February Lady Sweater

You might remember my previous post about the dye session that I did one afternoon a few weeks ago.

The yarn was intended for the February Lady Sweater.
I swatched and cast on, and despite stuffing up the first raglan increase, I kept going. From then on it was all pretty cruisy until I came to change to the second ball of yarn. (we won't mention the ugliness of the button holes lol)


I continued on until I realised, with plenty of swear words and angry glares at the knitting, that the second ball was a very different shade of green.



For some reason some of the balls that I dyed didn't take the dye as well as the others. They're about 2 shades lighter and not as variegated in colour. I have no idea how I didn't notice this before. I did a few more rows and hoped that it wouldn't be too noticeable, but it really was :(
So I frogged it back to where I joined the new ball, but the ugliness of the button holes was really getting to me, so I thumbed my nose at it and ripppped it all out. Yes, it did kind of feel good ;)

So now I'm back to square one, with 4 lighter balls, and 8 darker balls. That'll teach me for not balling all of them up at the beginning, I guess.

I'm thinking that I will do the yoke in the darker colours (which are smoother and feel softer, I'm thinking that the lighter balls didn't have as much superwash coating on them, which is why they didn't dye as well and fluffed/slightly felted during the dye process)... and then alternate balls from the lace down.

Oh and I am considering doing YOs as the button holes and using smaller buttons, so putting maybe 5 in instead of 3... then I don't have to worry about my dodgy button hole technique.

What do you think?

huuuge dye session

I don't think I could stand the stress of doing this again anytime soon lol. But you have to love my huge (as Lucretia put it) "Pot of Doom"....

Lucky I'm tall enough to see into it LOL.

Anyway I decided that I would follow the trend setting crazy people converging on the February Lady Sweater

But I didn't think I had any yarn that was really suitable that I actually liked for the pattern. I think it needs a more smooth, plied yarn than a single ply smooshy yarn like malabrigo or similar single plied yarns that some people are using.... to bring out the stitch pattern. So I actually gave up and just sat back to watch the action. (2280 queued as of this minute!)

Then I remembered that I had a pack of Dashing yarn buried in one of my boxes that I was saving for something. Better now than never, right? It was a poo pale, yucko green. So I wacked it in the dye pot of doom, and set myself up for an afternoon of dyeing 600g of yarn.

I didn't foresee it taking all afternoon, but it took forever and a day for this pot to boil, even though it was only a third full. Here's another progress pic:

And finally the finished green....


It's still drying, so I haven't cast on yet...

Cable Swap

I received my cable swap today!

I love the colours of these socks! they are great.... and they fit my big feet, thank you swapper!

Lachie was more interested in the bottle of wine than the car...haha.
And yes my feet look like they are weird shaped, but they are really normal shaped feet lol.

flickr

yanked from Kris :)



1. Not available, 2. extra cheesy salami and mushroom pizza:), 3. Leave me alone, 4. A Splash Of Lime, 5. Another For The Ladies!!!, 6. The best ever mocha coffee, 7. Why is a drop of water clear but the lake is blue?, 8. Japanese cheesecake, 9. Happy Flowers -International Horti Fair 2006, 10. At wallyworld with my kid, 11. Too many Rabbits......in China, 12. turn me off.

Here are the rules if you want to play too:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker).

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?2. What is your favorite food?3. What high school did you go to?4. What is your favorite color?5. Who is your celebrity crush?6. Favorite drink?7. Dream vacation?8. Favorite dessert?9. What you want to be when you grow up?10. What do you love most in life?11. One Word to describe you.

12. Your flickr name

I had a few surprises doing this! When I was searching for my high school (I went to 2, so I picked the one I went to for the longest), the first photos that came up were from my violin tutor that I had in high school! I haven't seen her in probably 10 years.
Then when I was fiddling around searching for my kids names, I found a photo of a family who have 2 kids with the same names as mine... and in the whole wide world, they lived one town over from where we used to live when we lived in 'middle of nowhere' South Australia... how strange is that!

mmm lunch

tortilla pizzas for lunch .... shh, don't tell Kev lol.
(he's eating left over GF pasta and sausage bake from the freezer for lunch, before he heads off to work)

A food-y post

First was this dinner I made the other night, I need to post it here so I don't forget, so I can make it again!
We're on a gluten free diet at the moment (the kids and I aren't officially, but mealtimes need to be)
I made meatballs out of lamb mince, a couple of tablespoons of rice flour, and some tomato sauce (plus some herbs and spices and salt and pepper). I then rolled them in rice flour... and it worked really well! I recommend it, even if you don't have to.... rice flour works much better as a binding agent than wheat flour. And they browned up really nicely in the pan.
Then I just added sliced up carrots, zucchini, onions and broccoli, and a jar of sweet and sour sauce (probably would have added a can of pineapple if we had one)
I could have made the sweet and sour sauce, but I was lazy :P
Served it with thick rice noodles, yum! (rinse them in hot water after cooking and they don't stick together)


Today we made some savoury muffins. These aren't gluten free, though I think it would work with GF flour, because they have so many other ingredients in them, they aren't exactly light and fluffy lol.
I used this recipe, but changed it a fair bit.
I used bacon instead of mortadella (yuck).. and I added spring onions instead of fresh chives.
We also substituted some of the tasty cheese for parmesan. And I used some of my Dad's port chutney (I think it was mango and port chutney?... can't remember)
They would have been nice with some olives, and even nicer if you left some of the cheese out and sprinkled it on top instead. But they taste good. Oh and also note to self, grease or omit papers next time:P (although it did keep the kids happy for 20mins picking the cheese off them *grin*)


Yes, he is wearing his sister's t-shirt over the top of his lol.

Another WIP

My So Called Scarf

I needed a break from the current things I'm working on, and needed to do something that didn't require following along a pattern at every line, or reading a chart. This pattern is so addictive, and I only had to look at it once to remember it.

I'm a bit concerned that the colours are pooling to look like camo :/
But hopefully it will look ok once it's finished ;)

Rav Link

A few more photos

Lachie is being a clingy grumper today so I have been sitting half the morning with him on my lap. I had a mess around with a few photos cause I was bored lol.
I got some really cute ones of the kids yesterday and this morning, cause I borrowed Dad's digital SLR camera (ohh droool. If only I had $1500 lol). It takes beautiful skin tones... unlike my POS. heh.

I love my new shoes!

A few photos of our camping trip

Last weekend we went camping near the beach. It was sooo beautiful.
I will tempt you with a few photos here and then send you over to Caitlyn and Lachie's blog to see the rest ;)
We were literally just over a sand dune from the beach. My parents go camping there quite often, and now I know why!

yum, bread!

I haven't done much baking lately. Last night since we were having leftover minestrone soup for dinner, I thought I'd make some garlic bread to go along with it.
I cheated and used the breadmaker to mix the dough.

I mashed up some garlic and butter and salt in the mortar and pestle, and cut the bread dough into three pieces. I rolled them out into 3 long sausage shapes and sliced them down the middle, spread the garlic mixture in the middle and then sealed them up again.
Then I plaited them together and presto!

Here it is after sprinkling some parmesan on the top and baking it. And it was yum!

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.