It's been a while...

Hello. My name is Nichole and it has been 2 months since my last confession, I mean blog post ;-)
I actually have had quite a bit going on but you know how it is when life gets in the way.
First up, I had the marvellous pleasure of test knitting Beear for the gorgeous Georgie Hallam, aka tiKKi.
Let me just say that being asked to test for my favourite designer pretty much made my life!

Miss Bella models her Beear

 I had this finished just in time as me the three kidlets packed up and headed over to Victoria to visit my Grandparents for 10 days. It was such an amazing trip and I was so excited to take my own kids to meet two of the most important people in my life. Despite our Red-eye flight we took the very long and scenic route out to Avoca via Bendigo specifically so I could stop here:

AGGGHHHH YARN!

I had to raid my piggy bank before we left because I knew I wouldn't be able to resist the temptation of the infamous "Back Room". ;-)

   

Look at ALL that YARN! 

During a trip to Daylesford I picked up some Noro Silk Garden and knit a Turn a Square beanie for my Pop. It came out a little bigger than it should have, despite my ripping back and changing needles! He decided it should be worn like a Newsboy cap! haha silly old Pop. <3

My Gorgeous, Silly, Amazing Pop <3

So far this past month I've finally made some actual progress on my Levenwick. I am determined to have it finished for this winter! I've had to put it down again to finish a commissioned knit for my sister in law. I'm knitting her Cherie Amour in gorgeous Malabrigo Rios. I'm starting to fret that I'm knitting the wrong size despite the hours I've spent poring over the schematic. I'm hoping that a good hard blocking will work it's magic, otherwise I'm preparing myself to cut the darned thing in half and reknit the lower section again. (Yes, I will actually cut my knitting in half!)
In my spare time (ha!) I'm also participating in this year's Mystery Knit along hosted by Kristen Kapur. I loved last year's shawl so much and this year it's a three colour shawl! Stripes!!
AND. Finally... I am making some progress on my latest design. After knitting the initial sample I spent  some time thinking over the construction. It had to be knit from the bottom up but I found the finishing to be really fiddly and wondered if that would translate well into a written pattern. I've finally come up with a viable solution and after knitting a test swatch I'm ready to knit my second sample. Here's a little sneaky peek for you ;-)

Ohhh ruffles!