Just in time for Halloween

This one was inspired by all the pirate and halloween imagry out there at the moment. I couldn't help thinking '' why is it only the boys items that have skull and cross bones but not the girls ones. This is my protest against this!!
I have designed a skull and cross bones suitable for a wee lass, breaking the boyish theme by adding a heart for lips in pink..and using a pretty lace edging to soften the overall look.



I used 8 ply wool for this design. It was knitted up on 8mm needles and was very quick. I added the lace band after the body was completed and sewn together, this meant I could do a knit the lace border in one stretch. The skull was half intarsia and half embroidered. I tend to knit the larger parts, and embroider smaller patches, as I find the embroidered parts sit better and look more professional . Call me crazy, but I love the embroidery process!!

newborn baby dress

This was designed for a friend in USA. It is part of my new collection.I love the pink and lime stripes soo much, I had to make a whole range out of it!! I have a baby blanket to post on here soon...that is truley gorgeous!

I wanted to make a dress that could be worn all year round.One that would suit tights, long skeeved tops, jeans and even just baby shoes in hotter climates. It is a very easy design, double knitting ,no fancy shaping, so easy for a beginner.

I used 100% acrylic yarn in an 8 ply weight.(double knitting). spotlight again was my choice of supplier, as I like the colour range and prices just can't be beat!

This pattern was very simple to create.It is basically a no shaping 2 piece design. I completed this in an evening.

twin boys!

Cool..I have volunteered to knit a jumper and cardigan set for twin boys, born to a wonderful teacher at the local Special Needs school. I worried it might be a conflict of interest to volunteer my knitting services,as I am a board of trustee member there, and it might not have looked good to pay myself,as such!
All is well though, everyone agreed it was a good idea..so armed with that knowledge, I set off to find some wool at Spotlight.

My only request from fellow Board members... make it really FUNKY and BRIGHT.

Here are the colours I picked.





I decided against the purple and yellow in the end.
I chose a soft 8 ply acrylic , mainly as I like this for little babies..not only because the colours on offer are fantastic, but they wash and dry in record time.I have found you can wash this in the washing machine and even put it in the clothes drier! Now thats what I call a 'mum' friendly product!


this was the first one i started..I decided to use the tattoo image from an older childs pattern I had,and the sleeve pattern from my husbands jacket.I find inspiration in the every day things around me.

This is the sleeve pattern I mentioned using on a jacket I made for my husband. It is an easy repeated pattern, with no wool tangles!



here is the red one coming to life. I really like the contrast against the other.



completed...one BRIGHT and FUNKY jumper in red! I can't decide which I like better...green or red, cardy or jumper?



hmm..not sure if I like this plain...but almost completed! Now to decide where to add some embroidery.


YEs the converse shoe is necessary in the photo..it was where I got my colour inspiration from! I never do things the usual way!


I decided to add some knitting embroidery..it looked too plain next to the other one! I like the contrast against the backgroud...maybe next time Id add a more random set of designs.


Here they are completed..they came up beautifully in the acrylic I was asked to use. :)
When I figure out how to scan an image, I will add a multiple births article from newspaper..why? .... my finished garments were shown on the babies!!


Here are the twin babes wearing my creations!! Apparently they get worn to death! It is good to see they have lasted a few months more than I anticipated!

frilly jacket with striped sleeves

This is one I am currently working on for my daughters xmas present. I am still thinking about whether to add lace cuffs in black..and knitting cord ties...hmm decisions decisions.. all to be revealed soon.

one of my favourite knitting orders

I was commissioned to make a jumper and hat for a 6-9 month old baby in Auckland. I decided to use a mix of 6 and 8 ply baby cotton and hemp, as I preferred the colour choices on offer and the parents preferred natural fibres, as opposed to acrylic or lanolin in some wool. The lady who commissed this outfit had been selling my designs in her childrens wear boutique ..so felt comfortable giving me total creative license( as long as I put in a couple of flowers from a pattern she had seen in a book for much older children.) I always smile at this. It must be similar to what hairdressers get..people that say'' I want my hair to look like THAT'', pointing at a photo that is really not going to look good on them, or is almost impossible to create with the style they already have, or the kind of hair the hair dresser has to work with. I feel like that with knitting at times.

- When people hand you a pattern and say'' knit this please'', and you later find that the wool they insisted is simply PERFECT to knit it with ..is far from perfect.. because it's NOT the right ply... in fact its not even remotely close and the stuff is not much softer than a pot scrubber! How do I break it to these mums that I wouldn't knit that up for my dogs coat? Often i replace those wools with something softer and hope they won't be too disappointed:)

when you get asked to down size a pattern suitable for a 10 year old size to a 3 month old month size, you are going to be loosing more than 3/4 of the width and lenght..hence any picture knitting is going to have to be really modified or completely left out and made over!! Then the person is going to be sad because it is NOT the same as the picture they handed you!

As you can imagine, I will give anything a go with a pair of knitting needles(as my wearable arts costume shows ..look at my profile for that blog)..but my favourite knitwear to produce are garments where I can do as i please!!

For this piece I was inspired by a 1970s pattern I found for an ice skating dress.... SUPER short..so thought I'd attempt to knit up something similar..but for a little babe who is not yet worried about whether their underwear is showing ;) I am pleased to say it is also a little less tacky! I felt based on the childs age, they were moving out of all in one baby suits and into jeans and trousers by 9 months-1 year..so why not have something funky and colourful enough to go with anything.