Socks that rock

So after I got bored of doing house work today I decided I would need to ball up my STR heavyweight in Korppi so I can start swatching my next project. I have half a thumb and some ends to sew in on my vintage lace gloves so they will be done before the end of stitch'n'bitch tonight and I'll need something else to cast on.

(yeah ignore the mess on the floor there, I'm sorting through it all slowly.)

Another big thanks to my hubby for arranging the ball winder and swift for my birthday (as gifts from his mum and my big brother). He didn't just tell them what I wanted and get gift vouchers, nope he ordered them and distributed them before the day!


I did make the rule that I had to finish my gloves and do the sewing up on the blanket Ive made before I could cast something new on... but I'm going to sew up the blanket tomorrow night - I promise! I cant go to SNB and sew up, mostly because I lack the concentration to talk, drink and seam up properly.



but see, it's so pretty how could I not ball it up and take it tonight?!?!?!

So now to hang out some more washing and then to dye some gloves (elbow length ones from my MIL who wore them in the 60's? as a bridesmaid) red and black.

Did I mention I love not working on Mondays?

A night with a Knight

Sir Elton John!!!! His Perth concert was last night, it was a great concert, if you leave out the bit where we got drenched by rain, it was a great concert.

Im compelled to write up some tips for visiting international acts because they dont seem to understand some things about touring in Australia when they book their tours.
1. We are in the southern hemisphere - which means May sucks for outdoor venues
2. Do not tour during the Australian Rules Football Season - because all the good stadiums are off limits and you are forced to the crap ones.
3. Perth audiences are very reserved - many a time I have been to a concert or stage show and been one of the few people giving a standing ovation at the end. This doesnt mean we dont like you or that we didnt appreciate your talent.
4. Members Equity Stadium (Perth Glory's home ground) is not a good venue for soccer and is an absolutely crap venue for concerts.

We, Perth People, really do appreciate the time, effort and logistics that goes into actually bringing your show to the west. We know it is a huge pain in the butt, we know the promoters would prefer you just to stay on the east coast... but.... if you bring it we will come! Last night was fantastic, despite the rain and the idiots who cant read the signs saying "this is a smoke free venue".

So thank you Sir Elton John for taking the time to come to Perth, your show was great, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

You know you have your Hubby trained when...

He comes home from work and hands you this:

It was on the desk calender I bought him for Christmas and he thought of me when he saw it!

So many finished things

It's been a good weekend for FO's! I had planned for a few more things to be finished and off the needles but we'll get to that... I spent ANZAC Day over at SpiderKnit's along with Spirelle (from Ravelry but also from the Mount Lawley Stitch'nBitch). We ate yummy Cinnamon scrolls and watched season 2 of The House of Eliott, and knit.

So FO's:



I finally put the little Bilby together which will be flying over to USA as part of the thank you package to the wonderful lady who sent us our Knit Picks order. I think it will have to be a she because most of the other toys are he's. I have no idea what to call her though.

I have also finished 3 scarves for friends of mine (blue one was already done, pink one was 1/3 into) who I do craft's with fairly regularly. I made one of these for my Aunt for her birthday and the girls all loved them so much I have decided they can all have one. It also seems that for once I have made something that is in fashion. Chunky knitted scarves seem to be in all the shops at the moment.
It's my version of Purse Stitch which is suppose to be P1,* yo, P2tog, P1* repeat ending on a P1, for all rows. I hate purling on the bus because I have to look at it so I do it with the knit stitch, for a scarf it really doesn't matter because it's the same either side. It's a really easy knit and on 8mm needles it knits up in no time at all, I use 3 balls of some yarn I got from Crossways in their bins in the mall rather than inside.

I have also finished 1 voodoo wrist warmer for charity in the large size, they are a little shorter than the pattern calls for but that's because I have used half of the yarn on this one so the other one should be the same. I'm using the left overs from Bilby's back.

And... the reason I didn't get as many things finished this weekend as I had planned:

This is suppose to be 6 strips (x 6 squares in each strip). Can you see the problem with this picture? Apart from the fact that they haven't been blocked, which can be done once I calm down, there are only 5 strips here. I have looked everywhere for the last one, which I know I made because I ticked them off my list when I cast each one off. It looks like I have left it in one of the hotels in Sydney that I stayed in. Given it's been nearly 3 months I'm not even bothering to see if they still have it. I have a ball of each colour left so I'm knitting it again. On the bright side, the baby this is for wont be here until June, so I guess I should be happy that I didn't leave it until the last minute to sew up right?!?!?

Still 4 FO's in 1 weekend is very good in my book.

Have you seen this?

I have fallen in love!

http://www.cucumberpatch.co.uk/mermaid.htm

I have to have it, it's so pretty! I like kit #1.

When I think about it

I have decided to finish my dress and not worry too much about the jacket or gloves. Spiderknit has kindly lent me a shawl and some really nice gloves with fur cuffs for this Friday. I really want to finish the beading on my dress (it's made and wearable) so that it is actually done and I don't have to worry about it anymore. I'll sort the other stuff out for next game in a month's time.
I get a little carried away sometimes and don't stop and think. This time I have and now I can relax a little.
:)

Where I discover I’m an idiot…

So I have to have my costume ready for next Friday night where my character enters the LARP game I'm involved in. Not a big deal I wouldn’t have thought, actually I didn’t think it a big deal which is why I’m an idiot. I bought the pattern a couple of months ago for my dress. I've had the fabric for at least 2 months, possibly longer. So why didn’t I start it until Friday?!?!? Because I’m an idiot.

Not only do I have to make the dress, which thankfully I only have the sleeve’s and hem left to finish. I can no longer tell the difference between the black fabric and the black thread so I’ve stopped for the night. I also have to finish the 2nd glove in this pattern, the first of which took me from Friday week ago until this Friday night to finish (why did I leave them soooooo late to start, because I’m an idiot). Oh and I want to dye them charcoal because white gloves is waaaaay to prissy even for my character.

But wait there’s more… I also have to make (by way of knitting) some fake fur stuff to go down the length of the coat I made ages ago but it needs something to finish it. That something I decided would be some fake fur, but I’m not paying the $80 per meter that everyone wants to charge me for the look I was going for. Which leaves me with a couple of choices but I decided on the insane one of course, I’m knitting black fun fur into strips that are 4 stitches across on 5mm needles. So far in the car yesterday on our way to and from a BBQ I managed to knit enough to make it from the floor to my knee. I knit another 20 cm or so in the car today and will be no doubt doing the same thing on the bus this week to and from work.

Did I mention I also need to make the decorative bit for the hat? That shouldn’t take long and I may even be able to do it tonight given it’s not all black on black and is mostly pinning and gluing.
On the bright side the dress is looking great, the glove that is finished fit’s like a… well it fits nicely and I may actually have some time to sleep between now and my hair dressers appointment at Friday lunch time. If not I guess I’ll be sleeping while the colour gets touched up.

My bag swap pressie arrived on Monday night and I have been a bad swap partner and not posted pictures (that’s the next thing on my list) over on the Show and Tell thread. I love it, it’s purple, has cables, 2 straps (everyday and bling for going out), is the perfect size for my purse, keys, phone and some tissues. Even my hubby agrees that it is a good pick for me. There is also the remaining ball of Cleckheaton Merino Supreme from the bag, a ball of Mi Inca 100% Baby Alpaca (YUMMY!) and the bag of silvery/grey is also Merino Supreme! How spoilt am I?!?!?

I feel really bad for my swap partner, she is going to have another little envelope in the mail this week, I had bought some fabric's for her but couldn't find them before I posted the package off. Guess what I found this morning while I was making room on the sewing table...

I have also cast off the last part of the pressie that I cant talk about yet, I now have seaming to do but that can wait a week or 2, it’s not needed until June.

Ok if you made it this far through my rant, thanks for listening/reading.