A Sky Blanket

This little guy turned 10 last week.

10 is big.
I wanted to mark this year for him, to give him something that he can keep with him always. I wanted him to have something from me that shows my love, but something that was also unique for him. I am knitting him a Sky Blanket.
For each day of his 10th year I will check the sky at 1:00pm (the time he was born) and knit 2 rows on his blanket in the corresponding colour......

I will cast off on his 11th birthday, then give it to him one week later.
Each row filled with intention and love, such a joy to knit.
A Sky Blanket for my beautiful boy.
Mama xx

Catching Up

Such a long time since I was here.
So I am Catching Up and Taking Stock with a big nod to Pip at meetmeatmikes

Taking Stock right now:

Making : Baskets, Beanies, Blankets and a Shawl.

Cooking : Birthday Cakes.
Drinking : Tea, always tea.
Reading : The Dirty Chef by Matthew Evans and The Five Greatest Warriors by Matthew Reilly.
Wanting : To sew a quilt with some gorgeous hand blocked Indian fabrics but I can't decide on a design.

Looking : At the clear blue Winter sky.
Playing : Lots of retro 80's on CD.
Deciding : That I will knit my biggest little a Sky Blanket to commemorate his 10th year.
Wishing : For rain.
Enjoying : School holidays. Spending all day with my guys is awesome.
Waiting : For the yarn, for the Sky Blanket to arrive from Bendigo Woollen Mills.. so excited.
Liking : That Winter is here and we have already celebrated 2 of the 4 Winter birthdays.
Wondering : If the veggie patch is getting enough sun.
Loving : How my boys love each other.

Pondering : Woollen baskets, and hot water bottle covers and mug warmers with handmade wooden buttons.
Considering : If I should take the littlest to pre-prep before he starts school next year.
Watching : True Blood on Blu-ray. Halfway through Season 2. So much fun....
Hoping : I can finish the blanket on the needles and free them up before Saturday.
Marvelling : At how much better I feel after a haircut.
Needing : To sort and photograph my yarn stash and upload it to Ravelry.
Smelling : Freshly washed blonde curls on sweet little boy heads.

Following : Whole Hearted Journal.
Wearing : All the warm things.
Noticing : The days getting just a wee bit longer after the Winter Solstice.
Knowing : I am so much healthier (and lighter) now that my love and I are walking 9 kms a day. Everyday.

(This is the path we take)

Thinking : About how much my little guy has taught me in the last 10 years.
Feeling : So proud of all my guys and who they are growing up to be.
Admiring : My girl! Her style, her attitude, her thoughts, her sense of humour. Just Her.
Sorting : Clothes and storage as the littlest transitions from Mama and Dadda's room to sleeping in the boys bedroom.
Buying : Oranges, lemons, limes, ginger, rhubarb, mandarines and silver beet direct from the farmer at the top of our street. He is often around for a chat as well, it's so good hearing his stories and knowing we are supporting a local farmer.
Getting: Excited about the next two birthdays..... 10 and 5 both such important ones.
Bookmarking : Lots of Flying Geese and single star quilt patterns.
Disliking : Winter coughs and sniffles, especially during school holidays.
Opening : Awesome reports from both my guys.
Giggling : When my littlest tells me 'a joke'....
Snacking : On local apples, mandarines and homemade ginger cake.

Coveting : Everything here.
Helping : Winter sniffles on their way with lots of garlic and warming soups.

Hearing : The boys giggling and talking together before they go to sleep.

Sunday

laughter
toast and lime marmalade
frankie
cross stitches
tomato slices with salt and pepper
walking in the rain
tea
orange cake
grey and white yarn
love notes and kisses
knitting
indigo coloured fabric
roast potatoes
wooden spools of thread
cuddles

Beginner?

How do you know when you have moved past being a beginner?

Is it when you start to look at things that you haven't attempted before, just looking mind you, not really intending to do anything about trying it yet?

Or is when you can't stop looking at something that you really thought was perhaps a little beyond your skills and think 'I can do that'?

I have fallen hard for this pattern. 

It is lace and it is charted only. No written instructions. I have only knitted lace once before when I knit the Hemlock Blanket and I am still working on my Dream Stripes but I haven't reached the charted lace part yet. Will this be enough? Enough experience for me to be classed an 'adventurous beginner'? 

Oh, but I so want to have a Morrigan for myself. I want it to be knit in this glorious handspun, lace weight yarn, a gift from a beautiful friend. I want to be able to wrap up in something I thought a little too difficult and say "I knitted it myself"!
I suppose only time will tell! I will let you know!

School holidays this week have mean't little time for reading but I am still dipping into Tula Pink's book. I found some sample indigo coloured fabrics at the op shop, and I really want to incorporate them into a quilt. As they are small it will have to be some sort of scrappy quilt, so I have been looking around for some patterns that might suit. Also patterns that a beginner quilter will find doable.
Beginner really is my theme this week.
Joining Ginny

Yarn Along

I finished the cowl I was knitting last week. It is really lovely, just as snuggly and soft as we envisioned.
So I cast on a for a Dream Stripes. Such a sweet pattern, which is knitting up quite quickly despite the finer yarn I am using. Also despite the fact that I have ripped and restarted it three times so far. You need to be really careful not to carry the yarn up the side too tightly. I am a tight knitter anyway so I have to be really conscious of this and keep those edges loose. Lapses of concentration lead to ripping out of knitting.
As for the yarn I have absolutely no idea what either of them are, they were both op-shop finds without labels. The white/cream is definitely wool, the grey I think is some sort of blend. There is wool in there but possibly also nylon. It is beautifully soft whatever it is and so should be lovely around the neck. They are working well together, although the grey is knitting up a bit more lavender grey than it appears in the skein.

As for reading this week I have been looking at Tula Pink's 100 Modern Quilt Blocks I am a beginner when it comes to quilting so I tend {at the moment} to look at lots of quilting blogs and books without committing to actually sewing anything. I intend though to complete at least one quilt this year and this book is inspiration indeed. I am pulling fabrics bit by bit and hoping to get started over the school holidays, which begin next week.

*My pretty postcard came from Anastasia at L'Accent Nou the perfect backdrop for these colours. Make sure you visit her and check out her beautiful necklaces and other handmade beauties. Simply wonderful things!

Late but joining in with Ginny

Four Things For Friday - Tea Towel Edition

Kate Davies Designs

DIY with Stencils

Fog Linen

Purl Bee

Yarn Along

This week I have been working on an infinity scarf for my daughter. I made one of these a couple of years ago for a teacher gift and another has been on order ever since. I am using Bendigo Woollen Mills 10 ply Harvest yarn and it is delightful. Soft and with a lovely hand the final scarf should be wonderfully warm and snuggly. Perfect for those early morning walks with the dog in Winter. I should be finished by the weekend and then to decide what to cast on next. I have a couple of ideas and I also have several wip's that I really should find and get off the needles.
I have been reading Eco-Colour and Second Skin both by India Flint. I love her quiet take on how we can care for our planet by re-purposing clothes and textiles, using natural dyes and simple techniques. I have been inspired to look through my wardrobe and pick out some things that I can embellish and repurpose.

Joining in with Ginny

Mood Board on Monday

* Loving my tea in these new mugs * Making apple pie * Crushing on this baby blanket  * Choosing seeds for the Autumn garden * Midas Hat * Beautiful and new to me blog

An Autumny themed mood board of...
some of the things that are inspiring me this week....
I love the blanket so much that I have had my first crochet lesson and I'm sure I will be whipping one up in no time. The pattern is available on Ravelry here.
Wishing you a wonderful week.

Sending Hugs

All done and ready to send.
The colour of this yarn is quite interesting, although it looks green it actually is made up of blue and yellow plies. That of course makes it look green but the hue changes quite significantly in different light.
Today I am going to sew up a cotton bag for it so it can be stored dust free in Summer (makes for less washing I hope) then next week I will be sending it on it's way to my friend so it will arrive in plenty of time for her to be able to pop it over her knees when the evenings are a little chillier.

Cables and Hemlock

Remember when I said I needed one of these
I decided that just thinking and talking about it was never going to get me one so......

I cast on, although technically this won't be mine. I am giving it to my dearest, most wonderful friend.
She has had a tough time the last few months and I wanted to give her something that wraps her in my love.
I am really enjoying knitting this and can't believe it took me so long to try it. The cast on was a little intimidating at first, but I got it on my third try. Something to which I will admit I was quietly pleased {well perhaps not so quietly if you ask my non-knitting, relatively disinterested in all things yarn, partner}. Once you get past the cast on the rest is easy knitting. I just have to remember to count the stitches every so often.
I'm hoping that a good blocking will transform what currently looks like something a very large spider has woven into a beautifully round and soft cloud of love.
I will certainly be knitting another for myself. I can understand why over 5700 people have knit one.

In other knitting news the project that I shared last week has come off the needles. When another of my gorgeous {non-knitting} friends saw some cabled boot cuffs and commented on how lovely they were, I knew I had to make her a pair. As she is also the friend who does my hair and manages to keep me looking somewhat reasonable, she certainly deserves some woolly love. I used this pattern, and they knit up quickly in a weekend. I think boot cuffs are great for our climate, all the comfort of warm legs in Winter without the bulk of thick socks.

My favourite 4 year old 

Wishing you an awesome weekend.

Amazing Autumn

1 and 2 - Enjoying my morning cup of tea with my new favourite cushion. I made the cover from a linen tea towel op-shopped several years ago.
3 and 4- Basil in my garden. The bees enjoyed the flowers and we had pasta and basil pesto for dinner. I am hoping to save some of the seeds and grow my own basil next year.
5 and 6 - Two Autumn colour inspired knitting projects, one for me and one for a friend.
7, 8 and 9 -  The very first signs of Autumn, so beautiful.

Autumn..... my favourite season.
I love the cooler mornings and evenings. The brilliant blue skies. Days still warm enough for a picnic at the beach and a swim before heading home. This time of year is so calm and beautiful. Everything is slowing down. The afternoons are lazy. The Autumn light is simply stunning. The Summer garden is almost done and the planning starts for our Winter vegetables. I am looking at yarn and thinking about knitting projects. Soon it will be time for apple pies and pumpkin soup. Muffins and scones after school.
Autumn is for planning and slowing down and dreaming........
Autumn is my season of inspiration.

Have you seen
These wonderful knitted flowers
Lazy Sunday Cinnamon Rolls
Sweet knitted cushions
I think I might need one of these

Joining in at The Beetleshack for the stills

Saturday Cake

 When the last few bananas in the fruit bowl are over-ripe and brown I reach for this recipe.

Truth be told I am really the only one here who loves banana bread but the added chocolate in this seems to make all the difference to how much the boys will eat. I always cut the amount of sugar by at least half and often more as I find the banana and chocolate sweet enough. Bill's recipes - always a winner!

Bill Granger's

Choc Banana Bread

250g (2 cups) plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

125g unsalted butter (softened)

250g (1 cup) caster sugar

4 ripe bananas, mashed

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

175g (1 cup) good-quality dark or milk chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F) 

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl.

Mix the butter, sugar, banana, eggs, vanilla extract and chocolate chips in a separate bowl. Add to dry ingredients and stir to combine, being careful not to over mix.

Pour batter into a non stick or lightly greased and floured, 19 x 11 cm loaf tin and bake for one hour and 15 minutes, or until bread is cooked when tested with a skewer.

Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool. Serve in thick slices with butter.

This bread really is delicious....... go make some.

Some things to peruse whilst munching on a piece of cake

I am in love with this manifesto

and this sustainable fashion

A tag team sweater project..... how much fun would it be to do this with someone?

This cushion would be the perfect reason to learn to crochet.

Have a beautiful weekend.