More knits!

My sister Chelsea took some pictures so I could show the stuff I have made for her in the past. Check it out:


This one is a skull sweater I knit for her for Christmas last year and a black tuque with cables (hard to see the cables).


This is a scarf I knit her, I don't think you can see how cool the pattern is. It's crisscross rib. I love it!


This is a pink cable tuque I knit for Chels a couple years ago. I sewed little purple star buttons on it for some sass.


This is Chelsea's boyfriend Jered in a tuque I knit for him at Christmas. She gave him the black eye for looking at another girl. Haha, just kidding, he's a rugby player and got it in their championship match - which they won.

I'm pretty much a tuque specialist, as it's an easy present (I can start and finish most tuques in 2 hours) and in a cold canadian winter - extremely useful. But that was before all my friends started having babies. Now I am a baby sweater-knitting machine. Right now I am knitting a little sweater for my friend Shelley's baby boy (unborn) that is a little version of the Highlanders jersey (Shelley and Grant's favorite Super 14 team). Will post it upon completion.

Knitty Calendar

I entered this contest. I don't usually enter contests, but this one - well, I just couldn't pass it up. There is a website called knitty.com and they have issues for every season. In the issues are various patterns that you can download for free. Some of them are a bit unusual, but some of them are awesome. I have downloaded quite a few patterns. For the contest, you were allowed 3 pictures, of the same garment or different ones, that will be going in a calendar of knitty knits. The point was to make nice pictures that would look good on a wall for a month, showing off the piece (not just knitter wearing the garment, posing with a cheesy smile). Below are the pictures I entered. The little girl in the picture with me is Wallis (7), daughter of my friend Jenny and she is wearing a poncho I knit for her a couple years ago. Quite an eyesore actually, but she chose the colours and wool and LOVES it. She does look rather cute in it too. The photographer was Sidonie (13) (Jenny's other daughter). The knitty garments are the vest, the headband and the fingerless gloves. I have my fingers crossed. We had little time, so we had only one photo session, but I think they are ok. And I am just glad I entered. Wish me luck!!


We call this one "Picking grapefruit". Many kiwis have fruit trees if some sort in their backyards.


This one is called "Crossing the street".


Simply called "Cuppa tea".

Sorry, beanie

Kiwis have lots of funny names for things. Well, maybe not funny, just different than we north americans (for those of you who don't know, canadians come for north america too, not just americans). However, in this case, I think we canadians stand alone. No one knows what the hell a tuque is. See picture below. It is simply the french name for beanie. But to me a beanie is a little round hat with a propeller on top, so I prefer to say tuque.

Below is a picture of my bestest friend Jillie with a "beanie" I made about 2 years ago. I like it because it has green in it and because it has cables. Also because it is knit in a thick cotton yarn as not to itch.

the little knitter??

Funny, I actually haven't posted anything I have knit yet. Since that is semi what this blog is for, I am going to begin with some of my past projects. I am living out of my suitcase at a friends house right now, so I am not really knitting anything, but when I finish a new project I will post a picture of it right away.

Here's some of my collection from 2005:



This is little Sydney, my beautiful friend Tristin's daughter when she was only a few months old. I adapted a pattern for a baby sweater that I knit for little Ella (see below) for finer wool on smaller needles. It is a bit big, but she grew into it. I also had to adapt the pattern for the little bear hood because the pattern made the hood way to big for little Sydney. The bear combo is one of my favorites.







This is little Ella in the sweater I knit for her (Ross and Ang picked out the wool and pattern). Again, a bit big, but she grew into it. She is also modelling Sydney's bear hood as I needed to make sure it would fit and they are like 3 weeks apart. Adorable.







Here are some things from the 2006 collection:




This is a little dress I crocheted for my good friends Chantal and Greg's little baby Ava. It is from a knitting book my Gramma used to knit for my cousin, myself and my sister. The patterns are classic, you just don't see detail like that anymore. I love this dress. Worth the effort.



I have missed about 8 friends weddings since living at the bottom of the world, but none has been more devastating than Tristin's (a best friend) and Jana's (only cousin). I knit them each a garter to wear under their dress. Jana's dress was blue, so she got the white one, Tristin's dress was white, so she got the blue one.

I know, I know, it seems like all I knit is baby stuff, but seriously, it's getting ridiculous! I only know pregnant, trying to be pregnant or recently new mothers. ALL my friends have babies or will in the next sort of 6 months. So my knitting needles seem to only knit baby stuff. I have also knit my sister a couple sweaters, a new tuque, and a purse (which is part of the 2007 collection and I plan on putting up here because it is awesome!), I have knit my best friend Jillie a sweater, my Mum a shawl and a poncho, my Dad some golf club covers, AJ a sweater and a tuque (camouflage - I love it) and countless tuques for friends. But unfortunately I don't have photos of them. It's ok, I have plenty of stuff to show off, and there will definitely be more to come.

I will post the 2007 collection another time.

Long time no blog

Yeah I know, I am brutal, but I have a totally legit excuse. I have been in Thailand for a whole month travelling around with AJ. It was GREAT!!! I was so apprehensive about "backpacking", I thought it was so not me. But I actually found it much easier than I thought it would be. But alas, now I am back to New Zealand, back to work and back to reality. Sigh. Actually, I should get my a in g because a month is a huge time to be on holiday and I do have a thesis to write... I am waiting for AJ to send me a CD of our pictures because I am lazy and if I know someone else is taking pictures I don't bother. I have a few that I will definitely post with stories, but his are way better. Thailand was so hot and (in most places) so beautiful. We did some really fun things, like a 2 day trek with elephants, hikes up mountains, swims in waterfalls and bamboo rafting, I did a thai cooking course, we hopped from island to island in the south and we kayaked around and just laid on the beaches all day - it was fantastic. Pictures to come but just wanted to say that's where I've been. Now back to work...