No More Aussie World Cup Domination

Well Australia's run in the world cup has come to a sad end, with a loss to Italy in the dying minutes of the game. And echoing that, my run on my jumper has hit pause as i am getting bored of plain stocking stitch and start looking for more exiciting things to knit.

On that note, and proberably helping it along, my Alchemy Rockstar Cardigan pattern from Get Knitted arrived yesterday, sending me through my stash to work out possible yarn substitutions.





















After hunting I found some leftover zara which was the correct 5sts per inch so off I went following the chart and swatching the diamond pattern. Whilst I got the correct gauge (i think- its a little hard to tell) I didn't like the way the zara seemed to spring and stretch so the decision was made to take a little trip to the LYS.

There I found Cleckheaton Country Silk.

It is a 85% wool, 15% silk mix and is nice and cheap so needing about 15 balls of it won't kill the bank. The wool looks like (to the left) and hopefully I will get gauge with it. Its not too stiff feeling and I think it will soften up with a wash and block.





Whilst instore as I can never just by one ball of yarn, I also picked up some yarn for my Knittyboard SP, some OnLine Borneo (100% Cotton) in a deep red for a swatch for my Somewhat Cowl


Yumm...........

and a huge hank of 100% merino brown/tan twist from Filatua. Its called Centolavaggi and is 1400m worth (enough for 2 Icarus's!) I couldn't resist. Especially since the colour is called coffee twist. Perfect for my Java Junkie Self!

So hopefully after a few nights relaxation and different knitting I can go back to my sleeve on my jumper and knit away. Just have to swatch first..................

I love my SP

Dear SP
You have made my day

thankyou soooooo much for this amazing package! Love the banana bath cream (so cute!) And the alpaca- can you say instant yarn lust, oh my god! what to do with it is the next question. It is too good to waste on socks or a scarf (i may have to get you to reveal your source so i can get enough to make the jo sharp cardigan with it.) (in fact - can u?)
did you make the handspun yourself? it is great.





For everyone else- look and weep (and yes that is the new IK i have been lusting after!)









In other World Cup news, Australia is through to the next round (YEH!) after drawing with Croatia 2-2 last night. As for me, the front is pressed, and the back is at about the half-way point. Not to shabby I think.





















As it is another beautiful sunny day here in Perth (winter- hah!) i am off to knit in the sun. (and pet my baby alpaca yarn)

The Scarf is Fixed

Thank god for the help sessions at the LYS! Thanks to Ruth, my scarf is now fixed (cast off twice! apparently i knit too tight). So now (well on Monday) the scarf can get its first outing.

In World Cup news, Australia beat Japan 3-1 on Monday and face Brazil on Sunday- and my sweater is coming along nicely. I am 4/5 through the front and have cast on the back - splitting a needle in two in the process :( ! My only excuse is it was an old plastic one of my mothers which has been sitting there for 20 years. Anyway back to the knitting....

Pattern Decided

Against overwhelming support for the cardigan, I have decided to go with the jumper for the world cup- mainly because of the denim colour of the yarn. However, after this is over I am going to go and buy the luxurious Jo sharp yarn in the cream and make the cardigan. I keep liking it more each day- so it WILL get made.

5 hours till cast-on! (can I stay awake that long that is the question) see over here in Perth I am 7 hours AHEAD of Europe which makes kick-off at midnite!!!!!

may have to cast-on first thing tomorrow to make up for it.

Well oops

I know I have been a bad blogger this year but when you knit mainly socks for a whole winter it can be very boring to post and read. However I finally did something new. I have been wanting to make this beaded scarf for about a year now, but had to do the class to learn how to do it properly.

Well it all finished well.















Then............



I decided to give the cast off a little stretch to sort of even it out with the cast on (which I did in larger needles as I am a tight knitter) and oops- look what happened. So now I am stuck with a BIG mistake and am scared about fixing it. Luckily my LYS has fix-it Saturdays with an expert knitter so guess where I am off to this weekend..






In other news I am about to start the world cup knit-a-long (since I missed out on the Olympics. I can't decide on a pattern though- am tossing up between 2- have got gauge in the cardigan and swatching for the jumper now. Both will be made with a phildar yarn I have had sitting in my stash for about a year (do I get bonus points for stash busting)

or

any comments or opinions on which one you think I should do would be greatly appreciated.

extra pic of wool that I am using- proof I do occasionally swatch!!!! In reality its a darker denim/navy colour

ps: for those interested the dog had to stay in London as I ran out of room in the suitcase and my &^%&^ flatmates never posted him back to me. He was a popcorn pack.
I miss him (even though he was still in two pieces!)