Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Pinny for a Dolly

I'm just a little bit proud - I do like how this turned out.

This Pinny for a Dolly was knitted both to cover up wee Noely (yes he's a boy, but he doesn't protest to be popped in a dress now and then) and as part of a competition for the fabulous Kelly. (Kelly is the designer of both this gorgeous wee pinny pattern as well as The March Sisters

Anyway, the pattern suggests 2 different colours for this Pinny for a Dolly pattern, one for the lace at the bottom, and another for the main part, bodice and straps. I popped in a couple of rows of the white in the bodice too.

I'm able to knit this for orders too if you really like it, and not just in a dolly size - but right up to size 5. How cute would a matching little girls dress and dolly pinny be! This is just an idea of what I could do, there are so many more possibilities too!

I've been enjoying needle felting lately too and so decided I'd needle felt some buttons on it rather than real ones that my little man might chew on.



And then for good luck, who doesn't like needle felted butterflies? I stopped at one with this...I thought it needed something else, but after adding just the one think it was a good decision to stop there. With this one I needle felted it onto felt before sewing it on

Vanilla Soakers

Here's another item I can custom knit, it goes from sizes NB right up to XL (which is great for bigger bottoms and covering those extra stuffed night time nappies). It's yet another of Kelly's  patterns - you could say I'm a bit of a fan of her designs


This is a cute wee newborn size for a friend of mine due to have a babe soon of an as yet unknown flavour. I found the ball of soft 10ply in my stash and crossed my fingers that it would be enough - and it was :) Though in saying that, if it hadn't been enough, I really like contrasting waist and leg cuffs so it wouldn't have been a problem.

As I knitted with the soft but sadly boring navy I thought about adding a wee orange goldfish to it...and it evolved into me wanting to attempt a Nemo. Late last night while hubby was back at work and the kidlets were tucked up in bed, out came the needles and sliver and voila, Nemo was felted, oh yes, and the very bright i-cord added.


This pattern comes in sizes newborn, small, medium, large and extra large, all of which I'd be happy to knit for you. Prices start at $20 - email me, jstanfield@xtra.co.nz if you'd like me to custom knit one especially for you. I can add embellishments for a small additional cost.

As they are covers to use over nappies, they come to you lanolised and ready to wear. You will need to re-lanolise every couple of months (depending on frequency of use) or when it begins to lose it's moisture resistance.

Contact me if you'd like more information on how to lanolise woollens - I'm happy to give more information.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

A Couple of F.O's

So, I know that I've popped up a couple of pics of some of these recently, but here are their final pics, with buttons and all :)

Here is the Spring Butterfly pictured with the Daisy Clutch below




Then, there's the Amy, fully blocked and dried and buttons added






And, I whipped up these Itti Bitti Britches the other day to go with a swap present for my friend Jo. They are just the cutest too! In fact, if anyone was wanting a pair of these whipped up as a Chrissy decoration or keyring, then they're completely do-able too as the lovely Carina Spencer allows people to make and sell them if they wish. These were knitted from my 'To Catch a Pheasant' yarn, and softly hand felted after knitting.


The chocolate bar was sent as well, but is here just as a size comparison

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Confession Time

Is it bad that I take more photos of yarn and knitting than I do of my children?

And that lots of the ones with my children, are them modelling knitting?

Saturday, September 19, 2009

All Dyed Out...

I had a number of things I wanted to dye some yarn for.

Firstly, I wanted to dye some for a bag I was going to knit. This was quite coarse yarn, and so while I wouldn't put it on skin, this yarn felts beautifully so I dyed it up. I LOVE how it turned out. Needless to say it's still waiting to be knitted into a bag!

It reminds me of the colour inside raisins, which when googled brought up the name of one of my most favourite kids books ever 'Danny the Champion of the World'. Raisins were a part of the method Danny and his Father used to catch pheasants.

I've named it 'To Catch A Pheasant' but it's probably a bit obscure to anyone else!




Next, came some yarn I dyed up for my sisters birthday. As a kid she was a huge fan of purple, and 6 weeks ago she had the most beautiful baby girl. I wanted to dye her something purple (in the hope that she still likes purple and could 'selfishly' knit something for herself with it if she wanted. Or, that if she didn't like it for herself, it could be made into something for her gorgeous wee girl.
This is 200gms of Te Awa DK yarn, it's a wool/mohair blend. This one is simply named 'Delicate'





Right, then this was dyed for a colour swap. I was aiming for a bluey purple for my purpley swap
This is 150gms of Fabulous Fibres DK. It's actually a lovely base (in my opinion). I've called it 'Something Purple'.





But wait, there's more...

This, titled 'Camping Out' was when I was dying something to look the same as my 'Nightfire Hibiscus'. It's a simple overdye job but I decided I'd throw in some yellow to see what it would do, Well, I should've known but yellow on purple turns brown. It'll be ah, interesting to see what it knits up like.




Here's what it would've turned out like if I'd omitted the yellow. This was my 'Nightfire Hibiscus'




And then, I thought, I'd do one for me. I wanted one more dusty purple.
This was dyed on 200gms hank of Manukau Wools Ltd, Sierra Lana 8 ply DK.
I've called it 'Goodbye August'



I really do love it. And August, I'm glad you're over.

That enough for now? (I actually have a sneaking suspicion that there might've been another one in the dye-pot...but can't recollect it right now)

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

So Pretty!

Isn't this the cutest!? In fact, it's so cute I was dying to try it on Penny before it was even finished! So, that's why in the photo there's still a KP cable, and pins and trailing balls of yarn (I was completeing the straps)


I was lucky enough to test knit this for the fabulous Kelly Brooker. Yet another super pattern she's putting out, this one as part of the series - The March Sisters. This is the Amy.

I love that it looks perfect on Penny. It really isn't often that I knit something for her (I could count on 1 hand the number of things I have knitted for her...don't ask me to count for Tim because I think I've only knitted him a singlet and hat...eek). I knitted this in some fabulously soft merino/alpaca that was in my stash just waiting for the perfect pattern. I think this was it - it's definitely the nicest and softest item I've knitted to date.




But what was lovely was how much she loved it! 'Is it really for me Mummy? I's so pretty!'

Yes, yes you are darling.




This along with the other March Sisters dresses is available for me to custom knit for you. The awesome pattern includes sizes Newborn-5 years old in 4, 8 and 10ply yarn.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Sock Blockers


Made of a lovely biscuity coloured kauri laminated ply (sourced locally), they are great for blocking those newly knit socks to just the right shape. The ply is smooth and thin, perfect for slipping into your socks with no snags.

And the price is hard to beat!
$15 each
2 (they don't have to be 2 the same size) for $28
3 for $40
Kids ones (child or baby sized) $10 each

Made of a lovely biscuity coloured kauri laminated ply (sourced locally), they are great for blocking those newly knit socks to just the right shape. The ply is smooth and thin, perfect for slipping into your socks with no snags.


Available in 5 different sizes:
* Kids (2 sizes - child or baby),
* Small (women's sizes 5-7NZ, 22.5cm)
* Medium (women's sizes 7.5-9NZ, 25.5cm)
* Large (women's and men's sizes 10+NZ, 27.5cm)

If you'd like to order or ask further questions, email me - jstanfield@xtra.co.nz

Note, due to the new improved ply we've sourced, the above pic isn't a true indication of the colour/grain of the wood. The new kauri ply is like this picture:

Monday, September 14, 2009

Gorgeous Wee Nieces!

I've had two delicious nieces born in the last month to two equally wonderful sisters of mine. I really am not going to give them identical presents for the rest of their lives, but I just had to knit up a couple of rainbow dresses and cupcake hats! I hadn't knitted either before but loved both patterns and it won't be the last I do of either!

For Amelia - born on the 8th of the 8th, my ~ Precious ~ set:




For Abigail - born on the 13th of the 9th, my ~ Joyous ~ set:





In fact, I can add cupcake hats to my list of custom knits as I've been granted permission by the lovely designer to knit for sale - so feel free to contact me if you'd like one whipped up!

Sunday, September 13, 2009

We Have Swift-Off

Sometimes my husband drives me nuts, and other times I think he is the best thing ever!

This week I've been thinking he's pretty fabulous since he made me a swift

It's a doo-dacky for winding wool into (and out of) hanks. I LOVE it and since he made it I've been dyeing up a storm for both my sisters birthday and a swap I'm taking part in. Pics of the yarnage tomorrow maybe :)

But here is my new baby

(since the photo though it has had a few more holes drilled and a couple of stabilising blocks added)

Monday, September 7, 2009

Transformation

Take a cone of 2ply merino, in the colour 'maize'

Hank - now hanking 160gms of 2ply without a swift takes a wee while... I won't bore you with a picture of it wound around chair legs.
Dye - this was kettle dyed using food colourings
Dry and then ball up ready for knitting. Now, the balling took forever, thank goodness for Blair being in a really good mood that night! He patiently sat there for about an hour and a half with his arms out as I hand wound the ball, fixing any snags that we had along the way. Then using the wool winder I reballed so I could have a centre pull ball (and so it was nice and tidy). I called it 'Emerald City'
And then the fun part - the knitting...
This is a large sized Ishbel named 'Arohanui'. It's going to be given with much love.
My first real lace and 2ply knitting, as well as my first time full on blocking, using and inserting a life line and my first time reading a chart. Crazy, I've been knitting for probably 20 years but I've been playing it a bit safe I think ;)
Get this though, there is still something like 110gms of the hand dyed yarn left!

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Wee Daisy Clutches Available

Fancy Collecting Some Daisies?



This looks like just the right situation for a wee Daisy Clutch!



It's a lovely wee felted bag - inspired by Amanda's Around About. I've been in discussion with Amanda and will be selling these wee beauties!

It's something I whipped up this week - it's actually not for Penny but she loved trying it out (I wanted to check how functional it was. It passed the test). It was great in that while she was using it, it sat flat on the ground (super blocking on my part if I do say so myself), and the two handles opened up nicely. Then on returning inside with her flowery stash it was easy for her to hold and carry - nice and light. I wouldn't suggest she collects a bag full of stones with it, but it would easily hold a number of special stones, shells, leaves, flowers oh as well as her cellphone and sunglasses. What wee girl doesn't need something to carry those around in?
 
Email me on jstanfield@xtra.co.nz if you'd like to order one, prices start at $20.
Embellishments (knitted or needle felted) are also available for a small additional charge.

I love the idea of making them to match wee tops and cardies. In the pic, Penny is wearing a little 'Spring Butterfly' designed by Rachel Evans



Much to Penny's dismay this was also not for her, but for a swap I'm taking part in. But what a nice knit and fit. I will have to whip one up for Penny I think.