GAIA SHAWL

This pattern from ravelry was designed for noro kureyon sock yarn,and came out so nice.Its not the softest yarn out there despite the price,it took 2 balls of 100gms that i got from an oz shop,Yay for yarn,about $25au a ball.

The pattern is easy and relies on you to decide when to change to the 1 lace row required,as the colours change.
I soaked it to block and added some cheap hair conditioner to soften it,it did help.

A DR WHO FINGERLESS GLOVE

Yup thats right one single fingerless tardis

mitt!
After by happy sucess with intarsia on the skull hats i made this for mister Dr Who fan,only i didnt have time to finish 2.He was thrilled anyway and never rejects what i make.
Pure wool again,pattern from ravelry,i made it extra long and loose as he doesnt like things tight on his skin,looking foward to the other one coming for winter next year.

CASHMERE COWL

A jane Thornley pattern,cowled capelet,i used 2 small skeins of ruby

cashmere from stitch diva studios after a bit of fluffing about whether they can be posted to oz,mixed up other yarns including cleckheaton 4 ply bamboo in black,mohair/silk/,bamboo tape,etc etc and ran the cashmere all the way through the pattern.
At last i managed to get a flow of stitches instead of blocks and this is so soft i could cuddle it for ever.
Swarovski crystal mobile phone charm just topped it off,very proud of myself.

YOU GAVE ME WHAT!!!!FOR XMAS

Well i thought it was a good idea,lots of people on KP were making skull hats,young people liked them,kids,young adults,so decided to learn a new skill and was so pleased with myself.
One pure australian wool hat with grey skulls,one pure wool and noro kureyon with multi-coloured pirate skulls.
Faces on the receipients hurt like mad,$3.99 tins of shortbread all round next year.!!! pattern from ravelry

BANDANA COWLS

This pattern seemed so hard at first until someone on knitting paradise helped me out and then i made 2.
The blue one win ged its way to my cousin in freezing UK for a xmas present and the purple one is for me.
Knifty, quick, warm,drop it over youre head,no messy ends to stick out.At a site called purl bee,bandana cowl.

Skull Hats

Skull hats have been popping up a lot on knitting paradise,so i decided to have a go,the first one followed the pattern,2x2 rib,and ended up 7" long,more a cap,the skull is a 15 row easy to follow pattern,my only problem was finishing the hat off with dpns,but i did it.
The 2nd hat is more of a beanie,i added to the rib and a few extra rows,did the rib 1x1 much neater,used pu

re wool from spotlight,very enjoyable and makes you feel clever as well.

Yarn knitted up

here is the leopard yarn in 2x2 rib!

Just added to my stash

A couple of pics of yarn that arrived in the mail,the first 4 balls of purple merino,these were a deal from craftsy.com,usually by the time i get the email the deal is over,time difference USA and AUS,but i snapped up these for $13.95.
The next yarn i bought for about $4 a ball from Deramores in the UK,there postage to oz is great,$5.06 for 6 balls,its to make a ribbed shrug and here is a pic of how it knits up in 2x2 rib.
The last,Lion brand AMAZING,i found a scarf i liked that used this and wanted to make a present,the company is Yarn Over in australia,formerly american yarn company.
As the hot weather has hit here now and my hands are running sweat,knitting might slow down.

Rainforest Vest

This is a Jane Thornley project that i did called by me" hugged by a rainforest"

,i bought lots of balls of brown,greys,green and black and just changed stitches with each colour change.
Its still not quite freeform and i am very neat and orderly with my work,not my house though haha,and it is so warm and soft,it looks better on him than me.

The original pattern.

close up

DRAGONSCALE GAUNTLETS

Made these a few days ago with some help from a you tube video and Knitting Paradise forum women,done in crochet,crocodile stitch which is very effective and clever,and comes out very thick and warm.
It took me a couple of goes to "get it" but when i did it was easy and fun tv cochet.
I bought the pattern from ravelry.

SCHARF

I bought the pattern for this from Etsy,its a small shawl/scarf and was easy to do.Th yarn was from a lot i bought from MADELINE TOSH, merino light,in colour Jade.
I saw a Stephen West scarf named Creekbed,free ravelry pattern and loved the colours so much,not my usual range at all,and included jade in my order,so glad i did.
The little beauty is soft and light,warm as toast and very easy to make.
I used my cicada brooch as a shawl pin and it goes very well!

GAIA SHAWL

Free pattern from ravelry the gaia shawl was designed for Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn,with you deciding when to change to the lacey row as the colour changes come through.I find Kureyon rather rough,even silk garden feels rough to me.Pics are unblocked 1 ball,and blocked 2 ball size.

The pattern calls for either 1 ball as a shawlette,2 balls makes a generous size shawl,i enjoyed making this so much,real TV knitting,and also found the yarn in australia so didnt have to wait weeks for it to arrive.
The oz shop i used was Yay for Yarn,and both times the ball arrived quickly and easily,price wise seemed about the same as in the USA.

STASH

Helpful to have when knitting is a good stash of yarn,which i didnt have,after reading Jane Thornleys site i found myself buying orphan balls,single balls of silk/mohair,bags of yarns from Spotlight,Lincraft,bargains from Ebay,specialist spinner and dyers from Etsy,and anything i could afford and get posted to oz!!!

KNITTING PARADISE

One of the smartest things i did this year was to join the forum Knitting paradise,never have i met so many clever,witty,intelligent ,crafty women,ready to help with patterns,yarns,illness,kids,and life in general with all it throws up.(Apart from my dear friends on BeadDreamz!)
The owners of the forum have very cleverly designed it so you can off topic chat to youre hearts content as well as put up pics,patterns and rescources.
If you are going to knit and crochet do youreself a favour,sign on,introduce youreself and youre away,they are the best!
Pics of fingerless mitts,one for me,one for pinkcyberfaery my friend.

CLEOPATRA

This is my granddaughter Cleopatra,i made her this dress,pattern Tropical Lilly from Ravelry and i made her this pink hat,she is the light of my life and i am going to make her a lovely star blanket next.For xmas last year i made her a swarovski star in pink crystals and she shyly sang "twinkle twinkle "to me!

WELCOME

Hi this is the blog of the barefootbeader at Crystal forest,this is some of the stuff i made in winter,when the lure of all the new yarns and bright colours got me back into knitting and crochet,in a big way.
Buying more yarn than i can ever use, in colours from tropical fish to Kaffe fasset designed autumn colours,kettle dyed in chile peruvian wool,patterns free and paid for,and being bewitched by Jane Thornley and her style of freeform knitting.
The first thing i made was a pair of gauntlets,often called fingerless mitts,i am hopeless with DPNS,set of 4 needles to knit in the round so i crocheted mine,and added beads to make them more special.
I used Cleckheaton 4ply bamboo,bamboo is so soft,i just added and subtracted chains so they fit my arm,so there is no pattern,and i wove some shirring elastic in the upper arms to keep them from sliding down.
I enjoyed this so much,and they are so soft and warm and a little gothic,just my style.