Knitted puppies!

It had to happen - a cuff design featuring my dog, Frankie!

I've been knitting "frankie" designs for many years now - one was a pale blue jumper/sweater for my baby daughter, 12 years ago!

He's on a burgundy background here, let me know if you want the pattern for this and for any of my creations.

Tulips!

My dear DH bought some gorgeous orange tulips for my DD's recent birthday. So I was making this cuff, about to put in a traditional fair isle motif, and I thought "why not tulips?" They are such a simple shape, and so cheerful.

I do like cuffs. They have the impact of a wide bangle, and are far more comfortable. And you can co-ordinate them with a watch and bracelet. And a bangle too, if you want!

So here's the Tulip Cuff, with two vintage green buttons. I love it. It makes me smile.

But wait, there's more...

Yes I've been getting back into my Fair Isle knitting addiction, must be the cooler weather here in Sydney. Case in point: yesterday's wristwarmers.

And here's a variation:




Thought I'd try a bit of jacquard patterning, while I was waiting in the car at soccer training.

Here is a pattern I sketched, then charted by hand:

Then knitted into a swatch


My daughter loves it. It must be really good.

Awww, pretty!

Here are my new wristies, for sale in my etsy shop!

I had so much fun making these, and if I have to part with them, I'll have to make some more! Aren't they delicious!

Busy busy busy

The weather is still lousy and oh dear, I can't believe I haven't posted in SO LONG... I have been knitting and creating though, quite a lot, in fact. I plan to spend tomorrow photographing and uploading my newest designs (drum roll...)

Wristwarmers are featuring in my new items for my shop. And in the painting department, I have had a lesson with one of Australia's well-known traditional impressionist style painters, and learnt a lot. I have another life study to show you, in a completely different style from any of my previous works.

Meantime, the last few weeks? Okay, I'll itemise what I've done:
- nurse my 16 year old lame dog (frankie, the westie) back to health, isn't he cute!


- entertain my mother while she visited from interstate
- refurbish the lounge room, including painting the walls (!)
- paint and redecorate the upstairs bathroom (we call it the "powder room")
- host a 14th birthday party and take a group of 12 kids to a Japanese restaurant
- help my daughter prepare for her horse's first ever dressage event, (here is a closeup):



involving 2 hours riding and grooming most days, and 8 hours on the day before the event! First time is the hardest, after the 50th event, I'm sure we'll be a lot better at it!



Anyway, that's why I've been a bit lax on the computer front.

"Of droughts and flooding rains"...

Dorothea MacKellar said it so well in "A Sunburnt Country". What is happening with our weather? I know it's "change of season", but icy cold one day, burning hot the next?
It is Autumn, after all, and despite the heat, I can assure you it will definitely get cold, eventually. So that I can enjoy wearing my new winter jeans and coat that I bought two weeks ago in a cold snap!

Australians love to write and sing about the weather, as did Crowded House in their song lyrics "Everywhere you go, you always take the weather with you". My dear DH knows this only too well. He travels interstate with his work, and is famous for taking our Sydney weather with him. (Sydney weather, lately, despite having had six years of drought, has been extremely wet, with torrential rains and flooding, which mainly occurs in our rumpus room but that's another story - there must be a lot of plumbers on BRW's Top 100 Rich List.)

DH went to Melbourne, 1 1/2 hours flight south, hadn't rained for ages, started pouring as soon as he got there and rained until he left. Then Perth, 4 hours flight west, same deal, except it hadn't rained for months. Yes, it's all his fault, now you know who to blame. And he's owning up to Brisbane as well. So if you need rain, let me know, I'll fly him to you for a reasonable fee.

Elephant on the Keys

When I was young, my aunt Barbara visited and played a rip-roaring rendition of this fantastic tune and I was awestruck. 2000 years later I finally got Dad to send me the sheet music and 300 years after that I'm finally working my way through it, slowly and when no-one else is home (though I do feel sorry for the neighbours). I never realised I have ten thumbs!
Sometimes, it's easier to play by ear and eye than read music (and I hardly ever play by ear). As with lots of Debussy's music. I need to learn the notes, then look at the patterns my hands are making, and listen at the same time. Even with music, I'm a visual learner.
And Dad, if you're reading this, stop rolling your eyes! LOL