Just Keep Knitting, Just Keep Knitting....

Icon Mania

2009-04-16T11:55:00.005+09:30

one of my newest hobbies/fads of the moment is icon making. Its delectably addictive :)

Trawling through textures and effects to play around with in Photoshop is like crack!!
here's a few that I've made featuring mainly Twilight actors Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Jackson Rathbone, Taylor Lautner and a touch of supernatural - Jensen Ackles:

Most textures I used are from http://community.livejournal.com/icon_textures

I learnt to do a lot of this stuff from this awesome livejournal community http://community.livejournal.com/icon_tutorial/

oh yeah - for the birds animated by ME!

I'm a Horrible blogger, Sydney YAY :)

2009-04-15T10:06:00.003+09:30

Its probably a good thing that I don't really have many readers, with how slack i am at updating n stuff.

A lot has happened since the last post. We went on our really quick trip to Sydney to do some sightseeing and catch the only Australian screening of How To Be.

It was really cool, the movie was great RPattz fans would love it. Its a quirky and at times really, really funny movie. Here's hoping that it becomes more widely available soon.

We met some cool people while waiting too, i would have taken pictures at the actual screening but we didn't want to seem to tryhard, but the lecture theater was packed and it was a really great atmosphere.

I gotta tell you tho, so annoyed at JetStar right now. Originally I'd booked a flight back to home from Sydney at around lunchtime Sunday which gave us some time to have breakfast, check out and leisurely make our way to the Airport via some of suburban Sydney. But noooooooo JetStar changed their flight to 6.30 in the freaking morning, which meant that we had to be at the airport at 5.30, which meant getting up and checking out of the hotel at 4.45AM!!

It was not fun :(

but what was fun was going and seeing some sights, we visited the StarCity Casino - won 40bucks on the pokies and had their buffet dinner - expensive but a wide selection and really tasty too. I don't know why but i didn't take any photos that first afternoon/night but i went a little crazy on the Satdy.

Friday night they were having the Australian MTV awards on down by darling harbour. As we were walking back from the casino they had a bit of red carpet stuff happening. We saw Vanilla Ice and Ruby Rose from like a huge distance away but other than that just a whole bunch of Toyota Yaris cars.... wooo exciting right :)

Satdy we walked all the way from Central Station down to The Rocks to check out the markets they have their. They're pretty cool, we wandered around there for ages determined to by something but coming up really empty handed. I saw some awesome pictures that were just humongous, if we'd been driving i would have gotten one but there was no way i was getting them on a plane back home. So in the end I got a pretty cool hair clip and some dangly red earrings (i have an obsession with dangly earrings!).

We then walked down to Circular Quay and kept getting harassed by people asking about our hair - they were trying to sell a particular salon and were obviously told to target any females withing the 20-30 age group! Very frustrating.

Circular Quay is really very pretty, you get a great view of the Harbour Bridge no matter where you are. For example this was our view at lunch that day:

We stopped at an Italian restaurant and both had their lasagna and a beer, it too was really really tasty and of course being the Quay really really expensive :)

By this time my feet were killing me, and there was no way we could walk back to the Hotel so we caught a ferry from Circular Quay to Darling Harbour which wasn't very far from where we were staying. On the Ferry I snapped quite a few pics, here's some of them.

So anyway, we went a really long way and spent quite a bit of money to go see a movie but it was totally worth it, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat if Little Ashes was screening in Sydney and nowhere else!

Coming soon on boring blog, some actual knitting escapades *gasp*

How To Be

2009-02-15T20:10:00.002+10:30

Holy Cow, I cant believe it....

My SIL and I are going to Sydney in March, primarily to see the only Australian screening of How To Be:

How To Be Trailer from How To Be on Vimeo.

but also to rock out a bit of shopping.

I cannt tell you how excited I am right now. We're leaving on friday lunch time and coming back lunch time Sunday.

This all came about because we were thinking of going down to Melbourne for SIL's hen's night... but ultimatley we couldnt get the money together so we decided to postpone it. Then just yesterday she mentioned it again and how we should get our shit together... I wasnt too jazzed about going to Melbourne, it didnt feel like it would be worth the money.

Meanwhile, i'd already resigned myself to the fact that I wasnt going to be able to get to Sydney for the screening... but i really, really, really wanted to.

Thats when my brain put two and two together... holy cow, she'd totally go with me, if we could get cheap flights and cheap accomodation! Thankyou wotif.com and 99 dollar cheap flights!

So now everything is booked and paid for.... and also non-refundable.

Sydney Here We COME!! wooohoooo!!
This time i'll be in Sydney purely for the lulz, nothing work related - Thank God

What the hell is up with the weather

2009-01-29T15:16:00.002+10:30

Its like one extreme to the next.

In my home town in Australia it hit the hottest day since the 1930's yesterday. A sultry 45degrees C. Why thats only 113F, pfffft. Today it hit 42 and probably will be the same again tomorrow!

UGH!

And in the US some parts are experiencing extreme cold snaps that are causing numerous blackouts and traffic incidents

I wanna be here right now, SFM!!

I cant use what i cant abuse

2009-01-14T22:10:00.002+10:30

weird title I know, I'm listening to Garbage on my laptop right now.... so its a line from one of their songs.

My ISE scarf is coming along nicely, after a false start the stitch pattern that I've chosen is working really well with the yarn.

Its Lorna's Laces Green Line, and my lounge room lamp just doesn't do the colours in this yarn any justice at all! I took it to work yesterday because my usual lunch buddie wasn't going to be in, and rather than sit around doing nothing for an hr (like usual) I brought it in for something to do.

The colours just popped out in the natural sunlight, there are so many different shades of green in this yarn its amazing! My buddie is a gardening guru it sounds like, plus she listed one of her fav colours as green so the yarn is pretty fitting in more ways than one.

This pattern is Scarves to throws month 3 (available here) and this is what I attempted prior

Which in real life, much like in the picture, looked a lot like green mush. Not much stitch definition, this pattern would look better in a solid colour I think.

And totally off this topic, I have a sudden urge to knit socks ?! WUT? huh?

I've only ever knit one pair, with worsted weight cotton yarn and i gotta say i just didn't get the omgimustknitsockslotsofsocksandnevereverstop obsession that seems to grip a lot of people.

I'm blaming this sudden need on these really cool new shoes of mine

They're Converses in blue that goes really well with denim... as you can tell... and seeing that I wear nothing but jeans they're exceptionally cool!!! They're just regular chucks they don't go up the ankle.

But really hand knit socks would not be showcased by these shoes so I'm not sure why I feel like I need them. Maybe its because these are so awesome that they deserve something better than store bought socks *dunno*

but i think they're going to be my next project. Take that 40degree heat - yeah i hate it so much!!

2009 Bring it

2009-01-05T16:58:00.000+10:30

So wow, here we are... first post of 2009!

and I'm back at work, again and bored.... again

If i were into new years resolutions maybe one would be to work up the courage to get a new more interesting job. I guess its a good thing I hate resolutions. putting a time frame on things just fucks up your chi, then you never get anything done like you'd planned, then you get all depressed about the fact.

bleh

so anyway instead of cleaning n shit during my time off I actually managed to take some knitting related pictures - I know RIGHT! swoon!

this is my progress on the February Lady Sweater in Blue Sky Alpaca's Dyed Cotton, Tomato colourway.

This yarn is great soft-wise, its luscious not like normal cotton at all! Problem is that I think its going to pill like motherbitch. While I was doing a EZ stretchy bind off (which uses a darning needle instead of an actual bind off - a little like Kitchener stitch) I was collecting the little pill balls that were shedding off it like a second skin - it was crazy!

This pic shows off the Gull Lace Stich a lot better than the first. As you can see i'm just beginning on the first sleeve, which I think will be around elbow length. Knowing my luck i'll finish it just before winter and wont get to wear it until next summer!

Unforuantly at the moment all my knitting time is devoted to getting the swap scarf for ISE7 done and blocked, but thats something I should save for another post, cant use all this great material in one hit now can I!?!

p.s - sorry about the language, it is monday after all... I should find a good I hate monday's icon - HEY SOMETHING TO DO!!!!

Happy Holidays

2008-12-24T09:28:00.002+10:30

Holy Cow, its Christmas Eve already.

Where did this year go?!

Its starting to get hot around here, which is not ideal knitting conditions. Not to mention that our new laptop is occupying the time that i used to spend knitting in front of the tv. It also doesnt help that there's nothing good on tv anymore around this time.

Bring on Jan when BSG and Supernatural start showing again.... sigh

Ive also signed up for ISE7 scarf exchange which is only now just getting underway after some delays - i'm sure that will get me back into the knitting groove :)

So anyway Be Safe over the festive seasons y'all

I'm so slack

2008-12-03T13:59:00.002+10:30

Twilight made me do it, I swear.

I've just been so caught up in the hype surrounding the movie and Robert Pattinson *swoon*! that i havent been concentrating on much else. Yes its extremely sad I know, but somehow i just cant help myself!

I havent visted another group on the Rav fourums for MONTHS!!!

I have still been knitting, but nothing new. Just working on the very booring parts of the Juno scarf and the lace pattern of a Feb Lady Sweater (of which i havent taken any pictures!)

While Ravelry is down

2008-10-16T16:01:00.003+10:30

Oh Noes! Ravelry is down for the next 20mins whatever will I dooooooo!

Update my blog apparently :)

So having finished my wedding shrug I'm able to cast on a new project (keeping to my 3 proj max) and seeing as summer is creeping up on us in the southern hemisphere I've finally begun a Rusted Root in Lion Brand Cotton Ease, colourway Stone:

I'm treating it more like a normal top down raglan and omitting the puffy sleeves look. Its coming along nicely and the leaf motif is making the sea of stockinette a little more bearable. The lacy bit is okay as long as I don't fuck it up. Usually I don't realise that I've fucked up until two rows later (there's the usual knit all stitches on every odd row of the pattern) which is a little tedious but its going to be a good summer top, even if I'll have to wear a Cami underneath it cos of the yo's in the lace.

Although I haven't blogged about it I'm almost done on a Something Red - Finally! after having it in my queue for EVA. All I have left is the button band.... which I've frogged twice now. The first time I fucked up and used the wrong needle size, I was going to keep going but it looked a little loose and ultimately I buggered the short rows and they looked ugly so i frogged it. The second time I didn't pick up stitches right to the bottom edge aaaaand didn't notice until a couple of rows in that it looked kinda odd :(

After that I put it down and kept working on the Rusted Root for a while.

Hey Wadda ya know Rav's back... CurlyToot out :)

Bit of this Bit of That

2008-10-10T14:16:00.004+10:30

I've noticed that my recent blogging has been very non knitterly related.... well time to fix that!

I've been working on a couple of boring projects. The first is that shrug that i wanted to make in time to wear at my SIL wedding, where i am Maid of Honour no less.

Well this is it:

I used the stitch pattern from knitty.com's Spirogyra and pretty much knitted a rectangle. Unfortunately this pattern doesn't make a nice straight rectangle, it looked more like a parallelogram in that it leaned heavily to one side. If I'd had proper blocking wires it probably would have blocked out better, but I don't so I had to do the ol million pins block.
That's okay it's wearable.

And kinda hard to take a photo of while it was on:

The cool edging is a Scalloped Edging and the pattern for it can be found here

How is all this crap about the global credit crisis tho huh? Its insane, the Aussie Dollar is down to around 60 US cents per dollar. It's hit 5 year lows (at least i think that's what they were getting at... finance is so hard to understand sometimes!) its CRAP! Especially because I buy all my yarn directly from the US and a lot of other things like books and DVD's. Well not right now I gotta tell you!!!

Ahh TV how much to I love thee, let me count the ways

2008-09-30T13:58:00.013+09:30

1 - Supernatural is back for its 4th season, Dean is fresh outta Hell (no really HELL) and Angels are preparing for a possible Apocalypse.... one word: Awesome!

2 - Trisha Helfer on Burn Notice. I seem to have developed a crush on Michael Weston ex spy from Burn Notice, the fact that No. 6 (from BSG) has joined them (I'd totally turn gay for her) is just awesomeness personified. :D

3 - Terminator: Sarah Conners Chronicles is back! There was some speculation as to whether or not this would get picked up for second season after the writers strike. I for one am glad that it has. I haven't watched any of the new epps but they're bound to be just as good... fingers crossed.

4 - Heroes Villains. Like Terminator there was some doubt that Heroes would be back after the strike. Heroes is a cliffhanger-fest that always leaves me wanting more, its great. Even if the overall plot is always the same.... change the future to save the world.

5 - NCIS, they're breaking up the Gibbs team WHAT? Nooooooooooooo!
This show can do no wrong in my book.

6 - Dexter, the worlds most lovable serial killer.... no seriously. Nothing quite like this show on TV that I'm aware of. Making something so dark that you can still identify and sympathise with would be no easy task, but this show pulls it off. Well I think so at least. Defiantly not for the feint hearted.
Season 3 just started and its another that I've been eagerly awaiting. I only just picked this one up so i was able to watch all two previous seasons back to back. having to wait between epps is going to be hard!

Royal show my ass! - ranting ahead

2008-09-16T09:16:00.008+09:30

Last week was the Royal Adelaide Show. For the non Aussies its basically the annual fair that travels around every Australian Capital City.... and it sucks. Compared to some American fairs I've seen its just boring.

its a mix of carnival side shows and rides, showbags, lots of animals and a food and crafts area. Basically all of the individual fairs that others might have all mixed into one.

sounds cool right.

WRONG

Basically if you're not the ride going type and you're not going to buy any showbags, you're out of things to do but walk around.

Okay some of it is because we went at night one weekday after work. All the cool stuff like the majority of the animals were shut for the night... so no doggies or kitty's or alpaca's or sheep or camels.

I hunted out the crafts section hoping to find some yarn stalls to peruse....... stalls, no thats wrong - Stall.... one freakin stall. The royal show is one of the only listings in Aussie yarn magazines under fibre Fair's for Adelaide. So one stall counts does it?!

I was disappointed to say the least, hubby was with me and there were a couple of people inside, one was knitting one was spinning. Hubby freaked out and said "look at the people who are in here"... old ladies of course.

Now I know there is nothing wrong with that but you know how people outside of the craft (particularly men) don't get it when younger people take up what is traditionally a "grandmotherly" hobby. He wasn't comfortable which made me uncomfortable, and it wasn't that big of a stall with only two small racks of undyed natural yarn... it may have been Alpaca from the look of it, but i didn't stick around long enough to find out. The majority of the stall was already knitted items for sale.

The poor gals probably got all excited when someone young came up to have a gander but i was expecting more to be around the corner so we moved on quickly. Sadly that was it.

The food was shit too, we paid $17 for two shitty hot dogs and some dim sims. After which we were still hungry so we also paid another $17 for two baked potatoes that we'd seen other people eating. They were much better!

The highlight was that the children's farm was still open. They had lots of barn yard animals, ducks, chickens with chicks, billygoats, swans, birds and these guys:

They were sooooo cute! digging around in the hay while mumma slept.

I'd love so much to go to a fibre festival overseas they must be soooo amazing.... sigh.

okay thats enough /end rant

On a high note, I lashed out and bought 10 hanks of Blue Sky Alpaca's Dyed Cotton yarn. At YarnPixie.com because they were on sale... yay for sale, plus i got a 10% discount for being a new customer. Everywhere else was selling it for 9 or 10 bucks but YarnPixie had it down to 7.50!!! Too good to pass up. All 10 are in their red colour called Tomato.

I shoud be knitting Something Red with it but instead I think i'll do the Feburary Sweater so that it will be good for summer time :)

aah summer time, please God please no heat waves this year..... I think i've got more chances of Hell freazing over than Adelaide not having a heat wave during summer!

sigh

Juno

2008-09-02T15:35:00.004+09:30

nope not the movie... the scarf:

I was so intrigued by the Juno Regina pattern that i wanted to get stuck into it as soon as i got home from work late last week.

I only had the one hank of malabrigo Lace which is only 470 yards, the full pattern for this scarf calls for approx 950 yards. So I have reduced the number of lace triangles quite dramatically.
I've kept notes on how many repeats I did to achieve this so I will edit this post when I'm back at home with my notes.

Knitting this certainly was Interesting the lace weight yarn is so fine, going from worsted to this was a major shock to the system! I was always afraid of pulling too hard and making it snap.

Now I have miles of the not so interesting straight yarn over section before I can start on the corresponding end triangle.

I now officially have three WIP on the go, so now I have to finish one before I can start something new... that's my one rule and hopefully i can stick to it.

Entrelacy Love

2008-08-28T11:20:00.006+09:30

I seem to be developing a habit of jumping on bandwagons very late :)

My first clappy was only completed the other week, here she is all blocked and neat:

I've got my eye on a swallowtail shawl for some Malabrigo Lace that i just picked up - which was intended to become a shrug for the SIL wedding but i think is too fine.

And last week I cast on for an Entrelac scarf using the leftover pink & brown merino and a great tutorial by KnittyOtter

It's so much easier than you'd think, it is taking a little longer to memorise the pattern than i would like... i keep attaching each square at both ends... when you're only supposed to attach it to one side and slip the stitches on the other side... oops. But its really easy to fix.

I think the pink and brown merino actually looks pretty good in this pattern, its making stripes which I could never get it to do with other patterns. I'd even consider getting some Noro just to do this again to see how each square takes up the colour.

hmmm let me see what else has been happening........ Oh I also cast on Something Red, which will actually be blue. This has been in my ravelry qeue for the longest so I thought I better do something about it. Trouble is its pretty boring, miles and miles of stockinette until you get to the ribbing towards the bottom... but even that will be pretty boring. Knowing my luck I'll finish it just before summer!

Back onto being a bridesmaid for my SIL I've just ordered some Silky merino in the Purple Mystery colourway for the shrug instead of the lace weight. The colour is perfect a nice deep purple. Which I discovered a couple of weekends ago is the actual colour of our dresses, deep purple. I don't know where I got the idea that they were purpley blue colour! So now i guess i have two skeins of Louet Gems for my stash - oh poor me! :D

The lace weight Malabrigo is gorgeous but so thin!! knitting anything with it is going to take ages! I now have either the Swallowtail Shawl (rav link) in mind for it (which seems a bit complicated!) or the Luscious Lace Scarf (rav link) which seems a bit easier.

Clapoitis

2008-08-07T15:23:00.003+09:30

my only major WIP right now is my pink and brown Clappy

I've come along a bit further since these pics:

I'm almost ready to start the decrease section now. This thing is freaking huge! I wanted to use up all 6 hanks of this pink & brown stuff so I dont have anything left over. thats just over 1300 yards of worsted merino.

I think i'd like to do this again some time but just as a scarf.

I've also been trying to find just the right yarn to make into a small shrug to wear at my sister in laws wedding. I am her maid of honour so i'm trying to find a yarn that matches her very unusual choice of dress colour. Its smack bang in the middle of a blue/purple hue. I'm having trouble determining online wether yarns are more blueish or more purplish.

There just doesnt seem to be that perfect shade out there. I ended up getting some Louet Gems sport weight yarn, one in hummingbird and one in bluebird cos I THOUGHT they were the closest i'd come across so far:

Bluebird

Hummingbird

Turns out that neither are very purple and both are more blue. Dang. I dont know how its going to go. The wedding isnt until November so i've got a bit of time... too bad i dont really have the money!

Speaking of money the SIL is talking about going to melbourne in September for a girly weekend with two other friends. I'd really like to go but i'm just not sure either of us can afford it. If we do this i'm going to have to tell her that her hens night is going to suffer. I'm not going to be able to afford a trip to Melbourne and shacking up in a hotel room for her hens night. Anyway have to see how things go, its not a definate yet. I seriously dont see her being able to spare the money she's the one who's got a wedding to pay for in september!!

Goodbye's are always so sad

2008-08-06T10:33:00.005+09:30

Why is it so hard to find good people to work with these days? One of the really good Admin people we have here at my work is leaving us to study masters in London.

I'm really bummed about it, she was/is so easy to get along with and i could actually trust her to go away and do the work properly and without trouble. We're coworkers, I'm not her boss or anything but given my experience I'm usually the first person people come to for help or when there are issues.

E could be trusted with instructions and tasks, unlike a LOT of other people i work with who think that if they do a crappy job at a task they'll never be asked to do it again and always scream blue murder that they're SOOOOOO busy and they couldn't possibly take on any more cos they're so stressed.

Bullshit

E is leaving next week, we're having morning tea one day with the academics and another day the admin people are having lunch. She wears scarves a lot so I made her this from my stash:

It is One Row Lace Scarf by Turvid

I originally bought it to make a wedding shawl back in 06. The shawl never eventuated because I wasn't a very proficient knitter back then, all I could do was garter stitch. I didn't even know how to purl yet!!
As it turned out I didn't need a shawl anyway it was a nice day so it got ripped back and has been sitting in my stash ever since. I've no recollection of what the yarn is, I'm pretty sure its all acrylic i think it was called twinkle because its got little bits of shiny cellophane type stuff in it that really catches the light and makes it sparkle :)

Its my own personal thankyou to her for being so reliable, she's really made my job a lot easier and i'm dreading not having her around.

While i'm bitching about work I might as well bitch about the fact that they havent got a replacement for her yet. They've had 8 months notice but of course left it relativley late and the person we had lined up to replace her fell through. Its so typical now we're probably going to get some half assed replacement who's as useful as tits on a bull.... or even worse no one at all.

I hate where I work.

I should be more happy for E, she's getting out of here and travelling a bit before heading down to London to study. Both things that she loves to do... travel and study. I guess i'm a bit jealous that she can just uproot her whole life and do something different. I'm much to cautious for that sort of stuff. I've found my comfort zone and i'm reluctant to leave it.

My cushy government job doesnt pay extremley well but its not minimum wage either... where else could I get away with doing sweet FA for the majority of the year??

Birthday Cake as promised

2008-07-08T11:02:00.002+09:30

Chocolate sponge with cream and jam in the middle.... mmmm yummy!

Still working on the sleeves for wicked, what i refuse to admit to is frogging the whole fucking thing and starting over. Yes that's what I did, I just couldn't live with it. But so far so good the sleeve is proving a little boring through so...

Yes, I think that saying that I wouldn't start anything new until i'd finished Wicked was like my subconscious playing reverse psychology on me, I've jumped on the incredibly late bandwagon and cast on for Clapotis.

I want to use all 6 hanks of the pink and brown monstrosity so i don't have any of it left over to taunt me. I don't care what it looks like because I plan to use it as a blanket not a wrap. Yeeha take that yarn!

b b b b Birthday

2008-07-04T11:16:00.001+09:30

wow, its been a while. I guess that's the downside of not joining the latest Secret Pal swap... no motivation for blogging.

I blame Ravelry :P
that and I'm only knitting one project now and I'm vowing to keep it that way until its finished!!

But in more exciting news... or not... it was my birthday on the 3rd. Actually it was very uneventful it didn't even feel like my birthday. I'm only 26. Not a big milestone... my next one is 30, eep!

But even at 26 I feel like I'm 50.

we're not big on presents in my family so I didn't get much, i never do. The hubby was nice enough to get me a good pressie. He's been seeing me eyeing off digital cameras. The camera that we have, his camera, is a Nikon SLR camera. It's huge and it weighs a tonne, its not very appropriate for taking pictures of knitting and FO's because its so complicated, and he's got a couple of different lenses for it.
What I've always wanted was a good point and shoot camera that had overall focus and would take true colour pics. I didn't even know he was going to get me anything, we don't normally exchange gifts like this, we tend to just get what we want when we see it.

My sister in law got me the 5th season of Scrubs... I love this show, its hilarious! Oh and my Mother in law got me the latest Janet Evanovich novel Fearless Fourteen, also hilarious... but not as good as most of the others in this series.

I took some pictures of the Cheesecake shop cake that Hubby bought too (I had two massive slices of it) with the new camera of course. But i havent transferred them over to the PC yet.

yummy cake pictures comming soon!!

More Yarn glorious yarn

2008-05-23T14:03:00.003+09:30

By God I hate Internet Explorer sometimes!
I had to download Firefox and then try and work around not being able to save to some folders because of work permissions, just to get the blogger create new post window to work properly!!

Grrrrrr

Anyway! :)

I have one last batch of yarn to show for today's Yarn P0rn Friday (TGIF people!!)

mmmm, Thats 100purewool.com 3ply merino. Yup the same people who did my pink & brown monstrosity also produced this. I'm on thier mailing list and every time I get one announcing thier sales i'm very very tempted. I specifically asked for a very solid blue and the lady assured me that its not varigated and that its thier most popualr blue colour. I can see why, its puuuurfect! So now I know, i'm only going for solid colours from them, i'm not taking a chance on varigated colourways.

Now Kitty's never done this before but as I was taking photo's of this yarn she just went bonkers and started to play attack the yarn:

I thought it was funny at first and kept taking pictures:

Then this happened, and i didnt think it was as funny anymore - ACH!!

The yarn is fine, I repeat, the yarn is OooooooKay!

Geeze, I gotta say.... firefox is SO much faster to load that Internet Explorer, I didnt think it would be that different but its very very noticeable, and firefox is free.... sigh

Anyway... again.

I figured that seeing as I used my red yarn on Wicked I'd need to get a subsitute for something Red... which has been on my to do list for Waaaaaay too long. So thats what I have in mind for this, unless something better comes along. Which it usually does!

Yarn Glorious Yarn

2008-05-22T14:00:00.006+09:30

I probably should have saved this post for Yarn p0rn friday but hey, i'm bored and I havent posted much for a while :)

AAAges ago I made some bargain purchases of Jaeger Extra Fine Merino and Roma. They've been discontinued for a while and one of my fav Ebay and online stores (cucumberpatch.co.uk) was throwing them out with free shipping. And with the normal costs of shipping to Australia usually costing more than the yarn itself thats a big deal! I've only just gotten round to photographing them.

So I snapped up 10 balls of each, above is the Extra Fine Merino in Cocoa. Its a lovley chocolate brown that I was thinking of turning into a Ms Marigold (rav link) from Zephyr.

And also 10 balls of Extra Fine in Smoke colourway, which is a nice grey colour. I think I orginally planned this to be Coraline (rav) from Ysolda but we'll see how we go. I was also thinking of doing the tangled yoke cardigan... but I havent bought that pattern yet (i've already bought Coraline).

And the Roma:

Was going to be the Katrina Rib (rav) by Cookie A. But i really dont know how well a ribbed clingy top is going to look on me.

Just between you and me, I think these are going to be sitting in my stash for a while ;)

With the break down of my Corsica a little while ago, I realised that the cascade 220 is a little bit too ichy for my liking. Whenever I tried it on with short sleeves my arms just really did not like it. Soooooo I accidently found this Awesome colourway in the Berocco Comfort yarn:

its called Dried Plum and its colour number 9780. I think the name is very apt, its a deep purply colour. I was putting off bying it because of the price of shipping via ebay sellers. Then, webs has it's anniversary sale, with comfort selling for 3.89 a ball down from 5.75 - SWEET! Plus thier shipping chargers were about the norm, Yoink!

The only downside to it might be that its 50% Super Fine Acrylic & 50% Super Fine Nylon... so pretty much 100% synthetic.

However that doesnt mean that its not good quality, its Soooooo soft - much softer than the 220. Comments on Ravelry say that it tends to be a bit splity, ive had a close look at it and I reckon i've dealt with much splittier cotton yarns before and that sort of thing doesnt really bother me.

I also think that I didnt get enough 220 yarn for the corsica size I wanted anyway so the Comfort is going to become my new Corsica.... if the new sized pattern ever comes out. Poor Fiber Fiend has had a bit of bad luck heath wise, according to her blog, which has put her behind schedule but thats okay with me cos i've still got some re-doing on Wicked before its wearable.

which is a great seagway into updated WIP pics of Wicked:

As you can see above I continued the cable ribbing on the bottom (the pattern calls for seed stich to tie into the pocket) but i reckon that looks better. For my re-do i plan to rip right back to where the bottom of the pocket is joined onto the body of the knitting and keep doing a bunch more waist increases and lenghten it by at least 6". I also want to rip the pocket back to where the armhole seed stich is bound off and keep that going right to the end so the whole side of the pocket is an opening for Le Hands. I might also add 2 or 3" to the length of the pocket cos as it is my hands only just fit!

But wait... whats going to happen to the cascade 220 yarn, that was an awsome colour you had.

Well i'm glad you asked becuase I also found this magnificent pattern on Rav one day (I got bored at work again... what... you wish you could too!)

its the Hemlock Ring Blanket (rav) pattern that Jared Flood adapted from an old knit doily pattern (Jared designed the koolhass beanie pattern - he's an awesome designer!)

Lots of ppl have used Cascade 220 held double for this pattern and Minou has written out the pattern on her blog which is what i'll be using... if I ever get around to this! I think this would be a much more useful thing to make with the cascade cos its been getting quite cold at nights lateley, if it werent for hot water bottle lap cats i'd be using the heater a lot more i think :D

anything else...... oh right, I got itchy for an FO seeing as I frogged Corsica and Wicked still needs altering. So I cast on for the Hannah hat a couple of days ago and finished last night:

Its two strands of Malabrigo, one Azul Perfundo and one violetas, held double. The blue kind of overpowers the purple but I still like the result. This is the hat which has a slit and buttons so that the wearer can have thier hair up in a ponytail while wearing this with minimal hat hair problems because you unbutton rather than just pull of your head:

I've still got quite a bit of both colours of malabrigo left, so i'm making a purple
Calorimetry and I might do a blue panta. I had a bad hair day earlier this week, which is what's prompted all these head coverings!

So anyway this post is WAAAY too long, I have one more batch of yarn to show off, so i'll save that for tomorrow :) later ppls!

You See...

2008-05-12T14:55:00.005+09:30

...the thing about knitting sweaters is that its not very exciting! Especially when they're majority stockinette stitch.

Hense the lack of blogging, mainly because of the lack of blogging content :)

My orangina is on the back burner again - it is winter here now after all :) And i'm almost finished with Wicked, done in Malabrigo Sealing Wax. I'm about 1/4 through one sleeve with the second still to go. Unfortunatly the only pics i have are a bit old, they're taken before the pocket was put on:

Its a little bit shorter than I would like and the pocket is WAY too small, I've only seamed up the top and bottom, there is a little on the sides that can be seamed as well but if i did I would never get my hands in! As it is there isnt much room for them!

I want to see what blocking does to the length of the garment, scarves that i've made in Malabrigo have lengthened quite a bit. If that doesnt help i'm going to rip it back redo the pocket so its bigger and lengthen the top overall.

I've also noticed that the neckline has started to droop just with trying it on a few times to gauge lengths. If it gets really bad after blocking i'll try crochet chaining around the edge and as a last resort I read that someone thread some yarn around the top and tied it off to keep it tight.
*EDIT* its not drooping, its the sleeves! The extra weight of the sleeves is pulling the yoke so much that its almost falling off my shoulders!!

I'm itching to get onto something new, i've been pawing though my Harmony Stitch guides for a stitch to incorporate into a shrug with the georgeous Lion & Lamb in Edgewater. I was thinking of knitting from sleeve to sleeve, very much like the Dream in Colour Shrug (ravelry link) Pictured left :)

But i'll have to see how the Edgewater colouring fares with that stitch pattern, I have a feeling it will be too busy for a delicate stitch pattern.

If that fails I think i'll have to fall back on the Anthropologie Inspired Caplet (ravelry link) which is just a basic raglan shrug, which i've knitted before... many moons ago, it was my first wearable finished knit. It turned out much too big and far too hot (it was acrylic yarn) but I learnt a lot from that knit :)

2008-04-23T15:01:00.003+09:30

I've FINALLY started to get somewhere on my Orangina:

The photo is a little blurry so its best viewed small. I also now know why i've avoided taking shots of myself, trying to get good shots in shitty lighting is really really hard!

Since taking these photos I've frogged that bit of ribbing and replaced it with more lace stitch so its a little longer. Now i'm back on the ribbing...... its soooo boring and there's a shitload of that to do as well. I've given myself a pat on the back for getting this far!

On Sunday I also recieved my ISE6 package:

It was AWESOME! One of those boxes has Peanut Butter Chocolates and the other Solid milk chocolate bunnies:

mmmmmm yummy... the Peanut Butter ones are all gone now, and i've made a nice dent in the solid ones too!

Also not forgetting the whole point of the swap, the scarf. This is an Elizabeth I, Glorianna variation scarf done in Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud - Autumn colourway, which is a reddy brown colourway that is just not done justice via photographs!

Anyone who's worked with Alpaca Cloud will know that its incredibly soft, and so thin! I dont know how Angela did it! I certainly wouldnt have the patience... look how long its taken me to get this far through my Orangina!

THANKYOU ANGELA!!

Kitty Photo Shoot

2008-04-15T10:03:00.006+09:30

On the weekend, I accomplished a few things:

1 - I ripped out my Corsica.... sigh

2 - I wrapped up the yarn into hank type things, soaked them in Eucalyptus wool wash overnight and hung them up to dry.

3 - I created this awesome home made dryer/hanger thing to accompish no 2:

Hubby has a habit of accidently breaking coat hangers along the bottom edge, its cos he violently grabs at the shirt hanging on it and just pulls. If the hanger gets stuck he keeps pulling until it breaks... which means those hangers are no longer good for hanging pants.... Men....

The hangers with the yarn are broken along that edge which means i can thread them onto a non broken one and use the hook part to hang the yarn on... it worked really well. Unfortunatly the half dead tree in our front yard (which is the only yard we have) was the only place in the sun that i could put them. Our clothesline is under the carport which houses our white van 99.9% of the time.... so we cant use our clothesline.... sigh.

What is hanging there was the 2nd batch, the first was much bigger.

4 - while outside all three kittehs came to say hello and all three put on a little photoshoot for me.

I took 87 photo's that afternoon (not all of cats tho, I swear!) It took so long to upload them to flickr that it froze!

This is my Fav Crazy pic:

He knew I was taking photo's of him, I just kept snapping in the hopes that i'd get something good :)

This is my Fav Kitty Pic:

well, actually its a tie because I couldnt decide between these two:

I call the 2nd one the Princess Pose because of she's holding her leg up like she doesnt want it to touch the icky ground.

I like this one too, but its best viewed small because of the blurryness, its a bit arty more than ground breaking photography :)

Fav Leroy Pic:
Not to be outdone by the new intruder (thats crazy) Leroy decided to do some cutsey rollin around too.... dude this is why you always have burrs and sticks in your fur!

I like this one too because he reminds me of those cat pyramid statues

Fav Group Shot:
Awwwww

Unfortunatly for most of the shoot Crazy sat on the outer, kitty doesnt mind going close to him (they play fight often which usually leads to crazy hissing at mid air - kitty's usually too fast for him) but he's become amazingly affectionate towards me... they all are because i'm the hand that feeds them! Crazy's been sitting on my lap.... sometimes both Kitty and Crazy will plonk themselves on me while i'm trying to knit. It has definatly produced some jealously amongst the three. Leroy never has been much of a lap cat, but even he has started to jump up and plonk himself down... although he never stays long and usually it means that there's no cat bikkies in the bowl!

I also got some Proof of crazy's affection... in case he trys to deny it later:

Aw yeah, thats him rubbin against my leg showin the love!

5 - I also made a mint slice. Okay so it was easy as pie and straight out of a packet.... I'm not a homemaker people, knitting is the only homey type activity i do and I prefer to think of it as crafty rather than homey or womanly.... anywho i made the crappy slice that tasted like it came from a packet.... because it did.

so this is what the packet said my slice should look like:

ah huh yeah whatever:

Okay it didnt taste as bad as i make out... we ate it all so it wasnt THAT bad.

i'm not a cook.

and by the end of the weekend this is what my corsica looked like:

While i'm waiting for Fibre Fiend to release the updated version of her pattern with larger sizes i'm back to working on the Organiana now in the round, which has been sitting on my side table for months and months now. I wonder how long it will be before i get sick of it and start doing Wicked?

Today I am sad

2008-04-11T15:32:00.005+09:30

Because last night I found a hole in my Corsica...

One of my felted joins wasn’t done so well and it came apart. I know ya'll will say but you can fix it!...

Problem is I just don’t wanna. There are little bits here and there that i'm really not happy with cos I know I could do it better.

Fibre Fiend is updating the pattern to include larger sizes as we speak, plus the cascade 220 has started to hurt my hands. I'm not sure if it’s this particular hank that I’m working with or what but it’s become very, very scratchy. When I try it on my arms scream -"NOOOOOoooooooo" it’s not very nice.

I've washed and blocked my swatch in some eucalyptus wool wash, to see if it affects the softness. Even a single wash seemed to help it a bit.

So what I thought I’d do is frog the whole thing. Rewind them into hanks and give them a good long bath in the wool wash to try and soften them up before giving the project another go.

Having the larger size patterns will help me... and i've realised that i'll probably need a smidge more yarn, sigh.

Meanwhile i've got 6 hanks of luverly malabrigo sitting all alone in the corner... such a waste. I think I might put this on the back burner for a while and start doing Wicked.... at least there's a KAL for that in the malabrigo Rav forum....

sigh

Thank The God's

2008-04-07T14:51:00.002+09:30

BSG's final season is finally here!

The first Epp aired in the US on Friday night, and it lived up to my expectations. Great new CG, no real answers to the burning questions left from the final of last season, but a whole heap more to ask.

I'm just so glad to have them back... even if it is only for the next 10 weeks, and then who knows when SciFi will air the 2nd half of the season. Right now I don't care, it has been over a year to wait for new episodes... that's a fracking long time when you're obsessed with something!!

sigh, its going to be the best 10 weeks evah

ISE 6 scarf pattern underway

2008-04-02T09:31:00.003+10:30

I ordered some Malabrigo for my swap partner in the International Scarf Exchange 6 swap.

I tried to go for something cheaper at my LYS but it just wasnt turning out how I wanted so I got a refund on that and bit the bullet and ordered two hanks from Nancy at Whitnits.com while they were on sale :) Nancy is fast becoming my go to online store for malabrigo.

mmmmm, its really lovley - but then when is Malabrigo not :)! In the Violetas colourway, cos my partner's fav colour is purple :)

I've got Corisca on hold at the moment, I'd just joined the sleeves onto the rest of the body. But the ISE project has a deadline so it's more important now :)

I've started the My So Called Scarf Pattern. Its really fun and I like doing it, its very easy to remember. I've even brought it into work today cos I thought I could be really sneaky and duck out every now and then (with it hidden under my sweater) to work on it. I would try and work on it at my desk, but if I got caught doing that i'd get in sooooo much trouble. Its bad enough that I waste a lot of my time on the internet and not working.... like right now :)!!

I'm doing the version with the YO on the knit row, its much easier than trying to knit into the back loop like the original version is written. Also used the you tube video to get the hang of it all at first (i've linked to that video before, but if you just search for 'my so called scarf' on you tube it's one of the first two that come up).

As I said I'm really likeing this pattern, its fun to do and easy to remember, and its got me wondering how the pink & brown monstrosity yarn would look done up in this... I might have to do a swatch :) although i've got 6 200 ood yard balls of it... it could become the My So Called Blanket!!

Afternoon Delight

2008-03-20T09:54:00.003+10:30

Yesterday such a lovely package was waiting for me on the kitchen table, the package from Emily in Chicago!

I'd won her charity socks pattern promotion :) such a wonderful surprise at the time. Seasing the opportunity she asked me if there was anything else that i wanted to get to add to the package to make it worth while (I do all of my yarn shopping via the US and the internet now - gotta love technology!).

Being that Em works at Lorna's Laces i jumped at the chance to get som LL's Edgewater yarn. Here is what arrived for me yesterday... just in time for the Easter long weekend!

Actually the Cables & Aran book is mine but everything else was in the package. I've ordered the Lace & Eyelets book from Amazon, which if it hasnt turned up today will probably arrive sometime next week after Easter.

The Edgewater yarn is the same colourway that Emily used for her Cardigan and I fell in love with it when i saw how it came out! I got it in Lion & Lamb the Silk and Merino blend, it is exeptionally lovely very smooth but squishy at the same time. I would never have been able to afford this yarn at its retail price, there's just over $60 worth of silk here! Some peopel have made sweaters out of this stuff... YIKES!

To be honest i havent quite decided what turn the Edgewater into.... its so nice that i want it close to my skin, so i was thinking some handwarmers... maybe the mermaid ones if i have enough yardage, or a pair of fetching with a neckwarmer to match, but then i wonder how well the silk would hold up around a high wear area like the hands. Some more thought might have to go into this :)

Also part of the yarny goodness is this Green Growth yarn, that was part of the experimental dye phase before the line was officially released by Lorna's.

As you can see its slightly varigated and carries a few shades of a Sage Green colour. From memory I think its 100% merino wool... its very soft and smooshy. I think this would make a really nice Koolhass :) with plenty left over for a matching neckwarmer or a pair of fetching :)

To top of a really great week my Cosmic Dawn Haindmaiden Sea Silk yarn arrived the day before:

oooh its also so nice! Its laceweight so its quite thin but the seacell fibre just gives it that something extra, and the silk means that its shiny and smooth as well. The colours are just vivacious! The bright Red, the Royal blue and the deep green just POP, with the muted purple and blacky/grey in between, i cant wait to see how its going to knit up. This has been earmarked as a Montego Bay Scarf (I was inspired by Team Knits version [ravelry link] in this yarn in the Orgin colourway)

But right now its more important to get onto the ISE6 scarf knitting, like I said yesterday I plan to go into Spotlight tonight after work - its late night shopping tonight before the public holiday tomorrow. I know exactly what i want to get, lets hope that they actually have it. Otherwise its gonna be a trip into the city... which wont be fun this close to easter!

As I wont be deleriously bored at work I wont be posting until after the Easter holidays, so have a good one people and stay safe on the roads.

Corsica Progress

2008-03-19T10:02:00.004+10:30

I'm still dutifully plugging away at the Corisca sweater and i'm really pleased with how its coming up.

I love love love this colour!

The top half above is done up to the armpits, and i'm now working on the sleeves.

The picture below gives you an idea of how the crossover bit looks, although the colour here is a little bit pinky, it was very hot and bright outside when these were snapped:

In the pattern the sleeves are worked from the bottom up, with increases either side of the cable and again at the start and end of the row. I was using the two circ's method rather than DPN's (cos i dont have any of the right size).

I dont really like how my increases have come up - i used the KF&B increase otherwise known as the bar increase. I think the fact that I wasnt quite used to using the two circs method of knitting in the round affected how these early increases came up.

its also a little snug around my wrists and forearm, even though i did add four stitches to the recommended number to cast on.

here is a close up of the cable with some stuffing in it to represent an arm :) Loving this Braided cable pattern too, it looks very cool :)

looking back over these pictures, it's not as evident as it is in real life how amaturish the sleeves look. In person they just scream hand knit by someone who's never completed a sweater before. Not that anyone but me is going to notice.... its the age old knitters problem isnt it, as long as I know its like that its going to bug the hell out of me. Especially when i know this is something that i'm going to really want to love and wear all the time.

and the back increases:

For the 2nd sleeve, i've decided to work from the armpit down. I've got a provisional cast on of the same number of stitches that i ended up with on the first sleeve and i'm going to k2tog where the increases would have been. My k2tog is much better looking than my M1 sitches.

I also think that i might have to stop decreasing a little sooner so that i have more stitches for around my wrists and forearm.

If that looks a lot better i'm gonna have to rip out this first sleeve and do it again from the top down.... yeah looking forward to that - NOT :(

On some other news I got my International Scarf Exchange 6 buddie details and I can now start looking for some yarn. I think I might tackle the My So Called Scarf pattern for my buddie, in a varigated purple thick n thin yarn i saw at spotlight the other week. Her Fav colour is purple.

Its all very exciting :)

2008-03-14T10:25:00.001+10:30

RIP Missy
2003 - March 14 2007

Corsica

2008-03-07T14:10:00.003+10:30

Coming along nicely with my corsica. I've finished the waist section and have moved onto the chest section.

stupid me misread the instructions for the crossover section and i had to rip it back and start again, but i think i'm on track now.

More yarn purchase news, Emily has gotten me two skeins of Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb in the Edgewater colourway. She thinks i'll be the first person in Oz to get my hands on the new colourway - how crazy exciting is that! .... for knitters of course :) the Hubby would look at me strangley and say "so"?

sigh

and then for some reason, i find myself at Ebay agonising about a Handmaiden Sea Silk colour.... do i go with Origin (which is on the handmaiden website so has to be a legit colour) or something funky looking called Cosmic Dawn (which is not listed on the handmaiden website) - ACH!!
As i floated outside of my body i realised that it had gone and clicked on the buy it now button.

Hang on when did it do that... did i tell it to do that.... crap... oh well its done now

mwahahahah

FO Thursday

2008-02-28T16:18:00.002+10:30

I finished and blocked my Christmas Lace scarf:

Its really great, and yup still very mmmmmmmmalabrigo soft!

I've just joined up with the International Scarf Exchange 6, and am seriously considering using this stitch pattern for the scarf I make for a buddie.

Dont you just love the plant model :)

I've been dillagently working on the Cosica pullover and have just joined the cable pattern and am now working on 2x2 ribbing in the round.

mmmmmm... PICCIES!

2008-02-27T10:31:00.002+10:30

ChaChow!

or how about...

ShaZam! And the artsy fartsty shot...

ooohhhhh. Work it Baby, Work the Camera

Its not completley solid, but malabrigo never is ;) but it doesnt have any spots where the red doesnt seem to have quite taken, like the Azul Perfundo blue did. Which i'm happy about, its a really great colour I love it to bits, exactly what I was hoping for. Its always nice when that happens :)

And the yarn doth arriveth in spades

2008-02-26T10:38:00.002+10:30

The Cascade 220 burgundy yarn came first, late last week.

Its exactly as I was hoping, a really deep blood red colour that's going to look great as Corsica (it arrived first so it won the pattern). The official number of the colour (in case you like it) is 2401, cascade has a lot of different shades of red with different numbers :)

>

mmmm, looks yummy in these pics:

Taking pictures of cables in twilight is not easy! I had to use a weird setting on our camera (its not a point and click camera and only hubby knows how to use it properly!) that held the shutter open for longer to let in more light. That setting obviously needs to be done on a tripod because they weren't in focus, but they're better pics than anything I could take on Auto, which automatically used the flash all the time:

My gauge was a bit weird with this (yes I actually did a swatch *gasp*) I had 4sts to the inch but the whole swatch didn't measure 4" across like it should have..... ?? Huh??

Lengthwise was spot on before blocking, but it grew a little after and went to 4.2" which I think will be okay cos I prefer a little length anyway.

I've just said bugger it and went ahead, I think it will still be fine.
Damn swatches, they LIE those mean Lying liars! Just ask Emily or Cyn!

The Malabrigo Sealing Wax arrived yesterday:

I took so many photos it kinda is funny! But i'm going to save them for tomorrow so this post isnt so image heavy..... mwahahahaha

Must... Stop... buying... YARN!

2008-02-20T14:35:00.007+10:30

okay so I got a bee in my bonnet and realised that i've been eyeing the Corsica (ravelry link) pattern for a long time and that I really like it.

So i caved in and bought it, the reason i'd been putting it off is because the pattern is $8 usd. I guess I am a bit of a cheapskate but most patterns average between 4-6 dollars so 8 just seemed a little expensive but bugger it, I very rarely buy patterns so why the hell not.

Then of course i've got to find yarn for it, and being on the XL side its going to take about 1200 odd yards. I really wanted to use Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk but it just wasnt cost effective! So I settled on Cascade 220 in a dark red colour thats going to look great!

Problem then is that i saw someone advertise a Malabrigo sale going on in the Malabrigo Junkies group forum, now usually I'm way too late for the sales so i jumped at the chance to get in early while some of my more fav colours were still avaliable.

I spent 102 aussie dollars and got 6 skeins of Sealing Wax, a really great looking bright red colour that hopefully looks a little like this:
ARGH - over two days i'd spent almost 200 bucks on yarn and patterns (after pay day I also got Emily's charity sock pattern too).

Then 100% pure wool (they make merino yarn that is exactly like Malabrigo except cos they're not as well known they dont charge as much as malabrigo, but their colours are vastly different) e-mail me the VERY next day about thier latest promotion which could have gotten me 7 skeins for $70..... dang!

You dont know how close I came to caving on that one too! But I stayed strong and held off, PureWool always has some kind of deal going and I seem to be on thier mailing list after purchasing the pink & brown monstrosity from them.

A word of warning!: Thier colours dont always match what you see on thier website.... which has put me off a little. When I purchased the P&B monstrosity I though the pink was going to be a lovley dusky light pink... but what I got was HOT pink... the pinkest pink you ever did pink:

I hate Pink

This is what i thought I was ordering:

This is what I got:

In all honesty its my own damn fault, I know I hate pink, I regretted it as soon as I paid for it. So if you're going to get yarn from that site, make sure its in a colour that you'll love no matter what shade it comes out as!

Lately i've been thinking of giving that yarn life as a Clapotis.... if I ever get a chance with all the other things I want to knit but just dont have time!!

so back to the yarn purchases.... now I have to decide which batch of yarn is going to be the Corsica and which is going to be something else, maybe something red can actually now be red?!

dangnamit, Blogger spellcheck still isnt working... blogger does some strange ol things in Internet explorer!

Its so hard to come up with interesting titles all the time!

2008-02-14T11:26:00.004+10:30

Yay finished Claudia... worth the wait I reckon :) Great pattern, easy to follow with great end results. In ravelry over 150 people have queued it, i'd say thats a good sign. I hope more people cast on!

I'm my only photographer so taking head shots or any in action shots are kinda tough for me... especially since I dont have a full length mirror. So YES the hat is on a collander (or strainer) which is in turn on a bowl (cos collanders have holes in them and the light was playing tricks with the camers) and that wierd nobly shape at the top is the collander not my hat!

I have dreams of making a matching scarf out of the rest of my KnitPicks yarn with the ribbing and trellis pattern at the bottom moving into the k1 p2 ribbing back into the trellis pattern and the ribbing. I think this can work cos the trellis pattern is the same upside down, just instead of K2tog i'd have to K1 M1..... fingers crossed!

My Insane need to find something to do with my hanks of Malabrigo gifted to me by my SP11 pal overwhelmed me after finishing Claudia.

It was really hard to find a pattern that was complex enough to keep my interest which still suited the solid colour. I had thought of doing My So Called Scarf, but that pattern really looks best with a varigated or multicoloured yarn.

Then I contemplated and even did a swatch of the sunday market shawl which was oh so soft in the malabrigo... but it just seemed too simple for something as great and magical as malabrigo.... ya know? (plus there are issues with cast on and cast off, i think there is a special trick to getting them to be streatchy enough with the dropping of stitches)

My saving grace seems to have been the Christmas Lace Scarf:

It's complex enough to keep me interested but simple enough to remember and look really great in the solid colour.

I seem to have lost a little bit of the softness that came with the Market Shawl swatch, but I reckon when I wash and block it the Malabrigo will relax and bloom, opening up the YO stitches a bit more.

Those blobs of undercoloured yarn are very irritating, given that they are so different to the rest of the very darkly coloured yarn. However they are appearing in a kind of ordered fashion so it almost looks as though its been done on purpose, I think can live with that ;-)

The Blogger spell check seems to be on the blink so please ignore any stupid spelling mistakes contained herein :)

Pattern for a good cause

2008-02-11T09:55:00.004+10:30

UPDATE: Today (20th Feb) Em posted on her blog that she's donated $230 USD to the Leukemia & Lymphoma society! Wow thats huge, so thanks to everyone who has bought the pattern, and I won a contest she was running too so added bonus! Warm and fuzzy feelings all round :)

Emily over at Skyline Chilly has put together a great sock pattern, 100% of the proceeds from said pattern are going to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

To support Em's valiant deed you can purchace the sock pattern from her blog using PayPal here: http://standardd.net/skyblog/?page_id=386 For only $5 US - knowing your money is going to a good cause.

"It’s a sport-weight sock worked toe-up on two circular needles, and you can have the satisfied feeling of supporting a good cause along with the warmth and coziness of new knitted socks. Or you could go the extra mile and donate the socks to the charity of your choice, doubling the amount of good you are doing with your handcrafting skills and time.

written for two sizes
adjustable for Magic Loop or DPN’s
detailed color photos for each step
both charts and line-by-line instructions
email support from me (should you need it)
PLUS your $5 donation benefits a worthy cause "

Silky Goodness

2008-02-05T09:49:00.000+10:30

mmmmm here it is in all its silky glory.

The only real difference between this and the normal Malabrigo Merino is that the silky does have a bit of a sheen to it, but its just as soft and just as good.

But it has no where near the yardage that a normal malabrigo hank has: 150yds V's 216yds
It was a little bit cheaper per hank tho (but not by much).

This is the two types side by side, Blue is worsted and the brown/grey is the silky which i've just realised is DK weight, slightly thinner than normal.

Anyway more jucy pics!!

The colour is not really what I was expecting, but its good I like dark colours. Its a really dark brown with a slight greayish tinge.

I ordered all they had, just four hanks, 600yds... I was thinking of making a Anthropology Caplet with some cool cables but now i'm not so sure. Maybe i'll do a long sleeve one skein wonder for the colder months.....

"Hi My name is CT and I have a shrug problem"

Aaaaaaaanywho I notice that exartstudent (aka MJ) stopped by and left a comment (Hi MJ! *waves*) so here is my progress so far on her Claudia hat. The pictures dont caputre the cool trellis pattern as well as they could... its the damn flash i tells ya! I think some natural outdoor light would have been better.

Because the Elegance that i'm using is DK weight I casted on 130sts instead of the recommended 120 (plus i was using a slighly larger circular cable and 120sts didnt go all the way round! hence the tightness around the edges) i've since moved to DPN's now that the cabling is done. There was a mistake in the trellis pattern that I picked up, but I notice that MJ has since updated the pattern so all is Ooooookay :) so far everything else is fine.

I didnt quite believe that this pattern only took 130yds of yarn :) but thats looking to be the case. So it seems like i'm going to have the majority of 2 balls left over.... I might have to do some small fetching type gloves or perhaps a neckwarmer to match.

Woot-Woot!!

2008-02-01T13:57:00.000+10:30

As predicted my package from Lisa my swap buddie in the KH secret swap WAS waiting for me when I got home - YAY!!

She warned me about the tape :) as i used my trusty pocket knife to open the box I realised that she'd gone to so much effort to wrap each little parcel that i just had to take pictures and document the grand opening :)

The Children (kitties that is) were very curious about the package from across the seas!

I've never had so much effort put into wrapping individual items in a swap before... i almost didnt want to open them.... almost :)

Squeeeeee - little ribbons and everything!

Mugs & Chocolates and Counters - OH MY!

Mug Shot - HA HA GET IT???!!! *Groan*
Its got chillies and cowboy boots on it... tee hee!

These KP options cables are what I was really looking forward to. The options kit only gives you two sizes 24" & 32".

These are 40" & 60" which will be great for sweaters and really big shawls or blankets. I know for a fact that the Candle Flame Shawl gets so big it's easiest to knit on the 60 inchers.... if i ever get around to knitting that one, its on my ravelry list.... *sigh* so many things are on my ravelry list.

and three balls of the georgeous KnitPicks Elegance in a lovely blue colour:

I've got two patterns in mind for these. 1st is a hat pattern that i've been waiting for the exartstudent to post on her blog for MONTHS now (lol):

It has the coolest crown shaping:

or possibly the Montego Bay Scarf - but i'm not sure how long the three balls would make... I do prefer skinny scarves anyway... but i think i'll start with the hat and see how it goes.

mmmmmm Hershey's - needless to say they're almost all gone, and once i get home tonight they will be well and truly gone :) yummy :)

So thankyou again Lisa, i'm soooooo heappy
(think maid marien in Robin Hood: Men in Tights - love that movie!)

The one where she explains way to much

2008-01-31T09:45:00.000+10:30

Its hard to believe that its almost a week since I got back from Sydney... where does the time go, its getting scary how fast things move sometimes. Then other times 5 O'clock just wont roll around.

Anyway we had some really great meals in Sydney and did a lot of walking but not a lot of shopping. Unfortunately my older colleagues were more interesting in finding a nice bar and having a few drinks... but i wanted to go shopping and I didn't feel comfortable enough to leave the group. Maybe next time... Yup I think there will be a next time in around June :D!

Anyway I've finally gotten through fixing up my blue bolero, I re-did that right side THREE TIMES! First I just guessed at the length and Oh gee it was still too short, Then i actually measured and kept increasing to an appropriate length. Then when i was seaming up i noticed that the edges didn't line up... that's because the red lines on each side need to be the same length and my increasing stuffed that up. Not to mention that my arm circumference wasn't big enough either (that's the green lines).

The red lines don't look like they're the same in this pic but that's probably due to my dodgy pinning and photography, i seamed up one side last night and they were fine :)

After all that debacle I decided to leave the right side and start working on the left to hopefully curb my frustration.... that's when I noticed a distinctive difference between what I had knitted previously on the left side to what I was now knitting.

I WAS USING THE WRONG SIZE NEEDLE - DAMMIT!!

I swear I wanted to just break down and cry... cos I knew it meant i had to do the right side A. G. A. I. N

Right - so I calmly ripped what I'd done back, got the right size needle and started again.

This time I actually thought about the fit, I measured around the top of my arm and knew that i had to keep knitting the arm until the green line area was equal to my arm measurement... while doing that I kept increasing at the neck area (the pattern only calls for 9 increase row repeats).

This allowed me to have a bigger front incline which will cover my chest more. Then I was able to follow the pattern for the curved front edge and still end up with the right amount of stitches in the red areas.

I'd DONE IT!!!

I cannot tell you how relieved I am... and how much I realised that I'm not destined to be a designer :) - or maybe that's the easy part... modifying to fit is the hard part!

Now I've just got to seam up the other side and start working on the edging. The pattern actually says to do that before seaming up, but i hate that idea... sure its like 300 odd stitches to go around the outside but at least that way i know they're all going to be even.

I must say that the Lion Brand Cotton Ease has held up respectively well to the repeated frogging and knitting... although i suspect after a few washes that it will start to pill, particularly under my arms ;(

In other news, I'm eagerly anticipating some packages to arrive sometime soon :)

One is a package from my KnittingHelp.com 2008 swap Buddie... which I'm actually hoping will be waiting for me when I get home today.

The second is equally as exciting... 4 hanks of Malabrigo SILKY merino. That's their new line of merino wool blended with silk = SQUEEEEEE!! I got colourway Smoke, which I'm hoping will be a dark grey. I cant find any piccies of it - oh well I'll have to take lots when it arrives :)

oh and I alsmost forgot, yesterday I ordered Knit Fix book from Amazon.com after it being recommended by Sani who does the Knitting Daily blog at interweave. I'm such a sucker :) but really every knitter should have a fix it book... see i can see all the heads nodding out there! That wont rock up for a good two weeks tho.

Please God Hurry It UP !!

:-)

Leavin on a jet plane...

2008-01-21T11:14:00.000+10:30

I've been lucky enough to be part of a training session in Sydney for work so the next four days are going to be pretty hectic and I'm not gong to have Internet access. Unfortunately they haven't really given us any time to do any sightseeing or shopping... bummer! Our two days are choc a block till about 6pm!

I leave tomorrow and will be back on Thursday night so I'm taking Friday off to recover... YAY

I haven't been doing anything exciting knitting wise unfortunately.... I decided to run with my idea to make my fiery bolero longer so I've ripped back the right side (twice now... idiot i am, probably best to MEASURE not just guess.. Yeesh!) at least i've figured out that I like seed stitch as a border better and that i'm not going to bother with arm edges either (the stockinette curl looks pretty good on its own)

I'm going to bring that and my orangina with me to Sydney, but I'm too chicken to put them in my carry on luggage to do on the plane... I don't want to have them taken away from me!! So I'll have to settle for a bit of Sims Castaway on my PSP and my ipod to keep me occupied.

I'm beginning to think that I might have KIP (knitting in public) phobia....

Brioche Stitch Demonstration

2008-01-15T15:28:00.000+10:30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEiKRKSJ4pk

just had to put this somewhere that i'll be able to visit again if i ever think about attempting this for a scarf or something...

man i'm tired... probably because last night as I was trying to sleep I couldnt stop thinking about how i should rip out the front left and right sections of my fiery bolero and make them bigger because they dont sit properly on my chest cos of my larger than average boobage...sigh... i hate them sometimes!!

you know how you just get those wierd urges? If I hadnt been going to work this morning i probably would have gotten up and started doing it!

Which Fiber are you?

2008-01-10T12:46:00.001+10:30

So i took the Fiber test and...

Angora – Soft and warm
Angora has a warmth that rivals cashmere and softness that rivals qiviut. Best of all, it comes from cute little bunnies that look for all the world like furry footstools with ears.” –The Knitter’s Book of YarnAngoras are eager to please and are highly sensitive. Flexibility and adaptability are your strengths and sometimes your weakness, as well. You are essentially a warm and feeling person, and little escapes your impressionable mind. You are generous with others and strive for harmony in your relationships.

AWWWW ;-)

Wow

2008-01-04T10:22:00.000+10:30

Today is my last official day off, back to work on Monday... I wonder if I'll ever have a job that I don't mind going to every day, somehow I just don't think that's going to happen.

Anywho, I've almost finished the fiery bolero, I've just got the ribbing on one sleeve left - but I keep putting it off... I've started back on the Orangina which is now a welcome relief to boring old stockinette stitch, I'm sure I'll get sick of it again soon!

unfortunately we left the camera at my SIL's place at Christmas and we've only just got it back so I wasn't able to take progress pics of the bolero, but here are some not-quite-finished pics:

In my travels I found this awesome video that shows how to do the stitches on 'My so called scarf':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKpuUxVbQtc

I've had this project on my to do list forever and it always gets put off for something else, I just don't wear scarves that much so I'm loathe to make them cos i know they'll just end up unworn.

I tell you what tho, I'm damn sick of daytime shows aimed at housewives who want to loose weight, I cant believe how many crappy and expensive machines that are guaranteed to help you loose those extra kilo's .... UGH, money grabbing crap.

and whats up with the garbo's in my area, they're supposed to pick up the bins on Thursday mornings but the last two weeks they've come on Fridays... I can hear the squeaky breaks of the damn truck right now. Why don't they do something about the breaks on those trucks!! Sometimes they come at 7am and wake up the whole neighbourhood with those screeching banshee breaks.

But on more pleasant yarn p0rn Friday news, yesterday I visited my LYS to pick up some stuff for my KnittingHelp.com 2008 swap partner. I swear that will be the last time I go there... she expected me to pay 57 bucks for yarn that would eventually be just a scarf.... a 57 freaking dollar scarf... UM I DON'T THINK SO!!
I had to do some major backtracking and just got 3 skeins of Noro Blossom... which by the way was pretty much all the Noro had left because it was on sale, I really wanted some Kureon. It was 10.30 DOWN from 16 bucks a skein.... HOLY CRAP! That's why LYS's are virtually non existent, when I got home I had a look on eBay and found that I could have gotten 6 skeins of that for a little bit more. Sure it would have taken two weeks to get to me but seriously its not worth spending more to have the stuff right now.

From now on I'm totally buying ALL my yarn from eBay! woo Go EBay!

anyway here it is:

The black yarn is some acrylic from my stash... i blew my budget with the noro yarn. I'm also going to provide a print out of a scarf pattern that alternates between the coloured yarn and the black yarn. I think the colours of the noro will stand out much more against the black than it would by itself.

I also put together some stitch markers and decoupaged a box for them:

Last day at work

2007-12-21T10:02:00.000+10:30

Wow, today is the last day at work - thank freaking F*&%$. I really need the time off, this year has been.... well another year. At least in 2008 I'll actually have some annual leave!
For the last three maybe four years I've been casual and any time off I've wanted to take has been without pay.

Being that today is my last day at work for two weeks I probably wont get around to blogging at home. I've been really bummed lately that most of the blogs that i visit haven't been updating very regularly at all, some haven't blogged at all since November! But it is a busy time, every spare moment is probably being dedicated to frantic knitting of Christmas gifts!

I plan to use the time to do a bit of extremely late spring cleaning... every room from top to bottom.......... f'n A

Tis the Season to be....

2007-12-19T14:46:00.000+10:30

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Used to be bags, but really there's nothing like ripping apart a wrapped present

2. Tree; Real or Artificial? We always had artifical when i was growing up.

3. When do you put Christmas tree up? Um i dont have one... no room in our unit... and no point i'm not putting up a tree just for the hell of it.

4. When do you take the tree down? we used to take it down after new years

5. Like eggnog? not really but i've never had the traditional stuff

6. Do you have a nativity scene? Hell No

7. Favorite gift received as a child? my Cabbage Patch Dol

8. Hardest person to buy for? My husband and his mother!!

9. Easiest person to buy for? ME!!!

10. Worst Christmas gift? it wasnt for christmas but I was given a little change purse in the worst shade of green with some awful embroidery on it that there is no way in hell i'd ever use!

11. Mail or email a Christmas Card? I dont send out Christmas Cards... I think they're a waste of time and paper.

12. Favorite Christmas movie? The Santa Clause movies are alright.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Christmas Eve

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No

15. Favorite food to eat on Christmas? Chocolate... wait thats every day :)

16. Clear or colored tree lights? Coloured

17. Favorite Christmas Song? Ewww christmas songs... BUH BOW!

18. Travel during Christmas or stay home? Stay home... Hubby cant get time off work for christmas its his busiest time of year.

19. Can you name Santa’s reindeer’s? Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Prancer & Vixen .... okay I cheated on this one :(

20. Angel or Star on Tree top? Star

21. Open presents on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve? Christmas Day

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? How busy the shopping centres get... and trying to find a park in one is near impossible!!!

23. Bake at home or Buy? B.. ake??? I know not this word!

24. Lights outside? Eww too cliche' and seriously arent we supposed to be environmentally concious now-a-days? how is having lights on during the dead of the night helping the environment!!!

25. Mistletoe? Not an Australian tradition...

Today's Blog post is brought to you by Monster Smilie of the day

2007-12-12T14:34:00.000+10:30

"Rrrrrrrraw"

I'm so freakin'...

2007-12-11T15:34:00.000+10:30

Please God, make it home time already!

Orangina V's Firey Bolero - Round 1

2007-12-10T10:22:00.000+10:30

I've gotten myself just short of 9" into the Orangina top by Glampyre

at 9" I plan to cast on for the back separately knit till its also 9" then join the two pieces in the round and knit them both till the end. Of course I'm now procrastinating... mainly because i want to wait until my options arrive and i can start knitting the back piece on them.... privately its cos i need a break from the stitch pattern, it gets pretty monotonous after a while. I hate to think what its going to be like once I'm knitting in the round.

So in my moment of weakness the Fiery bolero pulled its first punch and got me to cast it on. I've just finished casting on the extra stitches for the sleeves and i now have about 16cm of stockinette in front of me. Unfortunately no photo's at this stage.

I'm using Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Violet for the bolero, I really do like this yarn. For the price you pay its pretty good, I think it has a funny smell though. It might be the acrylic in it. And the yardage is great, i think it's only going to take three skeins to do this - I've got 6!

Last Thursday I was able to get off work early and went down to my local yarn store to peruse for a gift for my swap Buddie to cover the cost of posting my options to me. I'd already sent a small box of Tim Tams to say thank you and Emily's other half seemed to appreciate them, so I put together a box with 4 hanks of yarn for Emily and 3 packets of Tim Tams for her and Rob.

I'm hoping that she'll freak out when she sees the yarn, its a blend of merino and possum hair.... POSSUM HAIR!! I couldn't resist, its definitely unusual and very Australian! The colourway sounds a bit odd, orange green and browns - i picked it cos it encompasses all of her latest fav colours and I think it will look pretty good knitted up into a scarf or hat and neckwarmer (not enough for a scarf and hat I think).

I've spent quite a bit of money on this last swap, i guess I'm lucky that i can afford it.

But possibly not for much longer, we did a bit of house hunting this weekend... it didn't end well but i wont go into that... we're hoping to have some debts paid off in the next 6 months and then start hitting the banks for a loan. Then we can really start looking seriously. Hubby wanted to start looking now so we can get an idea of what particular suburbs are like that are within our estimated price range, but I'm afraid that we'll find something that's just perfect and not be ready for it... then we'll be constantly comparing everything we see to that house and may not find something as good. That's my fear, I don't want that to happen.

But really in the housing market 6 months is a long time.

Secret Pal 11 finito

2007-12-05T10:18:00.000+10:30

Well the 11th Secret Pal swap is over, I had a really good time i had great buddies on either side so i feel really lucky. Apparently there were some not so good times... but with 600 odd people participating its kinda to be expected.

Emily my spoilee has enabled me to get some knitpicks options interchangable needles - YAY! she posted them on the weekend so hopefully they'll be here before Christmas. To say thankyou for doing that I sent her a box of TimTams - which her and her other half both loved... but seriously you cant go wrong with TimTams... if you like chocolate you'll lurve them!!
So now I have plans to put together an awsome yarny&chocolatey surprise to pay them back for the shipping cost.

Michele was my Spoiler from NSW, I recieved her final package on Monday - and boy did she save the best for last!

I almost screamed when I opened the envelope and saw this cheakily peaking back at me:

mmmmmmmalabrigo!!! Squeeeeeee. In an aswome deep blue colour! OMG, OMG, OMG!! Now I have to figure out what i'm going to turn this into!! But there WAS more in there... as i discovered after i'd calmed down a bit :)

For Example: Blue Sky Alpaca Silk blend, its soooo soft and the bestest shade of red! About 8 more of these and I could make the most AWSOME Something Red..... HA yeah right and about 100-200 bucks later!!

And also 4... count em FOUR little hanks of serioulsy fluffy and georgeously cololoured mystery yarn, which turns out Michele got in a mystery box from e-bay - wow bit of a risk there! Apparently they're most likely Angora/Mohair blends here are some closeup's:

This one's my Fav!

This last one has a lot of fluffy strands that give it a kind of halo... I have a feeling that Emily would really like that one.... if she was more into blue :)!

And there is the obligitory family shot - very excitng! Thankyou so much to everyone involved in SP11 - I had a great time, and I think the hostesses have earned a well deserved break!

Merry Christmas Everyone :)

I dont know how I ever lived without...

2007-11-26T15:38:00.000+10:30

My yarn swift and ball winder, recently purchased from ebay:

I seriously don't know how I did without these, they're able to convert hanks into flat bottom balls (*smerk*) of yarn in around 30 seconds! As long as your hank isn't tangled.... i had one that was which i couldn't wind and took me three hours to unravel.

And then once you're done you have the yarn with a flat bottom and top so when you're knitting with it, it doesn't roll around everywhere! I forget how much I paid for them both exactly but it was well over $100 and i think closer to $130 but it was totally worth it and I'd recommend that anyone who doesn't have them invest in them. Its like a tonne of weight being lifted from your shoulders knowing that you can convert your hanks into balls with very little fuss!

one word: Awesome!

Update, Update, Update

2007-11-20T13:51:00.000+10:30

After spending so long on the Cathay Shrug, I've taken up a couple of quick knits to satisfy my need-to-finishitis. I cast on for a Calorimetry on Wednesday and was finished on Friday, how awesome is that!
here is the finished product... even though its much to hot to wear this now in the middle of an Aussie summer, I used the patons SWS gifted to me by my swap Buddie, it did exactly what i wanted/expected it to do:

but it only used 1/3 of the ball, so I have no idea what I'm going to do with the rest of it, I might have to see if there's enough for a panta headband.

But speaking of the whole summer thing, I wanted a small headband for the summer that will help hide my icky hair when I'm having a bad hair day (almost every day really!!). While sifting through the patterns on ravelry I saw a cool photo of someones Shedir only 1/3rd of the way through and thought it looked really cool and would make a good headband pattern. So what I did was took the first 20 or so rows and will end with two rows of 1x1 ribbing. I've got a 2nd row of the ribbing to go then I can cast off:

The yarn is from spotlight, its a yarn bee yarn that I cant remember the specific name of, its annoying because it has that silky type strand that wraps around the yarn and gets twisted and I have to keep pushing it down as i draw more yarn from the ball, but thats what makes the yarn look so cool when its knit up... catch 22 really.

I'll finish this tonight and then I plan on starting the orangina (again) with my egyptian cotton from ebay. Thats going to be another really long knit, its going to take me even longer than the shrug because its made up of a semi-complicated lace stitch that when you stuff up you dont realise until about two or three rows after you actually did it. There's going to be a lot of liflining and frogging here I just know it!!

Introducing Crazy...

2007-11-16T13:20:00.000+10:30

This is Crazy:

He's a stray thats been hanging around our neck of the woods for a long time. Until recently all we'd ever see of him was a brownish black streak heading in the opposite direction.

Then he'd sit on the other side of the neighbours fence and just look at us before I'd shoo him away.

Then he started to sit under our van and look at us through the gap between the wheel and arch... then he started meowing at us.

We caved and started to leave out food and water. I felt sorry for him. Then when I saw him eat I felt even sorrier. I named him crazy because he eats like a crazy person... seriously he eats like he hasnt eaten in days. He eats cat biscuits whole... doesnt bother with chewing them, and canned food he eats so fast he takes gasps in between mouthfulls like breathing isn't as important as eating!

At first I wasnt sure if feeding him was the right thing to do... we already have two cats, one male who is very similar to Crazy, feeding him would be like having three cats without the perks of having them act like a hot water bottle on cold nights (not that its cold around here right now!). About that time I was watching the Evan Almighty movie (about the guy who builds an arc), and the moral of the story was that the smallest act of kindess can change the world - as Morgan Freeman (who plays God) said that he filled a bowl of water for a stray dog and let him drink from it.

Now - I dont especially believe in God (my inner jury is out on that one). Fate & destiny make more sense to me, that part of the movie made me see what I had to do.

I had the means to help him and no good reason as to why I shouldnt, so I changed his world and gave him a chance.

Now he brushes against my legs and lets me pat him... mainly when he wants food. He knows when the others get fed and he meows at the back door, he comes inside and steals any food that they leave in thier bowls.

Kit (the younger one - she's not quite a year old yet) doesnt mind him at all they snif eachother and are content with eachother's company.

Leroy my 4yr old male isnt so smitten. He's cautious and sometimes makes those low toned meows that say come over here a bit closer... I dare you! I'm positive these two used to fight and wake us up at night. So I can understand why he's a bit weirded out by the situation, but I havent heard fighting for a while and Leroy hasnt had any little scratches for just as long so I hope that they've made some sort of peace with each other.

Crazy is a smidge bigger than Leroy so its possible that he came out on top in the territory stakes and thats why Leroy tolerates him... but he doesnt have to like it.

I must admit I am also worried that Crazy has bugs and stuff and will pass them onto mine. He doesnt have fleas, but i'm worried about worms and about feline Aids. Kit is vaccinated against it but Leroy isnt. Which in heinsight is kinda stupid cos Leroy's the fighter and more likely to contract it - Kit's a female scaredy cat and runs from confrontation.

I also have a feeling that Crazy was owned by someone, his fur around his neck looks like it once held a collar, but it could just be that his fur is a little thinner there. He seems pretty tame and not wild at all. He hisses sometmes but not with much conviction and usually only when he's cornered.

So i'm going to keep feeding him and i'm going to try and get him used to my company when it doesnt involve food and hope that with time all three of them can get along fine.

Ravelry is Awesome!

2007-11-14T09:24:00.000+10:30

I don't really have much info to put into it cos I have a tendency to not work on more than three projects at a time... and I don't have the space in my unit for a huge yarn stash, but I am finding it fun to add flickr photo's and tally my progress. Its a great way to waste time at work... its like facebook for knitters!!

So last night hubby was at poker (he does the pub poker circuit in our area during the week) so I wasn't able to get him to take a photo of me in my shrug - which i wore to work yesterday and it survived the 30ish degree day! YAY! - so I tried somewhat successfully to take a picture of myself by holding the (HEAVY) camera out and praying that it got me. My face was so ludicrous that I HAD to crop it out:

The only thing that's wrong with it - there's always SOMETHING I do wrong - is that I've picked up more stitches around one front corner than I have the other. So the right side is a little snug around my boobage and has a tendency to slip off, while the left side is a lot looser and just sits there quite nicely.... :( its a bit of a bummer cos it makes the front look lopsided plus its really annoying to have to keep pulling at the right side all the time. Oh well I think I'll wear it anyway, it was pretty hot yesterday and I didn't feel any hotter than normal wearing it - so the bamboo & cotton combo is doing its job - yippee

Let me tell you all that stockinette was pretty boring!!

So now I'm working on a belt from the Noro Daria that my SP11 Buddie was kind enough to gift to me. The Daria is pretty odd to work with, its a nylon blend yarn that's kinda ropey. There aren't a lot of stitch patterns that would work well with this yarn. Oh and get this I was looking on Ebay for this stuff once and one person said that this yarn would be great for a summery top... ARE YOU KIDDING ME! you couldn't knit this stuff into a top it would be horrible to wear as a garment! This stuff is only good for belts, bags and maybe a scarf but only a decorative scarf... don't count on this stuff to keep you warm!!

I want to see if I can get a buckle or a D ring to put on it.

In a moment of weakness I got bored with more endless stockinette and cast on for Calorimetry using the Patons SWS that was also gifted by my SP11 Buddie. I've only done about 2cm and started it after my photo spree so no piccies as yet... oh and I'm also using the straight needles that my Buddie got me too - its just a Buddie frenzy goin on round 'ere :)

just checking in

2007-11-12T11:58:00.000+10:30

Wow, so i've FINALLY finished the cathay shrug... OMG!

but of course i dont have photo's cos i have to get hubby to take them will try and get some taken tonight.

wow I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders!

and some other good news, my SP11 buddie (the one that i'm spoiling) has agreed to let me get the knitpicks options interchangeable kneedle set sent to her, which she's going to forward onto me. Knitpicks (the buggers) dont ship internationally.

woo hoo - so i'm off to place my orders

Monorail Cat - best pic EVER

2007-11-02T14:27:00.000+10:30

All of these are from http://icanhascheezburger.com/ - check it out its freakin halarious

Heroes OMG

2007-11-01T11:18:00.000+10:30

I was knitting and watching TV last night when I had a total light bulb moment... I'd forgotten Heroes from my list of Fav TV shows.

OMG how did I manage that, Heroes is the coolest thing on the box right now and we're only one week behind the US epps.

The characters of Heroes are who we all want to be, people with mutant type powers struggling to figure out what their place is in the grand scheme of things. This is another show with a huge cast, all of whom are so great, and some that have the coolest powers ever! Like BSG it does a fantastic job of melding genres, it has a kind of SciFi theme but it also captures drama suspense and comedy with cliffhangers all the time! Usually by the end of the Epp you're like OMG what happened WHAT HAPPENED!!

from Wikipedia:

"The series begins as a disparate group of people gradually become aware that they have special abilities. Events illustrate their reactions to these powers, and how the discovery affects their personal and professional lives. At the same time, several ordinary individuals are investigating the origins and extent of these abilities. Mohinder Suresh, a geneticist, continues his father's research into the biological source of the change, while Noah Bennet represents a secret organization known only as "The Company".
While coping, each of the characters is drawn - willingly or not - into the Company's conspiracy to control superpowered people, and into a race to stop an explosion from destroying New York City and millions of its inhabitants. Throughout the season, the predatory stalkings of the serial killer Sylar and continued manipulations from casino-owner and mobster Mr. Linderman affect the characters directly and indirectly. The characters' individual stories, Peter Petrelli's abilities, his brother Nathan's campaign for Congress, Claire Bennet's search for her biological parents, Hiro Nakamura's adventurous journeys and the precognitive visions of Isaac Mendez all culminate in a climactic meeting of the characters at Kirby Plaza in New York."

On more usual knitting news, I'm STILL working on the Cathay bolero. I got 3/4 of the way through my first sleeve when I posted and realised that I know nothing about how to seam pieces of knitting together. So I searched this wide world web and found some great articles on how to seam the tops of shoulders and how to set in sleeves. It was then that I knew I'd probably done the right thing in avoiding this stuff in the past, during my travels someone on a blog mentioned that they preferred to seam up the garment then pick up stitches for the sleeves and do them in the round. That totally made sense to me and I've picked up stitches for sleeves on top down garments before, where as how to put that weirdly shaped sleeve top into the just as weirdly shaped arm hole just wasn't clicking for me.

So right now I've seamed up one side of the shrug, picked up the sleeve stitches around the armhole and am about two or three inches into knitting the sleeve in the round with 5 double pointed needles... aka DPN's. NOW I'm not sure if I should do long sleeves or short sleeves, short is appealing because were coming into summer PLUS it wouldn't take as long and I wouldn't have to do many (if any) decreases. Being that I'm SO OVER knitting this damn thing now I think I've just convinced myself to do short sleeves!

I don't have any photo's of it because photographing black knitting is about as exciting as photographing wall paper.

Fav TV shows

2007-10-30T15:25:00.000+10:30

Battlestar Galactica - This show really perplexes me, its aired on SciFi and has been acclaimed as the best show on TV. I love it, its witty, meaningful and totally different. Its got me hooked. The only problem is the fans and the way the SiFi channel is treating it. There are so many nay-sayers who were forever predicting its upcoming doom, bad ratings and cancellation. Consequently I think the producers decided enough is enough and they are filming the fourth and final season, where at least we will (fingers crossed) get a conclusion to the story.
The story is the best part, and the acting from EVERYONE is fantastic. Its such a big cast and everyone pulls their weight. James Callis as Giaus Balter and Trisha Helfer as the Cylon Number 6 are just awesome together, the first two seasons are worth watching for them alone.
Here is a bit of a blurb from Wikipedia:
"Battlestar Galactica continues from the 2003 mini-series to chronicle the journey of the last surviving humans from the Twelve Colonies of Man after their nuclear annihilation by the Cylons. The survivors are led by President Laura Roslin and Commander William Adama in a ragtag fleet of ships with the Battlestar Galactica, a powerful but out-dated warship at its head. Pursued by Cylons intent on wiping out the remnants of the human race, the survivors travel across the galaxy looking for the fabled and long-lost thirteenth colony: Earth."

NCIS - This is my Fav show on Aussie TV (although we're still in between seasons at the moment). The best thing about this show is the characters and their development, each actor knows their character inside out and the writing is fantastic. Each epp they manage to get a great story with a beginning, middle and end as well as embedding an intriguing overarching story that usually surrounds the main characters.
This show is actually a spin off of Jag... and can I just say i HATED Jag with a passion just couldn't sit down and watch 5mins of it. But NCIS is totally the opposite and I really love it.
Abby the Goth Forensic scientist is my fav character, with Tony coming in close second (lurve Michael Weatherly)

Californication - This show reminds me of Sex & the City but from a more male perspective. Hank Moody played by David Duchovney is great, he's flawed and gritty with a hell of a lot of baggage much like the show itself. Its like nothing else on TV at the moment and it doesn't shy away from the whole sex, drugs and rock n roll type stuff... and that's why I really like it.

Supernatural - This show is my escapism, in terms of breakthrough TV this show isnt exactly up there, but the eye candy is exceptional :) and its a fun kind of show. Its supposed to be scary but really only kids would find this stuff scary. The relationship between the two brothers is fantastic they bounce off each other so well with some really funny moments.

From Wikipedia: "The show follows brothers Sam and Dean Winchester, who travel across the country in a black 1967 Chevy Impala investigating and combatting paranormal events and other unexplained occurrences, many of them based on American urban legends and folklore as well as classic supernatural creatures such as vampires, werewolves, and ghosts."

Smallville - I've gone off this show a little, I don't know why its taken channel 10 in OZ so long to catch up with the epps from the US. They're already half way through the 7th season in US while we've only just started season 6...but from what I've seen so far its getting a bit lame. The 5th season showed such promise with the 100th epp being pretty good, but it ended so stupidly and now I've lost interest again. I'll probably pick up the rest of the DVD's later down the track (I've already invested in 1-4 so i might as well get the whole set). I don't think they can keep stringing out the Lana/Clark angst thing or the accepting who you are stuff for much longer.... I say that and yet somehow they keep doing it... *shrug*

Bionic Woman - I'm really only interested in this show because of Katee Sackoff who's in Battlestar Galactica and I really do like her troubled Femme Fatal bad ass orginial Bionic Woman character Sarah. She hams it up a little with the excessive makeup and typical evilish facial expressions but i still love her and want to find out if they can fix her. The show is produced by the same person who does BSG and as such it's already featured a couple of the same cast members... plus a shameless plug of BSG playing on a TV in the background of a short scene in one of the BW epps.

I doubt though that this show will last very long... I give it two seasons before the ratings suck and its canned, disappointing hardcore fans... much like what happened with Dark Angel.

And you know as much as online environments for TV shows are a great way to meet and interact with people who love the same stuff that you do, sharing an environment with those people can really affect your experience of the show. BSG is my personal experience, I enjoyed the show much much more when It was on TV and I was taping it (cos it was aired at like 11.30 during the week) then watching on the weekend. I formed my own opinions without being influenced by what others thought, I went as in depth as I wanted to go and chose to ignore what I wanted to ignore. When you surround yourself with people who are so into the show, who take it apart piece by piece and analyse every little section... I felt like I lost something, like I had too much information that people were pulling each epp apart and comparing it to others. I realised then that I was no longer able to form my own opinion because it was too heavily influenced by what people in the community were saying. Of course that's my own fault for spending far too much time there, and for wanting to be spoiled - wanting to get as much info on the show as I could... which ultimately ruined the surprise and wonder that I loved so much when I watched the first season. So for the final run of BSG I'm not going to be influenced by spoilers or rabid fans striping my favourite show into pieces, and will probably influence my online involvement with other TV shows that I love.

2007-10-29T13:26:00.000+10:30

woooo, okay haven't blogged in so long... too long: Well I was pretty sick this time last week, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

And even in that time only two exciting things have happened.

1 - got a package from my secret swapper, 1 week ago today. It was waiting for me when I got back from the Doctors - yay, no better pick me up!

Better yet, my swapper actually got me some skeins of stuff that I'd asked for in really great colours too. Nice work swap Buddie :) Here's what I got:

1 skein Noro Daria, i forget the colourway but its really nice, got all the colours of the rainbow!
x2 skeins of New Zealand Merino in blue, green and greyish/black colourway - should make some really sturdy socks :)
1 Ball Patons SWS, in an awesome Browny black... actually in real life its got a purpley hue to it that's really cool!

Then I opened a wrapped up package and found this.... Squeeeeee! Its so nice, a crocheted caplet in a really nice red colour. Its gorgeous, I love it!

2 - I got my invite to ravelry finally. I can see how people are getting addicted to it. I really just wanted to see what all the fuss was about, and to see what kinds of patterns were on there. Its really cool to be able to see what people have made, are making and want to do in the future. It gives you an idea of what the pattern is like, any issues there might be with it and how people have overcome them.

overall very cool!

I'm still working on my Cathay Shrug, I'm almost done on my first sleeve, one more left... then I can look into how the hell you seam stuff up. I've never done it before, i hope it doesn't turn out too bad. Its taken me forever to do this stupid thing. It better damn well fit too, its the biggest size provided in the pattern and I've followed it quite closely.

I'd hoped to have it finished by now, then I got sick and lost 5 whole days, two of them during the weekend - which is when i do the most knitting. I couldn't do it while i was sick, i could barley keep my eyes open for most of the time, and unfortunately at the moment I'm still reminded of the way i felt when I was trying to knit it... its putting me off. I really hope that it doesn't put me off wearing it. I am getting back into the groove of things now though, so i think the feeling will wear off.

Its getting to the point where I cant wait to start something else! Something nice and quick - maybe a Calo with the new SWS!

patiently awaiting your invite?

2007-10-15T16:15:00.000+09:30

damn straight i am... to Ravelry that is. I want to see what everyone is Raving about!

there are over 5000 people in front of me.... whyyyyy didn't I do it sooner!?!?!

and now just because i can and because i find it the most freaking funny thing i've ever seen:

Whats Up Doc?

2007-10-11T13:33:00.001+09:30

I've finally gotten all my orders from EBay now - its so exciting to get them in the post!
First up is the Lion Brand Cotton Ease:

I got 6 in the Violet colour and 6 in Stone.

This stuff is pretty cheap but it's a new and improved version of Cotton Ease and it seems pretty good, especially for the price. I plan to knit (finally!) a something red, which will hopefully be just right for those cool summer nights.

Onto the Debbie Bliss Cathay: I wasn't sure how this yarn was going to turn out colour wise.... The photo's just don't quite capture the loveliness of this yarn. Its very small ply not sure what that would translate into... maybe 4ply, its similar to something you'd use for baby clothes. But it has a sheen that gives it a sort of silvery blueness. From what I've been reading about Cathay it tends to split quite a bit while you're knitting... although the cotton/bamboo blend yarn that I'm using also takes the occasional stroll down splitzville lane.

Hopefully this will eventually turn itself into Picovoli - maybe if i just let it fester for long enough!

With the arrival of the Debbie Bliss Cathay Pattern Book, I scrapped working on Oringina (after frogging several times due to stuffing up the lace stitch... grrrrr) and started working on the Cathay Shrug, which is what the model is wearing on the cover:

In my black Bamboozle (the cotton/bamboo blend i mentioned previously that splits a little). What I didn't realise is that this particular shrug and the one that I found on Flickr called the Fiery Bolero are actually two different patterns (although they end up with a very similar end result), the Cathay Shrug is knit in pieces and seamed, while the Fiery Bolero is knit in one big flat piece and seamed under the arms. I kinda wish I'd known that before I bought the book... AND THEN - to add insult to injury I found a copy of the Cathay Shrug on the internet for Free!! GRRRRR oh well the other patterns in this book are not bad, but I'd probably have to have nothing else to do to cast on for any of them!

I just finished the back piece last night and am now working on one of the front pieces:

I hate how long it takes me to do things, I wish I could make a decent living from doing nothing.... sigh. I cant wait for Christmas because we get the week between Christmas & New Years off where I work, we're closed, and I'm thinking of taking the rest of the 1st week of Jan off as well.... fingers crossed!

mmmm Lorna's Laces

2007-10-05T13:26:00.000+09:30

One of my first orders arrived yesterday, Lorna's Laces in Black Purl colourway.

I've heard a lot of good things about Lorna's Laces sock yarn and I can totally see why. The colourway is really nice and its going to look great as a pair of Mermaid Gloves:

Which (fingers crossed) will look something like this:

The yarn came in this envelope, which is only the size of a normal buisness size letter. The yarn was crammed in there so tight! For a moment I had no idea what it was!!

I've had to frog Orangina three times now because I keep stuffing up the lace stitches. I didnt believe people when they said they'd had the same problem! I'm going to get one repeat right then put in a lifeline this time. Luckily i hadnt gotten very far before frogging those times.

I'm hoping that one of my other packages will be waiting for me when I get home today too - sigh, the wait is so long :)

Balthazar Vest Finished - Finally!!

2007-10-02T20:22:00.000+09:30

I'm quite relieved to say that over the long weekend I finally finished the Balthazar Monstrosity.
OK its not quite that bad, but like so many Balthazar's before it... it looks much better on the hanger than it does on my body!!

(we've gotten a new fandangled camera that I'm not totally sure how to work yet so some of the pics are not that great or may not really be in focus!)

One major stuff up: I've read that the rib on the bottom doesn't flatter a lot of people's hips cos it stretches a lot. So I only did about 2" of ribbing. Problem is that I'd increased the number of cast on stitches and did 2x2 ribbing instead of 1x1 cos its a lot stretchier. Then knit 2 together every 3rd stitch to get back to a number that was close to what i should have cast on for.

Consequently the ribbing wasn't too tight but was WAAAAY too short and it slanted upwards where the V joins are. To correct this I had to pick up stitches along the cast on edge.... which is what created the line you see in the pic above. I tried dozens of ways to pick up stitches but they all resulted in this line... I guess that's what you get for needing to stitch in the opposite direction.

To compensate for the slanted rise in the middle I did about 6 short rows then continued around for another couple of inches.

It's a rather strange garment... the bulky fabric implies that you'd wear it to keep warm but them the short sleeves leave your arms exposed, not great for a cold night but too warm to wear at night in summer.

Those two lines - one just under the arms and the other about and inch from the ribbing are where i put the stitches on lifelines to try it on. Unfortunatly the lifeline yarn I used was much too small and affected how the stitches sit. I guess if I blocked it they might fix themselves.

I haven't received any of my eBay yarn orders so I'm working on the Orangina in the silvery coloured 4ply cotton. Its going to take forever the yarn is so thin!!

I have a feeling that's going to be a long project too... sigh! but it looks so great!

oops I did it again...

2007-09-27T14:23:00.000+09:30

I really should stop looking for patterns at work... and I should probably stay away from Ebay all together!!

Today I bought 10 balls of Debbie Bliss Cathay yarn in blueberry, its a discontinued line so I got it for a really good price on Ebay. Its been hard to find a good picture of the actual colourway so....

it could look like this (which I really like):

But is soooooo much different to THIS:

But the above looks much like this:

Juding from what i've been able to find on the wide world of web its going to be a light blue probably most like the 2nd pic... which isnt too bad I dont think, but I will be much happier if it turns out to be darker. Guess i'll just have to wait and see!! Probably two whole weeks... sigh

I intially had the Picovoli pattern from MagKnits in mind - this very cool top that calls for 6 balls of the cathay yarn and will be perfect for summer:

AND THEEEEEN
I saw this on Flickr, the Fiery Bolero from Debbie Bliss Cathay Pattern book (it also featured in Interweave knits magazine Summer 2005 issue)

I love bolero's and shrugs and this one is just divine... strangley enough it seems that this also uses 6 balls of the Cathay yarn... guess its the sleeves that just eats it up.

So now of course i've placed a bid on the book that features this pattern (and from what I could tell some other nice ones too) cos thats on sale too.

SP11 Contest 3 - Flash your Stash

2007-09-25T09:17:00.000+09:30

**Edited the details of my stash below**

Okay this is freaky.... Over the weekend I thought "I'm gonna take some photo's of my stash and put them on my blog!"

I've never thought about doing that before because my stash.... compared to some other knitters.... is pretty small (but growing all the time!).

So last night I laid it all out on my bed, took some photo's and uploaded them to Flickr with the intention of blogging about it today at work.

And what should appear in my Inbox this morning? An e-mail from my swap hostess outlining the next contest... Flash Your Stash!!

Am I psychic or WHAT?!?!?

Top Row left to Right:
x1 purple/pink/red variegated & x1 Black Cheapo Acrylic Yarn - I think I planned to mix these together to make a Lacey caplet... but just never got around to it, and probably wont because its not great stuff. The only thing I've used it for so far is as lifelines and scrap yarn to hold stitches!

Moda Vera Burro x3 Black - I was going to make an anthropology caplet from the Crafster forums with the Romantica mixed in to give it some shine... then i was going to make the circular shrug (also from Crafster) then i started that baby blue sweater... which is very similar to the Burro yarn (its got that wispy shiny stuff in it) and now I'm too scared to use it for the fear that I'll hate it as much as I hate that blue stuff!!

Cats %100 mohair x4 light blue - I was gifted this in another swap, unfortunately its very scratchy when knitted up. I started to do a candle flame shawl with it and had to stop. I have no idea what I'm going to use this in. Its too scratchy to go anywhere near skin so it wont be a wearable item... can you felt mohair?? Probably not!

Moda Vera Romatica x2 black with sliver flecks - was going to mix in with the Burro, but this could possibly make an interesting bolero or One Skein Wonder from Glampyre. I have something similar that I bought from Supre that I wear out a bit.

Random leftovers of Paton's Feathers from when I first started knitting in purple, black & blue. This is the stuff that started my obsession. I was working at Big W at the time and you wouldn't believe the volume of this stuff that would come through my checkout. And people would come in with scarves made out of the stuff... and the colours you could get were so fantastic! Unfortunately its quite hard to knit, but I didn't know this cos I'd never used anything else. It wasn't until i branched out that i realised what hell I'd put myself through. My first "scarf" from this stuff was 60 sts wide... uh huh! I had no idea. Its really a shawl, and its got lots of holes in it that I doctored up afterwards by stitching together. I had no idea how to pick up stitches and whenever i dropped one I'd get so depressed!! HA HA

2nd Row:
My Fishtail scarf UFO with Morehouse Merino in Variegated green colours (Fern Colourway i think) there's about 400 yards on that ball still to go! I don't know that I'll ever finish it... I think it should probably be something else. Maybe a symmetrical Mystery Stole 3 - who knows, I'd have to have nothing else on my plate to get back to working with this... and I don't see that happening anytime soon!

Sean Sheep Flinders x2 in black - I have no freaking idea why I bought this stuff, its very similar to Patons Zhivago but not as nice. I made a Panta headband out of some of this and where it sits against my forehead gets itchy, so now i'm afraid to make anything from it that will be near my skin.

Lincraft winter warmth x1 red & x1 navy blue. I forget what kind of yarn that is but its very thin, i think it might be a blend of wool and mohair but its nothing like my other mohair this stuff is silky soft. I bought them to mix together to make a Panta headband for my Sister In law... but was rightfully questioned by my hubby about the colours, they're not her at all she wouldn't have liked it.

Cleckheaton Merino Spun %100 Merino wool x1 in a tealy colour and 1/4 leftover ball in purple. I think these were leftovers from a scarf project also for SIL. This wool is quite nice, very soft but I think it would get softer with multiple washes. I did have that Teal ball in mind for another Isabau Purse (previous attempt at this was with the vomit yarn!) which I think is better suited to it... if I ever get that far! Might try and incorporate the leftover purple colour into it as well.

Leftover 1/2 ball of Jo Sharp Soho %100 cotton in Burgundy. Not really sure what will happen to this, there's not quite enough of it left to do anything with.

My new %100 Mongolian cashmere from my swap Buddie! I think I will either use this for a pair of socks (but that seems like a bit of a waste of really soft yarn and I'm not sure how well it would hold up with all the wear socks get) or a scarf pattern in the magazine my Buddie gave me.... I'm leaning towards the scarf because at least then it would be nice and soft against my neck :):)

3rd Row:
my Merino wool x5 balls & 1 hank in pink & brown that I haven't wound up yet. I did a test swatch of this and then dyed it all brown. It worked pretty good, the pink bits went a light brown which I think looks marginally better. I'm considering abandoning this for the Something Red pattern and using it instead for the Curves Tank Top. I'm hoping that working in the round will produce a more stripey pattern rather than splotches. Then I can use the leftovers for things like a Calo or another pair of fetching or maybe another scarf.

I don't remember the kind of yarn the huge white ball is but it has flecks of iridescent material all through it which gives it a bit of a shine... i was going to make a shawl or something out of this for my wedding but I ended up with a dress that had capped sleeves with beads and dimontes on it which I could see catching on a shawl so I didn't bother with it. The weather was nice that day so I didn't need any warm coverage anyway. I have no idea what to use this for now, I once considered it for another Anthropology caplet but its another possible project that I dont think I'd ever get around to.

Sean Sheep Armyatage x2 in blue variegation. I think I initially bought this with the My So Called Scarf in mind, but the wool isn't great quality and it feel very scratchy and itchy in ball form... it might get softer with blocking or a wool wash.

Sean Sheep Ayers x4 & bit in Baby Blue. I've already used about 6 balls of that stuff to make the top down jumper that you see there. Which i HATE!! It leaves all of those fluffy bits everywhere and they sparkle a bit so they really stand out! It didn't look so bad as a swatch at the store but when i started to knit it up I really didn't like it, and it's actually a bit hard to knit, not that I cant see what I'm doing but that it really makes my hands hurt - which has never happened to me before. I don't see myself ever finishing it... EVER.

Last item next to the blue monstrosity is 4 hanks of %100 Egyptian cotton, which I thought was going to be silver, not half silver and half pale pink - Grrr! One of the downsides to buying off of Ebay! I bought it cos I was going to try and modify the Something Red pattern to accommodate the smaller Stitch Per Inch gage that it is. After I did a proper one with the pink & brown. That has since gone out the window given how well my modifications never work. So I'm thinking that it might work nicely for Glyampyres Oringana. see Knit & Tonic's version HERE

Surprise

2007-09-21T19:56:00.000+09:30

And what should be awating me when I got home from work today....?

A package from my secret swapper! YAAAAY

Thats my other cat Leroy - he was givin it a bit of a sniff while I was trying to take a photo :)

So the yarn is handdyed 100% Mongolian Cashmere... and OMG its so sooooooft! I think its the softest stuff i've ever felt! I was sitting on the couch rubbing it against my cheek... NO i Kid you NOT! ....... Hubby looked at me strange, until he touched it. Even he was impressed

The needles are yarn bee 5.5mm straights.... and swapp buddie, you'll be happy as punch to know that, no I dont have 5.5mm straights :)

Here is a closeup of the flower on the card.... how cool is that I think my swap buddie makes those herself! Very Pretty!
There are a couple of patterns in the Mag that i like, but these really stood out... not because i'd make them... but... oh well you'll see:

Seriously... WHY?!?!?

ThAnK YoU Swap BuDDie - You totally ROCK!!!

The Great Balthazar Massacre

2007-09-21T09:30:00.000+09:30

So last night i finished the 2nd side of my Balthazar Vest - the blue contraption two posts down - and was able to "try it on".

Okay so I didnt trust twinkle when they said that the designes were supposed to be a little bit tight fitting, so i added some stitches and tried to modify the pattern to accomodate a larger than stick figure gal.

I really should know by now not to do that, every time I do it ends up being wAAAAAy too big.

OMG if you could have seen it last night, I looked like a kid who'd gotten into mums bras and proceedes to strut around with it dangling loosley on the outside of thier clothing... suffice to say it wasnt good!

It was a bit of a pain in the butt to frog too, because the fiber is so loosley spun it has a tendancy to get stuck on the stiches around it as you pull it out. But because of the large gage whats taken me about two weeks of night time knitting only took me about an hr and a half to revert back into depressing little balls.

** now there's a sentence that would strike fear into the heart of any man!**

needless to say I will NOT give up, i'm going to look crap in this monstrosity eventually but dangnamit it WILL FIT!

So i'm going to follow the pattern properly now.... *hangs head in shame for not doing so in the first place*

2007-09-19T10:39:00.000+09:30

35%

Well i think thats sorta okay... better than my buddie who only got 25%!! :):):)

curlytoot.blogspot.com/

WANTED FOR THE INDEFATIGABLE HUGGING of a WEALTHY KITTEN

$2300

And I guess if i'm gonna be wanted for something it would'nt be so bad if it was for the Indefatigable hugging of a weathly kitten.... wish my kitten was wealthy...

Works in Progress...

2007-09-17T19:27:00.000+09:30

Oooookay, so I promised WIP pics... and I always keep my promises (no matter how long it actually takes me :)

These two are my second attempt at the something red sweater... unfortunatly i've only done about three or so inches so its a bit hard to tell what its going to end up like.

See... army Camo Brown and pink style!!

Getting a bit put off by my something or other, i've also started the Balthazar Vest from Twinkles Big City Knits, which i'm really enjoying... i'd enjoy it more too if the yarn werent so expensive!! I dont normally go for yarns that are more than $10 a ball.... that stuff is 15 so I'm hoping it doesnt use any more than i got!!

Unfortunatly i'm on my own at the moment so i'm not able to take shots of my lace bolero... it really needs to be on a model to see what it really looks like.

Reminiscing

2007-09-11T09:57:00.000+09:30

Gee its been a week already since I last posted.

Its so funny, I cant wait for the week to end but then before you know it you're right back where you started waiting for the weekend again. Then its your birthday.... then its Christmas... then its another year and you're like OMG this time last year you were finalising everything for the wedding and freaking out about having enough money to pay for it all.

Now that seems like a lifetime ago and we've only been married a year. I guess it doesn't help that we've actually been together for 9 years now and have been living as though we were married for 4 of those so its always felt this way, that hasn't changed.

Onto more knitting related issues, finished my circular lace shrug.... probably should have done more ribbing for the edging, its a little tight under the arms. Sorry don't have any photo's yet will try and get hubby to take some.

Having finished one project its straight into the next one, Something red sweater/cardigan in the pink and brown.

again no WIP photos cos I'm at work, but knitting straight from one ball makes it look like pink & brown camouflage - icky! So I'm attempting to knit from two balls like they say you should do with variegated yarn, haven't done enough of that version to see what it'll look like, so far i think it will be better because the colours will pool into larger pockets than with just one.... which will hopefully reduce the camo look!!

Will take photo's I promise :)

Fiber & Kitty

2007-09-04T20:10:00.000+09:30

so I got my 100 pure wool order the other week. It really is very soft and I like it alot.... i'm a little regretful about my colour choice, the pinks are a little stronger than I had hoped for. I'll have to see what its like knitted up

Sorry its not a great pic, I found it hard to get it in focus. I dont have a swift or a ball winder so I had to work out an alternative... turns out my ironing board sideways not fully extended works quite well :) LOL!

I was also trying to photograph my latest WIP then Kitty sat on it and so I started taking photo's of her... she's so cute, you can see where the Vet shaved her when she was de-sexed a couple of weeks ago

My Southpark Character

2007-08-31T16:49:00.001+09:30

This is me if I was a Southpark character :)

this website is so cool!: http://www.sp-studio.de/

SP 11 Contest No 2.

2007-08-27T10:17:00.000+09:30

Okay so i saw on someone else's blog something about contest no 2 and i was all like... what the??? There's nothing on the blogpage about a 2nd contest!?!

it turns out that its something that your assigned hostess needs to let you know about, my group has just had a hostess swap so there were probably some delays. So if you're reading this and you dont know anything about the 2nd contest ask your hostess!!

And without further ado:

1. What is the one knitting accessory you could not live without?
My folder that holds all my patterns, it sits on the couch next to me at all times :)

2. If you're heading on vacation, do you take knitting with you? If so, how much and what type of project?
I would now yes, i'd take my most recent WIP but probably also bring one of the UFO's thats been sitting in my stash forever with the hope that if i have nothing else to work on i'd get some of it done!!

3. Where have you travelled to that you'd consider your favorite spot?
Anywhere thats easily accessable to a beach

4. What is your favorite knitting book at the moment? Do you own it?
I tend to prefer patterns from the internet, the only knitting book i own was given to me in another swap!

5. Do you listen to podcasts? Which is your favorite(s)?
The only podcasts i listen to are not knitting related

6. If you could only knit with 1 color for the rest of your life, what color would that be?
all shades of Red

7. If you were far into a project and then noticed a mistake near the beginning what would you do?
Aw man - i've done this on accasion and it drives me bonkers!!! it depends on how noticeable it is, if I can tell its there its GOT TO GO!! if I can't see it then it'll probably stay. I dont care how unnoticable it would be to non knitters if I know its there i'll hate it forever and probably never use it, so i'd frog and feel so crap about it too

8. Where is the most unsual spot you've ever knit?
Whenever an unusual opportuntity to knit comes up i never have it with me!! I've heard of people knitting in the car to pass the time in traffic jams. I also know of someone knitting standing up at the airport waiting for a plane to come in, and another person knitting while on an exersise bike a the gym!! Those are all kinda wacky

2007-08-23T16:23:00.000+09:30

1. Were you named after anyone?
My Italian Grandmother actually
2. Do you wish on stars?
Cant say that i do
3. When did you last cry?
The weekend
4. Do you like your handwriting?
No, its usually very messy
5. What is your favourite meat?
Steak, Medium Rare
6. What is your most embarrassing CD on your shelf?
Take That - enough said
7. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you?
Probably but unless I was family we'd end up loosing track of eachother
8.Are you a daredevil?
No, not at all
9. How do you release anger?
Unfortunatly I take it out on my husband, but he's usually pretty good about it and i always say sorry shortly after
10. Where is your second home?
It'd probably tie between my parents place and the inlaws place
11. Do you trust others easily?
No, and i blame my Italian father for that
12. What was your favourite toy as a child?
Vera my Cabbage Patch doll
13. What class in school/college do you think is totally useless?
Definatly PE - i used to forge sick notes so often one year I wasnt able to be graded due to sickness.... my parents raised an eyebrow at that one! Then one year i got an A (i think the teacher didnt know who i was!!!)
14. Do you use sarcasm a lot?
Sometimes but not excessivley
15. Have you ever been in a mosh pit?
Almost, i was almost sucked into one once and i nearly died.... ok so it wasnt like that but it was really scary!
16. What do you look for in a guy/girl?
Sense of humor
17. Would you bungee jump?
I've thought about it, and would if forced to... but i dont think i'd ever be in a position where it would be an option
18. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
Na what a waste of valuable sitting time
19. What's your favourite ice cream?
Traditionally chocolate, but i've recently taken a liking to mint choc chip
20. what are your favourite colours?
Red, Green, Brown and Blue... in that order
21. What are your least favourite things?
liars, people who put words in your mouth, being ignored
22. How many people do you have a crush on right now?
Just my husband... i'm not sure if i should sigh or puke right now
23. Who do you miss most right now?
Ditto above
24. What are you listening to right now?
The radio, in particular Good Charlotte
25. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
Black
26. What is the weather like right now?
Its quite nice, the whole week has been sunny and warm.... which should be odd considering its winter here but with global warming its becoming a regularity
27. Last person you talked to on the phone?
My Sisterinlaw
28. The "first" thing you notice about the opposite sex?
Hair
30. How are you today?
Surviving, and looking forward to tomorrow which is friday
31. Favourite non alcoholic drink?
A nice hot cup of tea
32. Favourite alcoholic drink?
Crusiers
33. Natural hair colour?
Brown
34. Eye colour?
Blue
35. Wear contacts?
Uh huh
36. Siblings?
Brother
37. Favourite month?
December
38. Favourite food?
Take away chinese
39. Favourite day of the year?
January 1st
40. Have you ever been too shy to ask someone out?
This is sad - no because my husband was the first person i ever went out with.... i'm married to him now
41. Scary movies or happy endings?
As long as they're not to cheesy happy endings
42. Summer or winter?
Definatly winter, i hate being hot
45. What book/magazine are you reading?
latley i havent been able to read much because i now spend my spare time knitting. However the last book i read was the last harry potter book
46. What's on your mouse pad?
my mouse - OMG i couldnt resist.... nothing its just green... and ugly
47. What did you watch on TV last night?
Simpsons, Spicks & Specs, Law & Order
48. Favourite Smell?
Citrusy stuff
49. Have you ever regretted breaking up with someone?
I've never had to break up with anyone
50. Most tiresome thing you’ve ever experienced/done?
Knitting this damn blue sweater... its never going to be done.

Which LolCat am I ??? ....

2007-08-23T09:41:00.001+09:30

Your Score: Cheezburger cat

58% Affectionate, 54% Excitable, 84% Hungry

Sure, you deserve one. You helped popularized lolcats from a running gag to an online sensation. Now mainstream media writes asinine columns on this 'phenomenon', students write theses on the topic, programming languages adopt the grammar, and losers write tests about them on dating sites. Now take your cheezburger and never touch the internets again.

To see all possible results, checka dis.

Link: The Which Lolcat Are You? Test written by GumOtaku on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

My Mood Today is:

2007-08-20T14:42:00.000+09:30

Crappy day at work.... I hate work. I've been having wild mood swings for the last few days and I'm blaming my workplace, its not a great place to be at the moment..... Cos I sure as hell aint pregant!!

You've Got Mail....

2007-08-18T12:37:00.001+09:30

My secret swapper warned me that something was coming in the mail :) and Yesterday it came!!

Unfortunatly it didnt find me well, I was in bed all day yesterday with some stomach bug that had me feeling nautious all day! I'm feeling much better today though and Yes secret swapper i am looking forward to the swap!!

Yay :) and Thankyou :)

~Dear Secret Swapper~

2007-08-16T15:01:00.000+09:30

Well fellow Aussie swapper, i've been looking around for some yarn for my buddie and mostly ended up looking at stuff i'd like... isnt that always the way!!

So i have some hints for you :)

1- Patons SWS just one ball will be perfect for knitty's Calorimetry. Which i've been dying to try but keeps getting put off for other things. From the FO's i've seen on Crafster SWS stripes nicely and gives a symmetircal feel all by itself!

I particularly like:

70013Natural Earth

70130Natural Navy

70612Natural Garden

2 - Noro Daria
This yarn is supposed to be great for belts, it comes in some amazing colours but i particularly like shade #04... and I would make.... a belt, go figure!

Secret Pal 11

2007-08-15T15:58:00.000+09:30

Well Secret Pal 11 is on Offically now.

Sorry to my pals, I wasnt able to check my e-mail for a couple of weeks. I usually do all this at work or on the weekends and work has been a bit busy lately so i havent had the time.

Unfortuatley i didnt really think of that when i joined Secret Swap 11, and September October is my busiest times at work!! DOH.

So secret buddie who'll be reading this blog, dont be worried if it takes me a couple of days to get back to you... I will try and check my e-mails daily, but sometimes i forget!!

I also automatically assumed that the person who got me would be American, but they're Aussie too. Not sure where abouts in OZ land but hopefully its somehwere that has a better collection of LYS than where I am!!!

And my buddie is in Chicago! how exciting, I already have plans to send her TimTams! Americans love those! :)

And luckily her fav colour is Organge and a close second Green, so there goes the knitted vomit ball i have left! I hope she doesnt associate it with that particular bodily function tho! Shhhh dont tell 'er!! :):)

p.s - there really is nothing wrong with that stuff, its very unique and she seems like a unique kind of person!

So please excuse me i'm off to the store to look for yarns in orange and green!! Okay well after work maybe! 50 mins and counting

My first Sock

2007-08-12T12:08:00.000+09:30

well i've finished my first pair of socks! YAY for me, everyone was right... they're not that hard once you get going!

here is a pic of the first one... i've since finished the second but it pretty much looks the same as the first... and i cant be bothered taking photo's and transferring them from the camera again! How lazy am I, it runs in the family BTW!:)

EDIT: oh and excuse the hairy leg... hey its WINTER HERE OKAY!!!! YEESH!

I totally stuffed up the grafting of the toe the first time i did it... so i ripped that out and tried again. Then with the second sock i got impatient and started the decreases too soon, so when i finished it was too small - DOH! Ripp back to before the decreases and start again.

So in total i did the grafting four times, just to get two socks right! At least i got some practice doing it and the last two times i tried it looked pretty good!!

One sock is still a bit smaller than the other but there is no way i'm completely frogging one and starting again. Now i'm going to have to wear them on monday to work so that buddies can see my first pair of homemade socks!!

I knit them with Bamboo yarn from Lincraft, i think it was called Bamboozeled. It turned out to be closer to sport weight yarn, I think about 4ply. Its suprisingly soft but has a sturdy feel to it as well, I think that they will wear well.... not sure about the washing mashine tho! I'll probably have to keep them in one of those speciatly bags when i wash them.... and no dont even suggest that i hand wash them.... i dont hand wash anything... and I put everything in the dryer as well.. PPPFT thats what electricity is for!

well i'm off to sew in some buttons that mysteriously fell off hubby's shirt.... **cough: in the dryer**cough ...... WHAT?!!?

Secret Pal 11 Questionaire

2007-08-07T16:30:00.000+09:30

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I like really soft fibers, nothing thats scratchy, Merino Wool for example thats like butter in your hands :)
I think i've already mentioned that i'm over the novalty yarns, like eyelash or feathers! But i dont mind a nice Acrylic yarn either... not a yarn snob that way :)!

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
In a previous swap I got a handmade needle case that i havent filled up yet :) But i think i could benefit from a small but long pencil case type thing as well.... hint hint :)

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I've been knitting for three years now, but it was only about 6mths ago that I decided that I was sick of Garter stitch scarves and decided to learn how to purl. It was by accident that i found out about stockinette stich and by stuffing that up i found out about seed stitch. After that i decided that i really needed to learn more and used Knittinghelp.com to advance my skills. Now I can knit raglan jumpers, cables, hats and lace items. I would consider myself to be Intermediate but i'm not scared to try advanced stuff now either! OOH i just finished my first sock ever on the weekend..... i need to take some photos and post them!

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
No.... but it would be filled with DVD's if it was... they're the only items i can get shipped from Amazon to Australia. (American DVD's are usually out on Amazon before they even hit the cinemas here!)

5. What's your favorite scent?
Vanilla, Sandalwood or anything citrusy

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Ooooh Yes! Anything with Chocolate on... but not a fan of terkish delight, anything else tho. Being an Aussie i've never had a babe ruth bar, or a Hershies (SP??) Bar..... thats another major hint too :)!!

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I dont spin, i'm not really interseted in learning either sorry! :)
I paint sometimes, but I live in a really small two bedroom unit so i dont have the space for that stuff anymore... that upsets me sometimes :(
I really like adding beads to my knitting and am always on the lookout for patterns with beads in. And always on the look out for nice beads too. In the last swap I was in i tried my hand at making stich markers - And really enjoyed it.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I like all sorts of music, Pop and Rock mainly... whatever they're playing on the radio. A bit of Doof Doof too :) I have an Ipod, but my car stereo doesnt play MP3's... im totally pissed about that!

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
Red is my Fav and I dont like pink on its own. Bright pink i really cant stand, but i'm growing fond of subtle pinks, dusty rose pink for example. But I love, greens, blues and purples as well.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I have two cats, a male and female (whos getting desexed today, poor thing!).
My Man and I have been together for 8 yrs and we got married in October of last year, we were high school sweethearts........ Awwwww

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Yup, but mainly scarves and hats - or in my case big headbands that cover my ears but leave the top of my head exposed.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I still knit alot of scarves, they're a great way to practice a new stich. I'm loving Pantas now too... see other posts for more info about those. I'm also into any wareable garments that are raglan knit from the top down.

13. What are you knitting right now?
Like most knitters i've got a few on the needles, the one that i'm working the most on at the moment is my second sock... the first pair i've ever tried, apart from having to graft the first toe like three times before i got it right, its gone really well!
I've also got a fishtail scarf in laceweight green varigated yarn... this one has/is taking forever the yarn is so fine that every repeat of about 8 rows only does less than an Inch... i think i'll still be knitting this one when i'm eighty and i cant even see anymore!!
and third is a raglan jumper in a yarn that i thought looked ok in ball form but now that i'm 3/4 of the way through i dont really like it anymore... its in a baby blue colour, and the yarn is discontinued and i'm almost positive i'm not going to have enough... another reason why i dont pick it back up... plus the yarn sheds!

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes of course! I can appreciate anyone's hard work, no matter what it is!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Now that i've gotten some i do much prefer circular needles to straight, and Bamboo DPN's are almost impossible to get in Oz without going through ebay!

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Nope

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
The fishtail scarf is older than the jumper and that would be probably 4 months old..... oooooh

18. What is your favorite holiday?
Not quite sure how to answer this one... if you mean public holidays Oz doesnt have that many of them and i dont favour one over the others, any day off work is a good one! If its holiday as in going away somewhere i'd have to say our Honeymoon when we went to the Whitsunday's. They're a cluster of islands off the cost of Queensland here. Very lush!

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Yarn - LOL :)

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
Big City Knits looks pretty cool from what FO's i've seen on crafster, I dont have any knitting subscriptions but if i was going to i'd want Interweave knits or Vouge knitting :)

I really like some of glampyre's patterns http://www.glampyreknits.com/ in particular one skein wonder & City Shawl.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
um, knitting motifs in colour- i forget what thats called.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Well i am now!! length is 9.5 inches - thats all i know off the top of my head!

23. When is your birthday?
Its already been this year

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?
Nope

okay i did it.....

2007-08-02T10:38:00.000+09:30

i bought 6 Skiens of the brown and pink Merino Wool.

I've heard good reports about it so it better be as soft as they say it is!! I paid just over 60 Aussie dollars for it... so it better be worth it!!

I also bought the pattern for Something Red, which in my case is going to be Something Brown & Pink :)!

This is it:
The pattern can be bought from Knit & Tonic: http://knitandtonic.typepad.com/knitandtonic/2006/02/if_someone_aske.html
for $5.50 - its knit Top Down... the only way i knit Sweaters or Cardi's :)!

Bugger kitting pieces and weaving them togther!

I'm thinking that i'll make one for winter with long sleaves with the merino i just got (thats gonna be warm!) and another one with short sleaves in a nice cotton yarn.... thats the plan anyway but you know what its like - it'll probably sit in my folder with To Do on it for the rest of eternity, waiting waiting waiting for me to have some spare time... HA whats that?!

Mmmmmm Yummy!

2007-08-01T10:02:00.000+09:30

I've found the most delicious site ever.... no not food - Yarn **sigh**

http://www.100purewool.com

i'm this close to forking out reasonable bucks for 5 skeins of this preciousness:

But its PINK i hear you say.... yeah I know, but I always have had a weakness for pink and brown, I think there might be something wrong with me!

I was also veeeeeeeeeery tempted by this unusual combo:

i'd really like to see it knitted up, i bet its freaking AWSOME :) - sorry i got a little too excited there.... woah nelly.

Harry Potter

2007-07-26T16:18:00.000+09:30

So i stayed up until midnight the other night finishing the latest Harry Potter book.

I was so hopeing that we'd flash forward however many years to find that Harry was Headmaster of Hogwarts, i thought that would be fitting... seeing as he displayed such a nack at teaching in the Order of the Pheonix book... but nope. There was a flash forward but it was pretty booring to me, i was a little disapointed.... oh well.

Now that i know how it ends i really must read them all again, it would probably put some things into perspective.... Cant wait for the rest of the movies to be made, though i can never remember the books by the time they come out anyway!

New Template

2007-07-16T15:19:00.000+09:30

Wow okay, i think i've finally found a template that I like.

The only thing that bugs me is that my smilies have white backgrounds, and short of having a blog with a white background they're going to look strange.... I dont like all the white background templates i've seen so far. And it took me ages to customise this thing so that I'm happy.

Now to find a humerous quote to go at the bottom of this thing...

This is so funny! ....

2007-07-15T13:24:00.000+09:30

I couldnt resist posting this - theres a knitted everything i tell you!! I should probably add the warning that everyone else seems to have in regards to this page... its really not offensive!

WARNING: If you click on the link below, you'll see a naked, knitted male, complete with manparts and accompanying body hair. Later pictures include close-ups of knitted manparts in the making.
http://community.livejournal.com/drunkenknitters/14796.html#cutid1

Finished Objects = FO's

2007-07-15T12:57:00.000+09:30

Fetching
Debbie Bliss Merino Aran 1 and a bit balls on 5mm DPN's.
This yarn got a lot softer and streached a little after blocking.

Isabeau Purse
Pattern is here: http://www.chezplum.com/pdf/isabeau_purse.pdf
and the Craftster KAL where i first found the pattern is here: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=77317.0

My attempt is pretty floppy, I havent bothered to line it because i'm never going to use it for anything more than holding yarn and the odd knitting utensil :) I used pretty thin yarn, I probably could have double stranded it but didnt think to. I used one ball of Twinkle yarn by Moda Vera which you can get in Australian Spotlight stores.

The seaquins were a pain in the butt as they got caught when i was trying to Crochet seam the sides.

If you read through the posts on Craftster i'm pretty sure the designer of the purse created a cool tutorial on how to crochet seam - dont let that put you off cos its really easy, i've never crochet before an i did it just fine :) I did stuff up the sides though, i made one longer than the other so when it came time to seam up they didnt quite match- I think it looks icky but other people assure me you'd never notice unless you specifically knew it was there. The bag is too floppy to take a picture of the sides and i didnt have anyone else around when i took the photo

My parter thought it looked like vomit, when he came home and saw me knitting it he was like.... "EEEEW are you knitting VOMIT!!!"
I think that was the beginning of the end for this poor purse...... and for the one remaining ball that i have.... hey swap parter if you like the above you might just end up with it! ha ha :)

Panta Headband
These are SO COOL, and addictive as i've already said. Black ones dont photograph so well, the knit stitches really pop out in real life.
I used Shaun Sheap yarn in Flinders for this - its another specialty yarn made for Big W stores in Australia. I didnt even use one ball for it, about half.

Free knitting patterns that you MUST try!

2007-07-12T17:02:00.000+09:30

I simply have to share some of the best patterns that i've made:

The anthropology caplet: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=62184.0
Is so easy to do, once you've figured out all the maths to get it to fit you. They're so cool and you'll definatly want to make more than one, in varying styles and colours

The Panta Headband: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=51351.30; (link to page 3, where the pattern is - have a look at the last few pages for finished pics)
This one is addictive, i've already made two and am currently working on my third. They're very quick to do so they're great for instant gratification!

Fetching fingerless gloves: http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/PATTfetching.html
I just finished my first pair of these tonight, if you're using DPN's juggling all those needles as well as a cable needle is a little tricky to get the hang of, but its totally worth it once you finish!

And the best how to site, that has video's of all the knitting techniques (its how i lernt to move on from the basic Cast On, Garter Stitch and Cast Off)
http://www.knittinghelp.com

My poor poor blog!

2007-07-10T12:12:00.000+09:30

How i've totally neglected thee!!

since Missy passed away in March I havent really wanted to come here, but thats all about to change cos.... I joined an internet knitting & Crochet swap.

Which means that when buddies are assigned that person will be comming here to find out more about me.... GOOD GOD!

Hi future Swap buddie

So I guess this is about to become my knitting blog and I might actually have to start taking pictures of my FO's! I never get around to that....

so here are a few things that my swap partner might like to know about me
1: I'm not allergic to anything

2: I'm kinda over the novalty yarns, i'm not a yarn snob tho, i dont turn my nose up at some nice acrylic. But the whole eyelash and feathers thing - ugh over it!

3: I dont like pink on its own, but its okay when there are flecks of it mixed in with other colours. I've seen some nice pink and brown varigated yarns

4: Red is my Fav colour, but i'm also partial to the earthy colours as well... greens and browns seem to be my cothing choices at the moment. Blue's as well, although not so much baby blue -i preferr darker blues

5: I've just recently discovered that i HATE mohair - no mohair please :) it can sometimes feel like dog hair... yuk!

6: speaking of pets, i have two cats - i'm more of a cat person but i'm also partial to the cutest puppy!

7: I like really soft yarn, usually the kind that you want to bathe in LOL! But its usually expensive so dont feel like its got to be bathealicious - i just made that word up - HA

8: i'm also a jewellery freak, anything silver i love - particularly earrings so swap buddie o mine if you're into making stuff like that WOOHOO for me :) (if not thats cool too!)

Hmmm, i'm sure there is more and i'm sure that i'll let you know too

2007-03-20T14:46:00.000+10:30

She was so small
But she made funny noises
most though she was annoying
But i loved her anyway
Now Leroy doesnt even know that shes gone
I was her world
And i hope that she knew
I was there for her passing
That it has saddened me beyond belief
Every room in the house has something that reminds me of you
Under the kitchen table you'd sit on the chairs
The middle couch was your favourite spot
The bedroom venitions are still crooked where you bent them
In the bathroom you'd jump onto the sink so i could give you a drink
The laundry was where you used to eat
How can i let you go?
When everything around me reminds me of you?
I'm hurting and i'm grieving
For my small cat
What i wouldnt give to hold you again and to say my goodbye's
To stroke your soft fur
To know you're alright
I miss you so much
Though you'll only live on in my heart
And in my memories

Why cant i feel
why cant i be
why cant i take back the time
and have you with me again
Why did you have to go
Why couldnt i save you
Was that your destiny
Was that your end
How can i not love you
How can i not care
How do i move on
How do i deal

Tribute

2007-03-15T14:15:00.000+10:30

Fate Stepped in
And took her away
She's gone
She's gone forever

An hr ago she sat on the couch
alive and free

Now she lies under the dirt
Cold and alone

My Sweet
My Pet
My Companion
I'll miss you

Life so fragile
Longing so bitter
Pain so real
Love lost that night

Only three short years
i looked after you
Fed you
Loved you
So that you could die
Bleeding
Choaking on your own blood
Not alone
Not unloved
Your passing has hurt me
More than i could ever have imagined
More than any other before you
You were mine
And i cared for you
I will love you until the end of time

Goodbye

Missykins
2003-2007

And my Pirate Name is...

2006-12-19T12:12:00.000+10:30

Your Pirate Name Is...

Dirty Jenny of the High Seas

What's Your Pirate Name?

HOLY CRAP!!

Your Pirate Name Is...

Evil Ian the Infected

What's Your Pirate Name?

Infected with what i hear you ask.... something not pretty probably. LOL

Your 1996 Theme Song Is: Ironic by Alanis Morisette

It's like rain on your wedding day

It's a free ride when you've already paid

It's the good advice that you just didn't take

Who would've thought ... it figures

What's Your 1996 Theme Song?

i like this one:

Your Theme Song is Back in Black by AC/DC

"Back in black, I hit the sack,

I've been too long, I'm glad to be back"

Things sometimes get really crazy for you, and sometimes you have to get away from all the chaos.

But each time you stage your comeback, it's even better than the last!

What's Your Theme Song?

not sure about this one tho!:

You Are 56% Evil

You are evil, but you haven't yet mastered the dark side.

Fear not though - you are on your way to world domination.

How Evil Are You?

You Are "Wow"!

What Japanese Smiley Are You?

You Are 60% Weird

You're so weird, you think you're *totally* normal. Right?

But you wig out even the biggest of circus freaks!

How Weird Are You?

You Belong in London

You belong in London, but you belong in many cities... Hong Kong, San Francisco, Sidney. You fit in almost anywhere.

And London is diverse and international enough to satisfy many of your tastes. From curry to Shakespeare, London (almost) has it all!

What European City Do You Belong In?

predictable really:

Your Summer Anthem is Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani

"So I'm ready to attack, gonna lead the pack

Gonna get a touchdown, gonna take you out

That's right, put your pom-poms down, getting everybody fired up"

For you, summer is all about fun, friends, and a little girl fighting.

What's Your 2005 Summer Anthem?

You Were a Horse

You can't be fenced in - you long to run free.

You are good at overcoming obstacles and realizing your potential.

What Animal Were You In a Past Life?

God i could do this all day! there are so many!!

Exotic Dancer Name Is...

Strawberry

Exotic Dancer Name Generator

YEAH! I might just use that one day... NOT!

You've Experienced 52% of Life

You have a good deal of life experience, about as much as someone in their late 20s.

You've seen and done enough to be quite wise, but you still have a lot of life to look forward to.

How Much Life Experience Do You Have?

wait a miniute thats because I AM IN MY LATE 20's you stupid test thing you!!!

You Are a Yellow Flower

A yellow flower tends to represent joy, friendship, and playfulness.

At times, you are childlike, as a buttercup is.

And at other times, you are fickle, like a dahlia.

And more than you wish, you tend to feel bittersweet, like a marigold.

What Color Flower Are You?

Your Outrageous Name is:

Ivana Bangor

Outrageous Name Generator

HA HA!

You Are a Centaur

In general, you are a very cautious and reserved person.

However, you are also warm hearted, and you enjoy helping others in practical ways.

You are a great teacher, and you are really good at helping people get their lives in order.

You are very intuitive, and you go with your gut. You make good decisions easily.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

i was hoping for Dragon, but i dont think i'm firey enought :(

Your Fortune Is

Man who drop watch in toilet bound to have shitty time.

The Wacky Fortune Cookie Generator

Blogthings

2006-12-19T12:03:00.000+10:30

Wow, its been so long since i posted here, the problem is that i dont have anything to say. I'm the only one who comes here, so it doesnt seem worth putting down whats already in my head for me to read. So yeah i could try and put this blog out there more, but i dont want to do that either. I dont really want anyone to read this... is that stupid? shit i dont know.

I'm bored as usual so i'm going to do some pointless percentage blog type surveys:

Your Movie Buff Quotient: 72%

You are a total movie buff. Classics, blockbusters, indie favorites... you've seen most of them.

Your friends know to come to you whenever they need a few good DVD rental suggestions.

Are You a Movie Buff?

Music Lyrics that touch my soul...always have and always will

2006-07-20T09:35:00.000+09:30

And for one crowded hour, you were the only one in the room
And I sailed around all those bumps in the night to your beacon in the gloom
I thought I had found my golden September in the middle of that purple June
But one crowded hour would lead to my wreck and ruin
One Crowded Hour - Augie March

Swallowed up in the sound of my screaming
Cannot cease for the fear Of silent nights
Oh how I long for the deep sleep dreaming
The goddess of imaginary light
In my field of paper flowers
And candy clouds of lullaby
I lie inside myself for hours
And watch my purple sky fly over me
I linger in the doorway Of alarm clock screaming monsters Calling my name
Let me stay Where the wind will whisper to me
Where the raindrops as they're falling tell a story
If you need to leave the world you live in
Lay your head down and stay a while
Though you may not remember dreaming
Something waits for you to breathe again
Imaginary - Evanescence

Please, please forgive me,
But I won't be home again.
Maybe someday you'll look up, And, barely conscious, you'll say to no one:
"Isn't something missing?"
You won't cry for my absence, I know -
You forgot me long ago.
Am I that unimportant...?
Am I so insignificant...?
Isn't something missing?
Isn't someone missing me?

Even though I'm the sacrifice,
You won't try for me, not now.
Though I'd die to know you love me,
I'm all alone.
Isn't someone missing me?

Please, please forgive me,
But I won't be home again.
I know what you do to yourself,
I breathe deep and cry out:
"Isn't something missing?
Isn't someone missing me?"

And if I bleed, I'll bleed,
Knowing you don't care.
And if I sleep just to dream of you
And wake without you there,
Isn't something missing?
Isn't something...
Missing - Evanescence

ColourQuiz.com

2006-07-12T14:46:00.000+09:30

So i took the stupid test right and actually a lot of what is said there is totally true, i do compare myself to other people all the time and judge myself and my achievements against thiers. Even when they have been doing whatever it is for way longer than me. I berate myself when i do not/can not reach the level that they are at.
However i'm not intense if anything i'm freaking lazy, i dont give up easily i do compromise in order to get a thing done.
Its freaky that it determined all that just by picking a few colours in a certain order. Cool tho...

CT took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test!

"Intense, vital, and animated, taking a delight in ..."

Click here to read the rest of the results.

Happy Birthday to Me

2006-07-03T14:20:00.000+09:30

Yeah its my birthday... woo... I'm now officially 24. Actually I was born at about 6pm so technically i'm not 24 till dinner time.

i'm not doing anything special. We had dinner at a pub/club on Satdy so that'll have to do. I'm not doing anything with my family because of the wedding in October, apparently people already have enough to worry about.

I don't really care. I hate birthdays, its just another friggin day except I've moved closer to becoming old... Which happens every day really.

Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to me...

Neigh

2006-06-28T11:04:00.000+09:30

OMG, it is really sad that i'm so bored i dont know what to write about. I said that i'd be honest but theres nothing thats bothering me that i need to talk about, no memories that i want to drag up from the deep.... sigh.

I've used up all my regular web stops and i've go no where to go!

How Sweet is is...

2006-06-21T12:04:00.000+09:30

Found a really cool blog yesterday, it was sent to me by a friend who stumbled upton it.

Nicki is an Aussie chick too, she's in Melbourne and she's a bit of chololate nut. She's got a whole heap of recipes that she bloggs.

Just reading them and looking at the pictures is enticing enough. My friend made her low fat chocolate fuge cookies, they were soooooo nice, all gooey inside. I put on 5 kilo's just looking at them :) (althought they are low fat, that doesn't mean that they don't have any fat!)
She's also got a recipe for a nutella cake where she used a whole jar of nutella... That ones defiantly not low fat. YUM tho.
http://esurientes.blogspot.com/

Also went and had a tasting at my wedding reception place. We had Canelloni, Linguini and Atlantic Salmon entrees that were soooo nice all presented really well and tasted great to boot! We were so pleased.... Then the mains came out.

They all had this saucey stuff that covered the plate which tasted like someone had scraped the dregs from the bottom of a frying pan and tried to mix them into some sort of saucy semblance. Needless to say it was horrible, they were supposed to be different sauces and reductions on each dish but they all tasted the same. GROSS!

We had a roasted chicken, lamb rack and a fillet of beef. The beef was rare... like i mean BLUE. My Dad is a Chef and he refused to eat it, the veggies were raw (you know how they dont cook them for long enough and they're still crunchy). So were going to have to make a few changes:

Lamb Rack
sliced lamb not on bone
no sauce
tender veggies nicely cooked - not crunchy

Fillet of Beef
delicate red wine sauce
medium to well done
tender veggies nicely cooked - not crunchy
roasted potatoes instead of lentil mash

chargrilled chicken
tender veggies - beans cooked longer
remove creamed gnochi and pesto and add something else
no sauce

So now we have to do another tasting to see if they can get it right this time.

I should also note that the desserts were to die for! i've never tasted such a rich flourless chocolate cake before, it was thicker than any mud cake i've ever had! and the cadeou of chocolate was lovely and creamy in the middle too. Oh and i'm not a fan of sticky date pudding but what we had was sooo nice.

Okay so i didnt tell them that we'll be having the wedding cake as dessert but they didnt need to know that just then :)

On Black

2006-06-16T12:26:00.000+09:30

On Black
Originally uploaded by Ally123.

I just love the colours on this one and wanted to add it here to hopefully bring some life to my otherwise booring page :)

Calla lily

2006-06-16T12:25:00.000+09:30

Calla lily
Originally uploaded by Ally123.

i love calla's just like this one. They're going to be my wedding flower and i'm continuing the theme though our boquet's, the cake flowers, our bonbinerie's are little frames with calla lilies around the edges, our inivtations and orders of service will have a single seramic calla lily on the front.

I've always loved them, i think it sems from the fact that we used to have a little patch in the first house that i lived in. When i was 5 yrs old i used to play with them, i loved the smell and the yellow stem in the middle which gets pollen on it as the flower ages.

it just brings back some memories, i've always loved to paint and draw them too.

A Cigarette, Platform Shoes and a Finger

2006-06-13T10:23:00.000+09:30

A Cigarette, Platform Shoes and a Finger,
originally uploaded by Thomas Hawk.

You dont really get the entire feel for this pic just by looking at the thumbnail on the left.
Have a look at it in full and read some of the comments people have added.

She is full of character and fire, obvioulsy she didnt particularly want her picture taken, or she didnt like the connotations she may feel surround any interest taken in her.

She makes you want to know more about her, Why is she there? Does she feel stupid? Does she want to get out? What are the circumstaces that put her there? Drugs, Alcohol?

I dont feel sorry for her though, she doesnt arouse sympathy... perhaps becuase of the finger. But one gets the impression that she wouldnt take sympathy anyway, she wouldnt have a bar of that at all.

Isn't it amazing all the thoughts and feelings one simple image can congure up.

I LOVE FLICKR!! :)