It's Still There

It is next week- and yes the top is still sitting waiting to be seemed. It has been pressed however so is one step closer. It was pressed and not blocked as the instructions called for pressing with an iron. Rowan being ultra expensive here in Australia I thought I would follow the instructions as written- no deviation or creative thinking!!!!!

The cami is coming along nicely and sort of slowly- a big week of work and hot days do not fast knitting make!!

Oops

Wow- A week and a half sure goes fast when you don't notice it. In that time I have finished the other half of sage- see FO's for the first half (they are the same) and it is now sitting on my desk waiting patiently *since Saturday 12th* to be pressed and seamed.

It will probably be there still next week!

I have however been knitting. I have finally relented and bought the patterns to Chicknits chickami and ribby cardigan. The cami is on the needles using some beautiful jo sharp soho in a midnight blue colour I picked up a while ago (will post pic's later). This cotton is a dream to knit with and the whole cami is going along very nicely.

I did however need to change needle size to get gauge, and therefore cast on with 4mm needles and then changed to 5mm for body rather than the 3.25/4mm combo given with the pattern. Still, the stitches look nice so I am not too worried.

In non-knitting news, my sister loved her bag. Phew.
Also we had the hottest day on record for February on Tuesday- a massive 42.6 degrees Celsius. No wonder I got nothing done that day.

1 UFO Down, 3 to Go

I finally put the finishing touches on Anna's bag today. (Anna being my sister). She was meant to recieve this as a birthday present in December, but being so close to Christmas it went into the maybe later pile.
The pattern is a tweak on sugercube's (see links) bag, with the picture from stitch and bitch nation. To make the handles I plaited 3 strands of the yarn together and then loosly plaited them together. These I tied together and attached to a dog clip so they can be detached if wanted.



There is a dodgy close up shot of the detachable handles on the Finished Objects page- my photography skills are not that great!- sorry.

So Anna finally gets her bag- and I can cross that one off my list. 2 satisfied people all round.

I have a button

Whoo hoo
Thanks to the amazing Ashiko I now have a button. Feel free to pinch but remember to host it on your own server.

I finally finished my sister's bag- will post pic's when she lets me borrow her camera- and now just have to attach the detachable straps and press.

I also am halfway through the main section of the 2nd piece of Sage- it will be done and worn before the end of summer. I believe that if I say that enough it may just happen.

Did I mention I now have a button?

I'm Back, Overworked, Underpaid and Wow- check this out

Wow- what a difference a week makes.

After an amazing shopping and eating trip to Singapore and KL (Kuala Lumpa) I arrived home to find that the Secret Pals had been handed out. Yeh. Although being a first timer i have no idea what to send my SP. Any suggestions greatly appreciated. I have no photos from my trip as yet as they were taken with an increasingly old fashioned film camera!!! and arn't that exciting anyway. I did buy a great handbag by a group called projectbloodbrothers- wierd name great stuff!

Also in catching up with my blog reading i noticed that yarnharlots fundraiser for doctors without borders is up to a whopping $50 000. And thats not even in Australian dollars (canadian actually). If you want to check it out click on the knitters without borders link on the side! And yes i donated. actually it was before her 'run' started so i haven't put my name up there but i thought it was a great thing as doctors without borders is my prefered charity also.

Knitting wise- i have a list of things to do.
1) Sort out incomplete projects
2) Sort out what i want to start next that i have the wool for!
3) Figure out a future projects list
4) look for new vogue and rebecca 28, home and 29 as cannot get rebecca here in perth and the new vogue doesn't come out here for at least 2 months after the american release. Ohhh and interweave as well.
5) Get Summer Tweed-along happening. This is not only my first knit-along but i am hosting it- i have no idea how or what to do so again, any offers of help (or taking it off my hands!!) is greatly appreciated.

Time to feed the dog!

Where I have been and going...

Over new year i have been an absentee non-knitter.
Not knitting and not in Perth. I have been just off the coast in a boat sitting doing nothing except reading and swimming. This is an old picture but a good one- this is where i have been.




I am off again on Friday to Singapore and KL on a shopping adventure so will not be online till then. Hopefully i will not experience withdrawal symptoms from my machine !!!

Merry Xmas

Merry Xmas All!!!

Christmas is coming

Well so much for finishing my christmas cards!
After cruising the dreaded mall on a sunday with god knows how many others i forced myself outside only to realise that evening it had been a lovely 38 degrees- and I wonder why I am having trouble even walking - let alone doing anything creative.

The only good part of my day is that in that mall I found my knitting-a-day calender !!! YEHHHH my christmas gift to myself- along with alot of chocolate

As far as knitting goes, I bought the wool for the fuzzy slippers and the cabled hat from S&B Nation- and have cast on the hat- in these temperatures I am considering that an achievement.

Marybella Update: Row one of beading- Done!!! yes its slowwwwwly getting there.

Too Hot to Knit

wow, its been a whole week (almost) since my last entry. And I have finished nothing, started a few things- socks- started, frogged, started, frogged, started, frogged- got fustrated and put in the to do later basket.

plus it has been way too hot to knit. In fact its been way too hot to even move away from under the fan and the aircon duct- expect to go to work- which with extended trading hours for christmas has been more and more.

Now lets see-

Sunday = 38 Celcius

Monday = 41.5 Celcius- (hottest day on Record in December)

Tuesday- cool change- only 30 but very humid

anyway since then I have been making embroidered and beaded christmas cards- very late but hopefully they will arrive in time. Should finish them off on the weekend with them all posted by Monday.

I am slowly working on Maryella from Knitty. I do one row every night at the moment to try to get used to the needles. Hopefully I will go a bit faster when I reach the actual beading bit.

Off to make more christmas mess- at least its not too hot!

Percy the Penguin

Look who I finished tonight- Yes it's Pasha the Penguin (aka. Percy)!!!

He is made from Heirloom Merino Magic- Its an 8ply so I used 2 strands together.

For a front view go here.

I am soo proud of him, he is cute and he stands (sits??) unassisted.

ok, Next project please.......

Sophie- Finished and Felted

Well here she is- the before and after shots of Sophie- in my love-to-knit noro.

In other knitting news my Knit Wit book arrived with a great suprise (some lovely purple yarn and some berocco optic blue/purple yarn! Thanks Carole!!

So another book to sigh over :)

Meanwhile Sage (see below) has been put on hold as the winter Knitty fever takes hold- first up is pasha- so far my version- percy, has a back, 4 feet and 1 wing.
Then i will try MaryElla- I have the beads and even found the needles!

As Well As

Also just found and HAD to document is the new winter knitty.

I am also in love with at least half of the patterns and will no doubt be playing rock paper scissors or pull the pattern out of the hat with this and S&BN to decide what to do first!

Knitting Nirvana

Yes Yes Yes
Today my S&B Nation arrived. I am lusting over at least 90% of the patterns and am trying to decide what i can do first. The section on making a pattern your own is fantastic and will surely come in handy. But i must finish my 4 on the go projects first.... well at least sort of. I am refusing to reopen the book until sophie is finished and i have done at least 20 rows of the front of sage. Then we shall see...............................

Must knit, Must knit, Must knit!

Finally- the finished back

Well here we go.... Finally the back of 'Sage' is done! After lots of hours, lots of unknitting and reknitting it is finally finally done. Now only the front to go!!

In other knitting news i have started the sophie bag- the bottom is done and i have started on the sides. It is alot smaller then i had thought it to be i hope it doesnt shrink too much. Oh well, back to the knitting-

Felted Mini Tote

I have just placed on my finished objects page a pic of the mini-tote after felting. Interesting enough, it shrunk in height but not in width. hmmmmmm

The felted fiaso finished and other adventures.

Over the weekend i was a busy little worker bee but still got some knitting done.

Here is the before and after shots of my unfeltable bag- by the looks it has shrunk about an inch so maybe it worked a little.


the felted fiasco


in other felting news i found some big kureyon and made a mini-tote - see here.

I also felted a swatch of Jo Sharp Silkroad aran- it worked extremly well, even in my front loader machine. I lost 2cm in lenght on the first wash, none on the second- and width-wise i lost 2.5cm first, and another half a cm 2nd wash. So i may have to do a felted project with this yarn now that i know the finished dimensions.
btw- the swatch was 15stitches by 14 rows on 8mm needles.



I am still plodding away on my top but am also starting a sophie bag from that yummy kureyon i got the other day.

ps: no S&B Nation in the post today- however they have all week to deliver it before i start foaming at the mouth.

pps: on friday my parcel from canada from a swap with carole arrived- interweave magazine from winter and spring. Sooooo many good patterns- i now have a reallly reallly long future projects list!!

S&B Nation Update

Well I have just rung my book shop and it looks like my S&B Nation will be here by the end of next week. YEH!!!

In that case i'd better get knitting and finish off my other projects so i can attack the book!

Noro Yarn

well i got my yarn voucher - and haven't spent it yet.
However what i did do today was swapped the non-feltable yarn (yes i have given up after 6 washes) for some noro kureyon- colour 90.




looks yummy and apparently felts really well too. I am still going to use the hello yarn pattern but will use the mini skull pattern but knit it in the round ala the lopi pattern on size 7mm needles- as then i do not have to buy another set of needles.

and this time it should felt. YEH.

PS: apparently my S&B Nation order is still 'in process' whatever that means.

Tomorrow Is My Birthday ... Or (One More Sleep)

November 24 is my birthday

I will be 27- feeling suprisingly not old. Have started on the armhole shaping after frogging 5 inches off the back the other day. Feeling better as i can now see the end of one side.

I won't be posting tomorrow as i am out to dinner with my parents and sister, and grandparents for a birthday meal. Should be a good day- have hinted at wanting a gift voucher to lys, so we shall see.....

I was notified of my main present the other day- a 6-day trip to Kuala Lumpa to visit a friend of mine!! Yeh!! I guess that means the yarn buying must stop so i can save some money for shopping in Jan! Oh i hope i get a lys voucher- i'll need it!

Off to knit now- i wan't to do 10 rows before bed- i am a slow knitter.

tomorrow is a new day- and for me- a new year!

Why reading the pattern PROPERLY is important

well after a long and beautiful day out on the boat ( it was 37 deg C today) i came home and whilst watching the Australian Idol final kept on knitting. BTW Casey won! YEH

After having a glance at the pattern i saw i needed 28 and ASSUMED it was inches as every pattern i read is normally in them. After getting to row 90 i thought id give it a measure and have a look. Well 17 inches long and im having a few queries about the lenght of this top. I take the offending article to mum who looks at it and says well just adjust the pattern- looks at the pattern, turns to me and says- you said 28 inches didn't you- i replied yes, to which she thrust the pattern in front of me, rolled her eyes and said in that tone of voice only mothers can do- look the pattern says cm- not inches. Soooooo
after some serious head banging against the wall it was time to rip- and 4 days worth of (very) sparodic knitting (27 rows or 5 inches later) i had the lenght i wanted. I am making the top a little longer than the pattern states as i prefer things a little longer rather than on the short side.

So i am now going to commit my stupidity to immortality and memory and hope no one else makes the same mistake.