Lavender bags and some knitting for the cold

June and July are big birthday months for me, and here are a few gifts I've made. They are all cross stitched and filled with lavender. My new cross stitch obsession was inspired by this beauty. The piece above is actually tiny and the picture below gives you a sense of the scale. I loved stitching this, though the small stitches were right on the edge of my capabilities without any magnification to give me a hand! I used a cream Semco 25ct evenweave, with one strand of DMC over one stitch.

The scale of these two is much larger and a lot more rustic with coarser linen and two strands of floss over two stitches. The floral pattern is from this lovely book, and the bird is from a vintage knitting graph I found on the web a couple of years ago. Happy birthday Kate, Anne and Lou!

Last, but not least, here is a balaclava in 8 ply New Zealand merino. I've been wanting to knit one for the past two winters, but have only just got around to it. We have had some cold mornings here in Hobart, and a couple of weeks ago I decided it was easier to walk to work than defrost the car. I really wanted to wear the balaclava, but I look quite scary in it, so decided on a beanie instead. This will have to wait for an appropriately chilly bush walk. The streets of Hobart aren't ready for it!

I've been home from work the past three days with a bout of labyrinthitis, but am starting to feel a bit better. I'm off out to dinner tonight with a couple of friends. We will try and get a table at Garagistes - this is our second attempt. Wish us luck!