The Postie Came

Well yesterday the postie came
and he had goodies...

My death in the sock wars was in one



With added yarn porn: STR in Scottish Highlands (I am soo lucky- thanks Laurie)


and the second was some great stitch markers and row counters from Cristi- I am a lucky girl!!


Also if anyone has a spare Winter Ik (yep its that (begging) time of year again) I would love to take it off your hands.

Knitting wise- I frogged the anastacia socks and have reknitted the toe, and as the storyteller socks are for my sockret pal they will not be photographed, but i am onto the foot of the first one. Also it is exam time of year so knitting updates and blogging will be put on the backburner till after my birthday (which is also the day of my last exam)

Another Pair of Socks

Whoo hoo

Another pair of socks finished for socktober! only one more unfinished pair to well, finish and then I can start the toe-ups!



yeh for socktober!!

Finally Something to Blog about!

A long time between drinks, it has been. But due to a finished object, and an extension on my university assignment I can blog. I finally finished my Mystery Socks for the KAL (see button on sidebar). Now I must admit they were not a favourite to knit, but I like them now they are finished.!!



So that concludes item no 2 on my socktober list.
socks no 1 has one finished, and one up to the heel flap.

absolutely no other knitting to report. Its been a no-knitting-must-study week here at home and unfortunately is going to be that way for about another month. Then uni is over for the year and I can knit all I want!

BTW: Apparently I am still alive in Sock Wars- Wow who would of guessed!

teddy

This is why i haven't been knitting socks after finishing the socks of doom. which are below as well.

its ted the Harry bear from berroco. soo cute- he will be off to a child in need as soon as i can figure out what charity to donate him to.

As for socktoberfest- i haven't forgotton: my to-do list consists of the following:

1) plain stockingette sock in opal yarn (on foot on sock one)
2) sock two of mystery socks in koigu
3) finish (finally) the UFO sock below
4) try for the first time ever a toe up sock- (again prob just st. stitch)
and 5) try a pattern!!! am thinking jaywalker or pontomous on the leg of a sock.

so thats the to-do sock list. Also on that list is the other sock turned arm-warmer from vogue, but as its technically not a sock not on this months list.

UFO Sighting

Hmm how many hits will that get me

too bad its a knitting UnFinished Object. Not my oldest- i couldn't find that one. This sock pair was started before I left for London and Europe last year- I think about April 2005.

So here it is in its UFO SSS (with its finished partner) glory:



Also in the pressie (we aussies like to shorten things- its presents) department:

From Dee: Stitchmarkers!!! so pretty and autumnish



And from my colourswap pal Ulla: A great pink and red package.

Sock-Ret Pal Questionnaire

Ok its a bit late! But here it is:

The basics:
How long have you been knitting?
I have been knitting for about 3 years now.

Do you consider yourself a beginning sock knitter, an intermediate, or have you been doing this so long you could probably knit a pair in your sleep?
Intermediate- still learning different heels/toes/patterns- but have 'my perfect fit' plain pattern down pat.

The measurements:
Well I am a size 6 Australian, standing on a ruler gives 23cm and i normally cast on 56stitches on a 2.75mm needle in normal sock yarn, (going down to 52 after the gusset decreases) 60 rows before toes (see perfect fit comment above)

(fiber related) Favorites:
What colors do you love?
I love blues, greens and browns. However with socks i like to go abit crazy so use all colours.

Do you prefer solids or variegated? variegrated

What fibers do you most love to knit with? socks- anything that can go in the washing machine!!!

Who do you consider your favorite yarn vendors? regia is better than opal, normally use patons and online (thats all i can get over here), ADORE lornas laces, would love to try STR, CTH

What projects (other than socks, of course*S*) do you most enjoy knitting? im on a lace kick at the moment. also have the pattern but no yarn for the simple knitted bodice, and sizzle.
I have a great lace pattern called the heree be dragon shawl. only trouble is it calls for 1750yds of lace. I was thinking brown/gold or silver/ice colourways but have no idea how to find or get good but not too expensive lace. If you can help me withthat i shall be ever in your debt.

(fiber related) Dislikes:
What fibers can you not stand to knit with? To wear?What colors would you never wear?
I am not a fan of novelty yarns or anything too starchy or acrylic. dont mind a bit of lycra or model in the yarn as it makes it lighter. i like cotton. to wear- black, greens, blues, neutrals- i would never wear purple, red, orange, or pink

The Tools:
Plastic or Metal? Bamboo or wood?
I normally use metal straights and plastic dpns but have recently discovered bamboo dpns and they are my new favourite.

Circs or Straights? straights- i love the susan bates crystailites but mine have broken so am always on the lookout for them as they are not readily available here.

DPNs or Magic Loop?Are there any knitting accessories you don't have in your collection but would like? I am a dpn girl. I tried the magic loop but just couldn't understand it! Accessories- hmmm I would love some coil-less safety pins- i cannot find them anywhere here in perth.

The Extras:
Do you have a wish list?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/3JTVD07RDC5S7

Do you like sweet, sour or salty?
sweet of course, major chocolate, coffee and gummy lollie addict here

Do you have any allergies your pal should know about? nope

Favorite scents? Scents you can't stand? love musk, vanilla, citrus sents

Do you collect anything (other than yarn and knitting toys of course)? i cross-stitch and am experimenting with beaded knitting (does that count)

When is your birthday? (month and day is fine!) 24th november (and counting down the days)

Do you spin? Dye your own yarn? nope and never tried but have been thinking about it.

Your favorite author/band/vacation spot, anything you think will help your pal know you better... well I am a student who lives at home and does part time work for my father so hence never has any money for yarn, would love to learn to crochet (even bought the happy hooker but couldn't figure it out) and wishes knitpicks would ship internationally.

Hope this helps

Back to Normal

Wow it has been a long time between posts- and all because of uni (university) assignments !
I missed the blogstalking tools, library and am not posting my movies as i don't keep the covers and they are all in cd carry cases. (all 300+).

Anyway thankyou for all your patience. Now i have a week free from uni and i can do all the things I need to catch up on, like knit, and catch up on study for the other subjects and organise my pattern files, ufos, wips and to-knit lists. PHEW! It will take a while.

In present news I received my first set of stitch markers today from jessica! thanks so much they are a fantastic first time effort.

Her ones she sent me are here:




These are the ones i sent off about the 14th so hopefully everyone has got them by now.






Also I have been doing some knitting:

A ball band dish-cloth for a present:



Half a teddy bear (no pic)

AND THE SOCK OF DOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!! (ruler to show i can actually knit large socks) 2nd one to be cast on tomorrow....



So thanks for being patient with the non-postings.

Next up : a WIP list


PS: forgot to add also joined Socktoberfest, sock-ret pal and CASP 3
yes i am a joiner- buttons to be added later

We Remember

ok so i have been a bad blogger but have been receiving patterns galore last week. from bezzie- the book Big Girls Knits- thanks bezzie, also got the SKB pattern, the heere be dragons lace stole pattern, and the falling leaves fibretrend pattern. All this on top of getting the knitting nature book from the library.

wow pattern overload.

but today i am not posting (much) knitting progress (none to speak of) or the reason why (uni assignments)

todays post is to remind (like you needed it) to spend some time today remembering all the victims of 9/11- australian and american (and all others from around the world) though the attack was on american soil it affected every country in the world, through its total disregard fo human life. I am not a religious person but god bless all those who lost loved ones- whatever their colour, nationality or creed. PEACE

Hi Bananas

Hi Bananas

With the tencel yarn, I want to use it to make the Rockstar Cardigan. For that I need 15 balls. I have 4. If you can get your LYS to hold 11 more balls (colour 2066, lot 724924) I will talk to you about the $$ element through email.

Kate

Socked Feet

Feet- ok I'm a week late, but i'm not fond of my feet (except being small makes socks quicker to knit!) so you get socked feet.



On left- hand knit mystery sock KAL sock. (Finally cast on for the other one) On right- sheep footlet sock gifted from knitty SP7. Note the spots on the bottom for non-slip sole action. WHoo hoo- my new favourite house socks (I have wooden floors).

Ands its Father's Day here in Australia, so I'm off to be nice to dad.

One Finished Object

To join my single socks, I give you the single sock arm-warmer. This was going to be the meg swansan VK sock but i got confused, then a bit bored with it so decided to end it off and create the arm-warmer. Its great, now I just have to muster up the energy to start the second one.

I Got Mail

I got mail today

lots and lots of mail- well ok only 3 packages but let me tell you what they were.

Letter 1) my felted toy patterns from fibretrends. (the hedgehogs and felted fido)

Package 2) the stitch-and-bitch 2007 page-a-day calender. Not the best for patterns (had a quick flick) but could be fun



Package 3) my sp7 package from bananas. Still no idea who she is but wow, this girl has done her homework. It all arrived in paper of my favourite flower,



included gorgous blue yarn (i have to get more of this- am going to use it to make sizzle), a frangipani needle case and amongst other goodness- a HAND MADE BAG- it is sooooo cute- with dog fabric lining and a felted dog on the corner. I LOVE IT (also in the big stash were some stamps and stickers of the australian post kid's marketing tool- postie kate (no joke), some point protectors, a jeweled pen, and some non-slip sheep socks (so cool)



THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU
SP you have been the greatest.

now if i can only find out who you are.....................

Mystery Sock done

Well I finished the other mystery sock last night. And here it is.................
(does this count as a feet, fellow blogstalkers?)



And a close up of the mini (fake) cables (no cable needle required).



Here is the LINK for those wanting it. Its from the About list. I also have pictured my progress on the VK meg Swanson socks. I tried them on after doing one and a half pattern repeats and my calves are a lot bigger than 80 stitches, so started the decreases earlier. Also doing them every 4 rows, so will end up with 56 stitches, 2 and a half pattern repeats in. Then comes the heel. Speaking of which, did you notice on the mystery socks the garter stitch heel flap and square heel turn. It was a 'new' heel turn 'way' for me, and not crazy about it, but am glad to have learnt something new.



And I am a joiner- I finally joined the sexy knitters club. And what do you know the next knit-along is for the below mentioned bodice (and sizzle). Its fate.

Only problem is that this is up next.

I even bought all the yarn (just have to nip back to the LYS for needles). So wish me luck. In between unfinished projects galore, sock wars, sexy knitters, and yarn stash busters I will try to find the perfect yarn to make the bodice. Bring on the uni break.............

Can anyone say... I WANT

Oh to be able to knit everything at once.

And I found yet another OH MY GOD I MUST HAVE THIS pattern. Its this one. The Stitch Diva (Glampyre) Simple Knitted Bodice. Oh My.

In other news: I have more yarn for the VK fair isle jumper, have cast on the Meg Swanson VK sock, have cast on a new mystery sock, have done no progress on either the somewhat cowl or the mystery shawl, have arranged a 'swap' with bezzie for the Big Girls Knits book, and hopefully this week my stitch n bitch 2007 calender will arrive.

I must organise my to-do list. Too many 'wants' and not enough time. hmmm

will check back later for feet postings and organisation tactics.

What is Wrong with this Picture?

Well I finished my 1st mystery sock (singular) today and then found this:



Can anyone say OOPS! Yep thats right- no heel turn, I knit the flap then when straight into the gusset decreasing.
If any one has any suggestions of how to add the heel turn without totally killing the sock please let me know.

Also in a perfectly timed sugar-needed rush arrived my project colourswap package from Celia.



Thankyou sooo much. In this was alot (now only one bar left) of chocolate, some handspun alpaca (the brown skein) and 2 balls of soft beige mohair- destined to be soft, beige, beaded scarfs. Thanks again Celia!

Macro Reveal

Well only cpurl17 got one right- And that was (IMHO) the hardest one!

The answers are as follows:

1)

Our old rocking horse. He is an antique I think but is starting to look his age- minus a stirrup from an attempt to ride at about the age of well, lets say too old.

2)

A lamp- yes not the money printer bezzie! (though that would be nice) It is a fornasetti like the plates in my previous arty post.

3)

Its a shoe last. or form. Antique (again), wooden, and apparently for a ladies shoe.

In Knitting news I am about 10 rows and a kitchener stitch away from finishing my LL's socks.

The only problem is check out the amount of leftovers! Any one got any ideas of what to do with it- I can't chuck it, it is a)way too nice and b) was a gift from ali; so please help me find something to do with it.

In other WIP news: The mystery shawl is on side 2 of clue 2. Slowly getting there.
I have started the alpaca illusion socks but have found a shawl in the new winter rebecca, that i think would do the alpaca proud so may frog the sock.
The somewhat cowl has not moved from the WIP basket (or bag to be precise), and all others mentioned are still in the have yarn but not cast on yet status.

After these socks get finished (and i get some study done) I will cast on the Mystery Sock KAL pair in some gifted koigu i have. It is an orangy colour way just right for an autumny slant on the leaves of grass anklet pattern. I only have one skein (50g) so hopefully it will do the anklets. Otherwise it will be a mystery sock- singular. Anyway back to finishing the latest pair.

Macro Tempations

OK well this weeks blogstalking assignment is macro-photography.

Well the first step was looking up the camera manual to find out how to do a macro shot!

Then wander round the house looking for tempting items to post. Some of the other participants have been amazing.

So the three shots I have for you are:

1)


2)


3)


Good Luck!

Perdita with Love

There is a few reasons I haven't blogged much this week.

One) My sister got engaged! So much celebration and champagne drinking has taken over from knitting.

Two) Karen (cook-n-knit) sent me a copy of VK so have been salivating over that instead.

Three) Thanks to my SP7 I received some great beads and thread to do Perdita. So I decided to do my first ever pattern deviation and made a variation of Perdita- I call it Perdita with Love. Inspired by the colour and the events of the week.



And close up



If you want the pattern let me know and if enough people do I shall write and post it up- will full credit to Elizabeth for the original of course!!

Well I got home from uni tonight to see this: oops on the camera skills but if u put your head on the side it looks right!!



A great package from my great SP.

I'm not sure if you can see all the goodies but there are:
A book of excuses (will come in handy for uni) LOL

I like this one: I would love to help with the housework but you're so good at it, it's like watching the creation of art. Another beer would be good. LOL

AND THIS ONE:
I can't possibly have made these purchases. I don't like clothes, music or food. HEHEHE

A red ball of the yummy alpaca for the love-heart shadow socks (i hope it will be enough- but u will have to let me know the distributer after the reveal)
A ball of Noro Kureyon in a great green colourway
My favourite new drink (what a great guess) hot chocolate powder with mint flavour (just add water) *its sooo yumm***
A really pretty writing set (and pencil)
some hello kitty candy with dispenser (so kitch its cool)
A bright red frog change purse
A cow whose tail is a tape measure (i love it)
Some yarn bobbins for my new adventures with fair ilse

AND
to top it all off 3 count them 3 skeins of red dmc perle 5 cotton and some gold pearl beads for some perditas. I can make one of each kind!!

So it may have been sitting in the Australia Post offices for longer than expected but a greatly appreciated and thoughtfully put together package
I LOVE IT

SP you are the best (oh and im keeping the wrapping paper)

No Knitting But Beading

Well today I have no knitting to show you. That is because the knits are for secret recipients.... The knits shall be shown after I have sent them off.

But I do have a picture. I finally got the beads mum bought back from India and put some of them into making earrings.!!! Yeh.

Also I made a few stitch-markers as I am running out- I keep losing them!!!



So enjoy.

Today's Want

Hi All

Today's Want is simple. IK Fall 2006 and/or VK Fall 2006.

Interweave is not available from either my YLS or newsagency in Western Australia AT ALL and the Vogue magazine will arrive in approx november.

So

will swap/trade/sell-my-mother
anything....

Project Colourswap

I hate it when u type and type and then blogger looses everything.

So this is a small mini-version of what i just wrote.

I am in project colourswap!! Yeh- they needed one more international swapper and I got it. Whoo hoo.

I am also doing an aussie based lace swap- here if you want in but hurry its about to close....

Back off to uni today- wow i can be a starving student again.

stalking along

In the blog-stalking-thread I belong to (we really need a button with the slogan "I Stalk, therefore I Am!"...) the category this weekend is art.

So in the strangest category we have this. A colour correct shot and a better angle shot. If you can tell me what it is great- I haven't a clue. It currently resides in the guest bathroom.




And now for interval with a semi-arty photo of a flower mum was given that had just bloomed.




In the favourite category we have the collection of Fornasetti plates that form the wall art in our kitchen. Mum is about to add two more to the collection. They are not cheap so only get added to every few years. One day she would like about as many as she can get, but will settle for 3 rows of 9 as the kitchen couldn't handle any more.



And the obligatory dog photo...



In knitting news I have been not doing much but have managed to almost finish clue 1 of the mystery stole (both sides) and whilst it looks funny in grey sock yarn it is good practice for me.

I have half a lornas lace sock, and have chosen my sock for the Mystery Sock KAL. The somewhat cowl has been put on hold... for now

Net Dating 201

More from the frenchasshole:
sent this evening-

Him: Subject: talk abt u to my australian friends, they said : she is a joke! aiya...is it right ? (No body in msg)

Me:
Hi vince, in reply to your email i am not a joke. In fairness she was proberly trying to make you feel better. Though I must add the following.

I was going to send you an email, but was trying to think and compose something thoughtful. Which is why I hadn't replied in two days. I even stated on my profile that it takes me a while to reply to emails.

However due to your lack of consideration for me and the lack of thought you have shown me I think that it would be better if you didn't contact me again. Good Luck in your search on RSVP.

Kate



Ahhh where would we be without people like this in the world LOL!
hopefully this will be the end of this saga!


and just in from after posting this:

Subject: from the genuine man

my friends, my australian friends,she , he and they ...not only one person...not only "she"....nobody tried or try to make me feel better.u just showed me no interests, no polite, no courtesy...no time to respond to emails..then dont try to date then...if u have no time to give to someone in yr life.as my friends girlfriends said : " us , aussie women/girls we r very independant and selfish and materialistic." so they said u r a joke...i dont know u . i dont want know u , u shown too lack interests...

bye

me

NOW
IF ONLY HE WOULD FOLLOW HIS OWN ADVICE...lol

Today's Want

Today's Want is two-fold

I want to find some regia mini-regals in Australia.

I also want some coilless safety pins. I have one. Which is great but not when I have 3 socks as WIP's.

Thankyou for listening to this community service announcement.

Sunday Funny Photo Again

Well today is 'Shoot the Freezer Day'

So in the grand tradition of knittyheads before me......

I present- My freezer! (Do remember I live with my parents) (yes I know I should be out by now- i'm working on it except yarn shopping keeps eating away into my savings!)



And behind Door No 1: The meat and alcohol shelf (Door 2 is just more meat- Mum bought a whole side of lamb recently and it is overflowing in the freezer!) The alcohol is from left to right: Citronella, Bombay Saphire Gin, Vodka (behind meat) and 2 more Citronella's, homemade, and bought in Italy!



Hmmm- Green Tea Icecream- not sure about my mothers taste...


And just cause I can... a pic of Skeeta- my baby (who is 8!)


In knitting news I had to frog the entire mystery stole, so it is back to the drawing board for that one. Also haven't been doing much as had date number 2 (thurs) and 3 (sat) with the new guy! Very interested and hopefully it will last more than the last one (which isnt hard being 3 weeks!)

Overblocking 101

Hi all - todays lesson is in the powers of blocking- or why not to overblock. See the pretty perdita's below- all are size small- yes even the black one. I think i overblocked :)!!



I really like the black one though so I am making another one with 2 less repeats, so hopefully when it blocks- it will be the same size as the others!

Now in honour of Turtlegirl's really bad online-dating story I am going to post my own here. (No its not about the guy I had a date with on Sat- that went REALLY well)

This is about Mr FrenchAsshole.
For ages we had been sending 'kisses' (non-paying contacts) back and forth so I presumed he had no 'stamps' to send emails. So feeling curious I sent him an email and the following exchange ensured. (Note the dates of the emails)

16/7 me: hi vince- finally got some stamps and thought i would say hello. if you want to know more about me ask away, feel free to email me @- shortyblonde@gmail.com
ciao
Kate

one arrived on the gmail account that night but i have since deleted it and cannot find it. rsvp keeps a copy of emails for 6 months hence i can get these.

18/7 him: How r u ?
dont know u receive my email on yr courant email address.maybe u r not really interested to know me better in fact.well hope u r well and safe.
take care
Vincent

19/7 him: next time find someone else to play with. u have not courtesy and its impolite to even not respond by one word ! who do u think u r ?

19/7 me: hello vince
I have no doubt in my mind now about not engaging in further conversation from you. It has only been two days since your first reply. A true gentleman would allow at least a week before stating the accusations you have stated. As a matter of fact I am interstate at the moment and this is the first chance I have had to check my email, but am grateful you reveiled your characteristics.
I would prefer not to hear back from you.
Kate

and what i recieved this morning obviously sent last night:

19/7 him: blablablablbalbalbalbla oh u replied...its a miracle...wait a week for get a reply ??? what do u think i am ? u r a player....i understand why u r single now.
good nite

AND

19/7 him: Please leave me alone. please.u r not interested in meeting ppl or making any interests in them . please give up.

AND

19/7 him: All this cinema in sending kisses to me every fucking days/weeks. harrass me with that and yr games. and now , i can see u r silent and playing games,as u cant communicated and leave "one word" as u logged on often....this is not fair...
Good bye

lol
so there u have it, apparantly one email equals harrassment. and 3 kisses sent over 6 months also equals harrassment. lol what an idiot. All i can say is glad i found out now before i actually met the guy.

So turtlegirl- don't feel alone, we all get idiots through these dating sites- hopefully u will find someone worthy of a second date- i have!