Another WIP

This was supposed to be done a couple of weeks ago as a birthday present. Can't say I'm surprised that it wasn't!
Sorry Sal!
(she understands LOL)

It's the Diamond Lace Shrug from Patons. I am a bit scared because it's a one size fits most pattern and she's a fairly petite person, but I got just under gauge with the needles that I wanted to use, so hopefully it will be all good!
I must admit now that I haven't done it in zhivago, as suggested... but I have high hopes for this yarn, even if it is an acrylic! It's one of the nicest acrylics I've seen, and felt. It actually feels soft and smooth, not squeaky like most of them do *shudder*.


And this is what it will hopefully turn out like... I am fairly sure she won't see this post...




edited to add a Ravelry link

so I'm not usually one for these types of photos...

...but I couldn't resist.
Today we made brownies... they are in the oven right now smelling delicious.
This is the recipe I used...perfect for those who are on a diet.
hahahahaa... not! I felt the need for a treat though.
I will update on how they go!


I would also like to share this lovely yarn that I got this week. Malabrigo!
I'm making a Koolhaas (sorry, that's a Rav link) for DH and I'm not sure about the pink.... I don't think it's me, so I will probably be making a hat for Judy out of it!
It came from Yarn and Kisses, a new Aussie distributor. Great service!

New WIP (yes, I know, another one)

Last week, while we were traveling in the car, I started the Slippery Socks pattern. (Rav link here)

It is definitely the most time consuming of anything I have ever knit, so it's challenging me... which is good. I have spent about 6 hours on it so far, and at this rate it will be about 100 hours worth of work for a pair of socks!
I almost won't want to wear them after that....

It's really interesting seeing how the colours are coming out in each section of the sock, and I am liking the challenge, keeping my brain working is good! I'm just worried that it's going to fuzz up too much for being handled for so long... eek.

Tagged.

Kim tagged me a few days ago, but I only just remembered! ... mind you, I think I was last on her list of "who can I tag now that hasn't already done this" lol.

Firstly, here are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog
2. Share seven facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So here goes...

1. I hate eggplant. I think eggplant is the worst food ever invented. It should not have the privilege of being called a vegetable! I have tried to eat it at various times, but honestly to me, it tastes like what I imagine a run over cane toad would taste like.... rubbery nasty outside, squishy, slimy inside. Even looking at it makes my stomach turn.
Have you been sick yet?? LOL

2. I played the violin for 7 years. And I haven't played it now for .... almost 10!
But I surprised myself a few months ago, and managed to pick it up and start playing again, I couldn't believe I could still read music and make my fingers do what they were supposed to do.

3. I'm mostly a loner. A lot of people confuse being a loner with someone who doesn't want to have friends, or who doesn't try/get along with people. But I do enjoy my own company quite a lot. I think that's why I spend time on the computer... I can still be myself, but without having to make so much of an effort, and still be social as well, without wondering if someone is looking at me the wrong way, or catching me pick my nose or something.

4. I enjoy being at home with my kids. I have, at this point in time, no burning desire to go back to paid work.

5. I've traveled to the very northern most point of Australia, on Cape York.... and also the most southerly point, in Tasmania. I've also been camping all over Australia with my parents, when I was younger.. I've climbed Uluru (sorry Tracy, kind of stole that one from you lol), camped in the Simpson Desert, spent Christmas camping in Tas... I've stood in SA, QLD and NT, all at the same time. Yes, it's possible!

6. I love reading, and can consume a book in a couple of days if I have the time. (which is never, now lol)

7. People's lack of respect for spelling and grammar are my pet peeve.... mistakes are glaringly obvious to me, especially in public places like advertising. I have been known to rant and annoy everyone lol. punctuation however... mine is all over the place ;)

I have no idea who to tag... someone suggest someone!

scored again! lol

I had to go away and pat and drool for a bit before I could come and take photos and update.
I totally forgot that I was expecting this package, and it was a very nice surprise!

Some 100% Alpaca laceweight yarn in the "Peacock" colourway.



And a Symmetry set in the "Cactus" colourway. I love this yarn! Can't wait to knit with both of them.

Lookie what I got!!

Yesterday I got a wonderful package from The Knittery.
One was a present from DH for my birthday, a set of Knit Picks Harmony sock DPNs. Yay!

And I also had some other money from my birthday to spend, so I bought some 2ply merino/nylon lace in "warm pinks" and some merino/cashmere sock yarn in the "holiday" colourway.

More pics in my Rav stash!

recent dyed yarns

Here are a few skeins of yarn that I have been practicing on a bit.
I found a box of dyes that Grandma gave me yonks ago, and thought I would give them a try. The black is great, very true black. It ran a bit though, even with rinsing... will need to be careful.
I am thinking about selling some dyed yarns, but I am not sure it's worth all the effort on the business front. And I have no idea where to start in finding a great base yarn that I can get at a reasonable price.

rain and more rain....and then a little bit more!

Last night we had the most rain that I can remember this summer. It hasn't rained this much since we moved into this house (over 8 months)

We had close to 100mm in just over an hour or so. And here's the photos of our backyard to prove it!

The photos are a little blurry because I was trying to keep my camera out of the rain... which was extremely difficult due to the crazy gusts of wind coming right at the back door. We missed out on the rain the last few times it has come down the coast, but not this time! The last photo is the rain trying to come in the back door!

pay it forward...

yay! my turn. Thanks Kel!







The first three people to comment on this post will receive a gift from me, sometime within the next 365 days.

Who knows when it will turn up, or what it will be, but rest assured, it will arrive.

All you have to do is promise to make the same declaration on your blog, and send out gifts to three of your lovely readers.

Easy Peasy.

Finished the first sock!

Last night I finally finished my first ever sock. And I even got the grafting right the first time. Impressive for 11:15pm LOL.

I can't wait to tell my grandma and show her the sock, she will be surprised that I actually got it finished, after my last attempt haha.

My ravelry link is here for anyone who is interested.
And the pattern link is here.
This was a very easy pattern to knit, it was just getting my head around what I had to do that was difficult at first. It's a very quick knit too, so great for a first pair of socks... I recommend it to anyone!

But if you're after pretty socks, this might not be the pattern for you lol. I really want to knit something pretty now. Well as pretty as possible with huge feet like mine....

second attempt at a first pair of socks lol

A progress shot :)

I started a pair of these socks a few months ago and never really got into it... so it sat and sat and I finally said bugger it, and frogged the lot.

The lovely Bec talked me into a KAL with her and Donna, and I got inspired again, and picked a different yarn. We cast on together on msn (yes we are dorks) and they both charged ahead of me... I struggled along, and finally mastered the gusset.

Now nothing will stop me finishing this darn sock!
wish me luck lol.

On the Sunny Side part 2

Today I finished the second of these hats.
I am really pleased with how it turned out... despite the few setbacks along the way... including a massive yarn tangle and knitting in a stitch marker that needed to be cut out :P

I think it's really cute, but Caitlyn says that "it's iiiiiitchy!!" and then took it off. doh.

I am so glad that I can cross off another finished item. I have way too many UFOs at the moment. Though not as many as in one person's blog that I was reading... she had something like 45 unfinished objects. ho-ly!

I only have about 5 or 6... but that's way too many to me. I get anxious about finishing and then can't relax and knit anything else until I either finish it or hide it away in the cupboard and forget it exists haha!
This is my favourite photo. I love how the decreases make a spiral.

And despite my best efforts, I still have a bunch of this wool to use up. I'd guess about 30-50g.

What to make... what to make....

Bath Buddy Bag - Pattern

Here is the pattern that I designed for my kid's bath toys!

Bath Buddy Bag
This bag was invented out of a need to use up 25g of 4 ply baby yarn that I dyed as a test, and also out of frustration in tripping over bath toys all over the bathroom floor!
Yarn used, needle sizes and gauge are not very important for this project, use whatever your heart desires. But obviously, the finer the yarn used, and the bigger the needles, the more open the lace pattern will be.

I used 4ply (fingering) yarn, and 10mm needles.

note: there is no WS or RS for this project.


Loosely cast on odd number of stitches. (I used 39)
Knit 6 rows
Row 7: kfb, continue until last stitch, k1.(I now have 77 stitches: 38 x 2 + 1)
Begin mesh pattern.


Mesh Pattern.
Row 1: k2tog, yo until the last stitch, k1.
Row 2: k1. then k2tog, yo until end of row.
Repeat these 2 rows until your bag is the desired length. (mine is approx 10 inches (around 25cm) unstretched from top to bottom)


Note: Your mesh pattern should look like this when pulled tight:
All the diagonals are going the same way. If you find you have a row with the diagonals criss crossing over each other, then you need to go back and fix ;)
You will find that there is a different definite way in which the stitches sit on your needle (and the way in which they are knit together) for each of the 2 rows and you will learn to recognise how each row behaves as you knit it, and so should be able to pick up any errors quickly.

Now you will continue with a decrease row:
K2tog until last stitch, k1 (I now have 39 stitches again)
Knit 2 rows.

Bind off loosely. (as loose as possible will ensure that your bind off row has as much stretch as the rest of the bag)


Seaming:
Fold the bag in half from side to side, so that the 10 rows of knit are at the top.
Begin at the bottom, and seam the edges together, but stop just before you get to the knit rows at the top. I left these open, so that the opening of the bag wasn't too tight. Depending on what you are using the bag for, and how loose or tight your knitting is, you may want to seam all the way up the edge. I like the frill effect that it creates being open.

Here are photos of the bottom and the top of the bag, showing the open frill.






Creating the i cord: (if you don't know how to create an icord, search google here)
You may want to use smaller needles to create the icord, if you want a neater finish. I used the same 10mm needles that I used to create the bag, to make the icord and it looks fine.
Knit an icord of your desired length, and again, this will depend on what you want to use the bag for. Make sure that it is long enough to enable the bag opening to open right up. Mine is approx 30 inches (around 75cm) long.

Thread the icord through the top row of the mesh pattern. I threaded it through every second hole, to reinforce it a little. Pull it tight to close, like a drawstring. And you're done!

Please contact me if you have any questions, or if I've made a boo boo! :)

Wisp aka 'looks like roadkill'

Last night I cast on Wisp, Ravelry link here.

I originally started with the suggested 5mm needles, but the yarn I am using is a bit thicker than the suggested, and after ratting up the pattern majorly on the first lace row, I frogged it and switched to 6mm needles.

I was using crappy steel lined plastic needles and I was having so much trouble, so I am using my KPs now and wish I had done in the first place.... they are so much easier to knit with. I would definitely recommend that you spend the money on them, they are worth every dollar!

I managed to stuff everything up a second time, so it seems like the third time might be lucky on this UFO. I have completed the first repeat and it looks passable. (note to self, close knitty page with perfect Wisp photos, as they don't inspire confidence in the mediocre version sitting infront of me.) The mohair does matt/felt/smoosh up a lot. I have a feeling this might resemble something flattened on the road by the time I'm finished with it, hence the name I gave this project.

This was inspired by my need to knit something lace-like. I have just queued up a bunch of different shawls, scarves and wraps.... I think I am developing a lace fetish. LOL.
Now I just need some really nice 2ply lace yarn and I will be set.

I settled for this Cleckheaton Studio Mohair that I found in the reduced pile at spotlight ($20 for 10 balls)... I seem to dig through those a lot lately. I have yarn withdrawals though. There is absolutely no where else to buy yarn in this town.... oh for a lovely LYS.....

Bargain shopper lol

When I was at spotlight during the 20% off sale, spending my voucher... I came across this bag of baby yarn (4ply) ... 18 balls of it
I thought well, I could experiment a bit with it, and if all else fails, just knit baby items for friends etc with it.

so I turned this...





into this today....





I wasn't sure if it would take the dye, or if it had been treated with something (and it was a really cheap brand after all, AFAIK...), it did say handwash, so I was hopeful lol
but yay, I am so stoked by how it turned out.

and the best part?
18 balls for.... a whole $8!

now what can I make with 25g of dyed wool? lol