Slouchy Berret

 There is something so satisfying in taking a raw fibre.

Washing, dying, carding, spinning and finally knitting it.

It's magic really, transforming fibre to a usable item.

 This is EL X Merino, which I blogged about here.

The pattern was based on Spring Beret by Natalie Larson

I did modify a little as my yarn was bulky weight. 

I knitted with 8 mm needles and casted on 52 stitches, 

I had to tweak the number of stitches for the lace pattern.

 The lace pattern was simple enough not to be lost in the texture of the yarn.

Rose was kind enough to model for me.

This is my hat so a little big on Rose.

Not only is Rose beautiful it turns out she sings beautifully too!

And has won a solo in the East Of The Ranges Choir.

I'm very proud of her.

Washed, dyed, carded and Spun...

 I do love my fluff.

This is English Leicester X Merino fleece.

I bought from Jane at Moseley Park

I washed it and dyed it with Earth Pallet Dyes

 Then I carded it all into batts on my Ashford Wild carder.

 Then I spun some of it into this very squishy bulky weight yarn.

Lots of bounce in this!

 I may have been quiet on the blog but I've still been crafting along.

This is alpaca yarn, I spun

The beige is a 3 ply and the brown 2 ply.

I bought the alpaca tops from the Laura Folk Festival.

These two skeins both have mohair in them.

One is plyed with silk and the other with 

Romney Ball from Kathy's Fibres.

Project Big is almost completed!

I'm rather excited about it.

And can't wait to show you.

Fairy Floss Drop Stitch Scarf

 

 I knitted up my handspun Fairy Floss yarn

Spun from 50% BFL and 50% Silk Batt and plied with Silk.

  

Pattern: Drop Stitch Scarf  a free Ravelry Download

Needles: 8mm

Yarn : Handspun Silk and BFL

 Rose was kind enough to model.

And take a photo of me modeling too.

And here is my Rainbow Princess.

In Willow and Moo from top to tail.

Sara sent the singlet to Heather when she was born.

The skirt and legging were Heather's Christmas present.

I certainly won't loose her in a crowd in this little outfit.

I'm going to miss Willow and Moo, now Sara has decided to scale back.

Fortunate for Heather there are 3 more rainbow redondo skirts 

for her to grow into as her sisters grow out of them.

Spinning Fairy Floss

I call this Fairy Floss.

It is as sweet, soft and delicate as Fairy floss.

I spun this yarn using April's Batt Club Installment 

from Jane at Moseley Park

The last installment of this fibre club.

Rumour has it that Jane is soon to announce another fiber club,

If you haven't tried one of Jane's clubs you have seriously been missing out!

The Batt is 50% Blue Faced Leicester and 50% Lustrous bleached Tussah silk .

There was also a silk cap included which I used to ply.

I was actually nervous to spin this Batt, 

I was just so worried I'd ruin it and not do the fibre justice.

It's a real pity you can't touch this yarn.

It's very soft and bouncy.

Now, what to make with it....

It has to be something for me!

I made myself an armband for my iphone this morning.

I've been shoving the phone in my bra when I exercise, not very comfortable!

This was quick to whip up and I used up a couple of scraps I had on the cutting table.

Which is why the straps don't match!

I tested the design out at the Gym and it works great, 

iphone stayed put and out of my way.

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I've been thinking about starting a fresh new blog.

You know, one of those blogs with style and focus.

This blog is a little too much like me eclectic and homely.

It goes off on a tangent and never seems 

to have a polished style or focus.

It's not a very tidy blog, a bit like my house really.

You know if I had the discipline and the ability to stay focused.

I would start another blog, 

but I think if I did, it would just end up like this one.

Darting from craft to craft.

Maybe I have Crafting Attention Deficit Disorder.

Or then again, maybe I'm just plain old disordered.

As much as I dream of being a focused, stylised person.

I know it's not me.

So I think Mad Quilter will just have to stay as it is.

A rather eclectic blog with no set focus or style,

But with a lot of warmth, giving and love.

Cozy's Hexagon Jacket

 Another Free pattern.

I love that people are so sharing on the Net.

This Pattern comes from HERE Cozy's Corner Blog.

 I liked the clever construction.

It's crocheted as two hexagons, which are then seamed.

Once seamed together I added the ribbing and the collar.

 I finished the collar with a little crab stitch.

I like the look and texture of a crab stitch finish.

A tutorial of Crab stitch is HERE if you want to have a try.

 The sleeves I finished with some post stitch ribbing.

Tutorial for Post Stitch ribbing is HERE

 My model was once more uncooperative and

ran as soon as I pulled the camera out.

Most of my shots looked like this one.

I had to use the zoom on the camera to get the front on shots.

The yarn is a very cheap acrylic from Kmart, that I got for 50c a ball.

My mum used to dress my sisters and I in matching bright orange, striped jumpers

when she'd take us out to places with crowds.

She said it was so she'd remember what we were wearing if we got lost and

being such bright jumpers it was easier to see us in a crowd.

I think this will be Heather's Jacket for crowded places.

And while out in the garden we tried a Pomegranate