Heartfelt makes me swoon..

And want to be girly, and skinny and flounce around with big dark eye make-up waiting for Mr Darcy to take me to tea... erm... *cough*

My Heartfelt book and Rowan 44 arrived yesterday. Which means record time - I ordered on Saturday (their Friday but still) from the UK. 3 and a bit days people. From a whole 'nother country. Why is our service so poor from elsewhere? (Yes America, I am looking at you.)

At any rate, Heartfelt is definitely my favourite knitting book. Maybe ever. I want to get the yarn for several items in it and wear them. Like right now.

Not that Rowan 44 isn't getting the love, no, I like many items in that too. But Heartfelt is .. my inner knit desires made in a printed form.

Oh and I'm knitting booties. Good gracious they are quick! I've nearly finished one today, just in transit with no other knitting time! Photos when done.

Yes, I'm knitting.

I'm even feeling like I'm making progress, which is saying something since I've only been sporadically in transit. I'm upto block 6 of 10. But of course they get bigger as you go, so.. my calculations say about 33% done. But it feels like it should be a lot more, so maybe there is something wrong with my maths. I know, we're been down that road before...

I'm enjoying it really. Switch brain off. Knit. Occasionally count ridges. Knit some more. New colour. Wheee! Knit.. repeat.

Here it is. Lovely look to it in person, and I'm liking the yarn. Which is surprising because its acrylic, and I'm a yarn snob. I mean, I wouldn't wear anything out of it, but it doesn't suck as a gift yarn for non-knitting aficionados. It's Sirdar Snuggly DK. I give it a 3/5 for general yarn consumption, and maybe a 4/5 for a non-natural fibres (Calmer would get a 5, in case you are wondering. But its 3 times the price, sooooo...)

And if you're my brother, stop looking. It's a secret. (Are you listening mother dear? Don't show him, ok....)

WAR ate my knitting time

I was doing great on the knitting Olympics... up until about .. um.. Friday.

Which would be when I got into WAR, otherwise known as Warhammer Online Beta.

This has sucked all knitting time as I geek out completely. Ahhhhhhhhhh.

Photos of blankie in progress later. Sorry. Bed now. Work tomorrow, and my man's birthday.

Happy Birthday honey!!

Fuzzy Feet mk. 2

Okay, the second pair of Fuzzy Feet are completed, felted and gifted to the very appreciative mother in law.

Here they are post felting.
I have to give the Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran a big thumbs up for felting. These were hand felted and the finished quality was really quite good.

And, in another note I have "swatched" for the baby blanket. It's not proper swatching, I don't care terribly much if it is on on guage or not, just that I am happy with the finished fabric density.
I am. That means it's all systems go for the knitting of the Moderne Baby Blanket for the Knitting RavOlympics! Yay!

(And those of you who have no idea what I am talking about.. well, it really doesn't matter).

Because some days i just want something to do the work for me.

Work is hard. Work avoidance is enjoyable. Thus, I give you wordle. This is my blog graphically, apparently. Get your own at http://wordle.net/


(Oh and the second pair of slippers are done bar the felting. Photos later.)

Joss Whedon online musical number

Go now. Right now. Watch this.

I love Joss Whedon.

Arrowhead shawl is done!

I was going to title this "I think I may have become French" but thought people searching for it may not have look at it ;)

So why French? Because apparently I have become the kind of person who wears scarves as an accessory - quite a new thing for me.

In that vein, I've been knitting the Arrowhead shawl.
And the detailed up-close photo:

And the stretched out to see it all together photo:

and the pre-blocking photo. Anyone considering not blocking, take a look at this compared to the after photos. Huge difference.
This is possibly the best use I've ever done of variegated sock yarn. Thoroughly recommended. (Touch 4ply, if you're wondering).

troll boots .. or why I won't have cold feet anymore

I finished my Fuzzy Feet.

They are very very nearly dry.

I got impatient and hand felted them, which was not difficult and most consisted of what I imagine non-knitters would do to a hand knitted item that was really dirty. Or perhaps had a nasty stain.

I tried them on periodically wet while felting them, checked inside and out to compare colour and evenness to decide which I liked better and so on.

Then they got worn wet for a long time to shape them, then put in front of the heater to finish drying.

They fit pretty well I think.

Making jumbo socks

For felting.

My house is kind of cold, and my feet, once cold, stay that way.

So, I'm making a quick-knit pair of slippers. Fuzzy Feet from knitty to be specific.

First one is done. Note the comparison of size with my converse hightops. It's waiting a mate before being felted. (No, not a gauge error).

And progress is being made on the scarf/shawl. Since you knit from the point and get bigger, I'm slightly bored with it as the shine of very quick rows disappears with the increasing number of stitches. Which is fine, and I'll get back to it after finishing my slippers.

They are much quicker and I'm sure a few more episodes of Dead Like Me will do it. I love this series, I'd forgotten all about it until it came up in conversation at Stitch and Bitch recently, and I have reaffirmed my love of its quirky-macabre humor. Wonderful.

Decisions, decisions..

Ah, siblings have no respect for stashbusting.

My brother is going to be a dad. It is their first child, and is a naturally big deal for him and his partner.

Of course, this requires knitted goodness.

Now... I love my brother. But....


well...

He doesn't take care of stuff the way I do. (Actually, the way most people do.) Anyway, this means that baby stuff for them will require a certain level of unkillable-ness to it.

Since this generally means either cotton or mega-superwash wool or (gasp!) acrylics.. I really do not have anything suitable in my stash, and certainly not in the quantities required. Okay, I can do a hat or booties from stash and probably will, but I am thinking you know, its my brother, and I think I need to go the whole hog and knit them a baby blanket.

Those of you who knew me around 4ish years ago may recall much complaining on my part as I finished my last baby blanket - for my nephew-in-law. It was moss stitch. It was beautiful. But it was moss stitch and therefore god awful slow to knit. (At the time it was also the largest single piece of knitting I had done.)

So, while I am definitely more experienced now, and prepared for the slowness, I still want to pick a more interesting choice to knit.

And this, dear reader, is where you come in.

I am considering one of two patterns, and looking for suggestions for not-too-expensive unkillable yarn.


Pattern One : The Pinwheel round baby blanket.

This would be knitted in probably rainbow striped colours I think. The good example shown above by Knittingnav via flickr.

Pattern two : Moderne Baby Blanket from Mason Dixon.
Again in different colours to those shown here (by Katinka31 via flickr again), since they don't know what they are having.

What do you think? Opinions? Thoughts?

Warning : Unrelated-to-knitting content. A letter to my mentor.

Okay, this is an out of the ordinary thing. I don't even know if I will send him this link or not, but I feel like I want to get this out there.

Tomorrow, Friday, a man I greatly respect is retiring. This man was instrumental in my career and I am very, very grateful to him.

I'd write his name, but I don't have his permission to put it up, so I won't.

But I like the idea that my gratitude be out there in the ether of the web, spreading good vibes about him, because he so very much deserves them.

I have a small gift for him, that I will give him tomorrow. And this letter, which I will also post below.

Cheers. Next post will be back to the knitting, promise.

Hello,

I’ve thought a lot about this, and am still not entirely sure what to write.

Mostly, what I need to say is simple, but terribly important.

Thank you.

I am incredibly grateful for all of the support, and guidance you have given me over the years I have known you. I know, absolutely and in truth, that I would not be where I am today without your help, knowledge, guidance and encouragement.

Through you I have learned to read what people are really seeking as well as what they say. How to suggest a new way of doing things without telling the client they have been doing it wrong. How to weather office politics with decorum and self-respect. How to moderate my extremes and still be true to myself and what I believe in. How to better pick which battles are worth fighting and which will just cause you grief later. How to get clients on side. How to teach without being didactic. And, hopefully, as I now take on my own management responsibilities – how to be a manager while respecting what your people bring to their work.

It was an honour and pleasure to have worked with you.

I wish you all the very best life has to offer.

Sincerely,

Me.

Socks are done.

Thank goodness.

Oh and I'm knitting

I thought I should mention, in hindsight of the last post, that I am actually continuing to knit.

I am currently turning the heel of the second Anastasia, which has progressed reasonably well despite my these-are-taking-forever prejudice against them.

They now look like this:And I have resisted casting anything on. I intend to still try to knit small gifts etc as I go with other bigger projects, so the yarn purchase is more of a stumble, rather than a complete leaving of the wagon. But damn.

Arrrrgh - thump. Defn: the sound someone makes falling off the yarn wagon.

Pride cometh before a fall.

I post here the message of downfall I sent to Bibnbub...

I made the fatal error. I planned for the next thing I really, really want to knit.

I created a checklist (wishlist) of all the colours I need for the Smoulder cardigan.

It takes a total of 15 balls of yarn in 8 (!!) colours. 5 of these are discontinued colours.

Janette’s Rare yarns had two of them with a note to email her if you were after something not listed.

I emailed her the wishlist. She mailed back in under 5 min (again !!) to say she was only missing 3 colours, and had 10 balls of the 5 I am seeking! And it’s under $80!)

And then, I looked at who on Ravelry to see who might have the ones I am missing for trade/sell. One person in perth has lots of one of those left. I sent her an email.

I have shades of the Evil Willow episode of Buffy. With Anya and Xander talking. And Anya explaining that when good people go bad they go like, really bad. And I just used a Buffy reference - and tried to Wiki it to get it right - to make a point about my yarn. Oh god. I need to sleep. Or something.

See? Yarn evil. Take over brain.

Anyone have either Night Sky or Fandango in Rowan 4 ply cotton? It hopefully will be all I'm missing...

I love quick projects

I forget sometimes that knitting doesn't have to be about long term but beautiful things.

Sometimes small can be pretty too. I finished the beret for my daughter's teacher. It's to be a Christmas gift - I have a list of these to do over the coming 6 months as part of the using of the stash.

This is what it looks like on me. Only one photo, because in every other photo, for reasons I cannot ascertain, I look very stoned. And the one photo that would have been great was completely washed out in the upper range - meaning the light beret couldn't be seen properly.
It's pretty, using the Gretel pattern I mentioned earlier and some Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed. I'm fond of this yarn, having used it before, but in this instance I think it was a bit thicker than the called for yarns, meaning a more slouchy and larger beret than originally intended. Not ridiculously so or anything, so it was stay as is.

I picked Gretel .. and the finished Daisy Cardigan

Because if you are going to be distracted, you may as well pick something you need to do anyway.

It looks like this...the yarn (Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed) is a pretty, pretty colour. I think of it as cornflower purple...

And I finished the cardigan, but it has no buttons because my man went out all Saturday afternoon and thus there was no button shopping. It looks like this...

and from the back with the arms held out...
It's a little big, but not as much as you'd think because its based on an older pattern for kids which is more boxy with lots of ease. Plus you know sprogs grow...

oh and that's our new lawn in the background. Yay for lawn and less sandpit..

What next?

So..

I finished the cardigan, and all the sewing and weaving in of ends. It sits blocking ever so slow (cos its winter).

And I sit browsing my stash and pattern queue trying to decide what to cast on next. I mean.. I know I could just keep knitting away at the Clapotis, but that's pretty mindless knitting and likely to take a while, so I am heading onward and upward to decide the next project.

I thinking to keep it small in order to get it done quick and move on. I like small projects between big ones, it lets you feel like your making progress.

So .. choices choices... Ravelry with its photos of everything I have queue, and all my stash does significantly help this process I must say. But still. Now I am spoiled for choice.

Do I want to knit Saartjie's booties? Like these from Brooklyntweed. They have no recipient at this time, but would be quick, cute and fun to knit. And I have plenty of left over sock yarn around to knit them with..











Or Gretel? This is destined to be a cabled beanie for my daughter's teacher come the end of the year and so will be needed to be completed at some point before then..



Or that square denim bag I've been planning for myself to use up the leftover Rowan Denim yarn I had from my Raspy and the Action jumpers I did..






Or the felted slippers for me that I decided to knit, using either this Knit 1 free pattern...











Or these Keep Away Felted Slippers from the Knit Front and Back blog. Both of which suffer since they don't meet me "I want to do it now" criteria, since they need to go to someone else's house for felting..


But really, that's barely scratching the surface. There's the Aura lacework beanie that I think I have enough Calmer to knit.. that's interesting and pretty and from stash.

There's baby socks and Beaudelaire socks... and that Koolhaas beanie for guys that actually looks nice yet interesting.

Anyway. That's what my brain does when picking a project. Not really surprising that hours later I still haven't made a decision, hey?

Adventures of Spider_knit

In this weeks episode, we have a new project, the end of an old one and the wonderfulness that is trading yarn...

..

(sips coffee) God damn I love coffee. Have I mentioned that yet? Apologies to anyone offended by the blasphemy, but somehow "gosh" or "goodness" just doesn't express it. I tired editing it to those, but it just didn't work.
I couldn't give up coffee entirely when pregnant. I gave up sushi and pate and soft cheeses and eating anything pre prepared and alcohol with ne'er back glance, but coffee got me. I got down to one savoured cup a day, but just missed it too much to dump it entirely. And I wasd well under the 3 cups you're currently recommend.. but I digress.

Okay. Good news front. I have a new job (hooray!) I also now have a cold (sulk)

But the knitting has continued, albeit a little slowed by work being really busy and me being sick and sleeping a lot.

I am down the to collar of my daughter's cardigan, button bands are done. For some reason the mid to dark red and the white totally blow out my camera's colours, and it photographs oddly. But, since blogs are a nuisance to read without the pretty pictures, here's a photo anyway. I'll get a natural light photograph when it's done.
In other news, the very polite and nice MadamSewingStick on Ravelry messaged me to trade some of my unwanted Katia Mississippi. In return I have some lovely Paton SWS (soy wool blend) that a destined to become felted slippers for me :)
Finally, since the cardigan is nearly done and not really portable, I permitted myself to cast on my next project - the Raven Clapotis in Korrpi colourway. The only bad thing I can say is that I didn't read the description of thr yarn properyl when ordering and it has alpaca in it, so it a teensy bit fluffy. This isn't a bad thing, just not what I originally had in mind. On the amazingly good side.. the colourway is DROP DEAD GORGEOUS. I could live in these black-meets-colours forever. My inner goth sqees every time I pick it up. It makes me want to be 19 with chunky black patent leather boots and a black ankle length coat again.

Of course, I could be oversharing at this point. ahem.

Let's see a photo.

Okay, I am now going to take my virus-ridden self to sit in front of the TV and watch Willow go bad in Buffy while I knit this cardigan collar. Take care all.

Mini Sophie!

I had reached that point. The point that Stash-Knit-Down-2008ers over on Ravelry refer to as "finishitis" .

The point when all of the projects on your needles are tedious, or deeply lost midway through knitting or just plain uninspiring.

I just wanted to finish something. It didn't need to be big, it just needed to be done. By me. Now-like.

So I made a mini-Sophie bag. My little one often takes her dollies for bike-rides and pram-strolls around the backyard. Only she didn't have a handbag for all the essentials a mum needs. You know, like bubble mixture, dolly bottles and her mobile phone.

So I made her one, out of stash no less. I had garishly KoolAid dyed Patons Jet yarn, four sekins of it. Now I have less, and a less-garishly felted bag. I made it 1/4 sized, and really like the shape. Quick, and easy construction.

Here it is prefelting...and afterwards. Very dense nice fabric, knitted with yarn held double and 6.5mm needles, in case anyone wants their own one.

All your yarnz belongz to us!

It's offical. Ravelry is leet.

Look at the proof.

Why yes, I am that big a geek. How kind of you to point it out ;)