I could not resist the siren song...

Remember this? I couldn't resist the call of this yarn, and somehow, on the weekend, it became this:

I love it even more wound into 3 balls of goodness. Look how the colours harmonise. Sweeeeet.

The yarn continued to sing to me until I could resist no longer and so started knitting the planned scarf (Yarn Harlot 1 row reversable pattern) for me (for our January New York trip, so I need it, honest!).

Now, having thrown myself to the Sirens, I'm not sure if I'm doomed or not. Does it look:

(a) quite good actually, yes I think I could get used to it; or

(b) like something the cat dragged in (oh my, I am turning into my mother).

What do you think? Do I keep going or do I frog? And if the latter, what pattern should I use?

cup o tea, cup o tea...

Giles: My life just flashed before my eyes
Spike: What, cup o tea, cup o tea, almost had a shag, cup o tea?*

Jacqueline, from Serendipity, posted her favourite tea cosies and invited others...so here is my contribution.

I made this as part of my learn to crochet course, and am glad to say it is wool, not acrylic, cleckheaton wool actually, I still have the left-over bits (yep, I did the course about 20 years ago, and yep, I'm a hoarder...). I found it again about 2 years ago, it was packed away with the rest of my teenage "glory box" items. Since I now have a teapot, which by a very pleasing coincidence, perfectly matches my tea cosy both in colour and zig-zag pattern, I use the cosy when I have enough people to use the big pot. I really love this cosy pattern, but I remember it took some time to make, being all double-crochet and with lots of colour changes.

*one of my favourite exchanges from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season six

My name is Rose Red and I'm addicted...

My name is Rose Red and I'm addicted to buying knitting books.

It started innocently enough, with this (purchased to provide more sock pattern options for my brother's odd socks - anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it):
When the woman at the checkout asked me if I wanted to be on the store mailing list and mentioned the magic words "discounts and special offers", I was putty in her hands and was soon handing over my email address. How harmful could it be, I reasoned to myself.

Pretty soon, this followed (using my 20% off welcome voucher):
And then this (using a 20% off any non-fiction voucher):
I don't even have kids of my own...lucky I have friends with kids, oh, and feet! Where will it end..... ???

Grandma Purl's square

I love being part of the knit-blogging community - I know I've said it before but the internet really is a great tool for connecting people (when used for good!).

Here is my contribution to Knit a Square for Grandma Purl - I've used my favourite colours (red and purple - is more purple than appears in the pic) plus some beige/stone to soften it out. It's the first time I've knit using two colours (the red and beige part) at once and I think you can tell - I just couldn't get the cross-over to look less obvious...I used a good Australian classic, Patons Totem - not only is machine washable, but is Australian wool and reminds me of my childhood - it was one of my mother's often-used yarns.

Off to the post office today, I hope it arrives in time!

(non) Ribbon edge cardi p.2

Just because I can (and because bl*gger wouldn't upload the second photo in the original post), here's another pic...

I love it!

(non) Ribbon Edged Cardigan

Let me introduce you to the (finished a month ahead of COP schedule!) (non) Ribbon Edged Cardigan - made for my friend L who is due to have her first baby (a boy) in early December. Due to the boy-ness, there is of course no ribbon edge. I think the teddy-head buttons really make it - I love it! I hope she will too (and even more importantly, that it will fit the little fella next year when it is cold enough!

So, details:

Pattern: Ribbon edged cardigan from Debbie Bliss Special Knits. As mentioned, I didn't sew on the ruffled ribbon edging along the buttonhole and bottom of the cardi. I thought about sewing navy gingham ribbon around the inside edge, just to add another nice finish, but my dislike of sewing got the better of me. As it was, it took me two weeks to get around to sewing this up after blocking it. Otherwise, no adjustments to the pattern - but note, there is a minor error in this pattern - the errata is on the Debbie Bliss website.

Sticks: 3.5mm bamboo straights. Pattern recommended 3.25 but as usual, I had to go up a size. Even though I knit the sleeves at the same time, I have decided I am going to try and convert most patterns to circular or all in one piece knitting. I really hate seaming...

Yarn: I didn't use Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino as specified - decided I would try and bust some stash (hurrah for me!). So 2x50g balls of Rowan True 4py Botany in navy. This wool softens up a lot upon washing - I did a full wet-block to bring out the rib effect. It makes a lovely light fabric which is good for the mild Sydney weather.

Time: Started 15 August 06 and finished on 21 October 06 (although the actual knitting part was done by early October!!).

Christmas and Other Projects...

I'm glad I'm not the only person with a Christmas and Other Projects schedule (I'm liking COP for short!). Of course, I am not a complete knitting freak/goddess like Carolyn, who has on her list to do between now and Christmas:

• 2 adult sweaters
• 1 adult tank (probably)
• 2 child sweaters
• 1 baby sweater
• 5 hats
• 2 prs socks
• 1.5 dolls with clothes
• 1 major adult project (sweater?)
• 1/2 minor adult project (socks?)

She must just be a knitting machine!

I, on the other hand, have planned to do between now and Christmas:

• 2 beanies
• crochet bag
• 1 cushion cover
• 2 prs socks (1.4 socks out of the 4 done already)
• 3/4 of a toddler dress
• 1/2 baby cardi
• crochet edge handkerchief

(At a very rough guess I'd say this is about 1/5 of Carolyn's list, at best!!!). On my list for mid-January (our NY trip!) is to finish husby's scarf (40% done), finish my shawl collar card (98% done) and with any luck and time, a beanie for husby, a beret for me and a scarf for me. All, of course, to be completed in the middle of summer!!!

My friend J thinks it is hilarious that I have a plan, I even have a calendar schedule on which I've planned what to cast on, when things need to be finished and what needs to be worked on every month. And I note what I do every day and cross the days off the chart. I'm going ok. COP has stopped me from starting a new, non-COP project twice so far. Let's see how long I can hold out...Ever looming deadlines have both the amazing ability to assist me in procrastinating even more (ie new projects) and for actually getting things done.

Does it count...

Does it count as stash if you have a specific project in mind for it? I'm leaning towards no but mainly because that makes me feel like I have a much smaller stash than I actually do.

This one though, I don't feel too guilty about - I had bought 3 balls of the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky for T's London scarf, but only used 2. I thought I'd thrown away the receipt but found it last week hiding in my wallet and thought "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!". So I trekked up to Tapestry Craft at lunchtime and exchanged it for this. I'm going to make this with it. But not yet, oh no. The Christmas and Other Projects Calendar (COP for short - very apt really as it is always looking over my shoulder...) will keep me in line until at least Christmas. But more on that tomorrow...

Let's just enjoy it - in it's natural habitat (it is called "Forest" after all)..

Secret Agent Nelly

Nelly: If I lie just like this, just so, no-one will ever be able to spot the difference between us.

Concrete cat: zzzz...whatever...


Nelly: They got me last time but this time I know they won't find me.

Concrete cat: You are dreaming, aren't you.

The nation's capital

I'm in Canberra for work today. Flying is a frustrating reminder of the Australian ban on knitting sticks on both domestic and international flights. So much wasted knitting time. So you can't take knitting sticks (even bamboo 2.5mm ones, which are little more than long toothpicks) on the plane, but you can check in using the whiz-bang quickcheck system (which I do love and wouldn't change) without even needing to show any ID. I love our security system. So Australian (she'll be right, mate!). What a lovely trusting culture we seem to have...

Swatch schmatch

I'm not a big fan of knitting the tension/gauge swatch. I know it is important, and I will do it if I really have to, but I figure that when you are doing something small (baby item, or anything with sleeves), the sleeve is probably the swatch, and if your tension is right, hey presto, you've got half a sleeve already!

Ha. This is the second go at a project for my friend LL who is having a baby in November. I started another pattern, didn't worry about a swatch, and of course my tension was way off. So I frogged it. I hate frogging...

But this time it worked out ok. I'm knitting in Rowan 4ply cotton and converted the cardi pattern to do on a circular stick to minimise the seaming issues (have I mentioned how I hate seaming - the baby rib cardi I blocked a week and a half ago still has one side seam unsewn...) which of course makes the knitting seem slower but I am looking forward to only doing the raglan sleeve seams - hurrah! Don't know if LL is having a girl or boy so have used a very neutral colour. The cotton is fairly nice to knit with but I do prefer wool - more springy, easier on the hands. I am looking forward to doing the sleeves - circular, lovely easy stocking stitch. It will be just like knitting a sock!

It's probably time...

to post a pic of this WIP - my garter stitch throw, which I've been knitting away on in the background since about January this year. I based it on a pattern from Erika Knight's Simple Knits for Little Cherubs but used 5 colours rather than four and made it a bit bigger (8 strips with 8 squares per strip, rather than 7x7). The squares are meant to look a bit random, rather than symmetrical and I've knitted it in strips to avoid at least some of the sewing up (I must have been crazy to make something with so much sewing up required!!!).

The picture shows it with the strips in the order I planned, but once I finish the last strip (I'm almost done the second last one) I'll have a bit of a play and see what I like best. And then I plan to knit on a border, in the orange colour (which I was and still am, very taken with). So with any luck, it will be finished in time for next winter!!! Husby has already claimed it as his own.

I'm in the mood

for sharing more stuff about me (thanks Crazy Aunt Purl). Here's my four things:

Four jobs I've had:
Bunny girl - no, nothing like it sounds - I was a poker/gaming machine attendant at a sports club whose mascot was a rabbit. I guess they thought it was hilarious in, say, the 60s or 70s, to call the women (yes, they were always women) in this job a "bunny girl" - and it stuck, even in the nineties. To make it even better, our uniform included a red pill box hat. Nice.

Casual assistant in the academic dress hire dept at my University - helping out on graduation days. Loved the girls who came in with elaborate hair and couldn't keep the trencher (mortarboard) on their heads. Didn't love the wet days when the Arts students graduated (white rabbit fur hoods smell just a little unpleasant when wet).

Lawyer - 5 years was enough for me

Human resources - my current job.

Four movies I can watch over and over
(this is really going to show my age, if nothing else has already!)

Dirty Dancing
The Breakfast Club
Pride & Prejudice (the mini-series version with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle)
The Sound of Music (it's a childhood thing!)

Four places I have lived
My home town, in country NSW - hot and dry and nothing to do. Good safe place to grow up though
Inner west Sydney - Newtown, St Peters and Dulwich Hill. I still live in the inner west.

Four tv shows I love to watch
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (I still watch these on DVD)
The West Wing
Grey's Anatomy/Desperate Housewives (I class these as pretty much the same show really)
Project Runway/America's Next Top Supermodel (ditto)
Spicks & Specks/The Glass House (I know that makes five, but I guess Buffy isn't on telly anymore so it doesn't really count)

Four places I've been on holiday
Hayman Island and Tasmania (my honeymoon - both were fantastic!!)
London and UK generally
Singapore (oooh, Great Singapore Sale...)
Kiama (NSW) - our reasonably regular long weekend venue

Four of my favourite dishes
Thai takeaway on Friday nights - always get the same dishes from the same place - they don't know our name but send us a Christmas card every year.

Nachos - a typical Saturday lunch meal. Tacky but yum.

Creme brulee - my all-time favourite desert.

Roast - any - beef, lamb, chicken, pork (ooooh, crackling...)

Four websites I visit daily
Yahoo (mail) and eBay
A Dress A Day
Manolo's Shoeblogs
My own (compulsive checking for comments!)

Four places I would rather be right now
Knitting (anywhere!)
Hayman Island
Singapore
London

I'll add to the chorus...

Was Saturday hot or what!!

Had Chicks with Sticks at KT's house - in between feeding and changing the baby, KT even managed to knit about 4 rows of the cushion project we gave her when she resigned over a year ago!! I worked on husby's secret socks and am just about ready for toe shaping, I think (have to measure...). KO pulled out the moss stitch blanket she is knitting and discovered she had forgotten the vital ingredient - the second stick!!! Lucky she had a second project.

Did some fiddling with the sidebar on the weekend - I need to work out how to close the gaps between the % finished bars. One day I'll get flickr too for the FOs, better than a list...but time fiddling with blog is time not spent knitting!

Tee Hee!

You Are 28% Evil

A bit of evil lurks in your heart, but you hide it well. In some ways, you are the most dangerous kind of evil.

How Evil Are You?

Some random Friday fun - just right for Friday 13th!

Smiles

In the spirit of Three Beautiful Things, and since I walked to work (from the bus stop, not from home!!) with a little smile on my face, here are three things that made me happy today:

1. a young girl dressed in black with a vintage kelly green handbag - I wonder if it was her mum's, or a great op-shop or markets find

2. an older couple walking along, with the husband ensuring his wife doesn't step in a (very small) puddle of water

3. a tall, slim woman with legs that went on forever dressed in a striped shirt dress and crazy pattern shoes. And no jealousy at all on my part!

It might also have to do with today being Friday and lovely warm weather, just a hint of breeze. Mmmmm summer....

My knitting bookshelf

As if to prove my point (point 7 in fact), I confess this is my knitting/crochet bookshelf (there's a cross-stitch and embroidery book lurking there too as references but as yet unused).

I'm not quite sure when it really started to grow, but I think the last 12 months in particular has been a fertile time for my knitting book obsession. And of course my Amazon wish list has a few more items on it (ok, over 20), including Mason-Dixon which I have not been able to find anywhere in Sydney yet, and the Barbara Walker treasury books and the Elizabeth Zimmermans, so I can see what Zimmermania is all about! Lucky my birthday is coming up (and of course, Christmas!). I think I shall have to make myself a little birthday purchase soon...

It's all about socks at the moment

And I didn't even sign up for Socktober!


Here's my next pair, for my brother for Christmas. He always wears odd socks, so I'm going to make them with the same yarn (Regia) but use a different pattern for each (he will think that is very tricky!). This one is the Gentleman's Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern, again from Nancy Bush Knitting Vintage Socks. Very easy 3 row repeat pattern - 1x1 rib for 1 row, knit the next 2 rows. Hopefully a lot quicker than the Gent's Fancy Socks!!!

Alpaca socks

Husby is modelling his birthday alpaca socks. Even though he knew he was getting them he was still all excited to open them on birthday morning - except that it was so hot, he would have worn them all weekend!

So, details:
Wool: Adriafil Sierra Andina (100% extrafine alpaca, made in Peru). On the ball, this is a lovely blue/grey twist, but knits up pretty well just blue (shame, really). Not sure what ply it is, I think either 4 or 5 ply. Hard to tell from the label.
Pattern: 5ply pattern from Jo Sharp's Knit vol 1, except with 1x1 ribbing rather than the picot edging (just a bit too girly for husby!). Very quick and easy stocking stitch - I started these to do at a friend's house and got a lot done that night actually (almost the whole leg)! Probably should have done some ankle shaping but I think they'll be ok.
Sticks: 3.25 mm metal dpns (old Aero's which Mum gave me). I actually love knitting with metal dpns, the wool just slips over the sticks. Used 4mm dpns for the ribbing (which is still a little tight if the socks are pulled right up)
Time: Started in the last week of July, finished on 4 October.

Washing day

Yesterday was washing day - not only did I do 4 loads of normal washing, but there was also a little handwashing, some pinning and some drying (good sun, at least in the morning anyway).
The rib cardi for L's baby is now ready to be sewn up, and Grandma Purl's square is ready to be posted. Since I hate sewing up and I hate going to the post office (it's all about the queue...) we'll see when all this gets done...


Took advantage of the cool change in the afternoon to help husby with some gardening - our back yard is looking good and my little herb "garden" is now planted - basil, mint and parsley. Wanted rosemary too but our local Flower Power didn't have any so will have to stick with the bought kind. Mmmm fresh pesto...

10 things...

Grumperina started a meme - 10 knitterly things you don't know about me. I don't think I can do 10 knitterly things (that's what the main blog is for!!) so here are 10 things which may or may not be knitting related that you might not have known about me:

1. I didn't know what a meme was until I the blog addiction took hold. Now I'm still not sure how I'd define it, but it is this list thingy - sometimes they are Q&A format.

2. I didn't change my name when I married husby. I work in a professional services environment and it is (or was - not so much any more, which is interesting...) the norm not to change your name. None of my work friends have changed their name. All of my school friends did. I'm glad I didn't. It annoys the crap out of me that one of husby's (female) friends insists on addressing cards to us in husby's name. It makes me feel like either she can't remember my name or doesn't care that she's getting it wrong.

3. I LOVE reality tv (ok, so that's not a surprise to my friends reading this). I know it is wrong and bad but I don't care. I love it. I love watching how people behave. I tell myself sometimes that my interest is a bit intellectual - it's like a reminder that we're all human and we all make mistakes - and sometimes people surprise you in the way they behave, react etc; and we're all different and that's one of the things that makes life interesting. But I do draw the line at The Bachelor and any other dating type show (gee, I have SOME standards!!). And I do accept that generally speaking, reality tv is crap. But it IS good knitting tv.

4. I enjoy reading Agatha Christie mysteries. They are gentle (although can be quite violent) and a reminder of a different time (ie occasionally racist!).

5. The male gene runs strong in my family. My dad had 5 brothers, my mum had 7 (the oldest of which was brought up as her uncle, another sign of former times) and I have 4 (and I'm the youngest!). Plus I have 5 nephews. I'd really like to have a girl if I have kids.

6. I moved to Sydney to go to uni - I'd never go back to live in a small country town - unless it was on the coast. I lived in a residential college for 2 years, where I sank without a trace. It was not my scene - I was a lot shyer than I am now and just didn't seem to have much in common with the private school girls that predominantly made up the college scene when I was there.

7. I have about 50 books on my bookshelf that I haven't read yet (my unread books have their own special bookshelf, as if to mock me with my inability to make time to read them). Since I've really gotten into knitting, the only books I seem to read are knitting books. I have to get me some books on tape or CD or something. Or maybe stop sleeping.

8. I love stupid jokes. The paper published one of my childhood favourites recently:

Q: Why does Edward Woodward have so many D's in his name?
A: Because otherwise his name would be Ewar Woowar

(yep, I know it is bad (REALLY bad) but it still makes me giggle)

9. I am most jealous of really artistic, creative people. I can make things look ok, I've got a reasonable sense of design and colour but am mostly derivative. If I could change anything about myself, I think it would be to make myself genuinely artistic and creative.

10. When I was a child I hated curly hair. Now I wish I had curly hair. My mum always wanted me to have curly hair. Mums are so right. What a shame it is that mainly we don't realise that until we grow up (after we've given them all the grief of teenage and twenties).

More socks...

I have given up on finishing even one of Husby's secret socks in time for his birthday - lucky Christmas is only a couple of months away! I changed back to 3+1 sticks, I found using 4+1 a bit too hard to manage. Maybe if the sticks were shorter (they are 20cm) it might have been easier. I'm getting a bit better at managing the ladders. I just keep moving the stitches around the sticks every 4 or so rows.

But to make up for it, I did manage to finish his alpaca socks - again, just in time for summer! But he does love his handmade socks. And fortunately, he found the first pair I made him so there will be more socks for him in the future. I will post FO details later (I'm doing this at work (naughty!) and forgot to bring the label) .

My mum

Mum came to visit last week and went to Kiama with us for the weekend. She never wants to go home - I think she feels that we need her to cook dinner for us and do our washing (and husby's shirt ironing, which I don't do) and a bit of cleaning, because we both work. Mum and Dad always found it puzzling that we started work so early and didn't get home until almost 7 at night (if not even later). The city lifestyle (or should I say workstyle) was so different to them being from a small country town (where the shops still, in the main, close at noon on Saturday and don't open on Sunday). I still remember how shocked they were when they saw our house after we'd bought it, given what we paid - a good price for Sydney, but astronomical for my home town!
Mum used to knit a fair bit but has mainly always done her "fancywork" (embroidery on traced linen) - she makes a lot of duchess sets (dressing table or sideboard type embroidered doilies - a big one and two small ones). While I treasure the ones she has made for me they are not the sort of thing you use much now, so I've been buying her some different ones (very hard to do, they are not very common any more). Here she is doing a pair of pillowslips which will look great on our bed, which is antique style. She is so neat, the back of the work looks almost as good as the front - but fancywork is not something I have any patience (or aptitude) for - at least at this stage!

Happy feet!

My feet are very happy - the Gentleman's Fancy Socks are finally done! I only started these in MAY this year!!! But my feet are also sad - it is pretty well summer now and just a bit hot for socks - but no doubt these will get a workout in New York in January - hurrah!

I am so pleased with these socks - not only are they done but now I can start something else...but what to start? This is probably a bit too structured for me but I'm planning on doing a knitting calendar, for the next few months up until Christmas at least - I've got a few birthday and Christmas projects in mind and I think I need to keep track and set myself some goals!

But first, details:
Pattern: Gentleman's Fancy Sock from Nancy Bush Knitting Vintage Socks. I skipped two pattern repeats on the leg and one on the foot - these are plenty long enough for me in the leg and foot. I also made a mistake on the last pattern round on the foot, but luckily it (almost) looked intentional (as it was symmetrical) so I just made sure I made the same mistake on sock2. The socks do look a bit funny off the foot (very pointy heel and toe, a bit elvish) but look good on (well, I think so anyway!). I also love this stitch pattern - I think I'm going to do a beanie in it!
Wool: Schaefer Anne, colour 16A. This is the finest wool I've knit with and it does make for a bit slower going but it was great to knit with and the patterning on the socks is great - it only pooled a bit on the heel flap and the toe, and in fact pooled symmetrically on each sock, but on one in the brighter red and the other in the darker red.
Sticks: 2.5mm bamboo dpns. The pattern called for 2mm but my usual tight tension meant this was way off on the gauge. Also, I feel like I was knitting with toothpicks. I think I need metal if I ever need to use 2mm sticks.
Time: I started these in May (!!) and finished on 2 October 2006

mmmm knitting goodness...

Here is the lovely 50% off Rowan from Victoria House Needlecraft at Mittagong - Yorkshire Tweed 4ply, Cotton Glace and Calmer, which I've never used but is very soft. Think the Cotton Glace and Calmer will become baby/toddler items for various friends with children, the Yorkshire Tweed might become the "ballet" slippers from Holiday Handknits and maybe some other smallish items (scarf? beanie?).

This is my mum's shawl and yarn. I didn't get the Heirloom Avignon that the pattern uses, it has these metally sparkly bits that looked a bit tacky to me. The Filatura di Crosa will be much nicer I think (hope...)

Gotta love the long weekend

Husby and I went to Kiama for the weekend. My mum came along too. I feel very lucky that husby and mum get along very well - not a stereotypical mother-in-law/son-in-law relationship. I always feel a bit daggy when I tell people we go to Kiama (we go reasonably regularly) but we really like it - not too far from Sydney, nice beaches, close to great day-trip places (Berry, Robertson, Bowral, Kangaroo Valley, Jamberoo, Gerringong, Gerroa...etc). And more importantly, one of my best friends lives there. The pic is the view from our cabin (at the Blowhole Point) - these are quite new, not too expensive and just perfect for long weekend.

Went to Berry on Sunday - Mum and I spent at least an hour in Sew and Tell - me looking at the knitting books and yarn - they seem to have really expanded their range since I was there last - good range of the reasonably priced yarns and also Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, some Noro and some great books - I bought this. Mum saw this shawl made up and loved it so I bought this to make it for her - probably for her birthday next April, that should give me enough time I hope! (blogger won't let me post more pics! will put this in separate post...)

Took the tourist route home, through Jamberoo, Robertson, Bowral and Mittagong. Hoped to stop at Wool Addiction at Bowral (it is a lovely wool shop) but sadly closed today. I was surprised - I know it is a public holiday but Bowral was pretty full of people and I would have thought they'd do some business. But like us, everyone deserves a day off too!

Lucky the Victoria House Needlecraft shop at Mittagong was open! Yay! AND, even better - all their Rowan was 50% off! Omg! Of course, it was pretty expensive anyway, but half price was too good to pass up so I bought all this home (see above!!)

Love the colours of the Yorkshire Tweed, plan to make a baby cardi or similar with the cotton glace and not sure what I'll do with the Calmer - maybe a jumper for my nephew L. Am excited!! Lots of projects to do! Oh, and I did a good bit of knitting on the weekend too - more on that later...