FO Friday

 Peerie Flooers Hat 
I knit the mittens a few months ago now, and the yarn was sitting, waiting patiently to be turned into a hat. I am happy with it - tension a bit off in some places, but it felt good to get it done with!

 Joris
I bought this as a kit while I was in Amsterdam - I fell in love with the display model they had and had to have it.  It is the first, and probably last toy I will ever knit.  It resides on a shelf far away from grubby little fingers and will eventually be moved onto a craft table (whenever I get one...).  I love the back of his head, so colourful!

 I have also been doing some sewing!  I've not used my machine for months, but when the urge to sew hit, I went a bit crazy.  I have so far sewed 5 box bags, and 4 zip pouches.  I am wanting to do more, but need to get more interfacing first!

 I am very pleased with them, and I can now sew in a straight line!  I made up the pattern for the zip pouch, though I did read a few different ones first but none of them were easy or quick, whereas it takes me 15 minutes to do one, from ironing fabric to closing the zip.

I cannot remember the pattern I used for the box bag, but I stuck pretty rigidly to it and went from taking 2.5 hours to sew one, to just under an hour!

That's it for today, to read more FO Fridays go to Tamis Amis.

FO Friday

While in Amsterdam, I managed to finish two hats!

Project: Reversible Smocked Hat
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Pearl Ten
Notions: 5mm circular needle, cardboard for pom-pom!

 I love Elisa McLaughlins designs!  This one initially attracted me because of the smocked side, but when I completed it I decided that it looked too fussy, and so I will be wearing it on the reverse side!  It's not as long as pattern dictates, but I'm not a huge fan of slouchy winter hats, and I'd imagine this one will stretch out with use anyway.

Towards the end of the trip, I decided to knit a hat for my sister - she is always asking me to knit things for her, and thought this would make a good get well present.

Project: Cloche Divine
Yarn: Weldraad Alpaca Fino
Notions: 5mm needles

I love this hat.  Probably could have been doing with being knitted on smaller needles and knitting the larger size, which I may well do if I knit one for myself.  I am not happy with how the short row pickups look, it looks very clumsy and messy, which I think could have been sorted by knitting at a smaller gauge, but never mind, I am sure she will love it regardless!

 The only problem I have with knitting me one is that it doesn't sit too well with my glasses, so I'd need to wear it without glasses, which is guaranteed to freak the children out!

Over all, very pleased with my two finished objects!  

PS I just noticed I have used the exact same poses in the same order for both these hats!  Think I need to work on some new camera angles!

FO Friday is hosted by Tami at Tamis Amis.

WIP Wednesday, Yarn Along & blowing the budget!

For a long time I have mocked knitted toys.   In fact, I have commented to my friend Sarah that she has too much time on her hands if she can think about knitting toys.

It was with great shock that I then found myself head over heels in love with a toy kit a yarn shop in Amsterdam was selling.  The pattern was Joris, and I had seen it in Penelope Craft last year, and thought it was nothing special.  In fact, the pattern still is nothing special in my opinion.  However, the show model Weldraad had was knit using Aade Long.

Both my husband and I decided instantaneously that I would buy the kit, knit the toy and put it on a shelf far from little fingers who don't appreciate hours of work when they see it.

Progress after day 1 is good (3 broken up hours in the afternoon):

Now, as I said at the start of the year when I decided I was going on a yarn diet, there would be a few exceptions, and the trip to Amsterdam was one of them.

The photo coming up is the very definition of blowing the budget.  Luckily it was in foreign money so it doesn't feel like I spent a lot (plus the fact I pre-ordered most of it online before I left....)

I do have plans for most of this, so it's certainly not as bad as it seems at first glance!  It would also appear I have a bit of a thing for red and turquoise.  And white.  And grey.  Not in this photo is a skein of yellow Alpaca which was knit into a hat for my sister who will be in a back brace for 3 months after shattering 2 vertebrae 2 weeks ago.  See! Already using up the stash!!! 

I've been really struggling to find interesting books to read recently.  Interesting might be the wrong word because I have lot's of interesting books I'd love to  read, I just can't get into them.  I read the second book in the All Souls Trilogy recently which was really good.  I am about halfway through The Historian, but neither of those I absolutely must finish straight away, which is the feeling I usually get when I get into a book (it doesn't help that this is a re-reading of The Historian, so I already know the end!).  I think I need to spend an hour in the second hand book shop here and just buy a whole load of random books.

For other WIP Wednesday visit Tamis Amis.  For Yarn Alongs, head to Ginnys.

Stripe Study Shawl Knitalong - Week 2

Sadly, I shall be bowing out of this knitalong rather earlier than I anticipated.

However, here is a sneak peak for FO Friday.

WIP Wednesday {} Yarn Along

This weeks WIP in a bit of a challenge for me.  Those of you who have been reading for a while may remember my post about DPNs.  Have a quick glance at it before reading further, it will enlighten you as to why this project is a challenge.

I hate DPNs.  Well, maybe hate is too harsh a word.  I respect DPNs and their worth in the knitting world - they have been around a long time and wouldn't have survived without being useful!

Despite my not liking DPNs, I have always wanted to be able to knit using them.  Magic loop has always been my preferred method of working small circumferences, and it has done me well the last few years, but I always felt like an unworthy knitter because I couldn't use them with the same ease as seen on other knitters.

I've wanted to knit these mittens for a long time, so I decided it was time to overcome this.  I could have done it with socks, I know, but I also need to work on colour work for the next few projects in preparation for starting my Wild Apple hat!  I am terrified of this hat.  It is so stunning I am very afraid of making a huge mess of it because it's to be knit on 2.25mm needles, and because of how many colours and floats and length of floats there are.

Swedish Fish
Garnstudio Drops Alpaca in white, Crystal Palace Yarns Mini Mochi in a bright rainbow colourway.
2mm, 2.5mm needles.

I'm doing OK with it.  I have no fear of the needles snapping as I have heard they are prone to doing.  My problem right now is carrying the floats between needles; I am making them too long.  That will get better as the mittens progress.

The progress of these mittens has been severely hampered by my starting an amazing book series - Outlander.

I started the first book, Cross Stitch as it was titled in the UK, a few days ago, and was hooked.  I got the recommendation from another blogger who posts of Yarn Along, but I can't remember who.  If it was you, THANK YOU!  I am in love with the characters, and the period setting.  I am on the second book, Dragonfly in Amber, now (second of seven, 8th to be published this summer - already on pre-order!) and I still can't put it down.  I made a deal with myself that for every pattern repeat completed in the evening, I can read a chapter.  Thankfully they are all available on the kindle so I can read at any time of day without disturbing Jitterbug.  I've been reading right up until the point I get tired, generally around 3.30/4am at the moment.  I've been going to bed very early so I can read plenty before the tiredness hits!

If I can tear myself away from my kindle this afternoon, I'll be reading some more Yarn Alongs and WIP Wednesdays.  I may have to make a deal for every 20 blogs read I read a chapter :D

Stash Diet Review: Sokkusu

Sokkusu first entered my radar some time last year.  When I started knitting again after my break, I searched out Socktopus as a place to buy nice yarns, only to find it had been replaced by Alice Yus own hand-dyed creations.  I seeked out some images on Ravelry, and I was smitten, then when I read how much research had gone into finding the perfect qualities of yarn base, and then finding someone to mill to the specification of Alices perfect sock base, I knew I had to try it.

When I saw Socktopus were going have a stall at last years Knit Nation, it was on my list of places to spend money.  I feel in love as soon as I laid my eyes on this colourway, Siffie.  As some of you may remember, last year I said I would no longer be buying single lone skeins of anything, so I did receive some flak for this purchase.  I had a great excuse though - this is a dyepot baby!

The colours are the perfect muted rainbow.  I could look at this all day and never bore of it.

One day, I will join her Knit Love Club.  I love this yarn that much!  The base is perfect, and the spin and ply seem tight enough to be able to withstand the wear of being socks, despite being 100% Merino.

I love this yarn, and when my stash has been reduced, I will be seeking out some other colours!  This may become socks, or it may be crocheted into a shawl, I'm not sure yet.  I need to stop looking at it first!

OOOOH boy!

You can see my stash on ravelry, and there are also more photos at the link on the top bar!

I also added an About Me page up there, so have a read if you like :)

12 for 2012

New Year 2004/05, Bondi Beach.

Happy New Year everyone!  I'm not one of those people who make a big thing out of Hogmanay, but in 2004 I sat on a beach and thought about my life - I was supposed to be in Thailand over Christmas that year, on Phi Phi to be exact.  Phi Phi was devastated in the tsunami that hit on boxing day.  I honestly felt like I had been given another chance, and suddenly my life to that point seemed so pointless.  I decided I was going to follow my heart, and my heart told me to go home and stop pretending I was happy being so far from the only person I missed every single day, so I booked a flight and flew home 2 weeks later.  I have never regretted that decision even though things never worked out the way I wanted, but every year since then I have made plans and goals of things I would like to achieve the following year.

This year they are a good mix of personal, family and crafty goals.

1. Remain out of the overdraft and use no credit for personal gain.  I personally have a very bad history with credit, and ever since being declared bankrupt at 23 I have become quite militant about our spending.  Our grocery bill is heavily budgeted, we save for big things we want and not once went into our overdraft last year (for us that is a huge thing, considering 2 years ago we were living in our overdraft!)!  I am stepping this is up next year as we need to save hard in the first half of the year so we can afford to do the things we want to do, which leads me to....

2. No yarn purchasing.  This is a hard one, very very hard.  However, I have way more yarn than I could ever knit in the next year, so I just need to remain focused!  I also got some yarn for Christmas, and my sister is giving me lot's of acrylic yarn she bought but will not use, so I have lot's that needs used up!  This does mean it's unlikely I'll be attending unravel this year :(  There will be one exception however; Penelope Craft in Amsterdam!  I'm really hoping the exchange rate will be better this summer, but regardless of that, I'll be purchasing more GGH Alpaka in numerous colours while I'm there.

3. Get our house decorated.  We have not touched much since we moved in, and the kitchen in particular, is looking run down, tired and in serious need of some love.  I have 3 target rooms - kitchen, hallway and spare room.  Our kitchen is black and white and there's not much we like about it other than the size, so we are going to inject some colour by painting the walls and wall tiles.  Hallway needs painted, stairs need sanded and something done to them (they are currently an orange shade of brown paint/thick thick stain). The spare room was going to be our big project, but it now depends on saving enough back to buy new furniture (Jitterbugs crash wiped out most of the savings for it), remove the horrific built-in wardrobe, plaster the ceiling and carpet the room/sand the floor (depending on the condition of the boards).

4. Continue our decluttering!  At some point in the next 3 or 4 years, we need our house looking nice enough to sell, and clutter will only get in the way of that.  We need to sort out the stuff in our loft and make some hard decisions regarding what to keep and what not to keep.

5. Get my anxiety/depression under some sort of control.  We can't afford counselling sessions, so I'm going to need to figure it out myself.  I have issues, like most people on the planet, but I want to get them sorted and get my head clear because I'm fed up feeling this.

6. Plan better for Christmas!  Money got a bit tight towards the end there, and I really wanted to make some things but time got away from me, so next year we start planning in September, and anything I want to make has to be ordered and started by October!

7. Learn how to spin even yarns.  I got a book for Christmas which should hopefully help with this, as will the 3 large sheep fleeces I have in my loft!  If I spend some time every day doing it, I should see a difference by the middle of the year.  I really hate not having my wheel set-up in place all the time as it's a hassle getting it out and everything set-up every day, but if we get the spare room sorted out I can keep it in there.

8. Do something nice that makes me feel good about myself - the two piercings I've been wanting forever would be a good start, maybe a small tattoo towards the end of the year.

9. Become better and more experienced at colourwork.  My birthday present should help rid me of any lingering fear of multiple colours, and hopefully I'll be a colourwork pro by the end!

10. Make time for spinning and embroidery!  I'm going to try and dedicate 30 minutes every day to spinning and one day a week to embroidery.  They are both things I love doing but always get cast to the side as soon as I start knitting, and it's time they saw some love again.

11. Finally knit those elusive socks!  This will require figuring out which yarns in my stash have nylon content, I don't think I have many, but it's a good place to start and if I enjoy it will give me something to look forward to when stash-buying commences in 2013 (I'm already wavering at this.....)  I also have the Noro Sock that I want to use for Ziggy!

12. Finish at least 1 project a month!  I have some big projects planned over the next year, all of which I have yarn for, in addition to the smaller projects I naturally gravitate towards right now.  I'm hoping in 2012 that I will reduce my stash by a considerable amount, and then in 2013 I can start knitting larger projects regularly as I'll actually have space for the yarn then!

So, those are my 12 'resolutions'.  I may not be successful in conquering all of them, but I am very much goal driven and this gives me something to work towards in the next 12 months.

WIP Wednesday

Another Wednesday, and another WIP!

My sister has a small dog, a Border Terrier, called Gordy.  Gordy is her child and will be her only child if she has anything to do with it.  She dresses him in jackets with hoods, cardigans, all the usual dog stuff I laugh at and we've joked in the past about me knitting him a sweater.

The joke was playing on my mind, and I started this last night, and I have to say I am loving knitting it so far!

Puppies on Parade Dog  Sweater
5.5mm, a mix of Lion Brand Wool-ease, Vannas Choice and some other random grey stuff I had.  Oh, and some hairy yarn.

I love the fact it's not serious.  I love the fact it's going to be for a dog!  I'm knitting it at a far bigger gauge than the pattern calls for, but I am 95% sure I've done the number right and the size I am knitting will fit him.

Other than the Bohus class I took, this is the first time I've knit more than one colour yarn in a row.  I am pretty sure my floats are too tight in some places, but I'm pretty pleased so far!  This was the result of 4 hours knitting (with a few breaks), so I should have it done pretty quickly!  I'm aiming for having it finished for when I go up to Scotland at the end of the month.

I also received this mitten kit through the post this week!  Kindly bought by my mother - she is the best!

However, before I can start on them, I promised my brother I'd knit him a cowl.  I've never knit anything for him, to feel it's only fair I give him something, especially as he is the coolest 17 year boy I've ever known.

So that's it from me this week, I have a few things to show on Friday so be sure to come back then!

WIP Wednesday is hosted over at Tamis blog, so if you have a few minutes step on over and have a look through the other blogs taking part.

WIP Wednesday

Just a quick catch up from me today!  I've not had much knitting time over the last few days, between being ill, organising birthday presents and sorting through the general accumulation of childrens toys by the end of the night I am too tired to concentrate.

I have one new WIP this week, Twisted Ankles by Leethal.

I am knitting these in Garnstudio Drops Alaska held double.  I have yet to cast on the second one, but will do so tonight.  I love the satisfaction that comes from cables.  This is the first project I have done where cables intersect and change direction at different rates, and it definitely keeps me on my toes!

Next up is Shapeshifter, which I started a couple of weeks ago.  I am about halfway through it right now (going by pattern), but may add a few extra inches to make a bigger hood.

The yarn is Araucania Nature Wool Multy, sadly I don't remember the colourway but it is gorgeous!  Really lovely warm Autumn/Winter tones.  This is also the project I figured out how to knit properly!  Turns out I knit in Eastern European style, but was trying to apply continental knitting to it.  Now I have it figured out, though it does mean having to adjust techniques for increases and decreases.  I am finding it much faster now I know what to do!

Finally, is Lizard Ridge.  The block I started many moons ago is still in progress (I can hear the cackling from certain people.... shoosht!), but I am aiming to have this one done by Christmas!

It is the same problem I had before - mind numbing boredom.  I need to get this done so have plans to only work on this in December.  Plans change, so don't hold me to that!

I promised a peek at my latest yarn purchases, so here they are

Not so much a purchase, as was foisted upon me.

That's it yarn wise for a few months now.  I feel completely overwhelmed, but do have plans for a large part of it and I am still working through old stash, so I think by the time Unravel comes around next February, I'll be in a good position to buy some more ;)  

To see some infinitely more interesting WIPs, head over to Tamis.