Happy World Wide Knitting In Public Day

After a week of very cold temperatures we were blessed with sunshine today so we headed into town to be part of the Light In Winter Festival. This year the festival is centred around an enormous pyramid-shaped 'light sculpture' which the community has been invited to decorate with lanterns, fabric, knitting and crochet. Today was also World Wide Knit In Public Day and the first ever International Yarnbombing Day so there were plenty of knitters out and about which was great to see. Bella was mortified when I whipped out my needles but Henry entered into the spirit of things by creating a very handsome lantern for the pyramid.

In search of further woolly inspiration we also went to one of my favourite wool shops, Morris & Sons. While I was running maniacally from one beautiful yarn to another Henry and Isabella made themselves comfortable in 'Manland' - a corner of the store furnished with comfy 1950s armchairs where the menfolk can relax while they wait for the wool manics to make their final choice!

Link love...

Image via Etsy

Autumn is here, there's a chill in the air and Henry has decided that 5am is an appropriate time to get up every morning. To say I'm a bit sleep deprived would be an understatement. I'm seriously thinking about just getting up and dressed at 5 and being done with it rather than pleading, begging and coaxing Henry back to sleep (with very little success). Maybe I could use the time to find some more gems like these ones...

• Alexandra Nea's lovely blog The Art Of Afternoon Tea presents fabulous weekly recipes for cakes, biscuits and sweet treats with a twist. The twist is her amazing hand-drawn illustrations of the recipes laid out on her own seemingly limitless collection of china. I love the sound of this Chocolate Garam Masala Cake


• Romance is not dead! Check out this literary proposal.


• Some people are so clever. Check out Debs's gorgeous, hand-knitted couch cover. No pattern, just intuition!


• Wouldn't you love a pair of embroidered stockings like these ones ?


• Love these great 1950s illustrations on wood blocks and this new project at Bricolagelife.

Woollie Weather...

Image via. It's by Japanese manga artist Junko Mizuno (I'm sure that a heart she's knitting from!!!)

There's a nip in the air this evening so knitting/crochet season can't be too far away...

Elegant cowls...

Image via Loops Yarn

Image via katy elliott

Image via Nothing Elegant

Image via Whip Up

I realise that it is absolutely not the right time of year to be lusting after winter woollies (well not here in the Southern Hemisphere anyaway) but I keep running into these amazing cowls. To be honest I'd never even heard of cowls until recently but now I can't seem to get away from them! One of the things I really like about cowls is the way they use interesting buttons, corsages and decorative pins to keep them closed - very swish. I don't recall seeing people wearing cowls around the city this winter but perhaps I just didn't notice. We Melbournians do love our scarves but we seem to prefer long and loopy over short and neck-hugging.

If you're somewhere wintry now and would like to knit one there are hundreds of free patterns online but if re-purposing is more your thing you could try the clever 'Upcycled Scarflette' pictured above which is made from a re-fashioned cable knit jumper.

Not Quite A Hat...

Isabella periodically suffers from earaches so I like her to wear a hat when the weather turns cold. Unfortunately the older she gets the less inclined she is do so. She does, however, love headbands so by way of compromise I made her this very wide garter-stitch head-thingy. I think she looks quite fetching in it and so does she!

Camellia Hat

Inspired by my amazing camellias I made this little hat for my neighbour's new baby girl, April. I hope she likes it.

I Love My New Blanket

I finally finished Henry's blanket - moss stich throughout with a crocheted edge - and he loves it. Yeah!

Five Faves - Knitting Muses

Spiral Boot Socks designed by Veronik Avery via Tiennie Knits...

I have been doing a lot of knitting lately trying to finish Henry's blanket as the weather continues to get colder. I've started looking online for inspiration for new projects and came across Jane Brocket's great knitty bits post and then decided to visit some old favourites.

Five fave knitting muses this week are:

1. It was Jo Sharp who got me back into knitting. I remember seeing her patterns in the early 90s and realising that knitting could be more than 8ply school jumpers. I think her most recent collection is one of her best.

2. Bonne Marie Burns' Chicknits was the first blog I ever followed way back in 2003. It has been great to see how her site and brand have developed. Bonne Marie's designs are all so wearable ever for work wear.

3. Debbie Bliss - the baby years - I have knitted many Debbie Bliss patterns both for my own children and others. I love the way her designs blend traditional and modern elements and I am a little obsessed with her Cashmerino wool. If I have learnt anything from knitting for children it is that accessories make the most practical gifts - hats, scarves and blankets are all very useful. Garment-wise I like vests for boys (no food, paint, play-doh encrusted cuffs) and ponchos for girls (ditto!).

4. Norah Gaughan seems to me to be ridiculously prolific and yet she constantly comes up with new and interesting ideas for shape, drape and texture.

5. Ysolda Teague/ Veronik Avery are new discoveries for me but I like what I see especially the socks (not that I've ever knitted socks!).

Where do you get your knitting inspiration?

Security + blanket

I'm knitting Henry a new blanket in his favourite colour - orange. I tried to talk him around to various other colour schemes and patterns but he insisted it all be orange. I did manage to convince him of the need for a contrasting edge so he chose lime green!

I find knitting blankets for little people very satisfying. It takes time so the kids learn that handmade things are not always whipped up in an afternoon. They see the time and effort you put into it and eagerly await its completion. I love the thought that what you are making for them will keep them warm and help them to feel secure. I would be lying if I didn't admit that as babies both my children were very attached to their store-bought microfibre blankies but now that they are getting a bit older it is the handmade blankets and quilts they are reaching for when they feel tired, sick or when they need to feel a bit special and that makes me very happy indeed.

Toys for tots

Over the weekend we went to a barbeque at a neighbour's house to celebrate their little girl's 1st birthday so I made this bunny as a gift. I have made a number of these little fellas now using an online pattern that seems to have disappeared. I always knit them in cream Debbie Bliss cashmerino aran for some reason even though my friend Manuela has made them in many colours to great effect. Unfortunately this little one turned out a bit cross looking and I ran out of both embroidery thread and time so she had to go as is.

Knit One, Save One

As you know I like to knit. It can sometimes be hard to find the motivation to knit when the mercury is hovering at 30C but I think I've found my inspiration. 'Save the Children' was founded in 1919 by an English woman with the wonderful name of Eglantyne Webb. Their aim is to support children's rights throughout the world by providing both long and short-term relief to aid education, health and protection. This year 'Save the Children Australia' has launched the Knit One, Save One project to try and collect 80,000 knitted squares to make into blankets for children in Australia, India and Cambodia. So far they have collected over 17,000 but that still leaves a lot of squares to knit!

Caz