First Handspun

firsthandspun
Originally uploaded by Lis_

I finally got the spinning wheel up and running. This is my very first hand spun yarn!
It's not all that even, and there are a few lumpy bits lol, but hey, at least it actually looks like yarn.

FO: Revontuli/Northern Lights Shawl

I'm all done!



Pattern: Revontuli -huivi/Northern Lights
Web Link: here
My Rav Link: here
Yarn: Kauni Effektgarn 8/2
Needles: 5mm



More photos on my Rav page, or in Flickr
I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, especially after all the problems I had with the yarn. Great pattern~!

Here's the top that Grandma just finished making for Caitlyn. It's very cute!







Pattern: Tropical Lily
My Rav Link: here
Web Link: here
Thanks Tikki!

Yes I'm a slack blogger...

I have actually been knitting in my absence though :-)



I have been working on this shawl for a few weeks, on and off. I think I am almost near the end, I only have one repeat of the chart left to do... but each row seems to take forever. I never thought I would enjoy purling 100s of stitches back but I like not having to count the purl row ;-)



Pattern: Revontuli -huivi/Northern Lights
Web Link: here
My Rav Link: here
Yarn: Kauni Effektgarn 8/2
Needles: 5mm

I found this pattern a bit hard to get my head around at first, probably because the author is from a non-english speaking background, I think. Not her fault anyway :-)
After a few repeats I didn’t really have to look at the chart anymore, so this shawl has happened rather quickly! It’s a lot of fun watching the colours play out, and I’m finding it pretty addictive.

I am seriously not happy with this yarn though. I just wound it into a ball to check for joins/knots and found one knot, and then another join where GREEN was joined with PURPLE.
Then I had to somehow work out where exactly I should cut and rejoin it.

After knitting with the 2 part balls that I have rewound, I have completed the purple section. I have noticed that the purple - instead of gradually fading to the next colour, (like the other colours have) - is plied with a light blue, creating a tweed effect that is completely different to the rest of the yarn. It appears that there is no dark blue at all, just purple that is plied to light blue, which then fades back to green.

I am pretty bummed at how the colour sequence had to turn out (no choice after removing all the knots and dodgy joins).
I’m sure I’ll be more happy with it after it’s done and blocked.

still not sure about this...

lachiebeach
Originally uploaded by Lis_

Birthday

Birthday
Originally uploaded by Lis_

Happy Birthday Lachie!

I can't believe he is 2 already! ... I really, can't... believe it.
I don't have a baby anymore :-(

Don't have much time, just a quick photo of the birthday cupcakes. It is so hot and humid here today, the icing is melting within minutes... I had to go put them in the fridge...



Thanks Lesley for your great recipe!

(no comments about my crappy icing techniques please LOL)

Chocolate Milk...

How do you like Caitlyn's choice of nicely matched PJs? haha.

"I wanna press the cook button, Mummy"

lachiecooking
Originally uploaded by Lis_

Overdue photos part 1....

These photos are all from the couple of days that we spent at the Kalahari indoor waterpark/resort.
You would not believe how strange it is to be swimming and riding water slides while looking out the window and seeing snow falling.
We had a really great deal on the room that we stayed in, and it was amazing, we had an electric fireplace, and 2 bedrooms... ours had a king size bed, and ensuite with a spa, and there was a big LCD tv in the living area. (and a tv in each of the bedrooms- which I don't think were used once!)

What's wrong with this picture?

I couldn't resist taking a photo... when we were at Kalahari.
More photos to come.

Yarn ahoy

I know I have been slack and not updated here for ages, and I have a ton of photos to upload, and posts about Christmas etc, but first some yarn!
I bought these all at LYSs while we were in Madison.

I got some other bits and pieces and some boring yarn too... still have to take photos of those though.

Last night Kev's cousin Ian slept over, because his parents and older brother were busy doing the tour of his new college campus, and so Caitlyn and Ian could have a bit of fun playing together. Last night after he went to bed, Caitlyn cried when she heard that he was going home today, and then this afternoon when he left, they both had overtired, too-much-sugar meltdowns.
They had a lot of fun making cookies and decoorating them yesterday afternoon after the football game finished on tv. And Lachie even joined in their hide and seek game last night.

A lot more photos in my flickr account --here--

aaargghh!

(11pm Sunday 7th Dec)

This computer really is horrible to use. Maybe I am just used to being about to have the ability to run more than ONE PROGRAM AT A TIME! I can't even type in this box without it getting a delay and having to catch up on what I have typed.
Consequently, I don't feel much like stuffing around withh it and uploading more photos. And donn't even get me started on how hard this tiny keyboard is. I won't remove typos from now on andyou will see what I mean, I'm sure. I don't even know how anyone cantype on these things.

So... we are supposed to get 8-12 inches of snow tomorrow night and tuesday!! That sure will beinteresting! They were also sayingsomething about blizzard conditions. Last year at this timethere had been a record snow fall, and we are already almost double that....going to be a long, cold winter, me thinks.

Lachie has a cold and stil is not much impressed with the cold weather. We went shoppuing yesterday and just walkingfrom the car park to the front door was bad enough. We decided to walk from one store to another across only a parkinglot and my god was that ever a bad idea! The wind was literally fierce enoughto take your breath away, and my hands, face, and ears were all numb and aching by the time we stepped and smushed and slipped our way through the snow.

I will post some photos tomorrow ...hopefullly from the other computer. goodnight!

I can't believe that we have been here for a week already! I have been taking photos, but haven't had any chance to upload or post since we've been here. So, hello, everyone!

It snowed for the first time onSunday night, and that was pretty exciting for everyone, lol. There was snow on the ground when we first got to Madison though, and that's what the first few photos are from, at Lynn's house.

Yes, it is cold! Yesterday was a maximum temp of about -1.

There are more photos in my flickr account, it is getting too painful and taking too long to post on this computer.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisphotos/