BEST DAY EVER

-SUOMI VOITTI! FINLAND WON THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP HOCKEY MATCH AGAINST SWEDEN!



And, I also got my green provisional licence, which means that there are only two years left until I can get my full licence, pretty exciting.

Not a whole lot of knitting going on at the moment, but really, with Finland winning the hockey after 16 years or so, and getting another notch carved onto the road to the full licence, it's been a pretty nifty day all round.

x peace folks

It's Getting Colder

Which, theoretically, means that my knitting output should be growing as well, but it kind of isn't, to be honest.

I've been sick for the past week or so, which would normally be alright in terms of being able to sit around for a lot of time knitting. But no, I caught myself something which made me really tired, and even the idea of looking at the back section of Maidenhair was getting a bit tedious so....

I started a sleeve!

My logic being that, being a quarter or so of the whole back, I should be able to whip in a couple of rows here and there before feeling a little bit blase about it all. And that's not to say that I've fallen out of love with the pattern, because believe me, the more I knit of it, the more I want to knit to get it done.

I think it's this time of year that really inspires knitters to really invest a little bit more time in their knitting, churning out a last couple of scarves or beanies for the winter to come. And really, you don't need a lot more inspiration than just taking a bit of a walk outside, and seeing all the colours change.

I'd like to know if I'm the only one who thinks autumn is an exciting time for knitters and other crafters out there. I think that there is nothing greater than finally being able to fully invest myself in what I love doing, and I hope that you'll all take a little bit more advantage of the colder weather if you've got it!

xpeace folks

The Foundations of Designing Knitwear

After a bit of a hiatus, it's nice to come back with a lot of ideas and news to share with you guys.

I've begun to design a bit of a knitwear collection, I'm thinking of designing about 10 items all up, but it's hard to tell at the moment. I've been doing a LOT of mindmapping and brainstorming about what I want out of the stuff that I'm designing, because I would like people to get some use out of the patterns, while also sticking to what I like to knit, and what I like to wear.

Here is a photo of the workstation at the moment, with about a quarter of the swatches and tests that I've been doing over the past month or so:

I've really been getting into textured designing at the moment, because I like the yarn to be able to just pop out and be the star attraction. I've tried to make an effort and use 100% Australian wool/yarn, and I think that looking into the more textured designs are definitely paying off.

I really want the stuff that I am working on to scream colour. And lots of it. The last thing that people need on a drizzly, miserable grey winter day is to put on some dull clothing, what they need is a good dash of colour.  So, I've been trying to graph out a few stranded designs, whatever comes to mind really. I don't want to say that my sweaters are going to be anything garish, but I would love to dabble in a bit of the oversized colourwork from the 80's or so, but that is still in the pipeline at the moment.

All in all, though, it is a really exciting process, especially when you've got a pattern all written up and ready to go. I can't wait to start getting a few of the designs onto and off of the needles to show you guys here!

x peace folks