It's got to be seamless.

I was talking to a lovely friend and her Mum at school today and I mentioned with my current non-existent voice (laryngitis I suspect) that I was meant to be teaching a beginners knitting class this weekend at Holland Road Yarn Company. Anywho, her mother mentioned my friend used to knit, but the discussion evolved into how they could never be bothered sewing things up at the end. Who can? I showed them right then and there the Greyson sweater my youngest was wearing and how these days, many people design and knit only seamless items. That there's no front, back, arms to sew together. Sheer brilliance.

It was this Greyson sweater to be precise!

I really think this is why knitting is so popular these days. I would never be bothered to knit my kids garments if I had to sew pieces up at the end! I know I can knit nicely, but sew? No. I do recall trying to patchwork together pieces of my first adult garment years and years ago, and trying to sew it so that everything matched up well enough. I remember vividly trying to sew together this blanket for a beautiful friend of mine who's most precious daughter Hope was diagnosed with terminal cancer...and whilst I did my absolute best at the time, I still grimace at the less than perfect sewing and piecing together.

Awww Hope, we still all think of you and your family often. How big your little brother is now xxx

No, there would be so many knitting bags with many more WIP's if the huge range of seamless patterns didn't now exist.

Seamless all the way! How wonderful are the fabulous ranges of circular needles these days, that we can just change tips and cable lengths to suit our projects. That we can just knit and virtually pop a garment on our children as soon as we cast off, or try it on numerous times whilst still knitting to get the length just perfect. All hail to the wonderful seamless designers out there.

I actually thought back to why I picked up my needles again after my first child was born - my next post I'm going to show you some oldest circular knitting and the patterns that got me hooked again. Be prepared for less than perfection! And imagine prickly yarn....(which I called wool then, because I called everything I knitted with wool then!) and birch needles with their terrible bumpy joins!

Do you ever sew items that need seaming? Why? What kind of garments?

Yarn Along

I apologise profusely to those who left comments last week and haven't received comments on their own blogs in return! You see, in New Zealand when my Yarn Along posts go up, it's actually Thursday here. And on Thursday evening, when I planned to check in and catch up we were hit with a monstrous storm. Worst in 45 years, with wind gusts recorded of 200 kms an hour. We were battening down the hatches and as the lights flickered we ran to collect a torch or two, just in case... just in time. With that, the power went out. Luckily, we have a wood fire and I had a fully charged laptop, so whilst others wondered what to do (it was only about 7:30pm, but it's winter here in NZ, it was dark and cold and scary sounding outside), I sat down with a cuppa tea with water boiled on the wood burner, the laptop playing a DVD of Downton Abbey and knitted by candle light.

I snapped a quick photo on my phone, this shows my current WIP

 

It's all about priorities right?

 

Truth be told, I should've been a little more forward thinking. The next morning we still had no power or phone, I'd used up all the bandwidth on my phone plan checking on others online and sharing photos in my knitting page on Facebook, all the battery on my cell phone and couldn't recharge it on the laptop because I'd bled it's battery dry watching 2 episodes of Downton! Luckily we had power back later on Friday, the phone was finally reconnected on Sunday.

 

I wish I had photos of our trampoline, because it looks more cave now like than trampoline. The storm produced some pretty significant damage, but there were no fatalities, luckily. The trains should be up and running tomorrow again and hopefully all will have power restored by the end of the week, though most do already.

 

 

Last week I also showed you a Hoodlum I'd almost finished. I've completed it now and so I took a few photos of it modelled by my daughter on the weekend. I love it to bits! I wasn't sure I'd like it as it is so bright, but it's just perfect! Don't you think?

 

 

And reading - well, as I was last week, I'm still listening to 'House Rules' by Jodi Picoult and I'm still really enjoying it! The simplified web synopsis is:  

HOUSE RULES is about Jacob Hunt, a teenage boy with Asperger’s Syndrome. He’s hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject – in his case, forensic analysis.

Thanks for yarn-ing along! How's the weather at your place?

I promise to catch up with all comments this week too!

xx

j-j

Yarning Along

Here we are! Must be Wednesday again! Time for an update on what's on my needles and what I'm reading at the moment..

Knitting wise, I'm so so close to finishing the Little Hoodlum I'm knitting for my 6 year old daughter. She chose the yarn, which I never envisioned being a Hoodlum, but as I'm knitting this it's reminding me of a 90's garment, maybe a brightly coloured surfie style hoodie. I'm playing a bit of yardage chicken with the hood, so as soon as the main colour is used up I'll be kitchenering the top.

Maybe I'll have finished pics next week, hopefully! The weather really is not any good for taking outside photos today though. I did plan to go outside or at least snap some great natural light photos. These gloomy pics were taken at midday today. There's a cold front on it's way up the country and it's been cloudy here all day. We can normally see the sea from this window (see the double rainbow I took from the same spot earlier this week HERE) but today we can barely see the houses across the road!

And the book. I finished 'The Persimmon Tree' by Bryce Courteney this week and would thoroughly recommend it, especially listening to it as an audiobook. It was fabulous, I only wished there was another chapter at the end. I have heard there is a sequel 'Fishing For Stars' but the reviews are that it's drawn out and rather boring in parts so I'm not sure I want to go there.  I have this frustrating habit of needing to finish things even if I don't enjoy them anymore and don't want to get trapped reading it. Has anyone read 'Fishing for Stars'? Let me know your thoughts if you have?!

I've started reading listening to  'House Rules' now by Jodi Picoult. I love Jodi Picoult and I'm only a chapter or two in at the moment but I'm really enjoying it. The blurb says it's about a teenage boy with aspergers and a fixation on forensics who gets mixed up in a murder. I can't wait to get to the nitty-gritty!

 

Thanks for stopping by! I'd love you to leave a comment and I promise to pop by your blog and leave a comment too!

 

xx

 

Julia

Double Rainbows and yes, yet more talk of knitting!

We see a lot of rainbows where we live now. I think there have probably always been the same number of rainbows, but in our new house within the same area, we have a sea view and a stunning outlook - it's something we don't take for granted after years of feeling a little overlooked and hemmed in.

We've been experiencing rainbows pretty much every day this week, the combination of drizzly rain and sunshine is perfect for them isn't it? But there was a stunner on Friday, this picture can't even come close to how amazing it was as about a minute after taking this, it transformed into a complete rainbow with the lighter double rainbow outlining it. There was just no way to capture it in a picture though, it was just too huge and too close. So you'll just have to take my word for it!

I realised too late this week that I hadn't mentioned my KAL (knit-along) over on Ravelry HERE yet either. Everyone is welcome to join in (or just use the discount code ;) ) to knit any of my patterns during June. I know, I know, it doesn't leave people who are just finding out now much time! But there are smaller projects still eligible to be entered in the draw to win a prize - maybe just a dishcloth! And prizes for just loading a WIP (work in progress) picture too. I always welcome old WIP's too, the thought of languishing projects really upsets my just one WIP OCD!

Happy Knitting! Enjoy what's left of your weekend.

xx

Julia

Tidying Up Loose Ends

I hate things like sewing on buttons and weaving in ends. That could be why I'm completely in love with seamless knitting and why there are so many people knitting these days with so many fabulous seamless patterns to chose from!

Anyway, this poor neglected Primrose has been finished since last year but it took me forever to sew the buttons on and then even longer to finally get around to photographing it. It's been sitting in a 'to-do' pile sadly! But I finally got around to popping it on my Penny and taking a few photos this week! And it was well worth the wait and perfect for those just going into Summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

 

Whilst I'm sharing things I've finished lately, I also finished my first 'knitted by me, for me' socks. Love them!

 

Have you got a long unfinished WIP or not quite ready for wearing FO on your 'to do' pile? Maybe tonight's the night to weave in those ends or sew on your buttons!

 

Yarn Along

Brrrr...winter is coming! It's getting pretty frosty here at the moment. There was even snow on the nearby hills yesterday (which happens only a few times a year, and it's not officially winter yet!)

Please excuse the street light and roof of the house across the road. That streetlight annoyed me so much when I was taking the photo, but there wasn't much I could do about it!

What have I been knitting and reading at the moment then? Well, I'm a big audiobook fan and I'm currently listening to 'The Persimmon Tree' by Bryce Courteney. I'm really enjoying it actually, though I shouldn't sound surprised as I do love his writing.

The knitting - how are my socks coming along? Not bad compared to last week, right? I finished the first sock not long after the blog entry and I tried it on. Oh my! I love it! I can see how people get addicted to this sock knitting thing!

It might not look like an awful lot of knitting either, but in the last week I've also released a new pattern and I've whipped up a new hat for my kindy-aged child. This is the Mimipita Earflap Hat, it's a free pattern and I really love the construction of it, though the sizing and translation have a few errors. But I do plan to whip up another and make a few changes

 

And I think that's enough for the week, right?

 

Thanks for leaving me a comment! Go on, leave me one! I do so love to read them? Have you read any Bryce Courteney books, or can you recommend a great hat pattern? 

 

Yarn Along

I'm almost finished my first sock, it's a little bit exciting. They're my first 'knitted by me, for me' socks and although I cast them on in January, I'm quite motivated to get them finished now. I've been working on quite a few patterns lately, and there's something about getting a WIP finished, which is someone else's well written pattern (Sarah Ronchetti's Basketweave Rib Socks) and is for me - which makes it quite motivating! Plus, it's definitely getting cooler now and these would look so good with my black shoes for winter! Must.knit.faster!

The book, well, it's just adorable. My oldest sister had a copy of this book when we were kids and I fondly remember reading it many many times. It popped into my head the other day when I was trying to think of books I read that I could read to my 6 year old daughter. With that, I looked up book depository and bought it for the tidy sum of $6.50NZD. It's called 'The Ordinary Princess' by M.M.Kaye and is the delicious tale of a princess who, when born is given the gifts of charm, wit and various other wonderful gifts from her Fairy Godmothers - until the last one, who isn't in the best mood at the time, gives her the gift of being Ordinary. And so, she grows up to into a mouse-coloured haired, freckled princess, who isn't content to simply throw a golden ball in the courtyard...but whose Father can't marry her off to any Prince either she's not your typical blonde and fair skinned princess. The story takes off when her Father hatches a plan which Amethyst (aka Amy) decides to rebel against.

I can't recommend it enough! And I'm well above it's target audience!

Hats For Ethan

Come join us with our big 'Hats for Ethan' fundraiser!

Ethan is a lovely little 6 year old, who is battling leukaemia. His family have said that the money this raises they'll put towards buying a spare single bed, so that they can have a quarantine type room if needed this winter, with bugs and flu germs around. That's not too much to wish for surely, is it?

'Hats For Ethan' is a wonderful showcase which kicks off tomorrow, Friday the 10th at 7:30pm NZ time. The link is HERE. If you join the group, click on the showcase album, or click HERE, and you'll see all the amazing items up for grabs! Custom made hat auctions, starting at $10! Yarn kits of luxury yarns starting at $15! Beautiful 'buy now' items! Seriously, the range is just lovely - there cold be some amazing bargains to be had, but the aim is to raise as much money as possible for this precious little guy, so the more, the better! Auctions close on Sunday, what a lovely Mother's Day gift it could be to win an item - both for you, your hat recipient and Ethan and his family.

Here's my contribution....I know, I know! It's not a hat....but it's the thought that counts - right?! Please come bid on it! 

Final Reminder!

I hate things that come in the mail that say 'Final Notice' or 'Final Reminder' - they're often things that will hurt my bank account!

But this will be my final reminder - for my knitting course in Hanmer from the 17-19th of May as the sign ups close this week!

So, it's now or never (well, till next time anyway!)

Course - Beginner Knitting – seamlessly and speedily. In this course Julia will introduce the basics of knitting in the round including:

• How to use circular needles
• How to read a pattern
• Knitting basics – knit, purl, increasing, casting on and off
• How to fix mistakes
• How to check gauge
• Useful links and resources
• How to wind yarn into a ball from a skein
• Julia will also give a demonstration of how to dye yarn yourself using things you have at home
• Students will be working through a pattern for a child’s garment written by Julia with the aim of completing it over the weekend.

But wait, there's more! I have a wonderful friend who happens to live in Christchurch and is a very talented knitter and yarn dyer - so Rachel Booker, of Featherbrush Yarns, will be joining me for the weekend! I'm so excited about that!

Don't worry that you'll be bored if you know the basics, I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve to teach how to knit speedily. I'll also be teaching Continental knitting (which I have somehow omitted in my blurbs!), which is a different way of knitting for most people.

Sign up information is HERE. The cost for the course is $110.

Housekeeping

It's time I did a little housekeeping with my patterns. All of them need a few changes to be made to the copyright statement to reflect my decision to go License Free, so it's actually a really good time to give them all a little tidy up. If you know of any errors in any of the patterns, could you please contact me and I'll look into that pattern and hopefully delete any more gremlins that are floating around.

Thanks!

And isn't this photo cute! I actually took it last year when Red Riding Hood Yarn ran a little Olympics inspired competition of her own. The green garment my David is wearing is a short sleeved Greyson - I think he looks super cute! It was knitted in RRHY too, one I think I even came up with the name for - 'Green with Envy'

All patterns now License Free!

That's right! As of this last week, I've announced that all* my patterns are now license free.



That is, when you purchase the pattern you are also purchasing the rights to knit it to sell. Having been someone who has custom knitted, it's hard to make money selling beautiful handknits, when you factor in your time and materials!

I shared this on my Facebook group and was overwhelmed by people's positive responses - it's very heart warming to see that others may wish to knit my patterns to sell. In fact, the post was shared 50 times and 'seen' by over 5000. That was exciting to watch, considering on average my FB posts get seen by an audience of about 400!

I'm slowly going to start working my way through my patterns and updating their copyright information to this:

                                                                                                                        

Copyright and License Free Information

This pattern is copyright and is the express property of the author Julia Stanfield.

This pattern is for personal use. Please do not sell or publish.

However, you may use this pattern for small scale commercial purposes, making items personally. Please credit any items you knit for sale back to this pattern and Julia Stanfield as the designer.

Thank you for choosing to purchase and knit my patterns, I hope you’ll put your finished details and photos on Ravelry! I love seeing them.

Happy Knitting!
 

xx

 

Julia

                                                                                                                         

 

You'll find all my patterns HERE

 

*license free applies to all patterns not written exclusively for yarn clubs or publications

5 Random Things About Me

Sarah from Sezza Knits tagged me in a '5 Random Things About Me' post the other day and I thought, hey, why not. Let's see if I can come up with 5 random things!

1) I'm left-handed. I used to wonder if it was because when I was 18 months old I lost the tip of my little finger on my right hand in the hinge of a door and had my hand bandaged up for a while. But I think I was always meant to be a leftie. I was the only leftie in my family and I think I've always liked that I am a little different in a completely socially acceptable way!

2) I LOVE music. Love love love it. I feel happiest when the radio is playing and I am one of those annoying people that whistle everywhere, without realising I am doing it. I often hear myself whistling away at the supermarket to the music that plays through the speakers there and think that it must be really annoying. Then I'll refrain for a bit, until the next song comes on and most likely I'll just join in again without thinking. At home I think I sing (and dance, it's hilarious to watch I'm sure) along, whereas in public places that's probably a bit odd to walk up and down the aisles signing at the top of your lungs to some song on the radio. My FAVOURITE purchase last year was getting a radio/cd player finally put in the car. How I lived so long without music in the car I don't know, but now it's there I couldn't be without it.

3) I'm not a worrier. I don't lose sleep thinking about things. If I hear something that upsets me or I don't like, I generally try and do something about it. If I can't do anything about it, I'll be deeply saddened or frustrated, but not worried.

4) I think I have a little bit of an obsessive compulsive personality. I can never stop at just one. It's all or nothing. So I can either open that packet of biscuits and expect to have inhaled them all within an hour, or leave it there for a week. I can never buy one skein of yarn or have just one book from a series of books (I LOVE books)

5) I'm the middle child of 5, 4 girls and then one boy. I do find birth order theories and studies quite interesting. I like to think I can get on with pretty much anyone, though I'm not sure if that's to do with birth order or just who I am. And would you believe it, but although I grew up in Hastings, me and all my sisters have all made our homes in Wellington. It's brilliant. In fact it needs a blog post all of it's own one day...that's if anyone would find reading it remotely interesting!

I love this photo, I think we all look pretty good in it...oh how I wish I still looked remotely like this (that's me in the wedding dress...7 1/2 years and 3 kids ago)

 

And here's the 5 of us, lined up in birth order like my Dad's siblings do. I'm sure people feel sorry for my brother for being the only boy with 4 big sisters, but I think he loves it, really.

 

Ok - and now to choose a few people to blog too...hmmmm - who might actually do it and whose blogs do I love to read

Alison - Kiwi Crafty Chemist

Kate - Chevgirl

Justine - JustJussi

Viv - Highway Cottage

 

 

 

 

Winter is coming...

I love this.

I just saw this on a friend's Facebook page and I thought, it's so true.

In my own knitting circles, people are always keen to a knit night and a catch up - of course a bit of knitting takes place along with yarn sharing, pattern showing and general gossiping. But as the weather gets cooler, the leaves start to turn golden brown and the mornings start to feel chilly - the motivation also ramps up.

Me, I've been relatively motivated lately. I have two patterns to have to Hannah of Red Riding Hood Yarns for her yarn club in the next while (ha ha, I'm not going to say exactly when, I don't want to give away exactly which month I'm designing for!) but today I wrote up the beginning of another pattern, named it (yessss! Love that part) and I'm hoping to get this one up and ready for testing in the next couple of weeks. It's getting cooler, it's time to start knitting! And seriously knitting - not just procrastinating about getting my knitting out.

Hoping you find your knitting mojo too if it's been enjoying the summer (I wanted to type 'hibernating', but it seemed so wrong to use for waning motivation over the warmer months!)

xx

J

Ps - I've just joined Twitter too! You can find me there as 'justonewip'. I don't really know what I'm doing or saying there, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon! I do so love all the knitting updates others post.

Primrose - Perfect for both hemispheres right now!

Introducing Primrose! Sadly, a beautiful pattern - which never made it to the blog as it was released amongst a haze of house selling/buying 'stuff' (Open homing and the like).

But I'm so proud of Primrose, and love the look of the pattern so much that it definitely deserves it's own blog post still! I was just thinking the other day, that at this time of the year, Primrose knitted in wool, is perfectly suited to both hemispheres. The days growing cooler in the autumn of the Southern and the still cool but growing warmer days of the Northern.

From Ravelry:
Primrose - The Little Sister Pattern To Katniss.
Pretty. Feminine. Delicate.

Primrose is a stylishly simple and seamless pattern, featuring sweet lace panels in the raglans, waist and hem.
Great for layering with leggings or jeans in winter as a tunic, or knit in cotton for a pretty summer dress.

Primrose is written in 11 sizes (NB - 10 years) and looks just as gorgeous on older children as it does on babies. It comes with three easy to follow options within the pattern for the empire waist band - lace, lace eyelet (looks lovely with a ribbon threaded through) and a no lace option.

I had wonderful testers of the pattern - just look at some of these photos! One thing I was pleased to learn during the testing, was that Primrose seems to suit older girls, just as well as younger. A true knit more than once type pattern.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It can be purchased via this link to Ravelry for $6USD, or you can click this link to buy now directly. href

="http://www.ravelry.com/purchase/julia-stanfield-designs/128501"><img src="http://www.ravelry.com/images/shopping/buy-now.gif" border="0"/>

 

Or you can just leave me lots of lovely comments, that's fine too!

 

xx

 

J

 

 

 

 

 

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!

It's so hilarious when children lose their teeth! Penny's lost her two top front teeth in the last week and it's just so funny looking at her!

She's gone from this:

Photo by Rachael Brown Photography, I actually can't find a photo on my computer from most of last year, eeek! Where have they gone!

To this (30th of January):

To this (23rd March):

And then on Easter Sunday (31st March) - she looked like this (she reminds me of a vampire, just a little!)

 

It is just a little bit hilarious isn't it!

Come Learn To Knit With Me!

I'm thrilled to post that I've been asked to teach a 'Learn to knit' course in Hanmer this year. From the 17-19th of May, you'll find me giving a workshop, teaching a small and intimate group of 6-10 how to knit! If you've always wanted to learn, but never had the time or the teacher - now's your chance.

Here's my blurb from the website:

Course - Beginner Knitting – seamlessly and speedily. In this course Julia will introduce the basics of knitting in the round including:

• How to use circular needles
• How to read a pattern
• Knitting basics – knit, purl, increasing, casting on and off
• How to fix mistakes
• How to check gauge
• Useful links and resources
• How to wind yarn into a ball from a skein
• Julia will also give a demonstration of how to dye yarn yourself using things you have at home
• Students will be working through a pattern for a child’s garment written by Julia with the aim of completing it over the weekend. 

But wait, there's more! I have a wonderful friend who happens to live in Christchurch and is a very talented knitter and yarn dyer - so Rachel Booker, of Featherbrush Yarns, will be joining me for the weekend! I'm so excited about that!

Rachel actually dyed and knitted this Little Hoodlum for my David! My pattern (and model lol), her yarn and knitting - a beautiful combination I think!

Go on, book your flights or get in the car. It's very reasonably priced, and if you're learning to knit, you will be able to knit fabulous items forevermore that would cost you a fortune to buy from a boutique shop!

Red Riding Hood Yarn Club - Grab Your Passport!

I'm so excited to be a small part of the Red Riding Hood Yarn Club this year. I'm in the middle of designing, knitting and testing 2 patterns as a designer for one of the months of her Winter Yarn Club! How thrilled was I to be asked!

It promises to be fun!

Hannah's note on her RRHY Facebook page says:

This year, the Winter yarn club will run for 3 months over May, June and July, then there will be an extra month that will be signed up for seperately, to give those who cannot afford a whole 3 month club a chance to get in on the action :)
You can choose to either purchase a boys, or a girls spot and will recieve all packages to suit.

The packages are totally themed, and will include:

• 200g Yarn
• Knitters gift ( notion of some kind )
• Edible Gift
• Exclusive childrens pattern from a Kiwi/Aussie Designer

I will have 36 places available this year, 18 boy spots and 18 girl spots.

Prices
The standard price this year will be $180 and includes postage within New Zealand. For Aussie club members an additional postage charge of $20 will be added. Other International members will have additional shipping.

You will have the choice to recieve both sets of patterns ( so if you're doing the girls club, you will also recieve the boys patterns) for an extra $10

Extra skeins of yarn will be able to be purchased for a discounted rate for club members wanting extra. Patterns are still currently in testing but i will advise closer to the time on which sizes need more than 200g yarn.

• Extra Skeins will be $30 each

Sign ups will be on April the 3rd at a 10PM NZT

To secure your spot you need to email me at redridinghood@hotmail.co.nz the following.

Your Name
Your Address
Whether you are NZ Residential, NZ Rural or Australia ( only open to Kiwis and Aussies sorry)
Whether you would like a boys spot or a girls spot
Whether you would like to receive the extra set of patterns ( so boys patterns if you purchase a girls club and vice versa) for an extra $10


Payment can be made by bank deposit (nz) or paypal ( both NZ or International. If NZ then please choose gifted so you pay the fees) no later than Thursday the 4th.

I will email you payment details once i receive your signup email.

Spots will be on a first in first served basis and are limited to 18 girls and 18 boys spots.

Parcels will be sent out the first week of each month, and signups for the extra Month will be on the 1st of July.

Good Luck!
Hannah x

So, sign ups are today!

But wait, there's more!

Grab your passport! Because the RRHY club is taking participants on a trip around the world, each designer (great designers too! Sarah Ronchetti, Kelly Brooker, Cathy Rubin - plus me in there too) is coming up with designs for a specific country.

 

So, don't get left behind! Go pop over to Hannah's group - have a look at last years packages and theme and then set your computer to set an email at the right time!

 

It's sure to be a fun 'trip'!

Pattern Naming

I just love coming up with names for patterns! I've recently named 4 upcoming patterns and I feel like I can really get to work on them once they are named. I find naming them is the easy part! Then the developing, knitting, writing, testing, formatting, photographing and releasing begins.

I have been working on a few patterns when I've felt like it over the last couple of months, but now that I have them named, watch this space! 3 are already destined for something special...more about that shortly, but the 4th I'm hoping to have ready for testing shortly so I can tie the release of it in with an upcoming KAL spot in the fabulous Budding Designers Downunder group in June.

I could've named many many more children too! But like I said, naming is the easy part! 3 will have to do!

My Designing Springboard

I'm so lucky to have a sister who designs patterns. I've written before about having a sister who happens to be also a talented designer. Man, it's so nice to be able to talk to someone close about the designing process and show her top secret designs, talk about names and colours and problems!

Sarah Ronchetti, my little sister, has just celebrated her first anniversary of releasing patterns. And with 22 well written patterns under her belt! Talk about diving in at the deep end! But I'm so proud of her and I love telling people of her designs. At a playgroup we both go to (we live probably 3 kms away from each other) I often point out the beautiful things her Amelia is wearing to other knitting admirers as being one of Sarah's designs. Super clever!

So go check out her blog - join her mailing list and look at her patterns if you haven't before - or go check out all her new ones! I particularly love the look of this hat, which was first released in Knit Now but now can be purchased via Ravelry.

 

Or this, her Shelley Bay pattern looks just beautiful!

 

She's also releasing a new boys pattern which looks fabulous, any day now!

 

Happy Anniversary Ses!

Happy Easter!

What's not to love about a public holiday which is celebrated by eating chocolate and hot cross buns? And with 2 days where the shops are shut, schools are closed and working husbands are home it's a great time to have a relaxed meet up with friends and family, as well as get a few things done around the house!

We've had a wonderful Easter - celebrating today with family that were around and a little Easter Egg hunt inside (seeing as it was raining and we have dogs outside that would've loved eating eggs intended for children!) I wish I'd thought to get the camera out for that. But here's a few snaps of my children enjoying eating chocolate!

 

 

 

Yesterday we caught up with our antenatal group for a hunt in the local reserve followed by a cuppa. I love our group - I suppose we're all postnatal now seeing as our oldest bebes are 6 and a bit years old - but it's a group of the most fabulous families I would likely not have met otherwise! And 6 years later we still have 9 families (though sadly two have recently moved away from Wellington) and 20 children between us!

 

 

 

 

I think that Easter always marks the beginning of knitting season too! Well, of course you can knit all year around - but the weather starts to get cooler, the days shorter and clothes need to start getting snugglier! Bring on the knitting!

Wishing you all a wonderful break

xx

J