Knitted Reindeer

I fell in love with the crocheted reindeer that my friend Hermine made
http://herminesplace.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/rendiertjelittle-reindeer/
but unable to read the pattern (in dutch) and only possessing very basic crocheting skills when I came across a pattern for a knitted reindeer...I just had to give it a go.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/little-christmas-reindeer-rudolfino

I made my first one out of scraps of 4ply sock yarn...I found it in my stash and think it belonged to Auntie Erna (who died in 2001). Then when I was showing him off to Auntie Bett 2 of the staff in her nursing home facility showed a great interest in them.
I got some 5ply wool in browns and made 2 more! Quick to knit up but fiddly to sew together! They each have their own personality I think. The finished length of Rudolfino is approx 16cm (6 inches) the other 2 are a couple of inches longer.

Strawberry Santas

Last month at ATC night Natalie showed us a photo of strawberry santas she thought she would like to make. Well I came home and thought I could do that too.
So for Mike's birthday tea dessert I made these little fellows. So cute and yummy too.

I made them with whipped cream but reckon you could use cream cheese instead.

Ribbon card

I was given this gorgeous Owl card for my birthday by my friend Carol and thought I would like to try this idea.
A friend's son and his wife have just had their first baby so thought this is my chance and here is what I made.

No where near as much work as in Carol's creation  but lots of work all the same..reckon she has the patience of a saint! I made my own papers then cut them out on the Cricut. Ribbons came from my stash.

Illusion Knitting

I have been doing a lot of knitting over winter and just keep finding new things to inspire me. I joined an online group called Knitters Paradise
http://www.knittingparadise.com/
...I am a lurker but enjoy hearing and seeing what others are knitting. Heard about "illusion" knitting and after finding some free patterns on Ravelry http://www.ravelry.com/
I thought I would have a go.
My first effort was a face/dish cloth with a pink breast awareness ribbon on it.
Then I saw a pattern for a piano keyboard scarf and thought this would be perfect for my friend Beth as a 60th birthday present. As a music teacher and Collingwood football fan (team colours being black and white) it ticked all the boxes!

I could not stop at one :) Next project was a Tardis scarf for my SIL who is a Dr Who fanatic. My daughter came shopping with me to find the wool ...she was most insistant I find just the right colour...we did our best.

The recipients were both excited about their scarves:)

Knitting Day

Yesterday I spent the entire morning trawling the net looking for knitting pattterns for "Illusion Knits". This is where when you hold the piece of knitting one way it looks fairly plain but when you tilt it at a different angle you can see the pattern knitted into it. Anyway I got totally sidetracked and ended up looking for patterns for baby hats in cotton...as I had some left over cotton yarn. Many hours and lots of patterns printed out later I did not make the cotton hat as I saw this picture for a cute little beanie with ribbons threaded through the fabric and tied in knots. It looked so cute and I knew I had a large stash of ribbon that would be suitable so the entire afternoon was spent knitting the beanie and putting the ribbons on.

blue cardigan.

Not real keen on the yarn in this garment. It was part of my aunt's stash that she knitted squares out of to make baby rugs for charity. Can't get her to knit any more so thought I would use it up (again for charity). It knits very unevenly but still I think it is rather cute.

Another cute baby bolero

Well as the weather warms up I will be doing less and less knitting but I have still have a few things on the go and here is my latest effort. Finally I have used up all the lavender yarn...still a bit of the purple left so will have to match it woth something else.

Cloudehill and Rangeview Gardens. Olinda

Last thursday we visited these gardens (again on Mark's suggestion...thanks Mark.)
There is a nursery and restaurant here also. We had a delightful "Chatter Platter" 3 tiers of yummy, meats, salads, dips, cheese and bread etc for lunch before wandering around the gardens.
Cloudehill is set up like rooms you can wander through while Rangeview (which can only be entered through Cloudehill ) is plantings in a hilly woodland setting.
Again I could not help taking lots of photos so here is a small selection.

National Rhododendron Gardens Olinda Victoria

Saturday week ago we ventured up to Olinda in the Dandenongs to visit The National Rhododendron Gardens...on the recommendation of one of Mike's work colleagues. Thanks Mark :)
WOW what a wonderful place to visit. It is quite extensive covering a large acerage on a hillside - 36.2ha to be precise.
http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks/national-rhododendron-garden
We experienced beautiful weather (glad we did not go sunday...miserable and wet) and wandered around for a couple of hours taking in all the vistas and were gobsmacked by the stunning beauty of the rhododendrons and other trees and plants.
Below is a little selection of the pictures I took.