Creative Friday

Unicorn Pegasus pattern available from here, here and here.

This week I have been working on a custom unicorn pegasus order for someone in the USA. She is finally finished and is already winging her way across the ocean to her new home...

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and thank you for sharing here:)

 

To add this button to your blog, right click on it and 'save picture as' to your photos. Then add it as a gadget / picture to your blog on your blog's design page with a link to my blog address:)

Welcome to Creative Friday!

Thank you so much to everyone who shares the love and posts their links to their amazing work:) Please feel free to post your links to anything you have created and would like to share, it can be a recipe, sewing tutorial, knitting tutorial, felting, crochet, crafts, art, spinning, weaving, working with fibre, photography, poetry...etc...

I also love to hear from you, so if you have a moment, please leave a comment:) Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful talent with us! Just add the name of your blog to the widget and then add your blog link with the http:// at the beginning of your link address:) I have added a Creative Friday button on the sidebar of my blog, please feel free to add it to your blog for Creative Friday and link it to http://www.naturalsuburbia.blogspot.com/ so others can find this space and share their creativity too:)

1. I have started a Creative Friday Flickr Group where you can post your beautiful photos that you link to each Creative Friday, to join the group, please go here.

2. If you would be so kind as to link back to Natural Suburbia in your blog post that would be lovely:)

Have a wonderful day,
xo
Linda

 

Our Week

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments and messages about Beans the Cat Pattern, I am so happy you like him and a few Beans patterns have already been knitted up and shared on Ravelry. I really love seeing your knitted projects so thanks for sharing them:) I will be adding a few more free patterns soon over the next few days.

It has been a cold week here in Johannesburg. The fires are lit early in the mornings so we can keep warm. Our homes here in South Africa aren't built for really cold weather so when the temperature drops below -1C  it's usually colder inside our home than outside!

We've had a scare with Jen this week, she hasn't been feeling too well, she has been for blood tests and we have discovered that her insulin levels are four times higher than they should be! We have a wonderful doctor who is guiding us through this. We are changing our diet to low GI, cutting out all refined sugar, white pasta and flour etc... and we will move forward from here. Please would you keep her in your thoughts...

Do you remember this wool blanket that I made on my knitting machine? It's finally finished, Jen and I crocheted a border around the edge and it's so lovely and soft...

This morning we cooked our feathered girls some oats for breakfast to keep them warm.

Early morning frost on out roof.

We have been pruning and cutting back some of our trees, all the wood is dried out in bags and will be used for next winter's fires.

 
I love finding little drawings on the walls outside, so sweet:)

I'm really not sure what's been eating my spinach and lettuce, it isn't birds, our veggie garden is enclosed with shade cloth, perhaps it's rats or insects?? So this is what I have decided to do to try and combat the problem. I am going to recycle my milk bottles into little cloches to try and give these plants a chance. I really would like my veggies to grow so I can use them in salads and green juices. I'll let you know how it goes. Any advice here would be appreciated.

The frost also took three of our potato plants. We pulled them out today and I was so happy to find a few potatoes still looking amazing underground.

Have a lovely weekend!
Linda

Our Start to the Week

Our beautiful Buff Orpingtons were sunning themselves this morning. It was -1C, pretty cold, even though the sun was shining, it was freezing out there.

I love to sit and crochet by this fireplace in the mornings, I have found an old wip, a knitted blanket that needs a crochet border. It's amazing how you put knitting down for months (ahem) years and then, one day you see it lying over there on a shelf, out of the way and you just pick it up and finish it off.

Erin with her favourite chicken, Willa. Willa has become so tame, if Erin sits on the grass, she will rush over and sit on her lap, too precious. Erin is wearing her knitted ear warmer, pattern to follow soon:)

A winter morning sky...

Calendula flowers growing in the veggie garden, hopefully attracting all sorts of insects.

Our potatoes are growing so beautifully next to this flowering Rosemary plant.

I had fun knitting up this little kitty today. If you like I can share the pattern here with you, Meow! :)

How has your Monday been so far? 
Do have a lovely week.

Spirit the White Wolf Pattern and Giveaway

Today I have been designing and knitting Spirit, he is a white wolf. I have always wanted to add a wolf to my menagerie of animal knitting patterns and now here he is!

He is knitted both flat and in the round, if you prefer knitting flat, there are additional instructions added in the pattern for flat knitting. I have knitted him in a brushed Mohair yarn which is pliable and gives him a furry wolf appearance.

His pattern is available in my Etsy shop Mamma4earth.

Giveaway:
I am giving away 1 wolf pattern to 1 blog reader, if you would like to win just leave a comment below in this post. If you are reading this from an email in Google reader, please click on the post to leave a comment in the comment section so the random generator can count your comment. I will announce a winner on Tuesday here in this post:)

Congratulations to:

stephJune 24, 2012 1:40 AM

He's wonderful!!!! as are all your patterns!!! Thanks for the chance to win.

If you could send your email address to me at lindadawkins@mweb.co.za I will email the pattern off to you:)

Have a wonderful weekend.
Linda

Creative Friday

My Creative Friday contribution for this week is the e-book that I finished writing and sent off to the publishers. Thank you all so much for your kind messages on my Mamma4earth Facebook page. I'm waiting for the first draft from my publishers to arrive, which should be here any day now, I will have a look at it, see if there are any changes I need to make and then it will go back to them to be published and sent off to all the e-book sellers. I'm so excited!! As soon as it is out there in the e-universe, I will let you know!

Knitting-wise, I am busy designing a white wolf pattern that should be available soon:)

Have a wonderful weekend!
Linda

 

To add this button to your blog, right click on it and 'save picture as' to your photos. Then add it as a gadget / picture to your blog on your blogs design page with a link to my blog address:)

About Creative Friday:

Thank you so much to everyone who shares the love and posts their links to their amazing work:) Please feel free to post your links to anything you have created and would like to share, it can be a recipe, sewing tutorial, knitting tutorial, felting, crochet, crafts, art, spinning, weaving, working with fibre, photography, poetry...etc...

I also love to hear from you, so if you have a moment, please leave a comment:) Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful talent with us! Just add the name of your blog to the widget and then add your blog link with the http:// at the beginning of your link address:) I have added a Creative Friday button on the sidebar of my blog, please feel free to add it to your blog for Creative Friday and link it to http://www.naturalsuburbia.blogspot.com/ so others can find this space and share their creativity too:)

1. I have started a Creative Friday Flickr Group where you can post your beautiful photos that you link to each Creative Friday, to join the group, please go here.

2. If you would be so kind as to link back to Natural Suburbia in your blog post that would be lovely:)

The Erin Hat

It has warmed up so nicely here in Johannesburg for now, we are aware that a freezing cold front will be arriving over the weekend and our temperatures are going to plummet once again. But for now I am so grateful for the warm sun... We are still battling with illness, Jen has tonsillitis, Kye a cold and Cady seems to be over his tummy bug. Sometimes when the whole family is sick like this, it feels like you are travelling a long road, uphill with no beautiful sunset on the horizon... I am really hoping this bug leaves our home soon... I feel tired...

Last night Richard and I sat working at the computer preparing the document for my Knitting Flowers e-book. We finished editing, my hubby is so clever at formatting, I am very grateful he has been able to help so much with the preparation of the Word file for e-book conversion. We eventually sent it off at about 10:30 pm last night. It was so exciting to see the file upload to the publishers website!! I couldn't believe how much emotion I was feeling! Such happiness, to have finished writing and then sending it off. I must say a special THANK YOU to Kristen, you have been so wonderful, helping me with all my questions about e-book covers, file sizes, formatting etc... You are such a great and lovely friend, I am blessed to know you! I am sure many of you already know Kristen, she is an amazing writer and the kindest person I know...

The e-book should be available for purchase from Amazon within 2 weeks, it will also be distributed through the iBookStore, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Gardeners, Baker & Taylor and Copia. I will keep you updated though.

I have designed a new hat pattern that I would like to share here with you today, Erin has been my test knitter, so we have called it The Erin Hat. It has been knitted with a 2 ply hand spun Angora and Merino yarn that I bought from Nurturing Fibres. This yarn is SO exceptionally soft, REALLY! It is just amazing! Thank you dear Carle' we both love it so much.

Here is the pattern if you would like to give it a try:

Materials:
100 grams of hand spun 2 ply Merino and Angora yarn. (This yarn isn't quite a chunky weight, when I look at the ply is looks like 2 double knitting yarns plied together, perhaps just slightly thinner, if that gives you a better idea of the thickness so you can substitute). Just check the hat on your head for size though while you are knitting. The handspun is 9-10 wraps per inch.
5.5 mm circular needles for knitting in the Magic Loop technique
Sewing up needle

Pattern:
Cast on 60 stitches and join for knitting in the round with Magic Loop technique.
Rounds 1-4: Knit in rib, (knit 2 stitches, purl 2 stitches across the round)
Rounds 5-7: (Knit 3, purl 3) across the rounds
Rounds 8-10: (Purl 3, knit 3) across the rounds
Alternate rounds 5-7 and rounds 8-10 another four times (R 5-7, R 8-10, R5-7, R 8-10, R 5-7, R 8-10, R 5-7, R 8-10) Altogether you will have 10 pattern sections of three rounds each, the pattern sections excluding the rib will be 30 rounds.

Decreasing:
Round 35: You will just be knitting plain now, (knit stitch) and decrease 5 stitches evenly around the round. (55 stitches)
Rounds 36-39: Knit
Round 40: Decrease 5 stitches evenly across the round. (50 stitches)
Round 41-43: Knit
Round 44: Cast off 10 stitches evenly across the round (40 stitches)
Rounds 45-46: Knit
Round 47: Cast off 10 stitches evenly across the round (30 stitches)
Rounds 48-49: Knit
Round 50: Cast off 10 stitches evenly across the round (20 stitches)
Round 51: Knit
Round 52: Cast off 10 stitches evenly across the round (10 stitches)
Break yarn, thread onto a wool needle and thread through stitches, pull tight and finish off.

I have added the pattern to Ravelry so you can link your projects there if you like:)

Happy Knitting!

I have really been enjoying reading Wuthering Heights and then I'm going to read and re-read some of the Jane Austen books. Many of them I read when I was at school and now I feel it's time to revisit them again... Which was your favourite Jane Austen book?


I am joining in with Ginny's Yarn Along today.

Happy day to you!

The Weekend

We had a lovely Father's day yesterday, celebrating my wonderful dad (he will be 84 this year) and this good man on the couch above. 

Jen has been making the sweetest dream catchers inspired by all the chicken feathers we find in the garden. She would like to post a little tutorial here for one soon.

I just love knitting these slippers for Kye, they are so warm and cozy... Our weather has been freezing lately and Kye really doesn't like to wear shoes indoors, so these thick, chunky slipper / socks are just perfect to keep him warm. (I tried to take a photo when I finished knitting them but he put them on straight away so they have a worn in look to them:)

I found this little pattern in a book called The Children's Year, such a beautiful book  I have modified it slightly though, here is the link to the pattern on Ravelry for you. I didn't like knitting this pattern flat and having to sewing up seams on the top of the slipper, so I knitted the foot part of the slipper in the round with the Magic Loop technique. I then decreased k1, k 2 together, knit 1 round, k1, knit 2 together, knit 1 round when I finished off.

A pair for Jen, I am going to sew soles underneath these ones, not sure what I'm going to use yet though... This is a pattern I am writing and I will share it here when it is finished.

Wishing you an inspired week...
Linda

I am Filled with Gratitude...

I have been knitting on my Tea Leaves cardi in the evenings now that our weather is really cold. I sit beside the fire and knit stocking stitch back and forth, it's like a meditation and I am almost at the end now.

Today we went on a short road trip to Pretoria to see our doctor, a wonderful homoeopath that is helping our little Kye gently along the path to wellness. My cardi came with and I was able to knit a few rows while Richard drove.

Caiden made a wooden castle for his brother Kye, oh, the excitement when Kye discovered it waiting for him on the dining room table!

Our Petria is in bloom...

Photo taken by Erin, she really loved how the fire was burning through the hole in the piece of wood.

Our Flax, Garlic and Lupins are all thriving well in this raised bed.

I am so pleased with our lemons this season, every tree in our garden is laden with lemons, I will have to send some to our neighbours...

We have had a few colds in our home recently and lemons are amazing for fighting the flu. As soon as a cold or flu raises its nasty head we start with honey, lemon and ginger Rooibos tea.

Honey, Lemon and Ginger Rooibos Tea:

Make a cup of Rooibos tea and add:
The juice of 1 lemon
1 and a half teaspoons of honey
about an inch of grated ginger that's been peeled
add a little cold water if too hot and sip slowly

This really helps to cut the phlegm and makes you feel better overall.

Seeds from my Goldenrod plant. I need more Goldenrod to grow in our garden so that I can use it for dyeing my wool.

This is Richard's favourite tree in our garden, he loves how the ivy is climbing up its branches.

Today I am filled with so much gratitude that Kye is on the road to health...