Introducing...

So, the release day is quickly approaching - let me introduce to you the project I've been working on.

The Little Rascals is a collection of 3 versions of unisex, easy to knit, seamless and versatile patterns - great for wearing out and about and for mucking around in the backyard.

From left to right - Hotshot, Hoodlum and Young Einstein (with short sleeves, the instructions include long sleeves)

 The patterns have a variety of options - hood, collar, contrast edge, moss stitch or garter stitch, wide sleeves or tapered - a ton of possibilities. They can also be knit from either 8 or 10ply yarn (dk or worsted weight) and it includes sizes newborn up to 10 years.

Little Hoodlum

The v-necked jersey

 

Hotshot

The v-necked vestee

Young Einstein

The cardigan/jacket.

The release day at the moment is set for the 20th of June. The pattern will be available for purchase via Ravelry and hopefully also via my blog.

As well as the pattern being available for sale, I'll be offering custom knitting of any of The Little Rascals.

   

From left to right - Young Einstein (with hood), Little Hoodlum (with hood) and Hotshot (with hood)

I've been just so lucky though in the knitting friends that I have and the knowledge and support they've given me.  I'm incredibly grateful to you all!

Thank you to all my fabulous testers – Rachel, Georgie, Christine, Alison, Ali, Amy, Nat, Kath, Nikki, Anna, Margaret, Katherine, Michaela, Krissie, Jax, Gen, Pipi, Sarah and Julie. There is no way I could’ve done this without you all. I really do appreciate your enthusiasm, your help, and your thorough and honest feedback with this. Mwah!

Prior to (and during) the final test – there were a number of designers and friends that offered solutions and support with the pattern development, including pointing out where to begin and where to find useful information as well as answering my many questions. Thanks so much to Georgie Hallam, Shannon Passmore, Kelly Brooker, Sheryl Greenfield, Rachel Evans, Katherine Oxlade Knack, Ali George, Alison Daines, Rachel Ferguson and Justine Turner

A huge thank you to Emma Frost for putting her creative touch on the final product and her help with the editing

If you're a knitter and thinking of purchasing it - I hope you'll be as excited about it as I am! I really do want it to be a pattern that people enjoy knitting and want to knit!

I do ask that purchasers of the pattern respect me and other designers out there by not making copies of it or emailing it to friends. My intention was always to make it affordable so that everyone could purchase their own copy rather than passing on rogue copies. I hope when you see the price, you’ll agree it’s fair and encourage your friends to buy it themselves rather than giving them a copy. Thanks!

Pile On

I mentioned a 'pile on' at my local knitting night when someone wouldn't share some info - and afterwards wondered if anyone had understood. When I was younger, we used to have pile ons at my house. I'm one of 5 kids, and we used to pile on top of one of my sisters or brother (not normally my brother as he was the youngest and would've been squashed flat). Sometimes when you wanted to know something, you'd just do a 'pile on' pinning the person down...tee hee hee.

I hope my family don't mind me sharing this pic taken in 1984 - when we found it we actually were thrilled, it had been missing for probably 15 years and we all decided it was a nice one of all of us...can you spot which one is me?

I've also got a pile of knitting - some for orders that I've completed and will wrap and get ready for couriering tonight. Others are my test knits that are still waiting for the launch of the pattern - so that I don't need them for anything anymore - and some are for gifts or to sell when I get around to it.

We had a non-rainy day yesterday so I actually managed to get some outside photos - they're the best

Speaking of the pattern - I'm almost getting a little excited...I think this pattern may actually get released! Earlier this year I hit a few speed bumps of my own doing with the pattern and so I've been waiting for more and more...but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Watch this space for more pics and info in a couple of days - I've set the 20th as the day of release, though I still have testers knitting like crazy so unless we hit some more speed bumps that take a bit longer to sort - June the 20th it is.

Thanks everyone for your encouragement and help with the patterns! Mwah!

eden

I am licensed to knit Eden's Adam and Eden's Eve, by designer tiKKi (Georgie Hallam). I was lucky enough to be a tester for this wonderful pattern for Georgie and am very happy to be able to knit these for sale.

This is a fabulous top - it looks great on both boys and girls, and can be worn in summer knit in cotton as a singlet top on it's own. Knitted in wool, in the winter wear it as a bottom layer against the skin or over the top of a long sleeved top as a vest. You'll get plenty of wear all year round from a garment like this!

The Eden's Adam is pictured here as I am yet to knit the Eden's Eve, but if you are interested in seeing what the dress version looks like you can see that on tiKKi's blog here

The size ranges from newborn up to size 10

There are a number of options and ideas in the pattern to personalise it and make your garment different and special from others. Both my children's have garter stitch stripes at the top - but you may prefer to have it knit in a solid colour, or a variegated with a solid colour at the top. Have a look at more pictured on Coco Kids for just some ideas of how it can be made.

To enquire about or order an Eden's Adam or Eden's Eve email me. The other Coco Kids knitters, Ali and Kate, are also able to knit one for you.

I (along with Kate) am also currently licensed to knit Milo Vests, also designed by Georgie Hallam

Remember this?

Just a quick wee post - but recently I posted a buttonless picture of a Roaring Meg I've knitted - like this...

There's nothing like a photo where it's been completed and modelled though - here it is now

Boy this is a gorgeous wee design - I do have to admit I do quite like this modified version of it

Here it is from the back

Now, it might look a bit short on Penny...well that's because it's not for her ;) It's for a beautiful wee 18 month old - Penny just happens to have the right sized chest for modelling.

And if you're interested in your own Roaring Meg - flick me an email (just be aware that I'm completely booked up for orders in June at the moment and July is filling up quickly)

Scratching The Knitting Itch

That's the slogan of 'Knitsch' - a fabulous new yarn business! I'm a bit lucky as it's kind of my own portable LYS - when Tash and her mum Sonja come to knitting nights we might be lucky enough to have a wee fondle of some of the yarns. Last night we watched Tash label some yarns in preparation for Craft 2.0 on the 12th of June here in the Hutt - and I put together my 'must buy on the day' list.

I've actually got a couple of yarns from Knitsch already...see, about a month ago when I was taking part in a colour swap I decided I loved her 'You are my sunshine' BUT it was an 8 ply swap so Tash agreed to do some custom dyeing for me...here's the result. It's 300gms of the YAMS and 100gms of solid trim.

The funny thing is that this photo was taken today...the yarn swap was completed in May. I loved this yarn so much that I decided that I wasn't ready to gift it just yet - though I do have something in mind for it!

This I managed to snaffle last week when Tash was having a sale - it's 'Spice' and if I remember correctly Tash said that she wasn't going to be doing it again. I guess that makes it limited edition ;) And no, this yarn is not intended for me...I probably shouldn't put it up on here yet!

This is on Tash's 4 ply, it's 100% merino wool, 167 m and has a lovely tight twist to the yarn which makes it suitable for anything - including socks. It's also machine washable and lovely and soft. You might also notice that they are 50gm skeins - which means if you actually want 150gms for a larger shawl it's easy! You just buy 3.

And finally, a few wee skeins of Margaret Stove's Artisan Lace to add to my stash - boy is this yarn lovely!

We were shown a number of items knit with it last night, and some of Margaret's patterns that can be used with it. You can get a whole wee singlet out of one 300m/20gms skein, or scarf, or bonnet and booties sets. Margaret Stove is Sonja's ma and Tash's g'ma - yarn's in the blood.

Have a look here and here too if you'd like to read a bit more about Tash. She's running a sock club soon too...it promises to be extremely exciting! I'm SO in for this one!

Let's Play A Game

Spot the difference anyone?

Did you spot it? We have a lovely newish feature in our backyard courtesy of our neighbour - Maungaraki School.

Ok, it's not so lovely, and it's not a feature - it's a staffroom and classroom, built as close as legally allowed. Fair enough so you say - it's legal.

Yep, it may well be, but of all the places to put that building! Our property is built on 'cut' so we're well below the level at the top of our property where the school is. This means that it's probably similar to having a 2 story building go up next door. Except that this one is full of teachers and children - blergh ;)

Ok, so the building is there. We knew we could never stop it. But, to cut a long story shorter - when the school told us that they were going to build it regardless of the obvious impact it would have on us and our property, they offered to mitigate the effects by

1) planting appropriately on their side of the boundary

2) frosting the windows facing our property

3) extend the height of our fence (I say our fence because when we moved in 5 1/2 years ago there was a chicken wire fence which we didn't think was satisfactory in terms of privacy. We asked the school to go halves in the materials costs of a new fence which Blair would build and the school said no as the current fence served their purposes. We lost a case at the Disputes Tribunal regarding it as schools have quite different rules in comparison with a residential property)

Anywho - on asking the school when they will extend the height of the fence (and forgetting the other offers) they've returned to us and said that they no longer will be.

Letters have been sent to Hon Anne Tolley the Minister or Education, as well as local MPs - let's just say the MoE didn't offer any solution and so now we're heading back to the MP's. But this started in August last year - it's a frustrating situation!

And lets be honest, how many people like the idea of singing and dancing and playing with their kids in the backyard with a staffroom of teachers or classroom of children merely metres away. Not me.

Damn and Blast

You know, there's nothing scarier to someone that provides custom knitting than hearing a click in their wrist and feeling it in their arm when they pick up their needles! It doesn't bode well for racing through the orders over the winter season (though never fear those with orders! I'm not one that wouldn't get orders completed)

But then, there's no huge surprise really...not now that I think about it. Did you know this year I have completed 51 knitted items and knit up 9615 metres (or 10515 yds) - that's an average of 188 metres per project, so we're not talking about 50 odd dishcloths...though there was only 1 adult knit in there, and that was a scarf in 4 ply, not a jersey or anything.

I'm also a touch off 10350 views - which isn't bad for a blog that went public in Nov - that means it's now 7 months Coco kids has been up and running then.

Thanks! Thanks for your orders, your comments - and hopefully some suggestions for avoiding RSI (besides not knitting lol)

LOST

No, nothing to do with knitting or anything - but I've been following the series LOST since it started back in 2004 I think it was.

I always thought it was a bit weird, but interesting, and hey - it was one of the few programmes that both Blair and I were happy to sit and watch together (strangely ;) he's not a fan of Grey's Anatomy or Brothers and Sisters - though he does like Glee funnily enough).

Tonight, and the last couple of episodes were meant to be the big reveal. The 'everything will click into place episodes'. Now, it might've been because I was sitting with the 'puter on my lap, a calculator in my hands and a set of random needles with some projectless yarn fiddling - but it didn't make sense to me.

I feel lost - and not exactly satisfied.

I did wonder if I'd given it my complete attention if it would've made more sense, but Blair wasn't absolutely clear on what had happened either.

Speaking of LOST - before it was on tonight, I was in a wee panic...you see, I've a couple of projects on the go at the mo which hopefully will be revealed in June - but I couldn't find something vital. I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to saving and recording things...though my non-existant system for finding where I actually put them obviously needs an overhaul as I turned the place upside down searching. It did however turn up before LOST began, hence why I wasn't completely engrossed in it.

Any other LOST followers?

There are so many things I should be doing...

And yet here I am at half past 10, writing another blog entry - the second on here for today (and I've written 3 on Coco Kids, composed 2 posts on TNN and emailed various people regarding things that of course I've decided need doing today)

I've actually got a whole host of things I should be doing...like cleaning, knitting, paying the bills online, perhaps even going to bed at some stage but to be honest, I'm not particularly enthusiastic about any of that. Hence the procrastinating.

So, instead - I'll show off a few things I've knit up lately?

An Amy Pinafore for a friend, this was in Bendigo Luxury, Purple Storm as the main colour and Iris Mist as the contrast for the ruffles. I wish I had taken a photo of it on her little girl Rose when she came to pick it up because it really did look very cute!

I've also knit a Roaring Meg lately - but with a few modifications - let me just refresh your memory as to what my last one looked like...

                       

Here's the modified one - it has very short sleeves, no garter stitch and a moss stitch edge (and ok, it still needs buttons but finding the perfect ones has been hard). I've actually been to all the yarn and fabric shops in Lower Hutt and left them all without finding them yet.

And, while I'm showing a Justine Turner design, here's a wee test knit I've completed of hers recently - I hope she doesn't mind me sharing it already. The pattern is called 'Ember' and it's ingenious I tell you! Definitely got my brain working, but once I had it figured out I was very impressed by the construction and design of it, not to mention the speed with which it knit up. This one is destined for a special friend with a special babe.

I've actually knit a few more items up that I'm a bit 'shhh secret squirrel' about at the moment. It's for a pattern that I'm currently having tested - and man, it's a big and draining job. I don't know if I'll ever organise a pattern for testing the way it's currently being tested ever again, but here's hoping that early June I'll be able to tell you of my pattern release all going well.

I should be knitting up the next pattern in the series at the moment - the next pattern that will be tested and released - maybe that will suddenly become my priority tomorrow instead of the washing and bill paying.

Kids Handwarmers

Introducing another pattern that I love, and that I'd love to knit for you!

A friend of mine, Samantha Goodin has just developed a cute little handwarmers pattern that I was lucky enough to test - and I loved it so much (and more to the point, Penny loves her pair of handwarmers so much too) that I'm now able to knit these puppies for sale

You'll have to excuse the variety of colours Penny is wearing, she loves to dress herself

These practical little handwarmers are great for kids - they can still use all their fingers and thumb to play and manipulate things while keeping their hands toasty warm. They're also great for thumb and finger suckers, it means that they can still access their thumb/fingers while sitting in the stroller while you're out for a walk or in their carseat.

Penny's steering the 'pirate ship' here

These fit from approximately 1-5 years.

Contact me via email if you'd like to order - they are $12 a pair (or $16 including courier).

For any knitters out there, Sam's running a competition on her blog at the moment to celebrate the launch of her pattern - check out the link above for more information.