merino 80% colour Juniper.

Needles: 5.5mm

I'm going to knit this pattern again. I really enjoyed it.

Simple, quick, easy, in front of the TV knitting.

Perfect for those times when you can't settle to a new project.

I'm sure they will make lovely presents.