a whole lot of stuff

It's been some weeks since my last blog post. Lots of life, not much time for recording.

I've discovered etsy, via Ravelry. Nice Pear Studio advertised. I was tempted by the pictures, had a look and ended up buying! Janice was very very helpful. She had never posted internationally before. But went out of her way to make it all happen. Here is one of two sock yarns I bought:

It's called Cherry Blossom and was hand dyed by Janice.

And of course I have been busy knitting up a few things for the Red Hill Show. I entered four items this year: a toy, socks, a teacosy and a toddler's cardigan. I was lucky enough to pick up three firsts this year and a second for the cardigan.

I love the feeling of participating in a community event. It's quite special to see your handmade items displayed regardless of whether they have received a gong or not. It' s really interesting to see what other people are making too, including k girl. I think we have both entered various bits and pieces for the last three years. Long may it continue!

Last year my plum pudding teacosy didn't get a place. I think it's a great teacosy and very amusing. I love the leaves and berries on the top. This year my cosy got first place. I love this one just as much as last year's one. They are very different but they both had an equal level of skill and effort invested in them. I cannot really work out the judging. Ranking items must be difficult, because beyond a certain level of skill and complexity which can be assessed, how do you differentiate? I think that there must be a certain amount of subjectivity, but who knows.

I knitted it in Patons Jet and then felted it. It felted brilliantly in one go! I then sewed on felt flowers and leaves. I'm only learning to embroider - hand sewing is really not my skill - but I really want to be better, so I am trying to find opportunities to practise.

Here is the back:

And here is the orange aran cardigan with hood. It's an amalgam of two patterns plus a some of my own invention. I learnt a lot about design by knitting it. It's knitted in Naturally's Loyal DK. 100% wool and machine washable. The inspiration is a Zoe Mellor pattern called Robin Hood Jacket which is knitted in Rowan Cork. It's a discontinued chunky weight yarn. So to produce something close required dramatic changes. I'm pleased with the result and I think it'll be great as a winter woolly for Mr S.

And the socks - they are knitted in Tofutsies soy blend yarn. The pattern is a basic lace. The socks are a modified version of Rainy Day Socks. You can find the pattern on Ravelry. I used a different weight of yarn and really just used the construction method I always use (cuff down).

And I entered the hedgehog. It's knitted from a Fiber Trend pattern and is felted too.

Red Hill Agricultural Show

Well it was Red Hill Agricultural Show again on Saturday. I had been umming and arring for sometime about whether to put anything in this year or not. I've been quite disorganised this year. Run over by work, a caring for a 'always on the go' toddler and I guess just life in general.

In the end I put in three items.

This alpaca cardi has been on the needles for some time - well over six months anyway - I had changed the sizing, failed to record what I had done, and every time I picked it up I kept making mistakes that I had to pull out. Very frustrating. But I used the deadline of the Show to give me the final kick along to finish.


Anyway, it won a first prize, so I was quite pleased in the end.

I also finished the plum pudding tea cosy. I love it, but it didn't get a gong.

And lastly, Mr S' Sailor Sweater. It got a second prize. I'm quite pleased with it. The only criticism I have is that I don't really like the edges. If I knitted it again, I'd knit a garter stitch band. The yarn is Sublime's Baby DK (a mix of merino, cashmere, silk and microfiber). The yarn is gorgeous to feel, but is a bit of a trial to knit with. It splits quite easily and it's difficult to get an even surface.

Ok, now I'm dusted!

The Red Hill Show's over for another year. It's typical of many country shows - lots of food and local produce stalls; some junk stalls with blow up toys and fuzzy hats; rides; wood chopping; livestock; and arts and crafts.

And of course vegetables - I like the chicken wire. Not sure, but think it was to stop all those feisty vegetables escaping!

And don't you love dahlias - I do actually, but I know they verge on blousy bad taste... some might say they slip over the edge.

The John Deere stand had baby peddle power tractors - Mr S just has to have one of these. The helpful man gave me the JD toy catalogue!

And the elephant in the room... how did the judging go?

Sheep did really well.

My cup cake tea cosy got a second.

Here's what it looks like with it's friend teapot.

Mrs McHugh's blanket also received a second.

The Jaeger jumper with the embroidered design received an honourable mention.

This is the baby jumper that received the first prize.

And here are my other jumpers, an unknown pink one and a lovely little cardigan knitted by kgirlknits. Kgirl also received a first for her tea cosy and a second for her booties. I'm glad we both got some gongs! Not that I think it really matters. Judging is partly about assessing skill, but there's a big subjective component. Different judges, and a high likelihood of different results. Getting a prize is nice, it adds to the fun, but not getting one doesn't take fun away.

I also came across some really lovely yarn by CarolineTaylor at Benambra Blue. She also does lovely soaps (no yarn on the website). The yarn is a beautiful soft mix of merino and silk. It's also hand dyed.

I fell in love with this little hat for Mr S.

Caroline wrote out the pattern on my bag! Very kind of her.

Although I loved the autumn tones of the original, blues look better on Mr S. I bought enough to make a matching cardigan or jumper - just have to decide on a pattern now.

Done but not dusted

Well, after much activity I've finished and handed in nine items for the Red Hill Show. None are perfect, all have mistakes, all could have been done better... but they are FINISHED. Nothing like a deadline to push one along.

Pictured below are

• Mr S' stripy shawl/blanket - I didn't have time to embroider the french knots, maybe I will when I get it back after the Show. The knitted front looks great, but the fabric back is a disappointment. It just doesn't sit right. But the i-cord edging is great. Sorry you cannot see it from the picture ; and

• a Jaeger jumper for Mr S this winter. The design is swiss darned. It's the first time I've done this. After a few rows I wanted to pitch it! But I kept going, and while it's got tension issues and I stuffed up one row of the design, overall for a first go it's OK. I finished it at 2am this morning, praying with every stitch that Mr S would keep on sleeping!

A bit of fun!

Here's my blog's library card.




Thanks Lisette for the link. Although I think others might have posted on this too??

And here is where you can make your own.

On more serious matters, I have realised that I have eight more days before entries are due at Red Hill. OMG... There is so so so much to do.

It's taken me three days just to pick up all the stitches around the edge of the blanket. Goodness knows how long the i-cord will take. Then there is sewing up and embroidering one more Mr S jumper... And then there are the three other items (two pairs of booties and a tea cosy) that I was so very foolhardy to think I could produce. Dream on McDuff!

I like doing Red Hill for a number of reasons - it's a bit of fun, the Show itself has a quaint old fashion community feel and it gives me a deadline to finish things by.

But I think the deadline gave me a rush of blood to my brain that created momentary insanity last Friday when I handed in my entry form. I didn't actually count the days I had to finish things, but it 'felt' like a long long way a way! I think I've been away from work too long! It 'felt' a long way a way?!?! Gesh!

Shopping

I visited Marta's Yarns today. Both a sad and happy experience. Sad of course because of Marta's death, but happy because she lives on in all her fabulous yarns. I was a bit overwhelmed as usual by all the choice and Mr S was quite grizzly, so making decisions was a bit difficult. I will need to go back next week after a bit of a think about what I really want.






The only thing I bought was 70g of red DK to finish Mr S' blanket. I was going to edge it with red piping, but I have decided to knit I-cord around the edge... so stay tuned.



And the sheep only needs its ears sewn on, so hopefully it will be finished tomorrow...



The Red Hill Show entry form is due in tomorrow and I have been doing quite a bit of fretting about what I should enter. I have decided that I am completely insane. I think in addition to the items I am trying to finish, I'm going to try to knit two pairs of booties (which Mr S needs for winter) and maybe a tea cosy. I have seen this fabulous Cup Cake cosy at Laughing Hens On-line Store. I would love to buy the yarn and receive the free pattern, but it would cost a small fortune in Aust$. I just cannot justify it for a tea cosy, so I'm going to make up my own pattern using the Laughing Hens' one as inspiration.

I did a flying visit to Sunspun on the way home. Mr S had had a bit of a sleep in the car, so was much more settled, which allowed me to fuss around making decisions. You're looking at future hats, booties and a tea cosy!




Apologies for the photos, they were taken with me balancing a sleeping Mr S on my shoulder. No time or ability to frame, pose or focus the shots.

And here is how I like to see Mr S. He's gorgeous awake... but asleep... ah! Need to keep working on this sleep thing.