Yes I Have Been Knitting

I have been resting my leg, as much as you can with a family to look after, but at least during the day I can. So I have posted some pics. of what I have been working on. Ashley found the dinosaur in a Jean Greenhowe book and asked me if I could knit him one, he has never asked me to knit him anything before. The opal socks are for a friend, she always comments on my socks so I thought I would suprise her with a pair (hope she doesn't read this) I am up to the toe shaping on this one and will start the other one over the weekend. The feather and fan shawl has been going for a while and I pick it up when I am on my own with no interuptions, it is an easy pattern but as it grows the rows are getting longer and there are more repeats to follow and I have this love/hate thing with lace anyway. I love the finish but I hate the concentration involved with it and am always relieved when I get to the end of the row and there are no mistakes.

My Dad has made me a wool holder/winder gadget out of wood,we got the idea from a similar one listed on ebay, he is bringing it around later today to test it out. It holds the wool hanks and turns as you wind the wool with a wool winder making it quicker and simpler than having to wrap it around the backs of two chairs. Oh well thats it for now time for a coffee and then I plan to do some more of the shawl.

Feather and Fan Shawl

Opal Sock

Ashleys dinosaur

I've Pulled A Muscle

I like to keep fit so I aim to walk at least three times a week and I play indoor netball once a week, but tonight we had only been playing for about 5 minutes and I pulled a muscle in my calf. Now my calf muscles aren't tiny let me tell you so there is a decent amount there to pull. So I am hobbling around at the moment and I know the best thing for this is rest, and as all knitters know rest is wonderful because we can sit down and put our feet up and KNIT. And to top it all off I am getting a new 'knitting chair' for mothers day, which all going well DH is picking up for me tomorrow. We have this lounge suite that belonged to my in-laws which is nice but as they had it made especially for them it is BIG. Dutch people are so big and as I am only 5 foot 2 or 159cms I cannot get comfortable in my chair so I put my order in for a little persons chair, one that I don't need to stuff with pillows so my feet can touch the floor. So tomorrow I will be sitting in my new chair and knitting (resting my leg of course)aaaaahhhhhh life is pretty sweet.

It is Finished

Yes it is finally finished and as you can see by the photo there is a slight difference in colour of the neckband but on the whole not a bad match. I started my SILs jumper last night and it is the softest wool I have ever knitted. It is Grignasco Tyrol and consists of 60%wool, 30%alpaca and 10%acrylic and knits up to the exact tension of lopi but with none of the scratchinesss that lopi has. I will definately be knitting myself something in it. Yay a long weekend and a chance to relax and have a sleep in, but also a time to reflect on our Anzac past. In peace time it is easy to forget the significance of the sacrifices that young men and women made for the sake of their country. My Grandfathers brother was killed in WW1 and although I never knew him I will take time out to reflect on the ultimate sacrifice that he and many others made in that war and other wars since. LEST WE FORGET.

Sister-in-laws jumper started

Finished at last.

Sock Wool Will Do The Job

Went to LYS to try and get wool to finish MILs jumper with no luck, but I did come out of their with some white 4ply (Janelle wants some ankle socks for sport) and my Sister-in-law came with me and bought some wool for a fair-isle jumper, which I am going to knit for her. She asked me would I knit her a jumper and as it is her birthday next month I said that I would knit it for her and that can be her present. The wool is a beautiful soft Italian wool/alpaca mix (I'm glad she's paying for it) and should be a dream to knit. Anyway getting back to the MILs wool, I went into spotlight and there on their 30% off table was some Patonyle in the exact burgundy/maroon shade I was after. Although it is a 4ply and the jumper is a 12ply, I have doubled the yarn and knitted it up to an 8ply band pattern and it has worked, so hip hip hoo bloody ray, a big sigh of relief I can get it finished and off to its owner. Don't get me wrong I love knitting for people, I get more satisfaction out of that than knitting for myself, but when things don't run smoothly with a knit I get a tad frustrated. Oh well till next time when I will post a pic of the infamous jumper.

I Have A New Toy

For quite some time now I have been looking for a wool winder. They are on ebay but sell for far more than I was prepared to pay, I have searched op shops and my MIL has been looking out for one when she goes to garage sales. Our local newspaper has a wanted to sell under $100 every Tuesday, where an add can be placed free for any unwanted item under $100, and yesterday there was a wool winder for $10. So I was on the phone and 1/2 an hour later I had in my hot little hand a wool winder. Went home tried it out and I am wrapped with it, now I would like a yarn holder that rotates the wool hank as you wind it. Yes I am a sucker for gadgets and things that are knitting related.

Finished Items

Below are the photos, as promised, of the finished Bluebell 5ply Top and the scarf hat for Dulaan. Hayden was the only one of my children willing to model it, the others must take after me because I don't like having my photo taken either, but I relented for the sake of showing off the top to my adoring public ha ha ha. As I had to get the edge crocheted at my LYS it took a while to get back so I didn't think that I would get a chance to wear it till next summer, but over the weekend we had a spell of hot weather. Today I am going into LYS to see if I can match up wool for MILs jumper, for it is sitting their 3/4 finished and I want it out of my knitting basket. As you know I like to work on a couple of things, usually an easy project and one that I need to concentrate on, so I started a pair of opal socks on the weekend as well as a feather and fan shawl. The shawl is knitted in hand dyed yarn from Ozeyarn and is quite a simple pattern with only 1 row needing a bit of concentration, the only problem is the yarn makes my hands blue when working with it :(

Bluebell Top

Scarf Hat

Another Soccer Season

Hayden and Ashley kicked off their soccer season today so I now will be spending many a cold Saturday morning supporting my boys. DH goes along if he is not working, but today he was in Melbourne watching his favourite team Collingwood play Carlton and Collingwood won so he will be happy when he gets home tonight. As for my boys soccer teams, Haydens won and Ashleys lost, but that does not matter to them at all they just love turning up and playing. I did take my knitting, but didn't do any (yeah slack I know) but when I came home I finished the scarf hat for Dulaan, so I feel as though I accomplished something today.
Cathy we got another win today, go Roos

Yarn Trade at SNB A Lot of Fun

We had our yarn trade at SNB on Tuesday and it was a great success, we will have another one in a couple of months so I am already sorting through my stash and see what I can take along. A big thanks to Katt for organising it.

On the knitting front here I picked up the bluebell 5ply top from LYS on Tuesday, as I can't crochet I had to get them to finish off around the edge for me. It looks great and I promise I will post a photo of it here when I finally get around to taking one. I am 3/4 of the way through the scarf hat for Dulaan and hope to finish that by the weekend so that I can take a pic. of that too. One of my passions besides knitting is cooking and I have just discovered a great new web site which I must pass on because it is a great one for anyone who loves recipes and best of all they are free. It is Delia Smith and I have already made a couple of things off it, one being Beef In Designer Beer, yummo. Oh well till next time when I will have some finished items to show, promise.

That Would Be Right

You know how I am knitting a jumper for my mother-in-law, well would you believe it I have run out of wool grrrrr. She has had it in her stash for I don't know how long so of course it is no longer available. I am about 2 balls short, so I am going to try and at least find a similar colour if possible from my LYS. It is Patons Winter Wool 12ply in a burgundy/maroon colour 9132 and dyelot 2, just on the off chance someone out there may have some in their stash. Anyway that is on hold for a while till I hunt something down to finish it with, I have only got about 1/3 of each sleeve and the neckband to do. So today I started a scarf hat for Dulaan in wait for it Patons Husky, yes in orange. It is beautiful wool to knit with and will be lovely and warm and BRIGHT for someone in Mongolia to wear.

And yes I can gloat again this week, Kangaroos won again.

Tuesday is my SnB meeting, so I am looking forward to catching up with everyone again and we are doing a yarn trade which should be a blast. I will take along the scarf hat to work on. This is such a great pattern I will probably make another one for Dulaan and as it is knitted in 12 or 14 ply wool very quick knitting. Oh well thats it till next time see ya.