The Secret Is Out

I have a new look, as mentioned previously, I am currently involved in a swap with the lovely Michelle. I am knitting her a pair of Opal socks and in return she has given my blog a brand new look. I wanted to stick with my black background but also have my favourite colour included and it had to be knitting related, of course. I emailed her a couple of photos and she did the rest,I am amazed at Michelles talent to not only be able to create templates but capture our personalities with it. If you head on over to her site you can see some examples of her work. So a huge big thanks Michelle. I love my new look and my part of the swap is half way completed, I grafted the toe of sock #1 last night.

I Have Been Knitting

Funny isn't it how when you have a knitting blog, the more you knit the less you blog and the less you knit the more you seem to be able to post about it. Well that is true in my case anyway. So judging by the lack of posting going on around here, I have been knitting heaps. I am now up to the top shaping of the sleeves for Janelles lacy jumper.

Now I think I have screwed up the shaping bit, as I am not real sure what on earth I am meant to be doing here!!! The front and back have a border stocking stitch section and so I continued this throughout the whole shaping, making it easier to shape as there are a lot of yfwds, you can make and/or lose stitches real quickly with this pattern. I am going to take it along to my knitting group today and see what they reckon but you know what, I ain't changing it even if it is wrong.

I have nearly finished the first sock for my special swap I am involved in which is all top secret at the moment, all will be revealed soon. I'm not going to post photos of the socks until the recipient has them as I don't want to spoil the surprise for her.

I have also been doing some more stash enhancing, some lovely Lornas Laces sock yarn here which I purchased from PURL YARNS I am definately itching to knit this lovely yarn but it will probably be stashed until Summer when sock knitting is at it's peak at Shazzas Knits. I have been buying some lovely patterns off ebay too from Jarob Farm, she stocks Fibertrends patterns. A delightful flamingo and some lovely face washer patterns made their way to my door this week. Wash Cloths as they are called by our US friends, I was having a little chuckle the other day about this as I am sure they chuckle at face washers.

I sold another pair of my socks at the market on Saturday and the lady asked me could I knit her another pair, yes I said before I thought of my poor neglected cabled shrug, 60's Cabled Jumper among many other things!!! Oh well it all helps pay for my yarn so that is a bonus I guess.

Anyway I will leave you today with the latest pic of Rocky, doing what all cats do best, sleeping in front of the fire. They always manage to open their eyes slightly as you take a photo of them don't they?

Captain Underpants ???

I was visiting BERNIES BLOG and discovered the most funniest name game, Captain Underpants name game, anyone heard of Captain Underpants?? Well anyway my new name after playing this little game is SNOTTY PICKLE TUSH don't quite know what to make of that one, Bernies was probably more suited to moi, a merlot drinker. If you would like to find your new hilarious name head on over TO BERNIES.

Thanks for your comments on Panta and I am obviously NOT the last person to knit this. Janelles lacy jumper is coming along nicely and I have finished the front and the back and I am now working on the sleeves. I am knitting them both at once so that the shaping will match, well that is the plan anyway, he he.

I've Made A Panta Too

I must be the last person on the knitting planet to make one of these. I did cast on quite a while back now and put it aside, as you do, to work on other projects. I will wear this when I go for my walks, living in Tasmania you need something to keep the cold out of your ears. The pattern can be found here and I used a 12ply yarn on 5mm needles.


I have finished the back of Janelles lacy jumper and started the front, all is going well as I haven't reached the shaping yet!!! The front and back are identical so surely there wont be a problem, will there????

**EDIT NOTE**
I have removed the registered users only in comments and now switched it back to how I had it so that EVERYONE can comment. I have added word verification to hopefully avoid spam which forced the change in the first place. Personally I find word verification a pain but if it prevents spam I can put up with it.

Let It Be

I am up to the shaping of the armholes which is why there is a box of matches pictured with Janelles lacy jumper, I have been very tempted to burn the thing!!!. You have to be so careful with this pattern while shaping and I have mentioned many times how I have a love/hate relationship with lace knitting, I am definately going through a hate stage at the moment.

I went out last night to the Princess Theatre to watch Let It Be, a concert of Beatles songs performed by John Waters, Christine Anu, Leo Sayer and Rick Price together with an extremely talented group of musicians. On the whole this was a very entertaining concert except for one thing, now reading through the list of singers above there is one name that stands out as being the most successful, maybe even the most popular and definately the most well known. Leo Sayer was a very popular entertainer both here and in the UK during the 1970's so you would consider him to be a professional, yes?? No think again, this little guy who granted is a fabulous entertainer and showman and knows how to work the stage, had to constantly keep reading the lyrics as he sang and a few times completely forgot the words. Leo please learn the songs as most of your audience know them word for word!!!

Thanks to Fitknit I am currently reading the Yarn Harlots Secret Life of a Knitter, I am loving it. She is so honest and she could be speaking about any of us as she talks about the joy and the frustrations that our wonderful craft brings. Hmmmmm that lacy jumper is springing to mind here, anyhow it really is refreshing to hear of a knitting 'guru' speak so honestly.

Have a great weekend and happy knitting xx

Candy Cane Hat

I knitted this little number yesterday, a nice quick knit. It is the Candy Cane Hat from Handknit Holidays. I used Heirloom 8ply machine washable wool on 3.5mm needles.

Still plugging away at the items posted previously and a new project is now being organised. I am doing a swap with someone and my part of the swap is to knit her a pair of socks, as she is a pink girl I thought no worries I will knit them in Opal pink self patterning yarn. Think again, I have searched every LYS in Australia, that are on line at least anyway and no joy. The pink I was after is no longer available, so after asking on a couple of knitting forums if anyone had a ball in their stash they could swap or sell me, someone was able to help and so now a ball is on its way to me, thanks Donna. So what am I getting in return for knitting these socks? For now it is a secret and all will be revealed soon, so stay tuned!!!

Yesterday was stitch and bitch and as always a great day was had by all, we had a new lady turn up, I hope you liked our little group Caroline. Thanks to Katt and Cindy some of us got some new knitting bits and pieces.

Some Regia sock yarn in the clown colourway, Knit Simple magazines and my favourite sock needles in the whole world, Clover bamboo 2.5mm. I know a lot of knitters now choose to knit their socks on circulars but for me I still love the feel of DPNs when knitting socks.

Knitting Update

The knitting needles are flying along at the moment, it is absolutely freezing cold here in Launceston at the moment so it is a great time for knitting. First up is a progress photo of Janelles lacy jumper knitted in Patons Zhivago, you know the one that caused me some embarrasment the other day. My love/hate relationship with lace is on again, I love the look of lace but hate shaping in lace so at the moment all is okay as I am not yet up to the armhole shaping. There will be some grumbling when I reach that stage I am sure but for now it is a nice easy to knit pattern, well for lace that is.

Cabled Shrug is next, what can I say about this pattern other than I love it and can't wait to have it draped over my shoulders. This is being knitted in Bendigo Woollen Mills 12ply Rustic, a gorgeous yarn.

Last but definately not least is the 60's Cabled Jumper, which I found in a really old pattern book from the op shop and it is also being knitted in Bendigo Rustic 12ply in a tweed green colour that is just beautiful. This is my easy peasy take anywhere knit as it requires no concentration really yet has a lovely cable and rib pattern. So that is my knitting projects that I am currently working on, there are a couple in the basket waiting for my attention too but for now these three are my priority.

Always Check The Pattern

I am a big believer of there being no rules in knitting but unfortunately there has to be. If not rules exactly there has to be guidelines and #1 is READ THE PATTERN PROPERLY!!! As you may remember Janelle asked me to knit her a jumper, there is a picture here and so last night I cast on and did 14cms of rib before I went to bed. This morning eager beaver got up and quickly made the lunches and did the general early morning circus routine of getting kids and husband off to work and school and then started the lace pattern in the jumper. Row 1 k4, sl1, k1 psso etc. etc. to last 10sts, oh bugger I have 11sts so off I go unpick to the beginning of the row and start again, gets to the last 10sts and once again I have 11sts. I then check the amount of stitches used in the row 93, I had to cast on 94. Okay there must be a mistake in the pattern, so off I go and check out the web site, no corrections for this pattern. I went on the forum at the site and asked had anyone else found this problem??? Within a short amount of time the editor of the magazine replied and mentioned ever so nicely had I maybe not seen the decrease 1 stitch in last row of rib!!!!

So lessons learnt today were never start lace pattern early in the morning, especially not before a strong cup of coffee to de fuzz the brain and NEVER go on a forum and question a pattern before you have double triple checked to see if in fact you are the one who has cocked up!!!! Here is a photo of the offending jumper so far, it is a lovely pattern, and the yarn is Patons Zhivago which I love knitting with. The colour is also a favourite of mine which Janelle chose herself, like mother like daughter.

See It Pays To Leave Comments!!!

The other day I was visiting my favourite blogs and one of them happens to be TUTTI FRUITI and she was giving away some of her lovely pin cushions she had made to the first four people who left a comment. Not only did she send me the pin cushion together with a gorgeous little printed monkey card but it came in this delightful little gift bag. So thankyou BELINDA I love my parcel and will treasure it.

Last night I went over to see what JACQUELINE has been up to and found she has this great new look and as I have been silently grumbling about my boring Blog header decided to do something about it. What do you think? Granted it hasn't got the same gorgeous appeal of Jacquelines but it at least is a change from just plain old words.

Think Pink

I am definately not a pink girl but look what is now in my posession. Yesterday I went to Agfest, which is a huge rural exhibition of all sorts of blokey things plus many craft exhibitors to attract the fairer sex as well, and Flinders Island Fleece had a stand. Flinders Island is a very small island just north of mainland Tasmania, they had this 100% pure merino wool which looks and feels so soft and yes it is pink, it is called dusty pink on the shade card and it is destined to become something cabled. I am thinking that somehow the pink socks and the cabled shrug have worked their way into my subconciousness, so now I am scouring my HUGE pattern stash to try and find something to knit this delightful yarn into. I also came away with their shade card which of course will mean future purchases I am sure.

The bright pink sock now has a mate, tomorrow they go to their new owner, I hope she likes them as they are very bright, fingers crossed.

Last but definately not least is a photo of Rocky, now that is one relaxed, happy cat. I am being a bit cheeky and have deliberately put a photo of Rocky in here today as I have been reading a discussion over at KNITTERS REVIEW FORUMS about what makes a great blog and some people have spoke of their disapproval of pets on knitting blogs. Whatever they reckon, I personally think that they miss the whole point that a knitters pet is just as important as other things that they post about on their blog.

The fire is blazing, the weather is freezing cold and as I now have finished the socks I am going to go and do some more of my poor neglected Cabled Shrug, till next time, happy knitting.

Two And A Half Out Of Three

Yes the socks that were orders are nearly finished, working on the last Opal one now. The Opal yarn is in their Dreamcatcher range, which is bright but I think I prefer the fair isle look better, but the person who these are for is a pink girl so I think she will like them. I have promised to have them finished by Sunday so the pressure is on. The brown pair are slightly shorter as I was running out of the yarn, I have already knitted a pair using this yarn which is Rowan Tweed DK and they sold at the market. They make an ideal boot/hiking sock as they are quite thick, I do hope that the new owners like them.

The weather is definately getting cold, damp and miserable, good old Tassie weather. What better way to spend a day than sitting by the fire knitting, it brings back childhood memories of my mum and I sitting by the fire knitting together, I lived in Campbell Town then which, is even colder than Launceston.

Today was Stitch n Bitch and as always a great time was had by all, I look forward to our get togethers. A great afternoon is spent knitting, chatting and eating yummy food. We even had a couple of people come in and ask about our knitting group, so maybe we will see a couple of new faces next time. Our meeting room is located next to City Mission, a local op shop and a few went to check out if there were any bargains and the LOVELY CINDY came back with a delightful book of baby knits for me, thankyou I love it.

You may or may not notice that I have added one of those web referrer thingys in the sidebar, I have seen them and thought how cool it was that you can actually see where some of your visitors come from and at the same time you can link back to them, how cool is that. Oh yes I must get out a bit more, I think!!!

A Meme

Before I begin anything today, I must make mention of the miracle that has happened at Beaconsfield, a small country town 40 minutes from Launceston. On Tuesday three miners were trapped underground at the Beaconsfield Gold Mine and on Thursday one of the mens bodies were recovered, fearing the worst we all assumed that it was only a matter of time before the bodies of the other two men were discovered. However last night at around 7.30 news broke that contact had been made and that they were in fact still alive. It is still an agonising wait for their families as they are rescued which may not be till this afternoon according to reports.


The lovely KATT has tagged me with an interesting little meme.

Seven Things To Do Before I Die:
I am so thankful to be alive and love my life and can't think of anything else that could top what I have or do now.

Seven Four Things I Cannot Do:
1. Crochet
2. Say no to chocolate, red wine or any yummy food really
3. be a neat freak, 3 children and a husband make sure of that!!
4. go a day without knitting, honestly I can't
5.
6.
7.

Seven Things That Attract Me To My Man:
1. his kindness
2. his generosity
3. his easy going personality
4. his blue eyes
5. his hard work ethic, he will work even when he is unwell
6. his acceptance of my knitting obsession, his mother was one too that helps
7. I love MOST things about him, but he is a male after all he does have flaws!!!

Seven Five Books I Love:
1. Knitting books
2. Nigella Lawson cookbooks
3. Delicious magazines, not exactly books but I love them
4. All the Rivers Run
5. Autobiographies on famous people
6.
7.

Seven Things I Say:
1. cool
2. far out
3. bloody, I know it is a bad habit
4. stop it, to the kids constantly
5. what shall I cook for tea
6. when I finish my row
7. can I take my knitting

Seven Movies I've Loved:
This one is hard for me to answer as I used to work in a video wholesaler and part of my job was to watch all the new release movies, so I have watched hundreds of movies and when I have to list my favourites I always find I end up missing out a favourite. I can say that the old classics usually win hands down together with comedies.

Now with these things you are supposed to tag others, but I have decided that as I don't do chain letters, that I wont tag others with this also. Don't get me wrong I love answering them but I HATE tagging others, but if you want to run with it feel free.

A knitting update later, blogger is not playing nicely this morning and wont let me post my photos!!!