Old, new and so much more than blue..

So, we have finally finished moving, and cleaning up after ourselves. We are 95% unpacked and organised, and it is a relief to have a place that feels like home again. Of course over this weekend just gone, most of the state of Victoria has seen a LOT of rainfall. There's been flooding in and around Bendigo, and parts of Shepparton and Wangaratta are on evacuation watch due to rivers having burst their banks. 

The rain, when it came was relentless, ferocious, and dare I say it, impressive! We have a lovely balcony at our new house which gives me a sheltered view night and day of a fair bit of Bendigo. It's a really nice place to sit and watch the goings on of the street, and also a nice place to sit and watch the rain - if a little deafening given the tin roof, common of houses this age. 

The old house is not entirely filled with new things though. I may have mentioned it before but I LOVE alot of things that are old or quirky. I love to take old things and make them new again through re purposing of giving them some love! Or just finding some things that are just in need of someone to appreciate them. 

This is my little teacup collection, and some old glass jars (with proper cork toppers!) that are brightening up the mantelpiece in the lounge with a splash of colour. Yellow, red and orange were all gotten from the local opshop (or thrift store / charity shop for overseas readers :p  Hi Sarah! ~waves~) as a set for 7 dollars. The green one is not old at all, but is part of the Turkish Delight collection from T2, that BigMac bought me for christmas last year. The three small jars though, are rather special. All three of them I found while cleaning out mum and dad's pantry, and I am told they belonged to my great grandmother. I've been carting them about from house to house since I got them, though normally I put them on a windowsill to catch the light. 

Clearly after setting that up I was in need of some more colour. I had been working on some new pants for Miss Chaos that were destined to be the subject of this particular blog. However the pattern and I disagreed and in an uncharecteristic show of obedience, i did what the pattern said. FAIL. Stupid pattern. Result, unwearable pants. To make myself feel a bit better I pulled out a different pattern, the Bettsy Kingston Market Skirt (link to where I bought it, too!). I yanked out some fabric I bought from a season clearance at Spotlight a while back, and got funky with some bright colour. 

The result is a bright, funky skirt that should fit Miss Chaos through this Spring, Summer and well into next Winter too. In under an hour, no less. 

As an added bonus, I made it so that it is completely reversible (bonus as she can be a little bit messy). I reccomend the pattern! A line skirts are not exactly rocket science, but for the cost of this pattern, it has a size range from a baby girls size 1, right up to a ladies size 18. Yay for versatility! One for me, next. 

She likes it anyways! I think it looks super cute. 

~~~~~~~~~~

A Moo of Cow(L)s

So - the move is done. Mostly. There's still cleaning to be done, unpacking to be done, the usual detritus. But everything that must be moved across, has been. 

Funny thing about moving though. It always costs a lot more than you think it will. It always takes more time than you think it will. And there is always a lot more effort involved than you think there will be. 

Also, there's always hiccups along the way. Like Telstra. Oh yes. Let's not even go there, shall we?

So I can now share a couple of finished items, one of which was a gift I couldn't share earlier. 

A friend of mine proposed a 'sad mothers swap'. No deadlines, no massive budget, just a nice simple knitted item swap for those of us who have difficulty being involved in more traditional swaps because of strict deadlines that are often interfered with by the uh.. little people in life. 

I had some handspun singles of some Merino/Rose fibre, dyed by Mandie at Ewe Give Me The Knits. 

Heavenly soft, this stuff is just gorgeous, and being single spun it spun up into lovely, definitive stripes. Also being single spun means much more yardage out of one braid. 

I knit it up into a feather and fan cowl, and some Veyla inspired mitts. 

Cowls are one of my favourite things to knit. They are quick, can be textured, plain, lacey - you name it. With buttons, or without. Unlike a scarf, you can fold 'em up and stuff em in your back pocket. They are easy on and off for the constant shifts in temperature we enjoy around here. and you can make them snug, or loose, and if they are loose you can fold them over and secure with a shawl pin or a brooch or even a badge if you feel the need for a bit of extra warmth that day.

So I made another one. For me. 

It rarely happens that I see fibre and know exactly what it wants to be. But this one did. 

Purchased from Charly of Ixchel yarns and fibres at Bendigo sheep and wool was this wee 50g braid of Merino/Cashmere/Angora.

Which got spun up into 150 metres of 3 ply / Fingering weight yarn a couple of updates back. 

And has since become another feather and fan cowl, for me. 

Both cowls used pretty much the same pattern, but the first I knit on smaller needles, and threw a garter stitch round in there to take advantage of the stripey goodness. 

I love this shawl pin. You might have to tilt your head but it's a treble clef. 

Both cowls made with handspun, slight variant on the same pattern, both super warm and very soft. 

I like living in my tactile world, wherever it may be based. 

~~~~~~~~~~