Get on with it woman

Things that are hard:

-Dressing a small person who doesn't want to let go of their toes

-Eating well when you only have one hand free and there are delicious vanilla and poppyseed cupcakes sitting temptingly on the bench at 8am

-Finishing my knitting once I am bored with it! It takes me almost as long to seam and sew on buttons as it does to actually knit the pieces.

-Sewing with wool that breaks at annoyingly impractical points in your seams. Although, this tweed does come together really nicely, leaving almost invisible joins and making me feel accomplished.

Things that are easy:

-Staying in your dressing gown until well past midday

-Wasting time in a ravelry-gmail-facebook loop

-Linen stitch! I am making a cowl (ostensibly for Bojana, but it's looking very small. If it blocks ok I'll drag it over my own head and keep it. If it doesn't then Molly can have it next winter and I'll make Bojana a decent sized one).

This is one of those projects that is clearly not working as it should (size-wise) but is addictive and complicated enough that it would almost be more annoying to rip it all back and start again than it would be to finish and not be able to wear it. I'm not sure it will even fit around my neck, let alone pull over my head but I am happy going round-and-round and admiring my handiwork. Simple things...

Mojo

I have finally got back into my knitting. I'm sure that while you're off galloping around Europe this is the last thing you will be interested in, but oh well! Here are the latest little knits...

The bonnet is lovely and soft to touch. It's made of bamboo fibre which I hadn't used before, but will definitely buy again. I am making a dent in my stash at the moment though rather than buying new wool, so that's satisfying!

I have also become motivated to finish knitting the socks I started (and promptly lost interest in) at the beginning of the year. I am now powering towards the toe of the first sock! Which means I turned a heel successfully. Excellent. I am enjoying knitting something different, but the annoying thing is that I have a whole second sock to knit if I want to be able to wear them! Damn pairs. Whether or not the first one fits will determine the fate of the second sock.

Hope you are having a great time in France! Miss you xxx

Free at last

I have finally finished the tiny vest that has been lurking in my project bag for months. Yes! I really like it, it's so tiny and cute. Plus it was knitted sideways so no seaming! I have made some progress on the saroyan too, although probably not as much as you...I am now about 4 repeats into the straight section, although worryingly my giant ball of wool is rapidly shrinking and I am hoping that I have enough!

Shopping Success!

After 4 completely unsuccessful outings I have finally bought some new clothes! New-old clothes from the recycle boutique in town. It turns out that you need a sister who shops more or less continuously to point you in the right direction! I got 8 different things, including a denim jacket (I know, 1990s flashback) from Diesel and a NZ designer skirt to wear to E&G's wedding next weekend. Wohoo!

Plus, Masco's was fab and I bought 5 skeins of this beautiful alpaca-merino-silk blend. Mmm. Luxury knitting.

A Wholesome Weekend

Cameron and I went to his parents place in Katikati for the weekend, needed to escape Auckland for a bit and it was really nice. Thought you might like some photos...

Thou shalt not covet thy in-laws wools...



There was some knitting. I am making my first pair of socks. Mainly because I needed a brain-awakening project but I didn't want to bother with winding up balls of wool, and this sock wool was already in a nice, neat ball and has been sitting in my stash making me feel bad for a while now. Time to use it. I got this far into the sock, and realised it looked bloody tiny! Will it ever fit my (un-manicured) foot?

Yes. It does. Very stretchy wool and stitch pattern. Socks are quite fun to make so far. Although I am ignoring the instructions for 'turning the heel' until I have to do it.

Burning through the under-bed stash!

I have finished the cable project that I posted about previously, it was quick! 8mm needles helped with that. I'm pretty happy with it, it's just a tiny bit loose so I might move the buttons when I can be bothered. Or I might wait until winter and see what it's like over a thicker jumper. But it's very cosy and soft which I like. Here are some (bad) photos, excuse the be-speckled bathroom wall in this one, and the crazy exposures. Camera is a wuss without the flash!

In this one however, I was clever and photographed it so that you can't see the big snarl at the beginning while I was still getting used to the pattern. Yarn-over confusion again. I like how the wool is all fuzzy around the edges...the label says it's 'virgin wool'. Who knows what that actually means! This project is the first one where blocking has made a real difference, it got HUGE compared to what it started as, and all the yarn-over holes and twists got miraculously evened-out and opened up.

I love these buttons. Went on a button-buying spree actually. I am trying not to buy any wool until June as I have too much and I need to use what I have already spent money on (especially seeing as I STILL haven't got a job!).

I have been feeling bad at the time it's taking to get your present finished, so I'm sending it off now and will post it in two installments!

This way it won't be summer before something arrives : )

It's not much but hopefully you will like it! Thanks again for the gorgeous present, haven't taken the scarf off since I unwrapped it xxx

Tiny Triumphs

Life being what it is at the moment I decided I needed a project to keep my brain busy, and so I thought I would brave one that I have been meaning to start, but am intimidated by. It's a cabled wrap and I failed to notice before casting on that it involves lots of the things I don't like to do. Seed stitch and yarn-overs for a start. I find yarn-overs so confusing for some reason, I know what I am meant to do and it's not like they're hard but they stump me. Still, am going to give it a good go! Oh and it's also the first attempt at using a chart, which is not too bad having used them for cross-stitch, but is slow-going at the moment anyway.

Twisty little yarn-overs here...

Some cables, these are the ones that sort of worked. There are some which are inexplicably holey and I am wondering if I knitted the stitches in the right order (?).
And here is motivation to keep at it and finish quickly! I got some lovely new wool today from Mel! I love it, very pretty colours. They are (hopefully) going to be a shawl.

Here, to finish, is a random picture of our driveway last night that sent me into a rage at how bloody stupid and thoughtless our neighbours are. Seriously! Who thinks this type of behaviour (i.e. childish and f*cking rude) is ok? Emailed this photo to landlord and told him he is in breach of our cross-lease agreement by allowing his wretched tenants to do this (daily). We will see how that goes.
Hope your jumper is done! Hi to Tim and lots of love to you : )

Holy Cowl

It's hot here (and humid and rainy at the same time) which isn't ideal knitting weather. I am jealous of you in the cold! But I am knitting anyway and just making small things. So I made these 2 cowls, both of which are really easy and quick, and if you like one I'll make it for you!

The purple one I made just because I love the wool/colours so much, but the blue is probably the one I'll wear more often because it's really cosy and snug, so no chills get down your neck.

ETA: there is a random empty post below this, sorry. I hit something while typing and don't know how to fix it. Just ignore.

E (again) TA: Ha! Sorted. I am a techno-whiz.

For you my friend

Here is a little look at what I am making you for your birthday (mainly just to check that you don't think it's instantly hideous!). Believe it or not that is the daffodil yellow silk blend wool that you chose from my stash, it was a very sunshiny day and it all got bleached looking. I am really pleased with how this is coming along though, I just hope that the size is ok!

The Kindness of Strangers

I joined an international knitting swap with a group on Ravelry, which is super geeky but turned out to be pretty fabulous! Look at the great stuff I got! Some really nice greeny blue and organic wool, plus noro wool which I keep hearing about but seems to be absent from all NZ knitting shops. Why, when we have so many sheep, do we have so little choice here? This person sent me 6 balls of lovely wool and some other stuff too, including the cutest pattern for a knitted bat! I particularly liked the wooden marbled dpns, very pretty. If I was the type of person to say 'squeee!' it would go here. You have to come round and look at all my loot. I need help deciding what to make. 

And here, finally, is a photo of the shrug that I don't think I will ever actually wear. I do quite like it still, I just don't know what I would wear it with. I think I need to buy a nice, simple black summer dress. Or maybe I could commission you to make me one? Seriously? I can't find any that work on me, my shoulders are narrow and my hips are wide (sigh) so they are not usually flattering. By the way....can you see the coloured in stitches in the shrug? NO! Haha, I'm so clever!

Knitting mysteries are turning out to be not so scary after all

Starting with the mystery of the double pointed needle (or, as I now like to call them, dpns). They were not as bad as I had been expecting, just a bit fiddly. And I kept forgetting to change to the spare needle and ended up with all my stitches jammed onto 2 needles (not very circular knitting) and having to redistribute. But overall, not too worrying. So pleased with my new hat! It's just a shame that I made it so far into winter. But I think I might take it to Peru, as temperatures at night go below zero apparently. Brr! Also might need some cosy headbands!

You can see I am looking pretty smug in this photo, but it sums up the pride at having learned something new : ).

I started your birthday present today! Such a gorgeous wool, I'm really glad that I got a few balls of it before it was discontinued. I will take a photo and let you have a preview soon. The Devonport markets went well! I made some moolah which was nice, would have felt a bit shamed if nothing had sold. Will be going back to do it again in few months...just need to build up the stock levels again.

Instead of studying

This is what happens when you are sick to death of uni and the dumb exams which ask you to study the children's responses to reading (for goodness sake!)...so much for not making any more pairs of things for a while! And just as a note, the baby things are not for me...they will be gifted! The pink wristwarmers are quick and fun, made them for Selina, you should make some to learn how to cable! The buttons cover up my awful seaming hehe.

Out on the reef

These are what have kept me busy for the last week or so (along with some very tedious assignments and working with 40 shrieking children in the afternoons), finished them this morning. Not sure if I will be making any more 'pairs' of things for a while as I get bored making the second one! Stripes are really easy! Quite liked doing them. The wool is a silk blend and is not very stretchy, so they are a bit gappy in places, but that's ok. They remind me of Nemo's friend...the tropical fish : )

Mittens a go-go

Finally conquered the second mitten and now I can actually wear them! Second one was actually much faster and easier so should have done it earlier. But never mind, now I can wear them and when people say 'oh those are nice, where did you get them?' I can be all nonchalant and go 'oh these? I made them'. Put some photos of Tim in his birthday scarf up...want to see it modelled! Bet it suits him. Was he pleased?

I am going to make a shrug as my next project. Ambitious huh? Hope it works. 

Ribbed for my pleasure

Oh yeah. Finished it off with my little vintage buttons and I am quite happy with it. I think the angle it has to be worn and the shiny buttons stop it from being too herbal. It almost didn't fit so I had to block it quite savagely, but now I think I will look quite the thing this winter.

Finished things

I thought that the scarf deserved a mention even though it has already been seen and admired. Pretty happy with it although it annoys me that the last ball was so much darker! Don't think I'll be making another long scarf in a hurry though, takes too long and is very repetitive. How is Tim's scarf coming along?

I thought that these ended up being very cute. I can see myself becoming one of those people who has lots of baby things stashed away but no actual baby to use them! Sad. But they are just so satisfyingly quick to make!

Something to look forward to

In my lifetime I intend to make these. And also these because they are both very beautiful, and folksy is the new black. Also, are you impressed that I worked out the link thing? (good instructions thanks, you should be a teacher! But not at the school I am thinking of at this moment...won't name it here. I am the soul of discretion.)

Mum's neck warmer

My family is going to be getting homemade birthday gifts this year (whether they like it or not!) This is a neck warmer that I am making for mum's birthday... first time I have ever tried cables and I have to say that I am pretty impressed with myself. And pretty cross with all the people who told me it would be really hard! It's not hard at all. Although I have already ripped it out once, and hated having to cast on the 112 stitches all over again...but I am much happier with how this Attempt 2 is coming along. The cables line up this time : ) 

 I think this should end up being fairly quick to knit and I like the way it's looking so far (except for the scruffy cast-on). The pattern is Tudora and is online at Knitty in case you feel inspired. Very economical present. But that's only if you don't count the personal cost (and rage) at having to start over once already.