I’ve been terribly slack on the blogging side of things. I haven’t been slack on the woolly side though.
Clessidra is plodding along…slowly. I do a few rows here and there. I’ll finish at least one sock one day.
Summer requested a rainbow penguin for her birthday.
Boo!
It’s been a while between posts, but I have been rather busy with work, study, kids, house renovations etc. That doesn’t mean I didn’t knit (or crochet) in the mean time. I’m posting from my iPhone, so I don’t know how the photo will turn out, but I’ll give it a go.
It’s a pattern called “Moch Cardi” (sorry, don’t know how to do links) done in 8 ply Cleckheaton Machine Wash. I have many other finished objects to post, and will do so soon (really!)
Apologies for the lack of posts. I was slack.
I’m not knitting or crocheting too much at the moment as it’s just way too hot. But just before Christmas I had a bit of a brooch frenzy for an online Secret Santa I was involved in.
I sent the bird, 
the coloured anenome (it’s supposed to be a chrysanthemum, but it looks more like an anenome) 
and the pink fuzzy flower (This one was my favourite).
The sparkle flower 
I gave to Mum, and I made an extra anenome for her as well. Brooches are a nice bit of almost instant gratification.
I’ve also made 2 Fat Bottom Bags from the Stitch and Bitch Happy Hooker book (the bird brooch was from there also)
The small green one looks great. It just turned out a bit smaller than I expected.
Ieven lined it:
The big one I made with two strands of 8-ply acrylic, and it’s just a bit daggy, but I like it.
Current projects at the moment include a purple Fat Bottom Bag, it will look more like the green one only a bit bigger and probably with black handles. I’m also working on a vest for me. I’ve almost finished Willow’s cardi. As soon as we get a coolish day I’ll attach the collar and do the front bads and that’ll be it.
My rather late New Year Resolution is to be a more diligent blogger in future!
I’m still plodding along on Clessidra. I wish it was finished, they would have gone very nicely with today’s outfit. I seriously considered ripping them it out a couple of weeks ago. It’s just so bloody fiddly. But I was talked out of such rash action, and thus I am still at it.
Here’s a progress pic:
This is only the first sock. And they’re knee highs. I’m still not convinced it’s worth continuing, but I’ll keep going for a little while.
Summer was recently invited to a party with a theme of “dress as your favourite Star Wars or Indiana Jones character”. So here I present to you Princess Leia.
Her dress is a 2 metre length of cheesecloth I bought years ago for some long forgotten purpose. I cut a hole in the middle for the head, and tied it at the waist with a sash that rather conveniently matched the light sabre.
Summer’s hair isn’t quite long enough for what I considered to be an adequate Princess Leia hairdo, plus I am completely incapable of doing things by halves so I made her some buns.
I plaited several lengths of black wool into two long plaits, rolled them up, hand sewed them into position and then sewed them on to a head band I made by cutting a strip off the leg of a pair of pantyhose that was fairly close to Summer’s hair colour.
She looked gorgeous, of course.
I actually knitted this last year (I think – maybe it was the year before?), but in an effort to keep up with the bloggy goodness, I thought it was worthy of inclusion. It was great fun to knit, but unfortunately I don’t actually like the finished product! It’s mainly the front bands and collar that I’m not keen on, so I might see if I can take that off and re-do it. Otherwise, I’ll save it for a rainy day and rip the whole thing out.
It’s not the thing you knit, but the knit itself!
(with apologies to Chris-in-the-morning. Yes I’ve been having a little Northern Exposure revival)
And here’s a close-up
Sorry it’s been so long between pics. Life got a bit hectic for a while there.
Crafty-wise, I’ve been busy. I did a class on continental knitting, which was fabulous. It makes 1×1 ribbing absolutely zip along. My tension is still a bit off, mainly because when I hold the wool in my left hand it wants to crochet, not knit.
I crocheted a lovely stole for Grandma for her birthday, but I forgot to take a photo (Oh, the shame!) I will remedy that next time I see her.
It’s in a similar wool to this, which is a scarf I made Mum last year. Mum says she gets endless compliments on it, which is rather nice for the ego.
I’ve been working on a couple of things for the girls. I’m still going on Willow’s cardi, and I’m frantically trying to finish it so a) she can wear it while there’s still a bit of cardi weather (though I made it nice and big so it will fit her next winter) and b) so I can get going on my next project, which is the tree jumper. Mine will be in green, of course. I’ve also started a crocheted vest, mainly for a break from knitting.
This is Summer’s vest. There’s no point making her jumpers as she just gets too hot, but she does like a hoodie. The pattern is a plain hooded vest from a Panda kids 8ply pattern book. I added the cables in. The cables are hugs and kisses (X and 0), with sparkles in the cables and edging, as per Summer’s request. The rainbow wool was her request also.
That’ll do for now, but I promise to be a more diligent blogger in future!
This is the shawl I crocheted Mum for Mothers Day. It’s the Sweet Pea Shawl from the Stitch & Bitch book. I made it in Bendigo Wool 10ply “Woodrose”.
It looks really pretty with Mum’s new grey hair. (Which you can’t see in this photo, but take my word for it)
Still on a pink theme, here is the bag I crocheted for Willow’s 8th birthday last week.
It’s made from weird corn-fibre yarn I found at Spotlight, with some metallic thread here and there for added sparkle. I pretty much made the pattern up as I went, based on several other bags. It was expertly lined by the magnificent Cylie, to whom I am very grateful indeed (I am a sewing dunce. It would have taken me an entire day and lots of swearing to line it, and I would have done a bodgy job).
Willow loves the bag; the picture was taken by her with her new camera.
Well, the Must Have can be ticked off the list. I’m really pleased with how it turned out.
I had to tweak the sleeves a bit as the pattern was written for lithe young things with skinny arms.
I am not lithe, I am not young and my arms are not skinny!
I may have to do another one day soon, in another colour.
Meanwhile, I am filling orders from the children, but for my next project, I think I’ll do this
I’ll do it in either mauve or green, and I think I’ll change the spider on the back to something else, and I may not do the shaping at the waist. Plus I think I’ll change the hem as well, but you get the basic idea. It’s the tree and the cabled hood that I really like.
How slack am I? Life got very busy for a while there, with uni and house renovations etc.
But uni is now done for the semester, and the house is being rather skilfully painted by Mark. Paint and I do not mix well (I tend to fling it all over the place), so I am currently exempt from that activity.
Crafty wise, I have been busy, so will update over the next few days.
To start with, here is the Grey Wool of Doooommmm.
Why “The Grey Wool of Dooooommmm” I hear you ask?
Well, I decided I needed a hat, and that this wool would do nicely. It’s a good neutral hat colour, and it’s nice and soft and drapey.
I have started no less than four different hats with this wool, and none of them have worked. Too big, too small, awkward pattern … they’ve all been doomed.
In the photo, to the left is a slouchy hat that turned out too small. To the right is a beret that I have made twice before and it’s worked out beautifully. This time, the first one worked out way too big, and the second go worked out too small.
So for now, I give up. The wool is obviously doomed.
It can skulk in the back of the drawer for a while.
Yesterday was a day of intellectual highs and lows. The high was getting 100% on an online quiz that’s worth 30% of my mark for that subject. Yay me.
The low was emailing The Knittery to ask politely where my wool is, and realising I’d left a digit off my address when I ordered, so the parcel had gone to a house at the other end of the street.
So I traipsed down, and luckily they still had it. They just hadn’t got around to sending it back. They looked at me like I was a mad woman, but at least I got my wool. And pretty, pretty wool it is. As usual my poxy camera isn’t showing the colour as accurately as it could. The green is a deeper than that. I think I’ll ask for a camera for my birthday.
I finished the Express Lane sock. This is a pic of it nearly finished. I’m not as happy with it as I could be. I’m not sure why. I think the colours aren’t looking as good as I thought they would. I’ll put it aside for a while while I finish the Must Have, and get going on Clessidra with the Knittery wool. I may even rip it out and do a pair of socks each for the girls. It’s such lovely soft wool, they’ll love it.
I made Mum a Sweet Pea shawl from the Stitch & Bitch: The Happy Hooker book for Mother’s Day. She loves it, and I’m happy with how it turned out. I’ll put up a pic soon.
Here is an update on the progress of the Must Have Cardi.
It’s going really well, though this morning I had to rip back 6 rows of the back as I buggered up a cable while watching the girls do Kung Fu. That was not fun. I’ve finished both fronts and am zooming my way up the back. I am well and truly converted to doing back & fronts together. Much better than seams. I’m still deciding whether to do the sleeves in the round or not, and if so, whether to do them on a circular needle or a set of double-pointeds. Hmm. Decisions, decisions.
Last night both girls requested cardis. Summer wants a vest with a hood, made out of rainbow wool (as seen in Free Verse. She also wants sparkles, so I’ll knit some metallic glittery stuff through as well. I have the perfect pattern in mind. Then Willow requested another one of these, so I’ll tweak the pattern a bit to make it bigger. I’ve got stacks of pink wool I bought on special a while ago, but I’ll have to get more glittery stuff, as she wants sparkly bits too.
That should keep me busy for a bit.
Though speaking of busy, I am waiting patiently for my specially dyed sock wool from The Knittery. The colour is Barley Grass, and with it I plan to knit Clessidra, though I may change my mind and do a different cabled knee sock instead. Clessidra looks so good in the red in the picture that I may have to do it in red myself.
But first I need to finish the current sock, of which I will take pics next time I take my boots off.
Right, the presentation is out of the way and I now have about a week before I have any major uni stuff to do, so it’s all systems go on the current Woolly Works In Progress. I haven’t yet done progress pics of them, so here are some past works of woolly goodness.
This is one of my favourite jumpers. I made it about 10 years ago. I really like the cable rib on the bottom and sleeves. It’s a much prettier green than the photo shows.
This is Sonnet from Knitty. I changed the garter stitch to stocking stitch, changed the lace pattern and added a garter stitch edging, which gave it a bit of a ripple effect that I rather like. So really, it’s more free verse than sonnet.
This is a beret I made last year in an attempt to use some of my wool stash. I’ve also made one in purple for Summer at her request. This one’s in Zhivago, so it’s wonderfully soft and floppy. Fun pattern, too. I think I might make another one.
This is one I finished while pregnant with Willow, so it’s nearly 8 years old. It’s a lot more purple (purpler?) than the pic shows. I really must learn how to use Mark’s whizz-bang camera.
Here’s a close up of the cables (Can you tell I like doing cables?)
I promise I will do progress pics of current WIPs very soon. Oh, and added to the list of things I need to knit is a pair of gloves tailored to Mark’s specifications, including taking the missing half-finger into account.
Alas, woolly fun has slowed right down while I actually do some uni work. In fact, I have a presentation due on Thursday. I can’t even begin to describe group work with a bunch of 18 year-olds. Let’s just say it’s not my idea of a fun time.
However, all is not lost in the land of woolly goodness. The Must Have Cardi is going very nicely indeed. The Express Lane Sock, which I’m doing in the Pocket Full of Pansies wool is looking rather good. Nearly finished the first sock. The project-that-cannot-be-named (in case the recipient looks on here, which is fairly unlikely, but you never know) is zooming along and looking good. Pics of that after May 11th. Then there’s the crochet handbag I’ve been working on sporadically for ages. Then there’s poor old Rudolph, who I started crocheting before Christmas and never finished. Then there’s the list a mile long of all the things I want to make.
So much knitting, so little time.
I will take pics of the cardi, the sock and the bag on Thursday or Friday and show some progress. I was going to have a show-and-tell of previous works, but not only is the net on a go-slow, but for some reason WordPress is refusing to insert pictures, and I haven’t got time to figure out why. Aaahh … the suspense!
There’s no such thing as too much green:
One thing I rather like about fabric shopping (apart from the obvious) is that I have discovered that if you collect several fabrics to chose from, then stand there looking thoughtful/slightly puzzled for a while, some nice older lady who is obviously an experienced quilter with an eye for color matching will come along sooner or later and offer her very worthwhile opinions on your fabric choices. It’s really very helpful.
I currently have several projects on the go. Progress piccies soon. Alas, for the moment, studying must take a small amount of precendence.
I will say, though, that the Must Have Cardi is looking good.
Here is the promised pic of the Flower Petal Shawl. It’s huge, and I love it. Just waiting for those freezing mornings walking the kids to school so I can wear it.
Isn’t it pretty?
Well, I finished the socks. One is slightly longer than the other, but only they’re for me so I don’t care. Next time I’ll count rows a bit more carefully. I tried a 3 needle cast-off on the second sock rather than grafting the toe. It was easier, but the grafting definitely loks better.
I also finished Vestivus. That was a good bit of almost instant gratification. I still have several balls of wool left over, so I feel a scarf coming on. Either that or I’ll whack some sleeves on Vestivus and call it Cardiganius.
I got a lovely big parcel of wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills. Love the gigantic 200 gram balls. I couldn’t wait, so I started the Must Have Cardi, which is coming along nicely. The colour is just ace.
I am doing the back and fronts of the cardi in the round on one circular needle, to save seam sewing at the end.
I have also finished the Flower Petal shawl, piccies soon.
I decide the other day that I must have a vest. Now.
So I went to Big W and bought this:
It is Panda Concorde 12 ply. The colours are a bit brighter than they look here.
And with it, I am making Vestivus (partly because I love the name)
I will post a progress piccie soon.
Blogging has fallen slightly behind for the moment, as it’s school holidays and the children have a whirlwind of social engagements. We’ve had a few quiet days at home, but I really like the fact that for both of them, their idea of a great day out is a trip to the bookshop and a hot chocolate. We spent quite some time at Borders the other day; them reading and drinking their hot choccies, and me reading, sipping my chai latte and knitting my sock.
A very civilised way to spend the afternoon.
A cop driving along the interstate pulled up next to a car and saw, to his amazement, that the woman behind the wheel was knitting as she drove.
He rolled down his passenger-side window and shouted to her: “Pull over!”
She shouted back, “No, cardigan!”
