Stirring the soap pot

I thought I'd show you what my 'work place' looks like:

I've been busy the previous weekend, packaging and labelling my soaps to sell at Craftworld, Westgate. I made four different soaps and after 2 months of curing they were finally ready.

Summer Fling is a summer scent full of summer fruits,

such as raspberries and peaches,

accompanied by the floral notes of magnolia, cyclamen and lilies

and finishing off with lingering white musk.

Sweetgrass, a bright and green scented soap.

Not the herbal grass scent, rather a sweet and fresh summer scent.

Sweet Valentine, which is a sweet and floral soap

with a fruity scent of dew fruit and lychee,

finishing off with a subtle fragrance of lily and geranium.

And Honey, Oats and Milk soap is made

with real milk, oats and manuka honey.

The oats give it an gentle exfoliating effect,

the milk and honey are full of skin soothing properties.

The soaps are available at Craftworld in Westgate (West Auckland).

Or for online shoppers, either at my Etsy store (international orders),

or for those in New Zealand, at my Felt store.

Fishies

Ready for another pattern?

The idea for these little fishies came from my 6 year old boy when he looked after our neighbours kitten. He loved little Cookie and always found new ways of playing with him. I explained that he could use a piece of grass or string and the cat would chase it. And that's where he started to get creative and I started using my knitting skills.

These fishies are easy and fun to knit. They take about 15 minutes, even for a beginner. Like all my patterns, they're very easy to follow and full of photographs to help explain.

And they're not just for the cat. You can make several of them and use them as decoration. Or you can turn them into a fishing game with a fishing rod and a bit of velcro.

The ideas are endless!

Oh and before I forget: you can buy them directly from my blog now. Thanks to Ravelry, the most amazing Knitting Community!

Magpie Patterns

I'm so excited! I've been approached by Amy from Magpie Patterns who told me she was a huge fan of my Pitter Patter socks, quote "I love your Pitter Patter Sock pattern (I found it on Ravelry) and have knit about a dozen pairs of socks using it."

And now she is offering MY patterns on her online pattern store!

She also did a small feature on my patterns on her fantastic blog! I've become a regular reading of her blog, because like me, she doesn't exclusively concentrate on knitting but more of all sorts of interesting crafts. And she has some amazing ideas and posts. And every thing looks so professional on her website, which is why it's even a greater honour for me to be featured on her website and blog. I definitely need to work on my photographs.

So where do I go from here?

Well, I'm working on several ideas at once. I've got some fun little Catnip Fishies coming, for all the cat fans out there. With special thanks to my 6 year old boy for the idea.

I've been working on a pattern of different New Zealand Birds. I'm concentrating on them being an easy and quick knit, yet look cuddly and cute and especially baby safe. They've been quite a bit of work though because I want them to look perfect!

A good friend of mine had a baby girl and I wanted to knit some pretty little booties or socks with a very special luxurious fingering yarn. However, the two patterns I tried didn't turn out nice at all. The problem is that the yarn I'm using doesn't hold the stitch definition very well. It contains cashmere, baby camel and silk. So I've been experimenting with different stitches and ideas. It was also very interesting trying to remember how small baby feet can be. Luckily there are quite a few sites out there with information on different sizing. So watch out for some baby socks!