Search Results for: kina

So I knit another kina

October 27, 2012 By 18 Comments

OK, so I have this strange addiction thing and it goes like this. I buy a pattern, I knit it, I fall in love with it and make it again. And again. And before you know it I’ve just knitted the same pattern 6 or so times. Yes. That is the power of the Kina.  It’s such a sweet and easy pattern. You can do it while watching tv, it’s a no brainer and once the sleeves are done you can just sit and knit back and forth so it’s a great project to take with you when you don’t want a pattern with you too.

I made this one in Bendigo Spring Cotton. It’s knitted up beautifully and because the spring cotton has some lycra in it it keeps it’s shape beautifully and has a little spring to it. I’ve never thought about it like that – I wonder did they name it spring after the season or the springiness.

All I know is that this one was a little slower to knit because I’ve been busy getting the blog design right but I’m happy it’s done. I found some buttons in the stash, just weaved in a couple of ends and I was done. I won’t block this as it’s cute as it is and once it’s been washed for the first time I just lay out and stretch a little to shape.

pattern: Baby Kina

size: 18-24 months

yarn: Spring Cotton by Bendigo Woollen Mills 

needles: 4mm

ravelry link: here

Filed Under: babies, kina, knitting

another baby kina for elodie

May 17, 2012 By 28 Comments
The thing I love about craft is that it serves more than one purpose for me. Not only do I have hobbies that are my own and that keep me busy and happy but I’m also making sweet things for my little ones and get so much satisfaction from seeing them being worn. No sooner had I finished sewing the buttons on than I whipped this on Elodie and took her outside for a few photos.
up close
It’s another baby kina (only my 5th) but this time I knit it in 8 ply for a bit of extra warmth. It’s not too tricky just knit a size smaller but knit in 8 ply with 4mm needles. So I knit the 12 month size but followed the length of the next size up when it came to measuring my work to ensure it turned out larger than I wanted. And it was 2 weeks on the needles. Yet another reason to love this project.
baby kina
baby kina
I used Bendigo’s Allegro which I’m just so sad to see you can’t buy off the website anymore. It has a lovely twist to it so there are actually 4 shades of purple in the yarn which makes it look gorgeous up close. I used wild berry and so glad I have a few other shades in the stash as it was lovely to work with.
baby kina
baby kina

and is miss elodie a natural model or what? I think I have another Keira on my hands!
she's a natural model
and although we’re trying to get her walking she can’t resist a bit of bottom shuffling – the other way she gets around!
bottom shuffler
Ravelry details for this project are here and you can buy the pattern online here. Don’t forget there are also patterns for doll, child and mummy sizes. So no one misses out. I’ll probably knit another kina before the year is out!
Filed Under: bendigo woollen mills, kina, knitting, ravelry

another baby kina

November 26, 2011 By 16 Comments

Yes, perhaps I have a slight obsession with knitting baby kina’s. This one being my 4th one knitted this year. I just can’t help myself. It’s such a sweet little cardigan, easy to knit and can be worn with anything.

smiling

I knit this one in Bendigo’s Spring Cotton which is a new yarn of cotton with a touch of lycra. It feels more substantial than the regular cotton and has a bit of stretch in it which I like.

baby kina

And the colour I am totally in love with. I’m such a pink girl and this hot pink is just gorgeous. I was in love with it from the moment I saw the shade card. Sometimes Bendigo get a little stuck with their pale colours so having a bright hot pink is very welcome in this house.

close up

The buttons were an eBay find and were just the perfect way to finish off the project.

bye byes
And models don’t come cuter than my Elodie.
elodie
side on
baby kina
oh another back view
funny moment
Now the fun of picking my next knitting project! And perhaps stocking up on a little more Spring Cotton for the stash! And you can find all the details of this project on my ravelry page here.
Filed Under: bendigo woollen mills, kina, knitting, ravelry

knitting a kina

September 6, 2011 By 15 Comments
You can purchase the baby sized pattern here, the kids size here and the ladies is available here. The free doll pattern is available here.
Why finish the 3 other projects in your knitting basket when you can start a new project! The story of my knitting life. I couldn’t resist trying out the millamia yarn that I bought from Suzy Hausfrau – thanks Suzy for my voucher. I think I’ll be back for more millamia. It has a real spring to it and knits up perfectly. No splitting and it reminds me so much of Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino. I know I bang on about how good Bendigo is but it’s also nice to use something a little more luxurious for baby projects.
new project
I’m knitting the Kina on 3.5mm’s and it’s knitting up beautifully. I’m very proud of my neat edge and cast on with a 3mm. I’m actually making this for Elodie rather than the baby Kina – why? Because I couldn’t find my baby kina pattern but I’m going to tell you that I wanted to make the larger size because then it doesn’t sound like my craft room is totally disorganised and I can’t find anything.  Thankfully Elodie is growing fast so it’s a good excuse.
baby kina
And that reminds me! I don’t think I ever showed you the finished Baby Kina which is super cute! I knit this in Bendigo Luxury 4ply and it’s so soft and sweet. Unfortunately I didn’t have it ready for Elodie….and it’s still not finished or had it’s buttons sewn on yet. But thankfully it’s always nice to have a few baby projects stashed away to give as presents.
one I made earlier
And just a little tip, I know it can be sometimes daunting substituting wool when you’re a beginner knitter so I thought I’d share what I do on ravelry. So you’re going to need to join Ravelry if you’re not already on there. There are tabs along the top of the page for patterns, yarn, forums etc. So if I know the pattern I’m after – let’s say Kina then I search Kina within patterns and then click on the specific pattern. Now you have a pattern page and over on the right there is a box that says ‘About this pattern’ and it will have the number of projects that have been knitted for the pattern. Click on the number and it will bring up pages and pages of Kina projects and what yarn and needle size has been used. To narrow it down you can search for yarns you like to use like Bendigo, patons etc by using the search button at the top of the screen.  I hope that makes sense and just ask! It’s a great time saver and way to find inspiration! If you ever have a question about my knitting or a project just ask…always happy to help!
Filed Under: bendigo, bendigo woollen mills, knitting, ravelry

6 weeks and chicken teriyaki

July 7, 2017 By 7 Comments

The 6 week mark always signifies things getting a little bit easier after I’ve had a baby. Little lottie is sleeping a bit more at night but still likes to be on or near me. I’m getting up at 7.30ish because all the little kids want breakfast and their favourite cartoons put on but it’s still hard to get out of the house anytime before 10am! In fact yesterday the big kids were invited to a last minute playdate and it was 1 o’clock by the time we left the house. Mind you today we were 20 minutes early to our 9am swimming class so I’m getting a bit better when I set my mind to it and skip a morning shower.

I’m gaining weight while breastfeeding but no surprises there. Not one of those mums who just gets back into shape easily and making milk is hard work and leaves me soooo hungry I eat whatever I can find. I’m hoping once everyone goes back to school and routine and I do a few more things that I might eat a bit less and instead of gain weight start to lose some. Well I hope. Today I’m making a huge soup in the slowcooker which hopefully will fill me up and keep me away from the sweet treats.

The slowcooker is still working overtime. I honestly have the most basic slowcooker but it’s working well for me. You don’t need big and fancy really. Last night was a sweet potato risotto with chicken stock we made 2 nights ago from a whole chicken in there. I’m without a stovetop (it died) but am discovering all the great things you can do in the thermomix like boil spaghetti and potatoes and so we’ve been using that a lot too. I’m hoping that this weekend we might get a few meals made and in the freezer like our favourite sausage rolls, a few lasagnes and more.

My big girls love to cook but I’ve had to ask them not to for a few days so I can keep the kitchen clean as it’s mess everywhere when they get in the kitchen. Now my favourite slowcooker recipe doesn’t have any photos but is so delicious so here goes – 1kg chicken thighs (just put them in whole), 1 can of crushed pineapple (I think its 440g), 1/4 cup tamari/soy sauce, 1 onion diced up, some ginger and garlic all go into the slowcooker on low for about 6 hours. Serve with steamed rice and even your fussiest of eaters will gobble it up. I put some chopped up veggies in there for a complete dinner. Total winner.

My big girl devised a weekly chore chart so we can be a bit fairer in dividing out the chores. Each of my big 3 has 2-3 jobs a day to do – nothing too big- and hopefully getting that routine in place now will help when everyone goes back to school.

I’m managing about 1-2 rows of knitting………..a week. Yes a week and sometimes I wonder will I remember how to knit but as things get easier and a little one sleeps more then I know I’ll be back to my crafts. I did make this little kina to gift last year and Lottie did a great job of modelling it for me. Pattern is here and I used adagio alpaca in 5ply.

And thank you for all of your tv suggestions on FB. I asked what to watch since I’ve worked my way through all of Shetland, the Crown, the Keepers, Silence the movie and need some tv viewing for those late night baby feeding sessions. After all of the suggestions I think I won’t be leaving the house anytime soon. I started with a rewatching of North and South. I could watch that one 100 times and still just love it right till the end.

 

Filed Under: babies, baby, family

school is out for the year!

December 12, 2016 By 7 Comments

Yes we have officially finished at our two schools and our homeschool too. We survived the year. And what a year it’s been. We had one in year 5, one in kindy and my twins who left school to be homeschooled for year 2.

Homeschooling………..not for the faint hearted but so worthwhile. If I’ve learnt anything (and I hope other people will be reassured) it’s that we can take control of our children’s education and provide them with a proper and meaningful education. I think people feel that they have no option. If they have a child who is unhappy at school then they either have to stay where they are and suffer for it or they need to find a new school. Children who struggle or aren’t challenged or have friendship issues. We let them suffer when really we could be teaching them at home and there are so many options. You can sign up to a distance education provider who will provide all materials or you can purchase a curriculum and then buy the books or you can make your own using a mixture of books that your children might be using at school and use a range of texts and resources. And the opportunities to socialise….well there are so many. In fact we didn’t have time to go to local meet ups during the week because we were so busy anyway. Next year will be different but you will be so surprised to find out how many homeschoolers are near you.

I’ve definitely learned that we can be flexible and if any of my children need to come home for school then they can. I don’t think I’m ready to take on the responsibility of teaching all of my children and I have some that just love school, but it’s definitely given me the confidence to do it and keep doing it.

Next year I have one boy going back to school which he would like to do. A spot has opened up at our parish school and he would like to try that. His sister would like to stay home. I have one little boy starting preschool 3 days a week and he is so excited about that (his little brother won’t know what to do with himself with his ‘twin’ gone). One girl goes into year 1 and we are so excited to see how much progress she makes after a year of amazing progress that has left everyone stunned at just how far she has come. We now talk in sentences and after years and years of speech that didn’t seem to be going anywhere we have a very talkative and determined girl. Look at her with her precious teacher and teacher’s aide. Such dedicated and devoted people who love each and every child so much. It was so hard to say goodbye to them and just when I thought I had cried enough with the school year finishing……I opened a card in her bag and there was a dvd of all of the photos of their year to music. Photos were broken down into each term. I needed a tissue to get through that one!

And my big girl will have her last year of primary school. She loves everything about school and has represented her school in debating and choir and is everyone’s friend. We are so proud of her and she’s in her school musical next year, taking up rhythmic gymnastics and returning to swimming again and just needs to work on her maths! Pretty funny since she’s the daughter of 2 accountants. Oh and if she could keep her room clean too. That would be great.

And that’s our year. It’s been such a great one and not what I expected since homeschooling wasn’t on the cards but I’m so happy with how it’s gone and I’m so excited for the year ahead. I hope you’ve all had a great year and that you are getting a well deserved rest! Well after the Christmas rush anyway. I’ve already cut out a whole quilt as my holiday quilting project and have a kina for a 1 year old on the go as well.

And if you ever have any questions about homeschooling please email me. Always happy to answer them.

Filed Under: homeschooling

wow it’s really been one month

November 10, 2016 By 9 Comments

Well I intended to spend less time on the blog but I think a month between posts might be a new record. It’s been a busy time and also a really sad time.

We had a really lovely 6th birthday party for my littlest miss with all of her classmates and then the next day we learnt that a family at our school had died tragically. It was such a shock and sad time as the mother was one of the loveliest school mums I knew who always had time for everyone. The funeral was beautiful but just so sad. It was a hard few weeks to enjoy things when you felt so sad and confused but time (and being surrounded by lots of little people) does help you move forward and try to make peace with everything. They’ll always stay in my thoughts and prayers as well as their families and close friends.  And the school community has been so wonderful and the beautiful things that have been done by our surrounding schools and other schools is just so beautiful. We’ve had a little holy bracelet made by children at one school and another little card and dove from another school.

We’ve been very busy with homeschooling and I can’t believe we’ll be finishing up the year in a month’s time. It’s not without its challenges as I have 2 very different personalities to teach but they are becoming more independent and we’ve all settled into our routine. I still think people assume you need to be standing in front of them all day long teaching them but they have a list of work they need to get through each day and we do a few things together and the rest is independent work. I’m also now used to cashiers or people asking if they are home sick or don’t have school today and you have to give a mini talk on homeschooling. But it’s definitely made life at home 100 times more peaceful and relaxed. I’ve also relaxed (a little) and accepted that there are days that never go to plan.

Craftwise I’ve been knitting a kina in a 5 ply which is taking me forever, I still haven’t cast off the sleeves (I’ll stick to 8 ply next time). And I’ve been doing some paper piecing of hexagons for some little Christmas projects. I even picked up some diamonds and am paper piecing stars which I’m hoping will turn out. I took my girls to the shop to buy the paper pieces, I was so sure we’d emerge with just the paper pieces but there we were at the checkout with palace pets and tsum tsum fabric for the girls.

I’ve discovered Outlander (on the recommendation of my readers) and I am totally hooked but I do have to confess it is not as civilised as Lark Rise and I don’t do blood and guts or the sex scenes because I just don’t watch tv or that many movies (that aren’t kids movies). So I’ve had to fast forward a few times or look away but then I’m so hooked by the story and finding out what happens. And I’ve decided just to skip the last episode of series 1 entirely to avoid it all after reading a review of it and a warning from 2 readers (thank you!). I’ve also ordered the book so hopefully that will arrive soon and I’ll get stuck into that.

And that’s about that. The beautiful flowers in these photos have been sent to my by the lovely Carli from Urban Flower. They do the most amazing arrangements, as you can see. I’ve had a different grandma here each time they have arrived and they have both oohhed and ahhed over them. I catch myself walking past the dining table and stopping to do a double take.

Well that’s my little update. I hope to be back with a few Christmas food and craft ideas and not wait a month between posts! I hope you’ve been well and don’t get too caught up in the end of year craziness that seems to start in november and last until Christmas.

Filed Under: everything else

there has been lots of knitting

April 25, 2016 By 8 Comments

Sometimes I am on a real go slow with my knitting or a particular project. And then there are times when I’m so motivated to finish a project. That is how I’ve been with this little cardy for my littlest miss. I have just been so motivated to get it finished and she’s been coming over and taking the first page of the pattern to show everyone what I’m knitting. That’s a good sign. Because I did make her a kina and it’s still unworn because she didn’t like wearing it. So we’re feeling positive about this one. I’ve been knitting in the backyard, while getting a pedicure, in the car to the blue mountains, watching tv, in front of the fire, while listening to little people read to me. This has taken me one week so far which is pretty good in my books.

I’m using granny’s favourite by tikki which is a favourite of mine. If you look up #grannysfavourite on instagram you’ll see lots for inspiration with a few real life grannies in there too. And I’ve used Bendigo Luxury 8 ply in bubblegum which I’m just loving. I was using it for the garter stitch blanket square but switched it to this project and it’s such a great pink. But of course I needed more so I’ll be waiting for the mailman to arrive with my order of Bendigo.

And that free  shipping if you spend $50 meant I had to get another couple of balls to avoid postage. The things we do. But with the cooler weather here I picked up some 10 ply in pale pink to make this cardigan for a few baby girls that have been born or are being born. I was having a big clearout and nearly threw out the magazine and then saw how perfect this little cardigan looked. You can also find the pattern online as a download here (US$2.99).

image source

Most of the family are back to school and work tomorrow so I probably won’t get much knitting done but at least I’ve been productive so far…………I hope you’ve been squeezing in a bit of craft time too. I have just started my next project..while I wait for that delivery. It’s another old favourite of mine from last minute knitted gifts, here is the last time I made one.

Filed Under: bendigo woollen mills, knitting

quick knits for babies

August 28, 2015 By 8 Comments

There is nothing quick about my knitting at the moment. And so many babies I’ve got to knit for or that are coming soon! 5 at last count….I need to get a move on! So I went through ravelry and my projects and looked for my favourites that I could whip up. Number 1 and if the baby is a girl is a kina. Still my favourite pattern and so pretty on. Because it lasts a while make a 6 month and it will get so much wear. It’s quite wide when you knit it up so won’t be one of those knits that just lasts a month. Pattern can be purchased and downloaded from ravelry here for EUR3.

Next favourite is this all in one cardigan that you knit from the back bottom hem and knit right over in one piece to the front hem. Casting on and casting off for sleeves. So easy. No fancy needles required. Just an easy and fun project. Pattern can be found in More Last Knitted Gifts, such a good book to have in your knitting library.

Another pattern that I really love and which you can find free online is the baby shrug by Debbie Bliss. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve made this one. Ravelry details are here and pattern is a free download here.

Now speaking of Debbie Bliss and free patterns, here is another favourite of mine knitting all in one piece. Love this one. Free pattern is here.

Another quick one and great if you’re knitting for a premmie is Paxton, I’ve knit one and must knit another. Doesn’t take too long and a free pattern. Find it here.

And when time is really short or you want a little something to pad out a present for a new baby then what about some beautiful facewashers. I think they make the nicest gift in a range of colours. I love using Bendigo 8 ply cotton (on 3.75mm needles), Debbie Bliss cotton dk (4mm needles) and Lily Sugar n Cream (5mm needles). And I just took delivery of some gorgeously coloured cotton from Patons so I’ll be back with some fun facewashers to share. These are quick and easy and great for the absolute beginners because you are just knitting a square. Just search on dishcloths to find loads of patterns on the internet and ravelry. The pattern for this one is free and can be found here. Another favourite of mine is the Almost Lost Washcloth Pattern which I also love.

got a question, just ask!

Filed Under: bendigo woollen mills, everything else
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