the search ends

I have invested so much time in the great cardigan hunt.

It has been so frustrating. But I think I now know what I want.

Sort of.

I am quite keen for something with a collar. Either fitted or swinging. Can't decide. It has to be able to cope with the country silk that is in skeins all over my lounge room, waiting.

I got a bit excited about this.

It isn't too bad at all in a librarian kind of way (no offence Jodie!). I could change the collar to make it a bit more my style. I quite like the shaping and the detail along the bottom. It is Jo Sharp's Essential.

Then I looked at the pattern - would you believe it only goes up to a 95cm bust! I have my Grandma Ethel's bust line and I will only say it is substantially more than a waif like 95cm. I'm not at all interested in trying to resize this pattern at the moment. So I am back to the 'other option'.

The 'other option' will be a dull knit - that is the only thing holding me back.

But it will look pretty fine in deep green and I think it might just suit me.

And I do love a big luscious button.

This one has the enticing and romantic name 'Jacket with collar and set in sleeves'. Makes you just want to rush out and make one doesn't it?

Thanks for the suggestions - it did help me work out what I was attracted to.

first you need the tools

The lovely Canberra snb are having a cardi knit a long. Its a good opportunity to make another other cardi. It is a good opportunity to enhance the stash.

If you haven't been working really hard to save some money.

And I have enough stashed away for two caridgans.

But both stashes were bought because they were a bargain, not because they sang.



In fact neither gets me too excited.

The problem has been solved through a little colour work to the Cleckheaton Country Silk.

I tried to cheat first - and was reminded of one of those life lessons that things should be done well - not half-arsed.

What should have been a one hour project ended up taking almost all day. But then I did it a better way.


But now I have some really nice yarn.


Except I have spent hours on Ravelry and can't find something I want to wear that will work with the yarn.

Nothing.

I can't face knitting something I can't anticipate loving. Could you?

enhanced

I am home sick and have a laptop nearby. I don't know about you but for me it is dangerous. I can spend hours browsing blogs and following links to websites that sell yarn and fleece and fabric and patterns and books and sewing supplies, and don't even get me started on etsy!

Fortunately for my bank balance my birthday swap gifts are still arriving - and are a good reminder that I do.not.need. more yarn, fleece.....


I signed up for this swap because not one of my close friends get the knitting/making thing - they just don't do it. I go green with envy when I read those posts with photos of knitters getting mountains of magical yarn as presents.

This has been my favourite swap because it is nice to treat someone and the expectations are manageable. I don't need to get carried away trying to keep to budget with gadgets, yarn and chocolate. It is definitely one I will sign up for next year - cause look what happens when you have a birthday. Thank you for this wonderful one Chelle.

le crash

This is my 100th post. To celebrate I am offering a little gift - see the end of the post for details.

I entered the Tour de France knit along with the hope that the expectation and competition of it all would get me to complete a cardigan in three weeks - I knew it would be a challenge, but was ready to push myself. And I wanted that cardigan.

I started it in the frantic lead up to going on holidays, but thought I could catch up in the time away. I missed two whole days stuck in the air without knitting needles. I took it camping - except we forgot to pack all forms of light and so plans of knitting around the campfire once the kids are asleep were scuttled. I snatched a little time.



But then tragedy struck. An over exuberant small person jumped on my knitting and broke my needle midway through our holiday. I didn't have a spare. I ordered on on the net hoping it would be here when I got home. It wasn't. When I finally got to my emails I had given the wrong credit card info and IT HADN'T BEEN SENT. The replacement arrived on Thursday - but knowing I was so far behind took the fun out of it all and I let myself get distracted. I am still only a third of the way through.

Amelia might just be ready for the end of this winter, but I suspect she is now more likely to be a next winter wear.

And the lesson learned is always carry a spare.

And for post 100 I am offering a skein of my hand dyed 4ply yarn. A lovely semi solid apple green in merino and nylon 80/20.



all you need to do is leave a comment and I will randomly select a winner and make contact. edited to add - you have till Saturday this week when I will draw a name sometime in the afternoon - good luck

we have a winner

Oh people - here and on ravelry - thank you for the dyeing disaster suggestions. Of course you were right. It was all to do with not dissolving the dye. Look at this magic.

Ignore the slight white fluff on the yarn. It is this stuff we have been given to practice on from the spinning class I have been going too. I swear the house looks like I own a huge white dog - or even bear, it gets everywhere.

Of course I did manage to make the same mistake again, with the dyeing that is. This time I really really thought the dye would have dissolved but was using a different colour and, well, it hadn't, dissolved that is. Not enough. It was awful too because I could see it happening and even though I frantically tried to mix it in all I ended up with was slightly tangled yarn.

I am thrilled though - and thrilled with the subtle colour change I am getting, thrillled. Did I say thrilled? I can't wait to do more of this now what I know what to do. My next challenge is green.

This first black spot -less skein of gorgeous orange is for my orange swap spoilee. As is this little project bag I have made. This is a taster - more details once the package is received.

any idea??

It is supposed to be straightforward but for some reason I keep getting it all wrong. Disastrously wrong. A few weeks ago I learnt to dye wool thinking of the wonderful potential for the vibrant colours I just could not find. I tried some painting on with the dye - and it was nice but not bitey enough for what I was after.

I am in the orange swap on ravelry aussie swappers group and really wanted to dye some wool as my gift. How nice it would be to receive hand dyed yarn. I know I would think it glorious.
I thought I would try the other method of using the stove. I used an old baking dish. At the time I thought it might not be the best idea but was lazy enough to try.

It looks nice but I ended up with black marks all over my yarn.

I went and found my old paper-making stainless steel pot in the shed and started again. I put the black marked yarn in with a new skein thinking I could do two at once, and who knows the black spots might recede. Now I have two yarns with black spots. Maybe the black from the first had tainted the second - it was probably iron or something ( I am no chemist). I just don't know.

I ordered more undyed yarn online. Knittery have a two week wait. That is getting a bit tight for my swap deadline.

In the knitting basket I spotted the first one I had dyed by painting and thought I would redo that one to make it more vivid and orange. I used the stainless pot and set to work.

black spots.

Now I really, really have no idea what is happening and am a little scared to destroy more yarn.

any ideas? Anyone? Anyone at all?

transformation

I have been meaning to share this for a little while, but time got away.
It is the progress report from the dyeing workshop a few of us attended.

There we created some colour magic.
we waited to see how it came out.
sadly, it came out a little less than magical for me.

I came home and worked a little more magic with the dye I picked up.

this is my first spell..




it is nice- but I am not one for pastels or too much variation in colour and this had to much of both, which meant no magic.

I was sure something else was possible.




I mixed some colours and waited - the very, very hardest part was waiting a day to rinse it out and see what had happened.

I think it is quite a sweet result - stronger red and orange. My two favourite colours. The green was done away with altogether. Oh, I do love green but it just wasn't doing it for me here.

Magic.



The undyed yarn is the knittery's cashmere merino fingerling. It is very beautiful.

a little knitting

I know I haven't posted much about what I have made of late - but I have been trying to get some knitting done with all the other competing things in life, honestly.

I can say I finally finished my first pair of socks.

I did knit a sock once before - years ago up in Pomona Queensland an interesting woman, who was an artist and a knitter and had used knitting to protest logging in Tasmania, set up a sock knitting group at a local cafe once a week - this was our view.

photo from here

nice hey?

all kinds of interesting arty women joined it and I managed to make one sock before I went back to to work and lost the pattern and so never got to complete the other one. It was a very very different kind of sock knitting too. We used 8 ply and made big rugby like socks, and we made them as silly and arty as we could with our limited knitting skills. Here is my one sock

... it is huge and makes a great christmas stocking.

But now I have a grown-up pair of socks

These are my first, though unofficial, socks for the Southern Summer of Socks - I did start them a few weeks ago so they don't quite make it as official. There is a nice bit of red here - which should please someone.

so the specs are: Bex's Luminaire socks (pattern free from The Knittery) using the Knittery's merino sock slim in Bloody Mary. I only used about 2/3 of the 100g skein.

I can't wait to start the next pair now.

on the fourth day she cleaned up

Four days in a row - maybe I could have done Blogtoberfest...nah.

About a week ago I posted a question on Ravelry about inexpensive winders and swifts - which I decided I really really needed after my cowgirl fiasco. A number of clever people came up with instructions on how to make one - and I was really hoping it wouldn't come to that when Buttonbrite came up with a great link to here. So I hopped online and bought one - last Thursday I think, maybe wednesday.

So I will set the scene a little more - The pirate is home today with an infected foot and the first mate is here for the day too. It has all been going swimmingly until half an hour ago I could smell something pretty unpleasant and put the question to them.... "has anyone had an accident in their pants?' nooooooo they say as my pirate backs up to the furniture, knowing that I am about to make a lunge for the back of his pants to investigate. He was sent off to the toilet to demonstrate my maternal instincts, and sense of smell, were, of course, right. It took some cleaning up and we were almost through when the first mate came in with a confession and a request for clean underwear too. Another round of clothes, gagging ( it is always much much worse when it isn't your own isn't it?), washing and cleaning up. I am over it and wondering what I could ever do to get my almost 5 year old to GO TO THE TOILET and not try to keep it in. Frustration, weeping and holding back on a big tantrum was how I handled it - mixed in with a little parenting insecurity. The boys are fine and happy, now they are clean.

I was just scrubbing my hands, again, when there was a loud knock at the door - when I got there there was this to be seen...

sorry, couldn't wait to open it. I quickly set the electronic babysitter to 'Toy Story' and opened it properly.

wow. I have no idea how good it is but for $60 it doesn't really matter. And it has orange. I love orange.

there is a small issue of this bit broken off the top of the swift.

I am not sure if I will miss it but will call for a replacement anyway. I really really want to give it a go but have read that skeins should not be wound till they are about to be used. I will just have to finish what I am doing so I can wind something into a ball.

and that's not all - another package arrived too

love the bendy. and I have almost forgotten about the mess in the laundry to deal with.

unravelled

Spring is here and it comes with the trots, but not that kind.

Have you ever noticed how the spring air carries more noise? or is it just that more happens?
All I know is that I live close to the showgrounds and I can hear the trots being called as I write this and it takes me back to being 7 and being taken along with my grandparents to a race night - and being bored totally rigidly senseless. If only I had known how to knit.



Jenolan caves was fun - the pirate was very impressed, especially with the wombat skeleton in the cave. We had the whole Gatehouse to ourselves, which was a blessing because we were NOISY. We had 4 boys between 3 and 6 and they had lots of fun in an old building with a fantastic echo.

I thought I would have mountains of time for knitting in the mountains but in fact didn't do nearly as much as I planned. I did made some progress , but I spent a great deal of my time time untangling a skein of wool - in fact about 5 hours all up I think. It all started cause the cowgirl yarn arrived the day I left and it needed to be wound for use. I thought it was a good time to start after the third bottle of champagne had been opened. Any knitter with more experience, and sense, than me would say that was a dumb thing to do - and now I can more confidentally count myself as an experienced knitter cause I finished untangling after the 4th bottle of champagne and the 2nd bottle of wine had long been done with and everyone else was fast asleep.

but, the good part of the story is my sister took pity and has offered to buy a winder and swift so I never, ever, have to do that again. However, on the bad side I think it has turned her off taking up knitting, forever.

beanies and cucumbers

I finished the beanie. Now I have started on other beanie for a friend but this time I am getting to play with the great collection of yarns I got from the Craft and Quilt show. It should be gorgeous.

And today the pirate quietly told me he wanted to see a dead person. A dead person ? says I trying not to worry I was raising a serial killer. yes he wants to see inside their body to see how it all works. that's not so bad. So we got talking about a friend who is a doctor and sometimes gets to perform caesarians. I was careful to talk about anesthetic, just in case he wanted to take his curiosity to the next level. Ah, says he, that is when they use the cucumbers. Cucumbers? yes they put them over the people's eyes when they are asleep and Iain (our friend and soon to be proud owner of the finished beanie) has lots of cucumbers so he can put them on eyeballs.

I must keep an look out for all those cucumbers next time I go to a hospital.

craft and quilt fair

I dragged my poor son around the craft fair at epic last weekend. the grief was worth it. ....

there were only a few wool stalls - but I could have spent a fortune. I did limit myself to this luscious little bundle from a stall full of wonderful treasures. they don't sell online unfortunately -only through stalls at various shows, but they tell me they have a diary of where they will be on the website. http://www.knotjustknitting.com/....

and then I picked up enough of this stunning knobbly wool to make a vest from the touch yarns stall http://www.touchyarns.com/ .

and, I was blown away by the amazing alpaca range put together by a braidwood business called Galifrey - www.galifrey.com.au. I think I will end up being a good customer!

oh it was lovely, and I thought it would be a waste of time.