Yarn along

 Seems ive been spending my spare moments knitting and reading im joining Ginny and many others for her yarn along!
Im working on some evenstar fingerless gloves , the same as I made for mum last year. She will be thankful that I will stop borrowing hers every time I visit! Im enjoying knitting these this second time round as its easier yet still challenging enough to keep me thinking, although it would have been a bit more exciting to do this second pair if 'id chosen a different colour for myself . I quite enjoy doing the cable pattern as its so much easier to go back on mistakes then lace.
The book im reading, knit one kill two is a knitting murder mystery. Benny thinks its hillarious that knitting murder mysteries exist, he talks about fearing old ladies that might stab him with their knitting needles:) I love this series of books, this is my second time reading them. The charachters in the book are so into knitting and talking about different yarns that its contagious and inspires me to knit. very handy, I needed some knitting motivation

 Ive also been making another pair of slippers, these ones from a felted jumper.

 The soules are different colour at the moment as I made the first one with the intention to leave the seams on the outside but then decided to turn the seams to inside (meaning the black outer soul is on the inside) One day soon I will fix it but for now their so cozy and warm I dont want to take them off

My favourite part was adding these wooden tree buttons that id been saving for the right project. Love them:)

recycled wool socks

Lately as the weathers been getting colder I've been busy re-purposing  wool jumpers (sweaters) that I collected over summer. I got lots from the $1 rack at my favourite opp shop because of course I was the only one wanting wool jumpers in the middle of summer!
Most of them I just altered to fit me better by taking in the sleeves and width if they were too big etc but for a few that just weren't going to work Ive felted them and turned them into other things. Ive made fingerless gloves, the cowl I was wearing last post and here are some pictures of some socks I made tonight.

 I started with this piece which used to be a heavily felted jumper before I used the arms and top for other projects.

I then marked around my foot and then the length I wanted them making sure that the jumpers ribbing would be at the top of the sock. One side was on the fold so that my socks would have less seams

 I cut the fabric allowing plenty of room around my marked line. I then sewed on the line and tried them on. It fitted perfectly but if it was too small I would have had room to un-pick and make it a little bigger

 Once I knew that id got the fit right I trimmed the excess fabric to about 1/4 inch and turned them inside out

 Felty warm socks, as easy as that!

 I also made these silky soft cashmere socks out of the same cardigan as my cowl and arm warmers. Oh and a double layered cozy beanie.Yep I got good value out of that miss fitting cardie!

Wet felting slippers-in pictures

 For the past few winters I've wanted to make wet felted slippers, now that I've done quite a few wet felting projects I decided I was up for the challenge.
I followed this tutorial

 here are my stripes placed on one side of my slippers

 felting felting felting!

 snipping the two slippers apart

 Trying them on for the first time (thinking oh dear I hope they shrink a lot and get a whole lot cuter)

 One shaped and one ready for shaping

 Finished (for now, might shape them a bit more)

I'm pretty happy with them for a first attempt but I made the initial template a bit too big so they're a bit big for me. I think ill make another pair although these might fit well with thick socks. I cant wait until their dry, my feet are freezing!

edited to add-actually, just now ive put them in the dryer and been checking them every few mins and not only do they fit better, their almost dry! Yippe

makings this week

 I made this mat for in front of the kitchen sink to keep my feet cozy. The top is thick linnen, the back is a felted jumper (sweater) and there are two layers of bamboo batting so far. It sais on it 'life is beautiful' because who doesnt need reminding while their doing the dishes? (and beause Ive been waiting for a project to use that gorgeous fabric tape!)

 I re-painted the roof and doors of this toy chicken coop. They were brown but I much prefer this red (another wonderful thing about wooden toys, with a little sandpaper, watercolour paint and bees wax polish we can change them to suit us so easily)
I thought id include our 'little yoga' book in the picture, its a great childrens book. Its an absolute favourite with all the day care children we do 'baby yogurt' many times a day!

 Weve made our first felted egg ready for easter. Its being used currently as a little bed but i will make more and fill them with something special in a few weeks ready for an egg hunt.

My Mum made this tiny granny rug for the doll house rocking chair, isnt it adorable!

We head of on our holiday tomorrow morning (3am!) so I will be back in this space in a week

Orchard cardi

Ive almost finished my 'orchard' cardi (The wool is Jo sharp classic, orchard colourway) It could easily be finished, blocked and drying right now but unfortunately when I cast off at the bottom and tried it on I just couldn't bring myself to take it off! I love it!
 Luckily its perfect for the weather weve been having at the moment. I hope cool weather stays around a little longer so that I can enjoy in my new cardi.
Im not sure how much I love the colour, I may dye it blue.

Ive also been wet felting this bowl. Its made of the rainbow wool I showed here. The colours turned out beautifully in it.

On friday we went to the fertility specialist. I was nervous and had put it off (weve been trying for a baby for nearly 2 years) But Im honesly realy glad that we went.

Ive been given a script for Clomid tablets to try for 3 months and although I hate taking medication ( I rather natural remedies etc) I'm excited to try it and its given us some new hope. Fingers crossed, who knows