beading fun...

I got my bulk order of findings today, so lots of beading was done and the store has been updated with a whole bunch of new stitch markers. (I have broken nails and sore fingertips - I am glad knitting doesn't cause these superficial but annoying injuries)


Big thank-you to Kate for being my first customer (yay!) She gets a little something extra in her order for being a milestone customer :)

The evening has been devoted to knitting - just started the sleeve cap, so should have another piece of the loopy mohair trim sweater complete and on show tomorrow.

Yarn, HO!

On Friday I completed a teeny yarn crawl looking for more totem...

I decided I would drive up the Pacific HWY and stop off along the way to see what I could find. First stop was Greta's Handcrafts - I actually expected to find Totem in abundance there. Greta's has a feeling of a yarn store from 20 years ago that hasn't quite given in to the renaissance of knitting, and for some reason I thought it would stock all the classics.

Greta had a few balls of Totem, in a handful of colours - but not more than two balls of any one colour, and not colour #4249 like I was looking for. In fact, I did have a quick browse at Greta's, and it appears that they didn't have enough of any one colour yarn to make a garment out of. I could be wrong - perhaps they have a display of the variety on the shelves, with the majority of the stock out the back, but that wasn't the impression I got.

I continued up the HWY, bypassing Rubi and Lana (I know they don't stock Totem, and I find it impossible to walk out of there without a skein or two) and ended up all the way out at Hornsby craft and wool nook. (I think there is a fabric store/haberdasheries somewhere along the HWY that stocks yarn, but I don't know where that is. If anyone knows, please leave the details in the comments)

Here, I hit the jackpot -
1. They stock Totem..
2. They had colour #4249 (incidentally, the colour is called "old gold" - so technically I am not knitting another green jumper)...
3. Freakily, it was the same dye-lot as what I already had, and...
4. Due to Patons re-labelling Totem, they were selling all stock cheep!

Yes, It appears that Totem is not actually changing, but the labelling of it is. The description is going to change from "8ply premium wool crepe" to "100% pure Australian Merino Wool". (I guess "Merino" sounds more luxurious than plain old wool) - however, it appears that Patons is also using this opportunity to re-vamp the colours available in the trusty yarn. And "old gold" has been given the "heave-ho" (Thank you very much to the assistant at Hornsby craft and wool nook for sharing some of the info in the Patons marketing binder with me - sorry, but I forgot your name)

Which left me with a bit of a dilemma. I only had 8 balls of yarn have already used 3 and a bit balls for the back of my loopy mohair trim sweater. I figure the front will use similar amounts, and the sleeves 1.5 to 2 balls. By those calculations, I needed 2-3 balls to complete the sweater. Seeing as I knew this colour was going to be discontinued, I didn't want to get to an inch from the final sleeve cap and run out... so to be on the safe side, I got double what I thought I would need. The laws of knitting dictate that 4 balls excess is always better than 4 metres short.....

While I was out at Hornsby, I decided to do a bit of window shopping, and low and behold, I found this...

What can I say - the black PVC cover called to me, and I had some borders vouchers to burn.

I have only had a cursory browse, but it looks like this is have technical manual (not just learn-to-knit) and half patterns (some knit on the bias...ooh).

This will be an upcoming kniterature for when I have no knitting progress to share with you...




...which, fortunately I do have today...
Thanks to some of my favourite podcasts having new episodes available this week, I managed to get through those 55 rows of stockinette before I blinked twice. Once piece of the loopy mohair trim sweater is complete (and 100% endorsed by Pierre)

So far, I have followed the pattern except for a couple of minor changes.
1. I changed all the sl 1, k2tog, psso to sssk to better match the k3tog on the other dart.
2. I haven't cast off the back yet because I am planning to complete 3-needle cast-offs for the shoulders, and
3.In order to get nice sloping shoulders instead of steps I completed all the decreases as short rows. If you look under the stitch markers in this close up picture you can see where I turned for the short rows - I haven't tried this before and so far I am happy with the results.


And this is the pattern I am working from, now out of print. I bought it about 1999 or 2000.

i heart -

*$$ (starbucks-get it?) ! and Tuffers.... I forgot to mention that he got me this cute little bear-ista as an 'after-thought' xmas present. The traveller mug I picked up in Canberra for a steal just after new year - even though it is obviously xmas themed, I think I will use it all year round because it suits a recently converted sock maniac like myself. (and its the hidden short size, which means smaller, cheaper coffees when I use it at *$$ - even though not advertised on the menu board you can order the short at any time if you want a smaller coffee - it may just take the partners a while to find the right size cup)

And speaking of *$$ in Canberra, it appears I will not be a regular at the s&b's down that way. Due to a last minute change with Tuffers' work, the move has been postponed at least 12
months. However, I will try to make it to a session or too - just to meet a few of the bloggers I check in with on a regular basis.

And at the risk of sounding redundant - more markers on ETSY - including twins to my 'i heart 2 knit' markers I chatted about here. That will be the last addition for about a week - I am awaiting a bulk delivery of findings to make some more.

more stitchmarkers...

... have been added to my ETSY shop - go check them out :)

blah... oh, and big sale

Sorry, but I am feeling a bit blah today - I spent 2.5 hours with my career coach revising my resume (so I could continue to fund my yarn habit after I finish with my current employement in a couple of weeks...bad bad ebay is tempting me again)

The good news is I got to do some sasquatch sock knitting while taking the scenic route through Longueville on the non-air conditioned bus... as you can see, these really are being made for a Bigfoot


I made good progress my loopy-mohair trim sweater - until I reached the 55 rows of boring stockinette, which is about this far...

up til here there was shaping every few rows, so it went rather fast. I am liking the way it is knitting up - should be nice fitted garment when I am done. I did check out the stash, and again I am short a few balls of totem. I shall have to do a run around again to see if I can get two or three balls more. I know a few places in Sydney that had a bit in stock about 6 months ago, so am staying optimistic. (but just in case - I am using colour #4249 if you have some lying is your stash you want to get rid off... I won't even bother with the dye lot as I doubt it will match - I'll just knit a sleeve with the extra when I get it)


Following some encouragement from Kate, I have started my own etsy store. To begin with it will just be my handmade stitch markers (in fact, only one set at the moment - the black cats pictured) and I'll see where it goes from there. Please drop by and feel free to pass on any constructive criticism.

And finally - just because I can, here is Pierre going crazier than a 3yo on red cordial after a bath. The poor guy has it a bit rough at the moment - he is having problems with bush ticks (the non-paralytic ones) and had an unscheduled visit to the vet for an insecticide scrub and a shot to help the itching. I gave him the bath prior to taking him to the vet - the poor runt was so aggravated by the parasites that he looked like he was trying to chew his legs off. (oh - and he has officially hit 2kg, never mind that that was complete with harness, colour, dog tag and lead)

thank-you Mr Postie...

... for delivering my SP9 package #2...

...containing all of these goodies....


- some funky ceramic xmas mugs (that I think will hold a pint... at least)

- American candy (reeses, kisses, hershies, milkdud - its a chocoholic's heaven)

- yummy pampering bath bombs and lip balms and...

- some gorgeous handpainted merino yarn (hand wash only - perhaps a hint to knit myself, rather than the men in my life, some socks?) this colourway is called "Earth Day" by Sunshine Yarns.



Oh... and some tootsie rolls (that I think Pierre is keen to run away with - but remember little puppy, "Mowm says chocolate isn't good for dawgs!")

And I have a confession. I have start-itis.

I bought some super-thick sock yarn from Rubi&Lana on saturday (where I met jenwren for the first time - more detail on her and kate's blogs), and have begun some Sasquatch socks for someone (not Tuffers or my dad) to wear with work boots

And the desire to knit something flat came over me last night, so I have started my loopy-mohair trim sweater. Naughty Naughty Ginge! That is what? 9 projects on the go now?

thou shalt no longer covet thy neighbours sea silk

When Taryn over at Purl Yarns announced a stash-endowing sale, I could no longer resist. For far too long I have been coveting Pamela's seasilk, and so I bought the last 3 skeins - on sale!

In case you can't tell from the pic above, I have the pumpkin and straw colourways. Although these didn't look too appealing on my computer screen, I cannot express how wonderfully bright and cheerful they are in the flesh (or should that be kelp?) I still want some in that yummy ocean colourway (named for the sea, smells like the sea, colour of the sea - it seems to fit so well) but this will hold me until Taryn gets her next (long awaited) delivery from Handmaiden with more stock...

And it seems there will be a pattern in the next Yarn magazine featuring this scrumptious yarn. I am not sure what I will do with this yet - perhaps a lacy shrug, or maybe I will enter the realm of shawls.... but for now I will let it marinate in my stash, and enjoy the sight, smell and feel of it.

very nearly done...

The Very Manly Socks are indeed very nearly done. Infact, all the knitting is done, and I just need to weave in those ends at the cuffs. And Tuffers has tried them on, and I managed to get the foot the right length this time...

THE STATS

NAME: Very Manly Socks
PATTERN: WGTUP with a Manly 5x1 rib along the cuff and instep
YARN: ONline Supersock Sierra #889
YARN SOURCE: Yarns Galore
NEEDLES: 2.75mm bamboo 15cm DPNs
COMPLETED: 11 Jan 07

So now that they are off the needles, I needed to cast on some more 'brainless' socks - but this time for me...

Da-dah... May I present my spotty ladybug socks in Opal Rainforest...

Mainly stockinette with a few yarn overs and k2togs every couple of rounds.

And did I say ladybug?

well, speaking of ladybugs, here's a few I prepared earlier...

I haven't done any work on this since I put in away in November, but I thought it was about time I posted a picture...

Roarin'

If you happen to find your self roarin' along the Hume HWY between Geelong and Canberra (or, more prescisely, Holbrook and Gundagai) you'll have to slow down to 50km/h to drive through the small town of Tarcutta - while your hitting the brakes, you may as well stop for a break..

After all, the rest stop is on the side of the road, the loos there have running water (rather than that pit-in-the-ground) and there happens to be this place....

The Farmhouse Industries Handcraft shop, which happens to stock....

These basketfuls of hand- spun, -dyed, and -painted yarns...

... a few skeins followed me home :) (left to right - two hanks of handpainted angora 8ply, a handpainted wool 3ply and a handspun wool, all by Annie Gregg design)I bought all this last friday when driving up to Canberra. I couldn't resist starting to knit with the angora again on saturday. This was my progress when we went out to lunch at about 1230.Of course, I was trying to perfect my Roarin' Forties hat pattern, and it just so happened that Lucy-lou loved these blue-toned reds.THE STATS

NAME : Roarin' Forties #2
PATTERN: My own
YARN: Annie Gregg Design Angora 8-ply in blue-tinted reds
YARN SOURCE: Farmhouse industries craft shop Tarcutta
NEEDLES: 3.75mm DPNs and Circulars
COMPLETED 07 Jan 07

Lucy-lou and I couldn't resist doing a bit of a model-shoot with out new hats :)

And while I was tackling another project, Pierre was tackling one of Bridi's bones...

I'd say he's trying a bit of more than he can chew...

The Super-funkified Reversible Double-knit Weasley Sweater aka Dilby's Jumper

SWEATER POP-ART

The four (yes - 4) sides of Dilby's sweater...

THE STATS

NAME : The super-funkified Reversible Double-knit Weasley Sweater, aka Dilby's Jumper
PATTERN: My own
YARN: Paton's Totem in Burnt Orange and Blue #3096
YARN SOURCE: Lincraft
NEEDLES: 4.5mm bamboo and aluminium circulars
COMPLETED 31 Dec 06

I wanted to make a Weasley Sweater, but I figured that the movies got it all wrong - Mrs Weasley is a competant wizard who makes her 7 kids (and some of their friends) a sweater each year for christmas - I am sure she knows a spell to produce a funkier sweater than seen on the celluloid (they look so slipshod!). And Harry's first sweater was emerald green in the book (fun and bright) but olive green (drab and boring) in the movie.

I wanted to avoid seaming, and love little boys in raglan sleeves, so I decided to knit it in the round. This caused some problems for the initial, as it is very difficult to do intarsia in the round and I didn't want to get that fiddley. So I decided to leap into the world of double knitting. It was no use going to the effort of double-knitting if it wasn't reversible, so I worked two D's into the sweater, one backwards to be worn on the back of the sweater...

It all started off from this knitted donut I blogged about way back in the beginning of October.

The next time you saw it, I was knitting a sleeve and showing off my unco double knitting technique. ..

But there were a few steps between that you didn't see



Of course, there was another sleeve....

Which was then added to the main body of the jumper so it could be knit in one piece....

I got up to here, before I ran out of blue yarn and had to do a mad dash to all the store that stock yarn, string or rope to try to get the same colour (I didn't care about matching dye lots - I just wanted something the same colour). The raglan decreases were a bit of trouble - I had to re-arrange the stitches so that I had one colour on one side, and then I had to use four different decreases to get the sides to look even (K2tog, P2tog thru back loop, SSK and P2tog).

The orange was on the outside the whole time I was knitting, so this is a peek of the blue inside (isn't it cool how the front and back make a D?)


The final object was passed onto its new owner on Friday, but it took us until Sunday to get our model to finally put it on. (He is a big fan of the word "NO!")

So da-dah! Here is the finished object as modelled by Dilby (with a little help from his Mum) and, of course, the reverse "D" on the back (with Brindi helping to model that!)

It's a little big, but by the time winter comes around (which should be about mid-March in Canberra) It should be the right size, and that double thickness will be just what the little boy will want in our nation's capital (which I have said before, is proof that hell freezes over!)

And now for something completely different...

No pictures of things I have knitted, either on or off the needles today. However, I still have lots of pictures...

First of all, I forgot to mention yesterday that my sister gave me a hank of gorgeous NZ wool she picked up on her recent holiday across the Tasman - it is spun from both white and black sheep so has a natural colour. My mum also got a ball (bottom left - which I wound up for her with my new toys) and has started to knit a satchel with it. She loves it because the colour perfectly matches this cute NZ sheepie scarf she found at a football game last year so she will have a co-ordinating set.

Secondly - here is the tea-cosy that sis gave to Mum yesterday, used as intended (rather than Nico's interesting interpretation of the item). My sister has a really funky modern tea-pot. It looks great, makes a HUGE pot of tea but unfortunately doens't fit stock standard tea-cosys - that's how mum ended up with this one. And by the way, this isn't made in a self-striping yarn, but Patons inca, which has three different colours plyed together, and each ply changes colour at a different place in the yarn from the others. It is just the flash photography that makes it look like this.

Also, on cool things my sister has done- she made me three funky stitch markers that spelt out my name (two are on the far left - the third is marking the Dale Ladybug Sweater) and inspired me to make my own. I don't have the talent for making my own jewellery like she does, but I think I have done okay with the stitch-markers. You can't read it in the photo, but those small round green ones have "I <3 to knit" written in the middle. (hmm, just checked the YarnHarlot, and we are both posting about beads today - kooky, eh)

And finally, some cute doggie pics, as I probably won't have a chance to post again until after the weekend. From left to right:-

- Pierre and his "uncle" Max - not growling and chasing each other round my parents house for a change,

- Pierre enjoys a good yarn (it's a length of Totem left over from Dilby's jumper - I used it to distract him from the toy Max was playing with)

- And my baby, looking oh-so-sweet-and-innocent, sleeping on my lace panel sweater.

Humble Pie...

Well, it was bound to happen. I was bragging about finished objects so early in the year.

You see, yesterday, after I had completed the Almost Tiger Socks I immediately cast on for yet another pair of socks for Tuffers from that final ball of ONline I ordered specifically for his socks.

My Mum and I drove to the other side of Melbourne today to visit my currently health-challenged sister. My Mum was driving, so I was guaranteed at least two hours knitting time - before we got stuck in the citylink carpark for at least half an hour and being delayed slightly for Westgate Bridge roadworks - and went driving around to closed yarn shops (we were going to check out Marta's Yarns, and when we got there, there was a sign that said "closed until further notice" - we had a good peek in the windows, and I now remember reading somewhere that Marta is sick?) so by the time we were heading back into the outskirts of Geelong in the afternoon I had completed the heel (I still want to say turned the heel, even though I use short rows) and completed a good three inches above that when I looked at the sock and thought

"That foot looks a bit small"

I then tried the sock on, and it fit my foot quite comfortably. And then, being in denial, I got Dad (who has the same size feet as Tuffers) to try the sock on when we got home, and sure enough - it was at least an inch to small...

So a frogging we went. I appear to have gotten a tad bit overconfident with all the socks I have been knitting lately.


This is the current state of the sock. This is going to be the "Very Manly Sock" - the colours could only mean it is a mans sock, and I am using a nice manly wide 5x1 rib. And most of the knitting has been done whilst the cricket was on the TV or radio, so it has been absorbing manly sporting vibes. I was going to take a picture of it next to manly objects such as powertools and beer mugs, but thought we might avoid anything that could damage the sock I obviously had such bad karma around me. (I was scared I would get a rogue drill that would attack the sock, yarn and my favourite DPNs even without being plugged in)

Anyway - the visit with my Sis went well. She has a shocking cold / flu, but the drugs kicked in enough that we were able to check out a couple of LYSs - As already stated, Marta's was closed, but we went to a button store on Glenferrie Rd (creatively named The Button Shop) which has heaps of yarn in stock - it doesn't have any fancy displays, the store isn't user friendly, the prices aren't particularly cheep and the customer service wasn't the best, but boy did they have some yarn there. There were different Patons labels from the past three decades on some of the yarn sitting in bags on shelfs. I got some loopy mohair, and plan to make some funky teddy-eared beanies for winter - and Ladybug buttons for the Dale ladybug sweater. If you are looking for staple yarns from Patons, Cleckheaton, Panda or Shepard I'd recommend checking it out - there seem to have all the different types of yarn each produces, including discontinued lines and colours.

Sis, spending her ill days on the couch in front of the TV, has been keen into the knitting - she gave my Mum a cute tea-cosy from the latest issue of Yarn, finished the Bejewelled scarf while we were there, and we saw one of her hiking socks from a previous issue of yarn. She said she was going to put pictures up so go visit her blog and check it out (and if there aren't pictures there tell her to stop being so gawdamm lazy ;))

chicken legs and duck feet

Another finished object - yes, I am on fire this year...

These are Tuffer's xmas socks #3 that I didn't finish on NYE. The ankles and feet look disproportionate (like chicken legs and duck feet - hence the title of the post) because the ankle in completed in 3x3 rib - Tuffers has high arches and was having a little trouble getting the ankle of the sock past his heel. I increased 8 stitches round the ankle and switched to rib so am hoping this might rectify this problem.

The orange looks a bit bright here, but these colours are 'manly' enough for Tuffers. Due to the colours, and the fact you cannot get the real-deal Tiger striping sock, these have been renamed as Tuffers' Almost Tiger socks

THE STATS (in which I blatently copy Wendy)
Name: Tuffers' Almost Tiger socks
Pattern: WGTUP - slightly modified to include that super stretchy ankle ribbing
Yarn: Opal petticoat (don't tell Tuffers it has such a girly name)
Yarn source: Wildpurl
Needles: Tulip Bamboo DPNs 2.75mm (15cm long)
Completed: 02 January 2007

I spent a bit of time playing around with new blogger last night (sorry if you get old posts in your feeds) and was up past Pierre's bedtime. He crashed out in my lap, and didn't even stir when I reached for the camera to take a picture. He has been causing lots of trouble at Mum's (he keeps stealing items from her panda collection - obviously has an affinity for the black and white) so it was a nice change for him to be so quiet.

First FO for 07

I didn't work on Tuffers Xmas socks #3 last night, but I did knit...

That gorgeous stormy sea handpainted angora yarn I bought in Tarcutta was calling to me. It was telling me it really, really wanted to be a hat.

But not just any hat - this was a special yarn so it needed to be a hat with class...

So at about 7pm last night I cast-on, did a little shaping, made a little brim, and generally just played and created the pattern as I went along...

and Voila!

May I present Roarin' Forties, a very cute, top-down, in-the-round hat.

I had just enough yarn in the 56gm skein - this is all that I have left! (also, this picture is a truer represntation of the colour of the yarn, for some reason all of the lovely stormy sea greens tend to so up some icky yellow in all the pictures I took of the hat)

I think this is one of the fastest projects I have completed, taking less than 24 hours from start to finish, but Mum keeps telling everyone it took me a whole year (having started in 2006 and not finishing til 07)

THE STATS (in which I blatently copy Wendy)
Name: Roarin' Forties
Pattern: My Own
Yarn: Annie Gregg Design handpainted angora 8ply (DK, sportweight)
Yarn source: Farmhouse Industries Craft Shop, Tarcutta
Needles: 3.75mm DPNs, circular 40cm and circlar 80cm
Completed: 01 January 2007

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE - wishing you many stitches and few bitches!