Stitch Culture

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...

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

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

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

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

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.

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

My Nana

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?!?

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

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

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

Slogging on

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

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

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?!?!?!?

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?

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

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,,,,

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

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

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? "

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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

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!