Bracelet

I have started this but am unsure if I like the effect.

my Latest socks

As you can see I wear my hand knitted socks 

Antonia Shawl

I finished the Antonia shawl. I am very happy with it . I still have to block it but here it is.

Flower in our yarn

We have a cactus garden in our front yard this plant has been in the bed for a years but has never flowered  last week it was just taler than the leaves. Its growing at a very fast rate about 3 inches a day. I can't wait to see the flower.

As you can see our front yard is very dry and we have just finished winter. believe it or not we had a good winter too.

Beaded Box

I have had a comment about my beaded box I posted last week. I made it from a new book I was given called Little Bead Boxes by Julia s. Pretl. in the book there are instructions for 12 small boxes. It is very well written and the instructions are fantastic.Amazon have it for only 14.96 which is a great price .The Photo of my box is a bit green because it was taken under the shade cloth outside.

My Week

I have spent most of this week in pain. I have 5 prolapsed disc's in my lower back. most of the time its not to bad , my pain killers work quite well but this week its been impossible to walk and  have had to spend my time between my  bed and my recliner. I have been doing a bit of knitting but thats hard to concentrate on. So yesterday I tried beading a few pen's. This prompted me to make the tutorial on my free patterns page.

My Knitting

My Antonia shawl from Knitting delights is coming along quite nicely. I am very happy with it. Ithe Alpaca I had spun for this is going to have a ball left over . I don't know what I can knit out of the leftovers but I will find something .

Free pattern

I have just posted a new free pattern , I hope you all have a go at the amulet bag

Bobbin Lace

I am always looking for some thing new to try. For a while I have wanted to have a go at bobbin lace. I have been given all the gear from a friend who has given up on the idea. after reading a couple of books on the subject I think I know why they gave up. I plan on giving it a go but I don't hold out much hope of succeeding.

My Knitting

At the moment apart from all the things I have on the go I am knitting a shawl from my home spun alpaca . It's knitting up great even though there are some thicker spots were I have not spun the best. I have been spinning my own yarn for the last seven years. I was given a Ashford wheel for my 40th birthday. My grand mother taught me to spin as a child. This grand mother also taught me how to do a lot of my handy work. she had me crocheting under 5 and knitting at about 7. since I injured my back at work and was unable to return to work. I have spent my time doing handy craft of all types.  I get bored with the same thing all the time  so I am always looking for new things to try. Just after my back surgery I was bed ridden for a few months I was given a book on tatting it took a while but in the end i had taught myself to tat. It's slow but the lace you get is lovely. unfortunately my grand mother died this year she was 94 I know she had a good long life but I miss her. Grand Pa still going strong , he is 95 and has just got his first computer and is now surfing the net amazing.

My Baby Girl

Here is Peanut waiting for me to get back to my seat. Peanut has lived with us 16 years. She was  found her on a bridge (across a highway ) easter  Sunday. No one answered our flyers so she stayed with us after our son's really wanted to keep her. The vet thought she was about 18 months old or so. She was hungry and flee ridden but transformed into the best friend you could ask for.

Patterns

I have added a pattern for another pen cover on my pattern page. Have a look and see.

Antonia Shawl

I have started knitting a shawl from Knitting - Delight web site. I spun the black alpaca  and plied it with an embroidery sewing thread. It is very soft and cuddly. I don't plan on selling this one because the wool took a bit of time to spin. the Alpaca cost $40.00 aus  so once it was spun and knitted its quite time consuming.I just love my Knit pick needles the are a dream to knit anything with. I gave my mother a set for her 70th last year and she is amazed how wonderful they are to knit with.

Bead Box

I just finished beading this box from a book I was lent to practice so I can teach our group how to make them

Beaded Bag

 Above is the close up of my Knitting Die Spinnerin asked me for. I hope you can see how the beads sit.

The finished Purse.

I still have to close the bottom and maybe do a bit of fringing on the bottom. I couldn't find a frame that fit the top so I made it draw string like the pattern in the Bead and Button Magazine.

Bead knitting

I have finished my beaded purse. I can't believe how nice it looks

My Youngest Son

This photo is of my youngest son , Dylan and his fiancée Carly . They visited us last month.
what a Lovely couple !

Father Christmas

The  Felt Santa's  I learnt how to make at Mum's craft group last week. 

Lace yarn

All I have to do now that I have this Yarn is find a great pattern . I suppose I also need to find time to acutely knit it !

Bead Bag

I have strung my beads twice on the crochet cotton getting  ready to knit the bag.The first try I had the beads strung back and forward not in the round. Luckily I had only knitted a few rows before I realized what was wrong.  I hope it works right this time. If I find a mistake I will have to cut the thread and add beads or remove beads I just hope I don't have to do this too many times. What are you thoughts ?

Sock in tube

 Now my sock will not escape the needles while I am not knitting.

I just love these tubes, I can

leave my sock in my Hand bag and knit any time any were.

Yarn Arrived

I have just unpacked my yarn order from Knit Picks. I had to get my Pen friend Kathy to post my order on from her address because Knit picks don't send to Australia. I can't wait to get into the sock yarn. In the order there were also some nick- knacks like holders for my sock needles and a tube for holding your sock in progress. I hope the two different  lace yarn's in my package is OK for the new mystery pattern on Knitting delights.

Craft Fair

Mum and I went to the craft fair yesterday . I brought some 4mm Faceted round beads for some of the necklace I plan to make from the book netting all the way. I will have to order the number 11s I need off the Internet because even though it was a bead and quilt fair there was no one selling seed beads only big beads for stringing. I also joined the lace making guild , I have been planning to do this for a while but have not got around to it. I love tatting and have all the equipment to do bobbin lace I just need a few lessons.

Craft Fair

I  am going to the state craft fair this weekend. I am looking forward to seeing the beads. I love the quilt display as well. Last time I went there were Quilts from Japan.I would love to go to the bead shows in America but there is no chance of that. Our craft fair is not as big as the one in Melbourne or Sydney but its pretty good.

I was given this booklet by Varvara Barsky - Netting All The Way. It has the best necklaces , Earrings and bracelets. I just had to try one , so I spent all my free time over the weekend beading. what do you think?

This is Barb wearing the shawl I knitted, she loved it so much she brought it from me. I know I was a bit cheep but I covered my costs. She was happy to pay $50.00