Swankymink a shawl of risks!

So the wedding of my sister is done and dusted. There was good food, and good dancing and some not so good dancing, and much fun was had. 

Also done and dusted is Cladonia (rav link) the shawl I was knitting to wear to the wedding to keep me warm. It's knit from SilkyMink yarn from Ixchel Yarns and Fibres, (one ball of black, one of burgundy) a 4ply/fingering weight yarn which is 70% mink, 10% angora bunny, 10% silk and 10% lambswool. I didn't think I would finish it in time. And i didn't think I had enough yarn, because according to ball bands and pattern requirements I would of been about 150 metres short. 

Finish it I did - I knit furiously the night before, and in the car on the way down to the wedding, and in the hotel room before the wedding too. It was finished one hour before the wedding and hastily blocked while I fed the baby, and in the end when I threw it on it was still ever so slightly damp. Risky, but it worked out!

Run out of yarn I did not. I still have about 20 metres of the red yarn left, and about 70 metres of the black left. More risky knitting behaviour (ok not that risky, I used lifelines just in case) that paid off. 

Did you know that mink is super warm? It is! At no point last night did I feel the need to put my big winter coat on as well as this shawl, and last night was your traditional cold n stormy evening. 

All in all, big win! I love it. 

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More finished objects, party frock edition!

I'll start this off with a warning: this post is PIC HEAVY. Some might say laden with pics. I am still playing catch up on showing off the finished objects, so I've decided to just throw em all in one post and be done with it. So, on with the show, starting with the least recent through to most recent. 

This little set was made for a gift, which is why I have been a bit lazy with putting pics up. They were waiting for me to get off my butt and send them to the recipient, but now I have, I can flash. (heheh)

The yarn is a 100% cashmere sportweight, which I was gifted by another lovely raveler who was not in love with the colour. The scarf is a skinnier, longer version of the Saroyan Pattern (ravelry link) and the mitts are 'Veyla' (ravelry link) by the lovely Ysolda Teague. The recipient appreciated them very much and they worked out so lovely, and buttery soft. 

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Next up another knitted item! We have a wedding to attend this weekend, my sisters wedding, and I thought that given it would still be fairly cool I should probably knit our new wee mister Bram a vest. A cabled one. which, to me, means a nice natural coloured wool. On a trip up to visit Ms Mandie at her shop Ewe Give Me The Knits I discovered some really nice nut brown natural coloured balls of 8 ply, so I bought one and made him a nice cabled vest to go with a nice shirt and pants. 

It's a nice pattern, and a free one too. The pattern is the Pembroke Pattern by Kirsten Kapur. I've been worried for a while that I made it too big and it would not fit him (even though he has grown quite a bit!) but I tried it on him today for an 'action shot' and it's perfect. As an added bonus, he even gave me a grin :)

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Moar knitting! Yes? More? Ok. 

Last year at Bendigo sheep and wool show, I made a really nice cowl which was for sale there. I got the husbeast to model it for me for a finished object shot, and he mentioned at the time that he would quite like a cowl for himself. That year he picked out some fibre at the IxchelBunny stand for me to spin and knit into a cowl for him. Which while I had the best of intentions, kind of.. didn't happen. THIS year however, back at the Ixchel stand he picked out some beautiful Bison/Bamboo yarn, which I DID knit into a cowl for him, and very quickly too may I add!

Look at that smug bastard. Look how warm he is, and how cozy! The hat was knit for him last year from some handspun Southern Cross Fibre, and the cowl as mentioned was knitted out of yarn from Ixchel Yarns and Fibres, and it is AMAZING stuff. 

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That's it then? That's all I did? Lazy sod, i thought this was a literal PILE of finished objects? Yeah it is. and so endeth the knitting portion of the finished objects. Now we can understand why I literally haven't had a spare moment in weeks!

I love weddings. I do. and I also love sewing. But, as it turns out, to my surprise, the thing I love to sew the most, is a good party frock. And for me, with my penchant for 50's sort of stle, red and black, and polkadots, this is the party frock to end ALL party frocks. 

I may even find other excuses to wear it. Anywhere and everywhere, i say! (and look, my head is IN these shots!). The pattern is Butterick fast and easy pattern B5317, and it was indeed, surprisingly fast and easy. The fabric is two different types of taffeta I found in one of my (man. many!) trips to spotlight and I love love love it. 

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Problem is, around here, if I make something for myself, I then MUST make something for the kids too. Which is fair enough because their wardrobe IS kind of lacking at the moment. (growth spurts tend to cause that). So, back to the patterns and the sewing machine (and err.. spotlight) we go. 

Master Mayhem needs himself something a little bit funky and a little bit classy. So he has new pants, and a new vest, both of which are patterns from Ottobre magazines. The vest has been cut down from one of Macs old vests and re-worked because the vest no longer fit him, but the fabric and buttons were still too good to go to waste. Added bonus? pockets were already there. These pants have been dubbed 'Hey Ya' pants, and he does pull quite the 'ice cold!' look while in them. 

(don't know where 'Hey Ya' or 'ice cold' come from? Check out this film clip, and you'll figure it pretty quick!)

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Nearly there - last one I promise. But I think I saved the best till last. The piece de resistance party frock. As many might know I am less than enthused about the colour pink. Buuuuut when you are a 4 year old girl, pink is THE BUSINESS. Miss Chaos often protests at how much she dislikes it when I choose clothes for her that are not OMGPINK. She likes stuff that is PINK, sparkly and / or furry. In that order. Preferably all three at once. So when I made this for her (just finished last night) I was very worried it would not be (as usual) pink ENOUGH. 

I needn't have worried. She wpoke us up with her squeals when she walked into the loungeroom this morning and saw it hanging there, finished. 

The fabric is all from spotlight, and the black cherry blossom fabric was a bit more pricey than I would usually spring for, being the tight ass that I am. But I figured if I had to work with such pinkness it was going to be nice fabric. And it had cherry blossoms on it. I love cherry blossoms. 

Apparently that dress and those shoes are 'good for dancin'!' according to her. (see the shoes? Found them on clearance at Big W for $5. what a bargain!)

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Ok, NOW I am done. In more ways than one. I'm relieved I can spend tonight curled up on the couch with some nice relaxing knitting as opposed to hunched over the sewing machine. Yup, relaxing chill out time. Now - who wants to see if I can finish this lace shawl by Saturday, without running out of yarn? Ready, Set, GO!

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