Baby Star

Materials: 1 ball worsted weight cotton yarn, size 4mm needles. I used Sugar'nCream Summer Prints for this cloth, which gave it a lovely effect - it's a variegated yarn.

Instructions:
Cast on 12 stitches.
This cloth is made up of 7 wedges, all exactly the same. Then the edge is sewn together, the threads are sewn in and the cloth is complete. :)

Every wedge:
Row 1 and all odd rows: K.
Row 2: K3, YO, K to last st, turn.
Row 4: K3, YO, K to last 2 sts, turn.
Row 6: K3, YO, K to last 3 sts, turn.
Row 8: K3, YO, K to last 4 sts, turn.
Row 10: K3, YO, K to last 5 sts, turn.
Row 12: K3, YO, K to last 6 sts, turn.
Row 14: K3, YO, K to last 7 sts, turn.
Row 16: K3, YO, K to last 8 sts, turn.
Row 18: K3, YO, K to last 9 sts, turn.
Row 20: Cast off 9 sts, K to end of row.

This cloth is very similar to the starfish cloth, but with smaller wedges. This makes the cloth smaller and perfect for a baby washcloth! :)

You can find a printable version of this pattern here: Free Dishcloth Patterns from sew-funky.blogspot.com.

© SewFunky 2008
http://sew-funky.blogspot.com
etsy store: sewfunkynz.etsy.com

Retreat, glorious retreat!

I am extremely lucky to have some very kind and generous friends at the moment. Two of them really blessed me on the past weekend with very thoughtful gifts. As you know I spent the weekend on a retreat, which was really fantastic. I really believe that I NEED these weekends so I can cope with my "real life". It's the only time I can get away from being a wife, mother, etc. and truly be myself and have fun! I can behave like a teenager, giggle into the wee hours and basically be as silly as I like without any repercussions. It's so fun...

Anyway, I'd publicly like to thank Jodz, who spent the weekend with me. She has always been a fantastic listening ear, and is loads of fun to boot! I so loved our shopping adventures and talking with her into the night. Everytime we go on retreat together, we make each other a little gift - I tell you, it's like Christmas! This time she made me a little wrist pincushion with some very neat looking pins and $20 to spend on our op shopping adventures! Thanks so much for that Jodee!! I made her a knitting needle roll - similar to the one I made here, and gave her a knitted starfish cloth. I forgot to take a photo, so I may have to ask for one from Jodz later...

Jodz gift (wrist pincushion, pins, card and $20)

Also, a very good friend Lianne, gave me a sweet surprise when she appeared from her car, at school on Friday afternoon, with a really thoughtful retreat bag. Inside was a goss mag, some lippie, some skin cream and other beauty stuff and last but not least a bar of chocolate (mmmmm!). It was so unexpected it made me giddy with excitement for the weekend and I'll still be talking about it into next year... Thank you so much Lianne, I feel truly blessed to be considered your friend! Also... it's about time you got a blog (hint, hint...) Lianne is one of the most talented crafters I know. She makes the most beautiful baby shoes, bibs and smocking.... I am hoping she will come with us on retreat in November - please come Lianne - because I know we will all have so much fun together!!!

Lianne's Pressie...

Retreat was amazing, as per usual. We stay at Vaughn Park Retreat Centre and it is a really lovely place to stay. It is close to some really great op shops and two really great markets (Silverdale on Saturday's and Browns Bay on Sunday's). And of course, I better not forget to tell you that it's by the beach at Long Bay (not that we went down to the beach at all on the weekend!). It is so nice to not have to worry about the kid's or what you're gonna have for dinner. You can just relax and do what you want to do. Jodz and I like to check out the local op shops and markets and discovered a really awesome little cafe - La Tropesienne in Browns Bay. It was an experience that I am hoping to repeat next time! The prices are reasonable and the surroundings are just so interesting. The owner has some really ecclectic collections on show and I could spend hours just looking around at them. It was a real EXPERIENCE going to the loo. I was going to put the photo's up here, but I've decided it's actually better to experience it for yourself. If you go, ask to use the toilet... ;)


Another favourite shop we go to in Silverdale is "Pandora's Box" - I just love looking through all her beautiful things. If I had more money I'd buy more, but even as a window shop it is wonderful.

Pandora's Box in Silverdale

Some of my op shop finds, not all as I didn't remember to photograph them all...

All in all it was a great weekend, I even finished making the little cloth I've promised the pattern for. That will be up later on today... Thanks for everyones best wishes!


D

I'm on my way.... :D

 Last night I went to see Mamma Mia with a good friend and our 11 year old daughters.  It was fantastic.  I laughed all the way through the movie and had to stop myself from singing along to the songs...  We didn't get home until after 10pm (kinda late for a "school night").  But boy we had a whole heap of fun.  I highly recommend the film to all you girls out there, especially if you need a little cheer up.

My only regret is that I had too much coffee and ended up not being able to sleep until 3am.  I was well and truly buzzing!  I guess some of that is due to the fact that I get to have 2 wonderful kid free days with a great friend of mine.  It's definitely a deserved break for both of us, because we both have children on the autistic spectrum.  Our wonderful husbands are going to hold down the fort at home, bless them!

I have designed a new little star cloth, intended for babies.  I'll post the pattern for it next week so keep an eye on the blog!  It's extremely basic but looks delightful!

Only 4 hours to go and I'm away for the weekend - YAHOO!  I hope you all have a great one too!

new pyjamas...

 

I am finally beginning to feel better...  YAY!  So today I made myself a pair of pyjamas.  My good friend Jodz and I are going away this weekend on a mother's retreat.  So, because I didn't want to scare her with my very old raggy pj's, I thought I'd better get on to making them.  They were a real treat to make, only taking about 30 minutes in total.  I wish all projects were this easy!  Instead of making casing for the elastic and hemming them, I used bias binding.  Remember I have LOT's of bias binding around here, so it was a good chance to use some of it! :)

They turned out great - I LOVE THEM!!!  

I can't wait for the weekend too, it's gonna be a goodie! :) 

the STARBURST cloth...

This is my entry into the knitting calendar... It is based loosely on the starfish pattern I made back in June. Tell me what you think...

If you want the pattern for this cloth you will need to buy the 2009 knitting calendar available here later this year.

just popping in to say hi!

Hi everyone!

I can't believe it's been 15 days since I last posted, but there we go - it has!! There was a time that I was posting every day (sometimes more than once!), but it seems those days are gone. The truth is I hate winter, and I seem to go down really fast!! I suffer from depression and a panic disorder that flares up every now and then. It becomes a vicious cycle of anxiety and blahness, and I just don't feel like doing anything I usually enjoy at all. This explains the resounding silence on this blog. I have been on medication for almost 6 weeks now and I feel like I am improving all the time.

I knitted another new round dishcloth yesterday. This one will be entered into a knitting calendar (I hope!), so the pattern can't be posted here until around June next year... ;) I can, however, post a picture of temptation on my blog and I will do that really soon, promise! :)

Have a super awesome day!

D

The Sister Box

My wonderful sister has just posted me the first of many (I hope/she hopes) back and forth parcels. I read about the sister box first about 4-5 months ago on somebodies blog - and I thought hmmmm, that would be great for Rebekah and me! So I sent her the link (can't find it now) and we both agreed it would be a fantastic thing to do!

Rebekah is my most wonderfully creative baby sister who lives in the South Island and I live in the North Island (New Zealand). I am always seeing things she'd like and she is always seeing things I'd like and so it seems the perfect excuse to spoil each other! We have both been collecting things for each other since my visit to Christchurch in April, was it really that long ago? Seems like just yesterday!

Today, she finally put it all into action by sending me the first parcel, and now it's up to me to carry on the challenge! Keep an eye out on your post box over the coming couple of weeks Rebekah! ;)

Look at what she posted me!


My favourite things are the fabric (I love love love orange and pink together) and the neat tea cup, although I really just love it all - Thanks so much Rebekah! :)