Birthday love

I went to Spotlight today to use some of my birthday vouchers (my family love me!) and this is what I found:

blue polar fleece with bunnies, blue trains in a stretch knit,

Purple polka dots and fake patchwork pink in cotton,

and fleecy flannel stars and clouds so I can make lots of wraps for my friends having boys.

In the knitting bargain bin (ignore the blurry photo), I found this kit with 4 x 50g balls of 4ply cotton for $3 and a bag of bamboo/cotton for $12 in nice green/blues.

I've made a decent amount of progress on my bag.

and this is the Baby Yoda cardigan that I told you about before, it's still unblocked but Im saving all the blocking until a weekend when we dont have a billion things going on.

Baby stuff

So I finally got around to photographing the nursery walls that hubby and his dad did while I was away. They did a great job I think.



It's very bright but in a good way I think.


I have also finished my little nieces cardigan that I knit for her. Unfortunately having looked after her on Saturday night I can say that it's going to be too small not long after she gets it. So... plan B is Im going to make the largest size and put the first one into the "I know so many people who are pregnant Im sure one of them will have a girl" basket.




Im going to weave the ends in tonight at knitting (unless I cant be bothered then I'll knit instead).

Playing Catch up

I figured since I have a day without too much housework I'd catch up on the projects I've been working on. I have written a list of birthdays between now and New Years that I will need to make things for as well as Christmas. Now to see if I make the deadlines :)

Im knitting the Waterfall Scarf with 1 skein of ribbon yarn (sorry I lost the ball band) that I picked up in Yarns on Collie. It was the last ball they had so it was marked down (gotta love a bargain) and it's in my Aunts colours so it's for her birthday at the end of the month. Im on target for that one, it's nearly 3/4 done!


It's a lot more burnt orange than this but no matter what I do with the colours in the picture I cant get it right.

I've also started a scarf for my friend who's birthday is at the beginning of December. This one is going to take a little longer but now I have my Knit Picks Interchangables (dont you love Tapestry Craft's sales!) I can take it on the bus/train with me so that adds to the knitting time. I feel funny about knitting on straights on public transport. I always feel like Im getting in someones way even if Im not. Im using the Twisted Pride from Blue Moon Fiber Arts that I ordered when I had to get another skein for my vest. I love the way this yarn is knitting up, I was a little worried when I balled it up from the skein because it looked a little like a fairy had thrown up. I've based the scarf off of the Dulce pattern which is a herringbone stitch with a garter stitch boarder to stabilise the edges.




The 3rd thing on my needles at the moment is a Pinwheel baby blanket which Im just doing when I need a change or Im between projects. It was my travel project until the needles arrived and I could work on the scarf. Im onto the second ball and I think it's going to need at least 2 more. Im using machine washable 8ply from the Wangaratta Woolen Mills. I have about 3 skeins of it and it matches the Colour 4 Me yarn I have in my stash so Im going to say that's what it is. The skeins had been tangled and were a little difficult to ball up but that's why it's so cheap to buy.

On the non knitting front I have 2 cross stitches on the go. 1 for my Mum for Christmas and the other secret one that I started a while ago which I'll tell you about once it's finished, framed and gifted. It's a big one so it will be a while.

Normally I also make a few tree decorations but I think they will get put to the "in between other projects" spot this year. I finally finished the last of last year's bells last week.

I've also finished about 90% of the Christmas gift tags I was making, they are all put together but some still need glitter. I'll write the name of the person on them in glitter also once Im up to the wrapping up stage.

Its been a while

I have been busy so there hasn't been much time for blogging. I have been knitting, just not the projects I should/want to have been working on. I have made 3 (nearly 4) pair of fingerless and stubby fingered gloves for a friends work mates who have been freezing with the gas restrictions. They paid for them and the money went to charity so the karma is there at least. As a result of being a good citizen I failed at the Ravelympics because I only got about half (ok just under) of the back of Sienna done. See:









I did find some nice buttons for it though which has motivated me to start working on it again. My Solo is still where it was last time I showed you and will be until I finish Sienna because I will get more use out of that over the coming months I think.



Ive made a cute little cotton hat for a friends little girl who lives in Singapore (hence the cotton) because she tells me the only one she has is the one I made her when she was born and its now too small. I figured doing a 2x2 rib would let it fit her cute little head a little longer and I'll make her a nice warm one for her birthday and when she treks back to Perth in winter. (Yes Perth winter can get cold in the evenings and especially if your from Singapore)




On the non knitting side of things Ive been card making. I think I have enough cards for most of the upcoming birthdays and fathers days but have to make a couple of boy ones. The girl ones are just so much easier to make.




I started my Christmas tags, from the stuff I bought last year in the sales. They have some glitter glue on them now which makes them a little less plain and a little more christmasy.

I covered some little note books (they are about half A5 size) which I think are very cute. And yes one of the cards is made with the same paper as the brown one - on purpose.

And... I have started queuing a bunch of baby stuff over on Ravelry since, well, Im going to be having one I want it dressed in nice hand made stuff when ever I can.

They did WHAT!!!!!

My hubby got home from work today to discover we had been broken into. Thankfully it doesn't look like anything sentimental or non-replaceable has been taken.... but

The bastards touched my knitting!!!! They went through my knitting bag and in the process pulled out my dpn's from the glove Im working on. AND I discovered my vest thrown across the craft room and Im not allowed to touch it to see what damage has been done, it's still attached to the ball.

*rant incoming*

I can get over them tossing everything in my bedroom - it's expected when your broken into - not nice, but expected. I can even get over the fact that they have left a trail of glass around the house (making it easier to see where they went), but I can not forgive touching my craft stuff that I've spent so many hours on. It's just rude!

*end of rant*

How was your Saturday?

It's Saturday 14 June, which means it's WWKIP Day (World Wide Knit In Public Day). The one day a year knitters from all around the world gather and shock the muggles (non-knitting folk). I went along to the gathering in Forest Place in Perth. Spider_Knit and I were discussing on the way there how many people we thought would be there and we both agreed probably about a dozen. We arrived at 11am and there was already more than that when we got there. Here are some photo's of the day:

Here's my Solo, I'm 11 of the 14 inches into the back. I'm making it an inch longer owing to the fact that I'm tall and hoping that that will be long enough. Oh and it is actually black, remember this yarn? Well it looks fantastic in the sunlight but it doesn't photograph that well in the sunlight.

and.... I cast on Dashing for my friend, from some alpaca I bought last year. He wants them black and that's what I had so he's very lucky! Oh did I mention I got my hair cut yesterday? I nearly strangled myself when I rolled over in bed with the winter sheet's on (hair stuck to the pillowcase and well you can laugh while you think about the rest, everyone else has) and so I decided it was time for a serious cut!

I have more FO's and bit's to show you but that's enough photo's for one day.

Altering patterns

So I have finished the Vintage Lace Gloves, they are drying. I dyed them scarlet and am still debating if I dip dye them black from the fingers Im going to get opinions tonight at SNB. The fingers on these were really big. I made some alterations to them and said on Ravelry that I would post them here for anyone who might be interested. For each of the fingers I picked up the same number of stitches or it would have looked weird at the transition point from hand to fingers, from that point however I did my own thing. Kinda.

1st finger:
Knit 5 rounds even
K9, K2tog, K9, K2tog
Knit 5 rounds even
K8, K2tog, K8, K2tog
Knit 10 rounds even
K7, K2tog, K7, K2tog
Knit 1 round
follow pattern from 3rd decrease row

2nd finger:
Knit 10 rounds even
K10, K2tog, K10, K2tog
Knit 5 rounds even
K9, K2tog, K9 K2tog
Knit 14 rounds even
follow pattern from 2nd decrease row

3rd finger:
Knit 6 rounds even
K9, K2tog, K9, K2tog
Knit 5 rounds even
K8, K2tog, K8, K2tog
Knit 10 rounds even
K7, K2tog, K7, K2tog
Knit 1 round
follow pattern from 3rd decrease row

4th finger:
Knit 6 rounds even
K7, K2tog, K7, K2tog
Knit 10 rounds even
follow pattern from 3rd decrease row

Thumb:
follow instructions for decrease down to 20 stitches (rather than 24)
knit 4 rows
follow pattern from 1st decrease row of first finger

Of course you may have shorter or longer fingers than me so you can add or remove rows but I would suggest doing this before the first round of decreases on the fingers and for the thumb between decrease rows. I'll put pictures up soon I promise

On a different project, I have sewn 5.5 of the blanket strips together, should have that done by SNB tonight to show off to the girls. My SIL is due in a few weeks but her doctor has said there is every chance she could have it by the end of this week given the baby's size and hers. I'll put pictures up when it's gifted.

Gloves

I have made a pair of Fetching for my cousin since she is off to New Zealand next weekend I decided she needed some hand knit fingerless gloves. I love how fast they are. I cast the right glove on today while we were out wedding dress shopping. She was in the change room putting beautiful dresses on and I was sitting outside casting on. The lady looked at me at one point (when I was just about to start the cables, so 5 rows in) and asked if I was learning to knit, I looked at her and politely said, no I'm just starting the second cabled glove (and showed her the first that I had cast off in the car on the way there). Apparently she was learning to knit so she assumed I was too, she is learning from her mum. Had my cousin not come out of the changeroom at that exact moment with what we think is THE dress on I would have remembered to ask her along to SNB.




I'm still dyeing the lace gloves, there was too much colour coming out when I was rinsing them so I'm reheating them to hopefully get the colour to stick a bit better. I'll put some photo's of them up when I'm done.

FO's and shoes

No photos yet but I finished the gloves last night at SNB. I also started the gauge swatch for Solo and the colours are going to work really well with the pattern too from the looks of it.

I'll take some pic's tonight before I dye the gloves - no Im not going to wear white lace gloves, red and black ones however are just fine!

I woke up today and really didnt want to get up. I'd slept really well but I just wanted to stay in the warm bed, hubby had a different idea, he turned the light on and pulled the covers off. I know it's a work day but still, that was just plain mean :( So I wore my favorite boots to work to make me feel better. They are brown, go almost to my knees (on anyone else they would reach the knees perfectly) and are stilettos. My only pair of shoes that are stilettos, I cant normally walk in them but these are boots so they hold my ankle and stop me from ending up in hospital.

Hope your day is treating you ok, I want to go back to bed.

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?

Finished my bag

OK so it's not my bag anymore, technically it's no ones at the moment because it's on it's way to Sydney. It's finished though, lined with 2 pockets, stuffed with the things you can see and sent packing to Sydney. I hope she likes it.

I put some extra yarn in just in case repairs are required, a pair of K P stitch markers I made, a note book about A5 size and some very lovely roving from Bilby Yarns.

My other projects are coming along nicely. My knitted gift that I still cant talk about yet is very nearly done, it will then need sewing up but that shouldn't take long. No progress on the Branching Out Scarf, it's going on the back burner while I get some things finished that have deadlines.

I had started some lace gloves, my gauge was a little out but I decided to knit for a bit and see if they were in fact going to swim on my hands. They did so they got ripped back, I took myself off to Spotlight and got some smaller needles and have now started again. I'm doing them in 4ply Merino Bambino on 2.25mm dpns. This time they look like they will fit thankfully.

I have started cutting out a pattern for a dress I'm making. I will be doing a calico mock up because I cant afford any mistakes with the amount of fabric that I have for it. I have until 11 April (this year) to have it finished.

Things I saw & people I met

I have finally got a few minutes to show you what I did in Sydney...
I caught up with my husband’s cousin for dinner on the Monday night, we went to one of the little restaurants near the opera house. I worked during the week and forgot to take my camera out when I went for walks in the evening, since it rained each night during the week I don’t necessarily think that is a bad thing. I made it back to the hotel with literally seconds to spare on Tuesday night (when the 20 year storm hit). Wednesday I ordered in, it was cold and I wanted to knit. This is what the view from my room looked like:

There are other photo's but you get the idea. I discovered some great shops (ok so perhaps they weren't all that secret but they were a discovery to me) and did a little shopping. Thursday night I went along to the Stitch & Bitch at Tapestry Craft where everyone at the table was on Ravelry! I'm terrible at remembering every ones names but I know that Webgoddes, Missfee & Bex were there. In fact this is Missfee's Tangled Yoke Cardigan:

They were all very nice people and I actually got to see some of the projects I want to make and I still want to make them!


Friday was shopping, Saturday day was shopping and then off to see the Mardi Gras Parade. Unfortunately my photo's aren't the best due to people trying to get in front of me. It was a great night. Sunday was recovering and Monday was walking around the city deciding that, yes, I have had enough shopping and want to go back to the hotel, pack and go catch my flight.


Our desk got installed in our front room this week, half was put in last week and the rest yesterday, here's the before and after photos, the alcove is just under 4m wide by 1.1m deep. The desk is 90cm deep by 3.5m long.








Today I have felted my 2 hats that I knitted while I was away, I'll take some photo's for you tomorrow.