Totally Terrific Three Tsock Pattern Club #1 Nutkins!

I've had this pattern in my queue for such a long time, and so was very excited when it was voted one of the patterns for the Super Special Six Pattern Sock Club (or in my case, the Totally Terrific Three Tsock Pattern Club!)

And I had the perfect yarn - the yarn called for in the pattern, in the exact colour used by the designer!  It was, in fact, this pattern, which made me covet the Wollmeise Spice Market so much.  Which is odd to me, since I hardly ever wear brown shades.  But this colour, I just love it.  The depth of colours, the way it works in this pattern. 

I'm really sorry that I can't capture it accurately in the photos!

Details

Pattern:  Nutkin, by Beth LaPensee.  I made a few modifications to this pattern - just to accommodate my personal preferences.  Lots of people in the group on Ravelry were determined to do the pattern as written, to try the short row heel and toe, but I  suppose I wasn't knitting them to learn something new, I just wanted a nice pair of socks that I knew would fit me - and short row heels are not friends with my feet!

Yarn:  Wollmeise Twin (80/20) in Spice Market (dark).  Cannot tell you how much I love knitting with Wollmeise and how happy I am with the way this colour knitted up!  I used about 105gm of the 150 gm skein.  What a nice bunch of leftovers! 

Sticks:  I used 2.75mm dpns for the cuff and first 3 pattern repeats, then changed to 2.5mm dpns for the rest of the leg and foot. 

Modifications:  Instead of the folded cuff, I did a tubular cast on with a twisted 1x1 rib.  Instead of the short row heel I did my favourite eye of partridge heel flap and gussets.  And finally, instead of the short row toe I did a standard wedge toe.

Time:  We had two months to knit this pattern, and I made it, hurrah!  1 March 2011 - 29 April 2011.

It's interesting, there is a lot of talk about how this pattern biases - which it does, for many people!  The designer suggests it is due to how you pick up the stitches when knitting down the turned cuff, but I think it is the pattern itself, as mine biased and I did a different cuff entirely.  But the biasing doesn't bother me, I just make sure the sock is twisted around correctly when I put it on!

I love my lovely new wollmeise socks (my first pair for myself - it won't be the last!)

Big balls and hot nuts

Yes, because I am really a 12 yo boy...

On Sunday I made the 3 hour drive to Our Nation's Capital, with 3 lovely lady companions (well, when I said I made the drive, I sat comfortably in the back knitting the whole time!), for the purpose of visiting the Old Bus Depot Markets for the Celebration of Wool day.  The markets are a regular event, but the wool day is once (or is it twice?) a year.  It was my first visit, and it was a very good market, I thought, not just for wool (and other yarns) but just generally.  A really nice selection of other stalls (very little crap, like you can find at some markets) and some great food stalls.

So in case you can't guess, the Big Balls refers to all the huge hanks (some formed into balls) of natural coloured merino, and the Hot Nuts is of course the freshly cooked caramel macadamias.  I scoffed at the others when they said they were going to get some nuts, but when the nut man offered me a sample, I was sold like the most gullible person ever. 

I think between us we'd eaten half the bag before we even left the market (ok, it was mostly me!)  And I only bought them as we were walking out, heh! (this photo was taken after I'd arrived back home and had a few more...)

But like the bad photographer I am, I did not get any photos at all at the market, so you'll just have to imagine the Big Balls for yourself.  According to those who'd been before, it wasn't as good as in previous years - fewer yarns and possibly fewer attendees as well, but I still had a good time and of course made some purchases...

Merino Twist x 2, MCN sock and Merino Silk

All of these from Fibrewebs - because we all know I have a terrible shortage of red sock yarn and sock yarn in general...

Lang Jawoll Magic

And this lovely from Rex and Evelyn Reynolds Yarn Supplies.  I could have bought one in every colour, but restrained myself...although I did encourage others to partake, because buying vicariously is almost as good as buying for myself!

After tiring ourselves out shopping, we were in need of fortification, so headed to a great Malaysian/Chinese restaurant called Sammy's, with some other Sydney knitting pals.  And had a huge and amazingly inexpensive feast.  With maybe just room for a hot chocolate (ok, and a chocolate sample plate) afterwards at nearby Koko Black. 

After that we were ready for the trip back. It was a really lovely way to spend my Sunday, and Canberra turned on beautiful weather for us - my overcoat and huge shawl were not even required!  Thanks to Ingrid and Linda for chauffering me!

Connor's birthday vest

Now what sort of knitter would I be if I didn't make the little fella a new handknit item to wear for his birthday (I guess I'm lucky his birthday falls in mid-autumn and not mid-summer, heh!).

As it can still be quite warm around this time of year (just not yesterday, brrrrr), I thought a vest would be best.  And I had this lovely handspun from my clever knitting and now spinning friend Ms Funky.  Perfect!

Details

Pattern:  Argyle Slipover from Special Knits by Debbie Bliss.  Of course, I omitted the argyle, and I converted the pattern to be knit in the round up to the armholes and then flat.  I also did a three needle bind off for the shoulder seams and knit the armhole bands in the round.  Of course, even with that, I still had 20 ends to sew in once the knitting was done - gah!!

I wasn't sure I'd have enough of the red for the body, so I added in a couple of stripes across the chest, just to be safe.  I was knitting pretty close to the wire, deadline wise, so I didn't want to have to rip back in case I ran out.

As it turns out, I would have had enough, but I still like the stripes!

Yarn:  150g of Fruit Salad handspun from Ms Funky, plus some of the turquoise colour for the contrast edging.  And about 5g of Rowan True Botany 4ply in a similar-ish turquoise (shade 552 Frost) for the stripes.

Sticks:  3mm and 3.25mm KnitPicks Harmony Options.

Time:  17 April 2011 - 6 May 2011.  Just squeaked it in, with time for a wash and block the day before his birthday (thank goodness it was sunny that day!)

Paired with his new jeans (from Gap!  Yay for having Gap in Australia finally, although booo for how expensive it is), I think he looks pretty darn cool!

They say time flies...

and they'd be right!

It's a cupcake-erpillar!

Yes, it was the little fella's first birthday today.

I can hardly believe it!  Since it was also mothers day, we had a family bbq to celebrate.  And to top it off, we had a perfect sunny autumn day for it.  I didn't quite get a sleep in (well, not for as long as I would have liked, heh!) or breakfast in bed, and I spent the morning baking cupcakes and other prep work, but the good thing about bbqs is the  leftovers, which meant no cooking for dinner, huzzah!

And it was a lovely lovely day.  Hope you all had a lovely Sunday too. 

Strength in every stitch

At around the same time as we were all devastated by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, one of my friends lost her mother unexpectedly. So I did what knitters in these circumstances so often do. I got out my sticks and a special yarn and, using a pattern sold to benefit the earthquake relief funds, I made a shawl for my friend.

Details
Pattern: eiki, by Janel Laidman. This pattern was designed and released just after the devastation in Japan, and the profits are donated by the designer to various disaster relief funds. According to the designer, eiki means "strength" in Japanese, and I thought that was exactly what my friend would need in the times ahead of her.

The pattern itself is a small shawl, the main portion done in garter stitch and the edging in stocking stitch with a lacy leaf pattern. It will use a largish skein of sock yarn, although I used a laceweight.

Yarn: Habu Tsumugi Silk! In red #52, from the stash. Japanese yarn, for a friend who loves this yarn, for a pattern to aid Japan. Couldn't have been more perfect, really. And it had the specified yardage as required by the pattern - although surprisingly, I had about 100 yards left over. This is an interesting yarn - a bit rough to knit with, but not uncomfortably so, but yet soft in the knitted fabric.

Sticks: 3.5mm KnitPicks harmony options. I perhaps could have gone up a size or two, but being garter stitch, I didn't want it to be too open and stretchy.

Time: 18 March 2011 - 11 April 2011. Not bed for me and lace knitting, thanks in part to working on it while we were on our holiday!

I was interested to see how it would grow on blocking, and discovered not a lot! It didn't really grow at all across the top (about 1m/40") across, but did grow down the spine, from 43cm/17" to 52.5cm/21". So a small shawl indeed, or a large neckerchief! But one with thoughts of strength, love, life and hope knitted into each stitch.

StashDownUnder 2011 - April

I feel like I didn't get a lot knitted this month, although my totals aren't doing too badly, now that I've sat down and worked it all out.  I do have a couple of FO's to flash, which I'll do in the next week or two (promise!).

I did come into some yarn this month - I'm in two minds about whether to count it as part of my incomings, since I didn't buy it - I kind of inherited it.  I sort of think I won't count it...I do plan to knit up some of it as a gift back to the person who gave it to me, in the next month, so that makes me feel less guilty about not officially counting it, heh!

It wasn't a huge amount, and it was all good stuff (I had visions of being the recipient of a vast amount of yarn of questionable quality, but I got lucky!).

First up was 16 balls (well, 15.5, as one ball was quite damaged - like it had been accidentally cut by scissors or something...well, that's what I'm hoping anyway, rather than moth damage!) of a navy 8ply/dk merino crepe yarn - which I'm thinking will make a nice Greenfield cardi.

Next was 5 balls of Heirloom Merino Magic in a range of colours - nice yarn (this will be the gift).

And I saved the best for last!  4 balls of Zara in tomato red!  woo hoo!

I also received a bunch of needles, mostly straights, including a couple of KnitPicks harmony straights - which I suspect have never been used - I'm thinking of selling these - anyone interested?  (I'm not sure many people I know knit with straights any more, especially the really long ones!)

This month:

Actual balls used:  3.5 x 50g balls

8ply equivalent:  7.5 x 50g balls (lots of 4ply and laceweight this month!)

metres used:  702m

YTD:

Actual balls used:  21.5 x 50g balls

8ply equivalent:  31.5 x 50g balls

metres used:  3855m

Fit for a (royal) wedding?

I do love to wear a hat to a wedding.  It's a dying tradition in Australia (perhaps everywhere) but I have done my bit to keep it alive.  There's just something about a hat that makes an outfit special.  I suppose it's partly because it's so rare to see them at weddings any more, that's what makes you stand out!

I'm seriously considering wearing a hat on Friday as I watch the royal wedding on tv ... I watched Charles and Diana, and Andrew and Sarah, and Edward and Sophie, and even Charles and Camilla.  I will totally be watching William and Kate!  I'm not a monarchist by any means, but there's just something about a royal wedding which totally appeals.  It's probably the frocks.  And the hats.  I'm sure it's the hats!

I made this one a while back, but didn't get a photo shoot for ages, and then I sort of forgot to blog it, until now!  Thanks to my friend Miss J for modelling so fetchingly for me!

Details

Pattern:  Modest Cloche by Jennifer Hansen.  I have long admired this pattern, I do love a cloche hat, and there was just something about this one, perhaps it's the flower, perhaps it's the angle of the project photograph, I don't know.  But I was glad to be able to finally make it!

Yarn:  Silky Merino by Malabrigo, 2 skeins in grey green (a lovely birthday gift from Bells).  This was actually not quite enough - I didn't have enough to do a full flower, so only managed a small one (which also curls somewhat annoyingly), but I think it's ok.  If you did the flower in a different yarn or colour, 2 skeins would definitely be enough!  This is a gorgeous yarn, especially nice to crochet with.

Hook:  2.25mm hook - the pattern suggests a 2.75mm hook - I didn't have one, so tried 3mm (too big), 2.5mm (still too big) and then 2.25mm (just right!).  I'm not actually sure I've ever seen a 2.75mm hook before, I shall have to keep an eye out for one in future.

Time:  30 January 2011 - 21 February 2011.  I actually finished the hat itself on 7 February (crochet is SO QUICK!) but tried to get some extra yarn to ensure I had enough for the full flower (via the ISO thread on the Australian Knitters board on Rav).  None was forthcoming (I knew it'd be a long shot) so I just went ahead with what I had.

And I'm pretty darn happy with it, really!  The cool texture is done by front post stitches, and the "gathered" part on the top of the head is done by varying the stitches on each row (treble at back, then transitioning through half treble to double crochet - I'm using english terminology here!).  Very clever pattern!

Now what hat to wear on Friday...I think it should have some feathers...

I read a book!

I read a book!  I even read two!  Or, more accurately, I listened to two books.  I have become a fan of the audiobook.  So good for listening while knitting.  Or on public transport.  Or doing the dishes.  Or holding a sleeping baby.  I buy my audiobooks from Audible - I have a monthly membership, which is good value right now that the dollar is so good.

The first is Bill Bryson's At Home:  A Short History of Private Life, read by himself.  I love his travel books and I thought this sounded interesting - a history of private life, themed around each room in the 19th century rectory house in which he lived in the UK.  It's an interesting book, crammed full of facts and anecdotes, but I found it a bit of a slog.  I'm not sure if it suffered by being an audiobook - it might be better read in the traditional way, because it would allow you to skip around to find whatever next takes your fancy.  It also doesn't display nearly as much of the humour Bryson has in his travel books.   

But if you are the sort of person who goes on wikipedia (or whatever) to look up, say, when the first house was built, and end up going on a journey including skara brae, whale hunting, the poorhouse, manufacture of bricks, the history of medical discoveries and treatment in particular as it pertains to women and so on, then you will love this book!  And if you are me, you will come away with a sense of gratitude that you are a woman now and not in the past when you might have had a breast removed due to cancer, without the use of anaesthetic.   Urk.

The second was a refreshing change (which is kind of weird, since the story itself is almost a horror story!).  Coraline, by Neil Gaiman, read so delightfully by Dawn French.  I just loved this, and the narration was perfect.  I found it really difficult to "put down", and had this one read within a few days (whereas At Home took me a few months to finish).  It is a kid's story, but doesn't overly read like one, and had just enough suspense without leaving me totally freaked out, if that makes sense.  I highly recommend it!

Advance Australia Fair!

I picked up a little something something in a shop on our way to the country for the family reunion - one of those shops country towns have where the locals sell their handmade goods and produce - jams, chutneys, relishes, quilts, knitwear, crochet, sewing, woodwork etc.  And this particular shop had a small op-shop/thrift store at the back.

On the shelves was this book.  For $1.  I couldn't leave it behind!

Published in 1984, when oversized shapeless bright knits were totally IN!  Not that I think I'll ever knit one of these garments - but I might one day incorporate one or more of the uniquely Australian motifs into something I knit - maybe a version of Bellyphant with kangaroos instead of elephants, or something like that...

It would be cruel of me not to share more of the patterns (there is one for each state and territory as well as a few more general patterns).

This one is for the Canberrans:

And my Tasmanian friends:

And this one is just perfect for Sydney:

Brash and loud!

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside!

I promised you a holiday post, so here's a few shots - not many, as we had a quiet few days on the coast.  Mostly, we sat on our front verandah and enjoyed the view!

Including the sunrise - yes, I think I saw the sun rise every day we were there - I say that in a slightly sad way - I'd much rather be still asleep when the sun rises!  Although it is gorgeous to watch the light come in and the colours change, and see the increase in activity on and around the beach.  One brave soul went for a dawn swim every day in the ocean.  To that I say brrrrrrrrrr and no thanks!

We made the obligatory trip to Berry (the source of the yarn which I showed in the last post), and of course the famous donut van - mmmmm hot donuts!

There was car knitting galore - my nutkins, although you can't tell from this photo!

And most excitingly, Connor's first time at the beach!  It looks like a miserable day but it was actually quite warm and almost as soon as we left the beach, the sun came out (but of course!). 

Well, he wasn't so keen on the water - really did NOT want to have his feet, or any part of him, put in the shallows - but he did quite like the sand.  And only tried to eat it twice.  I call that a win!

StashDownUnder 2011 - March

Sorry for the blog silence - we went away the last week in March and I've only just caught up with my blogreading (not to mention uploading photos etc). Sorry also for the weird paragraph spacing in this post, I tried to fix it and only made it worse. First off we went to my home town for the weekend for a family reunion of the descendents of my mother's parents (both of whom died before I was born). They had 10 children, and now have over 300 descendents, the youngest of whom was born about 5 days before the reunion! Then we had almost a week on the south coast - this was the view from the front of our cabin. Not bad, hey. Made the early morning wakeups you get with a small child so much more bearable!

And of course, there is an excellent yarn store down that way, which was a "must see". And maybe I bought some yarn...

Not much, really! I was very very restrained. But you see, to celebrate 3 months of no yarn purchasing, I bought myself 3 new books - I figured a book a month was a suitable reward! And one of the books has these socks: I LOVE Missoni - the way they use colours, and how they have made the chevron pattern iconic, I just love it. So I had to have that sock yarn in that exact colourway, so I can make these for my very own!

I was also lucky enough to win a prize from MissFee: I cannot tell you how many times I have almost bought this yarn in this exact colourway! Weeeeee, now it is mine without even needing to purchase it, and since it is gift/prize yarn, it doesn't count, heh! And now that I come to think of it, it would look pretty good as Missoni style socks too...

I'll tell you more about our holiday in another post, but for now, here's my March StashDownUnder totals:

In: 2 x 50g (or 4 x 50g if 8ply equivalent)

Actual balls used: 5 x 50g - but 3 x 50g if the "in" yarn is taken off

8ply equivalent: 9.5 x 50g (lots of 4ply and laceweight knitting this month!) - but 5.5 x 50g Metres used: 1030m (I'm not going to take the "in" yarn off this, I'd like to use it as an actual record of what I've knit for the year)

YTD

Actual balls used: 18 x 50g

8ply equivalent: 24 x 50g

Metres used: 3203m (woohoo, over 3km!)

Up, down, round and round

I love me some crochet, I do, I do. It's so quick. And for the right project, so effective.

Just over two weeks after I started the Circles Scarf, it is done!

Details

Pattern: Circles Scarf by Linda Permann, from Inside Crochet, issue 11, November 2010. At first glance, the pattern appears to be a series of round motifs attached to each other. I am not a fan of making a bunch of small motifs and joining them (either as you go or after the fact, although joining as you go is preferable, if it has to be done!) But no! You cleverly work a long row of half circles and then work back again, joining to the previous row as you go.

Yarn: The repurposed Wendy Happy bamboo/nylon sock yarn - because of the bamboo, this makes a lovely drapey scarf. I used just over 1 x 100g ball.

Hook: 3.5mm

Time: 2 March 2011 - 18 March 2011. And even though it's a project I completed entirely this year, I'm still counting it as part of my "binding off" commitment, given I frogged a pre-2011 WIP and re-used the yarn!

Modifications: My circles were smaller than the pattern specifications, so I made my rows longer by adding extra circles. And I did an extra row of circles - 5 rather than 4 - because I think an odd number of something looks more "right" than an even number.

The pattern was designed specifically for self-striping sock yarn, but I could see it working really nicely in a solid or semi-solid colour too. And it's also given me some ideas about thread crochet accessories too - I could see this method working well for a bracelet or cuff, or a necklace. Hmmm, watch this space!

It's Shag-adelic, baby!

For my birthday last year, the lovely Ingrid gave me some of the latest "it" yarn, Brooklyn Tweed Shelter, in the deep shade of red called Long Johns (not that I've ever seen red long johns for real, only on tv in American westerns ... they pretty much only come in white or black here, as far as I can tell, not being a regular long john wearer).

I was very keen to try this out - these two skeins were burning a hole in my stash. I spent a while on Ravelry, surfing the patterns, as you do. I wanted something that would use up all the yarn (a generous 140yds/50g skein) and that didn't require too much thought on my part. A scarf or shawl seemed the best option, preferably something still interesting to knit.

When I found this pattern, I knew it had to be. The name helped - my inner 15 yo giggled with glee at all the stupid puns I could make as I knit this scarf. Which of course I will share with you...

Details

Pattern: Shag by Lynne Barr, from her excellent book Knitting New Scarves, a wonderful collection of amazing and unusual designs. This is one of the simplest patterns from the book, but creates a wonderful 3D design which is still very wearable, because it is flat on the other (equally attractive) side.

Yarn: Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in Long Johns, 2 x 50g skeins. As I mentioned, these are very generous skeins, and the yarn itself is so light and lofty - the skeins look huge, more like 100g skeins, because of the nature of the yarn. It contains a fair amount of vegetable matter, and is not the softest yarn out there. It softens up a bit on washing, but if you are at all sensitive to scratchy yarns, you might not want to wear this next to your skin.

Sticks: 5.5mm sticks - I used dpns, just because they were nice and short, given that the scarf is narrow (7.5cm/3"). Two skeins of yarn gave me a scarf about 160cm/63" long.

Time: I shagged away for just over 2 weeks - started on 18 February 2011 and finished on 7 March 2011.

Modifications: As my gauge was smaller than the pattern, I added a couple of extra stitches and did a few extra rows for each rectangle, but that's all.

I'm really happy with this scarf and am looking forward to wearing it. It was a real pleasure to knit. And it's a knit that keeps on giving, since it lets you tell people that you shagged all day yesterday. Or you had a quick shag in the morning. And then a long shag session in the afternoon. Or that you shagged all the way through the Knitters Guild AGM (one of my favourite shagging sessions!)