Warning: long, non-knitting related ramble/rant

Well, it's happened.

Not that I'd really noticed it was an issue before now, which shows how rarely I actually make use of their area, but...

I am now officially too old to shop in Miss Shop. I know, most of their stuff is crap.

But I used to be able to pick up reasonably priced casual clothes and some workwear from their Tokito brand.

Anyway I went there yesterday and realised it's just all too "trendy" (read short and in weird colours and far too teeny-bopper styles) for me.

Which leaves me with a significant issue.

At 32, it seems I have reached clothing no-mans-land. At least that I can afford.

I am too old for the Miss Shop/Sportsgirl/Portmans range. Styles don't flatter and I get annoyed at the cheap & nasty fabircs and styles so fashion NOW-RIGHT-THIS-INSTANT-GOING-TO-BE-UNWEARABLE-IN-A-WEEK! That I, with limited funds can't justify the relatively cheap costs. Younger clothing section in Target also meets here.

I am too young (and, I hope, personal style conscious) for Katies/Suzanne Grae/Jaquie E etc.
I look there, get disheartened and leave, feeling about a million years old.

I have a relatively fixed income, which means that clothes that I like and are appropriate, I can't always afford. Review brand, for example.

I can buy work clothes in Myer etc from Basque, but seem at a loss for affordable priced age-suitable clothing for casual at-home and casual going out. (I don't do a lot of dressy-going out these days).

While this is a somewhat revelation, reflection leads me to recall that I haven't been happy shopping for a long while. I'm left with this awful feeling, like it just shouldn't be this hard to care somewhat about how I look (It's not even like I am uber-image obsessed). [At this point my friends are no doubt falling about laughing at me, but yes, I do care how I look!]

So, thoughts? Do I give up and dress dowdy and dull? Do I overspend and wear my-life-inappropriate-but-beautiful clothing?

And, yes, there is knitting happening, and Kntting Camp was a blast. And I have photos. Which I will post once I clear the permission from the people in them.

One of the coolest Australian sites I've ever seen.

And I've barely scratched the surface of it!

http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/electronicswatchbook/

(Yes, I have lots of other stuff to post, but it's late and hot and I need to (try to) sleep..)

New project? But you just..

Well, I finished the Diamond Stitch top, and so was knitting up a storm on Raspy.

I have thus far decided on one thing. I will knit it 6 rows shorter. I washed and dried my swatch in hot wash/hot drier to test the shrinkage. My shrinkage is about 17.6% - which is pretty much what the tests I have seen online found.

The pattern is written for 20% (I counted all the rows and checked.. obsessive? how so?). So I worked out I need to take out 6 rows to meet the same length - which is already a little long on me, but good for the style of jumper. I haven't done the calculations for the sleeves yet, but will in due course.

However.

I have now ordered some new Rowan Denim. Yes, really.

I had a gentle prod from my man about starting a gift project I promised a long.. well, really long time ago. Not for him, but a good friend. (Really, really good friend. Good enough to justify a whole jumper, despite not technically being related to me. I have rules about these things.)

Gift recipient and I'd even recently agreed on a pattern. So, (realising my darling man is right, dammit!) I bit the bullet, called the gift recipient-to-be and got his measurements and ordered the yarn.

I'm knitting the pattern on the left, Action from Rowan's Denim People, just like Raspy. Pretty much as shown on the left, but without the bleached stripes.

I actually really like the construction, I think the seam that runs vertically down the front and back is really visually interesting on what is otherwise a plain jumper.

And, since it's the same yarn/tension as Raspy I'll be able to use my new Addis.

Did I mention how much I am in love with my new Addis. I didn't own any before. I don't know how this travesty could happen. I like them so much I want to run out and buy one to replace every pair in my collection and a few spares just in case. Damn you lack of disposable income!

Oh, and the darling man has decided on his new beanie. (He likes beanies, looks yummy in them and I like knitting them. It's all good.)

This: Red Light Special, by the fabulously talented BrooklynTweed. But in Western Force colours. So black background, two colours of blue and a tiny bit of white.

Only downside is the pattern is written for Telemark, by Knitpicks at a gauge not replicated in other yarn. So buy I will be, via kind US based people. (sigh). I really wish the Knitpicks people would realise our money works there, too! (grumble, grumble).

Off for the long-weekend tomorrow. Hurrah! Knitting goodness!

Finished Object: Diamond Stitch Sweater, Vintage Knits, Sarah Dallas

All done.

This is the Diamond Stitch Sweater top, from Sarah Dallas' Vintage Knits book.

I knitted it in Panda Regal 4 ply, rather than the wool the pattern calls for. Hey, it's like 40C degrees here in summer.

Anyway, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I feel all 50's sweater girl. I feel like I need to be carrying a pile of school books, and have a boyfriend with a letter jacket for, I don't know hockey or something. My man just referred to it as a "Sandra Dee jumper". See what I mean?

It fits nicely, a tad on the short side, so that I couldn't wear it with low cut jeans if I didn't want to show a tiny bit of my tummy.

I think I'll wear it to work tomorrow, my Canberra big-boss is coming.

Silk dyeing with Rit (aka Dyeing Mk II)

So..

I heated the dye stock.







After checking my Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook, I soaked the silk yarn. For hours. Apparently, silk takes longer than wool to wet properly.






Then added the wet yarn.












Look! Purple yarn! It's not a semi-solid like I hoped from what I can tell, but that's OK.













It's definitely royal purple.

In other good news on the knitting related front, I am doing the collar for my diamond stitch sweater and have cast on and done about 8 rows of Raspy!!

KoolAid does NOT dye silk.

Guess how I know.
That was deep blue and dark grape prior to washing. Really.
On the plus side, while I DID run out of yarn, the nice Clementine picked up a new ball for me so the Diamond Stitch Sweater continues.

But progress is good - only the top front and collar to go..





And, since the Swatching Bully insisted.. I washed the Rowan Denim swatch. I like it even more now :) It's beautiful, soft and subtly flecked.

I can feel the home straight! Diamond Stitch Sweater.

YAY!

I am approximately 5 rows from the sleeve cap shaping on the two sleeves (both being done at the same time) for the Diamond Stitch Sweater from Vintage Knits.

Then I just have the top section (arm scythes up) of the front, and blocking and seaming. I can *smell* the finish.

I will say one thing about knitting in the round to the arm holes, it makes the other bits just breeze by!

I even stayed up late to try to get it done. I'm on my last ball, and trying to not get paranoid about not having enough yarn.

...

No, really. It'll be fine.

...

[hyperventilates a little]

I'll let you know, ok?

Got gauge! And Getting there.

Two good news fronts knit-wise. But don't mention the house ;)

Good news one.

Swatch of Rowan denim, (for Raspy) despite everyone online having gauge issues is....bang on. Hurrah! I now need to buy some 4ply circs in a 80cm size. I only have 40cm, and it just isn't going to cut it. Am trying to resist jumping right in because....

Good news two.

I have finished the back of the Diamond Stitch Sweater from Vintage Knits. Which, those of you paying attention would realise means I only have the two sleeves and the front from the arm scythes up and the collar to do. (Since I was knitting in the round to the arm scythes.)

I feel like, finally, I can see the end of the top. *Holds hand up* And I promise to try to remember not to whine this Monday Stitch and Bitch, on account of having whined I think every time I have taken it out there. While lupinbunny continues to knit on her slip stitch, 4ply Anatolia from Knitty. I am abashed.

Swatching for Rapsy-goodness

Guess what came?

Haven't quite finished swatching yet. Initial estimates put the tension about 21 st over 10cm, which is one more than the pattern calls for. But, given it has 6cm of ease, that might not be a problem. Will finish swatching before judgement and analysis ;-)

New Rowan Siting!

From the Rowan website:

Secret Garden
A very feminine collection inspired by an enchanted garden in full bloom.	more
Medinas and Minarets
A colourful collection epitomizing the pattern and spirit of Morocco.	more
Promenade
Inspired by the British seaside of the 1940's and 1950's - a lovely holiday collection with a hint of glamour.	more

We have progress on the diamond stitch top!

Hurrah!

I actually split the front and back to make the arm scythes. Also, after counting stitches, I am 5 stitches short each on the front and back?!? I have decided that since it is as discussed (moaned, says Clementine) it's in 4ply that it won't matter.

And there is no way on this green earth I am ripping back. At least the front and back match. Yay for knitting in the round. I also finished ball number two. Gotta love that 4ply meterage.

Ramblings... and a squee!

First all, I've just returned from my Monday night stitch n bitch. I have the coolest knitting group in the world!! Not for anything in particularly, but these ladies rock. It make my week to hang out with them. :)

Second, as Lime & Violet would say, I had a 'sqeeeee' today, when I listened to the lovely Heather Ordover on the CraftLit podcast, and she read my email (with my permission naturally) !!
(Episode 39 if you feel like looking it up) I'm feeling very flattered and clever, so that's my brush with celebrity for the decade ;)

Kudos to Heather for a fabulous, intelligent podcast (and that's all her obviously, not because she included me!)

And Kudos to the craftyaction girls. You rock!

Raspy web-links

Yes, I'm so keen on starting Raspy, I'm reading about it all over.

So, as a self-reference and collation of Raspy's online..

• Brooklyn Tweed's fabulous version (sans dropped stitches) that totally caught my eye..
• A knit-along's hints and tips.
• Denim yarn comparisons by the Knitting Wench
• Denim People knit-a-long
• Raspy photos: passionfruit
• Raspy photos: blumunchie
• Piece of Beauty: good hints for keeping edges neat for the dropped stitches
• Streets and YOs: more good modification hints

Of the various changes people have made those that I intend to follow include:

• work in the round
• do one of the alternate (tbl etc) ways of neatening the dropped stitch edges

The one I am seriously considering that I haven't seen is a v-neck rather than the boat neck. Jared at Brooklyn Tweed went for a crew (round) neck, that I will definitely do if not the v-neck. The one thing I don't like about the sweater is the front neckline, which seems to roll a lot and not be as suited for larger busty ladies..

oohhh I hope the book gets here soon!

oh and the diamond stitch top progresses... slowly... about another 4 cm until I split for the arm scythes.

I finally got around to updating the links...

Those of you who use a feed service such as bloglines will actually need to look at the site to see, but I've updated some of my links etc and added a new feature, thanks to a funky little web service called LibraryThing.

Enjoy!

Whooo-hoo! Fastest postage ever!

The yarn arrived. From the UK. Quicker than the book from Australia!?

Can't wait now. Need the book to find out needles etc., so I can't even prepare to knit it...

I think I will be definitely buying from her again.

Okay, it's done! Yarn and pattern ordered

In the process of ordering I found a couple of good online suppliers, and thought I'd share. I can't of course garuntee anything until they arrive, but they seem good value.

For books I went to Fishpond (an Australian bulk book dealer with discounts on some books - including the required-but-elusive Denim People) and postage of $5.95 (that's Australian dollars too!)

For the yarn, I found an ebay seller in the UK who sells a lot of discounted Rowan, (and Debbie Blis and Noro etc etc). Even including postage and exchange rates, it was substantially cheaper than anywhere else online I looked at. Janette's Rare Yarns.

So I'm hoping that it all arrives in time for the March Labour Day Long weekend ! Wheeee!

I shall be knitting Raspy:

I like the wabi-sabi (new but imperfect) thing it has going on and was completely sold by the way people talked about how it wears, how comfortable it is, how it naturally fades over time... and how you can machine wash it with your jeans!

At any rate, despite my deep desire to knit any number of complicated things in wool... I know I won't get as much wear out of them. Maybe I'll do another fair aisle cotton or wool cardigan (in 4ply) later.... as it is relatively cheap on yarn.

When the pink diamond stitch top gets finished. Or should that be if??

Jaywalker Bandwagon? Never heard of it!

I really love how it is turning out. Extra kudos and thanks to Nadine for fab-u-lous yarn!

The cure. (no, not the band)

Sometimes, we all have bad days.

My easiest way to perk me up?

These.

My own hand-dyed, hand-knit socks.

Pathetic, and yet satifying.

My yarn's having an identity crisis....

Remember that hand-dyed blue 3ply yarn from the Royal Show that didn't want to be that entrelac?

Well....

While it seems to be working in a technical sense, it's just too thin (as in thickness, not width) to be a suitable clapotis and I doubt I have enough to make a wrap at any rate. On the plus side, I do like the Clapotis pattern. God knows what it will end up being, I have no idea.

I am, it seems, very much in the mood to start a new project.

I must be. I did a stocktake of my stash.

Man, I have a lot of trash.

I mean that in the literal (a lot of acrylics and novelty odd balls for gift knitting) and more tangential sense (a lot of odd balls in miss-matched yarns and weights of minimal use).

I have one large and one small plastic tubs full of yarn.

Other than enough yarn for 6 pairs of socks (though sadly, none like Clementine's fabulous Cherry Tree Hill). Nice, but ....

Of the yarn in which I have more than one ball of a type I have :

• 3 and a bit balls of purplish-grey Zara (the colour doesn't suit me, and the rest of it became a fabulous felted bag for my mum)
• 10 balls of bright red scarlet Zara (in progress into being knitted into a ribbed jumper for Jasi. Stalled due to it being summer and me waiting a little longer to see just how tall she gets)
• About 12 balls in various ice-cream colours (pink, lime, pale blue, teal, taupe etc) Katia Mississippi. (great yarn but single balls of most colours means its firmly in the baby-gift realm).
• That Anny Blatt scarlet silk. Am considering (still) knitting the top Lupinbunny knitted, but then had a dream a few nights ago where I dreamt the perfect thing to knit with it. Can I remember anything about the dream-top now? Of course not.
  

That's it! Everything else is single balls of yarn. That don't work together.



I think I want to knit Scarlet as my Christmas-gift-money-knit (Adam's other gift to me) but I need to work out what is the cheapest way to get the yarn - online or local ordering.

...

Still deciding. I got all excited by Rogue, and by that Fairaisle jumper from the Winter Vogue Knitting just gone... and many others.

Unfortunately, I can't do that thing I see people doing (and discussing) online where they love a pattern so they run out and but the yarn for it. Money being a little too tight for that, my knitting generally is on a one-project-buy-at-a-time thing.

Not that I always finish quickly. On the needles I have:

• a second sock in a yarn colourway I don't like. I tell myself I should finish and then over-dye them in purple or something.
• Jasmine's red jumper for next winter
• a scarf in a pretty variegated blue .... acrylic... that was the first actual object I ever knitted (but obviously not the first finished).
• the diamond stitch top

[stops and considers] I'm rambling. Will stop now.

Post-Christmas ramblings and photos...

Okay, I promised some photos, right?

My camera is a Canon PowerShot A530. It looks like this:


Well, it does when photographed in a mirror without a flash (sorry bout the blur).
Cool, huh?








I've also been testing out some entrelac (thanks to lupinbunny), but have decided that despite the nice colours of my own hand dyed yarn, the colour repeats are not long enough. See?













Oh, yeah and then there's the new bag :)

(warning: Gratitutous photographing of bag to come)

It looks like this.

It's HUGE inside. (Very tardis like). I'm pretty sure you could get a whole jumper and notions required in there. The little purple bag on the side there is attached with press studs so you can put the smaller stuff in there. It also has a side zippered pocket. Only thing I wish it had was a mobile phone/ipod pocket. But the zippered one does okay for that for me.

The nifty side pocket holds all your smaller stuff - small needles, pens, scissors, calculator etc.

And, I'm back on that diamond stitch top from the Sarah Dallas Vintage Knits book. And again, part of me says...

"4ply cotton on 3mm needles. In the round so it goes extra slow. What were you thinking?!"

There is photos of this, but I think I've hit the cache limit for Blogger. So, another time.

I'm also considering trying to participate in "Project 365". I now have a small, digital camera. I also want to work on something I've long been terrible at. I look terrible in photos. I seem to sabotage myself constantly, probably subconsciously. I don't mean to look awful, after all.

I don't think they'll end up here - I'm a bit hesistant of putting personal photos up. But we'll see how it goes. Maybe you'll get the non-people photos.