Let Me Knit!

Small Objects

2012-01-29T18:35:00.002+11:00

Recently Felix has discovered a fondness for Rekordelig fruit cider, especially the mixed berry flavour. (I love the stuff as well but I gave up alcohol as part of my 101 ideas in 1001 days.) Normal beer holders are just too narrow for the massive 500ml bottles that the cider comes in, so I crocheted a holder.

It's made up of two layers to keep the bottle nicely insulated, with the inside made up of various orange 8ply scraps and the outside is two lots of Zara 8ply - in Felix's favourite colours, of course! It was a complete success, so much so that I'm working on a smaller black one for a friend. Now all I need to do is embroider the Van Halen logo on it.

Very rock, indeed,

Oops.

2012-01-25T18:40:00.000+11:00

I was happily knitting away last night and boasting to Felix that I'd soon be finished knitting up my Blu pants. My smugness was diminished somewhat by Felix asking "What about the jumper?". Oops.

I have a jumper I need to finish 12 rows on, wet block, sew up and add button bands, all so I can hand it back to one of my customers. Luckily, I know she's not overly anxious about it, and the longer I take the longer I can avoid it. It's 80's Fair Isle and it's rather involved, you see. My lovely client told me no rush and I'm taking her at her word.

I might make some small knitting bags instead.

A New Year idea

2012-01-23T22:11:00.001+11:00

Just after January 1st passed Felix told me about an idea he'd read on a website. The basic premise is that you complete 101 tasks or ideas in 1001 days, which is 2.7 years. I thought it was a great idea, so we've set up a list with 40 for me, 40 for him and 21 that we both want to do either separately or together. Unsurprisingly, finishing up my UFO's and WiP's for both knitting and sewing are on my list. Truly surprising is that I've actually started.

Marcus' overdue winter pj's actually came in handy with our fabulous Melbourne weather the last fortnight. When it snows in January in Australia, the world is truly upside down.

Next in the sewing pile was a patchwork quilt for Marcus, because we moved him into a cot minus one side, a sort of baby bed and we wanted to make it a bit of an occasion for him.

It wasn't too hard to dig into my sewing pile to finish things up. I've been avoiding my knitting needles this summer - too warm, too humid, too icky. Oh, and I usually have the world's largest baby squashing my lap.

Instead I've been sewing...

...and sewing...

...and sewing.

Small children require a lot of clothes, and I have an awful lot of fabric to use up (an unofficial goal of mine).

Yesterday Chantal came round for a knit and gossip session, but only on the condition that I got out a UFO to work on. Grrrrr went my brain, but I agreed and delved into the box in the workroom. First project out of the box was Blu that I'd started on a whim for Marcus. He's far to big for it now but it'll be a perfect fit for Dot so I guess I should thank Chantal after all!

To add to my to-do pile, however, #69 on my list was to join a crochet-a-long for a rug.

Square #1 for January is done...

... as is Square #2. I'm not sure if they'll all be this swift, but I certainly hope so!

Finished Projects 2011

2012-01-22T13:59:00.000+11:00

Generosity or insanity?

2011-10-04T09:05:00.000+11:00

I had a pick-up this morning, so I organised my mum to mind Marcus while I took Dot with me, as we usually do. Unfortunately my mum had an appointment this morning so two of my nieces became ring-ins for the morning.

When I got home Marcus was exhausted (well done girls!) and went straight off to sleep. I put Dot down and dragged my nieces out to my workroom. While I sorted my buttons into OCD jars of varying colourways my nieces sat on the floor going through my stash, taking whatever they wanted.

No, they weren't pinching my stash. I told them to help themselves to whatever I didn't really want, and they fell upon my stash with gusto. Occasionally I freaked out and helped myself back to some yarn (like I'm letting them have my white angora! Or the baby camel hair!) but on the whole I was very nice. Ashlee pointed out that her yarn had all come from The Reject Shop and mine felt nicer. Of course it did - she was stroking a ball of Sublime Extra Fine Merino!

I've realised I'd rather buy up a huge amount of yarn to make an actual jumper than buy a small ball here and there. Unless it's looking at yarn. Looking at yarn is sacred.

O, ye of little faith

2011-09-28T22:22:00.000+10:00

This post goes out to my sister who requested I assist her in someone else's crochet project.

Nora (I think the name was Nora, I wasn't really paying attention to be honest) wanted to finish off her late sister's crochet projects and she was stumped on the last rug. My sister wasn't too sure how to join all of the strips either so she asked for my help to make up a border "just to show how it's done for the rest". Being both nice and an unbelievable show-off I said yes.

The pattern is called "Barefoot Summer Days" (because it looks like feet) and it's in American terminology which isn't that much of a problem for me. Then I started.

Next month, I picked it up again, tried to re-read the pattern. Nope, still horrible for my brain.

Next month, I picked it up again, tried to re-read the pattern. Swore. Put bag in back room and went off and had a baby instead.

Next month, I put Dot down and picked up the rug. The pattern swam before my eyes and then made sense. No idea why. Two strips done in no time at all.

Baby brain assists in hard crochet work. Who knew?

Ahhhhh calm...

2011-09-27T21:03:00.000+10:00

Last weekend was Marcus' 2nd birthday. As you may expect, I was prepared and gave him a very low-key party, nothing major.

...

*snort* Well, I tried to keep a straight face.

I went so far over the top, I was in Belgium.

The theme was "trains", so we held the party at the Mooroolbark Miniature Railway. Marcus has never been on a train in his life when we handed him over to my da to take on his ride, and his reaction was one of indifference. My son, the dilletante at age 2. I'm so proud.

Personally, I thought his train cake was rubbish, but lots of complete strangers loved it. Well, not rubbish, but it didn't work out how I visualised. Still looks like a train, though,

Yes, I made him a shirt with trains on it for the party but I ran out of time to add button holes. Tomorrow, my mum will be coming over for a sewing morning; while I add buttonholes, she'll keep the boy from using the overlocker (this is much more difficult than you might think). I love the banner behind him - I bought them from a shop on Etsy, and everything matched. I had matching invites, envelopes, drink wrappers (which I forgot to put on), the works. I'll be using Parties by Hardie again, trust me.

Now to return to my somewhat more normal life. I have a christening to plan, after all...

Humph.

2011-09-23T22:46:00.001+10:00

Royal Melbourne Show results came out yesterday. Only one prize was awarded in the Fair Isle category, and it wasn't to me.

Excuse me. I'm going off to sulk.

(I'm fine, really. But if I act as if I'm upset I can get away with a lot more.)

WIP Wednesday

2011-09-21T23:00:00.000+10:00

I only have one knitting project on the go at the moment, a very simple garter stitch cardigan for Dot. I can knit garter with my eyes shut which is why it is my knitting pattern of choice with new babies around.

The older baby is the problem now. Marcus is two next week and becoming fairly vocal regarding his likes and dislikes. One of his major dislikes is my knitting. If he spots me knitting he'll run over to me and start trying to pull the needles out of the knitting, which he then grabs and piffs across the room. As a result I can't knit while he's awake or anywhere near me, which has resulted in a drop in my knitting efforts.

I'm currently trying to convince myself he's helping me prolong my knitting enjoyment.

beam

2011-09-20T17:54:00.002+10:00

I'm not sure if I have ever mentioned my hatred of dentists here before. I have nothing against individual dentists, obviously, but the profession in general drives me crazy. The day Denticare exists here in Australia I will be overjoyed.

Just before Dot was born I chipped off my front tooth on a Butter Menthol. Yes, I was crunching it. Judge not etc etc. Without a front tooth I look like a caricature of a bogan, so I swore to find a new dentist, the kind of practice where you see the same person everytime. A bit of investigating and one was procured close by.

Today I had three fillings done. (Yes, I needed three fillings. I actually need another 17 surfaces done, capping, a pin and my two front teeth replaced. Feel better about your teeth yet?) My dentist noticed that when he started drilling I dig my fingernails into the back of my hand. After he laughed and told me to relax he explained how he sometimes uses hypnotherapy on very nervous patients. I laughed myself and told him that if I had my knitting with me I wouldn't be quite so bad.

Guess who's allowed to take her knitting along next time she goes to the dentist?

Lazy Link Day

2011-09-19T21:46:00.000+10:00

After a day where Dot slept for a maximum of thirty minutes at any given time, I realised that I had worked on nothing today but keeping my own sanity. Have some links to some nice knitting stuff instead.

A beautiful print for your knitting space.

How to turn old t-shirts into yarn.

The ultimate sign of your dedication to knitting: the tattoo. (One day I'll get one. One day.)

A knitted bike cosy. To keep it warm, I presume.

A beautiful memorial for the Christchurch earthquake victims.

I always suspected it was genetic...

Before and After - The Sewing Room

2011-09-18T18:31:00.001+10:00

I gave myself a deadline of 5:30pm today to get the room into shape. I took my photos at 5:10pm. I'm feeling a bit smug, to be honest.

Look at that: floor! A clear entry into the room is a pretty big miracle if you ask me. Bottom left is a craft cart full of interfacing and iron on padding. The jarrah shelf thingie (technical terminology) is holding my iron and my cutting boards now. Under the bench are four boxes full of fabric, all sorted into colours and folded up. I taped a list to the top of one of the boxes with my future plans for the huge amounts that I have. The best idea was setting up my old corner desk on the top to hold my lovely old machine.

Isn't he lovely? He was a present from sister's partner's mum who no longer had need for it. Up on the desk he's far far away from a certain small boy who thinks all sewing machines are toys in disguise.

The table of generalness no longer has a pile upon it, but rather an awful lot of space, which is nice. The was enough space to add another chair to centre of my cutting table, which will help a lot!

Under the end table are a few boxes. There's my mending box, the projects I haven't finished yet box (now in order of necessity and guilt at not finishing them), embroidery projects and a box full of fabric that I use to make knitting project bags (to be sold on Etsy and Made It soon). The three trays on top have my pincushions, my felt and my unfinished lavender bags (I make a lot of those for the business).

Under the window are two boxes of various fabric that I plan to get rid of. If you want them, send me an email, okay? Otherwise that Salvos will inherit the box next weekend.

Finally, we have the new sewing corner. I moved another sewing table in, this one from my nan. She's just moved into a nursing home (at 95 - finally!), so I dibs'd it. I've put my overlocker on the new table and my sewing machine on my other table, l-shaped in the corner. Under the table is my nana's sewing basket, which is full of sewing cottons.

I've hid all my scissors in a container up the back so hopefully Marcus won't be able to reach it. He isn't that interested in the scissors, anyway, not when he can open up the front of the overlocker! Next to the scissors is my dodgy old clock radio, just for some music while I work.

It took less time than I thought it would, which was great. I'm setting myself the challenge of keeping it looking like this for a month, then adding some decoration, so you'll have to check back in then to see the result!

Fabric sorting and family

2011-09-17T22:51:00.002+10:00

After a brief visit to Ikea, I headed out to the workroom to start the sorting out of fabric and was stumped straight away. Do I sort the fabric by colour? By type? A big pile of future projects and store everything else in another spot? I started pulling out boxes and looking through them, which is how I found my da's unfinished birthday present from February last year. I needed to remove the bias binding from the edge and it meant I escaped the cleaning.

My view while I unpicked the edging was very nice. First I had Marcus in his new sandpit.

Then Felix and Dot came out to keep me company.

Much more relaxed afternoon. I'm sorting my fabric by colour, after all.

I was sure I'd cleaned this...

2011-09-16T22:55:00.000+10:00

Sometimes your life is fabulous. Everything just chugs along nicely, you think you're coping beautifully and then you turn a corner and realise "Whoops. Guess I wasn't."

In my case, it's the bungalow. Specifically the workroom out the back. I haven't been able to sew in there since Dot was born, mostly due to Dot herself. I ventured back in there yesterday afternoon and the wool fell from my eyes. And off the table. And rolled across the floor and settled next to a.... is that a guitar?

Nothing for it, time to tidy up. I thought I'd be generous and share my humiliation with you all, because we all know there's nothing like someone else's disaster area to make yours feel better. Ditto when someone else's area makes you want to drool:

No, that's not my sewing room, sadly. It belongs to a very clever woman named Karen over at Sew Many Ways. One day, my pretties, one day.

That's mine. This is the view from the front room to the back. I was sure it wasn't this bad, so I shall simply assume that a hurricane went through at this time. A very small hurricane, obviously, as it was indoors. On the left is an amazing jarrah shelf thingie (technical terminology) with nothing in it. Behind that is my craft bookcase. It's full. Very very full. On the right is my general use table. It's a bit covered in generalness at the moment.

This is the view of the right of the room. Massive window that is pretty useless actually. Outside is a monster fern that covers half the window, and with the room facing south and a massive pine tree hanging overhead my sunlight is nonexistent. My sewing table was my nana's and I claimed it when it was time to clean out her belongings, along with her knitting needles and a sewing box. All the way along the back wall is a cutting bench that my da made for me because he's lovely.

Last, we have the inside wall. The power cord hanging off the wall is from the wall heater, and you can see the overlocker cord is pulling it halfway across the room, because I forgot about the powerboard on the floor there. Don't judge me. I have a dodgy corner desk with an Ikea mini ironing board (too small really) and the world's dodgiest iron - steam free or nothing but steam, depending on how much water is in it. Also, I really wasn't joking about the guitar you know.

My knitting section isn't too bad, but only if you're thinking comparatively.

Tomorrow morning I'm dragging Felix off to Ikea for a cot for Dot and an easel for Marcus, but once we get home (and recover from Ikea-ing) I'm throwing myself in that room and rearranging, piling up, sorting, cleaning and most likely setting a large pile of belongings on fire.

A before and after session - nice!

Showtime!

2011-09-15T12:32:00.001+10:00

My favourite day arrived again: Royal Melbourne Show drop-off day. You take an hour to drive in (what is wrong with the Eastern/Alexandra Road exit?!?), walk in and start gossiping with the woman in front of you with a huge pile of sewing to hand in.

This time the judge asked if I hadn't finished the projects I decided to not enter. "Nope, just didn't want to spend three hours blocking a 60" shawl." She looked down at my arms where Dot was and replied "I can understand that."

We'll be going to the Show this year as well. We think we'll go every year on Marcus' birthday. A very wise knitter I know* once stated that no-one should work on their birthday, and as a family we count everyone's birthday in that idea.

Plus, showbags!

* Yes, Sonia, it was you!

Just in case you need a reminder.

2011-09-14T17:22:00.001+10:00

Handy and colourful:

(From Decor e blablabla)

Arrrgh! Cramp!

2011-09-13T14:01:00.001+10:00

The business took off quite well, and I've been kept nice and busy. On top of that Dot has discovered that she doesn't need 22 hours sleep a day so my precious hours of free time have shrunk to non-existent. As I type this Marcus is asleep for his midday snooze, while Dot is passed out in my lap trapping my left hand.

This is probably a good thing, as I need to rest my right hand. I have severe cramp in my right wrist, which means I can barely knit. Hang on; it means I can knit but afterwards I can't even hold a fork to eat. It's pretty bad, so I'm trying to cut back on my knitting which - as I'm sure you'll all agree - sucks mightily.

I've been trying to work on my list, as I said I would. Two down, eight to go.

Marcus' teal cardigan received it's final train button and he's worn it so much I've had to wash it twice. Mind you, he is a grubby little boy, so this isn't an indication of amount of wear but rather of intensity of wear.

This is the only picture he would sit still for. He moves a lot more these days.

I finally sat down and sewed up the navy cable vest that Chantal knitted up for ~~Marcus~~ Dot. I was given the matching nacre flower buttons on Saturday, when Chantal took Felix and I to see "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2". She spoils us, but I still nearly strangled her for making me cry so much.

Next up I'm going to set the zip in Marcus' Tomten jacket - finally. I've found the greatest tutorial I've ever seen on setting a zip using blocking wires. It's genius, I tells ya. Embrace your fears and do it anyway, right?

That's done. What's next?

2011-07-29T11:14:00.004+10:00

It's done! Marcus' fair isle vest was worn yesterday, photographed and immediately taken off so I can enter it into the fair isle category at this year's Royal Melbourne Show.

A multitasking vest, as well. It's actually my entry for the ACS and Spotlight competition (mainly) and the design is mine all mine.

Getting Marcus to wear it and smile for the camera was the main problem.

Point a camera at him now and all he wants to do is take it off you and use it himself. My son is a bit addicted to gadgets. Gets it from his dad.

Dot was easier to capture on film. The inability to actually do anything more than likely helped me to take the photos, but I'm pretending otherwise. I designed her little Norwegian hat on Saturday, right after I went out and bought the wool. No pressure to finish by Thursday to catch the post, nooooo. Admittedly, I didn't need to make another item or put myself under so much stress, but I really wanted to make Dot a new hat, and I am the most overly competitive knitter possible.

Now that it's all over I have a list of what to do next. I love lists. I could do nothing but make lists for everything in my life, something I've done on occasion when I really needed the organising. Here's how my list looks at the moment:

1. Marcus' teal cardigan - WIP
2. Fit zip into Marcus' Tomten jacket - WIP
3. Finish Chantal's vest for Dot - WIP
4. Dot's cardigan - WIP
5. Crochet rug favour for Bronwyn - New Project
6. Marcus' mittens - new ones and old ones that need lengthening - New Project and WIP
7. Marcus' green cable jumper - New Project
8. Block Garden Path Shawl (now I can actually bend over!) - WIP
9. Felix's Christmas Present (No, I can't say what it is, he reads my blog) - New Project
10. Marcus' farm set - New Project

Not bad, right? That ought to keep me going for a while, but keep in mind that for every new project I need to work on an old one (not to mention my sewing list - it's twice as long as this list!). Now, I have five of each on this list, but I might throw in an old WIP between each item on the list, just to see how much I can knock off in the next few months. Stick around, it could be interesting.

The comfort of knitting

2011-07-25T16:28:00.004+10:00

Too often I take my knitting abilities for granted. Not too many knitters out there can walk and knit, or watch tv at the same time, or memorise graphs easily. To me this is all second nature, a natural part of my knitting.

Somewhere over the years I think I lost the calmness that can come with knitting. It may have been one too many projects knitted to an impossible deadline, or working in a knitting store, or just because of familarity. I never understood the "knitting is the new yoga" because I'd been at it for years. Oh, and I'm not very good at yoga.

This all changed last week. Dot was admitted to hospital last week with a staph infection and abcesses. Felix and I sat in the emergency waiting room, and I knitted. I concentrated as hard as I could on the fair isle pattern, because otherwise all I would do is worry. Then I put my knitting away and watched as they put a drip in her and enough sucrose to make her sleep for a while and we went up to the paediatric ward.

The very wonderful doctors and nurses told me to wait while they drained things. I sat in a chair in the room they'd given us and I knitted. I finished the fair isle and reached into my bag for some more knitting. A garter stitch baby cardigan for my girl was worked on while I blocked out the noises she was making from another room. That helped a lot.

That night, while Dot slept, instead of sleeping myself I knitted. I knitted row after row and gave up thinking completely. I counted every stitch in the row, sounding off numbers in my head as I went, watching the rhythym my fingers take. It's been so long since I've actually watched myself knit, and I calmed me down enough to eventually sleep. By then it was about 6:00am, but sleep is sleep.

Dot left the hospital two days later, full of strong antibiotics and wrapped up nice and warm in a knitted hat, a picture of health once more. I'd spent her last few hours there giddily happy that she was fine and pronounced ready to return home. While she slept this time I was working on some mittens for Marcus instead, fair isle again. I didn't concentrate as much, nor watch my hands, but I knew they were working out fine, just like his sister.

I don't know if I'll ever focus on my knitting that much again, but I liked the connection I felt. Over the years other women, other knitters have sat and knitted while they worried. About husbands, lives, money, war and children - the children most especially I suspect. I'd like to think that their knitting helped them cope as much as it helped me.

Soooooo close...

2011-07-19T20:19:00.002+10:00

Sunday night I worked on the left side of Marcus' V-neck vest for the ACS competition, and finished it off on Monday, around lunchtime. Since then, I've done what exactly?

Nothing. Zip. Nada. Zilch.

Granted, last night I had next to no sleep (thanks for that Dot! I'll get you back when you're a teenager), but I have to have this entry in by next Friday.

Time to buckle down...

Humiliations Galore

2011-07-16T13:31:00.004+10:00

To my darling daughter,

One day you will have a 21st birthday party. There will be balloons, cake and all of your friends. There will also be a lot of posters of pictures like this one.

This may be avoided if you're a nice teenager...

(Modern Baby Bonnet from "Vintage Knits for Modern Babies", 4ply sock yarn doubled by Stranded in Oz)

Hard at work

2011-07-14T18:53:00.003+10:00

I'm working my poor little fingers to the bone, trying to finish my jumper for the ACS competition.

The back was completed last night, right before we watched the last episode of "Game of Thrones", which put me in a pretty good frame of mind.

Staying awake from midnight to 3am took that away again. I wouldn't mind if my hands were free to knit, but Dot doesn't yet enjoy the Baby Bjorn. Soon though she'll be fine being carried around (who wouldn't be?) and my knitting output will pick up big time!

It never rains but it pours

2011-07-12T13:57:00.003+10:00

Yesterday the heater in our bedroom decided to stop working. By stop working, I actually mean blow up. The plug snapped off in the socket and it's black all round. Our bedroom has slat windows on two sides, and walking in there now is like stepping into a meat locker. The electrician will be here at 3:30 today, thank goodness.

The piece I'm knitting for the Patons competition was far too small for Marcus, so I've had to start over again. This means I have to re-knit the back and about 18cm of the front. Which is Fair Isle. I can't re-use the wool because it'll be short as I now have more stitches.

Dot decided that sleep is for the weak last night and howled from 11pm until 2:45am. The last 45 minutes was in the care of her father because her mother went semi-crazy.

I appear to have pulled one of my stitches which makes walking near impossible. I can't do anything other than sit on the couch and knit. While this sounds ideal, try being completely dependent on someone else to get you a cup of tea sometime. If they're not around, you don't get one. I'm not a big fan of passivity.

The car had an incident on Monday night (wasn't me) and now needs some repairs. These will not be possible until next week. Guess who won't be going to Bendigo for the Show this weekend? If you need me this Saturday, I'll be home. On the couch. Sulking.

Five steps to bed

2011-07-08T18:02:00.002+10:00

Apparently it's considered the done thing to give your current children a present when you have a new one suddenly turn up. I've never been a fan of following convention, so no present had been purchased.

Then this pattern turned up on Ravelry and I knew it was kismet. Marcus watches Giggle and Hoot and the chance to make him his own Hoot was too great to resist. One trip to Spotlight later and I was all set to start.

Finishing was a bit harder. This picture was taken in my hospital room as I didn't have a chance between sewing on the beak as the last thing and going off to have Dot! Marcus loves and neglects it in turn, which I think is the sign of a great toy.

New projects

2011-07-05T14:29:00.003+10:00

It's almost here! Yes, I'm entering the Australian Country Spinners competition yet again, with an eye on actually finishing in time. I'm the most overly competitive person I know, which Judith told me last year was the reason I needed to enter. I think she knows me too well.

Last year was my little chicken boy. This year, Marcus is a big boy (with a head of magnificent curls that no hat will cover) so he'll be getting a big boy Fair Isle vest of my own design. Hey, the rules said I could design my own or use one of their patterns, but the Fair Isle patterns I like are a little bit more complex than what they can offer, and I'll need something to keep me awake at night for the other new project in my life.

Dorothy Joanna, born June 28th at 3:11pm. She's named for a wonderful lady I knew as a child, and will be known by that lady's delightful moniker of Dot. I love the name - it makes me think of cute little ladybirds for some reason. She's slotted in our lives with ease, and adoration isn't a strong enough word for how we feel about her.

I really am disgracefully lucky.

Competitive? Moi?

2011-06-06T07:48:00.002+10:00

Chantal and I decided that what we needed was a little friendly wager to get some motivation going in our knitting lives. Chantal has been knitting the Henry scarf for her brother for a while now, and I've been ignoring my Garden Shawl for a few weeks, so we decided to ramp it up and race against each other.

8:30pm Friday night we picked up the needles and started. Within five minutes I was tinking back two rows to add a yarnover that I'd missed. Felix listened nicely to my swearing and then asked how much knitting I actually had to do to finish.

Two sides and one corner, each side made up of 27 repeats of 14 rows, each corner made up of 3 repeats of 14 rows. Since Friday night I've knitted up about 12 repeats.

I think I'm going to get slaughtered.

Niblets on the 'net

2011-05-16T08:30:00.005+10:00

A lovely weekend was had by all here at Chez Knitamer. My mum came over to mind Marcus on Saturday so Felix and I could finally go out for our fourth wedding anniversary (it's only been a month now). One "Thor" viewing and tapas later we were home - no rest for the wicked!

Yesterday was my sister's birthday party where she overcatered once again, and we had a fabulous time, even if I did agree to knit my niece a pair of stirrup legwarmers to wear to school, our logic being that I can knit them faster than she can. This from a teenager who can run up three scarves in a week, and plans to knit 100 scarves as a fundraiser for her running!

I've been browsing my way around Ravelry the last few days, just looking up all the things my friends have been noticing, and some of the baby outfits are unbelievable.

The Small Things collection of a cardigan, bonnet and the world's cutest romper suit I have ever seen caught my eye, and now all I need to do is bribe Felix into letting me buy the ebook and ignore him while I knit for three days straight.

Jennifer Hoel's Garter Yoke Cardigan is absolutely perfect for this winter, but it's a 5-ply pattern (of which I own none!), so I thought maybe not. Having seen how many knitters have whipped up 4-ply versions all worries are dispelled! Helloooooo stashbusting!

I have to make The Kumfy™ Schlüttli for both Podling and Marcus. It looks like such a fun knit, and will use up a bucket load of 8-ply I seem to be hoarding for some future occasion, such as a world wool shortage.

As for me, Felix promised me a new pattern and now all I need to do is pick my colours. I love the Union Flag (remember it's only called the Jack when it's on a boat - thanks Rose Tyler!) and the traditional colours are fabulous, but what if I used my favourite colour combination of chocolate brown, burnt orange and cream? It's so tempting and I just can't make up my mind!

PS: Happy Birthday Bronwyn!

Knitting,life and illness

2011-05-11T19:22:00.005+10:00

I could have sworn my week was going well. Last Monday I finished my green swirl hat.

See? Cute, adorable and neutral, and sitting perfectly on our Mini-Marcus doll. So I started a second hat.

See? Cute, adorable and neutral, and sitting perfectly on our Mini-Marcus doll. Then I remembered that I'd sworn not to start another project until I'd finished something off from the WIP box in the bungalow. So I went out, reached in and pulled out a bag.

Can you believe it was the Baby Surprise Jacket I'd never sewn up in the same green? I was impressed by the Knitting Gods largesse, and promised to forthwith sacrifice many many more balls of yarn to their cause.

I must have been overly smug because on Tuesday night Marcus couldn't breathe properly and we spent three hours in the emergency rooms with a very sick little boy with - once again - croup.

The next few days were an unbridled nightmare. Marcus couldn't breathe through his nose, and he couldn't sleep properly and eventually Felix had to take a day off to help me because Sick Marcus = Feral Marcus.

To compensate I thought it might be an idea to once again throw myself upon the mercy of the Knitting Gods and pick up a WIP. This time in my foraging I pulled out the Garden Path Shawl. *whimper*

It's not hard anymore, I just have to knit the edging. My problem is that I have three repeats until I do the next corner, and then I have two more sides to do. It's going to take such a long time, and just to smack me around a bit the Knitting Gods thought I needed sinusitis to assist me in my endeavours. Then it turned into a full-blown head cold, verging on flu the symptoms were so bad.

You know you're not well when you end up strapped to a foetal monitor just in case the baby is overheating because you are. Last time this happened, I had Marcus, so yesterday wasn't all that much fun. Thankfully we still have 1.8 children and will until July, *phew*.

I've decided to stop tempting the Knitting Gods. I started a small cardigan for Marcus in bulky yarn instead.

Dream on (the "Glee" version with Neil Patrick Harris)

2011-04-28T20:19:00.006+10:00

Like most knitters, I have dream projects. The ones that are going to take ages, be nice and complex and fulfill all of my knitting dreams.

The Garden Path shawl is one of my dream projects: complex, huge and lace. I love lace, almost as much as fair isle, and my love for fair isle is eternal and sacred. I have two sides of the edging to go, and then I get the brilliant fun of wet blocking it. Well, fun for me.

I've got the perfect colours combination for the Renaissance cardigan: Jo Sharp DK Tweed in a dark forest green and a dull rosy pink. It's all packed away, waiting to become my big intarsia project. I'm a bit nervous that the pattern requires 10ply, but pfffft! Challenge!

I've spoken before about how I don't like deadlines, and I'm not about to start them again. Pressure over knitting is ridiculous, takes away all the fun and leads to excess caffeine consumption, which isn't an option while I'm this pregnant (10 weeks to go).

I want to make this for Marcus for Christmas. We've already got our eyes on his birthday present (too expensive but too cute, so we'll bribe the grandparents to come in with us), so I'll have many many months to work on this, and some of the animals are quite small and I already knitted up the cat in under two hours.

As you can tell I'm already making excuses, but when it comes down to a choice between this and a Fisher Price plastic farm set, the Steiner in me is screaming "Do it! Do it!".

Now all I need is to get started, and that will require a very nice/bribe-able husband to size up the graph for the playmat. Yes Felix, that was a very unsubtle hint.

It works!

2011-04-26T17:33:00.004+10:00

I suspect Felix was getting a bit tired of all of the unfinished knitting projects I seem to accumulate in pairs, so I promised that each time I finished something I would pick up a U.F.O. and work until it was done.

Oddly enough, this idea seems to work. I finished Marcus' hat and mittens and picked up my retro crocheted rug that I started in January and sort of forgot about. Easy to do when you have that many U.F.O.'s...

I used Zara in colours to match Marcus' room, and just changed colour each row. As I was running out of yellow I decided to finish up and edge the rug in red using the Granny Blanket edging pattern from Attic 24. The edging pattern is great to follow and the tutorial layout is brilliant - take a look at all of the crochet tutorials, they'll have you hooking up in no time.

The ends were sewn in while watching "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1", so it was a good thing I'd sewn most of them in while I went, because it was a really fun film. Can't wait for Part 2, although we'll probably have to wait until the dvd comes out because the film comes out early July, and so does baby #2!

Chicken? Who, me?

2011-04-21T18:54:00.001+10:00

I am not scared of setting a zip into the Tomten jacket.

I am not scared of setting a zip into the Tomten jacket.

I am not scared of setting a zip into the Tomten jacket.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

I am not scared of setting a zip into the Tomten jacket.

Oh look! I can work on that crocheted rug instead! See, I'm not avoiding anything!

...Well, for now, maybe.

Remember slacking off on weekends?

2011-04-17T22:05:00.004+10:00

I don't. I finished working at my local service station at the end of last month, and I've been ridiculously busy every Saturday and Sunday since. Next month is May, also known as the party time in our family. Every Sunday is taken up with a birthday or Mother's Day, or - in my case - an interstate visit.

This weekend was no different. Yesterday morning started off with a dangerous shopping expedition at a Hallmark sale, so if you need any Christmas cards feel free to ask. Back home for some adoring of my family before deserting them for an Ikea run with Chantal, which is always a very bad idea. Five hours later I leave with the important things: a small coffee table for Marcus to eat from, a little blue chair from his Auntie Tal and eight clear plastic boxes for yarn.

This morning Felix and I headed out back to organise the bungalow (yes, again. It got cluttered again, alright?) and my job was to sort out my stash.

The eight boxes are on the bottom with my yarn grouped in colours. I need at least another box, because currently the yellow, orange and pink are sharing a box, or they would be if I owned any yellow yarn that I'm not currently using.

The two boxes above that are slightly more complicated. The one on the left is UFO's that I've either forgotten about or are neglected. The box on the right is projects that I've set aside the patterns and yarns for, sealed up in ziplock bags, ready to go.

The shelf above has a large box of variegated yarns, which I honestly didn't know I had that much of. Above it is a small box with pompom makers, my de-piller, chunky stuff. The bag at the end has 20 balls of 12ply for a jumper for my da, but it won't fit in any of the boxes, so it gets its own bag. The fabric and shower curtain are for blocking, the basket was my Nana's knitting basket and is full to the brim with more knitting bags. I seem to own a lot.

The piggy bank? It reads "Yarn Money". You can't say I'm not prepared for anything.

Beanie weather

2011-04-14T20:13:00.005+10:00

I don't know about the rest of Melbourne, but I am loving this weather! Cold crisp mornings, followed by rain and semi-sunny skies. It's bliss for me, it really is. The fact that I'm currently my own incubator system has absolutely nothing to do with it, either.

Autumn weather is beanie weather in that I need to start knitting them before they become essential wear which is usually around the beginning of June when our area gets really cold. You can tell when the mountain that looks over us suddenly disappears every day into cloud. That's a sign of beanie need.

The ever-lovely Chantal gave me the pattern for Jared Flood's Koolhaas and when I saw how it looked on her needles I cast on. Owning your own online yarn store is rather fun, especially when your friends can rummage through your new Malabrigo stock before it's posted up (that's right folks, Stitch Culture has Malabrigo Worsted! Email Chantal and beg for some!).

(Funny story - a customer at the service station I used to work at recognised the pattern as a Jared Flood. His wife had made one, you see, and he remembered the name of the designer. I suggest he may be the best trained partner of a knitter so far.)

I've never seen the attraction in the Malabrigo myself, I like my plied yarn for knitting. I must admit I was won over by the time I'd finished the ribbing - soft, smooth and yummy. Call me a convert. The only problem was the pilling, and if you own an automatic de-piller it really isn't a problem.

Then we had a new problem. I made the beanie for Felix but my Da saw it and thinks he needs a new beanie. The last time I made Da a beanie was about 2004, so I might actually owe him a new one. Mind you, he did trash it somewhat and now the beautiful burgandy Jo Sharp Aran Tweed is covered in white paint flecks, so I'm wary of wasting Malabrigo on him. Not to mention I'd need a new skein, unless I can pinch some leftovers.

Hey Chantal! Swap you your leftover Malabrigo for some Koko Black?

You've been doing what?

2011-04-12T20:35:00.002+10:00

Unsurprisingly, I have been a bit productive of late. The wonderful season of winter is soon to be upon us, the one time of the year we knitters are actually appreciated, so I need to start early.

A few weeks ago I started a Tomten jacket for Marcus, but I still need to finish knitting the hood lining, so no pictures have been taken so far. It's plain stocking stitch in three colour stripes and it's taking a lot longer than I expected. He'll be toasty warm, but he always is, except when he's playing about in puddles.

(Gratuitous Marcus shot for Sonia)

So I decided to start some smaller projects that would provide quick satisfaction and a feeling of accomplishment. Four days after starting, they were done.

Project one was the Inca Hat by Debbie Bliss. The pattern is knitted straight with a back seam, but I just assumed it was in the round and knitted it accordingly. The pattern matches a little zip up jacket Marcus wears, and I'm still hoping I might actually get it on his head. I'll either have to wait until he's asleep or superglue it onto his skull.

Project two was a set of matching mittens for teeny frozen fingers, to match the hat. A ridiculously easy pattern from "Vintage Knits for Modern Babies" by Hadley Fierlinger, and all I have to say about this book is run and buy it. The patterns are simple, elegant and adorable.

No problems getting Marcus to wear the mittens either. He loves the sound they make when he claps. Now to find the superglue...

The Finishing Touch

2011-04-09T18:36:00.003+10:00

I've been a very busy little knitting person since I was last on here. My business is all registered, leaflets have been printed and the website is live.

I give you all The Finishing Touch.

To clarify, the idea behind the business was that I like finishing. I enjoy the challenge of setting in sleeves and having them look perfect. I like mattress stitch, and watching seams slowly join together. Shockingly, I even like sewing in ends so they don't show. Why do you think I do so much Fair Isle?

The plan is to pick up the knitting on a Monday and drop it off the next Monday (while picking up the next rounds). Yes, I can come and harass you at work. Nothing like being outed as a knitter to your co-workers, right? (Besides which, if you're not knitting during work hours you're not maximising your best knitting times!)

All of the work is done in my cozy little bungalow, far far away from a small sleeping child and a highly annoying kitteh. I've got the back room of my bungalow set up and ready to go and I'm now scarily excited.

When Mark at Geekzone set up the website, I was scared (and highly impressed. Thanks Mark, it looks amazing!). When I ordered the leaflets, I was scared. Now that I've announced it here, I'm terrified.

Posting it here makes it real, which means there's no turning back. Wish me luck.

Old school

2011-01-30T19:52:00.003+11:00

A few days ago I came up with a brilliant idea. I realised that I needed to crochet hexagons to make a winter blanket for Marcus (Yes, I know it was 41 degrees today, I nearly keeled over a few times, but crochet was calling).

I tried to create a basic hexagon with the spare balls from Marcus Log Cabin rug, but I seemed to be terribly bad at it, so I headed over to Attic 24 for some expert help. A gorgeous hexagon blanket, but I still seemed bad at it.

Then I saw her link to her Granny Squares. Oooooo, shiny Cap'n! I've been crocheting granny squares for years, but the idea of changing colours each row was a new one for me.

The colour scheme is a tad retro, but I like the combination of the four for a baby's nursery, and Marcus is still in his cot (for now!), so it'll keep him warm all winter long. Now to finish it!

I'll be away for a week working on my business launch, which is planned for Monday February 7th, so you have a week free from my knitting/crochet madness, and I'll see you all on the flipside!

It's knitting. I'm a knitter now. Knitters are cool.

2011-01-27T13:19:00.004+11:00

I was reading the comments for my last post and called out to Felix. "Hey babe, Gidge suggested I knit a Dalek washcloth!" Big mistake. HUGE.

"Awesome! You should totally make that!"

Morris and Sons Paddington 6-ply, which is 80% bamboo and 20% merino, of which I simply cannot speak highly enough of. It's an absolute dream to knit with - get all of your yarn stash monies and go and buy it.*

It took 2 hours to knit and Felix wants to take it in to work to hang up on his wall. Being a nice knitter, I shall let him, but only because I'm about to cast on my next project: a washcloth with the new Doctor Who logo.

*Disclaimer: The manager of Morris and Sons here in Melbourne is one of my best friends, witness at my wedding and is also godmother to my son. It's still really good yarn, though.

Indecision

2011-01-25T22:31:00.003+11:00

Another sticky day here in Melbourne, forcing all thought of actual knitting out of my mind. Instead, I turned to the website I dubbed "crack for knitters" within a week of joining: Ravelry.

All of the current most popular patterns are for the northern hemisphere: cowls, cardigans, blankets, cowls, shawls, hats or cowls (Enough with cowls! They make everyone look like a no-neck rugby player - do not wear them!). I need something small and light and easy to knit in a Melbourne summer that isn't a lace shawl. I have a baby in the house and my ability to follow a lace pattern decreases the longer I'm awake.

(Yes, I know I'm knitting the Treads socks, but I'm past the heel and Felix has really long feet and that much stocking stitch more than an inch at a time will destroy me.)

Maybe I should knit something from my Rav queue? It's at 4 pages now, and that's a bit long for me (Chantal cut hers back to 9 pages, and I'm very proud of her), so I had a look. For someone who hates knitting socks, I have an awful lot of them in my queue. Ditto shawls. Baby stuff too. I really must start knitting stuff for me.

This doesn't really help me decide - what does one knit during a season where the humidity makes your pattern crinkle from the air? When the idea of wool makes you itch, then what?

Who turned the heater back up?

2011-01-20T21:05:00.003+11:00

Just when I was happily regaling complete strangers with my joy at such bountiful knitting weather (wet and cold) summer appears. Tomorrow in Melbourne will be 32 degrees. Now, if it was 32 degrees Fahrenheit I would be somewhat surprised, yet still overjoyed. 32 degrees Celsius, however, fills me with dread.

You can't knit in such weather. Heck, I can barely stand up, and as for trying to amuse a 15 month old without allowing him outside - pfffffft. Good luck there, lady!

So I'm doing the only thing I can stand under such challenges, and that's finishing up a garment. It's a cream cabled jumper that I knitted for Marcus that was the exact tension, exact size, perfectly matching the pattern for a 12 month old baby.

Then I put it in the water and it expanded expeditiously. Oh, knitting, thou art a heartless wench!

It's the little things that make me happy

2011-01-18T18:59:00.002+11:00

Last Friday night, Felix and I were watching the end of the Giggle and Hoot Goodnight Hour with Marcus (as you do) and because it was the end of the week the ABC showed the credits for the week. I was knitting so I didn't notice but Felix did and started one of the best conversations.

"Hey babe, who did you think the closing song sounded like?"
"...wrap and turn. Huh? Oh, I said it sounded like Lior."
"Guess who wrote the song?"
"...areyoukiddingme?!?!!!"

About four months ago I first heard the song and mentioned then to Felix that it sounded like "This Old Love" because of the bridge. It turns out that either I have an amazing ear for music, or one of life's happy little moments happened. *

The Treads sock did this to me last Saturday at work. I finally decided to read the entire pattern, as I'd just started the short row heel and as the instructions were pretty much the same ("Repeat rows 3 and 4 until...)" I started to read ahead. Finish heel...yep, got that...nothing but stocking stitch until the toe...blurgh, boring...commence toe...yep, just the usual decreasing unt-

The toe is another short row heel. You put half the stitches aside, work another short row heel on the other half then kitchener stitch the two sets together.

Weird as this may sound, this was a happy little moment for me. My sock pattern threw up something new, and it was bloody fantastic! I was so excited that the next person to walk through the door at work was given the full happiness. Being a non-knitting P-plater bogan, he was somewhat unimpressed by my enthusiasm for my knitting discovery (another "My nana does that" garden variety pest, I'm afraid).

This is why I love knitting so much. I've been knitting for almost 32 years now and it's still giving me happy little moments. Best. Addiction. Ever.

* The complete opposite of this story happened one Saturday afternoon stuck at the Punt Road/Swan Street intersection. Felix and I were under the rail bridge in the shade, listening to his iPod in the car when I suddenly cried out "So that's why they're called The Cat Empire! His name is Felix!". The idea that someone hadn't connected the lead singer's first name to the band name made my husband laugh for the next twenty minutes and we both still bring it up, usually when either of us has an obvious epiphany.

Knitting in public

2011-01-16T20:43:00.003+11:00

On weekends I work at the local service station, giving Felix and Marcus some father/son time together. I know this mostly involves Felix explaining the rules of gridiron to Marcus while they watch One HD, but quality time is quality time, no matter what.

Sundays tend to be a pretty slow day at work. The biggest thing I sell is the Sunday Herald-Sun (sadly), so the rest of the time is my own, once I've finished the dusting and cleaning.

Unsurprisingly I use this time to knit. Unsurprisingly customers feel the need to comment.

"Wow. My nana does that."
Good for her. The inference that I'm an old crone is duly noted.

"It's a dying art."
Really? How much do you know about Melbourne's knitting scene? Nothing? Thought so.

"Oooo, are you knitting me a jumper?"
Why yes, complete stranger, I am. However did you guess?

"You're knitting socks? You can buy them nowadays, herherher..."
No, you're kidding! Where? And they look *exactly* like these, same colour, same pattern? No? Well then I'll just assume you were trying to be clever then, and I'll continue to knit these socks despite your biting and insightful comments.

"Oh, that's a really pretty colour!"
You're lovely and more than welcome to fondle my knitting. Go on, it's really squishy.

"You're so clever. I don't know how you do it."
Neither do I. I can't actually watch myself knit because I get all jumbled. I just knit.

"Oooo, are you knitting me a jumper?"
Oh, for feck's sake...

Tropicana

2011-01-13T20:46:00.002+11:00

You can only turn the airconditioner up so high before you realise the humidity is just not going to go away.

If you think I can knit in this you have a higher opinion of me than I deserve. To quote Ann Miller: "It's too damn hot".

A stinking good time

2011-01-11T10:12:00.008+11:00

On Sunday I decided to wag work and go for a lovely long drive with my two boys up to Lavandula, just past Hepburn Springs for their annual lavender festival. Seems like a nice time for knitting away while Felix drives, right?

Nope. Felix woke up early to take care of Marcus so I let him sleep from Malmesbury to Daylesford, Marcus having passed out waaaaaaaaaayyy earlier (we were still on the Eastern Freeway when he zonked out!). After a brief stop to re-stock all the baby snacks I left at home, we got there nice and early, only two rows of parking already there.

The smell. Oh my sainted aunt, you cannot believe the smell. I loathe lavender-scented anything, but the real stuff sends me off into paroxysm's of joy. My mum is the same, but we never grew any ourselves, mainly due to the fact that I'm deathly allergic to bees. Annoying, really.

Bees love lavender. They were far less impressed with my Treads sock, which I carried around with me and worked on, causing untold jealousy in non-knitters - especially when I was queuing up for cups of tea. No boredom while waiting!

The lavender Devonshire tea was yummy, and disappeared swiftly, giving me more time to spend on the goodies - fresh lavender bundles cut in front of me, tied up and handed over for what I think was a pittance. My car was reeking of it all day and yesterday as well.

Marcus had a great time, with most of it spent flirting with total strangers and working on his tentative walking, but mainly the flirting.

Felix took over the driving to the Convent in Daylesford, but no knitting was afforded as it was his first time driving Sven the Saab and I had to make sure he got the indicator right (right twice, wrong hilariously once). Then after the taste testing of Herbal Lore liqueurs at the Convent I was forced to drive home (and I didn't get any taste testing, darnit!) and my two companions passed out yet again.

How tuckered out are my boys?

Tread softly

2011-01-06T21:02:00.002+11:00

I'm enjoying the Treads socks, far more than I thought I would. The cable pattern is a fifteen row repeat, but the cabling only takes up the first six rows and then it's a 2x2 rib, so by the second repeat I had it memorised.

I would have a nice photo of my sock here, but my camera hates me. A lot. My dad's hot pink camera is better than mine, which is rather galling.

I'm only a few inches in as I'm using 4mm needles and my second trimester nesting instinct is starting to kick in, so I spend Marcus' midday sleep rearranging cupboards instead of slacking off. My kitchen is now in a state of extreme tidyness, so I plan to slack off for a while and invest in indenting my lower body half print onto the couch as a permanent feature.

I've finished up my complete collection of "Jonathan Creek" so I now have to decide between "The Tudors", "7 Wonders of the Industrial World" or "John Adams" for my dvd/knitting arrangement. It's a really hard decision to make.

Life is far too short

2011-01-04T11:35:00.004+11:00

My Christmas present from the lovely Felix was three sets of Knit Picks metal double points. I requested the metal after I sat (yet again) on a 2.5mm bamboo double point which broke up the set of five, as I had had to turf one of them earlier due to splintering, plus we all know that the Knit Picks are fabulous to knit with.

I asked for 2mm, 2.25mm and 2.5mm, as I knew of a few sock patterns I wanted to work on. Now, I hate knitting socks. I know it's weird, as I keep knitting them, but I really don't enjoy it. Too many teeny stitches for far too little effort. That and I get very tired of people saying "You do know you can buy socks, don't you?" (They generally don't like my open-mouthed shock of "No! Are you kidding me? I had no idea!"). I am a complete sucker for sock yarn though - I can't stop buying it!

Felix likes handknitted socks, quite a lot. I don't know if they're more comfortable or if it's the smug happiness that they were created solely for him, no idea. But love them he does, so when I opened my 2.25mm packet up on Boxing Day night I cast on a pair of socks he's wanted for a while, the "Look Sharp" entrelac socks from "Son of Stitch 'n Bitch".

The b-word was used quite a lot a few days later when I came to the heel. The pattern is completely out of wack, asking you to do something you can't possibly and then re-arranges the two colours in a way that makes no sense. I looked up on Ravelry, and there was no errata listed, unless you count a few comments asking how to fix the mistake in the heel pattern.

If you don't know me all that well I'll explain something: I'm actually quite clever, really I am. I'm also the person other people ask when they can't read a pattern because I can interpret them really easily. I've knitted entrelac socks before and that pattern was unbelievably perfect. This pattern, however, sucked.

I have other things I want to knit. I have projects to finish, new ideas to try and trying to fix someone else's mistakes takes up valuable time. So instead I cast on "Treads" from the same book with some yummy mottled green from The Sanguine Gryphon and settled down on New Year's night with Felix and my true love, Cary Grant, on tv.

Oh and I may have cast on the ribbing of the entrelac to tight anyway - Felix couldn't get it past halfway up his foot! Now that's a real sign that I should just give up on them.

Welcome to 2011

2011-01-01T19:48:00.006+11:00

Ever since I was very little, my favourite number has been eleven, so I have a feeling this is going to be a pretty great year.

Normally, when I look back at each year of knitting I post a lovely long list of what I've finished. This time it'll be a bit different. You see, I've finished some projects that I never wrote about, so I have no links for those. I didn't have a fantastically long list of finished projects anyway, just bootees (for Marcus), skewed socks (for me), a hat (for Marcus), a fair isle jacket (for Marcus) and a jumper (for Marcus). I'm sensing a theme to my knitting for the year.

My biggest achievement in knitting was the Australian Country Spinners competition win, and I have to admit I still turn to Felix occasionally and ask if it really happened. Yep, it really did. If I collected a dollar from every person who asked (usually in shock at the news) "For knitting?!?" I think I'd have the prize money twice over. Fools! How can they not know the awesomeness of knitting?

I've been spending the last few weeks not knitting, mainly because I've been far too exhausted to even stay awake at night. I could blame the summer heat, but here in Melbourne we haven't had any (woohoo! Bring on winter!) and the scan of our next baby kind of gave it away instead. Keep an eye out for news around the beginning of July - my due date is the 6th. Mind you, the end of February is when I can find out what I'm having, so if I suddenly start knitting a LOT of pink, I think we'll all know. Not to mention Judith's screams of hysterical joy might give it away...

UFO's in the lounge room

2010-10-25T13:02:00.000+11:00

I wish I could pretend that I only have a nice area for my knitting, small, tucked away, neat. No chance. I have projects scattered the length and width of my house and no idea which is next. I decided to do a room by room check, but it appears that most of the projects are either in my lounge or out in their rightful place, the bungalow of win.

Now the lounge room knitting can be divided up into sub categories:
1. Stuff in bags
2. Stuff shoved into the knitting bucket in the hope I won't notice it.
3. Stuff behind the couch (I wish it wasn't so, but still...).

Onwards!

1. Stuff in bags

First up is my Tea Party frock.

This has been languishing for a very VERY long time. I haven't lost the pattern (it's on Knitty), it's not too hard (although increasing by 1 stitch every 3 in the opening rows almost killed me), I'm not knitting it because I have to, which leaves a deadline.

This jumper was my project for "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" for the "Knitting 19th-Century Novels" group on Ravelry. You have two months to read the novel and discuss it and your knitting project should reflect the novel, hence red and an Edwardian tea gown pattern. The deadline was April 30th. In 2008. I really missed the deadline on this one.

I do love this jumper. I love the colour, I love the pattern, it's all great. But... 22 inches?!? Follow the basic 4 row repeat for 22 inches?!?! Using the tension that's 148 rows and each row is kinda looooooooong. I might lose my mind with this.

Should it stay or should it go? As I tend to show a certain bias, I asked Felix. His logic is that unless I need the yarn for another project, do not frog. There's other projects more important, so put it aside for now. It a lightweight jumper, more spring or autumn than winter, so I'll try to finish it up for then.

Verdict: Hibernation - finish for autumn.

Next on the program is a plastic bag with potential. Two balls of Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed in Fleece and a ball of Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette in Ecru. Two still have the ball band on. The project? A cabled tea cosy of my own design. I have about 20 tea cosy design in my head and drawn up but I've never converted them. It takes the luxury of spare time and I don't have all that much of it these days (blog every day? Pfffffffft!). Time to ask Felix again.

Felix reminded me that I had planned the tea cosy for the Royal Show but never really started properly (a swatch isn't really starting and all I learned was that my chosen pattern was terrible and I needed to re-jig everything) so I guess it's another missed deadline piece.

Waaaaaaaaaaaay back in February I declared that I was quitting deadlines and the pressure that comes with it, so I know I'm putting my tea cosy ideas on the backburner for now and if I feel like it I'll get around to them again.

Verdict: Hibernation - pick up when I feel like it again.

Oooo, I'm feeling a LOT better!

2. Stuff shoved into the knitting bucket in the hope I won't notice it.

"Oh you mean this knitting bucket, officer? I'm just minding it for a friend..." Good thing there's no knitting police, isn't it?

Let's see...

Grey ball of wool with a swatch attached. It was the start of a jacket for Marcus who is now far too huge for the pattern.

Verdict: Frog!

Felix's Skull socks, which I started in January. The patterned section is too tight for him to pull over his foot, so I'm going to pick up just below it and rip it out, then knit up in green. Apparently the second sock has to be the same "but the opposite colours". *sigh* How vile are these two colours together? Only for love...

Verdict: Repair and continue, knit at work.

Three balls of Sublime in olive green that will become a jumper for Marcus next year. He doesn't need it just yet, so I'll put it aside until the end of summer and start knitting it up then.

Verdict: Hibernate until March.

Various colours of 8 ply I'm planning to split in half and use to make "The Knitted Farmyard". The blue will be for the river, the multi for the hayfield, the gray for kittens and donkeys and the dirty brown for fields, knitted in ribbing. It is an amazing book and it's going to be a lot of fun. I must be mad, obviously, but lots of fun.

Verdict: Keep nearby and knit pieces at night.

This is a completely knitted newborn baby bonnet that is just lacking the bows on the side. I made it for my second cousins little girl, but I haven't been down to see her yet. Anyone know of a little girl soon to arrive who wants one?

Verdict: Add ribbon and give away.

The remaining yarn for Marcus' nursery blanket, number two (He'll get the Alphabet blanket one day, okay?). The blanket itself is the one item I have down the4 back of the couch and that's due to sheer laziness on my part. Couldn't be bothered to pick it up! I need to settle in to the couch for at least a fortnight and just work on this, but it's currently in no great hurry (winter is over) so I'll put it aside until after Christmas.

Verdict: Hibernate until New Years.

Lastly we have some cream yarn. The tangled up piece was used for a small hat that was frogged to use in a very nice jumper (I'm sewing it up even now) and the other ball is an 8ply that I plan to splice for the farmyard animals.

Verdict: Use up in the next week.

So there it all is. A ragtag mess that is now somewhat more organised, if only mentally organised.

Next up I'll have to tackle the bungalow stash, and that one could be pretty nasty...

Spring Cleaning the Knitting

2010-10-12T10:56:00.003+11:00

The insane season is now officially over. The Show has been and gone (to the helper who folded up my Alphabet Blanket, be aware that my mum hates you) with no fanfare or a win, but arriving nice and early for Marcus to visit the Animal Nursery before it all got too busy was pretty great.

Less showbags, more animals and farming next year please RASV. Felix was happy that halfway through the day there was a bar in the middle of the food pavilion!

Our next problem was Marcus' 1st birthday party and my need to go over the top at the slightest provocation. I tried to reign myself in but I failed.

Marcus enjoyed all of his visitors...

...but mostly he enjoyed his smash cake.

A lot.

We've almost moved all of our stuff into the new/old house. Most of the books are still cluttering up my parents front room, but they'll get over it, right? I've moved all of the craft books into the bungalow, and now I need to sort out my yarn and projects - you can tell when spring hits, can't you?

Looking around the blogosphere, I'm not the only knitter with starting fever. I have tonnes of unfinished projects lying around in bags, boxes, ziploc bags, heck everywhere! (I can see one sitting on top of the bookshelf in front of the tv even now!) It seems to come down to a few reasons:

1. I can't find where I put the pattern. This is less common than you'd think, but it really can hold up a project, sometimes for months.

2. I've come up to a hard part or I don't understand it and I'm wussing out. Hardly ever happens, but can block up the queue, definitely.

3. I'm making something because I feel I have to. Skull socks for Felix are in this category, and I feel terrible for not working on them more, but they're really boring socks!

4. I was working to a deadline and missed it. Once the deadline has passed there's no need to rush and so I just relax and start something new. Something small that I can whip up and give out. Christening shawl? What christening shawl? Nope, nooooo idea....

This is going to take at least a week of working out what to finish, what to frog, what to do, so feel free to join in each day. If Marcus keeps sleeping this much I'll be blogging more often!

'Tis the season

2010-09-06T10:11:00.002+10:00

This is not a post about Christmas. I'm now doing adult Kris Kringles on two sides of the family, so I can relax about the season of fun/stress now. This is about the Show.

The Royal Melbourne Show is the event I spend all year planning for. Forget showbags, this is about showing off. I want my knitting to win the blue ribbons so I can call up my parents, grandmother and friends and squeal with joy a lot.

Last year I won the fair isle section, and Felix worried that I might go into labour two weeks early (no such luck!). This year I'm entering four categories, and I need to hand them all in this week.

My christening shawl needs an entire side of lace knitted on and then some blocking; my tea cosy hasn't even been designed, let alone started; Marcus' alphabet blanket might need to be reblocked; my hardanger embroidery piece needs to be framed.

I honestly cannot be bothered. We just moved house and Marcus' 1st birthday needs to be organised. My parents front room is filled with my boxes and they need to be here. We just had Father's Day and the season of small birthdays is now upon us (hi Mum's Group!). To top it all off, next month I plan to launch my new business (yes, it is knitting related - oooooo...).

I've been forced to prioritise my knitting before, but never to this extent. Sanity vs Show. It's hard to say who's going to win.

Shock

2010-08-02T17:48:00.005+10:00

As previously mentioned, I spent a fortnight working on an entry for the Australian Country Spinners "Knit Your Way" competition. The opening line of "Do you know the cutest baby or child in Australia and New Zealand?" was a very attractive notion, but I knew that I wouldn't have enough time to enter. Dearest Divine J (aka Madam Tricot) convinced me that I could knit something up quickly and Felix promised he'd help do the housework (and he did too!).

The pattern chosen was a Bouton D'Or that I thought was adorable, but that I'd knit for Marcus when he was older. Time was of the essence (less than two weeks until the closing date) so it was off to Spotlight and many balls of Patons Jet were purchased.

I finished in time and dumped Marcus on a rug in the middle of an oval and snapped a few pics, ran to K-Mart and printed them up then ran back to my mum to get her help in deciding which one to send.

This is Mum's chosen shot because it shows off the jumper so well, not to mention the rooster-y hat. I know she also loves the serious pouty look that Marcus gets, which is very very cute.

I pointed out to Mum that it was for the cutest baby, not the best knitting (but really a combination of both), so I vetoed her and picked my favourite shot.

I seem to have picked the right one because I got the phone call this afternoon. I, Andrea, won the ACS's "Knit Your Way" competition. I won $15,000 through knitting.

I am in complete and utter shock and have been since half past two. I cannot express my thanks for Australian Country Spinners enough, and I need to call them back and apologise for crying throughout their phone call this afternoon.

Friday, we move into our house. Friday night, I'm opening a very nice bottle of Moet.

Best. Week. Ever.

So it begins again...

2010-07-27T09:04:00.003+10:00

I'm well known for my inability to settle in one place. True, I lived in my amazing flat in St Kilda Road for four years straight, but I gave up it all up to run off to Scotland. I've now lived in 9 houses/flats/hovels since I first moved out of home at the age of 21, and we're about to move again.

The weird thing is that the number of addresses doesn't change. We're all moving back to a house I first rented in 2000, and it's available again, so I jumped straight in and grovelled until the real estate agent gave up and laughed. The house tour was great: "Oh the lounge is still blue! The kitchen's mint green! The bedroom is still purple!" "Oh, were they like that when you last lived here?" "Um... I painted them that way...".

Now the reason I'm blathering on about this on my blog rather than Facebook or general email is a simple one: to cause complete jealousy. You see, my new/old house has a two room bungalow in the back yard. It's pretty big. It's almost the size of the hobbit hole we're renting now. It has a kitchenette, bookcases and a LOT of room. It's all mine. Felix likes the idea of never having to move another knitting project off the couch, so the bungalow is all mine.

The front room (where the stove is) will be the knitting room, complete with cushy armchair and boxes of yarn (plus the bookcase full of patterns). The back room will be set up for my sewing machines, cutting table and knitting machine table. I'll be buying an overlocker once the tax money comes in. As soon as it's all set up I'll be posting many many pictures.

So...anyone jealous yet?

How many unfinished projects is too many? Or projects in potentia?

2010-07-05T10:05:00.002+10:00

You see, I have a pair of socks for my sister's partner's mum (seriously), a cream cabled jumper for Marcus, a pair of skull socks for Felix and the ever-eternal christening shawl which needs to be finished to enter the Royal Melbourne Show. I suspect a repeat of last year's 2am blocking fiasco will occur.

Now, normally, this wouldn't phase me all that much. I just spent two weeks knitting up an entry for the Patons baby knitting competition (if I win I'll post about it. You'll be able to hear the screams of joy from where ever you are anyway) and now I need to get back on track, so I have to sort out my knitting priorities.

The bedsocks for Anna (or is it Ana?) are halfway done, and need to be finished asap, but I've only got the front of the cream cable jumper to go and then I can sew it up and Marcus has a finished cricket jersey with a shawl collar. Felix hasn't had a new pair of socks in over a year and I'm almost ready to shape the toe on his first sock.

I also frogged my old green jumper to make a cardigan for Marcus, but first I have to wash and weight the wool to get the kinks out. I think it might work, and it is a pretty good idea as the jumper was always too short and my mother's hints over the years about extending it were driving me a little batty.

Finally, I had to buy some yarn last Monday (yes, had. It was for the competition!) and when I walked into Spotlight they had yarn at half price. The Entwine bulky was $1 a ball! I have no willpower in the face of that and now own another 32 balls of yarn. Oh, stop judging me. I was planning to make Felix a jumper from it, but when I got home with the stash I remembered that I just bought 16 balls of grey Zara last month to knit him a jumper as well.

So my problem is that I have four main projects on the go, and five waiting to be started.

Oh, did I mention that my dad and my nan both need new bedsocks? Sigh...

Poirot for Knitters

2010-06-22T09:48:00.006+10:00

My lovely older sister Bronwyn very generously lent me her collection of Hercule Poirot series dvds last week, and already the first disc has thrown up an embarrassment of riches in Art Deco knitwear.

I thought the fair isle vest worn by Hastings in the first episode was eminently copyable for either myself or Marcus. I seriously doubt Felix would wear a fair isle vest - boo!

Then up popped two little boys in vests, so out came the camera and magnifying glass again.

Finally, the golf scenes.

First off, the disgruntled old codgers waiting on Poirot. Fair isle vests and argyle socks are go!

I think I'm in love with this jumper worn by Hastings - moss stitch with button down pockets? Too yummy.

Last up , what every female golfer needs: a cable vest with side buttons, matching fair isle jumper tied round the neck and a very fetching beret. Just spiffing, I say!

Finished Objects 2010 - #5

2010-04-29T15:02:00.003+10:00

I finished off the raglan sweater last weekend but I haven't been able to find my camera to take a decent shot. If you check in the kitchen long enough, everything ends up in a drawer.

I was really happy with the colours in this piece. I used up the last of the leftover Jo Sharp Silkroad Ultra in my stash and I had to do a fair bit of frogging to make it all work!

I like the way the right sleeve ties in all the colours, my own design feature (see Microsoft? That's a design feature...).

Of course it's too big for Marcus right now, but give it about two months and he'll be fine, especially the way he keeps putting on so much weight!

Once you frog, you can't stop!

2010-04-24T20:59:00.004+10:00

Another victim of the "Enh" knitting plague. I've been ignoring this cardigan for a while, for no reason other than it really isn't necessary nor on a deadline.

I took it out and looked at it and considered if I could make anything else out of it.

Oh look! It fall down go boom! Hehehehehe...

A sad side effect of pulling lots of yarn out is that the cat and the baby find it.

The cat I yell at. Squishie I take pictures of.

Finished Objects 2010 - #4

2010-04-22T09:54:00.006+10:00

I set a zip. All by myself. Into a jacket. Can you feel that? It's smugness, that's what it is!

The pattern is by Debbie Bliss and I once planned to make it for my littlest nephew, but never got around to it. I was looking through some old folders and found the pattern again, had a think, realised that I had a ball of navy and a ball of cream and cast on.

Three balls of navy were bought because you honestly can't knit a jacket with 50g of wool/bamboo! I recommend the Spotlight Bella Baby brand constantly and having knitted this jacket my opinion of the Layette range has not changed. It's fantastic to knit with: smooth, nice twist, pill-free, great (albeit limited) colour range.

Marcus made no complaints and my mum swooned when she saw him in it for the first time. Actually swooned. I think she's a bit biased, myself.

Two weekends ago I spent the day with Chantal, watching her zoom through knitting projects while I massacred her projects list on Ravelry (Sorry, Chantal, but if you haven't started it it doesn't go on the list!). In return she made fun of my inability to get any work done on my Fair Isle vest.

I started this project on June 1st 2006 (you what?!?) and zoomed through the back then got bogged down on the front. I decided to finish it off because I really need a nice warm vest for winter and I love the colours I chose (which were originally for a completely different project, a Jo Sharp intarsia). I don't care what fashion claims, the 70's colourways rock the most.

I just couldn't get going on this piece again. The width was too narrow and I worried that the 30cm or red ribbing was a very bad idea. The more I thought about the more I realised it just wasn't fun anymore.

So I took a long hard look at it last night and decided to adapt the pattern.

Right, what's next?

Time for a re-think...

2010-04-18T06:25:00.007+10:00

A new project was due using some of my newly re-found yarn.

The back of Marcus' new raglan jumper is a lovely shade of purple.

The front is a beautiful pale blu- what? There's not enough there to finish the front?!

Ahem.

The front is a lovely combination of pale blue and blue-gray.

The right sleeve is a pale olive with stripes of purple, pale blue and blue-gray to tie the whole piece together.

The left sleeve is just the pale oliv- oh come on! Not enough yarn to finish that piece either? There's only 10 rows to go!

One of those days, I think... Now I just need to go off and find my camera so I can take a decent non-iPhone pic of the finished piece!

Finished Objects 2010 - #2 and #3

2010-04-11T08:55:00.005+10:00

That is not a typo; I really have finished two projects at once. It never rains but it pours, I guess.

First off, my Skewed Snow White Socks.

All these required was that I sew in the ends. I really can be that lazy, but this time it was because I forgot. I kept thinking I had hours of work left to go when I had five minutes, tops. It's strange how the mind plays tricks on you sometimes.

These are an amazing pattern to knit. Skew was instantly a hit on Ravelry and with good reason. The design defies logic to be worked diagonally which allows for defined toes and the greatest piece of origami for the heel. I love the swirl of the heel - just look at it! Brilliant!

The short row shaping at the top is equally clever. Suddenly your sock is done and you can knit up row after row of rib and voila! Done!

The colourway used here is "Snow White and the Seven Stitches" by Biscotte and Cie and was a gift from the ever wonderful Chantal, who spoils me greatly. I loveloveLOVE it to little tiny pieces and can't wait to wear them somewhere they can be seen and appreciated.

I spent yesterday with Chantal who is kicking my backside in finishing projects. Yesterday she wiped out two pair of socks and was picking up stitches for the neckline for an exquisite cabled vest for Marcus (how spoiled is my son?!?), so that should be done by now. Then there's only four rows garter on her cabled baby blanket and another Monkey sock to go and that will be five projects completed in a week. Stop showing the rest of us up, Chantal!

My other finished project is a bit odd. I was rummaging through a folder of old interwebs printouts and found it, handed it to Felix and asked if I should bother to keep it and he requested that I knit it straight away (I believe the phrase "Hell yeah!" may have been used. I therefore give you the Chicken Viking Hat.

As you can see Marcus is incredibly unimpressed. This is his usual face when a hat is put upon his head. Within a minute he'd pulled it off and started gnawing on the feet.

It was good while it lasted...

Is there such a thing as autumn cleaning?

2010-04-08T21:04:00.006+10:00

No matter if there isn't, I can then claim sovereignty over the name. All royalties to me, please.

It started on Monday when I started vacuuming my gallery (the nickname my mum has for the concrete hallway in front of the concrete bathroom and concrete laundry - very 1930's). I realised there was a spider's web in the corner, so I vacuumed it up. It felt good so I kept cleaning. Wednesday was the lounge and I knew I was cleaning a bit harder than usual when I took books off the shelf, dusted them and put them back. This was a bit worrying.

To scare you further I started to tackle my yarn. I came up with the brilliant idea (according to me, anyway) of bagging it all up by colour, because I tend to make things based on what colour I'm in the mood for, rather than a pattern or and idea. This would be an insane idea if it wasn't for my very odd memory which means that no matter if the yarn has no label, I'll still know what it is. I can tell two different 4 ply yarns apart, it's not that hard to me. Like I said: odd.

This is the first layer of the yarns. Many bricks of colour, and I was amazed by how little black I own. Ex-goths need more black for credibility's sake. I was also confused by how much blue I own - I don't even like the colour!

This wasn't a big shock - I own a LOT of burgandy yarn. I expected that to be the highest amount, whereas Felix was all for purple (I think he forgot that I used up 10 balls knitting him his Cobblestone, but no matter). As you can see, both are pretty huge. A complete lack of yellow is not surprising, as it is a colour avoided by pretty much everyone, except my niece Ashlee.

The big surprise was was that I own a lot of cream yarn.

So much that it wouldn't fit into the stash box. Here it is nestled next to the multicolours/variegated pile. So much cream and I took three skeins out as well. Weird.

I've also pulled out a few hibernating/fully forgotten projects to investigate if they will be finished or frogged. This could take a while.

Finished Objects 2010 - #1

2010-04-06T14:46:00.003+10:00

See that title? I honestly thought that it would NEVER happen, but there it is!

It's apt that the first item whipped up took two days and is worn by Marcus - yet another pair of Christine's Baby Booties, which I think are one of the best patterns out there. I used the last of my Patons Merino Deluxe DK, which is no longer available (but Feathers is? Morons...). I was forced to go up to 3.25mm - the horror!

Marcus can't kick them off, although he gives it a pretty good try! Eventually my assistant was required to make sure I could even get a shot.

Thanks Felix.

Our special day; Odds and sods

2010-03-23T08:52:00.007+11:00

Marcus' christening went off without a hitch (unless you count our car running out of petrol before we even left the house. Thank heavens we tried to go somewhere three hours before we had to leave!). It was lovely weather with lots of friends and many more family, some of whom made it all the way from NSW, so they win.

He looked just beautiful in his christening gown (not dress, no matter how many times his Auntie Leah calls it that), and he is now the third generation to wear it, which I love. Felix and I scrubbed up okay for the event (how fake is that pose?!), and yes Gidgetknits, my husband deliberately bought a navy and red pinstripe suit to match the Doctor. This is why I'm married to him.

It was a bit of a big day, so Marcus flaked out relatively swiftly, including during the first hour of the church service. Standing to sing hymns while holding an 8.5kg baby when you have a bad back is emphatically no fun.

So how did the christening shawl look?

Here's the fairy cakes I made.

Here's the christening cake I made.

Here's Felix's 30th birthday cake I made (I heart my nerd).

So, how did the christening shawl turn out?

...

It was 27 degrees! Who wears a shawl in 27 degrees?!?! In other words, I'll get it finished relatively soon, no rush now!

In the meantime I've currently got about four rows of ribbing to go on my Skewed Snow White socks, I started a fair isle jacket for the Squishie after the yarn fell out when I was tidying up and I've got about 45 minutes before I finish up another pair of booties using the fabulous Christine's Baby Booties pattern. I'll get it all done eventually.

The jacket was knitted up during last weekend's "Wire in the Blood" marathon where I watched series 1-5, finishing up yesterday afternoon, while Squishie slept - he really doesn't need to watch dismembered bodies and Munchhausen by Proxy mothers now does he?

That's a bit better

2010-03-04T11:03:00.004+11:00

A nice week so far.

I've cooked up a batch of blood plum jam;

A dozen blueberry muffins were made;

The border started on the christening shawl.

10 repeats done, 110 to go.

In other excellent news, the christening gown worn by Felix's mum fits Marcus.

Where's the fun?

2010-02-28T09:26:00.003+11:00

Joining the Knitting Olympics was a baaaaaaaaaaad idea, and here's why. In the next two weeks I have the following:

1. My dad's birthday (today, in fact!) for which I am making a dinosaur cake;
2. My family reunion of which I am one of the organisers;
3. A sudden influx of relatives from interstate (all Felix's family, in fact);
4. The most important event: Marcus' christening, which I have yet to finish the shawl for.

The end result of this is that I've been putting unrealistic deadlines on my knitting. Skew socks in two weeks? Easy! It would have been too, had I not also been making my Da's birthday present, his birthday cake and making up 22 invitations to be sent out.

See? Too busy.

I've been spending very spare minute trying to catch up on the socks until Friday when I discovered that I couldn't carry my baby anymore. Felix stayed home from work and has taken complete care of Marcus over the weekend while I inhale Voltaren and Mersyndol for a back that has "soft tissue damage", also known as "Ow! Smeg it!". (This is an opportune moment to mention how wonderful Felix is. I haven't changed a nappy for almost three days now - thanks honey!).

Friday was an epiphany. Why do I do this to myself? Why do we all do it? Self-imposed goals, deadlines in fact, where we rush through the knitting, working almost as automatons, stitch after stitch, row after row, "I've got to finish this so I can get started on that thing for So-and-So's birthday!". It's taking all the fun out of my knitting, which is why I think I'm slowing down so much. I also don't think it helps that I knit automatically, which is a great help of plain knitting at the movies, but not very (I suppose) mindful.

I want my knitted gifts to be filled with the love and joy of the knitting itself, not the stress and pressure that I felt under to finish them on time. How often have I spent getting up extra early on the day of someone's birthday just to finish the present in time? How often have I tried to calculate just how long another 20 rows will take to knit? How long before I stop feeling guilty about the presents I didn't finish, and ran out and bought a meaningless present to replace, the kind you just grab off a shelf with no thought, because all of my thoughts went into the knitting, but there just wasn't enough time?

I'm quitting deadlines. If I knit something from now on, it'll be because I want to knit it. It will be because I like the juxtaposition of the yarn and stitch pattern. If it ends up as someone's present, great, but no more pressure. I have enough pressure from the rest of my life without my "relaxing hobby" adding more.

Now to justify the pressure I'm piling onto myself over the next two weeks for the christening shaw

Knitting Olympics - Day 1 Results

2010-02-13T22:03:00.006+11:00

Whilst the Yarn Harlot may advocate the use of caffeine and chocolate, here at Let Me Knit! we highly encourage the use of other stimulants to get through the Knitting Olympics. Did you know that three apple juice icy poles crushed up with vodka tastes really good?

Anyway, I cast on the Skew sock thinking how this would be a major challenge. It is a complex pattern, but once you get down to brass tacks, it's just beautiful. The use of left and right leaning decreases makes me smile and I try and explain the brilliance of it to non-sock-knitters (my mum and my husband) but they don't understand why it's so much fun.

I'm using a fantastic yarn that Chantal gave me as a present, the occasion being that she thought I'd like it (understatement!), and with a name like "Snow White and the Seven Stitches" I really do love it. See? It's the same colours as Disney's Snow White. How cool is that? It's made by Biscotte and Cie and you might like to look at her beautiful sock yarn. Amazing stuff and I'm tempted by the Nemo yarn...

My brilliant plan to not let Felix tell me off for putting myself under this amount of pressure failed last night when he asked me what I was knitting and I told him. He doesn't "particularly mind". So much for the secrecy part of the plan. But if I hadn't told him, then I wouldn't have managed this picture:

Squishie is a bit unsure about how to knit a sock with a single circular, but we think he'll figure it out.

Good heavens, what have I done?!

2010-02-12T16:50:00.004+11:00

I'm making my father's birthday present, due on February 28th. I'd tell you all what it is, but he reads my blog so I'm not falling for that again (suffer Da!). I'm also knitting a lace shawl for Squishie's christening on March 14th - just started row 171, only 10 to go before the border, so yay for me there. This is an awfully huge amount of work, and I have schedules and notes on how much I can fit into each day to get it all done in time.

Considering all of the above, would anyone care to tell me what on earth possessed me to sign up for KO2010?

I'm knitting these by February 28th. I'm using the beautiful Snow White and the Seven Stitches that Chantal gave me for a present (Enabler, I curse thee!) and the instructions look nice and hard.

How could I be so stupid? I saw the Knitty surprise pattern and swore to make them for the Knitting Olympics because Chantal and I had been discussing them today. I laughed and said no chance would I be knitting anything, I have enough on... oh, b****r.

My one consolation is that Felix won't know. I don't think he reads the blog unless I point it out to him as a particular posting...oooo, I hope he doesn't find out! Knitting at 5am it is then.

A brief announcement - we moved the actual christening to the 11th of April, so I have a slight respite! Phew! I'm still an idiot, though.

Sleep? Bah - for the weak only!

2010-02-09T01:10:00.004+11:00

It's almost half past one in the morning and I'm posting. As someone with a newish baby, you're probably all thinking "Ah, the baby is awake so Andrea's awake. Poor thing."... No such luck. Marcus slumbers blissfully, as does his father. I am unable to deal with stereo snoring, hence the very early knitting.

Oh, yes, I'm still knitting. I'd post about it but daily updates of "Yay! Another row accomplished!" really didn't thrill me, and so I have left my blog in relative peace.

The christening shawl is now up to row 154, another section involving double yarn overs (I love the size of the hole because it's just so huge!) and then it's on to the very last chart - hu-bloody-zzah. It's getting hard to put goodwill into this knit sometimes, but I persevere. The best time for knitting is just after dinner during our evening episode of "Castle", but we're almost out so I suspect that we'll be forced to find another series to fill in the evening. I suspect a re-watch of "Firefly" beckons, if we could just remember who borrowed it last...

Oh, and for Sonia.

Marcus got chubbier.

Knitty knit knit

2010-01-19T08:30:00.003+11:00

I've been living the most wonderful life the past few days, filled with purpose and meaning. Saturday I handed Marcus over to his daddy and nudged them both in the direction of the lounge and the X-Box: "Come and watch Daddy cook some fools, Squishie!". This left me free to tackle the black hole that was our bedroom. How can a baby have more clothes than I do?

True, I have more knitwear, but that's because I've been knitting for myself for almost 31 years, whereas Marcus has only been in the picture for a few months. It's still disappointing when things like this happen:

This is the grey jacket I knitted for Marcus last year (my last FO, in fact). I dragged it out for the cool change yesterday, only to discover that some edge stitches have come undone. Now, I could spend some time picking them back up and fixing the jacket properly, but I really can't be bothered. It was a stop-gap jacket at best and I'd much rather get started on his winter knitting. There is an awesome cabled jumper in his winter future, not to mention the need to make many many pairs of overalls.

The christening shawl continues on unabated, with the count currently at row 119. I keep finding that I've missed YO's, so I occasionally need to tink back the 16 stitch repeat a few rows. Never phased me, even when it's patterning every row. Then I read Donna's post on her Cap Shawl and now I'm terrified. Poor Donna - go over and give her a nice posting-hug, will you?

Looking through my camera I've found a few FO's that I didn't post last year - yay! So, the sneaky news is that they're going to be the beginning of this years' FO's. Bwahahaha!

A weird knitting moment

2010-01-13T22:23:00.002+11:00

I'm still on the multi-pattern repeat in the lace and I've just come to a part that feels a bit odd.

I have to slip 1, knit 1, pass slip stitch over. Easy. The oddness comes from the slip stitch. I'm constantly slipping a yarn over. It just feels weird. I keep freaking out that I'm doing it all wrong, even though I know I'm not.

Weird.

Faith in humanity somewhat restored

2010-01-12T09:14:00.003+11:00

First we had the very nice pamphlet delivery lady on Saturday night. She heard my mobile ringing in a garden and picked it up and returned my parents phone call. After a chat they all agreed to meet out the front of my place, and she handed the mobile over to my parents. Thanks pamphlet delivery lady!

Last night we came home late after the vile vile heat and while I was downstairs (half asleep due to a headache-busting Mersyndol Forte) Felix went back up to empty out the car. While he was there a man asked him if he knew where Flat 3 was, as he needed to deliver a wallet he had spotted in a storm water drain. Thanks complete stranger!

Turns out we're only missing the two credit cards and we canceled them fast enough that no damage was done. Yay - no new license photo!

Stupid life

2010-01-11T08:25:00.003+11:00

This weather is just intolerable. 43 degrees is ridiculous, and all I want to do is move back to Scotland. Luckily, Squishie and I are off to my sister's house with its lovely lovely air conditioning which means I may actually get some knitting done.

Not lace knitting, mind you. I have a pair of socks on the go for Felix (curse you Bells, you temptress you!) and a short-sleeved sock yarn cardigan for the Squishie, so I need not worry about lace knitting counting while the awesome Leah and I watch chick flicks and hand the baby over to his highly competent cousins to mind. Lots of drinks with ice in them, and we'll be set.

We had something pretty lousy happen this weekend. We bolted into the house on Friday afternoon (it was really warm) so we could get Squishie all comfy. Here's where the stupid comes into it: I forgot my purse and Felix forgot to lock the boot. Saturday night comes around and I realise I don't know where my wallet is. I check the car - nope, not there. We eventually drive off to the petrol station we used it at last, and on the way we get a phone call from my mum telling me that some very nice stranger has found my mobile two streets from my house and just how did I lose it?

So that's how we found out that someone had stolen my purse from my car. It looks like the eejit climbed through the boot and grabbed the purse and mobile from the section under the radio. They forgot to look in the centre console, so the iPod is safe (it's the old one anyway) but now I have to go off and get all of my cards again: licence, Medicare, library and we need to get all of the banking cards again, because they were all on my purse. Grrrrrrr. The very nice police officers apologised but there weren't any decent prints due to the cars post-holiday dust and the heat on Saturday.

I was feeling very sorry for myself for most of the weekend and then got on the webs and read Lynne's post over at Yarnivorous. I spent most of last night hugging Squishie instead.

A Lacy Summer

2010-01-08T08:56:00.006+11:00

Having joined up with Bells' Long Lacy Summer yet again, I thought the christening shawl would be a breeze. I'm pretty good with lacework and it tends to speed along.

Not this time, I'm afraid. I don't know if it's the patterning in each row which causes me to slow down, or just the lack of knitting time available but I just don't seem to be getting far.

I'm currently on row 108 and I have plenty more to go. I'm trying to get a section down each week, and I still have 6 rows left in the section I have to finish before Sunday. Shouldn't be too hard, really but I also have to do all the household-y work, not to mention the Squishie (when he's awake - his morning nap is the perfect blogging time!) who is a real time stealer, especially when he's beaming at me.

My wake up at 5am plan is actually working quite well, except for the part where I use it for knitting. At the moment I use it entirely for housework, because the post-Christmas disaster I call my home really was a disaster. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I'll be back in to knitting time, but I can't do my usual knitting routine of watching a dvd while I'm knitting this shawl; it's hard to concentrate on a film when you need to concentrate twice as much as normal on your knitting.

The worst part of this pattern is that it has two parts: the lines of lace flowers down the corners and the main panels. The flowers are a 18 row repeat, which means that I'm keeping track of two patterns as I go. It gets easier if I'm working on it continuously, but this stopping and starting means that I'm getting a bit lost.

I'm thinking that a big push might be in order tomorrow, especially as I have no plans to leave the house in this weather: 34 degrees all weekend!

I don't know everything

2010-01-06T08:55:00.002+11:00

It was a bit of a shock to be pulled up short by the christening shawl I'm currently working on. The knitted lace (not lace knitting) section required me to knit two together. Easy! Anyone can do that. The problem was that the two stitches to be knit together were a knit and a yarn over.

Looking at the potential stitch, it seemed that the only way to knit it was to knit through the back of the two stitches, lest the YO become a tightly stretched thread and the hole it created disappear. So I tried that. It worked, but the twisted stitch looked completely out of place.

I decided to look it up on Ravelry - where would we be without it? According to the pattern listing, no-one else had any problems with row 105. I seriously contemplated messaging the creator, Dorothy Siemens, to ask what to do.

After about 20 minutes of hesitation I gave up and went to bed. Yesterday morning, in a brief moment of "Quick! He's asleep!" I decided to try again.

I looked at the two stitches again, looked at the pattern - still K2tog - and did just that. The YO didn't pull tight, the hole was relaxed and lovely and I learned a very valuable lesson: designers do actually know what they're doing, especially with lace. I think I know so much about knitting just because I've been knitting for years (31 years this March) yet something like this has pulled me up.

Knitting resolutions for the year? Find out more. Read up on the history of what I love, find new techniques (I used cable cast on until I was 28. Pffffffft!) which are always brought up on Ravelry, challenge myself more. This could be a little hard with Marcus around, but if I have to get up at 5am every morning to do it, then I will.

Forget lemonade, we're moving onto clear spirits...

2010-01-03T21:40:00.006+11:00

Port Macquarie is lovely (apart from the vile humidity). How can you not love a place where you can see this many wonderful birds at once? (My in-laws backyard.)

Marcus enjoyed himself immensely, especially at Lake Cathie (it's apparently pronounced Cat-eye, not Cath-ee. Freaks, I tells ya).

This picture was taken just before his butt hit the water and he lost it completely.

However, Port Macquarie has one small problem: it is 1200 kms away, and now my darling Felix has promised we need never visit there again. Why? Because the drive home was just as bad.

First stop was at Taree at 10:30am on Saturday to feed the Squishie (Did I mention that's what Marcus has been called since he was a week old?). All was going well until we returned to the car to discover that the battery was completely dead. Somebody* had left the lights on and drained the battery, so we called the NRMA, who decided that telling us sixty minutes and taking two hours with no reason was perfectly fine.

Were it not for my knitting I would obviously have gone insane. I got some pretty odd looks while we waited, but K.I.P. will do that. Eventually we hit the road again, with me driving through torrential downpours only to stop 10kms before Buladelah.

Yep, another tailback, another batch of knitting - luckily only one hour before the tailback ended. We stopped just before the town at a Revive centre to grab a coffee which was when I declared: no more holidays ever ever EVER again. The rest of the day consisted of driving as hard and as fast as I legally could, making Goulburn by nightfall. 600km in just 12 hours...bah.

First stop this morning? Look Squishie - it's a really BIG sheep!

He loved his little take-home version too.

Felix drove today and I managed another 10 rows of my Garden shawl, bringing me up to a total of 100 rows - only 79 to go, not counting the border, obviously. The only reason I managed so much knitting today was the brilliance of my boys. Felix drove and Marcus, well...

Nothing like the world's best traveler to help his mother keep her sanity. Now for a medicinal fortified!

* It wasn't me, and Marcus can't drive...

Finished Objects 2009

2010-01-01T13:13:00.005+11:00

Well, the post is a day late but humidity plays nasty tricks on the mind (only 68% today).

We had a very non-eventful NYE here: watched "The Glenn Miller Story" with my in-laws and Felix while we waited to see if Marcus would wake up in time for us to see the local fireworks at 10:00pm; he slept until 10:30pm and grizzled so much that our midnight saw Felix, Marcus and I all lying down trying to go to sleep.

Despite the shortness of my 2009 list I think I still went pretty well. I think we can all agree that number 19 was my greatest work for the year, if not my life.

Happy New Year all.

How do I make lemonade from this?

2009-12-30T15:44:00.004+11:00

I'm a Christmas junkie. The redder and more glittery covered the celebration, the better (Glitter: the herpes of the craft world). This year was no exception to my usual OTT-ness.

This is what happens when I go nuts in the kitchen. I forgot to take photos of the 120 gingerbread stars or the few chocolate-coated coffee spoons I produced, but the gingerbread house was a given. It disappeared rapidly on the day, evenly divided between us all (Felix and I got half a roof which is apparently a fair share...).

The day itself was pretty good. Marcus was suitably spoiled with presents, including a small bike and lots of soft squishie toys. He deserved spoiling.

How can you not spoil someone who looks this cute? (As promised, Sonia!)

The next morning saw us up and out early to drive to Yass. I shall skip over the bad bits: scraping the skin off one of my knees, the car dying on the side of the Hume Highway, the RACV taking TWO HOURS, Felix's sunburn from walking up and down the roadside with Marcus while we waited for the RACV etc etc. Needless to say we got to Yass late.

We left Yass on the Sunday nice and early so we could make it to Port Macquarie nice and early. I was happy, working on my Garden Shawl for the Long Lacy Summer, with Felix clocking up the hours for his L's. We didn't count on the Buladelah nightmare.

17 kms. Two hours. You can drive faster through a shopping centre. Kudos to the guys in the van behind for offering their beer bong to share. By the end of the nightmare I was driving again, desperately trying to get to Port before dark. Not a chance.

You see, it's been raining in NSW. Since Saturday. Port Macquarie is lovely, except right now it's 23 degrees and 85% humidity. Everything feels damp, including me. My knitting charts are wrinkling up with moisture, and they feel damp to touch. I have never felt so grossed out in my life. Ew. Big time ew.

I suppose the good side is that I'm getting some knitting done, but to be honest if it wasn't for the great company here I would have turned the car around on the Hume Hwy, just past Wallan...

Stitch Culture

2009-11-21T08:30:00.002+11:00

In March next year, my husband will be celebrating his 30th birthday. That same day the two of us will take Marcus to our local church to be christened. He will have three godparents: Judith, the ubergoddess of knitting; Jonathan, a reprobate Terry Pratchett fan I've known since high school and despaired of ever since; and Chantal.

I've known Chantal for a while now. My ex-boyfriend and she were at uni together, and he recommended that she visit the wool store I used to work at. I remember a very enthusiastic yarn-ho who freely admitted that she had spent an entire summer indoors playing World of Warcraft. We agreed that knitting was a slightly healthier pursuit (My comment that the brilliance of knitting was it could be performed outdoors was met with "So can Warcraft - that's what wireless is for!").

Chantal once told my ex-boyfriend that if we ever broke up, she was keeping me instead of him. I loved her displaced loyalty at the time; then it of course became true. She embraced Felix as the other half of me, and a man who understands the importance of letting me knit at all times, including at the movies. Her own partner, Paul, gained the reputation as a wonderful man the day he went to a closing down sale in Hawthorn and bought up most of the remaining Rowan yarn stock. He doles it out whenever Chantal deems him to have done something wrong or annoying - a really good idea, I think.

Anyway, this long rambling post has a reason. Chantal has opened her own online store: Stitch Culture. I hereby state that I am incredibly biased and want everyone to shop there. New items will be added every week (Chantal is currently working a full time job and studying for her MBA while she opened the store - mad, I tells ya), and there's a wish list for the unsubtle out there (Hey family! My birthday is next week! Go and look at my list, will ya?). The success of this store couldn't happen to a sweeter, nicer, more thoughtful person than our dear Chantal.

Stitch Culture.

Go forth and purchase. Except for the Madelinetosh sock yarn. That's all mine.

No, I really do knit stuff. Honestly...

2009-11-12T13:00:00.003+11:00

This is a blog for knitting. I created this blog solely to talk about my knitting, and how it affects both myself personally and also my life. However...

Seriously, how cute is my son?

(We'll return to knitting next time, I swear)

Finished Objects 2009 - #20

2009-11-09T13:16:00.003+11:00

The return of the finished object, hurrah!

Turns out that the vomited on baby jacket could in fact be saved for one reason only - centre-pull balls. That's right. The vomit was on the outside, the nice clean unbiled yarn on the centre. Trust me, the jacket was soaked in eucalyptus wool wash for about half an hour as well!

This is the 5 Hour Baby Sweater, Boy Version and it's a super fast knit (obviously). Not five hours, of course, but what do you expect with a newborn floating around? I omitted buttonholes because I just wanted something I could quickly wrap around him if the wind picks up or something like that.

I would have dressed Marcus in the jacket but considering it's currently 32C and it seemed a tad cruel.

A sad swag

2009-11-06T09:25:00.003+11:00

My mum has had the unhappy job of cleaning out my nana's unit, and sorting out all of her things. My nana, bless her, was a packrat, a trait my mother swears she didn't inherit, but trust me - she did. Ask my sisters!

Nana kept everything. EVERYTHING. My Uncle Greg's First Form report card turned up. The newspaper clipping detailing my calisthenics group success at Ballarat in 1983 turned up (no, you're not seeing that picture anytime soon). Cards from my grandparents 50th anniversary were found, along with close to 100 un-used Christmas cards.

My mum dropped by with a pile of things for me, including my Celtic Hearts Shawl that I gave Nana for her birthday this year. My pile included many many photos of me over the years, including one from my birth, Nana's bible and baptism order of service, doilies, tablecloths and tea towels (the really nice Irish linen ones she never used). Oh, and all this.

So many sock needles! I also love the old Aero 8's (4mm), made back when they used actual steel so a stiff knitter like myself couldn't bend them (I can snap bamboo sock needles. It's a tragedy). The sock pattern book is adorable, but the thing I love most is my nana's First Prize certificate from the Mirboo North Annual Show. She was so proud of her red socks winning, and I plan to keep it safe along with my two from the Royal Melbourne Show.

Time, ever shifting

2009-10-31T08:59:00.002+11:00

I seem to be accumulating unfinished projects again, most of which I don't have listed on my sidebar here.

I have my star afghan, a new baby hat, a 5 hour baby sweater, a pair of socks for a Christmas present and yet another lace shawl.

On Ravelry I appear to have even more unfinished projects, but that's only because I never listed them as finished, nor took a action photo. Oops.

With Marcus taking up more and more time it appears that knitting time - which used to be 24 hours a day if I felt like it - is becoming increasingly endangered, something I'm quite worried about. Maybe once I catch up on a bit of sleep (HA!) I can stay up late and knit.

All I need are some more episodes of "Midsomer Murder" to watch as I go!

.....ewwww

2009-10-29T09:55:00.002+11:00

First, I'd like to say thank you to everyone for your kind thoughts and lovely comments* about my last post. You're right - I will have some lovely memories of my Nana to pass along to Marcus, and I can look back and smile as well.

As for Marcus... a valuable lesson has been learned.

Never, EVER keep your knitting nearby if you're burping your baby. Seriously.

I decided that a small light jacket was needed, so I started on the 5 Hour Baby Sweater (Boy version) using my varigated Patonyle that I have so much of. I worked through the yoke and the sleeves and had just started the main part when Marcus needed a feed. So I fed him and sat him up to burp him, my knitting next to me on the floor.

Projectile vomit. Over my right arm, over the floor and landing right in the middle of one of my balls of Patonyle. A huge amount.

I'm knitting a hat now.

* Except you, Sam. I know just what you were thinking when you mentioned Trixie Belden...

My Nana

2009-10-24T08:21:00.002+11:00

The last time I posted I spent part of the morning on the phone to my Nana, Lena (Selena). The day after I had Marcus, Nana was admitted to hospital with pneumonia. Not content with such a serious illness at age 91, she decided to move in on more of my son's limelight by having four angina attacks and a heart attack while I was still in hospital myself. I decided a phone call regarding this outright Jonesing of my son's attention was required...

My Nana is my mum's mum, and I spent a fortnight with her and my Pa during the summer holidays when I was a child. I suspect my parents decided a small child was too much on top of three teenage girls for a whole holiday season. It may come as a surprise to anyone who knows me now, but I was a very quiet child. Hand me a book and leave me alone, and that's exactly what my Nana did. I built up a collection of Trixie Belden books that were the envy of all my friends over those summers, and when I wasn't re-reading them all (what are dungerees, anyway?) I was knitting.

My Nana loved knitting and she once won first prize for her handknitted socks at the Mirboo North Show, something she was very proud of. She had the patience of a saint with me, because when I was younger I didn't like to knit the last stitch of the row. Each time she'd knit the stitch and hand my work back to me to start the next row, all the while knowing I'd need her help in a few minutes. Like I said, a saint.

Sadly, we lost my Nana last weekend. We'd hoped she would last until my parents got back from their trip to Sydney on Wednesday, but it was not to be. She was sweet, kind, honest, funny and loyal. My biggest regret is that Marcus will never get to know the truly beautiful great-grandmother he very briefly had.

What the heck?!?

2009-10-15T11:24:00.003+11:00

Who turned off spring? Seriously? Melbourne is firmly clutched in winter's icy grip yet again, and here we have two heaters switched on, one of them around the clock for Marcus. Drying cloth nappies isn't much fun around here either.

The first person to mention rainfall and farmers will be shot. I mean it.

In the meantime, the sudden cold snap has brought forth some knitting. Nothing exciting, sorry to say. Merely a 5 hour baby jacket, knitted in Patonyle (3 balls! A sock knitter is out there planning to kill me for them) for Marcus, just until the cold snap is over, and then to wear over the short sleeved outfits that everyone decided to buy him in anticipation of actual warm weather.

My legend

2009-10-12T10:39:00.002+11:00

Another non-knitting entry, but my da reads my blog when he can, so this entry is a shout out to him.

Congratulations to Barry Murley, winner of the 70-79 age group 2000m steeplechase at the World Masters 2009.

That's right. My da is the world champion in his age group.

Marcus, Felix and I couldn't be prouder.

For Sonia

2009-10-09T12:10:00.003+11:00

As requested, a knit-free, only Marcus post.

Slogging on

2009-10-08T13:56:00.005+11:00

First off, thank you all for your lovely comments and well-wishes, they really did make my day - Marcus has wriggled his way into our lives quite cunningly. Unsurprisingly, a new baby can put a cramp on your knitting time. So I'm crocheting instead.

I have 10 balls of Cleckheaton Vintage Hues that I'm crocheting into a floor rug for Marcus (I can say his name now without worrying about my dad finding out! Brilliant!) so he can just lie around and listen in while his dad plays "Guitar Hero World Tour". The drums appear to soothe him.

The pattern is the Baby Starghan and it's really easy once you get the hang of it. I'm planning to use up all 10 balls of my Vintage Hues so hopefully it'll be pretty huge at the end.

Finished Objects 2009 - #19

2009-10-06T09:24:00.003+11:00

This has been a pretty big project. It was started in Scotland, safely carried home to Australia, and promptly ignored.

Occasionally I'd pay some attention to it, work on some details, enjoy it, then push it to the back of the queue.

The last month, however, it has had my complete attention.

It was interrupting every thought, every project, every stash hoard, even my Royal Melbourne Show win! Thankfully, at 7:46pm last Wednesday, September 30th, it was finally, completely and utterly finished.

Meet Marcus William.

I can say without fear or favour of contradiction that this is the best work I have ever done. Thanks for listening to me while I worked on him.

Finished Objects 2009 - #18

2009-10-01T17:44:00.003+10:00

You all thought I'd never finish this blanket, didn't you? Well the joke's on you peoples!

It was started in March and technically finished in July. The blocking was my big problem. How do you kneel on a floor and pin for an hour when you're eight months pregnant? Re-pinning my Amelia Shawl for the Royal Melbourne Show taught me how - very very slowly and very very carefully. I rushed to pin that one out and got a blood nose for my trouble.

This time I used my parents lounge room, a few blankets and a lot of pins. My mum was amazed by just how many pins were required, but once she counted the points on the blanket, it all made sense.

Now to decide: do I use it for the Boitjie, or do I put it away and jealously guard it for the Show next year?

Wait....Tensionia is REAL?!?!?!?

2009-09-17T10:26:00.004+10:00

Apparently praying to the knitting gods can pay off when it comes to the Royal Melbourne Show results.

A commended in "Article or garment using natural fibres or blend" was a pretty huge surprise, except that I don't know which pair of socks it is for!

The next category listed is "Traditional FairIsle" and when I saw my name next to the number "1" I screamed so loud Felix was worried the baby might arrive just to escape the noise. I won the Traditional FairIsle in The Show.

I am not coming off this high for a good few weeks, I swear.

A year already?

2009-09-16T08:00:00.003+10:00

Today is the anniversary of Felix and I grabbing some heavily packed suitcases and running away to the UK. We didn't manage five years, let alone five months (thanks Immigration for changing the rules the week we arrived!), but we did meet some exceptionally awesome people and there was snow and a cold Christmas. We also discovered gammon. 'nuff said.

I've been scaring Felix and my mum by telling them that obviously a child conceived in Scotland would have to arrive on the anniversary, so my husband's last words to Boitjie this morning were "Stay in there, okay? Please?!?".

I've almost stopped knitting entirely, as I seem to spend more time sitting about doing nothing. My mum says that I'm "conserving my energy". I say I'm a lazy sod who gets her husband to do all the housework (when my mum isn't dropping over to help). The current warm weather means that I'm off to my mum's today to block the Alphabet Blanket (FINALLY!!!), so at least there's something nice and finished on my radar.

Time to play "Spot the Kitty":

Can you find Her Royal Laziness?

Necessity is the grandmother of invention

2009-09-14T11:34:00.002+10:00

I needed to wind a skein, yet I have no skein holder. No problem. Just stick it in the lap, and s-l-o-o-o-w-l-y unwind the skein. It's a painstakingly boring task, and would have been helped along if I could have used Felix. However, we picked up his "Guitar Hero World Tour" pack on Saturday and I wasn't about to disturb his happiness.

I finally twigged that what I needed was another hand. One to turn the ball winder, one to follow the thread and a third to hold the working thread up high enough to be able to flow into the ball winder and speed things up.

Good thing I had a ponytail. Felix thought it was so ~~funny~~ intuitive he had to stop his game and take a picture.

Oh mighty Tensionia, hear my prayer,,,,

2009-09-10T16:43:00.001+10:00

Today was drop off day for knitting entries for the Royal Melbourne Show. I've entered four categories and all I can do is cross my fingers and make offerings to the gods of knitting.

Finished Objects 2009 - #16 and #17

2009-09-06T22:33:00.003+10:00

I finished the Mintie Booties this afternoon and they look great.

I love that they're a cute mint colour, I love that they're an adorable pattern, but most of all I love that they're finished.

Now to avoid 2.25mm bamboo double points for a few days so I can heal.

Tonight I made Saartje's again, but using a different pattern. A seamless version.

What bliss! What joy! What speed! I love using the magic cast-on, and then to have no back seam as well...*happy sighs*

When you have only four threads per bootie to sew in, you know you're on a winner. Expect this to be repeated a few times over the coming days.

Finished Objects 2009 - #15 and 3/4 of #16

2009-09-05T23:24:00.005+10:00

Last night was my brother-in-law's birthday party and the last chance for my family to see me looking like I'd swallowed a watermelon. My sisters kept telling me how small I was compared to them at the same point in their pregnancies. Very sweet of them, especially when you consider I'm about 4" taller than all of them...

Yet another pair of booties, and hopefully this time I shall spell Saartje's Booties correctly.

An easy pattern, fairly fast, the only downside being too many ends to sew in! Next time I shall knit them in the round and only sew in the straps after all that.

I've knitted them to match my Alpaca Hat, and the sweet little buttons on the side are some of my many nacre buttons reversed.

Today's booties are... unfinished. Dun-dun-duuuuuhhhhhhh! 2.25mm needles that feel like toothpicks repeatedly stabbing me in my right palm cause me to slow down somewhat.

The pattern is Christine's baby booties and the ribbing at the sides apparently helps the booties stay on. Having knitted almost the entire pair, all I can say is they'd better stay on - this much hand agony better have a payoff.

They are very very cute, though. I was knitting them at the party last night and it's rare that I get comments on my knitting, but everyone there - including the kids - wanted to touch them and play with them. I think it's like Gidgetknits said: " Why is it booties are just so adorable? "

We spent a large chunk of today unpacking the last of our books (What? We've only been back for eight months) and sorting out some more things.

Here we have our bookcase, cunningly arranged by the OCD member of the family, aka me. I love the colour effect to little teeny pieces, so much so that I decided to go crazy with the craft bookcase too.

I really need more magazine holders - I have two more boxes to empty, and I only have room for two more mag holders. Oops.

Finished Objects 2009 - #14

2009-09-03T22:33:00.003+10:00

Ha! You thought I wouldn't manage it, did you? Nur!

The pattern is Blue Steps Baby Booties and it was great fun. I started with a Magic Cast On, which really is magic, then moved on to a half-brioche stitch, and they just zoomed along. This in itself was pretty impressive considering they were knitted in the round, with 4 ply (the alpaca again), on 2.25mm needles.

They have an adorable garter stitch section at the front that pulls them all together.

So, on to another pair tomorrow!

Oh, so that explains it!

2009-09-02T09:30:00.002+10:00

My doctor's suggestion of a week of bedrest to lower my blood pressure wasn't particularly well received. How could he not know just how much I need to do around the house?!? I need to finish setting up the nursery stuff, waaaaayyyyyy too much washing needs to be done (spring's arrived, time to wash and store heavy winter woolens) and there is yet another set of curtains to be made. The flat came with curtains, but they're all ugly and the fabric was $4 a metre.

End result is obvious: knitting. I'm having mild panic attacks about my knitting and I've worked out what to do. Each day I'll knit some booties. A pair, in fact. They take almost no time, and they're very very useful. The fact that I've almost finished a pair has nothing to do with it.

Let's see how long this idea lasts!

NB: If you look up Saartje's Bootees on Google you get the pdf. If you look up the very misspelled "Saatje's Booties" the first two links are to this blog...... oops.

Urgh.

2009-08-29T23:56:00.002+10:00

I have oooooooodles of spare time on my hands. I have a loving husband who drives me around so that I can knit when we travel (I have to pay close attention because he's still on L-plates, mind). I have a beautiful stash basket next to the couch, so I can reach in grab my current project while I watch endless hours of BBC Drama dvds on tv. I have pretty much everything except one thing:

Energy. I went back to bed at 8:30am yesterday and got up at 2:00pm. Got up this morning at 7:00am, went back to bed at 10:00am, got out of bed at 6:00pm.

I'm too tired to knit, let alone housework. I have four weeks until my due date and all I can think is "COME EARLY! I NEED TO KNIT, DAMMIT!!!"

Ooooo, new techniques exist?!?

2009-08-26T07:32:00.003+10:00

I finally caught up with the rest of the knitting world and tried a Magic Cast on. I generally use Turkish cast on if I'm knitting a toe-up sock (twice now and possibly never again but never say never again) so to attempt a new technique is a big push for me.

As I learn more about knitting through trial and error I am constantly learning that while the tried-and true methods work, sometimes there is a better option. The difference between a cable cast-on and a Twisted German cast-on for a sock, being one example. Or using a tubular cast on instead - there are around 4 different cast-ons called "tubular": pick one.

How to cable without a cable needle? Easy once you learn how. Casting off in rib - using a knitting needle or a sewing needle? You can do either. Intarsia is far easier than you think, as is fair-isle, leading me to wonder how many knitting projects I've put off to avoid trying something new.

There's an anonymous knitter I know who is one of the most brilliant intarsia knitters in Melbourne, if not Australia. Fearless at leaping in to try something new in colourways, jumps at the chance to use different fibres. End result? Art.

She had no idea that mattress stitch existed. All of her beautiful work was sewn up in very bulky backstitch. A five minute lesson and a new world opened up to her. It was brilliant to witness. Mind you, her work now looks perfect and a million times better than my own. Maybe I should have left her alone...

So my plan is to keep trying new ideas and old techniques because if I can't then I might as well fall back into my old ways and stagnate.

Finished Objects 2009 - #12 and #13

2009-08-24T10:34:00.003+10:00

Looks like it's hat season again...

First up we have an old project - knitted up in two days in July.

The pattern is by Debbie Bliss, and it was FAST. Two row stripes that slowly decrease was pretty much guaranteed to be speedy, but I was actually surprised that I finished it so quickly. Felix has a mini-fetish for stripes, especially purple ones, and I'm always happy to indulge his knitting wishes. Still a bit iffy on the idea of a knitted nappy cover with the Watchmen symbol on it, though...

I think the pompom just makes it.

Second, we have my alpaca chullo.

It's not a real chullo, but I thought earflaps were a good idea for the Boitjie during a Melbourne spring.

I just had to knit alpacas into the hat in fair isle, and they look okayish, but not quite as uber-awesome as I had hoped.

Before you all start feeling sorry for George, just remember: he was hand-fed lolly bananas from the time I was 4 until now. He's been spoiled enough.

I thought that Lolli might wish to assist in the steaming of the hat, but the look of contempt says it all, really.

Finished Objects 2009 - #11

2009-08-21T21:17:00.004+10:00

It is impossible to hold this and not giggle.

My dodecaheeeeeeeeeeedron.

Felix's first question (once he ceased squishing it and giggling) was "So when are you making one for the baby?". I think I need to make one in green and orange for the daddy before the Boitjie gets to play with this one!

I'm now wondering...should I knit a soccer ball? Just because I can?

In alpaca-y news, I'm doing okay with my 4ply. I decided against doubling it up because it's a pretty small amount, and what I have left over I want to use for more baby stuff. Possibly Saatje's Booties for a small project, or even half of a second hat.