My precious

It took me a ridiculously long time, but I have my very own piano at last!


The time was finally right, now that we no longer live in a student flat, or a leaky mouldy cottage, or literally up a hundred steps. :p

Our online searches led us to an apprentice piano tuner who happened to be restoring an old German piano, and was willing to sell it for a very reasonable price. Apparently the piano had been water-damaged and completely unplayable, but after restoration it looks and sounds lovely. It has a nice 'round' tone and nice clear bass notes, and it's louder than the English pianos I've played in the past. There's still a little bit of sanding and beeswax-polishing left to do, which I'll tackle myself.

Click to enlarge!

I spy four spots where the candle-holders were attached...

Lots of nice Art Nouveau-style decoration :)

It's been a long wait - since I moved away to uni in early 1999, I've been relying on an electric keyboard, which has been fine for getting me through singing practice and (back in the day) uni assignments. But for playing piano music I need the real thing, inconvenient though that is...

I did my Grade 8 piano exam during my break year before uni, and my playing has been getting steadily rustier ever since, although I'm sure the decline has been slowed by holiday piano-binges at Mum & Dad's. Hopefully now I can get some of my fluency back. I actually practised scales today! Voluntarily! 'Teenage Me' would be astounded. ;)


My aim is to play every day, so I'll need to acquire some more sheet music to keep it interesting. State Library ahoy!

New pattern: Bushwalk Beanie

My newest hat design is out! The Bushwalk Beanie is a cute-and-cosy lace hat with a pattern of fern fronds all around. Needing only one ball of Zealana Kauri 4ply, it's lightweight and happily economical.



When designing the fern lace for this hat, I was inspired by the familiar ponga tree - you can see its fronds in the photos above. I recently found out there are around two hundred different kinds of fern in New Zealand. Impressive!

Zealana Kauri yarn sets off the fern frond lace perfectly - it's slightly fuzzy, and gives a nice amount of body and definition to the stitches. A blend of merino, possum, and silk, it's luxurious and eco-friendly too.

From Zealana's website:
"Since its introduction to New Zealand by fur traders in the late 19th century, the non-native brushtail possum population has reached staggering proportions largely due to the lack of natural predators that would otherwise maintain an ecological balance. The consequences of their rapidly increasing numbers are many, including damaging impacts on New Zealand’s native flora and fauna."
Choosing to use possum-blend yarn supports efforts to control the pest possum population, giving our native wildlife a better chance of survival.


Features:
  • fern frond lace  
  • decorative crown decreases
  • nice wide ribbing at the brim 
  • tidy tubular cast-on (optional)
  • easily adjustable sizing of length + circumference 
  • both charted and written instructions
  • lightweight and folds flat 
  • one-skein project

The pattern download for the Bushwalk Beanie is available on Ravelry. 


All photos in this post are by an awesome photographer by the name of Jos, who also happens to be my Dad. :)
Go check out his website at Jos's Photography & Framing.

Temptation

I'm about halfway through the Stasis jersey I've been working on in dribs and drabs for months. It will be lovely when it's finished (fingers crossed), but right now it's at the endless-rounds-of-plain-stockingette stage. And true to form, I'm obsessing over what else I want to make soon! I love the choosing colours + yarn + other variables stage of a new project - Mum say it's the fun part, and I totally agree.

Here are a few of the patterns I'm dreaming of while I slog through my slow work-in-progress... :p

A new shawl design, suitable for homesick Wellingtonians (I want to make one in sky-blue):

Oriental Bay by Sue Schreuder

A cute sheepy cardigan (I'm mulling over various neutral shades):

Angry Sheep Cardigan by Pinneguri

A nice practical knitted top (in either golden or red sock yarn):

Park Slope by Laura Aylor

A graphic shawl (I have the perfect vermillion merino/silk yarn):

Antarktis by KallioKnits

And some cute wee bunnies for Easter:

Henry's Bunny by Sara Elizabeth Kellner

The end of the arrow

My Follow Your Arrow shawl is finished, and looking very fancy indeed. :)


It's nice and big, which I appreciate in a shawl because I like having a lot of fabric to drape around my neck...



I followed Ysolda's how-to video for the bind-off, as it was a new method for me. It was nice and easy, and stretchy enough for something that needs to be blocked out. I'll probably use it again on my next lacy shawl.
I'm enjoying Ysolda's new 'Technique Thursday' posts on her blog - I've learned a few new tricks including these amazingly simple little tips.

So here it is, a Follow Your Arrow shawl with options 1B, 2A, 3B, 4B, and 5A, in Vintage Purls Sock yarn. My coin-flips resulted in a very pretty flow of lace patterns. Lucky me!

Triumph!

My epic crocheted rainbow blanket is finished, and it's amaaaazing!


It took me exactly two weeks, including two days worth of pompom edging. The blankie came out a good size (about 1.2 metres per side), so it'll be a great lap-blanket in winter.

Dad took a bunch of photos to commemorate the occasion...

Weaving in the last few ends

Close-up of the bobble edge

Ta-daaa!

Naturally I had to go and pose with it in the garden, despite everything being wet from the rain. Here it is, with a short human for scale:


And then things got a little silly... ;)


Sword Blanket swallowing!

Looks like it's fluttering away...