Knit Glob

2012-01-20T19:09:00.003+11:00

I haven’t forgotten the blog entirely, but have been a terribly slack blogger in the past year. I don’t foresee any great improvement on that front either unfortunately . I often don’t have the energy to write a post or the content to write about!

The thought of losing the blog entirely though is sad. I like to look back over the past years and see what I’ve produced, and the progress I’ve made with my crafting skills. One of my favourite blog things to write about is the re-cap of my knitting over the past year and list my goals for the year to come. I didn’t do it last January, and was sad when I couldn’t tick off any of my goals because I hadn’t written them down.

So here we go:

2011 Retrospective

Socks - 8 pairs, focusing on texture in the first half of the year and colour in the last half.

shawls - 3, all towards the last part of the year and focusing on geometric blocks of colour

cardigans - 3

vest - 1

toys - 4 - fussy fiddly, multi-piece adorable toys.

blankets - 1 - my gorgeous noro blanket I blogged about in June.

hats - heaps - I knit many hats for gifts and didn’t keep track.

baby stuff - a couple of cardigans and a couple pair of booties.

Sadly it seems my knitting output was quite low in 2011. I focused on using bright colours in combinations I wouldn’t normally chose, but didn’t really learn any new techniques.

So for 2012 I have some big goals:

* knit true lace - patterned on both sides.

* design something and write down the pattern

* learn to double knit.

* knit a full size mens aran jumper (for my average sized Dad, not my humungous husband)

* more fairisle and steeking

I’m already working on the fairisle and steeking, with the fabulous pattern Rams & Yowes.

I hope to have this finished in the next month or two! I’ll make sure to report back then, or with luck, maybe even sooner!

I love Noro!

2011-06-22T18:47:00.007+10:00

I’m always surprised by how Noro yarn divides knitters. Anyone who has spent anytime on the Ravelry forums can attest to the fact that there are probably even numbers of lovers and haters.... there are those that dislike it - the coarseness of the fibre, the jarring colourways and the sometimes ridiculous amount of knots in a single ball, but I’m in the other camp.. the Noro-love camp. I love the rustic-ness of the fibre, the bits of vegetable matter that suggest it hasn’t been overprocessed, the slubby nature of the yarn and the amazing way that unlikely colours are mixed together in a wonderful riot! The knots, I am not so fond of, but found in my last project, which took 19 balls of Noro, probably only 4 balls that contained knots at all! A very low hit rate! So here is my latest and greatest Noro project; The Noro Paintbox Log Cabin. A brilliantly simple, yet effective way to maximise the best of Noro.

Despite it’s size, this was a fabulously portable project. A ball of Noro and a 4.5mm circular, and I could knit the road with nothing more in my knitting kit. Of course putting it together at the end was a bit of a marathon, but an incredibly rewarding one!
I’m so glad I have finished this just in time for our cold weather, it’s very warm and wonderful to snuggle under.

Hi Blog!

2011-04-04T15:22:00.001+10:00

Poor neglected blog. I’ve tried several times to write an interesting and entertaining blog post in the past 5 months, but nothing has been forthcoming. Even the annual end-of-year wrap-up and review post for 2010 was missed (Actually I started it and it’s still sitting cold and lonely in my list of drafts).

What I can tell you about 2010 was that it was a Big Year. I turned 40, my youngest started school and my oldest finished primary school. I started back work after 6 years and had surgery in the latter part of the year which made me feel older than my years. I lost 10kg and found 5 again, did a few months with a vegan diet which was wonderful, and now I wonder why I stopped.

From a crafting perspective I learned to weave, which I really enjoyed, and true to form I have short and passionate trysts with every couple of months. I also achieved all of my goals I set myself in my 2009 retrospective!

So far this year, socks are my current fixation. Just as well because my hand-made sock stash is starting to show signs of natural attrition and requires replenishment. So here is what I’ve been doing with myself for the past few months:

Of course there have been other things being made, but today it’s all about the socks.

Time to Knit!

2010-11-01T16:35:00.008+11:00

Some health issues lately have meant that I have had a heap of time for knitting, and starting and even finishing some things!

I finally finished my Aeolian Shawl, which I cast on over a year ago. This was a very slow going project due to the beading required. The process of placing the beads is time consuming itself, but I also had a few months where I could not obtain the beads at all, and of course motivation issues can sometimes raise their ugly head too! Frustratingly, the photos don’t even SHOW the beads, but TRUST ME they are there! This was knit in Knit Picks Gloss Lace in the Raisin colourway and I used 1.5 skeins (about 660m). I totally lost track of how many packets of beads I used - maybe about 5 packets of 6gms?

Apart from some other bits and pieces, I also knit these 2 gorgeous little rompers for a dear little baby that is due to makes its appearance next year. The mum isn’t keen to find out the sex of the bub, so I am left guessing what colours and styles of knitwear to make for her. I decided that I would make something teeny-tiny, which I understand realistically will only get worn once or twice, but who doesn’t love making teeny-tiny-baby clothes? I also made 2, which I hope covers the bases in terms of gender! I reckon the purple one could even be unisex! I must admit that I am one of those people who love pink for girls and will no doubt be thrilled to make something totally pink and frilly if it is indeed a girl, and after a run of 4 boys in the family, a little girl would be lovely! (Of course any baby will be loved equally, but I wanna make THIS!)

I wrote the pattern down as I went, due to the fact I wanted to make at least 2, so I am sharing this with you, but be warned that this has been neither test knit, OR actually tried on a baby! The blog is as good a place as any to actually store the information for myself anyway, so if anyone wants to give it a go, I’d love to hear if it actually fits a real baby!

Size 000 Top Down Seamless Romper

Needles: 4mm 40cm circular

4mm dpns or other small circumfrence knitting options

yarn: approx 150g of 8 ply yarn

gauge: 22 st per 10cm

28 rows per 10cm

abbreviations:

K - knit

P - purl

K2tog - knit 2 together

ssk - slip, slip, k2tog

p2togtbl - purl 2 together through back loop

LLI - left lifted increase

RLI - right lifted increase

slpm - slip marker

pm - place marker

c/o - cast on

dpn - double pointed needle

skills req: knit, purl, increase, decrease, grafting, short rows, picking up stitches.

SETUP FOR RAGLAN INCREASES

Cast on 40 stitches

1st row - p6 pm p6 pm p16 pm p6 pm p6

RAGLAN INCREASES

2nd row - * k to 1st st before marker RLI, k1, slpm, k1, LLI* repeat 3 times, k to end.

3rd row - purl to end

Repeat rows 2 and 3 until there are 20 st on each front, 44 on back and 34 on each sleeve.

DIVIDING FOR THE ARMS

Next row - k 20, remove marker, c/o 2 pm, c/o 2, slip 34 stitches for arm from left needle onto scrap yarn, remove marker and knit across back 44 stitches. Remove marker, c/o 2, pm, c/o 2, place arm stitches on scrap yarn, then knit across left front 20 stitches.

Work in stockinette til back measures 15cm from cast on edge.

MARKING ROOM FOR BIG BABY BUM

- WIDTH

Next row (RS) - knit to 1st marker, slpm, K1, LLI, knit to st before marker RLI, knit to end

Next row (WS) - purl

Repeat these 2 rows 2 more times (6 stitches increased over 6 rows)

Continue to work in stockinette until back is 20cm from c/o edge

-DEPTH

**K to first marker, slpm, knit to 6 stitches before 2nd marker, wrap and turn

P to 6 stitches before marker, wrap and turn

K to end picking up and working wrap as encountered

P to end picking up and working wrap as encountered

Work 4 rows in stockinette*

Repeat once from **

WORKING LENGTH

Continue to work in stockinette until front measures 24cm

JOINING TO WORK IN THE ROUND

All rows will now be knit - no more purling! We are now joining to work in the round. If you aren't using the 40cm circular, you will need to switch to that now.

Next row - K to end, slipping markers as encountered. Place new marker; this will be the start of round marker. Next round - c/o 6, pm, join to knit in the round. K to side marker (side markers can now be removed when encountered) K24, pm, K6, pm, K24 to next marker and remove. K to end of round.

There are now 4 markers in place - 2 in the front and 2 in the back. These are the markers that will be used for working the gusset.

Work in the round for 2cm, slipping markers when encountered and finishing at the beginning of round marker (first front gusset marker)

GUSSET INCREASES

Row 1 - slpm, RLI, K to next marker, LLI, slpm, K to next marker, slpm, RLI, K to next marker, LLI, slpm, K to end of round

Row 2 - K to end

Repeat these 2 rows until there are 14 stitches between the gusset markers at front and back, ending with row 2 at the beginning of round marker.

GUSSET GRAFTING

Slip the next 14 gusset stitches onto a dpn (removing markers). The following 46 stitches will form the left leg. Slip these stitches onto a 2nd circular or scrap yarn.

Slip the next 14 gusset stiches onto a 2nd dpn. The remaining 46 stitches will be worked in the round for the right leg.

Graft the 2 sets of 14 stitches together

WORKING THE LEGS

You will need to use your preferred method of small circumference knitting (dpns, magic loop etc).

Join in yarn at beginning of left leg. K 46 stiches, pick up 1 stitch along gusset, pm, pick up 1 stitch along gusset and begin working in the round for 3 rows ending at centre leg marker.

Next row - K1, K2TOG, K to 3 stitches before marker, SSK, K1.

Next row - K

Repeat these 3 rows until leg 28 stitches remain. Work leg in stockinette until measures 10cm.

Work 2 x 2 rib for 8 - 10cm

Cast off loosely.

Repeat for Right leg.

WORKING ARMS

Place arm stitches back on needles for working in the round. You will now need to use your preferred method for small circumference knitting (dpns, magic loop etc).

Join in yarn at beginning of arm. Knit around to last stitch. Pick up 6 stitches along cast on edge, placing a marker after picking up 3. This marker will be the beginning of round marker. Knit 2 rows.

Next row - K1, K2TOG, K to 3 stitches before marker, SSK, K1.

Next row - K

Repeat these 3 rows until 28 stitches remain. Work arm until measures 12cm.

Work 2 x 2 rib for 5 cm.

cast off loosely.

Repeat for other arm.

BUTTON BANDS

Join in yarn at right edge of placket, pick up 6 stitches along cast on edge and place on scrap yarn.

Pick up stitches along right front edge - approximately 3 picked up stitches for every 4 rows. Ensure that amount of picked up stitches is divisable by 4. Work 6 rows of 2 x 2 rib. Cast off loosely

Transfer 6 placket stitches from scrap yarn to DPN.

With RS facing and beginning at neck of left front, pick up the same amount of stitches as for the right front.

Row 1 (WS) - Work 2 x 2 rib beginning with either p2 or k2, depending on which will ensure that your last 2 picked up stitches will be k2

Row 2 (RS) - work in 2 x 2 rib until last stitch, work last stitch and 1st stitch on dpn as a SSK

Row 3 (WS) - work next stitch on dpn and 1st stitch on button band as P2togTBL, P1, K2, K2TOG YO. Continue working button holes by K2tog YO, evenly across row to end, keeping rib pattern

Row 4 (RS) - work as per row 2

Row 5 (WS) - work next stitch on dpn and 1st stitch on button band as P2togTBL, P1, work 2 x 2 rib as set.

Row 6 (RS) - work as per row 2

Row 7 (WS) - work as per 5

Cast off.

NECK

Pick up stitches along top of button band and neckline to other button band. Work 6 − 8 rows of stockinette and then cast off loosely.

FINISHING

Sew down the bottom of the right button band to the placket.

Weave in all ends

Block

Sew on buttons

Dress baby in snuggly new romper suit.

Metrosexual Man

2010-09-07T10:41:00.004+10:00

My poor hubby. He’s getting a bit thin on top, and I decided that he needed a new hat to keep his poor noggin warm. I made him a plain black beanie in some Jo Sharp Silkroad a couple of years ago, and he still wears it, but it really does make him look like a thug. I imagine that any service station attendants seeing him approaching their booth on a cold winters night would feel a vague sense of unease.

So my idea was to make him something modern, colourful, funky and dare I say it, a little bit trendy. Urbanista seemed to fit the bill nicely, even the name evokes images of street-side cafes and Sunday brunch.

The pattern itself was a joy to knit, in fact probably my first real foray into intarsia. There were lots of ends to weave in at the end, probably around 100, but this sort of finishing doesn’t really bother me. From start to finish it took 2 days, and I didn’t begrudge one moment of time I spent on it.

The final verdict? I love it! I think it is very cool and funky. Hubby’s verdict? Too metrosexual. I guess he likes the thug look.

The rest of the vests

2010-07-28T19:14:00.007+10:00

As promised, here are the rest of the vests! The first is knit in Jo Sharp Classic 8 ply and the pattern is Ms. Marigold. Long time readers might remember that way back in 2007 I made this same vest in the same yarn. Jacki did also! After we'd finished, we swapped our leftovers and obviously the leftovers marinated for years in my stash. With the current vest-mania going on around here, I dug out the ol' Jo Sharp and remember how lovely it worked up into Ms. Marigold and being the unimaginative sort, I decided that it could be another one! I'm very happy with it, and it does work up so very quickly.

My other vest is not quite ready yet. Actually all the knitting is done and it nearly looks done until you look on the inside and see how many ends I need to weave in.

I'm sorry that I didn't add waist shaping to this, it's a little bit boxy, but I'm sure I'll still wear it proudly. In-action photos still to come!

Vested interest

2010-07-08T19:32:00.007+10:00

With my recent return to work and this winter being the coldest in many years, this season I'm all about the vests. My Deep V turned out well in the end, but not without some drama (taking a decent photo being one of them- this series was taken on the webcam)

As my gauge was off, I knew I'd have to do some serious modification, and to that end, I redrew the shaping of the neck and arm holes. Unfortunately I didn't modify it quite enough, and the armholes ended up far too deep and I ended up having to cut the shoulder short. I used the sewing machine to reinforce where I was going to cut, and then just got some scissors and hacked away. The whole steeking process seems very crude and primitive, I'm not sure that I'll hurry to do more, but I'm glad I attempted it and learned a lot. Next time I'll definitely use a lighter weight yarn and one that is much coarser and with more 'grip'. The highlands is a lovely yarn, but not ideal for steeking I'm afraid.

I also made this (careful .pdf file!) a couple of weeks ago. Such a simple and lovely pattern, but ridiculous in it's dimensions! 5 inch armholes! I would make it again, but with some serious modification in the armhole depth.

Guess what else I have on the needles? Yep 2 more vests! I'm really enjoying making things that I actually need, rather than more shawls and socks which are nice to have, but which aren't really necessary. I'm also starting to enjoy work too after a bumpy start. Keep your eye out for more vests from me soon!

Steek it!

2010-06-28T18:55:00.003+10:00

It's been quite a while since I've been unreservedly monogamous to a project. Sure I've knit and finished things lately, but it's been done with a twinge of longing for other projects. Not so my latest love! I am having a deeply passionate affair with The Deep V Argyle Vest. I simply cannot bear to be apart from it and it consumes my every knitterly thought. The combination of a very cool finished product, and a riveting and incredibly well written pattern have totally stolen my heart! This will be my first steeked project, and while it's not my first colour work project, it's been the most intensive and biggest. It's also the first time I've used the new Bendigo yarn "Highlands" - a beautiful rustic 8 ply tweed! It's absolutely lovely and will steek beautifully I'm sure.

I've had some issues with gauge, so have made some pretty major modifictions. It remains to be seen whether these have been effective or not - only time will tell! Hopefully my next post will boast of my beautiful new vest, and not moan about unravelling steeks!

Nothing to see here folks.. move along....

2010-06-08T18:44:00.002+10:00

Really... Nothing to see! Just thought I'd post a quick nothing update to say that I'm still alive and kicking, but have nothing of worth to share.

I hope to be back with some new exciting things in a couple of weeks.

not much of a cook.....

2010-04-27T18:13:00.005+10:00

but this was bloody beautiful!

I've had severe cinnamon scroll cravings for a couple of weeks now, and due to the omission of dairy from my diet, couldn't rely on being able to just pick one up from a bakery. So I dragged my trusty bread-maker out from hibernation and whipped up these. Not as gluggy-goey-sticky-yummy as the ones from Cinnabon, but yummy all the same. They were well received by kids and husband too, and I really don't need to eat tea now after over-indulging! At least the cinnamon itch has now been scratched!

There has been knitting (and weaving!) going on too! This has been my most enjoyable knit lately.
The pattern name is "Echo Flower" and I've knit it in some laceweight camel hair I scored in a karma swap. The fibre itself is very smelly, although I think this has something to do with the way it had been stored, rather than the animal! I also dyed the finished shawl black, as the original natural colour was a bit blah. Maximise the picture to see the full detail, it really is a beautiful shawl and I'd highly recommend it as a great pattern. . pattern here (warning pdf!)

I'll share some weaving in my next post if I can ever get this current scarf off my loom :)

One more obsession....

2010-03-30T19:48:00.005+11:00

to add to the growing collection of crafty things I like to do... Weaving!Over a year ago I took a 4 shaft, 48 inch floor loom off my Aunt's hands, but it sat collecting dust for a long time because I couldn't work out how to warp the damn thing! But after a few lovely days spent with 82 year old Aunt Isabel, I'm now a fully-fledged weaving addict. So far I've churned out a sample piece (which isn't really much to look at) and 2 scarves in tabby weave. This pink one is now off the loom and 'blocking' at the moment (Is there a weaving term for blocking?).The blue one was the first I did and has many (ahem.. MANY) imperfections, but it's pretty cool all the same. Excuse the dodgy sell portrait, it was the best I could do to show the finished object.So expect to hear me sometimes ramble about warps and wefts, dpi's and epi's, heddles and harnesses, sheds and shafts and most excitingly sleying the reed! (although I'm still not sure what sleying is and why the poor reed deserves it!)

Soooo mature...

2010-03-15T16:31:00.003+11:00

A surprise pressie arrived in the mail today with the following missive:

Now you are a grand dame of 40 it's time to start behaving in an exceptionally elegant manner as befits your status. Thus this gift may bring you closer to outwardly expressing the maturity within... whatever!!

Whatever it was I was expecting it wasn't this, but I do totally love it!

Thank-you so much Kate, I do feel like I'm projecting my current level of maturity wearing this! Big Hugs and lots of love to you and the boys xxxxx

More pictures less words!

2010-03-15T10:22:00.005+11:00

I realised the other day how word-heavy my infrequent blog posts were, and how much easier and more often I would post if there were less words and more pictures. So here I am today blathering on again when I should just be showing the pics... so here they are:

Pretty earrings I got from dear friend Jack for my birthday (amongst a swarm of other goodies I should add). Also note lovely hair colour - no more grey! (for now anyway, will revert to silver when I get bored of maintaining)
close up:
Francie socks on the needles in lovely Evoke cashsock, again a pressie from Jack. The camera has washed out the colours, they are a very rich blue/black:My Tempest Cardigan finished in a record 2 weeks. Knit, yet again, in Wollmeise in Spice Market & Pesto... (I love this yarn). Knit at a smaller gauge than specified in the patten - see Ravelry entry for detailsAnd a last one of Jill our gorgeous puppy who came to live with us a little over a year ago. She is such a delight, and is very clever and funny.

Hello March!

2010-03-05T21:30:00.003+11:00

Sadly it seems that my blogging is becoming more and more sporadic. I'm afraid that a monthly catch up is about the extent of my blogging ability at the moment. Perhaps one day my life will be exciting enough to warrant more frequent updates! For now though, I have a couple of old and new projects to show off!

As most Ravellers will know, the Ravelympics have just wrapped up, after a whirlwind 17 days of competition. For those unfamiliar with the concept, the idea is to finish a new or existing project/s during the Olympic Games. The last Ravelympics was the 2008 Summer games which I didn't really participate in, but I really got swept up in these Winter games - it just seems a more appropriate event, what with all the snow, ice and coldness! Not to mention that I much prefer watching the Winter Olympic Events, especially the ice-skating!

I entered and medalled in 3 events - the WIPDancing, Mittens Moguls & Hat Halfpipe.. The WIP Dancing event required an old untouched work-in-progress to be finished by the time the Olympic torch was extinguished. I was so inspired by the camraderie and excitement of the games, that I finished in the first week! My Urban Aran was knit in Bendigo Mystique (alpaca/mohair/wool blend) 16 ply - nice and thick and chunky. I originally cast this on not long after the 2008 Bendigo Wool and Sheep Show and it languished for such a long time! I'm glad it's finished now, and I'm sure it will get a heap of wear in our cold Ballarat winter.The second project was a quickie Angora hat which I failed to get a good picture of, and thirdly were these gorgeous mittens. Endpaper Mitts by Eunny Jang in Wollmeise Ruby Thursday and Mistelzweig.In other news, today I've hit the big 4-0! Happy Birthday to me on my 40th Birthday. To celebrate I dyed and cut my hair to disguise the huge amount of silver that I now have.

See-you in April!

February check-in!

2010-02-08T21:18:00.007+11:00

I love my new cardigan! I love the delicacy of the fabric and I'm very keen to knit another 4ply weight garment, I really enjoyed this one!

Knit on 3.5mm needles with 2.3 skeins of Wollmeise Twin in "Ruby Thursday". The pattern is Honeybee by Laura Chau. I love Laura's style and despite my misgivings after all the eratta I discovered in the B-Side Cardigan Saga, I'm keen to try out some more of her patterns. She really seems to have her finger on the pulse of what's popular and has released another lovely cardigan pattern: The Carter Cardigan. I look forward to trying this one out eventually (but not until there's some successful examples on Raverly first!)

Also off the needles is Daybreak by Stephen West. I powered through this in 2 days. It was a very basic knit, nothing complicated or particularly exciting, but the stripes! Oh my the stripes were incredibly motivating! I felt so virtuous using leftover scrap yarn from other projects, and I spent quite a bit of time in the planning of this to get the right effect. I enjoyed knitting this as much as I enjoy knitting Kauni or Noro. I am a stripe addict.Having the kids back at school and the youngest now in his first year means that there is a whole lot more knitting time up my sleeve, and while eventually I figure I should get my bum back into the paid workforce, for now I am revelling in the peace and quiet and absolute luxury of being unencumbered! woohoo!

2009

2010-01-02T19:05:00.006+11:00

I love early January, when we look back at what we accomplished in the past year. It's a bit of a knit-blogging tradition I think, to assess what we achieved and plan for the upcoming year. For me, 2009 was the year of the shawl.

Knitting a triangular shawl was one of my goals for myself in 2009, I ended up knitting 9, and loved it. I'm not sure how many shawls a sane person should confidently own, but I'm going to continue making them anyway.
I made far less socks than I have in the last 2 previous years, this year only finishing 7 pairs! (although I currently have 5 pairs on-the-needles!)There was a smattering of toys in the last part of the year, the odd hat, vest, baby-thing.. but on the whole, this year only yielded 31 finished objects, compared to 47 in 2008 and 34 in 2007. Have I hit my peak?? Perhaps, but we will wait and see what 2010 brings.

Goals for 2010 include:

fairisle socks
steeking!
cardigan using light weight yarn
more estonian lace.
knitting from stash!

I like crochet too!

2009-12-19T16:06:00.007+11:00

My earliest crafting memory is being taught to crochet by a friend's mother when I was about 10. I'm not sure if the lesson stuck with my friend (who went on to become Australia's Strongest Woman!!), but it certainly stuck with me, and for the next 15 years, crochet was my fibre-art of choice. A recent find reminded me of some of the weird and wonderful things I made as a child. Most impressively was this Santa, which I made without a pattern when I was about 15. He's starting to get a bit tatty with age (after all he is around 25 years old now!) but we still bring him out every Chrissy and he sits on our mantlepiece.
Actually anything I made during those years was made without a pattern, a skill that I seem to have lost as I've aged. I never developed an obsession with crochet, like I ended up developing with knitting, but it was always something that gave me a lot of pleasure when I did feel crafty, and decided to dig out the hooks..

Crochet took a big backseat when I learnt to knit. I really don't think I've done any substantial crochet since 2004, but in the past couple of weeks I've developed a real big crochet-love. I've long admired some of the clever Amigurumi I've seen around Craftster and Ravelry , but never had the desire to do any... UNTIL NOW!

It started a mere 9 days ago, and this is what I have produced:
Tree Frog

Bender
Christmas Puddings (x 3 for school teacher thank-you pressies)
And Finally Max King of the Wild Things, who I hope to have finished for another special Max for Christmas.
YAY for crochet!

Christmas Panic!

2009-12-03T19:49:00.009+11:00

I'm so very disorganised. Normally at this time of year I would have the Christmas knitting well in hand, but apart from 1 pair of socks that I finished several months ago I have nothing! I've managed to reallocate a couple of things that I've knit previously and had put away (sob.. goodbye knee-high socks) , and in a major panic-induced fit of startitis I have cast on 7... yes 7, individual socks. I'm not sure why that seemed like a good idea, because really it's not. Focusing on finishing 1 pair at a time would be sensible, but where would the fun be? After turning the heel on the Baudelaire I cast on, I realised I'd be lucky if it fit a 7 year old and promptly frogged the whole lot in a fit of spite, but the other 6 are travelling quite well considering I'm spreading my time across them all.
I'm hoping to have at least 2 of those sock-pairs finished for Chrissy, but really I'm not hopeful considering I just got a lovely new shipment of Wollmeise and this pattern is beckoning....
(oh yes, and I fell off the wagon long ago.... might have forgotten to mention it though)

Finishings

2009-11-11T22:13:00.005+11:00

After realising how many odds and sods I had on the needles last blog post, I dug in and managed to finish 4 of the 5 that I committed to, and it's not yet a month past! I think I'm doing well.

First off the needles was a yoke neck sweater. A tiny little thing, probably a size 2. It has no intended home, and was really just an experiment to see how far that 100g skein would stretch. I don't even have a picture to share, you'll just have to trust me that it is very cute and is now tucked away awaiting a new owner.

Secondly were the awesome Ornette socks. Knit in Wollmeise 100% in Safran, these were complex, yet highly intuitive - Cookie A is a sock-designing genius, and of course the colours of Wollmeise cannot be beaten (even if you don't like yellow, you can't deny the colours of these is stunning!)
Thirdly were my knee-high socks, which were began way back in May. These were a labour of love and I'm glad they're finished, even though I probably won't be able to wear them for another 6 months!
Lastly is the Bramblewood vest, which is lovely and warm and snuggly and I sweltered in it today to bring you these pics (34 degrees C and I'm wearing wool, and I'm not looking happy)In all the excitement of finishing 2 pairs of socks, I have cast on another 3 pairs - hopefully I'll have all these finished by next months blog post!

WIP Wrestling.

2009-10-26T12:48:00.015+11:00

Apparently I'm quite good at deceiving myself. If I was asked about the number of WIPS (works-in-progress) that I currently have, I'd normally answer, "Oh.. about 3 or 4". But I was forced to confront the truth this morning, when I decided to have a bit of a Spring clean. There are 14 (!!) unfinished projects waiting patiently for their turn in the sun... (Unfortunately there are at least 2 of these which are destined to never see the light of day again, may they Rest In Peace)

So after sorting and frogging and reassessing all day, I now only have 4 projects in legitimate hibernation, I have frogged 5, finished 1 and have plans to finish another 4 in the next month. Phew! I feel so organised!

Vintage Button love

2009-10-05T18:03:00.004+11:00

I've been wanting a pretty vintage brooch for a little while now, and have hunted without success through the local oppies. A spur of the moment idea turned into just what I was looking for. I have an enormous box of vintage buttons that were collected by my Great Grandfather during the first world war. The story my grandmother told was that these buttons were stripped off old clothes which were then used to manufacture paper. I love that there are buttons here potentially 100 years old - Wonderful history! 3 buttons of diminishing size, squished together with hot glue and a brooch fixing on the back equals this:

I love it! You can see it's holding my lovely Twilight shawl closed, notice how beautiful the colours are - this is a much better photo of it! Also notice that perhaps I was a bit heavy handed with the glue - next time I'll be more sparing!

A Busy Month.

2009-10-03T11:08:00.004+10:00

Nearly a whole month has passed, and the blog didn't cross my mind once until this morning! School holidays and short getaways have been the predominant activities around here, but I do have 2 new shawls to present.

Firstly the Twilight Shawl which I mentioned in my last blog post.

Pattern: Twilight/Gloaming Shawl
Started: September 6th 2009
Finished: September 14th 2009
yarn: Socks that Rock Lightweight in "Korppi" from the Ravenclan series.
needles: 3.5mm KP options

A Woolaholics KAL inspired the second shawl

Pattern: Traveling Woman
Started: September 14th
Finished: September 28th
Yarn: Knit Picks Merino/Silk Fingering Bare, dyed with landscape dyes
needles: 3.5mm

Still plugging away at the Ornette Socks and Bramblewood Vest and enjoying both!

Extreme cast-on!

2009-09-08T21:24:00.004+10:00

When RoseRed first mentioned her 'Grand Plan', I was immediately swept away with the excitement of it all. Her plan was to cast on one new project every day with the added bonus of them all being knit in Wollmeise, one of my very favourite yarns. It was so exciting! So extreme! So extravagent! Straight away I knew that I would struggle with the idea of having so many projects on the go, but I seriously contemplated challenging myself just to see how I would cope. In the end I decided that I wouldn't commit to anything (typically!) and vaguely decided that I'd cast on a 'couple' or maybe a 'few' new projects just to try to add a bit of spice to my somewhat ailing knitting mojo. I'm pretty confident it worked! I cast on 3 new projects starting with the Bramblewood Vest in Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed in a bright spring green. This got tossed aside after day 2 due to the lack of an 80cm knitpicks cable, which I know is attached to a hibernating project around here somewhere.....

Secondly I cast on this gorgeous Baby Surprise Jacket. This is the second one I've knit and it really is an enjoyable pattern. I couple of modifcations I made this time were to change the double decrease (sl1, k2tog, psso) to (ssk, k2tog) around a centred marker. I also made it a bit shorter, which I think look better. The yarn was my real inspiration to knit this. After digging it out of the stash for Jack to use to cast off her Ishbel, I decided to keep it out and use it up. Luckily I caught up with a friend I haven't seen for many months who is now 4 weeks away from having a baby, so the fact that I now have this unisex little pressie for her newborn-to-be is definitely kismet!

Lastly I cast on a shawl in one of my most prized sock yarns. It is the first time that I've used Socks That Rock from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, and I think it could very easily become my new favourite (shhh... don't tell that to my Wollmeise stash...)The colours in the Raven Clan series are just amazing, I'm currently knitting with 'Korppi' and I will definitely stock up on some more of this once I've knit down the current stash a little. I have visions of a very cool jumper in the Ravenscroft colourway.... next year of course!

Obsessive

2009-08-28T13:18:00.005+10:00

Sometimes obsession takes hold...

There has been more too, but as I'm still apparently learning to sew a straight line, I'd rather not share!

Sewing!

2009-08-19T21:57:00.005+10:00

Yep, I was surprised too! Actually the desire to sew came about from a product driven desire rather than process, and surprisingly the finished product was sorta-kinda-nearly exactly what I wanted!
I've been lustfully longing after one of these project bags that Peta has been churning out, but due to a self-imposed buying ban, I decided to try to make one instead. After a quick search I found this tutorial, and even tried a bit of a modification that sorta-kinda worked!
I bought the fabric ages ago from Atomic Textiles, I'm sure I probably planned to make something for one of the boys with it. I will definitely try another one in some nicer, more grown-up-person appropriate material, and come to think of it perhaps Jacki will let me raid her fabric stash, I know that she's got some very cool Michael Miller stuff hidden away!

There has been some knitting going on too. I've been quite excited by this pattern, it is Ornette by Cookie A, and is one of the most interesting and involving knits I've done for quite some time. I'm close to finishing the first one, and am even looking forward to the second! I'll do a full report on them when I'm done... because today I'm all about the sewing! yay sewing!

cough I caught a virus....

2009-08-03T12:48:00.006+10:00

And the virus's name was 'Ishbel'.One is in Noro and is for a swap (shhhhh...) and one is in Wollmeise Twin La Digitessa.
I love a good viral knit.. there is something very reassuring about knitting something that has been knit by hundreds, or perhaps even thousands of people before me. The fact that any errata gets ironed out way before I begin is a big bonus, but there is also the joy of seeing the item knit in dozens of different yarns, and in a myriad of different colours, and reading and seeing about modifications people have made and problems they encountered. I think people who avoid popular patterns just because they are popular are missing out on what is often a great pattern. Popular patterns don't become so for no reason!

I'm definitely not one to shy away from the knitting bandwagon, and of the top 20 most popular patterns in Raverly (as of today), I have knit 10 .

Fetching
Monkey
Baby Surprise Jacket
Calorimetry
Clapotis
Saartje's Booties
February Lady Sweater
Noro Striped Scarf
Ballband dishcloth
Sock Recipe
Swallowtail Shawl
Turn a Square - Ravelry Link
Felted Clogs
Koolhaus
Jaywalker
Lace Ribbon Scarf
One Row Handspun Scarf
My So Called Scarf
Ishbel
February Baby Sweater - Ravelry Link

How about you?

Kingdom

2009-07-19T17:21:00.006+10:00

2 weeks ago I realised that if I continued to work on the 2 projects I was dividing my time between, that I wouldn't get either of them done in time for the Bendigo Wool and Sheep Show. So I decided to focus on my Kingdom Gloves in lieu of my Urban Aran, and worked diligently enough to get my gloves done in time. STUPIDLY I left them at home, so suffered through the show with cold hands, and missed a wonderful opportunity to show them off to people who would have truly appreciated them! gah! So here they are anyway!
They are knit in Colinette Jitterbug from Sarah Durrant who is a delightful lady and very quick with her mail order. I loved the Jitterbug experience so much that I indulged in 2 more skeins at the Wool Show in the colourways 'Salty Dog' and 'Elephant's Daydream', both semi-solids - While the yarn is a beautiful base, some of the highly variegated Jitterbug colours can be a bit extreme (Tania renamed her Jitterbug colourway to 'clown barf')! I knit them on 2.25mm knitpicks dpns, which were a perfect match for the yarn. I can't rave enough about this pattern, it's just perfectly wonderful when a pattern just works with no fudging or uncertainty or frogging because of some lack of clarity in directions. The Bendigo Wool and Sheep Show was wonderful as always, but once again I forgot my camera! It was lovley to put some faces to Ravelry names, and to be able to share the excitement of some woolly purchases. I over indulged again, and so begins my YARN DIET.

I WILL NOT BUY ANY MORE YARN UNTIL 2010..

Any purchases will be confiscated by Jacki, and I will be punished by having to watch her knit it.

Stash Guilt

2009-07-12T17:19:00.004+10:00

I know it's not as bad as some, but for someone who used to consider herself a 'careful consumer', I'm feeling that my stash acquisitions have gotten a bit out of control. I have to front up and admit that there is more too (a fair bit more).... I very nearly was going to make a blog-public proclamation stating that I was going on a stash diet, but I am weak willed, and the Bendigo Wool and Sheep Show is less than a week away - perhaps I will make the commitment after the show!

A Wearable Hat?

2009-06-20T15:05:00.005+10:00

About this time last year, I embarked on a hat making spree. After unsuccessfully knitting 3 different styles of hat, and being unhappy with how they looked, I finally gave up in disgust with the thought that hats perhaps just aren't 'me'. Even with the help of this very helpful PSA, I couldn't get over the fact that I just didn't feel comfortable in head wear. A particularly cold and frosty few days has made me rethink the 'hat-thing', and I decided I would try, once again, to find a suitable hat. Enter the 'Meret' by Woolly Wormhead. I've knit it in Moda Vera (Spotlight brand) Angora Blend, and it's very soft and drapey, but sheds horribly as it's being knit. I'm hoping that it won't continue to shed, but I'm thinking that it probably will.

I *think* this one works! I DO feel jaunty and cosmopolitan!

pink TWEEEED

2009-06-05T16:35:00.003+10:00

I'm a big fan of tweed, so the discovery of a new colour in the Cleckheaton Country Naturals range was met with much excitement! So much excitement, that I cast on with it pretty much as soon as I got it home. I haven't been disappointed either, I love this yarn! So the pattern is Libby. and it's a really well-written simple pattern which was a delight to knit. The yarn as mentioned is Cleckheaton Country Naturals in Pink, and I used about 9 balls in total on 4mm needles. Simple, pretty and girly.. just perfect for my cheeky tween (who would not remove the lollipop from her mouth for the photo shoot ;) )

0.2

2009-05-22T22:02:00.004+10:00

According to my blog stats, 0.2 is the amount of posts per week I write. That's pretty poor form. I actually don't have anything of interest to share today, but that pathetic little statistic prompted me to post, and to try to make my meager progress on a great many projects look exciting.

So! I have a great many WIPS at the moment, I've actually been in the throes of startitis and my Ravelry in Progress widget over there -----> is telling a great lie. I've actually not listed all my current stuff on Ravelry as it really becomes just too overwhelming for me to see all those little progress bars awaiting some forward motion. My latest cast on was some new toe-up socks which I began just today after our first foray into the new Morris & Sons store in Melbourne. Talk about kid in a lolly shop! So much choice! So many colours! So many pattable yarns, and they haven't even fully unpacked the store yet. Tomorrow is the official grand opening with their HUGE May sale with 20% off. Tania and I couldn't make it tomorrow, so a trip on the train to Melbourne today to do some stash enhancing was the only way to go.The observant among you may note that these socks are being knit on some cabled needles, and in fact they're being knit on 2 knit picks circulars. Yes, I have converted to the 2 circ method.. me.. the die-hard dpn user! I urge you to give it a go if you haven't. The yarn is from the Kaffe Fassett range by Regia (colourway 4259 fire), and my aim is to knit until the yarn runs out.. hopefully I'll get something resembling knee socks.

I actually do have one FO to share which I had forgotten about, and it is the Tudora neckwarmer from Knitty. Knit in Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed in Moss, using less than 1 single 50g ball. This was for a swap at Woolaholics, and Bec the recipient apparently like it which makes me happy :)
I bought some more JS Silkroad today to make one for myself in the colourway Spain (scroll to bottom) - yum!

So, that was a fair bit more long winded than I intended... apparently I did have something to say! 'Til next time!

Cold

2009-04-26T20:34:00.007+10:00

After a hot, hot, horrid summer it appears that we may have finally got our lovely Ballarat Autumn. It was such a cool weekend in fact, that we lit the fire for the first time this season.
I love the cold weather, there is nothing nicer than curling up on the couch with some knitting, and I did plenty this weekend.

I think I'm temporarily over the shawl frenzy, which isn't to say that I don't have a shawl on the needles, but I'm over the obsession of casting on and off as quickly as possible. The shawl I'm working on now will take a long, long time. The Cheshire Cat Stole is being knit in 2 ply Kaalund Enchante lace that Jack gave me for my birthday. It's gorgeous yarn, but it's very fine and I'm knitting on 2.75mm needles, there are 130 odd stitches per row, 32 rows in each repeat and 15 repeats, so umm approx 62,000 stitches (and that's not including the 56 rows of edging) ouch. I cast on early this week and have finished my first repeat, if I can continue one repeat every week or two hopefully I'll have it done in 4 or 5 months...There are distractions though in the form of socks.. I am very much back on the sock knitting bandwagon. In particular, Yarnissima has me very much enthralled with her clever patterns. I've just finished Brainless in Yarn Cafe BFL Sock in "Vineyard"
and I'm also working on La Digitessa and Firestarter. I love the toe-up construction of these socks, they are unlike any socks I've knit before. Unlike other toe-up socks with short-row heels, these have a gusset and fit over a high instep without stretching in odd ways. Love them!

And finally, after alluding to the fact that I may have him finished much earlier, I have finally finished "Dobbin". I'm sure he will soon be renamed once he goes to his new home, but for now that is his moniker.

thieves!

2009-04-12T19:24:00.004+10:00

We surprisingly exceeded our download limit last month, and it was only this that alerted us to the fact that several people were helping us. Our own folly for having an insecure wireless connection, and I can totally understand neighbours perhaps inadvertently picking up our wireless signal, but one bandwidth thief in particular was parking across the road and using our signal! grrrr! Needless to say we're now secured. It certainly curtailed my net time for the past couple of weeks though.Less net time = more knitting time? I'm not sure this equation works, as I spend most of my knitting time in front of the computer. I did managed to knock off my Laminaria shawl though which I'm very proud of, and enjoyed knitting very much. Knit on 3mm needles in Knittery Slim Sock in "Rainforest", which is probably a 3 ply weight. 130g worth, and I only cracked open the second skein a few rows from the end!I'm keen to cast on some more lace soon, but I'm not so sure it needs to be another shawl.. I mean really what am I going to do with them all?!

Over indulgence

2009-03-22T14:11:00.004+11:00

There has been a distinct lack of self control around these parts lately. Apart from the Stitches and craft show, the 20% off sale at Spotlight and the unexpected but delightful surprise of a fibre show at our local community market today, I have also succumbed to the Wollmeise lust. All I can say is that I am happy, and nearly guilt-free, to be helping to stimulate the Australian (ok... and German) economy in it's time of dire need.

So what have I acquired lately? The stitches and craft show yielded some Pear Tree, and a beginners quilting kit, the Spotty sale some Paton's Soft Haze and the market some absolutely divine Lara Downs lace cashmere and some lace merino.I also have 2 kits from Yarnissima headed my way (complete with sock pattern and the elusive Wollmeise!) as well as a mystery package currently waiting at the post office for me. I'm excitedly hoping that this is the Yarn Collective Sock Club installment by The Yarn Cafe.

And in FO news I cast off the 'Go Fly a Kite' shawl last week. This is knit in Wollmeise 80/20 Twin in Wilder Mohn (wild poppy) colourway which I was lucky enough to score off Kiwi Fi - thanks again Fi! I love both the yarn and the shawl and can't wait until I have an outing to go to where I can wear it!

Speaking of over indulgence, there is quite a bit of it hidden underneath the black outfit ;) Note to self: must improve diet.

Happy Birthday to ME!

2009-03-05T07:49:00.004+11:00

How wonderful are my children? They were entrusted with $10 each with which to buy me a birthday present and this is what they came up with. Amber bought me a cushion cover because she knows I like sewing, and an easter egg because she knows I like chocolate. She was also kind enough to give me her pocket money! Patrick knows me well too and bought me some yarn. There are 2 balls of Panda magnum new soft 8 ply (100% acrylic) and some Homemaker everyday 8 ply acrylic and a 3.75mm pair of straights. The magnum is really nice and slinky soft. I suggested to Max that the mug would be a lovely idea for my birthday a couple of weeks ago when we were shopping at Spotlight. They were so excited with their gift giving and the independance they had in chosing their gifts. I feel very lucky and loved.And in the interests of full disclosure, this is me (in my jarmies) on the morn of my 39th birthday. ouch.

the shawl obsession continues.

2009-03-03T09:25:00.005+11:00

Off with one and on with another
Finished: Waves of Leaves. February 20th - 27th using Jolly Jumbuck Hercules in "Mermaids Lair" colourway
Begun: Laminaria. February 28th - using Knittery Merino Slim Sock in "Rainforest"hmm... not only appears to be a shawl obsession but also a GREEN obsession!

shawls are the new socks...

2009-02-24T17:07:00.005+11:00

Why didn't anyone tell me how enjoyable lace shawls were to knit?! Especially the one skein of sock yarn type! For someone who has never worn a shawl before, or even considered that it would be a stylish look, I am certainly sucked into the vortex of shawl knitting and wearing!
I currently have Waves of Leaves on the needles in beautiful Jolly Jumbuck Hercules in the sock club colour "Mermaids Lair". It's not an entirely intuitive pattern like the last 2 I have made, but it's easy enough to get into the rhythm and follow the chart. I've forgone the use of life lines in this one, and I'm keeping my fingers cross that I won't need them. A clever friend told me this tip: If you use interchangeable needles, an easy and quick way to placing a lifeline, is to thread some dental floss through the tightening hole on the cable join and simply knit away - the thread follows the needle, and at the end of the row the lifeline is in place! Unfortunately my 4mm tips are in use, so I'm using a fixed addi turbo for this project, hence the reluctance to thread lifelines! I'm hoping I won't regret it!

And finally, a quick introduction to our newest family member! This is Jill.Jill is a 4 year old wire haired Jack Russell terrier cross, and we adopted her from the RSPCA.
She had been at the shelter since the 9th of February. She was tagged and registered, appeared fit and healthy and looked like she came from a good home. For whatever reason, her owners decided not to come and collect her after several contact calls. She is the sweetest, quietest little dog I have ever met. Perhaps her behaviour could be partially attributed to her recent *ahem* operation, but I don't think I've misjudged her nature, she is just a sweet little girl, and is already well loved :)

Rainbows and Unicorns

2009-02-17T19:04:00.005+11:00

I too was sucked into the Kauni crack addiction last week. I cast on this Swallowtail shawl the Saturday before last and finished it a week later. Both the pattern and the yarn are highly addictive, and I found it hard to stop once I started. I have a heap left over too, but I need to have a little break as even though the colours are spectacular, the coarseness of the yarn is very rough.I love it, and was feeling bereft after finishing it. The feeling has now passed, as I'm now currently entralled in knitting a toy unicorn. It's knit in a bazillion flat (!) pieces so will require an enormous amount of finishing, but I'm up for the task and hope to have an FO for show'n'tell early next week.

Bushfire appeal

2009-02-14T21:57:00.003+11:00

The outpouring of love and support to those who lost loved ones and homes in the Victorian bushfires of last week has been phenomenal, it's truly inspiring to see the sense of community come to the fore when people need it most.

Here are just a few of the many fundraising efforts that I'm aware of:

Ozebaby
Yarn Collective
Handmade Helps Out
Serendipity

I've donated the little pink newborn set I made back in November last year to the appeal on Ozebaby. There are heaps of other goodies available of the woolly variety at the above sites too, so go and do a good deed, bid or donate and be rewarded with yarny goodness!

Silk love.

2009-02-06T18:20:00.004+11:00

I bought some Sea Silk from Jolly Jumbuck when it was on sale during January. It was very much a spur of the moment thing, but luckily I got 1 of the 3 last skeins, and in a colour that would have been first pick for me anyway. When it arrived, it was love at first sight. I simply couldn't wait to do something with it, so I put everything else aside and cast on Gail. I LOVE this yarn, and I LOVE this pattern, it really is a match made in heaven. The colour is 'Amber', and it is an amazingly lustrous gold. The yarn is smooth and silky and a delight to knit with.The pattern is very much of the EZ variety, and assumes a fair bit of competence in lace knitting, and even though I haz none, I managed to work it out without too much drama. The KAL (knit-a-long) at Ravelry at the Beginners Lace group was helpful too!
I'm looking forward to both some more lace and more SILK in my near future!

Did I say knitting blog?

2009-01-09T21:01:00.005+11:00

Well if it is, I better produce some goods, because I just realised that last 4 posts have had no knitting in them at all! Of the many knitted items I've produced pre and post Christmas, I think this is by far the loveliest! It's Juno Regina published in Fall Knitty 2007, which I began way back in March last year. It's made from Knit Picks Gloss in the 'Pumpkin' colourway and which is a 4ply silk/merino blend, that still has that faint slightly fishy smell that silk tends to have. It was my first real lace attempt and was a totally rivetting knit right up to the long and boring and TEDIOUS middle section. It was only the threat of not having a hand-made gift ready for my dearest mother-in-law for Christmas that got my bum into gear. The actual lace part was fun, interesting and a challenge, and I think signals the fact that I'm ready for some real lace action!

The lace blocking was as deeply satisfying and exciting as I've heard, and was made all the more pleasing due to the use of a lace blocking kit which Jacki kindly loaned me.
I'm undecided as to my next lace project. I'm not sure I'm ready for something really complicated, but I think I would enjoy something which doesn't have the same 2 rows repeated again and again for 42 inches!

Better than Bacon....

2009-01-09T20:39:00.006+11:00

If this was a food blog instead of a knit blog, that would be it's name: ; "Better than Bacon", because unlike my dear friend Jacki, (who believes bacon enhances all dishes and is often heard to mutter the phrase, "it would be better with bacon") I don't eat meat. To get to the point, I wanted to show off our first attempt at sushi, using this cool gadget that the darling husband bought me for Chrissy. And now that I've read the directions (and realised we were using it wrong) our next attempt will be even better! Yummy vegetarian sushi - carrot, cucumber, avocado, sushi ginger and spring onions and sweet chilli sauce - YUM

2008 Report Card

2009-01-01T10:11:00.003+11:00

So because I'm a bit of a nerd with too much time on my hands, I crunched some numbers this morning and discovered that in 2008 I was not quite so obsessive as I was in 2007 when I first seriously got bitten by the knitting bug.More socks where produced, but less soakers and longies, less jumpers and less short sleeve tops. There were several more FO's produced in 2007, but a count on the hours spent knitting shows that there was approximately the same amount of time spent knitting in both years (no I didn't literally count all hours, I approximated :P). What DID happen in 2008 is that I tried several new techniques - intarsia, entrelac, knitting backwards, cabling without a cable needle and there was a heap more lace and colour-work.

For 2009 I would like to complete:

* a full fairisle vest
* a colour stranded yoked sweater
* knee high socks
* an asymmetrical cabled jacket/cardi/jumper
* a triangular lace shawl

I'm not hung up on any particular patterns, so my pattern ideas may vary. I'm sure new things will appear and appeal, but on the whole I'm looking forward to some new challenges.

Highs, lows and goodbyes....

2008-12-24T05:52:00.004+11:00

Yesterday contained such a spectrum of emotions for me. The highlights were our wonderful Stitch'n'bitch Christmas get together and the sharing of gifts and laughter. I was lucky enough to be the recipient of this beautiful Wollmeise scarf made by Jack, it really is quite stunning in real life, the colours are incredibly vibrant and it is LONG, just the way I like scarves! If the weather continues on it's current trend, then I may be able to wear it right through summer - yay! Tania spoilt me with some beautiful hand-made soap, a gorgeous button and some teal Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran - I love this stuff, and I already have a plan for it. It was a lovely night and just what I needed... thanks girls :)

The lowlight and the goodbye was the passing of our long-time pet Ally. I keep saying to the kids that she was 'really old', but she was only 13 which isn't quite the average of the house-kept moggy. I tend to think she lived a bit of a rock star lifestyle, hard and fast in her youth which shaved years off her lifespan. She was a fighter and very territorial for a female, and in her younger years we always had her at the vet for cysts and wounds and even a broken leg which you could tell was getting arthritic as she got older. She suddenly stopped eating several days ago, and on an already frail and bony frame, she was weak and rickety and not well. The decision to euthanise was hard, but I think it was the right thing to do... the family have taken it hard, as did I, but I hope today will not be such a sad day for all of us, and after all Christmas is tomorrow :) Goodbye Ally xx (please forgive this maudlin outpouring, I'm sure to return to normal perkiness soon ;) )

Christmas Spirit - I has none.

2008-12-23T11:06:00.002+11:00

So far it has eluded me. I'm going through the motions, and have nearly finished the gift buying and Christmas knitting, the tree is up and decorated, but it just doesn't feel like Christmas yet. I'm hoping to lift my game today/tomorrow.

Quick! Someone bring me a baby!

2008-11-13T12:00:00.004+11:00

I need a baby and quick! I need one I can give back, but that I can cuddle and play dress ups with. I'm very certain I don't want another one of my own, but baby knitting is just so rewarding! This little outfit is just so gorgeous. The soaker and hat are my own patterns, and took 2 and 1 nights work respectively. The little jacket gave me some grief (heavily modified from the original pattern) and took a few nights, but it's just so adorable now it's finished, it was definitely worth the effort.

So quick, someone provide Auntie Sam with a new baby girl please! note: I did consider Neko, but she's certainly no newborn and Rach's milk must be pure butter-milk bliss, because Neko is *ahem* thriving!

Unblogged FO's

2008-11-06T18:06:00.004+11:00

Left to right, top to bottom.
Star Blanket rav link
Tomato
Bubby
February Baby Jacket
Branching Out
Jack Sparrow Socks
Knotty Gloves
Dublin Bay
Spring Forward

A few of my favourite things....

2008-11-06T08:24:00.003+11:00

I love my knitting tools, but have a few firm favourites.

Favourite dpns: 2.25mm bamboo clover. These have developed a lovely little bend in them, that fits in my hand perfectly. They're flexible, light and warm and pretty strong to hold up to my iron grip. They're not as pointy as my KP nickel plated, but are enough to be able to do simple lace with ease. I love knitting with these!
Favourite circs: 5mm Sullivans 80cm. Stinky old cheapy Sullivan brand from Lincraft, I think I bought these for $3 or some other ridiculous amount. These are bamboo tipped and have some plastic tubing as the cable, which means that they never develop a kink, or if they do, a quick stretch gets rid of it. They're light and quick and blunt tipped, so good for plain stockinette. I do love my Knit Picks Options, but sometimes find the tips a little too pointy, and end up with sore fingers.
Stitch markers: I love my cake stitch markers that my darling husband bought me from The Woolshack. They're cute and snag free and not too large, long or dangly. I love all stitch markers, they're my knitting bling, and I have a large collection that I enjoy chosing from to match my current work and mood, but sometimes for sheer utilitarian practicality, you can't beat Clover locking stitch markers. Especially good for marking individual stitches in the event of dropping, twisting or otherwise screwing up.sock blockers: I tried several Sam-made versions before I was finally gifted with these fabulous blockers. I tried bending wire coat-hangers, which was only mildly effective, and cutting out vinyl chopping mats, which were not quite stable enough. The wonderful Doug (pa to Jacki) made these, and they're very clever and well made.The sheer amount of knitting tools one can amass is quite startling, I'm sure I'm not alone in my lust for knitting gadgets!

The Great Stash Migration

2008-11-03T21:45:00.005+11:00

I noticed an interesting and seemingly common phenomenon at a fellow crafter's house today, and thought it would be worth commenting on.

Most knitters have a stash, and generally that stash has a home. In the case of some people, the stash spreads and grows and eventually has perhaps several homes, but nonetheless, there is a resting place for it.

I noticed the other day that I had developed a large basket of 'transient' stash. Yarn that had arrived home, had been unpacked and petted but had not yet been put away into the designated stash cupboard.
Dropping by Jacki's today, I noticed that she has a temporary stash home too. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure Tania has started to amass quite a large amount of stash on her tellie cabinet as well. Personally, I like to keep new stash close by to see if it calls to me, I like to have it close to hand to fondle and admire and when finally it doesn't feel so shiny and new anymore, then it's allowed to go live with the rest of the stash.

I don't think my stash is too out of control yet, but I must remember to visit with it every now and again to remember what is in it, and rediscover what might have been relegated to the bottom of the pile.

RESOLVE: Shop the stash before hitting the 'buy now' button!

An impromptu fishing trip.

2008-10-18T18:47:00.008+11:00

This is such an incredibly unlikely scenario, that the fact the it was actually enjoyable is even more bizarre.

Firstly, I'm icthyophobic. This particular affliction luckily doesn't impact on most day to day activities, but it's always been the sticking point on most activites involving open bodies of water. Fishing has never, ever been on the agenda.

Patrick (6) started making noises about wanting to go fishing several weeks ago, and I mentioned this to the husband who made matching noises about going one day in the "future". Surprisingly he actually did go and buy some cheap fishing gear which then, true to form, sat in the shed unused.

Much to my surprise, as much as anyones, I suggested that perhaps this fishing expedition could take place sooner rather than later, and in closer proximately than originally planned. We live in a rather suburban area, but we are blessed with a rather large park close by. Infact my dearest sister-in-law Kate, describes it as the "100 acre wood". It has several sports fields, a Pony club, 2 lakes, several playgrounds and kilometres of running/cycling tracks. Anyway, I'd seen people fishing at the lakes, so suggested that perhaps this would be a fun way to cut our teeth at fishing!

It was lovely to sit by the lake in the sun watching the ducks with their new ducklings, dragonflies zipping around our heads, and the line cast out into the water. I must admit to being a bit sceptical about the possibility of us catching anything at all, so was VERY surprised when something bit while our nephew Will was holding the rod. I was even more surprised to find myself reeling it in, but then panicked at the last, and gave it to the husband to finish. Patrick grabbed the net and caught a lovely little silver fish about 20cm long. I must admit to viewing all this from a distance, as the icthyphobia kicked in, but it was all very exciting! The fish was unhooked, the offer of kissing it declined, and it was released back into the pond amidst cheers. Due to the complete unlikeliness of the whole situation, I'd forgotten to take my camera, so I have no proof of our catch, but if I did, it wouldn't really look like this:

sniff sob

2008-10-13T16:30:00.003+11:00

my little girl has started a knitting blog... sniff.. I'm so proud! She's even taken a photo of her knitting to post on it!She hasn't gotten far, but I have high hopes! And it's all thanks to the Yarn Harlot.

I downloaded Cast Off as an audiobook a few months ago, and I uploaded it onto Amber's mp3 player. I subsequently got my own ipod, but forgot to delete it off Amber's and unbeknown to me, she has been listening to it in bed for the past couple of weeks. This week she's taken a sudden interest in knitting, and voila, we have a new knitter in our midst! Thank-you Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, you have converted another one!

Another baby knit...

2008-09-27T11:44:00.003+10:00

Here is the latest installment of teen-tiny baby knits that are consuming me at the moment! It's a knock-off of "Felix" by Jacki. I didn't have the actual pattern at the time, so I winged it based on the same starting point for the raglan increases. I love it, it's so teeny and cute! The yarn, from Jolly Jumbuck, is lovely too, although when I first got it several years ago I didn't enjoy knitting with it as I was still a recently begun knitter and my gauge was too tight for it.

I'm not sure what has inspired this sudden lust for baby knits. It's definitely not cluckiness, although a visit from Rach and her beautiful children (including the newly arrived Neko) nearly rekindled it! I don't really know anyone who's pregnant at the moment, or anyone who is planning to try any time soon. My only theory on what's causing this malady is that I'm doing "catch-up" baby knitting.

I didn't really begin knitting with gusto until after Max was born, and even then I didn't do a whole lot of knitting for him apart from soakers and longies. So the theory goes; I'm doing all the baby knitting now that I would have for my own babies if I was capable of at the time. A bit weak huh? Ah well, whatever the cause, I'm enjoying these fun, quick, stash-busting little projects, and will have a lovely stash of presents on hand for the next unsuspecting new mum!

Surprising Baby Jacket

2008-09-20T16:36:00.004+10:00

Done! And it was fun AND surprising. It was amazing to see how the knitted blob of fabric turned into this little jacket with some clever folding. This is definitely one I'd love to make again.

I'm not sure what the attraction to baby knits is at the moment, but I'm really feeling the pull towards teeny-tiny little cardigans. NO, I'm not pregnant, and nor do I really know anyone who is either, yet I've just cast on another newborn jacket using Jack's seamless kimono pattern. Ah well, I'm sure I'll find a home for these!

BSJ: Whipping my butt.

2008-09-11T15:05:00.003+10:00

Well, not anymore it aint! The BSJ, also known as the Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman, is one of those patterns that tests your mettle as a knitter I reckon. Firstly the pattern as written is pretty crude, and by that I mean it's very sparse. There are many gaps, and there is an assumption by the author that certain things are automatically understood. Without supplementary notes (of which there are many throughout the internet!), you'd have to be a pretty clever, patient knitter to work this pattern. I'm only a quarter of the way through this pattern so far, and I'm using the spreadsheet from this clever knitter. It gives stitch and row counts, and overall provides good supplementary information to what by all means is a very cleverly constructed little jacket. I'm using some hand-dyed yarn from the stash that was bought from Wilabaa, and I *think* dyed by Hawthorn Cottage Craft. The colours are beautifully earthy and rustic, and just as well they are because I'm not enjoying knitting with it at all! I'm not sure why, but I'm finding it horribly tedious knitting on this particular needle/yarn combo. I will perservere because I'm that sort of person, and like a challenge!

A study in stripes...

2008-09-06T19:54:00.007+10:00

Long time no post. It's been a busy little household the past few weeks with a deluge of visitor (ok, well 4 lots of visitors, but that's a lot for us!), and the continuing problem of a horribly shaky internet connection (methinks it's time for a change of ISP).

There has been much knitting going on, although nothing of an earth shattering nature, although I was very proud of this little cardigan. It was made from Bendigo Rustic 12 ply in the pattern "Max" by Debbie Bliss. I love, love, love it - it was so much fun and quick and easy and looks just too cute.
I also have managed to knock off a couple of long outstanding UFO's which has been lovely. One of them are these socks, started back in June. Notice something odd about them? Yep, they don't yet have a heel. I'm doing an afterthought heel ala Elizabeth Zimmerman. I couldn't decide (and still can't for that matter) who they were destined for, so decided to do them heeless so I could decide the length of the foot later on. The concept of an afterthought heel is really very simple, you snip out a section of yarn where you want the heel to be, pick up the stitches that are now loose, and knit a toe into it. Well it sounds simple, I'm yet to try it out. I will report back on success or failure in the next week or two.

The other interesting thing about these socks is that I've tried two different methods of jogless stripes (who needs a matching pair?) The white lines in the picture represent the direction of the yarn carried up the back when changing colours. You can see in the left sock that the jogs are all in a line, whereas the sock on the right has a rotating jog. A jogless join is achieved by knitting into the stitch below the first stitch of the new colour after the first round has been knit. The reason the sock on the right has the seam moving, is that knitting into the stitch below essentially 'loses' a stitch, and knitting an extra stitch gets it back, but also moves the start of the round (hmm, that makes sense in my mind....doesn't translate well to text though). Anyway, I am now in a dilemma. Where am I going to put the heel so I don't have to cut across that float running up the seam? As much as I don't need another pair of socks for myself, these are so dodgy that I don't think I could inflict them on anyone else!

B-side

2008-08-05T15:05:00.005+10:00

Aptly named? I definitely don't consider it an A-side anyway. Well it's finally finished, and I have to admit that even though I wasn't happy when I finished with it, I've still worn it nearly everyday since it came off the needles.

It proved to be an easy knit, but one fraught with problems, both of my own making and the patterns. The first was a problem with the charted cable, which was an easy fix, because I realised that there were some missing symbols. The second and biggest was the cable placement. It wasn't until I'd knit to the arm shaping that I realised that the cable was incorrectly placed so that the arm shaping ate into the cable. Because this was knit in one piece, frogging was not an option. I decided to fudge numbers slightly and live with 2 more stitches than I should have had on the left front (ie. front side with cable). The cable pulls in the fabric so an extra couple of stitches didn't cause too many dramas. The final problem I had with the pattern was that there was no mention at all of how to set the sleeves! I've never encountered a pattern that completely fails to mention the sleeves again after initially providing the direction of how to knit them. I'm still very much an intermediate-beginner, so I'm afraid I still need a tiny bit of hand holding when it comes to construction, and being that this was the first ever knit-the-body-in-one-piece cardigan I've made, I needed direction on whether to seam the sleeves first or whatever. After some quick communication with the designer she provided a very helpful tutorial, but I was surprised that there was no mention at all of the sleeves in the final construction phase - am I wrong in thinking this odd?

Anyway, the final verdict is that it's OK. Not great, but not terrible. The sleeves are quite ill-fitting - too tight along the length but baggy and bunchy around the shoulder. I'm quite sure that I should have knit the next size down as well. What I LOVE about this cardigan is the yarn. The Jo Sharp Silkroad Tweed is totally and utterly gorgeous. I love, love, love it, and will be on the look out for some more to add to the stash.

and on a positive note.....

2008-07-21T21:02:00.006+10:00

We had a fabulous time at the Bendigo Wool and Sheep Show! I was a big failure in terms of getting a pictorial history of it, but I'll do a quick run down of the weekend.

1. Stop at Purls Palace to fondle the Noro and stash enhance.
2. Stop at the Chocolate Mill and partake in coffee and ice-cream
3. Stop at Bendigo Woollen Mills to stash enhance
4. Drink wine, eat Sacred vegetables and knit in our motel room for 7 hours straight
5. Awaken with minor hangover
6. ACS sponsored Breakfast! It was fabulous to meet lots of Ravellers and see some amazing knits. Tania won a prize for her Embossed Leaves socks, Jack won a prize for answering a trivia question the loudest, and I won $200 worth of ACS yarn for my Lizard Ridge.
7. The Wool show was fabulous as always, petted lots of yarn and some alpacas, drank a fair bit of coffee, bought some stuff, caught up with Auntie Isabel, Vicki and Ceilidh at the redgum weavers stall and this is what I chose to take photos of:These are the florentines that Jack talked me out of getting. Hmm... good with a camera, I am not. Both Jack and Tania were much better than I, and for a pictorial overview, Jacki's blog has some goodies.

B-side balls up

2008-07-21T20:51:00.002+10:00

I LOVE the cardigan itself - it's a beautiful looking design, but I am never, ever going to knit a pattern that appears to not have been knit by someone else first. If there is errata to be identified, I don't want to be the one to do it.

My next post will be a finished picture of the B-side Cardigan, and I know, ok getting ahead of myself, I *think*, that I am going to love it. The yarn is knitting beautifully, the cable is lovely, the shaping and fit so far is fabulous and I have even enjoyed knitting it immensely except for the aggravation of the errors - arghhhh!

Frog a friend!

2008-07-12T21:49:00.005+10:00

Rippit Rippit! Another Woolaholics challenge! This one was designed to get us motivated to clear out those horrid old WIPS that may have been lurking in the back of the closet for many moons. I had a major frogging session about a month ago where I frogged several LONG outstanding knits that were never going to be completed, so I had to look for some more recent WIPs to chose from, and this is the one I chose: "Mossy"

It was originally intentioned for Rach's new baby, and was being knit in Moda Vera Mousse (soy/wool blend) and Lincraft Prism (soy/wool blend again). As much as I love the finished sweater (and this one by Dyelicious Kelly sold me on the yarn/pattern combo), I really disliked knitting with the yarn - it was very splitty, and not enjoyable at all.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the yarn now. My experience with Karaoke should have taught me a lesson about soysilk! And I'm tagging Hollie (the blogless?) aka Jemsmum for a good ol' froggin' ;)

Lizard Ridge

2008-06-09T13:49:00.007+10:00

For those who are sick to death of hearing and seeing about my Lizard Ridge, please tune off now. This knit totally consumed me for a while, and to be honest, I'm glad it's over - I really missed socks while I was in it's thrall.I cast the first square on 13th of April, and cast off the last of 24 squares on the 15th of May. That's 24 squares in 32 days - 0.75 squares per day!

The Vintage Hues proved to be a very successful substitute for the Noro. Not only was it 1/3 of the price of Noro, but it meant that I could pick up skeins with a quick trip to the local department store. My LYS had never heard of Noro, let alone stock it, so the Noro was always going to be a problem. The Vintage hues was also a delight to knit with - beautiful texture and colour, very few knots that broke the continuity of colour and I liked the fact that it was from an Australian Company.

The whole knitting process was a breeze. The finishing tripped me up though. I'd always intended to mattress stitch the vertical seams, which worked very successfully, but the horizontal seams were tricky. I tried several methods before I finally settled on picking up stitches through the 2 blocks (right side together) and then casting off. It was a time consuming process, but in the end, I really loved the straight seams it created.

The most frustrating part, which be rights should have been the simplest and quickest was the border. The problems were purely bought about by my own stupidity. I decided on a garter stitch border of 10 - 12 rows, knitting each of the 4 sides individually and mitering the corners and then seaming them. I knit 3 sides before realising that I wasn't going to have enough yarn to get through the fourth side. I put the call out on Ravelry for additional yarn - it was Lambs Pride Worsted - not an easily accessible yarn in Australia. A lovely lady sent me a skein of the same yarn in the same colour, but alas not in the same dyelot. I thought it still might pass muster, but I was unhappy with the colour contrast, so I decided to do a two tone border, so I ripped back each of the the three sides to 5 rows each and joined in the new colour which was still Lambs Pride, but in Wild Plum - a dark purple. I did one long side successfully, but when I went to do the second long side I realised that I had started the border on the wrong side, and the colour change was going to be visible on the right side - argh!! So I had to rip back ALL of the border and start again. The rest went smoothly and in the end I finally finished on the 6th of June. I am VERY happy with this beautiful blanket. It is so colourful and warm and soft, I loike it alot.

Sprial Squarecase Socks..

2008-06-04T19:22:00.005+10:00

Excuse the silly name, but I'm knocked out on pain meds at the moment due to this stinking headache, and things are a bit fuzzy. Anyhoo, these socks knit up incredibly quickly, I started them on Friday last week, so 5 days or so. They're knit over 64 stitches on 2.75mm needles in patonyle, and the pattern is a simple 4 stitch x 4 row repeat with each successive row of colour offset 2 stitches from the start of round. On the second sock the 2 stitches are set after the beginning of round, meaning that each pattern spirals in opposite directions, they look very cool on! The heel is short row and the toe is wedge. The rainbow striped patonyle was given to me as part of a Woolaholics Swap, and the majority of the skein was used on Amber's Rainbow Marigold Socks, and I still have leftovers! I just realised I never blogged about the finished Marigold Socks so here they are too! Finished in January, and wearing well.
In other knitting news, Lizard Ridge is progressing slowly. Now that I have those socks out of my system, I should be able to get back to finishing it. It hasn't been without it's issues, and when it's finished I'll bore the blog with all the details.

Sock Club or......

2008-06-04T19:08:00.001+10:00

I think I'll stick with the sock club thanks.

Stack o' Lizard Love

2008-05-09T19:10:00.004+10:00

22 blocks done, and boy did that sneak up on me! I've lost count a couple of times now, and it's been a pleasant surprise to discover more blocks rather than less when I've done the official count! I've just cast on the penultimate block (love that word), so I don't think I'll be seaming this weekend as originally forecast, but I do hope to be next week. Even though I have a heap of other unfinished projects that need attention, I think I'll be a bit bereft when Lizard Ridge is finished, but at least I'll have a beautiful, colourful and warm afghan to console me!

Grotty, little boy hands.

2008-05-05T18:31:00.003+10:00

I've purposefully cropped out his fingernails from this picture, they're typical of the little-boy genre, with lots of dirt and muck underneath them.

These little mitts are made from the pattern Fetching, also knit by just about every man and his dog who has ever picked up the pointy sticks. It's a popular pattern for a reason, not least is that it's quick and very easy. I'm knitting a second pair right now, they'll make a lovely mother's day present, with some left over Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed in a beautiful scrummy grass green. I'm fervently hoping that I have enough. It's a full ball minus about 3 or 4 meters... wish me luck!

Lastly (and very leastly) I finally have finished Buttony. There have been some stunning examples of this particular pattern out there in Rav-land (this one and this one for examples), unfortunately mine is not amongst them. After a bit of a blocking, and the addition of the final 2 buttons, it's not as bad as I originally thought, and will still get a good wearing, as it's beautifully soft and warm in Merino Spun, but it's really not a favourite. Ah well, you win some, you lose some!

B.A.D

2008-04-18T17:27:00.004+10:00

I'm trading my SAM (sock a month) for BAD (block a day). This Lizard Ridge thing is slightly consuming me at the moment. I've been waiting for the enthusiasm to suddenly disappear, but so far I'm still in thrall to the goodness of short rows and colour changes.My original idea was to perhaps do a single square between more interesting projects, or perhaps committing to doing one square a week, but so far I've been churning out one square a day. I have another one currently on the needles with 6 rows to go... perhaps today will be a 2BD?

By the way, the numbers on the squares are the colourway numbers, for anyone interested.

many things....

2008-04-15T13:32:00.002+10:00

Firstly I present the Noro scarf! It doesn't really look much, but it in fact quite delicious in real-life. Or perhaps it's a case of 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder', regardless, I love it and loved making it.

Secondly I'd like to confess my panic that April is half over and I do not have an end in sight for Mingus. I've finished the first sock, and have finished the first repeat on the second sock, but I have lost all momentum and motivation. I'm still hoping to regain some enthusiasm for it and sign it off as my April sock in the SAM5 challenge, but I do actually have an 'emergency sock' on standby, which is also only half a pair done, but would really only take perhaps 2 sittings to finish it off. (what has my life come to, where I feel compelled to have emergency socks?)Anyhoo, thirdly I have begun an afghan. Actually, I shouldn't be speaking that fact aloud, as I really still haven't actually committed to it yet. I have made 2 blocks, and started on a third. It may still become a cushion, a baby blanket a bag or some other smaller object yet. The pattern is Lizard Ridge from Knitty fall 2006, and I was unwillingly (true I tell you!!) coerced into an impromptu knit-a-long at Woolaholics. Those evil women, flaunting their Noro at me, and directing me to the most exquisite examples of the blanket ;) ! I decided against the Noro, due to the cost factor involved, and also availability, and opted instead for Cleckheaton Vintage Hues. I'm really happy with the substitution so far, and if I do decide to go the full distance and knit the 24 panels required for this project, then it should only have cost me around the $70AUD mark (instead of the $200 - $300 mark for the Noro!)

Stripes, stripes everywhere!

2008-04-12T11:27:00.004+10:00

I am into stripes in a big way at the moment. Not just any stripes either. I'm currently in love with the way self striping yarn can be manually striped, to produce a beautiful array of multicoloured stripes. The first example I ever saw of this clever technique was Brooklyn Tweed's Noro scarf.

For my version of this scarf, I decided on two much more subtle Noro colours, and I'm loving the result. I'm determined to get to the end of the 4 balls of Silk Garden I have, although it is already well over my height in length. I don't think I'm going to get to Dr. Who length, but hopefully it will be long enough to wrap my neck twice. I do have a progress pic, but I won't share it, as I'm sure this will be finished by tomorrow, and I can share the finished product.

What I can share today is my finished Seamless Kimono Sweater designed by Jacki, with of course, stripes. This yarn (Cleckheaton Vintage Hues)doesn't come in subtle colours, which is ok, because I love bright colours on babies.
This was destined for a new baby due in July, but due to the 12 ply yarn I used in lieu of the 8 ply the pattern called for, it is a fair bit larger than newborn size. Oh well, I'm sure it will be appreciated by the recipient anyway, even if it isn't worn until next winter!

I want a pony

2008-04-09T19:29:00.004+10:00

I don't know why I find this so funny, but I laughed myself silly when I saw this. It could have been the context, but I still snort when I see it.

Posted especially for Belinda.

Embossed Leaves finally finished.

2008-03-18T18:12:00.003+11:00

I'm not sure what the mental stumbling block with finishing these was. The yarn is beautiful soft and a delight to knit with, the colours (which I hand-dyed myself) are stunning, the pattern was fun and interesting, and the finished product is just lovely. Yet these socks took me 2 long months to knit. In fact between the time I initially cast on and now, I started and finished 2 different pairs of socks, a sweater, a hat and a bag. I now officially have only one active WIP (Rosedale - ugh) and 3 hibernating UFO's; February Baby Sweater, Annetrelac socks (due for a big frogging), and the Grignasco Tyrol cardigan that we don't discuss.

So here ya go, check these out! I love them (but I'm glad they're finished)

pattern: Embossed Leaves by Mona Schmidt from "Favorite Socks"
yarn: The Knittery's merino/cashmere sock blend
dye: gaywool - Stringybark and Sandstone, and Landscape - waratah and wild raspberry
needles: 2.75mm

Some recent finished things...

2008-03-10T23:26:00.005+11:00

I feel like there should be more to show, but I can't remember if there is, and what they might be! The Monkeys were meant to be my March Socks for SAM5, but I couldn't embarrass myself quite so publicly, so I cast on another pair straight away. These were knit on the fly from a pattern in my own head. My dear friend Jack charted the cable pattern on some free (very clever) software, after I tried explaining it to her. I must admit that I was surprised at how well they came out in the end, considering that the Patonyle I used was a horrid cacky lavendar-grey colour, and the pattern came out of my own heavily befuddled head. I would love to be clever enough to share it, but I'm not, so unfortunately there will not be a pattern forthcoming - sorry!

This bag was made for a swap I participated in on Woolaholics. It was hard to let go of in the end, considering how fabulous it turned out. The pattern was from here, and the yarn is Lambs Pride Worsted in 'Brite Blue' and Cleckheaton Vintage Hues.Lastly, here is my darling Husband modelling the Jacques Cousteau Hat. It's actually for my Dad for his birthday which was a couple of days ago. I love the yarn which is sadly no longer produced. The picture looks like it's been taken in shadow, but it's the actual yarn that produces the light/dark effect - tres cool.

7 things.

2008-03-04T20:19:00.005+11:00

Thanks to both Rach and Katanya for dobbing me in for the 7 random facts thingy.

Firstly ..Here are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I was once a very good ice-skater
2. I had a chronic skin condition as a child which resulted in huge itchy hive-like welts all over my body. The cause was a mystery until I had my tonsils out and my skin issues resolved.
3. I have Ichthyophobia wholly bought about by my grandfather who thought it was amusing to put live fish in my bath water as a baby.
4. I have double jointed thumbs
5. Continuously, from 1998 - 2007 I was either pregnant or breastfeeding - that's 9 years people!!
6. I'm a teacher by training who never taught, and quite frankly, sucked at it anyway.
7. I don't like doing these memes myself (for fear of boring my readers to sleep), but I love reading everyone else's.
7a. I don't like to tag people for fear that they are like myself (see number 7)! Feel free to tag yourself on my behalf.

And a random photo of Patrick coming last in his school sports 100m dash, just because it's one of those random sorta posts....

Hall of Shame

2008-03-02T10:15:00.004+11:00

I'm sure most of my blog readers have already seen the disaster that is my pair of "Monkey's", I've been sharing my embarrassment far and wide for the amusement of all. I loved knitting these, it's such a lovely pattern but alas, it was so lovely I just couldn't stop myself on the second sock, and just kept going and going. The picture tells a worse story than actually is. I have one more repeat (11 rows) on the longer sock, but I'm sure my darling daughter will not mind too much, and as an astute poster at Woolaholics mentioned, it may even become some sort of weird tween fashion statement.

In other knitting, I've cast on a hat for my Dad's birthday next week, and started some new socks that Jack and I designed yesterday. I made some modifications to the cable chart we drew up, which while in the midst of a mind-fuzzing headache, may not have been such a wise decision and I may soon have another entry for the hall of shame.

Finished socks!

2008-02-08T19:44:00.001+11:00

I am so glad these are finished. They seemed to take forever and ever. The yarn is Noro Kureyon Sock, and as much as I love the colours, I'm not a huge fan of non-superwash socks, and I'm not too sure how these are going to wear. After all the time I spent knitting them, the pattern is pretty much lost in the colour too, so all in all, they're ok, but they are most definitely not my most favourite pair.

It is one scratched off the WIP list though, which did tend to explode a bit in January. I now only have my embossed leaves socks on the needles, which are close to being done, and some secret socks which are over half way and my Rosedale cardigan which is going well, although not thrilling me.

I'm definitely becoming keener on the thought of some toasty cardi's and jumpers since we've had a few days of milder weather, inparticular the Gathered Pullover , Buttony and Twist. Oh, and some gloves, possibly some mittens, and a scarf or too - I love winter!

What was I thinking?

2008-01-31T09:36:00.000+11:00

I'm normally pretty fussy about the projects I begin, particularly when the item is going to be a full size wearable one for myself. So I don't know what I was thinking when I cast on for Rosedale a few nights ago. I had just got back from Spotlight feeling particularly pleased with my haul of Katia Tundra, a wool/acrylic/rayon blend, which has the gradual tweedy colour changes of Patons Shadow Tweed. I'm a sucker for a bargain and $1.99 for a 100g ball (particularly when it's marked down from $17.95!) was just too much for my much depleted will power.
So $14 and 7 balls later I'm at home and cruising Ravelry to find a project for my very special yarn, and remembered Rosedale from an old issue of Knitty. I think my thought processes were looking for something simple to showcase the colours, but really, I think I was high on the fumes of the permanent moth-proofing, because now in retrospect and a third of the way through this project, I can't see anything endearing about it at all. Ah well, I will soldier on with the monstrosity, and who knows, I may even like it at the end.

And just because...

2008-01-24T10:36:00.000+11:00

the last post was pictureless I thought I'd quickly post this one.
I love our tree and so do the kids! Patrick has only just become big enough to manage the leap from the slide to the lowest branch, and Max is yet to graduate to tree-climbing just yet.

I'm feeling clever.

2008-01-24T10:18:00.000+11:00

Yep.. I'm feeling pretty pleased with my cleverness today. Let me count the ways.

Check out my nifty progress bars! Linked directly to my projects at Ravelry - limited cleverness attributed to me, as it was merely a cut and paste code excercise, but still!
I knit a pair of longies! Not that clever really, but I dyed the yarn in colours I hadn't used before which is a miracle for me. I tend to stick to a very limited palette, and this combination was a pleasant surprise.
I have pretty much survived the school holidays with both sanity and children unmaimed and unscathed.
I mopped the floor
I have raised 3 beautiful children who were yelling through a pretend megaphone at a playground yesterday that they love me.

See? Wouldn't you feel clever too?

Sock (or two) a Month!

2008-01-12T16:45:00.000+11:00

The first I heard of "Sock A Month" was through Woolaholics, and I must admit to feeling just a tad nervous about signing up! I've been particularly reticent to join in any type of KAL or swap lately, due to the fact that knitting to a deadline isn't always fun, and let's be honest, it can also be very stressful! I pretty much managed to avoid all knitting-related stress over Christmas, due to starting VERY early, so I figured that I needed a challenge and dived in! Sock a Month (SAM) is simply a relaxed knit-a-long where the goal is to finish at least one sock every month - it doesn't even have to be started and finished in the same month, as long as one pair of finished socks is presented at the KAL blog once a month. There are prizes, but really it was the challenge that sucked me in at the end!My January Sock was knit from Wendy's Generic Toe-up Socks pattern. I really liked using the wrap method, as opposed to the yarn-over method of short rows. I really also liked the short-row toe method. I think I still prefer cuff-down socks, but I must admit that I do like the freedom that toe-up socks provide!

My SAM5 February socks will be purple . Tania and I have been trawling patterns for a 2-person "Purple Socks" knit-a-long. We both indulged in some Cherry Tree Hill Supersock yarn a while back and coincidently ended up choosing the same colours. The purple sock yarn is beautiful and vibrant, and has so many possibilities, that deciding on a pattern has been tricky!
Go with the Flow, Hedera or Monkey have all been put forward as contenders, but a final decision has yet to be reached. Any suggestions on what pattern would flatter beautiful bright purple yarn would be appreciated! Anyone with some solid purple yarn who would like to join us in our KAL, please do!

Tally card for 2007

2008-01-07T17:47:00.000+11:00

Inspired by Ann of onemorerow fame, I thought a numerical tally of finished projects in 2007 would be fun! I'm a bit amazed at how many items I made over the last 12 months, and as I'm trawling back through the blog and browsing the old pics, there's stuff that I'd forgotten I'd made! Anyway, these are some quick numbers:

socks - 10 pairs
jumpers - 5
cardigans - 3
short sleeved tops - 4
scarves - 3
hats - 4
soakers/longies - 10?
bags - 3
gloves/mitts - 3
washcloths - 5
baby tops - 2
shawl/wrap - 1
toys - 1
jewellery - 1
blanket - 1
slippers - 1

What a fun walk down memory lane!

Gift knitting

2008-01-04T19:28:00.000+11:00

Well Christmas is over and done with and I was very pleased with my organisational skills in regards to allowing enough time to get all my Christmas gift knitting done, well ahead of schedule! I only achieved this by beginning in August. "A bit early", I hear you thinking.. well yes, it was but there was a fair bit to be done, and I didn't want to skimp or stress.

So here is a pictorial of all that I have been up to the past few months that I haven't been able to blog about!

pattern: Katja

yarn: Jo Sharp Desert Garden Aran in Gelato

receipient: niece Maddie

pattern: Knit picks oven set
yarn: Cleckheaton Vintage Hues
receipient: SIL Nettie
pattern: Unoriginal Hat by the Yarn Harlot
yarn: Zen String Bliss Bulky in Blueberry Pie
receipient: sister Belinda
pattern: Wine and Roses IK Winter 2006
yarn: hand dyed Knittery Cashmere-merino sock
receipient: MIL Val
pattern: Hedera by Cookie A
yarn: Cleckheaton Cocoon
receipient: Rach the StitchSista

pattern: Pomatomus by CookieA
yarn: Monsterknits BFL Ultra
receipient: Kimmpattern: Waving Lace
yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in "Vera"
receipient: Jacki
pattern: Totally Autumn Knitty
yarn: Jo Sharp Silkroad Ultra in "Rosso"
receipient: Tania
pattern: Fulled Tote by Hello Yarn
yarn: Patons Jet
receipient: SIL Kate
There were several dishcloths too which I didn't bother photographing, but which were very pretty and well received.

I <3 Christmas!

2007-12-25T21:19:00.001+11:00

Even though the fingerless gloves are now complete, I still want to keep this yarn in this bag forever! Don't the colours just look fabulous? This gorgeous little bag was sewn up for me for Chrissy by the ever-clever Jacki. Compared to my half-arsed attempt at a project bag yesterday, this is totally top quality in workmanship and design - It has a drawstring top as well as a snapped flap - I love it! She even gave me two! And yarn as well! Some gorgeous pink yarn of the same variety as the orange in the picture below - Knittery Cashmere blend sock yarn. I have so much of the orange left over - 60g or so, I'm feeling a stripey pair of orange and pink socks coming up! Thanks Jack!
And here are the quick gifts I whipped up for my dear ol' ma! This project was originally a hat for Patrick, that I wasn't particularly happy with, so I felted it, and shaped it around a bowl. The cookies are a labour of love, because I don't particularly like baking, and I'm not very good at it either, but these ones are ok. I know Mum will appreciate them.
Here is my dear Mum modelling her gifts - she'd not be happy to know I posted this pic on my blog, so I won't be telling her :) The scarf was a last minute idea too. I cast on for it 2 nights ago, and finished it yesterday. It's the left over Noro from my Clapotis (which I just realised I never blogged about!), knit into the "Scrunchable Scarf". The texture of the pattern, combined with the texture of the Silkgarden, makes for an amazing scarf - I love it! Some better pics on Ravelry.

Warning: non-knitting content ahead

2007-12-24T16:52:00.000+11:00

And as such, will be of dubious quality!

I had a hankering to do so sewing yesterday. No particular plans, but I had bought some fabric from Gail's Patchwork Emporium a few weeks ago, and desperately wanted to make something out of it. Gail's store would have to be a patch-workers Nirvana. Even I, who only ever dabbles in fabric, was like a kid in a lolly shop, and could see myself becoming a convert if I spent too much time there!

My sewing skills are basic at best, so simple bags are always fun and not too taxing. I was also talked into letting Amber make something too, and I wanted something that I wouldn't have too much trouble assembling, and talking her through.

So I sewed up a little project bag out of this fabulous fabric.

Look! There's a completed sock lurking in there!
And Amber sewed up this shoulder bag for herself, with a little help from me :) Fully lined, and very professional looking!

Christmas Gifts!

2007-12-21T14:20:00.000+11:00

I sometimes get so carried away with the gift giving, that gift receiving comes as a surprise! The arrival of the parcel delivery man this morning was not unexpected due to the fact that I succumbed to some enabling from Tania and ordered some Knit Picks Options from Tapestry Craft. It wasn't my needles though, it was a lovely gift from Rach aka Stitch Sista.
It included some beautiful Lumina by Jo Sharp, which I am totally enamoured with. The picture doesn't show it well, but the yarn is covered in sequins! I'm think that perhaps this or this will be a perfect project for it. I'm a sucker for pretty stitch markers and organic chocolate too, and she knows me well :) thanks Rach!

Christmas already?!

2007-12-19T11:12:00.000+11:00

Um... hello? 2007? Where did you go?! And more importantly, where did the last 7 weeks go? I'm sure it was only yesterday that I last blogged, but here it is nearly 2 months down the track! A lack of knitting mojo and general malaise was at least partially to blame, and of course this time of year isn't called the "silly season" for no reason. On top of the run-of-the-mill end of year festivities, we also have 2 birthdays and an anniversary to add to the madness, so in all honestly the last 7 weeks have just passed in a blur of wrapping paper, birthday candles and children's parties.

I did have knitting mojo recovery a couple of weeks ago, which was a great relief to me, and I'm sure to my friends and family who were getting heartily sick of the moping. So I knocked off quite a few small Christmas gifts including some wash cloths and fingerless gloves, and I even did some work on Amber's poor neglected self-striping socks. New on the needles are; Hourglass sweater, February Baby Sweater and Katja,

A trip to Bendigo also resulted in some minor stash enhancement, with the acquisition of some Harmony, Rustic, and Aran from the Woollen Mills and my oddest, but most treasured trophy yarn EVER in the form of Collinette Fandango which is.... wait for it folks... NOVELTY YARN! I LOVE this stuff, it is so pettable, and I adore the colours and texture. It is a chenille type cotton from Purl's Palace in Daylesford.

That's all for now - I may be back soon, or I may fall into the same time warp that swallowed up the last few weeks!

What next?

2007-11-03T10:40:00.000+11:00

I've managed to knock off quite a few projects over the last few weeks. I took this photo about a month ago I guess, and I've managed to finish every item in that messy pile. In fact I only have 2 current outstanding WIPS - one is secret knitting business, affectionately dubbed 'big red' and is currently 85% finished, and the other is a pair of socks I'm knitting for Amber - both projects are still enjoyable but I'm definitely feeling a pull towards casting on something new - what that is, I'm not entirely certain. I've accumulated some nice sock yarn lately, but I really don't know that I could face socks again right now. I really do want to knit from stash too, which is not really a limiting option, considering I have quite a bit of lovely yarn in it, but it seems that everything I do want to knit doesn't quite fit the yarn I have. I'm considering knitting the Tangled Yoke Cardigan, which is totally out-of-season, but I'm definitely feeling the need to begin a new, challenging, and sizable project. The plus with this project is that I have the yarn here, ready and waiting to start. I guess the other thing that is making me hesitant to start, is Christmas gift-knitting hanging over my head. I've pretty much finished all my knit gifts for my knit-pals, but I've challenged myself to knit gifts for all my sister-in-laws too, which I'm now finding myself lacking motivation to do - gah! I should stop stalling and just get on with it!

to blog or not to blog...

2007-10-27T20:03:00.000+10:00

that is the question.

Seriously... blogging feels somehow redundant now that I have Ravelry. For those who have been living under a rock (or aren't really into the knitting thang...), Ravelry is essentially a huge knitting database. It is such a simple concept, but... wow.. it's just an amazing resource, and has bought together a HUGE amount of information. With the growth in members, the database is ever expanding, and it's such a huge time-sucking monster that I would be embarrassed if people knew how much actual time I spent logged on there. Anyway, blogging feels like I'm double dipping because all of my in-progress and finished-objects get listed at Ravelry, and I'm not sure if anyone reads here that doesn't have access to Ravelry... anyway...

Let me talk about socks. I love socks. I've been knitting lots of socks lately, most of which are secret knitting business, but trust me, there have been lots and they are all lovely! The 2 pairs I'm currently work on are Pomatomus and a generic sock pattern that I'm improvising. Pomatomus gave me a huge headache at the outset because I was doing an incorrect YO to a purl stitch - I was using the same yo used for sock short rows and it was causing the stitches to be too tight. It took a while to work out what I was doing wrong, but when I did, I found my groove and am now well into the second sock. It's a very cleverly constructed pattern, and looks fantastic in the colour and yarn I chose - Monster Knits BFL Ultra sock in 'Blue Bamboo' .This second sock uses all the basic top down techniques, and I've added a picot cuff for interest. It is knit in Dyelicious sockyarn in the "paradise" colourway, and man it is BRIGHT! The yarn screamed for something simple, so I think this works..

And I think I have found a solution to the sock-blocking issue! As most sock knitters know, sock blockers are hard to come by, and when they are found, they can be quite expensive. I now have 2 pairs. One made with a pair of wire coathangers, and the second cut out of a chopping mat that I bought from k-mart. Crude but effective!

Swaps abound!

2007-10-11T16:43:00.000+10:00

I love participating in swaps. The excitement of planning and the thrill of your swappee loving their surprise! Woolaholics has hosted 3 that I've been involved in recently. The 'small things swap', 'secret sock yarn swap' and the most recent and yet to be posted 'chocolate swap'.

The 'small things' swap was particularly exciting because my swappee was my good friend Tania. I took pains to ensure that she didn't realise her secret pal was me, which was excruciating because I'm terrible at keeping secrets, but I must have been good this time, because she had no idea! I decided on the Emerald Beaded Bracelet from Magknits. It's knit on 1.25mm needles, using size 11 seed beads which are TINY, and cotton that is incredibly fine and yields a gauge of 60 stitches over 10cm. It took only a few nights knitting, and was a lot of fun.

In turn I received a beautiful felted kitchen set from the ever-talented tiKKi.

My swappee got their Secret Sock yarn today, so I'm free to post about it. I was really happy with the way the colours came out on this, so much that I contemplated sending her some Collinette Jitterbug I have here instead and keeping my hand-dyed for myself. I was particularly happy with the little sock I made too, which I put on a keychain.
She likes it! yay! I love swaps!

Julietish with buttons

2007-10-02T18:50:00.000+10:00

I finally decided on some buttons for the cardi, and I think they look great (please ignore the petulant look on Amber's face, and the fact that the buttons are not evenly spaced). Actually, they were Patrick's choice, and I think he made a great call.

Julietish...

2007-09-29T20:09:00.000+10:00

I still can't claim to be totally finished with this, as it's still missing buttons, but after a fruitless search at Spotlight and Lincraft, I decided to call it finished enough to blog about! I'm trying to decide whether to brave the frosty chill of the LYS in my search, or whether I simply recruit the best button hustler in town Dyelicious Kelly to track me down some!

I've also come to the startling realisation that my little girl, is really not so little anymore. The actual Zephyr pattern starts as small as a 28 inch bust, and my darling daughter is currently 26 inch! So I could nearly have knit straight from the pattern, had I actually decided to buy it.

Anyway, this little jacket-thing is knit in Cascade Sierra in 'Meadow' colour. Knit on 4.5mm needles to a gauge of 20 stitches per 10cm. Knit from September 8th to September 28th, with really only 3 decent blocks of knitting required in that time. I must admit to thinking that the lace part would never end, and it was this part too, that contributed to the realisation that knitting for my daughter, is now not too far removed from knitting for an adult!
The last picture shows how particularly 'square' this knit is. I didn't increase anywhere near as much as the Zephyr pattern shows, but I'm glad I didn't because I can't imagine spending anymore time working on that bloody lace!

Green Gable done!

2007-09-26T10:30:00.000+10:00

Green Gable is finished! Knit from 1st of September until the 26th, with a partial frogging, and a couple of weeks lay-off to be factored in. Done in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in the Prosperous Plum colourway. This was a seconds yarn, which was marked as such due to some uneven dye. There were several spots were the dyed hadn't soaked all the way through the yarn, so there are some whitish spots. It doesn't really worry me, but I wouldn't use this yarn in a special knit, or a gift. I knit the size 36'' on 4.5mm needles, and the only mod I made was to add some hip increases and make it a fair bit longer than the suggested length of 12''. Verdict? I loike it a lot!

not-so-secret silk garden

2007-09-17T16:56:00.000+10:00

The secret silkgarden knitting is no longer secret. I confessed to the intended recipient that I loved it too much and have to keep it myself.. of course I needn't have told her at all, as up until that point it was a secret well kept, but I felt guilty and I am next to useless at keeping things hidden. So here is the beginning of my clapotis.There are problems though. The 2 skeins of silk garden that I have already knit, I bought last year, and I am now unable to match the dyelot. I've ordered some more skeins from ebay of the same colour but different batch, so I am hoping that they will match ok, if not I'll frog what I have done (*sob*) and start again. Did I say how much I love this yarn? Noro Silk Garden rocks!

I found my mojo....

2007-09-12T16:40:00.000+10:00

... in a skein of Noro Silkgarden! That bloody cotton! horrid stuff! I'll return to my two cotton projects soon enough, but oh my! Why didn't anyone tell me how divine this silkgarden is! It's been in my stash for about a year I reckon, and if I had of known how gorgeous it is to knit with, I would have been all over it! So I've been sitting here knitting my Noro for the past few hours, and I am totally in love. And no, you cannot know what it is - sorry.

Here, look at some socks instead.

The feet are Patrick's. The yarn is the lion brand magic stripes I picked up at Spotlight for $4.95 last week - I made NO attempt to try and match stripes - I just couldn't be bothered! The pattern is Priscilla's Dream Socks from Favourite Socks. They're top down with a short row heel and toe, with a zigzag bind off on top of the toes - you can see the bind-off ridge on Paddy's right foot in red. He loves them, he says they're very comfortable :)

2007-09-09T18:00:00.000+10:00

There's been a distinct lack of finishing going on around here. Actually, there have been some FO's being churned out, but due to it being secret-knitting-business (aka early Chrissy knitting), it shall remain nameless and faceless.

What has been going on, and what I can tell you about, is knitting with cotton. I have cast on 2 separate cotton projects. The first is Green Gable in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Prosperous Plum (see previous post on stash enhancement). After a brief frogging due to supreme stupidity of not reading the pattern correctly, it has come along nicely and I'm now looking forward to miles and miles of simple stockinette.

The second project is a Juliet inspired spring cardi for Amber. I admit it. I am a tight-arse. I didn't want to pay for another Zephyr pattern. I love them, really I do, but I already have 4, and Juliet seems very very simple, and I couldn't see the sense in buying the pattern to only have to completely jigger the gauge and yarn to get it to fit Amber. So I started from scratch, and so far it's looking very good! I'm really feeling the garter-stitch love! It gives such a lovely sturdy non-roll fabric, and teemed with some simple lace it's very pretty.

I hope to have this finished soon, because to tell the truth, I'm not really enjoying it. In fact I'm not really enjoying knitting at all at the moment. Whether it's the cotton hurting my hands, or the change of season or whatever, my mojo has gone a-missing. If you see it please send it home!

Stash Enhancement

2007-08-31T19:36:00.001+10:00

A lovely large package of yarn arrived on my doorstep today, from this seller at e-bay; Oregon*trail*yarn. In it was 2 skeins of lambs pride worsted in 'brite blue', and 5 skeins of Cotton Fleece in 'prosperous plum'. Both these lots of wool are considered seconds, and I can see the minor imperfections, but really they are *so* minor, that they're hardly noticable. There was also 2 skeins of Wildfoote Luxury Sock yarn in 'Temple Turquoise' and a set of 2.25mm bamboo dpns - I've quickly discovered that you can NEVER have too many 2.75 and 2.25mm dpns.

In the above pic you can also see some KnitPicks Shine. The silly folk at KnitPicks won't ship internationally, which as far as I can work out, is definitely to their loss! Their yarn is good quality, and their prices make the shipping worth it. So thank-you to the lovely friend of Jack's who played middleman for us in the US.

And yes, I DO have plans for it (which I reserve the right to change as I see fit of course...). The Knitpicks Shine is destined for Rusted Root, and although I've never really wanted to do Green Gable before, the prosperous plum just seems to be right for it. The Wildfoote sock yarn will probably become a pair of Monkeys and the lambs pride worsted, some felted clogs for Amber.

There's also a rogue ball of Lion Brand Magic stripes which I bought for $5 at spotlight which I will make some kids socks with - not sure of pattern yet, any suggestions?

So much yarn, so little time....

Squatty Clutch

2007-08-16T09:19:00.000+10:00

I love this bag! It's such a cute pattern, and honestly it only took a few hours to knit. Felting it was another story though! You can still see some stitch definition, despite it going through the wash 4 times and agitating for well over an hour. I'm not sure whether this is an issue with the colour, the yarn or my washing machine - I'm guessing that it wouldn't be noticeable with a darker colour, but I'm still loving the lime green. The yarn was a single strand of 8 ply Rainbow yarn. It's felted nicely, I think it could be even nicer with 2 strands, giving it a bit more thickness. I knit it using my new Boye needlemaster size 6.5mm. The only mod's I made, were to knit the top of the handle on dpns, rather than as an i-cord. I still haven't got my mind around knitting a 7 stitch i-cord, without having at least 2 very loose/open stitches at the back - I think I'll have to have a read of one of my EZ books where she explains idiot cords so that an idiot can understand!

Fug Uggs

2007-08-13T09:37:00.000+10:00

Not so great Uggs. A bit mismatched and in need of a shave, but it's another one off the WIP pile, and a pair of warm feet for Max

Before:

After:

Knit using double strand of Lambs Pride Worsted on 9mm needles, and some 50c novelty yarn from Lincraft (can't remember brand - it's pretty much all the same isn't it?) Will try and get an action picture if he ever deigns to wear them.

ETA: And here action shot is!

They are a bit slippery on the floor boards, so are going to require some type of non-slip soles.

I also cast on for another fulled item yesterday. I wouldn't have been even remotely interested in doing it had I not seen this fabulous example at Craftster. I am besotted! I am nearly finished the knitting - with only half the handle to go. I'm using lime green 8ply from Rainbow wools. I hope it's going to be substantial enough to make good felt, as the suggested yarn is a worsted weight... ah well - I will know tomorrow!

Ms. Marigold

2007-08-11T19:26:00.000+10:00

I'm really not sure about this one...
I really like the colour though! Pattern: Ms. Marigold by ZephyrStyle, using just over 200gms of Jo Sharp Classic DK wool in 'Naples', knit on 4.5mm needles. Even though knit in a very similar colour to the models version on the pattern, unfortunately not quite the same effect on a size 14 figure! I'm not really the frill-type either, so I omitted them from my version, but Jack is very kindly letting me do hers ;)

Knitting Bag Challenge

2007-08-08T09:46:00.000+10:00

A challenge was issued by Bec to reveal the contents of our knitting bags. This was a bit tricky for me, as my knitting is not normally stored in my bag - I normally have it out on the lamp table. My kids have never shown any interest in touching any of my knit stuff, so I've never really been worried about it getting ripped off needles or any such thing. This is why I was surprised (and annoyed!) when Max got into the borrowed Boye Needlemaster kit, and lost several small bits, FORCING me to have to buy one myself to replace said bits (I've still got them here Jack!). Anyway, that's neither here nor there..... so here is my knitting bag.

Things of interest:

my very cool tape measure, hand turned wood from a local craftsman
my scissors-on-a-string to stop them from getting lost!
HUGE pile of stitchmarkers
new Boye needlemaster set
my clever dpn protectors on my Vinnland Sock
big clear pouch of stuff.. I love this - it makes it easy to spot what I'm after
dpn roll and circ needle roll

So that's it. My actual current WIP (Ms.Marigold) is on my lamp table, nearing completion. I hope to have it finished this week, but it may never see the light of day... methinks it was a silly project for me in my current state of chubbiness :P

JS Quick Knit Jacket

2007-07-30T08:29:00.001+10:00

Finally finished, and being express posted today for my sisters birthday TOMORROW! I honestly am not sure what I think of this piece. The yarn is gorgeous of course, but after hearing about it's propensity to stretch, I'm a tad nervous that a muggle isn't going to be able to look after it. It's not a great shape either - actually it's probably more user error than anything, that the shoulders are a bit 'puffy'. Anyhoo, it's done and it's something I won't have to worry about once it's left my care.

Pattern from Jo Sharp Knit 3, knit with 2 strands of Silkroad DK tweed in 'autumn' colour on 8mm needles (i think?). My only mod was to make the RS out.. i don't like the look of ws out (and yes that is a rosewood dpn holding it together until I can rush down to the LYS to buy a proper pin!)

Widdershins

2007-07-22T11:17:00.001+10:00

Are finished! These were such an easy knit, apart from the 2 froggings of a dodgy heel, but they are finished now and are very comfy! Widdershins pattern started July 7th (or thereabouts) and finished last night - the 21st July. Yarn is Cleckheaton Cocoon hand dyed by me, knit on 3.25mm needles at a gauge of 28 stitches per 10cm. I'll definitely use this construction method again.

Sheep Show 2007

2007-07-22T10:20:00.000+10:00

The annual Bendigo Wool and Sheep show is currently running this weekend, and Jack and I made the trip across to check things out and spend some money. We met up with Rach
and Tania as well as getting to meet Lori. We had a fabulous time checking out the alpacas; there were dreadlocked ones:
Fluffy ones:
And baby ones:
We also saw sheep, lots and lots of sheep - these were very large merino rams
There was coffee drinking
Wool fondling
and socks
There was not an incredible amount of stash enhancement going on (apart from Rach who bought some exquisite wool/silk blend for a jacket), but we did manage to get some Colinette sock yarn, as well as a good swag of books, and various odds and sods, including chocolate and soap. It was lots of fun! Thanks for driving Jack :)