November 21

 Hallo again, just a few pics of what we've been doing lately...not a great deal and I am yearning to travel again once we can...such a sorrowful time for so many people and I do count my blessings every day.

Garden is booming with the warmer days although it hasn't been really hot yet which is unusual...lots of pansies here...

lovely lobelia self-seeds everywhere and looks divine...

I'm picking silverbeet, parsley, spring onions, basil, strawberries and lettuce from this riotous bed...

and now my mini Bougainvillea is really thriving...

Some more baby knits finished for two babies due in April...I have bought these top down patterns as there is no sewing up to do once the knitting is finished, the sleeves are knit on the round and the pattern starts at the neck edge and increases to the under arms...very clever methinks...

I went with Dad, Elizabeth and Caleb to the Remembrance Day Service at dad's Care Home, Gill (from Warrington) took this great photo...

Elizabeth and the Lads had fun at Halloween, K and V throw a great party every year and their whole street joins in...Dad and David getting in the 'spirit'

Steampunk is such fun...

Their bus is almost ready for the road with the help of big Bro and good friend Brock, will show some photos once it's tidy and ready. We're also working on Dad's house, de-cluttering and stripping wallpaper and painting(big Bro again)...there's still such a lot of upkeep even though Dad no longer lives there.

Pip pip cheerio

xxx

Knitting Away

Thank you dear friends for your loving comments on the previous post, Priscilla will be greatly missed by every-one who knew her. Yesterday Will and the children laid her ashes to rest in a plot that they can visit when they wish. Today should have been their ninth wedding anniversary.

I'm trying to get back to writing blog posts and am working on a rather complicated one for the Vietnamese soup known as 'Pho' which is difficult to pronounce and sounds something like 'far'. It's Joe's favourite and he's very impressed by this version of it, will post that soon.

I have been spending the Winter knitting and reading, caring for Dad, supporting my daughter and her sons and I've also started collecting indoor plants again. This little house is rather dark so the plants have to be re-arranged daily or taken out-side for some extra light but they are beautiful and such a pleasure...apparently they enhance our lives with more than just oxygen and I find them very relaxing to care for. It's exciting to see a new leaf unfurl ;)

We didn't grow this Buddha's Hand but isn't it a beauty? It's a type of citrus that has no juice/flesh/seeds...grown for the novelty the skin can be zested for flavouring cakes etc

Charlie is now over 2 yrs old would you believe? I've made him 3 vests/tank tops this year;unfortunately the first was pure wool Fair Isle and was washed by his Dad in hot water, it now fits his dolly!!! The next two are in a self=striping acrylic...

Have also made 2 Paddington Bears from this pattern , have used 100% wool again and had to buy the toggles from an Etsy vendor in Toronto would you believe but they really finish off his little duffel coat...all the wool and the kilt pins in his hat came from Spotlight...

The last thing to show you is this easy 8ply knitting for ladies socks, using up the rest of the self striping acrylic from Charlie's jumpers; they knit up so quickly especially compared to using 'sock yarn'.
The free pattern comes from Winwick Mum , it's probably more suited to intermediate knitters, in the past I have always used 'Silver's  Sock Class' which is also free and more of a tutorial...

ETA Christine aka Winwick Mum has drawn my attention to her 'Sockalong' blog post where she takes absolute beginners step by step through the wonderful process of knitting socks...thanks Christine x

love the heel detail...such a clever construction method...

I haven't even worn socks for such a long time but it's been so cool and wet this Winter here while the rest of Australia is struggling with the worst drought on record...it's frightening to see the photos of the parched land and dying animals.

So that's my round up for now, thank you for waiting so long for another post, let's try and make it a regular thing! Yes Dear!

Love Sue
xxx

My First Hand-made String Bag

I do appreciate a nice old-fashioned string bag and considered ordering some on-line last Saturday when I remembered I had 600gms of beautiful 8ply cotton from Bendigo Mills waiting for me in the cupboard. I looked instead for simple patterns and settled on this one, the Emerald String Bag . After reading through the pattern I realised I had to alter it somewhat to suit my needle sizes and then I thought why not use a handknit cotton wash cloth as a quicker way to make the base as I already had some put by for gifts.

I'll share my pattern here, it's a fairly quick knit on the round and I used up the rest of that green cotton just because it was there. When changing needles simple knit onto the new needle and continue the rounds.

You'll need

1 new cotton handknit/crocheted washcloth or you'll need to make an 8 inch/20cm square first(50 gms of cotton here)
Approx 130-150 gms more of 8ply cotton(thicker cotton gets used up more quickly, mine is fairly fine but I only used 110gms apart from the base)
Circular needles sizes 8mm, 5mm and 2.75 mm...NB these are what I already have, if you have slightly different sizes then use them but alter your measurements to suit
Straight needles 2.75 mm or use the 2.75mm circ needle but go back and forth, not round and round,
Darning needle, tape measure and scissors

Ready?
Pick up 140 stitches evening around the washcloth/square with the 5mm needle and work 5 rounds then change to your biggest needle......how to pick up sts If you have trouble fitting 140 sts on the first round just increase evenly on the next round...

Work rounds until you reach almost the required length(mine is 30cms)
Change to 5mm needles for 2 rounds
Change to 2.75mm for 6 rounds.

Bag with divided sts on holders for the strap....

Divide for strap(or cast off and sew on fabric handles perhaps)

Cast off 50 sts, knit 20 and place on holder, cast off 50 sts, knit 20
Change to your smallest straight needles now and work in stocking stitch(this looks nice but tends to roll under as in the following photo) or garter stitch for 5 rows
Knit2 together at both ends of 6th row (18 sts)
Decide whether you want a long or short handle now
Work to required length (mine is 18cm) and place sts on the holder or a spare needle.
Cut yarn and knit across the sts on the other holder.

Work for required length then join using the Kitchener Stitch method of grafting

Sew in the ends and off you go!

Details of handle and upper edge

Another even quicker method would be ignore the squared bottom altogether and cast on 140 or so stitches and then run an i-cord or ribbon through the stitches/holes of bottom edge and tie it (very) tightly.

I'm off to make an all red bag now...piccies soon
Love from Sue
xx