Monday, October 31, 2005

Shimmer Shrug


Here is
Shimmer Shrug fromKnitty without me in it, I wasn't in a photo mood over the weekend, it is knitted in Bendigo Wool 5ply which I used double to achieve a worsted weight or 10ply depending on which part of the world you live in. I also shortened the sleeve length considerably, which I always have to do as I have short arms (and legs and body) but to me they could have been made even shorter, make note on pattern for next time. The best thing about this pattern was the sewing up or lack of more to the point, the only finishing was under the arms the rest was all knitted as you went, now that is my kind of knitting pattern.


Now you might recall I had a wonderful Secret Pal who spoilt me rotten during SP5, well of course we still keep in touch and the lovely Becky who lives in the UK was after some Cleckheaton baby patterns and asked me if I could be so kind as to send these over to her. Now as you may or may not know I LOVE Rowan yarn, but unfortunately in Australia it is so jolly expensive, so we decided to do a swap and I put my order in for some Rowan Yorkshire Tweed DK in Rowdy which I intend to knit into some genuine tweed socks over summer when it is too hot to knit big things, but look she suprised me with some beautiful Hayfield Imperial Chenille in a lovely velvet brown colour. Thanks Becky for a lovely swap, I hope you enjoy your parcel too.



I have also finished something that is a BIG secret, my knitting group is doing a secret santa for Christmas so we all have a person within the group to knit something for and I finished my present over the weekend. SHHHHH don't tell anyone!!!

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Look What Turned Up



The postman delivered the Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed I ordered from Ozeyarn and it is so yummy, the colour is Willow, so now I can start my very own Ribby and look I also got a free tote bag which is so roomy so that I can keep all the yarn, knitting and pattern in there. Did I resist temptation to cast on? Are you kidding no way Ribby is on the needles and started.

Must go now I am looking after my 4 year old nephew this morning so I don't think there will be any knitting being done.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Have You Noticed That Most Knitters Cook

Yesterday we had our Stitch and Bitch meet-up and of course most of our conversation was knitting and knitting related topics but food, or cooking was another hot topic. Cindy and her Chocolate Dessert Cake, my kids are going to love her for that one and Cathy and her Old Fashioned Rhubarb Cake which I know that my Dad will adore. Thanks ladies for sharing your recipes, pop on over to their blogs if you would like to see why my mouth was watering yesterday.

Something else I discovered yesterday was that my stash definately needs enhancing, my pathetic little plastic crate is not a patch on the amounts of yarn my fellow members have. So today the postman bought some parcels so I can now add to my poor excuse for a stash some lovely yarn which I purchased from The Knitting Yarn Shop. Now this is listed as premium seconds yarn but it is pure wool and I can't fault its quality. I have purchased 1.35kgs of the 10ply airforce blue and 600gms of the variegated 8ply in olive green which is absolutely beautiful and the photo does not do this lovely yarn justice, all for a very reasonable $49.50 including postage, what a bargain.

I am still waiting for the Jo Sharp Silkroad Tweed to arrive so that I can knit the very popular Ribby it is apparently on its way so hopefully it will arrive soon. I probably wont start it this year now as it is starting to warm up a little but hey I do live in Tassie!!

Friday, October 14, 2005

V-Necks Grrrrrr


I finished the vest and I am very happy with it except for one thing:

I haven't made anything with a v-neck for quite a long time and I had forgotten that for a perfectionist (only with my knitting) like me they are a headache. This was the third attempt and I decided that I was never going to get it as neat as I wanted so here it is finished. So if anyone has a special tip for finishing v-necks please let me know, mind you it will probably be quite a while before I do another one. That being said I do like the pattern and style and it fits perfectly, sorry no one here to take a photo of me in it, it is the Devon vest from Jo Sharp Gathering and is knitted in Heirloom Heatherwood 8ply. I bought the pattern book and yarn using the gift voucher that my MIL gave me for my birthday. The book has some great patterns and I have another one picked out to make some time in the not too distant future, I can even use some yarn from my stash to knit it in so that is always a bonus. Anyway I am off for my Friday morning walk with Fiona which always gets rewarded with a coffee and muffin (light of course) afterwards.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

I Am Still Knitting

Thought it was time I let you know that I do live. What have I been doing? Well I am currently working on a vest with a fair isle pattern across the front and a shrug which I found over at Knitty and of course some Opal socks. I find socks so good for carrying with me wherever I go and can always do a couple of rounds while waiting to pick the kids up from 'somewhere' they have such busy lives I can't recall being involved in so many things when I was their age. I am up to the armhole and v-neck bands of the vest so as soon as it is finished I will post some pics. I promise I will!!

Friday, October 07, 2005

Katt Has A Problem

A really serious post this, my fellow SnBer and friend KATT has a problem go and give her some support over her serious addiction!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, October 03, 2005

Socks


I read somewhere on someones blog once about 'if this was a confession box I would be in deep....' well I can so relate to that because I have been a little quiet, not only blogging but reading my favourite blogs also. No excuses really just that some weeks I have more on than others or more specifically my children have more things on. I went to Salamanca market on Saturday with my GEMS girls group which was a lot of fun but also stressful at times keeping my group of 6 together and not losing any of them, they are 11 year olds so need I say more. We travelled by bus which was great because I actually got quite a bit of knitting done, I started another pair of opal socks especially to have some plain, transportable knitting to take. I finally have finished the other pair of opal socks for Fiona, which she absolutely loves and I have included a photo of them.

My fellow SnBer Cathy has this wonderful word 'STARTITIS' for whenever she has this urge to start lots of projects at the one time, and I do believe I am suffering from startitis big time. I have started 3 new projects and still have another 2 in my WIP basket, the trouble with Tasmanias weather at this time of the year is that you can get a cold winters day today and tomorrow it can be warm enough to wear t-shirts and then the next day can be back to thick woolly jumpers again. So I think that is what is creating this startitis problem, one day I want to knit spring inspired things and the next I am back into the nice warm things, anyway I have started a vest thinking that it may fit somewhere in between. On Tuesday we are having our SnB get together so the vest is what I will be taking along to that, we are meeting at the Muffin Kitchen which as the name suggests has the yummiest muffins, looking forward to it, anyway I must go now and put the silverside on in the slow cooker so the troops have something for dinner tonight.