What is on the needles?

Look what is on my needles...

Knitting for our first granddaughter - Scarlett. 

Yes I am indeed a Nana. Our beautiful granddaughter was born 4 days before her due date at 6.34am, 6lb 11oz and 51cm long, following a very short labour. Mum, dad and baby are doing very well. Scarlett Valentina - The little darling is filling out very quickly and has steadily gained weight never loosing the weight that newborns usually do.

Back to the knitting - I haven't really done any knitting for a while and I have really enjoyed (well most of the time anyway) knitting for my granddaughter knowing that these garments will help keep her nice and warm and every stitch is stitched with love and promise.

I have knitted two garments for her, well one is complete and just waiting for the sewing together part, as you can see below. 

The second one - I can see the finish line. They are visiting this weekend and I am wanting to give them to my daughter, so the pressure is on. The pattern on the second matinee jacket is more complicated than that on the first and there was a fair amount on unknitting and re knitting going on and because this little number is knitted as one to the armholes there were a lot of stitches involved in this process. I found it very hard not to get frustrated, however I am really glad that I persevered as the finished result is just lovely.

What helped with this was the opportunity to start the pattern off in the morning instead of after dinner when I was too tired to concentrate and see properly. I am pretty sure that I know the pattern off by heart now and can tell just by looking where I was up to. Onto the moss stitch now, so that shouldn't take too long.

I enjoy knitting for this age group as it doesn't take too long and you can use some of the designs that older babies and children don't really want.

That is all for today - so until next time happy stitching everyone.

Photos at last...

Good morning everyone.


We have woken to a grey dark rainy day which apparently is going to get steadily worse. You can tell it is going to be a yucky day when the cats come inside early and stay in, which is exactly what they have done today.


I hope that your Mother's Day yesterday was a good one and that you were all treated well and rather spoilt really. 


Like I said yesterday I had a cuppa in bed, a cooked breakfast and dinner cooked for me as well. My son and his friend turned up just in time for breakfast (pure coincidence, however very well timed!). I got Happy Mother's Day wishes from my eldest daughter who is currently living in Perth (Bentley's mum) which was very nice and the youngest daughter helped dad with the cooking all day which included a chocolate and ginger tart, that was to die for!


My mother joined us in the late afternoon and stayed for dinner, which was very nice. We got a chance to just chill and visit with each other which doesn't normally happen when I am the one doing the cooking when she comes over for dinner.


The best Mother's Day gift that I got yesterday (sorry family if this offends you - it isn't intended to) was the receipt of an email containing my registration details for the Taupo Symposium 2013. Check out this link for more information - Taupo Symposium 2013 it is definitely worth a look.


I have only recently registered for this while most of my friends registered last year. Anyway I am still very pleased with my registration number. Definitely lower than I had anticipated. So yes I have made a commitment to receiving more information, have checked out the tutors from here in New Zealand, Australia and those from further afield. A group of us have already booked our accommodation - so it is definitely in my diary for 2013.

Okay here is a photo of the first scarf that I have knitted and it is just beautiful, both in the colours that it contains but also to feel. I have to confess to being extravagant and spoiling myself. The yarn for this scarf is kid mohair and silk - it is just gorgeous. The yarn is so fine, it took me quite a bit longer to knit this than what I had anticipated. However it was definitely worth the wait.

This is the scarf that I am currently knitting (that I mentioned in the earlier post). Again the colours are just gorgeous and with the blue you can definitely see the difference of the two balls, however in places when the colours on both balls are very similar it gets a little more difficult. These scarves are incredibly warm, not that I have had a chance to wear them yet, although with them sitting on my knee as I am knitting them, it is just heavenly.

Anyway until next time,

happy stitching everyone.

Donna-Maree

Change of name...

Just a little update today...


Don't know if you noticed but there has been a slight change of name. 


I realised this morning that quilting isn't the only stitching that I do.  Bit of a light bulb moment, I know, but I have been doing more knitting than sewing just lately, and have requested even more knitting books from the public library - just to have a look through, you know how it is. So I thought it only fitting for the title to be 'Stitching at my place' as opposed to 'Quilting at my place', that way it covers everything.


We received a txt message from our eldest daughter early hours of this morning, to let us know that Bentley arrived in Perth without any mishaps. He was very eager to use a litter box after all of the hours that he was in a crate and on a plane.


Bentley grew a lot while he was with us as only 5-7 month old kittens can and Kelsey was surprised at just how much he had grown, especially his fur as he is starting to look like more of a cat than a kitten. Apparently he hadn't stopped purring either and probably won't for a while now that he is reunited with his mum. We had a peaceful sleep after that knowing that everything was as it should be. 


Anyway check back soon as I will have the photos of the scarves up. Plus I have stitching group tonight and club day this Saturday - so watch this space!


Happy stitching everyone


Donna-Maree