Bumpity bump bump bump

I have a bit of a backlog of projects to post about.  I don't quite know how this happened, but I'd best get some up here on the blog for posterity!

First up is a new vesty cardigany type thing...

Details
Pattern:  A heavily modified version of Bump by Gina Bonomo. 
Yarn:  4.25 x 100g balls of Rowan Big Wool in Cassis (col 24).  A funny (sort of) story about this yarn.  I bought it a few years ago, maybe 5 years, on sale at a yarn shop in Mittagong (which no longer stocks Rowan yarns).  I had always thought I had 6 balls of it, and so while I was planning what to knit from it, I based my planning on the fact that I had a certain amount of yardage.  And that it's really too hot in Sydney, even in winter, for a long sleeved garment using a super bulky yarn such as this.  So I always figured it would be some sort of vest.

Anyway, I bought this pattern on a bit of a whim, and when I got the yarn out of the depths of the stash cupboard (ok, one of the stash cupboards), I found I had 8 balls of it.  GAAAHHHHH!  It really could have changed my planning entirely.  But by that stage, I was over planning, had bought the pattern, and just wanted to cast on.  So I did.

50g ball of worsted/10ply yarn on left for scale!

And I ended up only using just over half the yarn anyway!!  Now I am trying to decide whether to destash the remainder or keep it for some other project at some time in the future...heh!

Sticks:  12mm and 10mm KnitPicks Options.  It's funny, people think it's really quick to knit garments with superbulky yarn and huge crowbar needles.  But really, it's not that fast!  I mean, the knitting grows quickly, of course, but I find I knit so much slower with such huge sticks.  Nevertheless, I did get a completed vest in a pretty short time!

Hello small hand!

Time:  20 June 2011 - 30 June 2011 (ok, a vest in 10 days, when I was working on other things as well, is pretty quick, isn't it!)

Modifications:  The pattern only gives two sizing options.  I did some extra raglan increases for the armholes (it is knit top down, seamlessly - good for superbulky yarn, to avoid even more super super bulky seams!).  And I did the raglan increases as yarnovers, to give it a bit of a lacey look and also allow some air in (as I was still a bit unsure about whether a vest in this yarn would be too hot for Sydney!). 

I did not do the reverse stocking stitch section on the pattern, which starts just under the bust.  It just didn't really appeal to me.  Instead, I kept increasing on the front edges, and then added a stepped garter edging down the fronts, and around the bottom.  I thought a smoother line would be more flattering in a vest which already adds enough bulk through the yarn.

And I have worn it a few times and have been pleasantly surprised at how cosy but not hot it is to wear.  Yay!  I'm not sure it is the most flattering of garments, but it's red and it's cosy and I like it anyway!

I read a book (or two!)

I have been slowly and steadily reading these past few months. Every train trip (which are rare) allows me the opportunity for audiobook listening, and after my marathon Tour de France knitting, I felt the need to knit a bit less each day and spend some time reading an actual book!

And I managed to finish two books in quick succession, one on audio and the other on paper. It helped that the latter was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - anyone who's read a Harry Potter book knows they are a fairly quick read! I have read it before, but with the last movie coming out, and all the advertising for it, I felt the need to revisit it. And enjoyed it just as much as the first time, perhaps more, because I wasn't reading it in such a hurry to find out what happened!

The audiobook was most enjoyable! Nella Last's War, a wonderful collection of the wartime diaries of Nella Last, an "ordinary" British woman who participated in the UK's Mass Observation Project (where the diaries are held). It was recently adapted for TV, called "Housewife, 49", which is how she headed up her first entry. The book gives an amazing insight into the experiences of women in the UK during WWII, the impact of rationing, and of course the impact of deaths and injuries to so many, not just those in the field of war, but also at home. Nella also displays amazing insights into the impact of war on women (not always approvingly) and has a real eye for detail and a way with words. The audiobook was read wonderfully by Carole Boyd. I found this book a real delight, and enjoyed it very much. I highly recommend it!

I must be(e) crazy!

I first saw the Beekeeper's Quilt early last week on Ravelry.  As some designs tend to do, it kept popping up in my friend's activity tab, being favourited and/or queued by lots of people.  And I thought it was cute, but that was it.

But then something happened, and I'm not even entirely sure how.  But I couldn't stop thinking about it.  And how nice it would be all done in shades of red (how unusual for me!  Heh heh!).  But I didn't buy the pattern straight away.  I figured if I still couldn't stop thinking about it after a week, then maybe I should buy it.

And yesterday, I did!  And I went stash diving and gathered up my red sock yarn leftovers (reds and red-purples and red-oranges and a few red-pinks).  I also just might have bought a ball of heathered red yarn last weekend at Morris & Sons, and I have quite a bit of solid red 4ply/fingering yarn which MissFee picked up for me at the Wang mill last year.  But funnily enough, I don't actually have that much variegated and semi-solid red yarn leftovers.

And I made my first hexapuff.  And my second, and third, and fourth, and fifth (and I'm knitting my sixth right now!).  Each one uses somewhere between 11-15m (according to others on Rav who have knitted and then frogged one - I can't bring myself to do that, heh!).  So I'm going to have to accumulate some more red leftovers (or use whole skeins of sock yarn, which is perhaps a good idea - I mean how many pairs of red socks do I really need, heh!!)

I figure if I can make 5 each week then it will only take me, oh, nearly 2 years, to make one to cover a queen size bed.  See, I told you I must be(e) crazy!  Is anyone else going to join me?

Dashing through the snow!

Even though the weather is saying it is spring (or even summer - we've had temps in the mid 20s - that's I think mid 70s for our US friends- for the last few days) it is still strictly speaking winter.  And so I should be able to still get some wear from a recently completed project.  And I know that another small project, a gift for a friend, will get some wear later this year when it accompanies the new owner on a trip to Europe!

This second project actually came first, a warm black hat for a European winter visit, by request for a birthday gift.  I bought some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, and found myself with a ball and a bit leftover, so decided to make myself some mitts with it!

Details
Pattern:  Autumn in Garrison by Kate Gagnon Osborn. A nice quick free pattern!  It didn't turn out quite as slouchy as I had expected, but it's got a bit of slouch and I know the Cashmerino Aran is reputed to stretch, so I erred on the side of less slouch rather than more!

It's so hard to photograph black knitting!

Yarn:  Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, 1.5 balls in black (col 300300)

Sticks:  4mm for ribbing, 4.5mm for main part of hat.

Time:  6 June 2011 - 12 June 2011

Can't beat that!  A hat in a week! That's pretty good for me!  Especially as I was working on another couple of things during that period!

Mitts
Pattern:  Dashing by Cheryl Niamath, another freebie, from Knitty Spring 2007.  This is the "male" version of the very popular Fetching mitts by the same designer, but fortunately comes in a small size as well as man-sized.  I chose this pattern because I really like the extra length on the arms - I wear a lot of 3/4 sleeve garments in winter, so the longer line mitts are really good for covering that bit of wrist and arm that otherwise would be exposed!

See, I told you it was hard to photograph black!

I really like the way the thumb is added.  I'm sure this is very common, but it's kinda fun to undo those stitches and pick them up to knit the thumb!

Yarn:  Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran as above, 1.5 balls!

Sticks:  4mm dpns

Time:  13 June 2011 - 20 June 2011 - again, another quick project!  Love that these can be knitted so quickly, and I am very happy with these, the fit is really good and the black is so versatile! 

StashDownUnder - July 2011

Quick post - because this month, I bought no yarn!  I think my blowout last month really did have an impact on my stash acquisition methods, heh!  I went to a lovely yarn store (Sew and Tell, at Berry) on Sunday and I Did Not Buy Any Yarn!  I didn't even buy any knitting books, which is my usual fix in a yarn store if I don't buy yarn. 

And I had a really good knitting month.  Yay for the Tour de France KAL!  I learnt this month just how much knitting you can get done when you actually knit in all your spare time, and not faff about on the internet!  Amazing!

This month:
Actual balls used:  10 x 50g balls
8ply equivalent:  11 x 50g balls
Total metres used:  1,106m

Year to date:
Actual balls used:  -19.75 balls
8ply equivalent:  60.5 balls
metres used:  6793m

And since a blog post with no photos is too boring, I'll leave you with a flash of the two yarns I'm very excited to be using in a project which will be started shortly. 

Can you guess what pattern this yarn will become?

What a race! What a victory!

I've been having withdrawal symptoms the last few days.  No more Tour de France!  I've had to console myself with watching recaps and stages I have taped, just for a little while each day, so I don't have to go completely cold turkey, heh!  You'll have to indulge me a little with this post, I promise there is some knitting content at the end!

You would just about have to be living under a rock, in Australia at least, if you didn't know that Cadel Evans became the first Australian to win the yellow jersey overall.  He looked in great form the whole race, and had fantastic team support (something he has mostly lacked, especially in the years when he came second overall), although I have to admit I wasn't 100% sure he could do it, until he did it!  Not that I doubted him but moreso I worried about things outside his control - an accident - since there were so many this Tour, it was almost amazing he wasn't involved in one.  It was a relief every morning when I got up and checked the TdF app to see the placings from the overnight stage, and to always see his name up there.

It wasn't just a grand Tour because of Cadel's achievement.  There were so many other inspiring and amazing rides.  Johnny Hoogerland cartwheeled into a barbed wire fence as a result of a media car deciding it was preferable to hit a cyclist than hit a tree.  Despite deep cuts all over his body (including completely torn from hem to waist bike shorts!!) he got back on his bike, finished the stage, took the King of the Mountains jersey (crying on the podium), kept it and tried his best to defend it.  And finished the race with 33 stitches.  That's determination. 

And Thomas Voeckler, the Frenchman who took the yellow jersey on that same stage and kept it for 9 stages, even though he was expected to loose it through the mountain stages.  He clung on and rode his legs off, and kept that jersey despite his own almost daily predictions that he'd lose it.  Even when his legs finally gave out chasing Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador, he still gave it his all when he crossed the line.  To quote our favourite commenters Phil and Paul, the man has a huge suitcase of courage.

Andy Schleck, who didn't look to be in his best form, really showed everyone in the Alps, with two great days.  He lost it in the time trial, but if he can improve there, then I've no doubt he will wear yellow in Paris in the future.  He's lucky, he's young, he's got 8 years on Cadel Evans!

And even Alberto Contador, the man everyone seemed to love to hate this year.  Like Andy, he didn't seem to be in his best form, and was caught up in an early crash.  But he tried his heart out too, and never gave up, just like you'd expect from a winner of six grand tours.  Even if you don't like him, you've got to respect that (although I really really hope he isn't a drug cheat).

Speaking of which, only one rider this year withdrew due to a positive test.  Hopefully it will stay that way.  Another great outcome for a sport which is really trying hard to hold a clean race.

If you can't tell already, I really loved this year's race.  So much so that I've already pre-ordered the DVD, heh!  (And I am not usually one to watch and rewatch classic sporting events - until now!!).  I think Connor's early vocabulary will surely include the words "tourdefrance" and "gocadel"!

As for me, and my yellow jersey aspirations, well, I made it!  I'll do a proper FO post when I have some modelled shots of me in the skirt, so until then, I'll leave you with a sneak peek:

Only 11 months to go until the next Tour de France!

It's all downhill from here (hopefully...)

Thought I should give you a quick update on my Tour de France project, since le Tour finishes this Sunday night (or really, early Monday morning our time!). 

Just to prove that I have been knitting on it in every spare moment (mostly Connor's nap times!):

It's been enjoyable - I have been having a dream run, much like Cadel Evans (fingers crossed his continues to the end and the yellow jersey!), although I must admit that I am hankering to start something new right now.  But I shall not, as I'm so close to the end - I think - this is one of those knits that does not seem to grow at all for days, no matter how much you knit on it, then all of a sudden it is half way done, then three quarters done etc.

So I'm hoping that on Sunday I will wake up and find it has magically kitchener grafted itself together overnight!!  I am not looking forward to 136 stitches of grafting!

Zippedy do dah!

Some time ago (almost a year!) I went on a journey to the Land of Cardigan.  I might have told you that my journey was ended, but really, I had yet to scale the highest peak of Mt Putting-in-a-Zipper.  It was a daunting daunting journey, hence my need to have a good long think about it over the summer.  Who needs a thick cardi in summer anyway, right?

Well, summer came and went.  And so did autumn.  And when winter hit, husby's plaintive question "have you put the zipper in my cardi yet?" got to me and I decided it was time to put on my protective gear, get out the ropes and crampons (all that is scaling mountain talk, right?) and tackle that peak.

I had husby take Connor out for the day, because I knew it was going to be an all day task.  At the very least.  And I needed some space to spread things out, and some time to percolate the various tutorials I'd read about putting zippers into garments.  And make sure I could find the cardi, and the zip and the thread (both the zip and thread I'd purchased some time ago.  Maybe during that summer of thinking...)

I started by pinning the zip into the opening.  I put the pins in wrong, I know.  I realised that about half way through.  But my back was already sore from the kneeling and bending, so I figured it'd be ok.

And then I started sewing - by hand!  I was maybe 1/3 of the way done on the first side when I realised I was doing my backstitch wrong.  There was no way I was going to unpull what I'd already done (sewing in zippers is slow going!!) so I just did it the right way after that.  And you know what, you can't tell anyway!  (But I did feel better doing it correctly, I must say!!)

It took AGES!  AGES I tell you.  At least 4 hours I think.  Possibly more, I think I have blocked it out of my head.  I was a bit worried it would bubble when the zipper was done up on the body.  But I was most pleased when husby put it on and (a) the zipper worked and (b) it didn't bubble! 

If I were to do it again, I'd put the edge of the garment over the zipper closure (it is knit with an edging for this purpose).  I was worried I'd get the edging caught in the zipper and wouldn't do it evenly, so I just lined it up with the outside edge of the zip. 

But apart from that, I'm quite pleased with how it went.  And let's face it, there is unlikely to be an again.  If I'm faced with another visit to Mt Putting-in-a-Zipper, I'm pretty sure I'm going to pay someone else to do it!

StashDownUnder - June 2011

 A bit late this month.  You'd think, if you didn't know me better, that maybe there's a reason for my lateness, like, say for example, not wanting to admit to my acquisitions for June...ha!  As if I'd be embarrassed about stash acquisitions!!

(although, to be perfectly honest, when I did add it all up this month, I did go "gulp" at the final totals.  Those darn big Wollmeise skeins, they really do add up when you break them down into 50g lots!)

So I did some damage at the Craft and Quilt Fair.  After not going for a year (or possibly 2, I can't recall!) I bought a bag of Colinette Iona, in Velvet Plum.  In my defence, it's lovely yarn, discontinued, and was almost half price!

And then Ingrid, darn her, had to go and offer me matched skeins of Wollmeise 100%  in a red I don't already have (Zimtapfel).  And there were 4 of those, and it seemed a shame not to...  AND she happened to have a skein of Schwartz lace, which I was only daydreaming about that morning (not her skein, black WM laceweight in general!).  It was really meant to be.

Like the next purchse, a destash via Ravelry.  Rosenrot laceweight.  It's RoseRed!  Wollmeise!  Lace!  A colour and weight I don't have!  Also a foregone conclusion.  Yep, I am a sucker for a yarn with my name!  heh heh.

I also bought some yarn for a gift (already knitted and gifted, just have to post about it!) and picked up some yarn in the Morris and Sons sale, using a Christmas gift voucher - so this yarn doesn't count, heh!  Love making my own rules for stash honesty!!

So the totals (drumroll please!):
This month:
Actual balls used:  13.5 x 50g (thanks to a bulky knit, also yet to be blogged!)
8ply equivalent:  8 x 50g
In this month: 47 x 50g (ulp!)
metres used:  840m

Year to Date
Actual balls used: 3.75 + 13.5 - 47 = -29.75
8ply equivalent:  49.5 x 50g balls
metres used:  5687m

Ok, so I've added almost 30 x 50g balls of yarn to the stash over and above what I've used.  I think that really means I have to declare a total and utter ban on further yarn purchases for the rest of 2011.  Can I do it??

Who's up for a bike ride?

It's that time of year again - the Tour de France starts tonight, and with it, my participation in the Tour de France KAL on Ravelry.  This is my fourth TdF KAL (I think - or maybe my fifth?  I think fourth!).  I love this time of year - so much good sport on the tv.  French Open, Wimbledon, TdF and then the US Open.  Weeeeeee!

This year, I have decided to go for the yellow jersey and indulge my desire for a knitted skirt!  I am very excited!  I'm going to attempt a Lanesplitter, using the construction method of the Swirl Skirt (provisional cast on and smaller sticks/tighter gauge), to avoid the bulky seam and hopefully avoid the dreaded bum sag that plague many a knitted skirt!

I used a Christmas voucher for Morris & Sons to buy my yarn - Noro Kureyon in col 188 and Morris & Sons Pure in "Sooty".  Just looked at the yarn requirements for the swirl skirt and am worried I won't have enough...but I should be able to get more if I need to!

I spent the last two days swatching - firstly on 3.75mm sticks, as per the Swirl Skirt pattern (the olive green stripes above).  This creates a nice firm fabric but is very hard on my hands with the worsted/10ply yarn.  I don't know that I can knit constantly for 3 weeks at this gauge without killing my hands.  So then I tried 4.5mm sticks (purple stripes, below) (noting that the Lanesplitter pattern suggests 6mm sticks!!).  This is a nice fabric, but possibly a bit too open (even though I am likely to wear a slip under the skirt anyway). 

I think I will end up using 4mm sticks.  That should still give me a firm gauge but will be just that bit easier on my hands.  I can't wait to cast on!!  Just hope I can knit the whole thing in the alloted time period!  Wish me luck! 

Oh, and if you want to join the fun of the KAL, it's not too late!  What could be better than watching well built men in lycra cycling across the beautiful French countryside, while knitting.  It's a feast for the eyes, I tell you!

Thank you Baby Cardigan

You might recall a few months ago I was the lucky recipient of another knitter's (thankfully small but good) stash (the mother-in-law of one of the mums in my my mothers group).  I promised you (and myself) that I would make a little something out of some of the yarn I received for this knitter's granddaughter.  I hoped that this is what the knitter would have wanted.

Last week, I handed over this:

I used some of the Heirloom Merino Magic from the gifted stash.  I didn't have enough of one colour for a whole garment, so thought this was a good pattern for colour-blocking while still being pretty (I didn't want to do stripes as I figured I'd be doing enough stripes for Connor over the next few years!).  I used the cream (2 balls) for the fronts and bands, a whole ball of lilac for the back, and almost a whole ball of green for the sleeves.  I had a ball of blue as well, I initially thought I'd do one sleeve green and one blue, but after finishing one sleeve, I knew I'd have enough for the second sleeve.

Details
Pattern:  Provence Baby Cardigan by Cecily Glowik MacDonald.  This is an easy pattern, mostly stocking stitch with a moss-stitch edging and pretty lace leaf motif on the front.  I did make some modifications to the pattern (see the mods section below).

Yarn: Heirloom Merino Magic, 3.5 x 50g balls

Sticks:  4mm KnitPicks Harmony Options (3.75mm for the neckband).

Time:  9 May 2011 - 3 June 2011

Modifications:  I knit the body of the cardigan in one piece - which meant I had to do INTARSIA!!!  I swore never to do intarsia, ever!  Although really, just changing colour twice in each row, in a straight line up the side "seam", probably doesn't count as real intarsia.  But I still did it, and it worked!  Although getting the two balls of cream and one of purple tangled every so often was annoying.  But hey, no seaming!

I also knit the button band at the same time as the body of the cardigan.  This resulted in a bit of a puckered button band (may have also had to do with my not-so-great buttonhole skills!), which probably wouldn't have happened if I'd knit it separate and seamed it on.  Thankfully blocking evened it out, mostly...

And I knit the sleeves in the round, from the top down!  They were basic drop sleeve style sleeves, so it was easy to pick up stitches from the armhole and knit downwards, decreasing at the same rate as the pattern specified increases.  It was a bit messy under the arms, but I stumbled through and fixed it up when I darned in the ends (there were small holes where I'd joined to knit in the round.

I also added neck shaping on the back (so it would come down a bit lower on the back, not right up against the neck).  This was partly because I was worried I'd run out of the lilac yarn with a row or two to spare!  as it was, I only just squeaked it in!

And finally a three needle bind off for the shoulder seams.  And thus no seaming at all in this garment, woo hoo!

And best of all, the mum was very touched by the gesture.  It really is a lovely thing to knit for others.

JustintimeforWinter Bandit

The magic of blocking lace never gets old.  Unlike my back, which feels it after a sustained period of bending over pinning lace onto a blocking mat.  Even when that blocking mat is up reasonably high, on my kitchen bench.  Heaven forbid if I ever have to block something huge on the floor!!

So this is the result of my most recent pain in the back!

Details
Pattern: Springtime Bandit by Kate Gagnon Osborne.  A very nice, easy lace shawl (and also free!).  Originally done in worsted weight yarn, but as I used fingering/4ply, I did extra repeats - it is very easy to add extra repeats, no need to do any recalculations for the edging or anything, just add the repeats until you are done, and start the edging.  A very good feature of shawl patterns I think, is the ease of adding extra repeats.  In this case, the pattern calls for 4 repeats of the body charts, while I did 7.  And ended up with a shawl about the size of the original, heh!

Blobby pre-blocking lace

Yarn:  Wollmeise 100% Merino, in Admiral.  Yes, another Week of Wollmeise project done!  (hmm, that makes 2 out of 7 complete.  Not really that much cause to celebrate, heh!).  I tried to use as much of the skein as possible, but found I had 32g left after binding off.  But not to worry, I don't think I could have gotten an extra repeat out of that much anyway.  Maybe it'll be enough for a wee pair of socks...

This is a gorgeous navy/black colour, it works so well for lace because it is so dark, but you still get a gorgeous depth of colour.  It's just hard to photograph well!

Sticks:  4mm KnitPicks Options.  I'm glad I chocse the nickel sticks for this yarn, it made it much easier to knit at night!

Time:  1 September 2009 (heh!) - 9 June 2011.  Despite this, it's actually a lovely quick knit!

Modifications:  Only the extra repeats, noted above. 

Inspired by Al, I took some lovely "Victorian Lace Today" style photos at the WWKIP on Saturday.  Love how the sun shines through the lace.  Nothing like it to make you feel like a clever knitter! 

And that's another long-term wip I can cross off the list! I started the year with 17 WIPS, and of those, I have 12 left - so that's nearly 1 per month done.  Let's hope I can keep it up for the rest of the year!

WWKIP 2011

After two weeks of rain and miserable weather (I suppose it is winter after all!) Sydney really turned on the sunshine for this year's WWKIP.  After a smallish group braving it out in the open for a couple years, and suffering horrible weather for their troubles, the past few years have involved us gathering at an indoors venue.  Not as public as we'd like, but much more weather proof!

This year we were lucky to have a lovely indoor venue with a balcony as well!  Not to mention a bar downstairs where we could decamp after the "official" festivities were over!

So there was a bit of this:

And then some of this:

(How fantastic to be able to sit outside, in the late afternoon, in winter, and have a lovely cold glass of bubbles! Oh, and to knit as well, of course!)

And I took the opportunity to take a few photos of my latest FO, which I'll give you a sneak peek of now, and full details later!

A lovely day, thanks so much to the efforts of the volunteer organisers and the sponsors, including Australian Country Spinners (owners of Patons and Cleckheaton yarns), Jo Sharp, Biggan yarns, Morris & Sons, Ashford yarns, Calico and Ivy and others. 

For the maths geeks

Last weekend our parents group held a combined first birthday party for our babies (are they still babies once they are one?  I guess so, since he isn't a toddler yet, but he's just so much bigger than a newborn!).  I volunteered to make the cake:

and we also did a gift exchange, so I thought I'd make one of these:

And it was fun - mostly!

Details
Pattern: Celestine Crochet ball by Betsy Myles - a free pattern, yay!  A few people complain on Ravelry that this is a bit of a confusing pattern, or not well written.  I think it's written fine - you start off with a chain loop and steadily decrease to the point, then add another point building on the last one (got to love a join-as-you-go project!), but I did have trouble starting off each new point, more because I kept forgetting how I got it started the last time.  I think I managed to get it right after I'd made about 8 or 9 of the points!  Oh dear!



Half done!

 So I took some pictures, so hopefully I will remember next time, because I would like to make another one, they are pretty fun, and unusual looking - it's a 12 pointed star, a sort-of dodecahedron!  I just like saying dodecahedron, really!

Foundation row for new point

Yarn: Opal 4ply sock yarn col 1232.  Only 32g, so you can easily get 3 of these from a ball of sock yarn.  Or possibly from leftovers, if you'd already made socks!  You can use any size yarn, it will just affect the size of the end product.

Hook: 3mm

Time: 20 May 2011 - 27 May 2011 - a week, not bad!  I think it took me around an hour for each point, with all the unpulling every time I started a new point and forgot how to join the darn thing so it didn't twist and was facing the right direction!

Modifications: I made the pattern as written, but rather than doing the chain first and then the crochet into the previous point(s), I did the crochet into the previous points first, then the chain.  For some reason, this was easier to work out the joining. 

There's also a small error in the pattern when starting the 11th point, you only do 7 chain, the rest are all crochet into previous points.

The last point was very fiddly, but I managed it ok.  When stuffing the ball, I also put in a cat toy to give the ball a "rattle".  I was worried the stuffing might muffle the noise, but it comes out nice and clear, without being annoying loud like some (many?!) kids toys!

StashDownUnder 2011 - May

I have to confess, May was my fall-off-the-wagon month in terms of the StashingDown...more like StashingUp, I'm afraid!  I've already shown off my purchases from the Canberra Woolfest, and I also succombed to the annual WEBS sale - who could resist Cascade220 at $US4.95 when our exchange rate is so good!

So I bought a jumpers worth, in the lovely Mallard colour which Bells picked last year (in our previous annual WEBS splurge, heh!).  I'm thinking this will be the lovely Metro cardigan.

And since it was also on sale, and I've wanted to try it for ages, I bought enough Louet Euroflax sportweight linen (in a lovely purpley eggplant ) for Jordan. 

Hmmmm, which to knit first...

Fortunately, I also managed to destash a bit of yarn this month (a very rare occurrence for me!) and thanks to Del, I remembered that crochet dish/washcloths are a fabulous stashbuster! I may have crocheted 5 in just a matter of 2 weeks (yay me!).

This month:
Actual balls used: 9.25 x 50g balls used plus 6 destashed
In this month:  33 x 50g balls
8 ply equivalent: 10.5 plus 6 destashed
metres used: 992m

YTD:
Actual balls used: 36.75 - 33 = 3.75 balls used (yay, still in the black, so to speak!)
8 ply equivalent: 41.5 x 50g
metres used:  4847m

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!