New Blog

I have decided to make a fresh start for 2011.

My new blog will focus exclusively on knitting, particularly my attempts to get my SABLE (Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy) under control.

Will 2o11 be the year I knit more yarn than I buy? Only time will tell.

Visit my new blog here

Au revoir - for now

As is pretty obvious, I haven't blogged for a while.

Maybe it is a case of everything having its time; like many other net-savvy knitters I'm spending a lot more time on Ravelry, having direct real-time conversations with other knitters.

Maybe it's a case of me, myself moving on - I now have an adorable time-sapping baby to take care of and to knit for and to write about (although I've been pretty slack on the blogging about her too!)

Anyway, I hate the guilt of an unfinished blog just sitting here on the net without any closure. I'm still knitting - more than ever. Knitting for babies is quick and fun, even if they grow out of their clothes so fast. In yarn news, I've discovered a new obsession: the indie-dyer Mosaic Moon. Most famous amongst the cloth-nappying longies-knitting crowd, I use her gorgeous yarns for little dresses, hats and maybe a scarf for myself. Hannah wears disposables.

I may come back and restart this blog later; I may move onto other things. But to myself and anyone else who stumbles upon this, I say 'Au Revoir'.

She knits

I have a new favourite baby girl pattern - The Elizabeth Tunic. Not only is it a quick an easy - but not boring - knit that can be adapted in a variety of ways, but the final garment is an extremely practical and wearable item. The dress becomes a tunic top as the child grows and can be knitted in a variety of yarns for either summer or winter wear.

Hannah is modelling the 3-6 month size, knitted on Jolly Jumbuck Black Rainbow BFL Aran. Bellow is the 6-12 month size, knitted on Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 10-ply in the colourway 'Where the Wild Things Grow" dyed by Cordu of Wooltopia. It's for Sonya's daughter Georgia and will eventually make its way back to Hannah once she has outgrown it.


A third version that uses the remaining Wild Things yarn plus some purple Dream In Colour is almost finished.

And here is Georgia modelling the seamless kimono top.
Georgia will also get first wear of the Flapper Dress, made in the smallest size (1) as a test knit for designer Shannon Passmore.

Finally, a a bunny yarn winter set - hat, fingerless mitts and small moebius neck warmer made out of 175g of Ixchel Angora bunny/merino yarn.

Moebius Magic

I love knitting that gives a great deal of 'bang for the buck' - that looks a lot more complex and time-consuming to create than the reality.

Moebius shapes inherently stretch the minds of most people who encounter them. Fortunately for us knitters there is the irrepressible Cat Bordhi who has discovered a relatively simple way to cast stitches onto a circular needle to create moebius shapes.

The top scarf, knitted out of a skein of ixchel mulberry silk, is my own design - aside from Cat's clever cast-on. And it is simply a simple moss stitch, followed by a couple of knit and purl ridges and finished off with a crochet chain border (included at the last minute when I realised I had more yarn to play with than I appreciated).

The hat below is Cat's reversible lotus blossom design, with the moebius purl rib base providing a flattering 1920s-style look to a basic beanie.

Seemless kimono top

This is one of those items that look better in real life than in the photo. Knitted out of Wooltopia Cotton/Bamboo, it is super soft and I'm hoping the crochet around the neckline helps it retain its shape. The yarn is 10ply rather than the 8ply called for in the original pattern so I'm guessing this will be a bit bigger than the 3-6 month size that I knitted to. I'm going to see if it will fit 5-month-old Georgia; otherwise Hannah will get to wear it brand new.

Hannah Gitl - Knitwear model

Wearing Baby Surprise Jacket and matching hat made out of Zarina Baby Print

Wearing jacket and matching hat made out of Wooltopia's worsted bamboo/cotton blend

Wearing 5 hour baby sweater knitted in Dream in Color worsted visual purple

Wearing silk jacket knitted by Mel/womaninashoe

Wearing Saarjete's booties knitted out of Shiloah silk wool

All photos taken 6 March, 2010 when Hannah Gitl was 12 days old.

Introducing Hannah Gitl

We welcomed our daughter into the world last Monday, 22 February 2010 at 9.10pm. She is named - Hannah Gitl - the second name in honour of my late mother who would have loved being a grandmother very much.

Hannah is perfect and wonderful and we love her very, very much. While her resemblance to Jeff is obvious [as per Year 10 science - dark genes tend to dominate over fair ones], she seems to have been born with many of my expressions, including the most dubious and cynical eye movements and faces that just crack us up laughing.

I am extremely pleased to announce that despite all the doom and gloom predictions of the medical profession, I had an extremely healthy pregnancy and birth and both Hannah and I are recovering well from our 9 month journey together and separation.

I have started a separate blog - Hannah's first year - so far there is just one post in it but I hope to update it regularly for friends and family. The Knitaholic will revert to a knitting blog although at the moment I wonder if I'll get a chance to pick up some needles again. Motherhood is hard work but very very rewarding.