No Time To Blog!

Ah, so much is happening all the time, especially this time of year, that I really don't get a chance to write blogs.  Latest bits are, I got my motorbike licence & now own a Vespa scooter, which Wayne bought for me.  I'll be mostly child free next year, so I won't need to drive a people mover everywhere -save on petrol :)Rode it to church today.  I recommend NOT wearing a skirt, even with leggings. 

Yep, that's me with Charlie, the Year 1 class toy.  Liberty was Student of the Week, so Charlie had to have an 'adventure ride' on the Vespa.
Also doing Godspell next year, so will start rehearsals for that soon, am writting a play for Christmas and trying to be a semi useful friend to some of mine who are going through rough patches in life.  Honestly I feel so blessed, when I look around & see great people struggling with what life's thrown @ them.
Still, when we are in a blessed place, it's so we can be a blessing to someone else -that's how life & frienship works.

ACS & Spotlight Knit Your Way to $30,000

I won!!!! I still can't quite believe it, but it's true! I won $10,000 for my mini mae knitwear One Knit Wonder Dress & Hat design. :) :) Check out the Australian Country Spinners website. Here is the winning design......

Of course, I think it helped that I had a stunning little model!!!! The pattern is available from

http://www.minimaeknitwear.com.au/

Hobbs' Outback Adventure

We've just arrived home from our Outback Adventure to Coober Pedy to visit friends.  What a brilliant way to use up those school holiday weeks!!! Usually the kids have 'cabin fever' because thay can't get outside & I'm going nuts (also because they can't get outside & my house is getting waaaay too messy).  It was terrible weather home here in Victoria - wind, rain.......So I was glad we missed it!

The children travelled really well.  I was expecting the worst. You know "are we there yet", "he keeps kicking my seat", "I'm hungry", "I need to go to the toilet", crying, fighting, etc, etc....There wasn't much of that which was a HUGE blessing!  No major disasters to report :) We did have the jockey wheel on the caravan bust off @ Coober Pedy (oops), Wayne did get pulled over by the police for speeding (double oops), and everyone managed to get grease off the tow ball on their clothes (a thousand oops' when you haven't got much clothing anyway).  Other than that everything went well.

I know what you're thinking re. Wayne speeding, which I must say NEVER happens.  How can a people mover towing a caravan possibly speed? Simple. South Australia has a very logical(not!) speed of 25kmh (believe it) in roadwork zones.  Wayne was going @ a big 36kmh when he was clocked.  Why was he going so fast?  Well he was slowing down, but the caravan was "pushing him". Yeah...whatever!  He told the police officer that.  Anyway he got off the hook when the officer saw he had 4 kids in the car "It's a wonder you weren't doing 100" he said.
Meanwhile in my hurry to get the whole thing on video I jammed my coat in the rear door of the car & couldn't open it. I felt like a bit of a gonzo, but anyway.....Wayne got it out for me :)

In the Outback between Port Augusta & Pimba

Hobb's children stopped for lunch.

We had such a great time catching up with our friends Prudie, Damien & their children.  We didn't even do any really 'touristy' stuff until the last day.  The boys went to 'Lego Club' on Sat morn while we took the girls looking around the shops & the craft market.  We went to Church with them on Sunday morn (underground).  It was such an experience to see local Aboriginal people leading the praise & worship & singing in their own language. Absolutely awesome!  The kids all had a fab time in the afternoon riding motorbikes -guess what's on the Christmas list :P

We went on a mine tour, checked out Prudie's friend's underground 'duggout', went 'noodling' for opal, went to the Art Gallery with pebbles on the floor, had a look @ 'The Big Winch' & just hung out together.

Coober Pedy is soooo unique!  I love the crazy, humorous signs everywhere, the amount of rubbish.......??? Normally I wouldn't find rusty junk everywhere cool, but it kind of suits there.  It's just very quaint in a very Aussie way.

Noodling for Opals

In the underground Catholic Church

In the Caravan park @ Coober Pedy one night, I saw a little girl in the toilets who looked familiar. I watched her walk out & checked the direction she was heading.  I hoped no one saw me because they would have thought I was some kind of weird stalker.  I thought I knew who she was & went back to our van to tell Wayne.  I then decided to go looking for her parents, who are friends of ours living in Ballarat.  Sure enough, I found their van in the dark & was chatting away to all the girls!!! Meanwhile, the dad had worked out who he thought his daughter had seen in the toilets & was looking for us!  When we went back to our van, there he was having a chat to Wayne.  So we all caught up with Dame & Prudie for tea the next night:)

I also saw 2 ladies on my travels who had bought mini mae knitwear patterns! Amazing! One even had her grandaughter with her wearing the Crochet Trim dress.  It looked great!!! No photos, but I have it on video. We were out for tea in Hahndorf for Wayne's birthday when we saw them.  It was a great tea (all you can eat - just perfect for a Hobbs boy!!) & Hahndorf was a lovely place to stay.

In Hahndorf

Other Projects

I've just been putting a coat of varnish on my dining chairs (c.1929) before we go away on our super adventure holiday!  I've left it to the last minute because it stinks out the whole house & last time I had a headache for a week :(

I've already done the table - finished that around the 25th of May, but have had the chairs 1/2 done for a while.  So I'm putting up some before and after photos of the table, which Wayne made & my cousin's husband turned the legs for.  It was originally stained a deep jarrah colour, but looked a bit tired.  Wayne planed the top back to the hardwood & I sanded the table all over.  The top had to be re-puttied and took ages to sand the stain out.

I painted the legs with satin enamel (oil based), but it was still too shiny -looked like plastic.  So I sanded it back harder in spots to allow some of the red stain to show through.  It makes the back not so black & gives it a warmer look. I then varnished the whole table with satin varnish, which is less shiny.  The top had 3 or 4 coats.

Table with top sanded back

Ulani Sanding the table



Finished table

The other project that I have been working on over the past couple of months was the referb of our church hall.  The Hall was in need of a makeover - it had been the same dated colour scheme of pine boards with 2 shades of mushroomish pink :o  OK in 1991, when the Church was built but.....
Last weekend the boys laid the carpet, which isn't in the photo.  Two weeks before we had a working bee to paint & I was on duty with the staple gun & the help of a friend to cover the sound boards on the wall.
It all came together really well!!! The colours we used were Red Box & Braid on the walls & very cheap Polar Fleece for the sound boards.  The Hall is used for functions, cafe', kids ministry & Busy Bees playgroup- so the colour scheme had to be flexible. Really happy with how it turned out :)

Church Hall-looks a bit messy after Kids Church

Olden Days @ School 22nd June

Last week I had the fun, but slightly tiring job of helping out my year 1 &2 children & their teachers with their 'Olden Days' day at school.  Congrats to all those out there who are teachers & do it every day!!!  It was fantastic to see all but a few children dressed in costume.  Fortunately the teachers had spare shawls etc to cover up the odd school uniform.
Here we are on the way to school.  Photo by eldest son.

New Book

I was given this beautiful & very helpful looking book from a dear older friend of mine, just because she thought I might like it.  What an amazing blessing people can be! I'm really looking forward to having a go at designing garments with some of the stitch techniques pictured in the book.  Just thought I had to share it :)

Contempo Rib Feature Dress, Infinity Brooch & Beret

Well I haven't posted anything for a while....too busy I think!  I'm in the final stages of getting together my latest pattern for release - Contempo.  I can't wait to have that done & out there for others to do.  This week has been a bit crazy.  I think it gets like that as the school term comes to a close.  Yesterday I was dressed up to help out at school for the yr 1 & 2's "olden days".  Today I've been to a Council meeting to discuss the planned Town Hall/Performing Arts Centre/Art Gallery project.  I'm a community rep for that & hopefully can have some input into that decision :)
Tonight we're watching the DVD of He Chose The Nails.  Darn, I still have to do supper!!! better go & get onto that!  Tomorrow arvo I'm heading off with Friends to Camperdown to see their production of Godspell.  Getting ideas to maybe perform it here in Horsham.  We'll see.
My other knitting projects are going a bit slow.....I have a short striped cardi done for Miss Liberty, but I'm re-doing the beret for it.  It turned out big enough for my head!

He Chose The Nails

Well I'm currently gearing up for our performance of "He Chose The Nails" in Horsham in just under 2 week's time.  This is an Easter musical that I'm a vocalist in - both chior & soloist.  This is one of my other passtimes (the singing thing) which is taking nights away from my knitting:(.  Actually I was a singer, before I was a slightly obsessed knitter & I do enjoy it, although performing is always a bit scary.  I have finished a couple of knitting projects, but need to do others to test the patterns.  I'm working on a little dress 'Contempo' that I think will be a really classic design.  It will be teamed with a hat, scarf and large red flower broch.  This was designed specifically to go with a gorgeous pair of red shoes I bought Ulani.  Anyway, I'd better get moving.... too many things to do!

Wimmera Machinery Field Days

Well I've just completed my last of three days @ the Field Days!  Had a lot of interest in mini mae knitwear & really good sales, particularly on Wedensday.  I haven't done so much talking in quite a while, hence my very tired voice.  I've added the colours of the Bendigo Woollen Mills yarns that I've used onto Ravelry & my website, because a lot of customers would have to mail order them & it's hard to tell exactly what colours are in photographs on the net.  I hope that this will be helpful.

mini mae knitwear @ the Wimmera Machinery Field Days

Well I'm busy getting organised for my site @ the Wimmera Machinery Field Days, which is a HUGE event run over 3 days - March 1,2 & 3.  If you want to find me there I'll be in the Country Lifestyle Marquee.  I'll have hard copy patterns for sale, as well as my design samples.  If you're about, pop in for a chat! 
I'm a little behind in my organisation for this event - we had a 'Princess Party' here last night with 10 little invited guests, 2 cousins, my 4 children, the grandparents & 1 Aunty.  Very noisy house!  So this past week I've been making & decorating the b'day cake, organising games, decorating the front of the house (pink ribbon bows & flags), getting the costumes fixed.....the list goes on!  Busy but fun! No knitting & no Field Days prep got done.  So I'll be into creating props for it this arvo.

mini mae website is up & running

Ah....my website has been fixed, so it's up & running :)

mini mae website temporarily down

I've just discovered that my website is currently down. :(  It may take a few days to fix because it's the weekend, which is very unfortunate.  Sorry for any inconvenience.  If you have any urgent requests you can email me on info@minimaeknitwear.com.au

Queensland Flood Appeal Total

Thanks to everyone who purchased a mini mae knitwear pattern during the last 2 weeks of January.  The total of profits from the sale of 14 patterns came to $99.77.  I will be donating $100 to the Appeal. Thanks again for your support of a very worthy cause. :)

Other Info About mini mae patterns - Sizing

Just a few bits that will help when working on a mini mae knitwear pattern.  Firstly, I go by sleeve length as well as the child's height to determine the size of the garment I'm going to knit. This is because a jumper looks obviously wrong, if it's too short in the sleeves.  The sleeve measurement is taken from the top of the shoulder down to the bottom of the cuff. 
I have allowed ease in my knitwear because it is designed to be worn over the top of another long-sleeved garment.  This is because all my children (so I suspect other children also) hate the feel of wool on their skin.  Consequently, you won't see any high necklines or woolen scarves in the mini mae collection.  Also, my girls are very lean (the eldest in particular), so I've designed the jumpers to look good on them, but also have enough room for more average sized children.  To get he measurements for chest & height I used a combination of measurements from a children's knitting book I had, and Pumpkin Patch (retail clothing).  I hope this helps, when trying to work out the sizing.
I will be doing some slimmer 'no ease' garments (dresses, vests) soon as well.  I will be doing a slimmer, improved version of the One Knit Wonder Dress as part of this collection.  So if you're wondering where that design went....now you know!

Local Flooding

The past week has seen my town of Horsham experience the worst flood in it's history.  Our street was flooded 3 times last - twice due to rain & storm water and Saturday afternoon's flood was a by-product of the Wimmera River & Burnt Creek flooding. It was fantastic to be out Sat sandbagging with everyone else in the street.  It was kind of like a street party, but without the food!  Having said that, we did eat pizza on the front verandah with the neighbours. So far I haven't ventured out in the car yet(just walking down to the River to see it flowing) as the streets and Highway have been blocked.
Since posting mini mae knitwear patterns on Ravelry I have sold @ this point 11 patterns, with all profits going to the Queensland Flood Appeal.  I hope to sell quite a few more in January to boost this total!!! So thanks to all those who've bought a mini mae pattern.

Queensland Flood Disaster

While we have experienced minor flooding in our area - yesterday the kids used our street & surrounding neighbourhood as a swimming pool, it's nothing compared to what's been experienced in Queensland.  It's such a huge national disaster.  It's hard to comprehend the amount of clean-up required, the re-building of infrastructure, businesses and homes.  I've decided that all profits from the sale of mini mae knitwear patterns in January will go to the Queensland Flood Appeal.  The only money not going from the price of a pattern is the Paypal charge.  So everything that I would usually get will go to the Appeal.

So Where to Begin With Colour...

Obviously if you like the design as is, just use that colour combination.  Of course, it isn't always possible to get the same colour yarns as those pictured, but you may be able to get similar.  If not, there are other ways to help you choose:
* Start by selecting colours that suit the colouring of the child who will wear the garment you are knitting.  For example not all little girls look great in pink, so choose another colour for the main part of the garment and just add in a little pink to keep it 'girly'.  I've actually avoided using a lot of pink because it's always available in ready-made clothing, whereas other colours are harder to come by.
* Swap the colours in a garment to better suit the child.  For example, the mini mae knitwear Bolero Jumper (see website) has a pink top and red bottom. It would work just as well with the top red and the bottom pink.
*  Look at the other designs.  There may be a combination of colours, for example chocolate brown, latte', and pale pink, like the Garter Stitch Striped Tunic, which would work well in other designs.  Just keep in mind proportioning.
*  When selecting colours to combine I usually choose ones that have a similar hue or 'value' -one colour doesn't jump out in front of the others, they all blend.  An example of this is the mini mae Crochet Trim Dress with Pockets and Hat.  It is an unusual soft mid purple (iris)colour combined with a slightly washed out burnt orange.  The two colours 'sit' really well together.
I hope that this helps you get your garment colours right.  You don't want to spend hours creating something, only to be disappointed because the colours aren't the best.  Happy knitting!

Choosing the Right Colours for your Garment

The aim of this blog is for me to be able to express thoughts, hints and ideas that may help other knitters out there, particularly when creating a mini mae design.  I can't contain it all on my website so...

Something that's a bit hard to explain, let alone get right in reality, is the importance of choosing the correct colour yarns with which to create a garment.  The colours chosen can make or break a design.  I know because I've done it!  Even if you get the combination of colours so that they look great together, there is still the balance of quantity that needs to be right also.  Take the Random Stripe Jumper, pictured.  I love it, but I had my doubts as to whether it would work out or not.  The colour combination of red, orange, pale pink and blue, is rather unusual to say the least.  It didn't look good when I held all those balls in my hand.  The reason was that the quantity of each colour was equal.  For the combination to work, certain colours had to diminish (pale pink & the burnt orange colour) and others- the beautiful tangerine, had to increase.  The only reason I chose this combination at all was to match the ball of 'Cinderella' I had chosen to make a scarf out of.
I had the same jumper knitted up in another size, but substituted the tangerine for the burnt orange and vice-versa. While it's not completely terrible, it looks like something that my gran would have knitted for us in the 70's -just NQR!  So choosing the right colour combination is important.