HELEN KNITS

Happy News and Some Knitting News Too

2011-04-10T20:19:00.000+10:00

A couple of weeks ago my daughter and her boyfriend announced their engagement.  I am so happy as they make a wonderful couple. So we've been busy organising the engagement party and discussing wedding plans.

And amidst all this going on she flew off today to the US for her work for seven days.   But yesterday we went wedding dress shopping for Amy and also her friend Katie. My mum came too and another friend of Amy and Katie's met us there. Katie is getting married October this year. Sadly her mum is very ill so she could not be there with Katie. It was great as both Amy and Katie ended up choosing a design they liked and look absolutely beautiful in. It was a very happy and emotional time for everyone. I can't believe that the time has come for my daughter to get married. Where has the time gone I do not know?

And for some knitting my Rosemarkie is coming along although I did make an error and had to frog the ribbing and start again. I've done one repeat of the pattern so far I will post a picture of that another time. It's been a long time since I've knitted Fair Isle and I've forgotten how much I enjoy it.    I did do a swatch I've been doing swatches lately because I figured one day I will make a throw out of them all. Just as well I did a swatch as my gauge was out and I had to go up a needle size

I have also finished the little Provence cardigan for Indigo and I will give it to Jane at Amy's engagement party.

It's autumn here in Victoria and we've been having some beautiful sunny days. And autumn also means figs and in our garden we the most beautiful little fig tree that is full with figs. So today before we went to my parents for lunch I picked some for them as Mum loves figs.
The figs are a really a nice size this year and very tasty. I can't believe the shops are selling them for $20 a kg. I wish I knew how to dry them as I love them dry more then fresh. But the fresh ones look great in a bowl and I couldn't help but think how wonderful the colours of a fig would look in a skein of wool.

And of course some lovely yarn goodness I bought these two lovely skeins from The Frearless Knitter to make the Sockstravanza sock by Kristen Kapur that I fell in love with from a book called Brave New Knits that I recently purchased . I love the colour combo so I decided to knit it in exactly the same colourway.

And that is it from me for this post. I hope you all had a lovely weekend and got lots of knitting done!

Parcels

2011-02-20T16:41:00.000+11:00

I had a very busy weekend for a change I had friends and my brother and his wife for dinner on Saturday night. It was just a last minute thing I planned and it worked out really well we all had a wonderful time. I made rib eye roast as that is one of my most favourite things and I can only have roast when I have visitors as I can't just make roast for myself. Roast to me is a meal that needs to be shared plus you can't just make a small amount. We had pumpkin, potato, broccoli and carrots and for sweets we had Connoisseurs Vanilla ice cream with blueberries,strawberries and raspberries marinated in Cointreau a very simple but very tasty meal.

Then today (Sunday) I had my parents and my daughter and her partner for lunch we had chicken schnitzel with rise and pickled cucumber and ice cream and berries for desert. We take turns having Sunday lunch between my daughter and my mum. I love having family Sunday lunches because it reminds me of the Sunday lunches we had at my paternal Grandparent's place when I was a little girl with my cousins and aunties and uncles and how much I use to enjoy them.

The kitten is growing nicely he is so cute. But Bengals I find are not as cuddly or as affectionate as other cats or dogs. Here is a picture of him semi sitting on my son's lap and Bing all sitting on the couch.

Our poor old Siamese boy is not very happy to have a new kitten in the house mostly because the kitten wants to play with him so continually chases and pounces on the old boy. And as for our dog well he doesn't mind having the kitten around as long as he gets as much attention as the cats he doesn't care and of course we try to give them all equal amounts of attention.... I just wish they would allow me to sleep in occasionally....she SIGHS...

A couple of parcels arrived for me last week. One was the long awaited Victorian writers club from Woolgirl the Sherlock Holmes theme

Woolgirl Victorian Writers Club

details as per below:
Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Dyer: Zen Yarn Garden
Designer: Anne Hanson
Project: Socks
Very gorgeous colour sock yarn very tempted to get more and knit a jumper but I am going to be good.

The other is yarn I bought from Virtual Yarns for the Rosemarkie KAL I will be doing with the Mara Class Yahoo group and boy I will need all the help I can get as I've never done any steeking before. And I thought while I was getting yarn for Rosemarkie I may as well get the yarn for Eala Bhan the colour is Wild Orchid which is a gorgeous purple but it has speckles of other colour in it, very pretty.

Rosemarkie yarn on the left and Eala Bhan on the right

That's it from for for this week. Stay safe and well and happy knitting to all !!!!!

A hot day!

2011-01-30T14:56:00.000+11:00

Unfotrunately as it's been hot over the past couple of days not much knitting has been done.
As you can see on the photo even our kitten is feeling the heat.
Nor have I've really been in the mood to knit which is most unlike me. I hope I haven't lost my knitting mojo. I have always enjoyed knitting and it has always helped me relax and so it's definitely something that I don't want to loose if I can help it.

I did receive some lovely Wollmeise yarns that I bought on the 14th January. And apart from some lace weight that's to come I am on a strict yarn diet until I use up a lot of my stash as I feel that it has gone out of control.
I signed up for a yarn club last year which will be the only new yarns that I will be getting.
So what arrived last Friday is twin in Spice Market medium. Not sure what this one will be it's not enough for a cardigan so it will need to be a shawl.

And Im Jafhr de Ratt this one is for my Austin Hoodie the colour looks more blue then gray in this photo but it is more grey and brown then blue.

And that's it for today.

My holidays are over and I am back at work tomorrow.

Happy Knitting Everyone!!!

A New Addition

2011-01-20T23:41:00.001+11:00

Meet Zeus the Bengal kitten I bougt for my DS for Christmas. And my oh my it's been a very long time since we've had a kitten and I have forgotten how naughty they can be and I think that perhaps this breed is naughtier then most. But he is very adorable and my DS loves him even though it chewed up not one and not two but three of his XBox head sets and one normal set of headphones. He is a very clever little thing too because he seems to know that he blongs to my son because he sleeps with him and his is the only lap Zeus sits on. Our Siamese boy has adjusted very well to the new addition and so has our dog.

And now to knitting matters I have decided to join a KAL on Ravelry for the 3/4 Hap shawl by Veera and chose to use Kaalund 2ply using two strands together to make fingering weight which is what this pattern calls for. Hopefully it will work out well. It was really difficult to decide on which yarn and colour to choose and hopefully the green has enough of the yellow/orange in it so that the two colours compliment each other.

My other project I want to knit is Shawl Collared Cowl by Never Not Knitting and using the above yarn by DIC the only problem I have is I can't find the right buttons for it so I plan to go to a special button shop we have in East Malvern and see if they have any but I must not forget to take the yarn with me so that I can match it up properly. I always, always forget to take the yarn!!!

I have also decided to participate in a Test Knit which I've never done before so I am quiet excited about that. The only thing I can say about it at the momement is that I am using Malabrigo worsted yarn. Of course the weather is warming up over the next couple of days so I don't think I will be working in it for a few days. Which is not a bad thing as Laar is still on the needles and I haven't worked on it for a couple of days and so is the Shale Baby Blanket by Jared Flood and I am close to finishing the blanket so it's good as it's been a while since I've had a finished project. Sloan and Sack Boy were the two I FO's in December
Well that's it from me after such a long dry spell of not blogging please excuse me if there are errors but it's very late here and I am extremely tired.

I am really going to try very hard to blog on a regular basis.

Happy Knitting Everyone!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!

2010-12-25T07:47:00.000+11:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Very Overdue Update

2010-10-21T18:53:00.007+11:00

Well here I am again posting 3 months later I seem to have lost my interest in blogging. Maybe it will come back. Since I've posted the last time I've had to buy a new car. My DD and her boyfriend drove me around for two weeks to help me find a new car. I eventually fell in love and decided on a Holden Cruze.

It was extremely dfficult to part with the old car. Too much history attached to it because after all I did have it for 14 years. If the engine light didn't happen to come on and if it didn't keep breaking down on regular basis I would probably be still driving it today. But the Cruze if lovely and fuel consumption is awesome as I went for a diesel this time.

I've also bought some more lovely Wollmeise yarn the red is Twin in Ruby Thursday and the other is Tollkirsche and the purple is a Wollmeise lace I bought from a destach.

Green and Orange being two of my most favourite coulous when I saw this lovely orange tunic on Ravelry I had to make it.

The photo of course for the pattern was touched up so the orange is not as strong as it is in the photo it's disappionted but photos are always touched up. I still love the pattern and the yarn and I am currently upto the sleeves. I've had to stop because I need to knit at least 8 pairs of socks for Christmas presents for various people most however are my newphews and nieces. But more about that on my next post.
I am also working on my Brandywine shawl by Romi which is one of my many UFO’s or work in progress sounds much better :)

Great pattern and I love love love the yarn and the colours in it are beautiful. I’ve pinned what I’ve knit so far on a cushion to show off the gorgeous colours and the pattern.

And I will also be attempting to knit this beautiful Orenberg lace shawl. I have already bought the Belisa Cashmere that I want to knit it from. But both these beautiful project will have to wait until I have finished knitting the Christmas presents.

That's it from me for now.

Happy Knitting Everyone!!!!!

Off The Needles

2010-06-27T16:22:00.003+10:00

Ok I have no idea what went wrong with blogger but when I uploaded the photos I got script instead. So please excuse me for having all the wording on the top of my page and not matching it with the photo's but unfortunately I don't have any choice.

I finished my Shaped Triangle finally. It's taken me four moths but I have knitted a lot of other projects in between hence the long time it took to finish. But finished it is and is happily blockin on my dining table. I couldn't find a place large enough to fit it on so it's not as well blocked as I would have liked. The colour of this yarn is so vibrant and intense I like it a lot. It's Wollmeise Lace garn and Claudia is amazing with her stunning colours. Also when I soaked it there was no colour loss in the water I've never had that before with hand dyed yarn.

Now the hard task of having to find another lace pattern. I am addicted to lace knitting so I always have to have lace on the needles. I have no idea what to choose next. Maybe some Estonian Lace?

I also re did the collar of my Candy Striped Cardigan because I didn't like how it sat. I took it off and knitted it onto the cardigan instead and sewed it down all around so the collar is sitting and looking much better. I wore it to work and received lots of nice comments. Love the Spud and Chloe sweater yarn it's warm and thick yet light to wear.

I bought some lovely yarn from Spinning Martha from Germany and Tweed sock yarn (purple one). I've not seen tweed sock yarn before I am looking forward to knitting with it.

And now for a bit off topic my son and I went to friends place for dinner last night and on the way home my car decided to play up I was very worried we would be stranded on the freeway but thank goodness we got home ok. I have no idea what's wrong with it and lately it has cost me a lot of money forss repairs. I guess it's time to buy another car. I really don't want to buy another car but it is nearly 14 years old so I guess it has served me well. It has been a very reliable car and there are many memories with it both very happy and very sad. It sounds stupid I know but I will miss it when it's gone.

Anyway that's it from me for the time being.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Happy Knitting!

FO's & Gorgeous Yarn

2010-05-29T09:33:00.002+10:00

There are times when you have so many projects on hand and it feels like you never complete any. And then there are times when you finish a few in a row and that is exactly what happened to me for change. I managed to finish 3 projects YEAH. I am happy with 2 but not the thrird.

I knit myself the Candy Strip Jacket by Spud & Chloe and I am not happy with the collar. Almost everyone on Ravelry who made it had the same issues. I think I will need to take the collar off and try and knit it onto the neckline. I hate frogging and fixing but it needs to be done as I really like this little jacket and don't want it ending up in the bottom of my wardrobe like a few others that I've made.

I have made my second Noro scarf and this time it's a present for my 19 year old newphew...I hope he likes it.

I am worried that he may not as I am not so sure it's a perfect present for a 19 year old boy.

The next thing I finished was Fetching. I've been wanting to knit this since it first came out and started it when we drove up the last time to the Bendigo Wool show in 2008 with my late husband Kim but it somehow never got finished.

I used Posh yarn Emily which I've had in my stash for at least 3 years. It's a gorgeous colour she dyes some wonderful colours.

A month or so ago I bought this beautiful aran merino/silk from Sundara Yarns. The colours are just a stunning combination of my favourite colours. I am not sure what to knit from this I bought 7 skeins so I can maybe even make two things from it. I have been trying to find a suitable pattern for it but still haven't made a decision although I really like this the Texture Pullover patter from Vogue Spring/Summer
2010.

Well I best get started on some house work and grocery shopping.

I have a sick boy at home, poor kid I had to pick him up from school at lunch time yesterday because he is not well. Caught the bug that's going around Melbourne at the moment. High fever and a caugh all the usual stuff no runny nose yet thank goodness. He had a high fever but it did break this morning which is good.
I just have to try and get him to take some breaks from the Playstation which is not always an easy thing to do. I am hopeing that he will be feeling much better by tomorrow so that we can attend his cousins birthday at the usual family birthday gathering.

That's it from me for now. I must try and post more often.

Wishing you all a great weekend and happy knitting!

Some Finished Projects

2010-03-26T21:25:00.006+11:00

I finished another Aeslight Shawl this one is for me. I made it in the larger size and used Hand Maiden Mini Maiden.

I really love the Hand Maiden yarns they feel amazing and the colours are always beautiful.

I did have two skeins of this gorgeous yarn but gave the other to my daughter because she loved it so much. She is supposedly making a scarf from it.

Speaking of scarves I made a scarf for my friends daughter Stephanie from Cascade 220. I made the Tilly Scarf for her sister last year and couldn't leave Stephie out so when I saw her last I asked her what her favourite colour was and of course it was pink.

Lucky I had 2 skeins left in this colour and made her a scarf which I finished a couple of days ago but left it blocking.

It took me a couple of days to find a pattern that I liked and though suitable for a young girls and ended up with The Lace Thorn stitch pattern from The Big Book of Stitch Patterns.

Measurements:

183cm/73 inches long x 19cm/7.5 inches wide

The pattern is very simple :

I cast on 38 st

Row 1 -K2 *k3, yo, sl1,k1,psso,k2* k2 -repeat *to* k2

Row 2 -K2*p2,yo,p2 tog,* ending k last 2st

These two rows form the pattern.

For the fringe I cut 51 20cm (8inch) long pieces of yarn for each side and thread 3 through to make the fringe.

Yarn: 1.6 hanks of Cascade 220
Needles: 5.5mm KnitPicks Harmony

I like Cascade 220 it gives a really nice stitch definition.

I almost forgot to mention and add this photo. I had two lovely helpers my son and my daughters boyfriend winding the skein into a ball.

And that is it for my update this week. Hope you all have a great weekend and get lots of knitting done!

Retruning to Blogland :)

2010-03-13T22:49:00.005+11:00

Wow I cant believe it's been 8 months since I last blogged!

What made me return to blogging you ask? Well the other day I borrowed the movie Julie and Julia and yep that's what got me thinking that perhaps I should blog again. Will I keep it up...well that's anybody's guess really but I am willing to give it a darn good try.

It may be a bit hard to find the time some times what with having a full time job and house work, kids, pets etc but I am detrimined to give it a try.

Now even though I have not blogged I have been busy knitting because that's the only thing that helps me relax and takes my mind off the stressful things. I've been mostly knitting shawls and scarves. I have not knit any socks for a long time now and I must admit I am starting to miss it. When my cousin was here from Hungry I taught her how to knit socks and she has made 3 pairs so far. Isn't that great!!

And now for I've been up to. Firstly I knit a surprise scarf for my niece Sarah. I posted it to her in the mail and she loves the scarf and was very surprised when she received it. Apparently both colours are her favourite..blue and green and she loved the fact that the scarf is a long one.

The pattern is a Jo Sharp pattern from Knit 8.
Yarn used: both Jo Sharp of course:
Alpaca Silk Georgette in Devon
SoHo Summer DK Cotton in Grove

I also finished my Alice Starmore Seaweed shawl and I am really pleased with the way it turned out. The colour of the yarn is amazing and has a lovely feel to it and its a whapping 208 cm long. I will be able to wrapped it around myself on cold winter days and it will keep me lovely and warm. Infact it's more like a size of a small lap blanket.

I've also been bitten by the Ihbel bug and used Lush Yarn's 50% cashmere/silk which is an absolutely gorgeous yarn. It's ever so soft. The photo is showing it blocking but it was finished a long time ago it's just thats the best photo I had of it. I am thinking of giving it to my niece in Queensalnd for her 21st birthday. QLD has a very warm climate but it does get chilli there in winter so she would be able to use it.

I also made the Aestlight Shawl for my friend Stefanie who has breast cancer but thankfully is ok and in remission. The yarn was specially dyed and named after her by Michelle and Marie at Lush Yarn when they were doing special dyes for Pink Ribbon Day last year. This yarn is 50%Merino/Silk very nice yarn. I love this pattern and I made myself one also. For mine I used Mini Maiden by Hand Maiden Yarns.

I have also added a couple of important books to my knitting libarary.

1. Haapsalu Saal - Estonian Lace Book 2. Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting

Currently I am working on two shawls on is

The Shaped Triangle by Katie Nagorney I am using the gorgeous Wollmeise Lace-Garn in Aquarius and the other one is Alhambra by Anne Hanson and am using Fleed Artist Suri Blue which is a stunning yarn but the pattern is a very slow growing one so I tend to leave it for a while and then return to it. It's looking really nice though I do love it and will look great when it's finished I reckon. And I am also working on NaCraga for my son but have not touched it for a while as it's been way too hot here so waiting for the weather to turn cooler. And I am also working on Firecracker Jacket by Spud and Chloe.

And finally some Wollmeise sock yarn goodness. And that's it from me for now.

Happy knitting!!

It's Been A While

2009-07-28T18:24:00.006+10:00

Sorry it's been a while since I've last posted but it was a bit out of my control as we had to move house but that wasn't too bad.

The main hold up was organizing reallocation of our internet service. They told me it would take 3 days it took 21 we now have internet but we don't have land line so there is no house phone.

And to top it off they had to give me a new home number because of their stuff up although to be honest I didn't really mind the change in phone number. But that is not all... oh no... they also sent me a bill charging me for internet service and relocation fee none of which I should have been charged for..... but it's all sorted now and lucky for me I kept on top of it all. For all my trouble they have given me 30 day free phone and internet service.

And now for some knitting I have finished the Tilly scarf by Lisa Lloyd from A Fine Fleece. I had this in mind for a friends daughter but didn't get to finish it in time for her birthday in May so not sure who I will give it to now perhaps I will still give it to Sophie but as a very belated present. I love how the cables really stand out in this scarf.

I used 2 skeins of Cascade 220 in Candy Pink
5mm/US 8 Needles (probably should have used 1 size larger)

Remember the photo of all the gorgeous yarn from Virtual Yarns well I started on the Seaweed shawl and I am really enjoying knitting this. This is the first time I am using this yarn and the texture and the feel of it is just amazing. It's light and has a sort of spungie feel to it it's really really nice.

And now for my Seaweed shawl by Alice Starmore... surprise surprise I actually swatched (swatch picture below) and was quiet proud of myself perhaps I am starting to use my brain better in my older age?!
The photo below is of the actual shawl I am about 3/4 of a way through it can't wait till it's done.

And now I need to tell you about a fabulous online yarn store I found Lush Yarns . These girls have some beautiful hand dyed and hand spun yarns and the two gorgeous yarns below I bought from them.

The first is 50% merino 50%silk Lt Fingering Weight 700mt colour: Butter destined for a shawland two skeins of 20%Silk 20%Bamboo & 60%Wool 4ply Fingering weight in the colour: Envy a shawl too or socks.
Both these yarns are amazingly soft they feel beautiful to the touch. Next on my shopping list will be their handspun hand dyed yarn.
They also sent me this gorgeous sterling silver pearl stitch marker as a thank you with my order.

Well that is it from me for now. I guess the good part about not having an internet connection was that I got to do some serious knitting.

Take care all and very happy knitting!

Two Shawls and a Third later

2009-05-30T18:58:00.005+10:00

Time for some updates. And so as if there is not enough to do at the moment in my life I decided to give myself extra work and knit two shawls at the same time. I bought this wonderful pattern back in January from Nancy Bush at The Wooly West .

Because Kim was so ill at the time and my mind was on so many other things I kept starting it and making mistakes and frogging it about 3 times. Then I put it down and didn't touch it for months not only did I forget what I was up to but I could not find the paper work I was using either.

Usually I photo copy and enlarge the graph and then make notations as to what row I stopped at etc. But because of all the turmoil going on in my life I have no idea where I put it. So frogged again right back to the start up row but at this stage there is nothing to show you yet of my progress perhaps next post.
And I invested in some beautiful Alice Starmore yarn a while back to make her pattern from Piece Works Capillifolium Baby Bonnet Yarn but instead of making the bonnet I want to knit a scarf from it as there are no grandchildren for me yet on the horizon. The colours of this beautiful yarn is simply stunning. But of course I couldn't stop there.................................
I had to buy the beautiful Seaweed Wrap kit...I chose to knit it in the colour Sundew and when you first look at this colour you think its pretty ordinary but when you get into the sun light it lights up and is the most amazing colour. So this is my other shawl that I've started to knit and as much as I hate doing a swatch I actually did do one.
I love the Alice Starmore yarns and there will be other projects that I will definitely be purchasing from her there are so many beautiful designs it will be hard to resist and wait until I finish some of my other many projects but wait I must. I have to be strong and resist.

I guess that's about it from me DS and I are off to have some Yum Cha for lunch at new Chinese restaurant DD discovered and says it's the best food so we are going with DD and her man and then after that to my newphew's 18th birthday. My sister in law invited all of us for afternoon tea today after having a huge party last night so I hope they are up for us all visiting.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! Until next time happy knitting!!!!!!

Some Knitting

2009-05-06T16:41:00.003+10:00

Here's a small post of some of the knitting I have been doing.

Back at the end of March my wonderful late husband bought me some gorgeous yarns from The Yarn Girls and he also bought me three great knitting books. "Early Mother's Day present" he said to me.

And he asked me to knit a scarf from this lovely MarL La by Classic Elite Yarns.

It turned out really lovely and it's been cold here in Melbourne lately so I wore it today for the first time when I went out with my Mum and she made a comment what a lovely yarn and scarf it was. She had no idea how special this scarf is to me until I told her.

Every time I'll wear this scarf I will always feel that he is with me because he saw me make it and he really loved it.

Commelina is finally finished also I feel like it took for ever to do. I am really happy whith the way it turned out. I used Sea Silk by Hand Maiden Autumn colourway absolutely beautiful to knit with and even though the yarn is variegated the lace still stands out beautifully. There seems to be a bit of a halo from the silk which doesn't really appeal to me but I am still pleased with the out come. I guess that's all for now. Thank you once again to all of you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers it means a lot to us and we will never forget it and we very much appreciate it.

Thank You!

Thank You

2009-04-23T06:03:00.002+10:00

Thank you all very much for your thoughts and prayers we greatly appreciate it. These are extremely hard times but with time and support from our wonderful friends and family we will get there.

My son is back at school to give him some normality and it is also helping him to take his mind off it a little bit. I will be returning to work soon but there is still so much to do.

I have done a little knitting but only mindless stuff too hard to concentrate.

Great Sadness

2009-04-07T22:37:00.005+10:00

Kim passed away yesterday 6th April 2009

He will for ever be in our hearts and will be greatly

missed.

Sunday 15th March 2009

2009-03-15T14:50:00.006+11:00

I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post days are just flying here at the moment I guess runing around doing hospitals, doctors, blood test, scans and school drop offs etc etc time has to be moving fast.

Well after not having rain for 80+ days we finally got some yesterday and did it pour. It's nice that it rained finally we certainly need it but why can't it just rain normally then we wouldn't get flooded. We got flooded again in the garage and I had to do some heavy lifting and saving items because the water was coming in fast. I couldn't figure out why I had such sore muscles in my upper arms and stiff legs when I woke up this morning then I remembered...garage flooded. This also happened in December the last time we had deluge I think our weather is becoming more and more tropical...very odd.

Here's a photo of all the water it was up to my ankles and I was soaked to the bones but at least I managed to save some things where as in December I was at work DH couldn't lift things as he is ill and as a result we ended up loosing many valueble things.
I finally finished my son's Jo Sharp V-neck jumper. I won't say I am happy with it because I am not really but it will have to do. It was very long mindless knitting but at least it's done and DS likes it. It is way too long on him but he will grow into it. I just can't get myself to pull it back and shorten it. I know it wouldn't take much time but I am being lazy and besides there are many much more exciting things to finish
Like my Autumn Rose after hibernating for 12 months I have finally picked it up again and started doing some serious knitting on it. As you can see on the photo I had to frog it back because I made a mistake and then pick up all 296 stitches again.... I did that better then I thought I could. I always do some mindless knitting between complicated stuff to give my sore hands a break and at the momement it is two Noro Iro scarves inspired by Jared Flood from brooklyntweed but more about that later in my next post.

Well that's it for this post. Need to help out with homework and think of something to cook for dinner.

Hope you all had/have a lovely weekend with lots of knitting done!

Sunday February 22 2008

2009-02-22T15:17:00.003+11:00

I have storage issues and have been buying some of these plastic tubs to put my stash in. So far I have bought four medium size (10 litre) ones but still need to get many more. I chose the medium size ones for easier handling because I find that the large are hard to move around.

I have also started listing my stash on Ravlery but am still a loooong way from done.

It has been extremely hot and very dry here in Victoria not really knitting weather but I have been doing some knitting.

My personal 2009 stash bust I am a little behind in but hope to catch up. I knitted Kim a pair of Seeded Rib Socks from Ann Budd's book Knitting Socks. It was a quick and easy knit. I used Araucania yarn which I bought from Yarns On Line. I used 3.75mm needles but probably should have used 3.25mm but I wanted to make a comfortable pair of socks for him as his feet seem to be swelling up a lot lately.

The green pair I knitted him a couple of years ago have a hole in the toe now and they need mending. He want's me to mend them as they are the pair he wore to his first lot of chemo treatment and want's to wear them to this lot as well. Says he doesn't care what colour I use for the mending he just wants them done so that he can wear them.
This treatment seems to be making him a lot more ill and he has lost a huge amount of weight.
In the past month he has lost 22kg/48lb the nurses and the doctors at the oncologist unit suggested we see a dietitian at our next visit which we will do. I am struggling to keep my spirits up but I must for everyone's sake. I try to keep myself busy to take my mind off things but that doesn't always work.

The William Street socks are my next item I need to finish which are part of the 2009 Stash Bust Bags. I love the way the cables look in these socks.

I try to work on all my other UFO's and must set aside one day a week for these. Thanks to Rebecca at Socks-for-Mum for inspiration I've joined the group on Ravelry - One Day A Week UFO's and bought myself an organiser to help get me organised.

I never use to be so disorganised. I don't know what or when it happened but I seem to have lost my organisational skills somewhere along the way. Perhaps it's part of getting old, who knows. And on that note that's it from me.

Happy knitting to all!

Bushfire Devastation

2009-02-11T07:07:00.006+11:00

Bushfires have devastated the South East of Victoria 200 People died and whole towns burned to the ground.
They MUST change the laws here for arsonists.

Please spare a prayer and a thought for the poor victims.

Thank you to all of you who were concerned and left a comment and sent me emails. We are all safe from the fires here it was mostly in country Victoria and some of the outer suburbs of Melbourne.

2009-01-31T07:46:00.006+11:00

I can't believe we are a month into the new year. Where is the time going? I have not finished my William Street socks for the Personal Sock Stash Bust 2009. There were a few hick ups first of all the original ones I pulled out of the bag I did not have two circulars it called for and out of the thousands of sock patterns would you believe it I couldn't choose a replacement. So I ordered the needles from Meaghan at YarnsOnLine and will go ahead with the pattern when I pull out the bag next time.

Next I pulled out the William Street socks but only got a quarter done reason being: DH wanted a new pair of socks knit in red because his favourite one I knitted him have a hole in the toe. So I started knitting his red pair of socks from the Araucania but had to get a second skein in (He has big feet) one is not enough for the Seeded Rib Socks from Ann Budd's book ..knitting socks. He is doing Chemo again and when he goes to Chemo he always wears the socks I knitted him. I best hurry and finish them.

I've also bought some gorgeous sock yarn from Jen at Woolgirl. She had a big New Year Sale on it was very hard to be good and resist from buying too much.

Jen always puts a little present in with the orders and this time she put in a cute little sheep stitch marker.

My purchases were:
The Unique Sheep Leili sock yarn in Raspberry Lemonade

.
Miss Babs Yummy Superwash
in Iris

in Cleopatra

I am also knitting a Gansey but first I am doing the sampler and after that I should be able to design my own time permitting of course.

This is a great book with very clear and easy to follow instructions.

I also fell in love with this gorgeous shawl I would have liked to use the yarn this was knitted in but I could not believe how expansive it would have worked out to be. I have found the perfect colour and yarn sub I want to use so hopefully it will work out well.

I am also still working on my Commelina and it's looking good but progress is slow due to sock knitting. I will get there!!! Amongst my other UFO's I am chipping away at Botticelli and also Autumn Rose. Problem with Autumn Rose is I made and error and have to frog back a little ...sigh...oh well these things happen I guess.

It's my DS's first day at Secondary College tomorrow and he is very nervous poor thing. With his Dad being so ill and starting a new school is all bit too much for him and us as well. I am worried about him but I am sure he will be alright.

That's it from me for today I hope you all have a wonderful week and happy knitting!

Socks and More Socks for 2009

2008-12-29T20:48:00.003+11:00

We have some new additions to our family two long neck turtles. Our DS asked if he could have Turtles for Christmas. We don't know yet if they are male or female. The shop assistant told us that they are still too young to tell. One is a Christmas present from DD and hubby and I bought the other. DD asked the shop assistant if they were hardy creatures and apparently they are. They can live up to 40 years. The cat keeps admiring them just as well the aquarium has a top cover.

I was reading Socks-For-Mum's blog and found out about Personal Sock Club 2009 on raverly and have joined as it's such a great way to get rid of some stash. And so I've got them all ready yesterday yarns and patterns and here they all are in brown paper bags all ready to go for the 1st of January. Some I have sealed and some I didn't but it doesn't matter you can't tell whats what which is what this is all about. Each month you choose a brown paper bag to knit your socks. I should be able to knit a pair a month unlike the 52 Pair Plunge 2. Sadly I couldn't keep up with that one.

I have bought Jo Sharp's Knit Issue 7 as there are quiet a few designs that I really like including this lovely scarf/shawl that I am knitting. The two yarns used are Silkroad DK Tweed my favourite and Soho Summer DK Cotton which I've not used before. These two yarns work really well together and give the most amazing drape and the colour combination's are lovely as well. Plus using size 12mm needles makes it a very quick knit.

My DD has also put in a request for the caplet. The only problem I have with this pattern is that part of it is done in crochet and I can't crochet. I guess this might be a good time to learn. That's it from me.

Wishing you all a very happy, healthy, safe and prosperous New Year!

Dressing the Christmas Tree

2008-12-13T07:46:00.007+11:00

It's that special time of the year again that we as a family love so much. Amy came over last week and helped us dress the Christmas tree. This is an annual tradition every year we dress the tree together even though she has not lived at home for a long time now. Kim hands out the decorations and we put them on the tree.
I have been very busy with things lately including staying home with Kim because he is now at a stage where he needs someone at home with him to help with some things and also for company. And so dressing the tree was also a sad time this year for us.

I do manage to do some knitting however which I am thankful for because it gives me a break from all that's happening at home at the moment.

One of my Christmas knitting presents a scarf for my niece Tabatha is done. Amadeus our cat decided that he should help with the blocking after all he weighs 6.5kg that's 14lb 33oz. The Vet did suggest that he should be going on a diet plan. But if you've got a Siamese cat and when it is hungry you know how loud they can be and you have no other option but to feed it. My son and I just wondered how could the cat have been comfortable when some of the pins would have had to have been pushing into him. Perhaps all that padding he has helped.

And now for the scarf spec's:
Stitch Pattern used is from The Big Book of Knitting Patterns and used garter stitch around as the border.
Yarn: Noro Cash Iroha 3 Skeins
Needles: 5.5mm KnitPicks Harmony OptionsSize: 25cm x 156cm 10inch x 62 inch
This is the first time I've used this yarn and wow what a wonderful yarn it is. It's so soft and light on Ravelry I called it "User Friendly" because this yarn is a joy and pure pleasure to knit with. Gives excellent stitch definition too.
And a close up of the Fiesta Afghan I am knitting. I haven't done too much work on this but that's ok as I am not in a hurry to finish this.
Well that's it from me again. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Friday 5th December 2008

2008-12-02T06:02:00.014+11:00

We have been back home for three week our holiday away was good and even though it was very hot and humid at Airlie Beach as planned I did manage to do some knitting. I took Diamond Fantasy with me and decided to frog the original and starte a fresh with a new ball of yarn and managed to get 9 repeats done. I found it much easier to knit it this time. And so my A Long Lacy Summer project is going ok.

A photo son took of me knitting on one of the days.

The photo of the shawl doesn't show it justice on how big it really is because instead of taking my time and blocking it out to show you my progress I asked my son to help me by stretching it out instead. Which turned out to be a bad idea as he couldn't do it properly and managed to pull a lot of stitches off the needle.. Oh well, that will teach me not to be in a hurry all the time.

Before we left I also managed to finish my Tweedy Waistcoat and again not a very good photo but I wanted to show at least one finished item .
I am reasonably happy with how it turned out it still needs to be blocked.
I did not enjoy doing the construction around the neck and the front lapels there has to be an easier way to put it together. I didn't have the time to play to find out but if I ever make another I would definitely try a different way.

My daughter and her partner have moved into the house they bought and I started on house warming present for them. I've been wanting to try Manos hand dyed wool and make this afghan for ages and now I finally get to do it.

It should be a quick knit as the yarn is 10ply. I was going to try to finish it for Christmas but I have too many other UFO's to try and finish first.

And here are some holiday pics. On the last day of our holiday we went to Whiteheaven Beach where the sand is so amazingly white. The white sand is also unique because it is so very fine it does not get hot and burn your feet like normal sand and we were advised before we went to shore to have a BBQ to leave our laptops, cameras and mobile phones on the boat because the sand gets in and destroys them.

I have now seen both extreme's of beach sand the Black sandy beaches in Hawaii when Kim and I went on our honeymoon and the beautiful white beaches of Whiteheaven Island in North Queensland.

The cockatoos loved coming up to our balacony in the evenings for a couple of crackers to eat and Jared enjoyed feeding them. Once you start giving them food though
they come for it at the same time every day.

And the next picture is a photo I took from our apartment we had beautiful views.

We had a great time! That's it for now. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and Happy Knitting!

01/11/2008

2008-11-01T21:09:00.004+11:00

After waiting for two and a half months Rowan 44 has finally arrived. Yeah!! This means I can now start on my Botticelli but and it's a BIG But I must first finish a couple of other items. I don't know if I can hold off till then. I will try to be good. And that brings me to give an update on my knitting.

I have almost finished my Tweedy Waistcoat I only need to do the collar and I will be done. Just in time to take it with me on our holiday more of that later.
I have also finished the front and back of my sons Jo Sharp jumper. It's miles too long but he keeps telling me that's how he want's it. Only the sleeves left to go and then the finishing off. I am going to do the sleeves in the round so there is not too much sewing to do.

And I have to show you a photo of our very first tomatoes. First time we have planted some tomatoes. Don't they look cute?

We decided to go on a 12 holiday/vacation to Airlie Beach in Queensland I do hope the tomatoes will survive while we're away. My parents will be coming to water them but it's the birds and the pesky possums that worry me. The last time we went to Queensland to Hamilton Island Jared was just 4 and he was too little to remember the trip. He want's to go snorkeling on The Barrier Reef. I went up there with my daughter many years ago to Daydream Island and we went snorkeling. It was the most amazing experience. When you put your head down in the water it's like you enter into another world. It's beauty is breathtaking.

I don't think I will be doing much knitting in the next couple of weeks while we're up there because it gets pretty hot and humid the only knitting I plan to do will be lace knitting. And speaking of which I have joined
Bell's " A Long, Lacy Summer". I haven't chosen a project for it yet although I am suppose to be starting the Estonian Christening Lace Shawl but I feel like doing something with beads although I don't think it will be a good idea to take beads with me. May need to leave that for when I get back home.

We're not going to have a computer while we're away so until then Happy Knitting!

Thank You

2008-10-23T20:19:00.008+11:00

I need to tell you all about a wonderful surprise that happened to me through Ravelry. On the 6th August I posted a question on the Estonian Lace Christening Shawl KAL group on Ravlery asking if anyone knew where I could purchase an Estonian Lace book by Leili Reimann. I did receive a response from Hazel the moderator saying that it was out of print and no longer available anywhere, perhaps to try on ebay. Then on the 25th of August I got an email from a wonderful woman saying that she had a spare copy of the book I was looking for and would I like to have it.

You can imagine my exitement and surprise when I read her message. Of course I said yes immediately and true to her word she posted the book to me all the way from Estonia. It's a wonderful book and I will put it to good use and cherish it always. A priceless addition to my lace knitting book collection. The lace patterns are charted as well as written and of course I don't understand the written ones but Aina has offered to help me with the transalation if I need it. A very big thank you Aina for sending me this wonderful book.

I would also like to say many thanks to Monica for awarding me "I Love Your Blog" award. It was such an honor and a pleasant surprise.
And now I need to nominate 4 other bloggers which is going to be difficult because there are so many blogs I enjoy and of course Monica's blog is one of them. Here are the instructions:

1. Post the award on your blog

2. Post a link to the person who awarded it to you.

3. Nominate four other bloggers

4. Add links to the bloggers

5. Notify the recipients

1. 2 Paw - I really enjoy reading Cindy's blog she always has wonderful photo's of her two Labradors Peri and Harki. And of course her favourite colour like mine is green!

2. Donyales Indulging my Inner Knitter blog. Donyale hand dyes and spins some really gorgeous yarn and I had the pleasure of meeting her at the Bendigo Wool Show this year.

3. Lilypily Yarns - Terri knits beautiful things has a wonderful vegie patch I would love in my garden and also likes the colour green.

4. Maureen's blog Five and a Beagle is another blog I really enjoy reading and seeing all the lovely items she knits. And we both make or used to make Teddy Bears.

Best finish up for today as it's getting late and I am a tad tired. Reason being is it's my DS's birthday this week and he had 5 boys for a slumber party. Needless to say none of them got any sleep and they were all super tired today. I must say though that they were all very well behaved and all had a great time.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Wednesday 17th September 08

2008-09-17T08:32:00.004+10:00

It has been a while since my last post and I don't know how much longer I will keep it going. I guess I can just blog once in a while which would be better then not at all. The reason being as you all know is because Kim is ill and I get very busy. I was going to give it up but Kim thinks I should keep blogging.

Here are some books that I've added to my knitting library. I've decided to collect Lace knitting books because of my love for lace knitting.

Above is the Lacy Prairie Shawl finished. I didn't buy enough yarn to make the large shawl so it's more like a shoulder shawl but I am still happy with it. This yarn is a dream to knit with and to wear it's soft and silky, lite and warm to wear. I will definitely use it again.

My Tweedy Waistcoat is progressing nicely I have finished the back tonight and started the left front.
The next item I am going to knit is Botticelli by Marie Wallin from Rowan Mag 44. I love Roses and I really like this cardigan not just because of the roses - I love everything about it. A lot of Marie Wallin's designs appeal to me.
That's it for today. It's getting late and I need to get some sleep.

Monday 25th August 08

2008-08-25T22:35:00.004+10:00

A quick update as it's late and I am tired. Kim cannot have surgery the reason they said is because it's too risky. Chemotherapy is the only supposed option and he doesn't really want to have it because it didn't do anything the first time except perhaps brought stage two on much quicker because it destroys the immune system and the body has nothing to fight it with. He is maintaining the Budwig diet very well and we hope that it will help.

On the knitting update side of things here are a couple of photo's of the Shoulder Shawl I am knitting for my sister in law. I love the colour and the pattern and hopefully she will too. Although I don't know if she is very keen on hand washing I know not many of us are and that is what she will have to do as I am knitting it from Debbie Bliss Pure Silk definitely a hand wash item.

I have finished the centre triangle all I have left to do is the edge I guess it's still a lot, probably more time consuming then the centre was.

I bought some lovely new yarn from Katie at Live2Knit the first one is Lydia an 8ply cashmere&mohair blend in Tidal colourway. I am making the Lacy Prairie Shawl from Folk Shawls out of this yarn but I am not too sure if I will have enough yarn I may need to do less repeats. The yarn is beautiful and soft to knit and the colours are so subtle they don't take anything away from the lace pattern. I will definitely use it again.

This one is from Katie as well it's Rita sock yarn in Sea Star colourway not sure yet sock pattern I will knit from these.That's it from me hope you all have a great week!

Sunday 10th August 2008

2008-08-10T07:45:00.006+10:00

What a week it has been emotionally. DH had his annual check and the news is not good they have found two lesions and last Wednesday the oncologist confirmed that they are cancerous . DH has pretty much fallen to pieces this time and I am trying to be strong for him because he needs my support and strength.

On Friday we went to see the liver surgeon and he had a look at the PET scans and the news is even worse. Apparently he doesn't think it's operable because one is right near the main artery the last artery that the blood goes through before it enters the heart.

He said he will need to consult with the other surgeons on Tuesday to see what can be done and that will be the 12th so we have to again wait till next Wednesday which is when our next appointment is with him to hear the outcome.

It's very hard having to wait and wait for answers all the time . You don't know how to cope because you don't know what it is that you have to cope with. One of the hardest things was to tell our son that his dad's cancer has come back and I had to ring the Cancer council for their help because we didn't know how to tell him they were very helpful but it was still an extremely hard thing to do.

Kim is feeling more positive then he did when we first got the news and has started a Budwig diet for people with cancer which is eating raw and organic fruit and vegetables and having Flex seed oil and he is also focusing on getting fit and ready if they go ahead with surgery so that he can recover faster then the last time.

Thank goodness for knitting because I am sure that somehow it is helping me at these stressful times . It's DD's birthday next Wednesday and I have finished the Jo Sharp Garter Stitch Jacket for her. I am really pleased with how it turned out. The colour didn't show up on the photos properly it's a beautiful blue green in real life.

Stats:
Yarn: Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran Tweed. Colour: Tartan Needles used: Knit Picks 5.5mm/US9 and 4.5mm/US7
Buttons: 40mm Shell x 2 - You can really see on this photo how lovely the buttons are .

Saturday 2nd August 2008

2008-08-02T08:15:00.008+10:00

Sorry it's been a while since my last blog. We've been to Bendigo and that was really great there are only two complaints I have and both were my stupid fault. Number one is Jared bought me a shawl pin that he watched being made and the other is I forgot my camera so I have no pictures.

It was really nice to meet Ravelry friends in person. Next year I will stay at breakfast longer so that I can get to meet and talk to more people. We all received a Ravelry badge which was great. To me it was a really nice way to show recognition that we are part of this wonderful group and are not forgotten no matter where in the world we live.
Below are my purchases; two books.... the Folk Shawls I've been wanting for ages so I am really happy with that. To die for Pear Tree Merino and Alpaca yarns. The gray are 2 ply and the black is 4ply. The blues and greens is "Angoraglow" hand painted by Lara Down the feel and the colours of this yarn is just amazing.....smooth... .soft....silky and very tactile. I have no idea what I am going to knit from it so for now I just bring it out every now and then to pat and admire its beauty.
I also received my order from Dublin Bay Yarn shop in Portland. It didn't even take ten days to get here, the service and communication I received was number one. The two skeins you can see here are BFL 2/8 and Ruby Red and Camelspun in Rose Garden by Fleece Artist. Can you believe the size of the BFL skein?
This one is BFL 2/8 in Rose. I've joined MS4 and will be using one of the BFL's to make my shawl. Not sure yet which colour I want to make it in. The Camelspun is also destined to become a shawl.
Originally the BFL's were going to be used to make Tempest but the two colours don't really compliment each other. You see I ordered some yarn for Tempest in the original colours that the design is in on Knitty but the US store I bought it from didn't send it insured or by priority post for which I paid for and two months later it still hasn't arrived. To say that I am extremely disappointed is an understatement. Needles to say I will never buy from her again. Of all the years of ordering from overseas this is the first time this has ever happened to me.

When I placed the order the items were in stock. But low and behold I had to send an email asking where my order was and was told that they are sorry there was a mix up and the yarn was sold to someone else.

The only time I received communication is when I sent email asking for an update. I have not heard anything for over 2weeks now. Somehow I don't think I will ever receive my order.

I have bought a new pattern today the Estonian Lace Christening Shawl I received an invite to join the KAL. & of course I jumped at the chance, can't wait to start.

That's about it from me for this week.

Have a great weekend!

Monday July 7, 2008

2008-07-07T11:54:00.008+10:00

Last weekend we went away to Ballarat for the weekend we left on Friday morning and came home Sunday evening. Jared wanted to go to Sovereign Hill to pan for gold. He went with school last term and he enjoyed it so much he wanted to go again. We rented a house for the weekend and had a great time. Now if you are from Victoria or have been to Ballarat before you will know that it is really cold there in winter but a lot of people still love to go, it's a lovely historical town . We also visited the Art Gallery there and they have some wonderful wide range of art work there. I would highly recommend a visit.

While we were away I finished my Jo Sharp Tweed Cardigan. All I had to do is sew on the buttons so there was not much to finish really. I wore it unblocked (very naughty) I know I shouldn't have but it was cold up there and this cardigan is lovely and warm and very comfy to wear. I have now washed it and it's blocking away happily.

On Sunday we went fishing to Tuki trout farm because Jared and Dad enjoy fishing. Now it was really cold that day, so much so that Jared ended up wearing my Helsinki wrapped around him several times. as you can see by the photo. And I did some fishing too....

I finished my Waving Lace socks by Evelyn Clark. I enjoyed knitting them, it was a nice easy knit. On the photo it looks like I have huge ankles.. LOL... but it's the way I had to juggle the camera to take the shot. These are my first pair towards the 52 Pair Plung II.......I am 5 pairs behind :( can't see myself catching up either because I have to knit a jacket for my daughter for her birthday and also sons jumper which is now in hibernation until the jacket is done first. And then it's my sister in laws 50th in October and in my wisdom and perhaps stupidity (because I don't know if I can achieve it) I want to knit her a silk shawl for a present.

Socks Specks:
Yarn: Slim Merino in Peony from The Knittery
Needles: Lantern Moon Rosewood SoxStix 2.75mm Oh and I did some wool shopping in Ballarat...can't go somewhere and not find a wool store. And I found the above that I really liked. Pictures of what I am going to make is to follow in my next update.

I am not at work today as I caught some sort of a stomach bug that my son had last Monday. And I've been so good at avoiding all the bugs. Oh well I guess it had to happen eventually didn't it Cindy? Cindy and I emailed exchanges about being ill and me so far being good not catching anything....spoke too soon I guess.

Hope you all have a great week!!

Tuesday 24, June, 2008

2008-06-24T19:19:00.004+10:00

I did a bit of stash enhancement.

I asked Daphne at the Kinttery if she would hand dye some lovely merino cashmere in Mahogany, and she did. It's a lovely colour and I can't wait to use it. I am planning to knit a shawl with these.
Somoko by Fleece Artists and the blue is hand dyed by Jolly Jumbuck a merino cashmere nylon blend. Love the colours.
I joined 52 Pair Plung 2 and needed (perhaps not) but definitely wanted more sock yarn. The two beauties I purchased from Jolly Jumbuck in WA.

And for something different I wanted to show you all this Oregano flower. And this was in the freezer for a couple of months and look at the colour of the flower. It stayed that lovely purple, it looks pink on my monitor but it is purple. I couldn't believe it kept it's lovely colour. Herbs always tend to have more in a bunch then you need I use to try and use them all up asap. But then one day we saw on the Nigela Bites cooking show that if you put your herbs in a brown paper bag in the freezer it will freeze very well. And may be a lot of you already knew about ths but DH and I didn't. So now each time we buy herbs we freeze what we don't need, but it must be done in a brown paper bag.

Work in progress is a picture of my Jo Sharp Tweed cardigan. I hate this part.......seaming together...... it always.... always takes me a lot longer then I expect. Oh well, what can I do it must be done.
And my final and most exciting news is I am going to the Bendigo wool show and will finally get to meet and catch up with some of my wonderful friends from blog land. Donna , Katie from Live2Knit and Meagan from YarnsOnLine will be there just to name a few. I can't wait, the show is a month away it's on the 18th to 20th July! And looking forward to some stash enhancement of course!

Happy Knitting!!!

June 8 2008

2008-06-08T23:42:00.006+10:00

This past week has been a very sad one for us as Kim's old time friend Rod passed away suddenly last Saturday the 31st May . He went into hospital for simple foot surgery on the 28th and got up to use the bathroom on Saturday, told his wife and the nurse that he felt faint and collapsed on the floor. Two hours later they announced to his wife that he had passed away. They believe it was due to a blood clot.

Kim has taken it very hard as he has known Rod for 30 years and he was one of two of his closest friends. Rod seemed to always know when Kim needed a friend because he was always there at those times. They had a lot in common including the same interest, the love of woodworking.

He will be sorely missed.

I finished the scarf for my daughter's boyfriend in time for his birthday in a couple of weeks. I was told he likes blue and there is a little blue in it. My son tells me it's a bit on the itchy side....
I used 4.5 mm bamboo needles and four balls of
Noro Silk Garden.

2 balls 230
1 ball 211
1 ball 244

This is the first time I've used this yarn and I don't know if they are all like this but I found a lot of sharp dried grass fragments in it which I don't like. The colours are amazing though and the yarn has a nice feel to it.

I have a bit of a dilemma because I wanted to use up all the wool and I put frills on the end of the scarf and I was going to trim them down short and make them even but Kim says I should leave them as they are. He thinks they look more artistic this way.

Personally I don't see anything artistic about it and believe they need to be trimmed to make the scarf looks nice and neat. Please help me decide what I should do.

I chose this sweater from the Jo Sharp Knit Issue 6 book for my son

and he chose the colour of the yarn. It's actually a much darker burgundy a very nice colour.

Then my daughter popped in yesterday and she also chose a pattern from this book she wants me to knit it for her birthday.

In the mean time I've joined up for the 52 Pair Sock II KAL in Ravelry.....where am I going to find the time to do all this? I think I'll need to knit up a few really thick pairs of socks to buy me some time.

That's it from me this week. Must go to bed it's almost 12.30am....need to try and get some sleep.
Hope you all had a great weekend.

I Want to Break Free,,,I want to break freee...I've Fallen In Love....

2008-05-31T13:05:00.004+10:00

Spinning........that's what I am learning to do. I decided it's time to pursue what I've always wanted to do and that is to spin. I've joined some groups in Ravelry to help me as well as groups here in Melbourne. A good friend of ours has an electric spinning wheel and Kim told me yesterday that she is more then happy to loan it to me. I am very excited!!!!!!!

There is the slight problem called time which I don't seem to have enough of......but hey I guess we all have that issue and somehow we still seem to make time for what we really enjoy doing. I will just have to make some time.

Last weekend we went to the Art's Centre market at Southbank(there is no pic of the market but it's on the left hand side by the river under the building is where they've placed the stalls .. referring to the large photo in the link. I bought a spindle and some 18micron merino from Charly at Ixchel and I am set to start. I love the colours of this top and it feels divine. Hope to show you some picks of my spinning in my next post.

On the knitting front I have finished Stef's scarf from the Malabrigo....I always have to look up
the spelling of it... terrible isn't it you'd think I would have learned it by now......hmm maybe I should buy more of this gorgeous yarn and then I'll learn how to spell it real fast now wont I?

Specs:
Yarn: 2 Balls Malabrigo Worsted
Needles: 5.5mm/US9 Crystal Palace bamboo needles
Pattern: my own simple pattern of K3P3 x 6 rows I am very pleased with it and am glad it's done so that I can give it to her before winter sets in. She is having her six weeks of radiation treatment at
the moment. She is about a third of a way through it and seems to be coping well.

My Jo Sharp Tweed cardigan is coming along really nicely too. I've done the back and the two sleeves. My son chose a sweater/jumper for him self as well including the colour but I will post about that next time too.

I am also knitting a scarf from Jo Sharp Mohair in Cranberry and Silk Road Aran Tweed in Posie. This I will make as a present for perhaps one of my nieces or other friends or maybe I'll just keep it for myself.

I also have to knit a scarf and finish it by mid June for my daughter's boyfriend for his birthday. I have no idea what to give him as a present so I though a scarf will be a good solution.

I went and bought the wool today (pic's next time) and I fell in love with THIS from Brooklyn Tweed's blog. He is such an inspiration!

This is it from me for this week. I had a terrible night sleep or should I say lack of last night just couldn't get to sleep and eventually when I did fall asleep around 1.30 am I still woke up every time I tossed and turned and that was most of the night.

Then the cat decided to wake me up at 6am because he can't distinguish the difference between a weekday or weekend, he wanted breakfast. I usually wake up early during the week to get ready for work. Oh well perhaps I'll have an early night tonight.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!!

2008-05-16T23:25:00.003+10:00

I have finally finished the little BSJ by EZ.
Stats:
Yarn used: Shepherd Colour 4 Me
Needles: 4mm Knit Picks

I plan to knit the little Saartje's Booties as I have some left over yarn.

I am happy how it turned out and the little buttons seem to go well with it.

I still need to wash it and block it. Won't be this weekend though because it's suppose to be cold and raining. There is no hurry as Mum to be is
not taking maternity leave until August.

As for my silk shawl that I mentioned a few posts back has hit the frog pond. As you can see I needed to cheer myself up a bit whilst frogging so I did that by having a glass of champagne. I guess you could call it a celebration of finally making a decision to frog.

I decided to use the yarn to make the well known Clapotis. I feel like I am the only person in blogland that hasn't knitted one.

I have also cast on for the Tweed Cardigan by Jo Sharp.

I've gone for the colour Magnolia it's nice and neutral. I know it sounds boring, but really I needed cardi that goes with almost anything.

The yarn I am using is Silkroad Aran Tweed. This yarn is my favourite by Jo Sharp. It feels divine, it wears well and it comes in a good range of colours.

DH and I went shopping last night and by sheer luck I found just the right buttons to go with it.

I've been knitting a lot lately at the cost of ironing and house work.

I love it so much that I don't feel that I want to do anything else but knit....it can't be good surely?

I've always been taught that we have to do things in moderation. Perhaps I am obsessive compulsive?!

Our DS has been away on school camp came home today. They've been away for three nights and four days. The house was so quiet without him, mind you he is not a loud child but we missed his presence. He had a wonderful time which is great because he was a bit worried about being away.

I was really worried about his eating because he is such a fussy eater. Apparently I had good cause, they all said that the meals were horrible and the serves were small. Lucky he is not a big eater!

No doubt there will be a few complaints made to the school by a lot of parents including me.

That's it from me for this week. Hope you all have a great weekend :) and happy knitting!

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T09:33:00.002+10:00

Sorry it's been ages since I've blogged. I have been busy knitting.

I've finally finished Helsinki. The yarn as I've mentioned before is lovely to knit with. I love the cable design but didn't like the way the hood part looked or felt when worn so I undid it.

The arm opening doesn't feel quiet right either but it will do perhaps I can fix it when I block it. I am certainly don't plan to frog it!

Apart from that I am happy with it and I wear it as a scarf. It's lovely and warm and ever so soft to wear.

Sorry about the photo's but someone's been playing with the settings on my camera.

I have also finished one of the Uptown boot socks. This I have been working on at lunch times at work so it's very slow going.

If I didn't have the dreaded casting on for new project disease I probably would have finished the pair to it by now.

The BSJ by Elizabeth Zimmermann is now complete as far as the knitting side is concerned I now need to sew it together and find the right buttons for it.

That's it from me for now. It's a short post because we are going to my daughter's for Mother's Day lunch. She has invited my parents as well as her partner's parents so she has a busy day ahead.
I am very much looking forward to it.

AVery happy Mother's Day to all the Mum's !!!!

Willpower

2008-04-14T14:41:00.004+10:00

I wish I had some FO's to post about :( .........sometimes I think I am the slowest knitter in the world. I need/want more hours in a day... so I can go to work.....do my knitting......house work..... walk the dog etc..etc...etc. My knitting project list is soooooooo big!!!!!! I told myself I am not allowed to look at anything new on Ravelry or the net until I finished what I've started so far. Don't know how long that will last for...., I'll just have to be really strong and not give in ( I think they call it willpower) I don't think I have any. Now for my update!

My order from Schoolhouse Press has arrived. I ordered The Opinionated Knitter and some lovely unspun Icelandic in Aubergine to knit thePi shawl. The size of these wool cakes are big! It fills my large white dinner plates. I've never knitted with this yarn so I am really looking forward to using it. In her book Elizabeth Zimmerman says that it's a great traveling knit and makes me wish I was traveling somewhere, anywhere but it's not on the cards I am afraid. Not to worry I am sure I will enjoy knitting the shawl all the same.

I don't know what's wrong with my camera because its making everything look dull. I guess I'd better read the instructions. I hate reading instructions/manuals I usually just want to get on with things and not waste time on instructions.

Here's a photo of Stef's scarf in progress I am onto the second skein of wool. It's a little darker then the first and now I wish I used both by alternating between the two. When I was winding them into a ball I could see a slight difference but chose to ignore it, I could kick myself! And for my Mystery Lace KAL I chose Juniper in Jaggerspun Zephyr. I bought the yarn from Meaghan at Yarns On Line and she was very thoughtful and wound the whole 1340 yards into one ball for me so as I won't have to do any joining. I also had these beads in my craft cupboard that match perfectly.

The beads are really nice and shiny not at all dull like on the photo.

My boot socks are coming along nicely. I didn't make them as high as the instructions state. At this stage I am knitting them for myself but I may change my mind and give them to someone else not sure who.
Ok that's it from me for now. Time to go and cook dinner which will be hard because last night I accidentally smashed my pointing finger on my right hand so hard that I almost broke it. Did some damage to soft tissue is what the Doctor called it. It looks like a fat sausage apparently it should be right in a couple of weeks. So now not only my poor right hand has osteoarthritis but a very sore finger as well.

Update

2008-04-05T07:17:00.005+11:00

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted but life is very busy as I guess it is for everyone. I will keep this post relatively short only because we have a busy day today but will post more about knitting and some photos of knitted objects next time.

I have done it again and joined another Mystery Lace KAL I guess I just can't help myself. You can check it out here if you want to join entries close on the 7th April so you need to hurry if you want to join.

I haven't decided what yarn I will be using but it will most likely be Zephyr and I want to use beads again as I loved knitting with bead in MS3.

I bought some wonderful Malabrigo to knit a scarf for my dear friend who has breast cancer. I have never knitted with this yarn before. It's really a beautiful soft and squishy yarn gives great stitch definition not unlike Rowan Cocoon really but without the mohair silkiness . Very nice yarn I will be using it again..... I love it.
Here's a photo of my hand with the hand support that the specialist made for me I have to wear this everyday for 6 weeks. It seems to have helped to get the swelling down but I still get the pain..... he did tell me that there is nothing they do to help with the arthritis pain. He also mentioned that they get at least 3 people a week with this problem.

I have also bought some EZ books. I love her style of writing. Last night from Schoolhouse Press I ordered some un spun Icelandic yarn for the Pi Shawl and the book.... The Opinionated Knitter as I want to knit the BSJ for a colleague at work who is expecting a baby.

That's it for today. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Happy knitting and warm yarn hugs to all.

Update bits and pieces

2008-03-14T21:08:00.004+11:00

I have no idea what to call this post it's about everything really. First for my stash enhancement.
HandMaiden Sea Silk- I bought these because they were on sale and because they are so gorgeous. Perhaps I have a problem and am addicted to luxury yarns. I have to tell you that it's not doing much good for my bank account. I really need to go on a yarn diet and implement some self control or seek help. LOL.

I bought these for the next Tink Knits French Angora Lace scarf which I will have to knit when we get much cooler weather. The weather this week in Victoria and South Australia has been unbelievably hot. It has broken all records. And we have never had such low supply of water as we do now. The government as per leaves it all to the last minute to do something about our water crisis. Anyway to continue with my stash enhancement......this yarn I first laid eyes on Donna's site Random Knits. This yarn is 70% Cashmere and 30% Silk in chocolate it's a much richer chocolate colour in real life. I seem to have a thing for chocolate colour yarn, shoes and clothes lately I have no idea why. I am not sure yet what I will use it for but it will most likely be a scarf or shawl and of course for me. I don't think I could part with it.
These little soft balls of yarn Kim chose. He wants me to knit a pair of sock for him from them. I have yet to choose a pattern.
And now for my total and utter disappointment. You remember the gorgeous Artyarns silk Kim gave me for our anniversary. I finally chose a pattern to use them on and it's a total disaster. Looks much worse on the photo then it does in reality but not enough for me to continue. It doesn't do any justice to this majestic yarn. This has never happened to me before. I am really peeved to say the least. The black yarn you see is what I used for the lace cast on.

I haven't had the heart to frog it but frogged it must be and a new pattern has to be found.
My other crappy news is I am not sure if you remember but I have been complaining of a sore right wrist for a long time now and I finally did something about it and had it x-rayed and also an ultra sound done and found out that I have osteoarthritis and the report also says that I have considerable cartilage loss as well. So I am off to see a Specialist next week.
My Doc says I am too young to have it.....what can I say. I am upset and I hope I don't have to give up knitting, I don't think I can give it up. My DD said "what are you going to do Mum you can't give up knitting it's your life!".

And on that note I must finish this post. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend and happy knitting!

I've Been Busy

2008-03-09T01:11:00.003+11:00

I know I know, it has been ages since my last post but that's been due mainly to not having a camera. That's now back thank goodness and the best part is that there was nothing seriously wrong with it nor did it cost me any money. Apparently it was a sensor for which there was a recall by Nikon . I had no idea about the recall.

I have a couple of finished projects to show you. The first is the French Angora Lace scraf by Tink Knits - I really like the lace edging on it. The other is the Ultra Vest by Jo Sharp which was in hibernation for a while but it's all finished. I did it in Silkroad Ultra in Salsa and Birch colourway. All I need now is the cooler weather so I can wear these items. Not to worry I am sure winter will come soon enough.

I put the good news first showing off my FO but the truth is I have been bad also. I started another two new projects one of which I mentioned in my previous post and that is the Great American Afghan. The first block I knitted had an error in the written instructions. The second one I started was a request by Kim for the Tree of Life which is a lovely block but it too had an error in the written instructions so now I follow the chart.

I have no problems using a chart for my lace knitting but this is the first time I am using a chart for cables and it takes a bit of getting use to. I am glad I chose Cleckheaton Country 12ply for this project as it's going to take up 60 balls of yarn. Can you believe that? I have no idea how long this will take to finish. The basket of yarn sits next to the sofa so that if I get bored with a project and can turn to the basket and do a block of the afghan.
The other new one is this lovely hat scarf from Rowan Mag 42. I am using the Cocoon yarn in the Polar colour. This yarn is just a dream to knit with it is buttery soft. I just have to watch that the knitting needle doesn't split the yarn. I am using Knit Picks options but really I should be using Bamboo with a blunt point. I think this project I will finish in no time at all(at least I hope so at any rate).

I always seem to have a problem with V-necks and that's the stitch in the front that makes up the V. As you can see I made a blunder and had to pull it all back and re knit it.
There are a couple more projects I have on the go but I'll tell you about those another time because it's 1.32 am here right now and I really do need to go to bed.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

No Camera!

2008-02-10T19:49:00.001+11:00

I have to post without photo's today and at least for the next four weeks. That really sucks! I turned my camera on to take a photo to show you my projects that I am working on and there was only darkness showing up. You can imagine how upset that made me, I asked both male members of my household if they touched or dropped the camera and I received an instant NO from both.

So today I took it to the camera store for a quote, apparently it will take TWO weeks to get a quote if I am lucky and a further TWO weeks to repair! That means I will be without a camera for FOUR to FIVE weeks! I asked the guy if that's the BEST they can do and unfortunately for me it is.

So, I am sorry there are no photo's but here's the list of items I am currently working :

Autumn Rose: No change since I last posted about it. I haven't touched it for a couple of months!

Rowan Cardigan: I have not touched it for at least 3 months( considering frogging).
Here's a picture of it.

The Great American Afghan: I have started on that and am using Cleckheaton Country 12 ply in cream and using size 5mm bamboo needles. It's turning out a little bit thick so I don't know if it's going to drape nicely and I probably should have used Cascade220 but too late I already bought all the yarn for it so I intend to use it. The first square I am working is by Julie H Levy and I have found a couple of error in the pattern but managed to work them out.

This is an in between knitting project I am planning on doing. In other words if I get bored with what ever I happen to be working on I will stop and do one square from the GAAA book (this one was knitted by the Rainey sister-doesn't it look great!!!) hopefully this will give me the break I need to go back to working on what ever it was I got bored with. I seam to be suffering from the dreaded starting disease at the moment.

French Lace Angora Scarf & Beret: I have finished the main part of the scarf and one of the lace edges, I am really happy with how it's worked out. I am using Anny Blatt Angora in Gray and Black and I will also be knitting one in Camel and Black. This is a gorgeous lace pattern, I really love it. You can see a picture of it here. I am not knitting the beret for myself but I may knit it in the camel as I intend to give that as a present.

I have no idea who the recipient will be yet, most likely my daughter or my oldest friend who is having treatment for breast cancer at the moment.

Well that's it from me for today. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and wish you all a great week! Happy Knitting to All!

I Am Back!!!!!

2008-01-24T20:50:00.001+11:00

Hi Everyone!
I am so happy to be back!!! Today is the first day since moving house that we've got our internet up and running.

Boy, I've felt really lost without it. I didn't realise just how much I relied on it. I have missed you all and will be spending several hours playing catch up.

I have over 260 emails to read! Poor Kim, says they won't see me for days now that we have the internet back.
But as you can see while I've been away from the computer I got a lot of knitting done!!!!

I finished Amy's boyfriends socks just in time for Christmas.

His are the Opal ones, the turquoise, black and blue colours. I am pleased to say that he liked them he was very surprised when he opened the little gift box I put them in, even his parents were delighted with the socks.

I also finished my Black Purl colourway Lorna's Laces one(that have been hibernating for over 12 months) and I love them even though they don't match.

I have no idea why that's happened because I made sure I started at the same spot as the other so it's a bit disappointing they are very comfy though. These are my very first pair of handmade socks would you believe. I will definitely be knitting
more for myself.

Remember the Jitterbug yarns I
bought last year. I finally made a pair of socks from one of the skeins. I made these for my daughter.

When she saw my Lorna's she said why is she the only one that I've not knitted a pair of socks for? Of course that made me feel very guilty so I made her these right away it only took me 2 days I just used the pattern from the label. She wanted something bright! And bright they are, she loves them. I guess I almost met my challenge I set for the Southern Summer of Socks so I am happy.

I used 3.25m needles and was really worried that I may run out of yarn because of all the stories that I've read on the knitting forums, but I needn't have worried because there was even some yarn left over although I have to say that they are not very long socks. She loves the socks but we've been having such a heat wave here this summer that she hasn't had to opportunity to wear them yet. And just to show how hot it has been, here's a picture of Amadeus when it was 43 Celsius (109F)
Well that's it from me for now. I am off to catch up on my emails and all your blogs.

Happy Knitting Everyone!

FO's and Book

2007-12-05T22:05:00.001+11:00

I forgot to post a picture of my completed Hemlock the other day. So here it is in all it's glory. I am very happy how it turned out. I am meeting up with it's recipient on the 14th and it's all wrapped up and ready to go. I will let you all know what she thinks of it.

A half finished item. ... One down one to go....a sock for my daughters boyfriend. The yarn is Opal and I really like the colours. I hope he does too! You can read more of a write up on it at Souther Summer of Socks blog.

I have been naughty again and have made a few more additions to my knitting library.

Apart from my love of knitting socks and lace, my other serious love is knitting cables. I went out and purchased these three books from Janet Szabo of Big Sky Knitting. The book on "I Hate to Finish Sweaters" I bought because it so applies to my attitude to finishing jumpers. Of course I started reading that one first.

I've read a lot of fantastic reviews about her books and although I've only had time to have a quick look through them they seem to be very good and very informative. Janet was really lovely she wrote a personal note in all three. Hopefully I will get some reading time during my summer holidays.

And speaking of summer, on Saturday and Sunday it was really hot and muggy here in Melbourne but where did the cat want to take a Sunday nap.......right on the couch with Kim, under his legs no less snuggled up right against him.

Melbourne is very well knows for it's "four seasons in one day" but on Monday the weather turned ridiculous, we had torrential rain. Of course I was at work all day and couldn't save our billiard room from getting flooded. Thank goodness it wasn't as bad as it was a couple of years ago. But the carpet still got wet and smelly. The insurance company have sent out guys with big dryers that have to run for five days to dry out the carpet. They said it will be better then new by the time they are finished with it.

On the home front I have good news, on Saturday I went house hunting and found a lovely house for us to move into. No luck on the down sizing though but at least it's lovely and clean.

Well that's it from me, happy knitting, blogging and ravelry-ing!

Wedding Anniversay

2007-12-02T10:23:00.000+11:00

Today is our 12th Wedding Anniversary and the present for the 12th is silk or linen.

I don't know how or who came up with the wedding anniversary gift theme but I am sure they were designed to be given to wives only because it is soooo hard to find a present in the themes suggested for a male. That's my opinion anyway. This is what I bought him and I am happy to say that he likes them. Silk jocks.....why....because I couldn't think of anything else and he doesn't wear ties anymore and he has plenty of silk ties from when he did wear them and he doesn't wear PJ's or dressing gowns.
My wonderful husband got me these beauties. Not just 2, 4 or 6 skeins no sireeee he bought me 8 wonderful skeins of Regal Silk hand painted by Artyarns! the photo doesn't do any justice to the colours they are a gorgeous green with bronze, he knows that my favourite colour is green. And he also got me these lovely Lantern Moon Sox Stix because they are in silk bags. I have been admiring these for ages but never got around to buying them.
I ask you ......"Does he know me well or what?!".....
This morning my son pulled out the names for my blog competition from the hat he made in Art at school.

And the winners are Hissyknit from the US and as per my usual for International Pals I have put together a couple of Aussie items.
And the second winner is Christine. And below are non Aussie prizes for you Christine. How's your Autumn Rose coming along? Mine is a bit slow plus I stuffed up so need to frog back 2 rows!!! Would you please email me helenwataanetdotcomdotau with your address so that I can send you your prizes.

A big thank you to all who entered my competition.

It has taken me ages to blog again, Kim says he now knows why I don't have time for knitting!

I also need to go and pack but still have no house to move to and it's stressing me out so much. I hope we find something somewhere soon because we only have about 5 weeks left before we have to move out.

That's it from me for now, hope you are all having a great weekend.

Update &FO

2007-11-18T17:49:00.000+11:00

I have started my Autumn Rose a few days ago and it's looking good. It has been a long time since I've knitted Fair Isle but I am really enjoying it. The pattern is charted so it is easy to follow. Again I forgot to do a swatch but I think it will be ok. this wool feels so different to me . It's almost coarse and when I put it against my skin I think it might irritate but it doesn't. It's totally different to their lace yarn. The colours in this yarn are warm, really rich and beautiful.

Above is a picture of Kim's scarf -Here and There Cables- by Norah Gaughan in progress. The wool is Cascade 220 in the colourway Mallard. I love this colour it is a really rich bluey green, I am using US7 needles but I think I should have gone up one size bigger as I think the material it's creating is a bit too dense. But I am not frogging it now, I guess I should have done a swatch, trouble is I am not use to doing watches and when I do want to do one I forget.I have finished the Hemlock for my friend Yvonne and as you can see above it is blocking. Yeah!!!! I have also bought some more Eco Wool from Yarns Online when I needed to get extra wool to finish this. I was half way through casting off when I ran out, lucky for me Meaghan had some of the same dye lot left. I also bought some in the Vanilla colour and I think that one I will knit for us. It will have to go in the que with the many other items that I want to knit and I would also like to knit matching pillow covers.
I don't know what the hell is going on with blogger but it has taken me 3 hours to blog this little bit and it is now 10.35, I am really tired so I am off to bed. Hope you all had a great weekend and a Happy Thanks Giving!

What To Knit Next & Competition

2007-11-04T15:20:00.000+11:00

Well it's been a while since I've posted but I have been busy, busy, busy..... just like most of us I guess. I've been working on updating all my info on Ravelry. You can find me under Helen Knits.

I do have a bit of a problem, I don't know how to add their button onto my blog, but in all honesty I just haven't had the time to read how to do it. So if someone would please help me out and let me know how I would really appreciate it.

And speaking of buttons I joined the Hemlock KAL on Yahoo and I can't seem to be able to keep the button that they've put up for all to use. I have tried twice now.......so I think it's time to give up on it.
And speaking of the Hemlock I have almost finished it. I am up to the boring part of doing the edging. I don't know why it's boring, perhaps because I know it's coming off the needles and can't wait to see what it will turn out like.

Can you see that tiny little ball of wool left?? That's all I have to finish the edging I am getting REALLY worried will it be enough? Fingers crossed please.

I had to put in this photo I took of some poppies I bought. I love poppies because they are such an unusual flower and so very pretty.

I bought a couple of new projects to do and really, I must be crazy to even contemplate knitting any of these two because as you all know I have to pack... we have to move house. But I love these two items and really want to knit them.

The first is Autumn Rose designed by Eunny Jang knit with Shetland Spindrift. I love the colours in this sweater. And the book Simply Shetland 4 has many more beautiful patterns in it that I would love to make (I will post some more pics from it another time). I bought the kit from a lovely lady called Anne and her web sit is called She Ewe Knits
Anne lives in Canada and was lovely to deal with.

And this is my other project the Bressay Hap Shawl from Rowan 42 magazine and designed by Sharon Miller. I bought all the yarn too. I don't know which one to knit first, I want to start now but common sense tells me to wait until we move house. Mind you we have to find one first, very depressing looking for houses to rent because not much is available out there.

I also owe some knitting time to my Souther Summer of Socks friends. My two patterns that I chose to do are sitting there hibernating and so is my Diamond Fantasy Shawl(but has nothing to do with SSS!
And finally the Competition

It's pretty sad I know but I could not come up with an idea for my blog anniversary comp, so just leave a comment on my blog and on the 5th December I will put all the names in a hat and get my son to pull out a name. I will have two prizes to give away they will be a surprise until the names are draw.

Good luck everyone!

Knitting Update

2007-10-20T08:58:00.000+10:00

I got my Eco wool from Meaghan at Yarns Online and started on Hemlock right away. These balls of wool are giants, it took me a while to wind it into a ball my poor yarn winder couldn't handle the size so I had to do the rest by hand.

I am knitting mine on 6.5mm Knitpicks options and will need to change over to a longer cable soon. I am only onto round 63. Perhaps I should have used smaller size needles to get a tighter fabric because I am not sure I like the tension it's giving me I think this may be a bit loose but it's too late now.

I am really enjoying knitting this because it's knitting up so quickly I may have enough time to knit up another as a Christmas present for someone else perhaps in a different colour. I also bought "Scarf Style" from Meaghan and some Cascade 220 in-Mallard- to knit a scarf for Kim because one of the side effects he can have and is most likely to get they said is feeling very cold in the throat and he asked me to knit a scarf for him.

My daughter also wants me to knit something for her for Christmas nothing daggy she said (would I knit anything daggy? I guess it must be the age difference thing coming into play) for all of my International friends it mean not chic and I was also planning to knit a pair of socks for her partner who has very large feet.

And somewhere in between all this and work and everything else that 's going on at the moment I need to start packing because we will be moving house in December-January and also organise a garage sale.
It's all too hard really, when all I want to do is knit. So I guess what I am trying to say is I don't know if I will have any time to knit which is very hard to come to terms with because that's the only thing that keeps me going at the moment.

Very selfish of me I know but I can't help it. And speaking of busy that's it for my blogging today must go and do some long overdue house work etc etc.
Also my bloganniversary is coming up so lookout for a comp just need to figure out what the comp should be about. I have a lovely prize or two to give away!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Happy Knitting!!!

More Sock Yarns

2007-10-06T22:21:00.000+10:00

I am working away on my Diamond Fantasy every minute I can spare. I can't decide whether I should make it into a scarf or a shawl plus I had to frog three rows back because I made a mistake. I was very shitty with myself as poor Bing missed out on his run in the park because of it.

I will have to make it up to him tomorrow.

My embossed socks I have not touched for a week, not a good sign.

I've also been spending some money(which I should definitely not be doing) adding more sock yarn to my stash, not that it needs adding to but hey I needed some cheering up and Cindy my SP10 pal keeps writing about Woolgirl and so I just couldn't resist. I've been wanting to try some Posh yarn for ages so I bought some Farrago in the colour Droll- I have to tell you it feel divine, I don't know if I want to knit it up or just give it a pat every now and then and the same goes for Yarn Love's Elizabeth Bennet in Spring Shower colourway. I wanted them for socks originally but I think I may turn them into scarves as they need to be shown off, don't you agree?!

And also for my next project, thank you to Donna, I can't wait to knit this lap blanket that Jared (who just happens to have the same name and spelled the same way as my son's) from Brooklyn Tweed knitted. If I can knit it up in time I may give it to my Mum for Christmas. Speaking of Mum, my parent's are back from Europe on Monday, yeah!!!! I can't wait to see them, I've missed them a lot and so much has happened since they've been away, including the sale of our home. We sold our home and we will be moving out early January 08. It's quiet sad really but the house has become far too big for just the three of us and now that Kim is sick the maintenance is just far too much for me alone especially now that I am working full time as well.

We will be renting for one year so that Jared doesn't have to change schools in year 6 and then we will look somewhere to buy after that, maybe in the country somewhere as we both feel we need a change of lifestyle but you never know.

Kim starts his chemo on Monday and we will be at the Chemotherapy Day Treatment Centre every two weeks for two days for 5 to 3 hours each day and he will also be sent home with a pump both days and then have it taken out the third day. They put in what they call a PICC line which stays in for 6 to 8 months for the entire time of the treatment. They told us the side effects which he may get, so it's just sit and wait and see what happens time again. We've had so much wait and see these past 2 months, all this wait and see is playing havoc with my patience.

Well I guess that's about all I have for today. Hope you are all enjoying your weekend.

Happy Knitting to Everyone!

Orchids - Diamond Fantasy - Silk

2007-09-24T21:24:00.000+10:00

At this time of the year (spring) I have these magnificent orchids that flower and grow in pots in my garden even though they are extremely neglected. My ex-neighbour couldn't understand how they flower such beautiful blooms each year. She tries to grow them too but they are very poor in comparison.
I've had these orchids for 16 years, I started off with just one pot and now I have three pots of these beauties.

My Diamond Fantasy is coming along nicely. This is a Kaalund 2ply merino yarn in Waterlily I like this colourway. There is no pooling and the yarn is really springy, it should block well.

I also received my backorder from Kaalund their 2ply silk Enchente, for my store. The four colours I chose are Natural, Bush Fire, Pacific and Silky Oak. This yarn is very luxurious and feels divine, the colours are so rich and vibrant. And of course I am knitting socks too. These are from " Favorite Socks " from Interweave, Embossed Leaves Socks.

I decided to knit these in Cherry Treee Hills colourway Tropical Storm. This is another yarn I've never used before and I like this one too. It's tightly spun & gives great definition and the colour speaks for it self.
I've joined a couple of sock kal's Southern Summer of Socks and Sockmania.

Oh...... and there is something seriously wrong with my computer, it was bad enough that we had no connection for 3 days and I was having serious withdrawal symptoms but now there seems to be some other problem with it . Kim was feeling better so he sort of fixed it for me but apparently it needs more work. It has taken me hours and hours to post this and as for the photo's I have no idea how they managed to shrink down to such a small jpg or even if they've worked out ok or not. So here's hoping.

Well that's all for now from me. Hope you all have a great week!

Thank You from Both of Us!

2007-09-20T22:29:00.000+10:00

I took Kim the the Oncologist today and I am very happy to say that we were told that as far as the doctors and pathology reports are concerned all the cancer was removed and chemotherapy will be used only as a prevention of the cancer coming back.

The treatment will be done via an intravenous once every two weeks for the next 6 months which should start in about 6 weeks time as the pancreas needs to heal before they can start. He is very happy because he was told he should be able to continue to work whilst being treated.

Kim will need to go into hospital tomorrow for a blood transfusion because his hemoglobin is very low and he in anemic but hopefully it will just be a 24 hour thing.

And I also want to take this opportunity to thank you all so very much for your kind words and warm wishes and support through these very hard times.

Kim has read all your messages and also asked me to let you all know that he very much appreciates them.

I am usually a very shy person and when I started this blog I never imagined that I would meet so many wonderful friends through the wide world of the internet.

Once again we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts, you are all truly wonderful.

Kim's Home Finally and Knitting Update

2007-08-31T21:44:00.000+10:00

I finally have a finished object. I finished this lovely cardigan by Blue Skye Alpaca in Pumpkin. I originally bought this yarn for a pettern called Tomato in Amy's book called No Sheep For You but when I saw this cardigan I just had to make it. The yarn Hand Dyed Organic Cotton is lovely to work with. It's soft and squishy I really enjoyed this project and didn't get sick of it at all.

It knits up really quickly too which is a bonus and I guess explains why I finished it so quickly. Mind you sitting in hospital for 12 hours non stop knitting did help with the finishing time.

My next project is this lovely pattern called Diamond Fantasy by Sivia Harding. I fell in love with this pattern and had to have it so I started knitting it last night. This is the first time I am knitting one of Sivia's designs and find the instructions easy to follow. It's in written form and also in chart form. Just for something different I am following it in the written form. The yarn I am using is 2ply merino by Kaalund Yarns and the colourway is Waterlily. A wonderful yarn to knit with and the colours are coming up beautifully, it really suits the pattern. I am using Knit Picks Options 3.75mm.

I am also having withdrawal symptoms not knitting socks. I love to knit socks and I have plenty of yarn in my stash it's just a matter of making up my mind which one to knit next and which yarn to use.

Plus I am dying to get my hands on Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd. Not that I need another sock book in my library by any means but it looks so good and there's also the new Vogue one which I must have.
Had to include this picture of my two gorgeous cats. Aren't they lovely. They both always join me in my craft room when I'm knitting to keep me company. They only just tolerate each other(it's taken them 7 months) and most of the time only to keep each other warm when it's cold.

We brought Kim home finally on Monday but his recovery is very, very slow, he wakes every four hours during the night with pain and breaks out in sweats constantly so he needs to change two, three times a night as well. My washing machine is getting a real work out this week let me tell you. It's on at least twice each day. We went to our GP today for a check up and his blood count is very low which explains why he is so pale and has no energy. I took him to the factory today just for an hour because he insisted on going but it was just to socialise really with the neighbors. Going out today did drain him quiet a lot because after that it was to the doctor's for an hour or so and then to pick up son from school.

Well, it's fathers day this weekend and this year we are having a quiet one as my parents are still overseas and we can't go out anywhere for obvious reasons. So my daughter and I decided we will have Yum Cha take away food for lunch on Sunday as that's one of Kim's favorites.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Update on Kim

2007-08-17T22:03:00.000+10:00

Hello Everyone,

Kim had his surgery and we had a lot of stressful times between now and then, but hopefully things will get better.

He is improving each day and is still in hospital because there is an infection that the hospital are having trouble getting under control.

The tumor was much larger then expected and actually went through the bowel wall and spread. It has spread to the lymph nodes and because of that he will need to have chemotherapy and it will take approximately 8 months according to the surgeon. We have yet to make an appointment and speak with the oncologist. Kim will need to have more scans etc.

The surgeon also had to remove part of his pancreas because they think the tumor may have been touching it.

Poor Jared misses his Dad a lot too so we really hope he will be home soon.

I've only been doing some mindless knitting as I can't concentrate on lace at the moment.
I've also been knitting this in Blue Sky Alpaca hand dyed organic cotton in pumpkin. What a gorgeous yarn it is too. I don't know yet if I will be keeping it for myself or give it to my daughter as a present.

As for my Store - Heavenly Fibres, it's still not quiet complete, but as soon as Kim is home and feeling much better I will be adding some more exciting new hand dyed yarns.

It really feels so good to be able to take a moment and blog again. I haven't been ignoring your sites, it's just that I am so busy running around everywhere and by the time we get home from hospital and have dinner it's time to go to bed. My time on the internet is very limited now and will be for quiet some time.

Thank you all for your wonderful emails.

I wish you all a lovely weekend and happy knitting!

2007-08-04T10:27:00.001+10:00

Alice Cox-The Good Kharma Bunny

1974 - 2007

I found out some very sad news last night from MamaGrouch that my SP10Pal Alice passed away on Sunday leaving behind her young family of two beautiful children Adam and Emi and husband Simon. Needless to say that I am so shocked and saddened by this terribly sad news.

My heart goes out to Simon, the children and the family.

I only knew Alice for a short time and she was a wonderful warm and generous person. She was very talented and loved everything textilie.

Her emails always put a smile on my face. I will always treasure the lovely things she sent me.

Thank you Alice for letting me be a part of your short life.

I will always miss you.

Thank You

2007-07-28T08:13:00.000+10:00

I just wanted to do a quick post as most of your comments come through as "non-reply" and I cannot send you personal emails.

I want to thank you all so much for your kindness and support.

Maureen, for some reason I could not leave a comment on your blog. I am very sorry to hear your Dad has the same cancer and I will pray that all will go well with his operation. Kim is having his operation on the 9th August. We have heard of many good results from this type of cancer so I hope and pray Maureen that your Dad and Kim will be part of the good result statistics.

When I started blogging I never dreamed that I would meet and make so many wonderful friends.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all get to meet one day. But I guess the distance between some of us plays a big part in the possibilities.

Thank you all again for your wonderful support.

Sad Week

2007-07-21T07:01:00.001+10:00

This week has been an extremely sad and bad week for us. Most of you I guess don't know much of of my life so I will fill you in on a little bit of it. Unfortunately a sad part, but here it is anyway.

When I was 34 I lost Amy's dad to heart attack. Totally unexpected so that caused an immeasurable amount of sadness, heart ache and grief in both our lives. But you soldier on as you do because you have to, for your child as well as yourself. We of course had great support from everyone and Amy and I managed.

I met Kim five years later and we married and have a wonderful son. Kim is a great husband and father.

Last Saturday we received a phone call from his brother to say that we needed to visit his mother right away in the nursing home as she is not well and her time is near. We did that, we went and saw Jeanie and unfortunately she was unconscious so I don't know if she knew that her entire family was there, but I hope she did.

Their family is a very dis functional one (too long a story to get into) and therefore extremely rare to have them all together. His mum passed away that evening not long after we left the nursing home and the funeral is this Monday.

As you all know Kim has not been feeling well and he continued to go to his doctor who then finally sent him for C.A.T. scans and he ended up needing to get a colonoscopy.

And he went and had it done on Wednesday(I took him), we found out that he has bowel cancer and will need an operation to have it cut out. We don't have private health cover so he will be going public, the hospital he is going to is one of the biggest and best in Melbourne and the surgeon that did the colonoscopy will try to be there to supervise it he said. When they do the op then they will see how far it spread etc and what will need to be done.

I was devastated when we were sitting in the surgeons office and he was telling us the bad news. I seem to have taken it worse then Kim I don't know why, perhaps he is just hiding it. We have not told our son, he only knows that there needs to be an operation. We will just take it one step at a time.

You know, I honestly though that it was just going to be a lipoma like my mum had and he would just have the op and that's that. But unfortunately not.

Some people that I spoke to about this have told me that they know of people that have had bowel cancer and once it's been removed they have been well and the cancer has not come back. So I pray that this will be the case with Kim.

I don't understand why this is happening to me twice. I have to ask the question why? Unfortunately there is now answer and I know that but I still can't help asking why.

I have done some knitting but only have a picture of my MS3. I am using Zephyr in Vanilla and vanilla colour beads but I think I would have liked the beads a little bit bigger because you can hardly see them. In fact on the photo you cannot see them at all. I have almost finished clue 3.

It's not blocked so you cannot really see it that well, sorry about that, I will try to post a better picture next time. I haven't touched it for a few days but will soon. I downloaded clue number 4 this morning. That's it from me for this week. Happy knitting to you all!

My Other Passion

2007-07-13T21:03:00.001+10:00

It is my last day of my week off work for the school holidays and I decided to give my teddy collection a well deserved dusting. The poor things have been extremely neglected for a long time because of my knitting.

But first I wanted to show you these beautiful tulips I couldn't help buying when I went to do some supermarket shopping a couple of days ago.

I love flowers and tulips are one of my favourites.

These teddies you see I made myself. The picture of three of them together are my own design.

The others are my collection, some were presents and some I bought myself. One day when I have more time I will get back to making
some more again.

Do I have a favourite you ask? No, not really,
I love them all. I haven't added any to my
collection for a long time.

Too busy spending money on yarn that I probably will never get the time to knit.

I also had to show you a picture of my Mum's cabbage rolls.

Even though my parents have been living on
their own for over 20 years, Mum still cooks
enough to feed a family of five.

She made these cabbage rolls the other night and also made a pot full for us. They were very yummie!
And of course I like a lot of sour cream on mine.

It was good to get a break from cooking also.

As for my knitting news there is nothing much new really. I am trying to learn to knit socks on two circulars and to be honest I don't think I like the two circular needle method.

I am still knitting the Rowan RYC cardigan and the rusty coloured one from winter 07 Interweave Knits.

On the MS3 stole I missed a couple of YO's so I am contemplating - frog or not to frog. I don't use a life line and at times like these I wish I did. But if I don't fix the error then I know it will bother the hell out of me so I guess I'd better get cracking.

We went to see Shrek the Third today, DH and my son liked it a lot, I thought it was ok. I would have much preferred to see Harry Potter but I was out numbered, I guess I will just need to wait till it comes out on DVD or go on my own. Don't really fancy going to the movies by myself.

That's it for today. Back to full time work for me on Monday.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend and happy knitting!

Heavenly Fibres

2007-07-10T09:31:00.000+10:00

I can finally let you all know about my big news!!!!

I have opened up a yarn store on line called Heavenly Fibres. Not everything is up yet, but I would like your help and advice please! Would you please have a wonder around in the store and let me know your opinion, for instance is it easy enough to find items etc..

On my search for beautiful hand dyed yarns I came across an Aussie company Kaalund Yarns that hand dye beautiful Australian yarns and silks. Their Australian merino 2ply and their 50%silk/merino are both devine, both in richness of colour and texture.

I have also brought in Cherry Tree Hill yarns, some gorgeous Suri Alpaca for lace knitting as well
as one of my personal favourites, their lovely hand dyed sock yarns.

I would like to also mention that for the first time in Australia, Ilga Leja and Sivia Harding lace designs are available from my yarn store for all keen lace knitters like myself!

Other good news, my Secret Pal Cindy in Texas has received what I sent her and she likes everything which is fantastic. The knitting needle case I sent was made especially.
That's it for my news for today.

Happy Knitting Everyone!

Cold and Wet

2007-07-06T21:14:00.000+10:00

Hi Everyone! It's been very cold and wet here, we are finally getting the much needed rain.

My cough came back and this time it's a lot worse then it was the first time. I have no pictures this week. But I finally finished the Gentleman's Winter sock, I don't think I will make this one again as I really don't like the Dutch heel, though Kim says they are very comfortable.

I am still working on my RYC cardigan, and of course I started the Mystery Stole 3.

I bought the Addi lace needles for the MS3 (I've been dying to try them) and I don't like them!

Yep, shock horror, because I love the regular ones. The problem I have with the lace Addi's is that they really hurt my sore wrist I used them last night and they really made it sore, it's been hurting me all day. Where as the Knit Picks ones don't, go figure! So I will be switching back to use Knit Picks.

I have also posted my final parcel to my Secret Pal 10 and I will put her blog address up once I know that she's received it. I do hope she likes what I sent her.

Tomorrow we are off to spend a night and afternoon on my brother's boat. He and his wife bought a lovely boat and they invited us to spend the weekend on it with them.

There is a boat show on in Melbourne and they all moor near where the show is being held, there will be fire works at 8pm so it should be fun (I am not really into boats). First we will go out to dinner then back to the boat in time to see the fire works and we will play cards after that probably till the early hours of the morning. It will be nice to catch up with them and spend some time together.

We usually like to get together regularly for dinner and a card game. So not much knitting will get done this weekend, but then, my wrist could probably use a rest.

Oh and I forgot to mention, I am having a week off work (Yeah!!) to be home with Jared for the school holidays and to catch up on some much needed house work.

Have a great weekend everyone and I will post some pictures next time I blog.

Secret Pal 10

2007-06-26T21:01:00.000+10:00

My final parcel from my SP10 Pal arrived today. And I am so thrilled with everything. This girl has really done her homework let me tell you .

Alice (it feels strange using her real name after all this time) (The Good Kharma Bunny) has sent me my favourite things and colours in the yarns, and she wrapped each item individually in my favourtie colour green.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart Alice.

I have truly been very spoiled by you and I really enjoyed my very first Secret Pal adventure.

Jared wanted to set up all the items for the photos so I let him and wanted to open all the wrappings. I think he enjoyed it just as much as I did. I got to open two of the items and they were the Turkish Delights and the Blending Chalks which I have never used before and looking forward to it. I already devoured one of the Turkish Delights and of course I shared them with Kim.

On knitting news I have joined the Mystery Stole3 KAL
This is my first time at this KAL I had to cut the email updates to moderator announcement only as there are literally hundreds of emails going through each day. I think membership is around 3000 at the moment.

Must go now as I have a huge announcement to make next time I post.

Take care and happy knitting everyone!

And a big thank you again to Alice my Secret Pal 10.

Hello I'm Back

2007-06-15T21:39:00.001+10:00

Sorry I haven't posted for ages, but somehow I managed to catch a nasty coughing virus and have not been feeling too crash hot for the last couple of weeks. I'd wake up in the middle of the night and have a mega huge coughing fit at least twice during the night. I am really exhausted from it.

So I finally relented yesterday and went to see my doctor (I hate having to take medication) and she put me on antibiotic and also Ventolin.

As promised the las time i blogged, I have some pictures for you of the beautiful Cashmere and Sari Silk I bought at the mini wool expo in Brunswick a couple of weeks ago. The Cashmere is a beautiful colour they call it Peony there is 1680 meters so I can knit myself a gorgeous shawl. As for the Sari Silk I don't know yet what it will become. I still feel like an idiot for not buying all the purple to make myself a top.

I also have a couple of pic's for you from when we went to Ararat a few weeks ago for a long weekend. Kim hired out this gorgeous little miners cottage. We were even allowed to take the dog and he had a lovely dog house set up as well. Jared brought a friend along too and both boys enjoyed themselves.
Here's a picture of the little miners cottage we stayed in. Isn't it gorgeous! And here are the three boys checking out the kitchen and all the decorations. It was a nice fun weekend. I took some knitting as it's a three hour drive from where we live. We took the boys to a couple of
museum's including this Chinese museum which was built not long ago in honor of the early Chinese settlers. And we also went to the Grampions National Park, it's such a beautiful part of Victoria. Ararat was founded by the Chinese who came here at the time of the gold rush. I wanted to see an Alpaca farm that's around there but we couldn't find it and apparently
there was a sheep and wool show on in Stawell so the farm probably wouldn't have been open to public that weekend, just my luck. Well I guess that's it for now.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Mini Wool Expo

2007-06-03T19:29:00.000+10:00

I went to the Mini Wool Expo today that was held at the Brunswick Town Hall here in Melbourne and saw some wonderful yarns. No time to post pictures at the moment but I did spend some money. I bought some lace weight cashmere and I also bought some Sari Silk in beautiful purple and jewel colours and I could kick myself because I only bought one skein of the purple and only one of the mixed colour and I didn't get their business card so I can't contact her to get the other 2 skeins of purple, they probably sold them anyway.

I should have bought all three because I could have knitted a lovely top. Oh well, it will just have to be a scarf I guess. Sari silk has never appealed to me before but these are such gorgeous colours I couldn't resist.

The Lady who sells the beautiful angora yarns was there too. And I did get her card, however, yep you guessed it, I lost it. But all is not lost - I know that she is at the Art Centre every Sunday so I will be paying her a visit in the not too distant future. I absolutely loved her yarns, textures, colours everything she is very talented.

Artisan Books were there too and they had lots of lovely books. This was the first time I've been to this little expo and I enjoyed it, my son and DH not as much as I. I will post some photo's later on this week.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Presents - FO - Photo's -Footy

2007-05-26T15:49:00.001+10:00

I received my second parcel from my SP10 Pal this fantastic reference book on Aran stitches.
Many thanks SP10 Pal.

It was very nice being spoiled by receiving two parcels in one week.

One finished item, yeah!!! I finished my green socks, they don't look as bright on these photo's which is a shame -
Stats are: Go With The Flow Socks -Evelyn A Clarke
Favorite Socks from Interweave
Yarn: The Knittery - merino cashmere.
Needles: Lantern Moon Rosewood size 2.25

My replacement rosewood needles still haven't arrived, well they sort of almost did. The distributor sent me the wrong ones. They sent the Blond ones instead. I emailed them to let them know and returned them so hopefully it shouldn't be long before I get the others.

They were very apologetic and said that they will send out the correct needles as soon as possible. I hope it is soon.

Next is a picture of me showing off my beautiful shawl I received from my ISE4 Pal Sarah. I hate photo's of me but it's the best way to show the shawl. I wore it to work all day the next day. Thanks again Sarah.

And I had to put up the photo's of Amadeus because he looks so handsome and regal don't you think? And there is this one with him in the garden. He loves to chase moths and flies,

It's Saturday night we are spending it at home and Jared has gone to the footy with his friend and their family to see our team(tigers) Richmond v Essendon.

This is his first time going to the footy so I hope he enjoys it. So off he went with his Tigers hat and scarf and I could kick myself because I didn't take a photo of him. If I remember I will take a photo when they come home tonight which will be about midnight.
And lets hope and keep fingers crossed that the Tigers have their 1st win for the season whilst Jared is there watching. They've lost 7 games in a row that means they haven't won any at all since the season started. My co workers teased me because in the footy tipping I always choose the Tigers - they are the team I go for and I could never tip against them that just wouldn't be right. Kim says I will never win the footy tips that way, but hey, I'm in for the fun of it not just to win.

It's getting colder here so we are having beef&mushroom pie for dinner- it smells so good it's making me feel really hungry.

Have a great weekend everyone! Hope you all get lots of knitting done.

OMG It Was For Me!

2007-05-23T13:17:00.000+10:00

My parcel arrived from Sarah today. Yeahhh!!!! What great timing, we were on our way home from hospital because Kim's been having abdominal pains and our Dr wanted him to go and have it checked out in hospital. He will be ok he has a bout of gastro. We were on our way home and popped in at our local post office and my parcel was there waiting for me.

The box was damaged and my Post Office man Michael said to me,"you'd better make sure it's all there Helen". But you know what everything arrived safe and sound. And what a great package it is.

I could not believe that this beautiful Ene's scarf was for me. I can take it to work with me every day and put it over my shoulder when it gets cold in there in the afternoons.

And look at all the wonderful goodies I got as well, can't wait to try them all. I love jam, I sometimes get caught eating it out of the jar with a spoon, I do that with cream and honey too (I don't double dip, I normally just have one spoon full or eat the lot depending on how much is left in the jar of course).

I guess I must take after my Dad in that department because he does that too. So unless I eat it before hand I plan to have it on my toast tomorrow morning. And how cool are those stitch markers they will be perfect for my sock knitting, I will have to hide them from my daughter so that she doesn't nab them.

The Knit Picks sock yarn I always wanted to get but couldn't because as you all know they don't ship internationally.

I am a big fan of herbal teas, mint and chamomile teas I drink regularly because I suffer from heart burn and those are very good for that, Sarah must have intuition.

Well that's it for today my friends, seeing as how I didn't go to work today I best go and catch up on some much needed house work and look after a sick patient. I will post some more on my knitting in the next couple of days.

Thanks again Sarah for making my day!

RYC Classic Range

2007-05-11T22:58:00.000+10:00

RYC Classic range has finally made it to Australia, 18 pattern books later it has landed on our shores.
And I saw it at Sunspun with my daughter, she lives about a 5 minute walk from it so of course we had to go and visit. I saw this and I just had to have it and started working on it right away.

This is a silk/merino mix yarn and it's gorgeous and soft and drapes beautifully, unfortunately the colour range is not great, my daughter chose this colour for me so I went with this one. The book has lots of patterns in it that I like so I think I will make a few more items from it.

Good news too-I have written to Lantern Moon and they said they will be replacing my needles so I must write to Sandy because she left a comment on my blog and said the same thing happened to her that very same day. Thank you Monica for advising me to contact Lantern Moon.
And I wanted to show you this. And he says I have a large stash! Look at what he has done with our dining table - yes these are all stamps and there a lots more though out most of the house.

At least I keep my knitting stuff pretty much contained in my sewing room. I told him he needs to sort it out I want my dining room back plus it can't be good for the stamps now can it.

It's late and I am off to bed. I've had a terrible headache all day, in fact I woke up with it this morning, lets hope it's gone by tomorrow. I will post some more over the weekend.

One Knitting Disaster After Another

2007-05-06T19:39:00.000+10:00

It's enough to make you cry - I can't believe it I was happily sitting knitting away on my new-Go With the Flow socks - pattern by Evelyn Clark from Favorite Socks I got from YarnsOnLine when SNAP the needle broke while doing a ssk. My brand new Lantern Moon Rosewood DPNS, I had five now I only have four, sigh.

My DH and DS were watching TV on the couch and my "OH NOOOOO" was so loud they both jumped with fright. DS said "what happened" while DH replied "it's ok, your mother just broke a needle". My DDS said "just stick it together with sticky tape Mum" isn't he cute, if only it was that simple. And if that wasn't bad enough I also made an error in the pattern shaping the gusset, I was decreasing in every row instead of every second row. I don't know where my brain is these days.

And look at this disaster!

I thought I was being so good and finishing some of my UFO's by knitting a little bit every lunch time at work. I thought I had better measure the two together and wouldn't you believe it I must have mixed up the needle sizes. The second sock I'm doing is a lot smaller then the 1st sock.

Look at the difference!

How could I be so stupid!

It's so frustrating, now I either totally frog the second sock and start again or I have another two skeins of this yarn and knit a pair to each of these. The Big question is do I have the patience to knit the same socks again. I guess I could always give one pair as a present to someone.
I am not one for knitting the same things twice,
it's been many many years since I've done that. What do you think I should do, what would you do? I still have DH's socks to finish as well. He keeps asking me when will he get his socks.

I don't seem to be able to get as much knitting done now that I am working full time. And I keep searching the net and reading blogs that forever take up a lot of my time. I think I'll have to limit how much time I spend on the computer because it's eating into my knitting time, not to mention the house work. And on that note I must leave you all and catch you next time.

Totally Spoilt

2007-04-24T20:00:00.000+10:00

I have been VERY spoilt today. I received my SP10's package and she sent me so many great
things. I love everything she sent me and they are all in my favorite colours

Aussie Quarantine people opened the package to make sure everything was in order and as you can see on the other picture they pretty gentle and left everything intact. Let me show you all the wonderful items I received.

Some great buttons as a lucky dip, a note book for all my knitting notes and a Girls night in pamper pack.

Some gorgeous yarn. I will probably try my hand at felting. The SP10 Pal I send to does some lovely felting. So I will probably give it a go.

And this - a beautiful wrist bracelet made especially for me by my SP10 Pal
Isn't it gorgeous.
The photos don't show off all the beautiful beads she has worked into it. It's just beautiful and fits me perfectly. Thank you so much Secret Pal. I love it all and I have been very spoiled.

OK, I am off to read my new magazine and indulge in some delicious chocolate she sent me.

Happy Knitting everyone!

Finished Items

2007-04-22T08:28:00.000+10:00

I am in the finishing mood at the moment and have finally finished my RYC Cashsoft cardigan yesterday. I am not very happy with how I did the rib for the button bank but really can't be bothered ripping it all back. I guess it will bother me every sing time I'm going to wear it. Sorry about the blurry photo's I don't know what's wrong with the camera.

I now how three pairs of socks to finish (I think I may have the one sock syndrome) and two shawls. I am going to try to be good and not start something new until I've done all those but to be honest I don't like my chances. I was just thinking yesterday that I have so many things that I would like to knit I will never get to do it all but I guess that's like most of us knitters at my age anyway.

Another finished item is the scarf for my ISE4 Pal, Ted wanted to pose wearing it. This is one of my teddy bears that I made a couple of years ago. He is made from Chocolate brown Alpaca and his pads are leather. Making teddy bears is one of my other passions.

I have made quiet a few and collected some from overseas as well.

Purchases
I've been shopping again too and bought some yarns from The Knittery and Yarnsonline. Here's what I bought, the hand dyed yarns are not for me although I couldn't help myself and bought a skein of the Dark Reds colourway sock yarn for my stash.

The Orange Blossom lace is a gift for someone and I can't say who just yet until they receive it as it's a surprise.

The Cotton Fine was on special and I couldn't resist I am going to knit a shawl with it. The colour is Provincial Rose and it's really lovely. The Lantern Moon rosewood dpns feel great and I can't wait to use them. And the book of course is for my knitting library collection which has grown enormously in the past few years .

Well I guess that's about it for today. I am having my daughter and her partner for lunch and picking son up from a friends house where he went for a sleep over last night.

Have a great Sunday everyone and I will see you all in our world of blogs.

Happy knitting everyone!

Thank You!!!

2007-04-14T16:40:00.000+10:00

My SP10 Pal sent me two lovely Hallmark e cards and I just wanted to say a big thank you to her.
I have never received an e card before and they are just gorgeous. Thanks again SP10 Pal.

Also wanted to say anther two big thank yous to two lovely ladies I met at Heirloom Knitting Yahoo group, Laritza and Anne . Laritza for being kind enough to organizing the purchase and posting of two sets of Knit Picks needles from the States for Anne and I. And to Anne for bringing them over to my house.

I haven't tried the needles out yet but I will be tomorrow (Sunday)night and take some pic's and let you all know what they are like.

I would have love to try them out today but we are having an extremely busy social weekend this weekend so my lovely set of needles must wait a little bit longer.

I couldn't blog without a picture so thought I'd show you this. I purchased these on ebay a couple of months ago. To become socks for DH and DS. For some reason DH likes to wear the occasional matching thing with DS I have no idea why.

Swaps

2007-04-01T09:32:00.000+10:00

I have been busy. First as you know I had to make a decision what pattern and yarn to use to make the scarf for my ISE4 Pal. Decision made I am using JoSharp Silkroad Aran in the Fishtail Lace pattern.

This is what it's looking like. I have tried out four different yarns and patterns and this was the one I chose. Because my Pal doesn't like pastel colours I didn't get to use the gorgeous hand dyed cashmere I bought from Katie at Live2Knit. Plus I didn't like the Branching Out pattern for this yarn, the two just didn't seem to work together. Here's a picture of it, what do you think?
I think I will make a lace shawl from it I don't know how long socks would last made from this beautiful yarn so I won't use it for socks.

I also bought the Blue Lagoon colourway in the cashmere to add to my stash (not that my stash needs adding to) I have no idea what I will knit from it yet.

This is the first time I've ever knit with pure cashmere and it's gorgeously soft yarn. But frogging is almost impossible with this yarn much harder then mohair. I can actually frog mohair reasonably well but this yarn I couldn't.

My other purchase was this beauty and beauty it really is. I bought this from PurlYarns, SeaSilk by Hand Maiden.

I am going on a yarn diet because it's all getting a bit out of control again and I am feeling very guilty buying more yarn. I have also been shopping for my SecretPal10.
But it's a secret.

I don't know if I should send her little presents monthly or send one large parcel at the end. You see my dilemma is that if I send her little parcels each month she will find out where I live. I did ask my Pal which she would prefer but she wasn't sure either.

My SecretPal that I will be getting goodies from lives in England and I don't mind knowing that because it's still very intriguing. We've exchanged a few emails and she sounds wonderful.

That's it for now. I cannot believe it's taken me two hours to blog. I am off the see my daughter this afternoon for afternoon tea.

Have a great Sunday everyone!

2007-03-27T20:02:00.000+10:00

ISE4

This is so exciting and scary at the same time because apart from presents that I have knitted for people, I have never knitted for anyone else before in a swap. I really hope that my pal likes what I decided to knit for her. I am using a blend of her favorite fibers - wool, cashmere and silk.

As for me I have no idea who my pal is. She emailed me straight away and told me the item she is knitting for me is from a chart and this will be the first time that she has ever knitted anything from a chart. I am really, really excited. This really is a lot of fun.

Happy Knitting!

2007-03-18T10:03:00.000+11:00

Very Disappointing

I fell in love with this cardigan on the cover of IK winter 06 issue and went to my LYS to get some yarn. Well what a disappointment, I chose Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran and it's just not right. I don't get the definition that you are suppose to have in an Aran pattern. I don't know what the reason is, maybe it's the twist of the yarn or maybe because it's not 100% merino but a mix of 85%wool,10%silk and 5% cashmere. Don't get me wrong the yarn is a beautiful yarn and I have knitted with it before but it's just not the right one for this project. I will just have to find another 10ply and will need to be 100% merino to make sure I get the definition this pattern needs.

Help please, I would welcome any suggestions on what yarn you think I should use.
I've posted a picture for you all to see how bad it looks. I am usually a neat knitter and this just looks like a really messy blob of nothing.

This one I tried to get a close up pic so that you could all see it better.

Now On A Happier Note!

I've been shopping! That's one of the great lurks about having a job. Oh well, shopping in moderation. I am hooked on knitting Nancy Bush's socks, probably just hooked on knitting socks period. Having been knitting for over 26 years I only just discovered socks last year and I love, love, love knitting them.

Someone at worked asked me why I would want to knit socks? I told her I don't really know, all I know is that I love to knit them and hand knitted socks are wonderful to wear.

I also bought Barbara G. Walkers book to add to my library collection. I am thinking of designing my own scarf for my swap partner in the International Scarf Exchange 4 and may use something from this book for my design.

I also bought some JaggerSpun Zephyr from Yarns On Line to add to my lace stash. I couldn't make up my mind what colour I wanted so I went with Vanilla. I haven't chosen a project for it yet.

I also bought some Colinette Jitterbug sock yarn which I bought back in January from Sunspun but forgot to post the pics, no patterns picked for these yet either, Jared chose the purple and blue one for himself for a pair of socks. These colours are so beautiful and vibrant , the photo's don't really do them justice. I am a member in a couple of sock KAL's and forums and people who have used this yarn really loved it so I can't wait to try them.

Seriously, the stash is getting a bit out of control now. Plus I can't knit as much as I use to because I am working so that's really slowed down my knitting time.

I think I need to stop buying yarn for now because I have so many wonderful yarns to use that I have never knitted with before and can't wait to try them. Ok, that's it for this week, hope you all have a great week ahead!

2007-03-04T18:53:00.000+11:00

Swaps

I have decided to take part in a couple of swaps. They are both a first for me one is the SP10 Secret Pal swap that I mentioned in my previous post and yesterday I signed up for the ISE4 International Scarf Exchange number 4. I have never taken part where I had to knit something for someone else so I am a bit nervy about it but I am also very excited and can't wait to start them both.

And more good news, finally after 39 years since he has 1st arrived in Australia my Dad is going back to where he was born, Budapest for a holiday. He and Mum are going to Hungary and Slovakia for a summer holiday for two months. When Mum told me Dad was going with her this time I was lost for words and so were my two brothers. Dad has always said that he wasn't interested in going back there for a holiday so you can understand why we are all so shocked that after 39 years he all of a sudden agreed to go.

I am very close to my parents so I will miss them when they are away but I am very happy for them and I'm sure they will have a wonderful time. He and Mum still have a sister each there and lots of nephews and nieces.

And now for my knitting. My Cameron shawl is coming along slowly but surely and the socks I am knitting for DH well, one was finished but it looked a bit short in the foot for my liking so I frogged it back and am making it longer. I have no pics to post today but I will post some later on this week.

Happy knitting to you all.

2007-02-25T17:15:00.000+11:00

Lost Pictures

These are the pictures that didn't work in my last posting. I am much further with the sock now and I think they will fit. Yeah!!

As for the Cameron Shawl, I haven't done much on that lately because I am trying to finish these socks first.

SP10

I am very excited as I have joined up for SP10 swap. I have participated in a couple of other swaps before and this is the first time I'm doing this one. I am really looking forward to it. Below is the questions and my answers:

The Questions for SP10
1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I love to knit with wool, merino, alpaca,silk and cashmere(of course). I guess I only like natural yarns.
2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I store my needles in a felted needle roll.
3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I've been knitting for over 25 years and I am an advanced knitter.
4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yes
5. What's your favorite scent?
I love floral scents.
6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Oh Yeah! I love Turkish Delight, Jelly Fruits and Dark Chocolate.
7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
Unfortunately I don't Spin. My other craft that I use to do and haven't touched for ages is make teddy bears (old fashioned teddies).
8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I like most music. I don't like Rap,Techno and bad language in my music.
9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
My favourite colour is green, I love most shades of greens and jewel colours.
10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I am married with two children a girl and a boy. My daughter is an adult and doesn't live at home anymore. A husband and two dogs and two cats.
11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
I wear scarves.
12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Socks and lace. I do like to knit most things.
13. What are you knitting right now?
Socks for the Vintage Sock KAL and 2 lace shawls and a cardigan.
14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes definitely.
15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I use both kinds but I only use bamboo for straight needles as I have a sore wrist.
16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
A winder yes a swift no.
17. How old is your oldest UFO?
I am too embarrassed to say but I will anyway - 15 years
18. What is your favorite holiday?
Christmas without a doubt.
19. Is there anything that you collect?
I collect teddy bears.
20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
Yarn wise anything that we cannot get here in Australia which is quiet a lot really. I subscribe to Interweave Knits and Yarn Magazine.
21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
Finishing techniques are my real down fall, I never know if it's just laziness or lack of knowledge.
22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Yes most definitely. My foot lenght is 8.75 inches long and 8.5 around the ball of my foot.
23. When is your birthday?
January 12th.
I guess that's all I have for today. Hope you all had a lovely weekend.
Happy knitting!

2007-02-19T21:13:00.000+11:00

Changes

Why Change it if it Works!
I was quiet happy putting up my photo's the old way when blogging but my DH in his wisdom decided that he should
upload Picasa2 for me. His reason for it was - " Oh it will be much quicker and better for you to use". Well, so much for that is all I have to say. I have uploaded or downloaded (I never know which) these two photo's three time now and each time, you have to sign into google, because it logs you out whenever you need to go back into your photo album to add or change a photo. And the other thing is that it won't allow you to minimize the window.

Rrrrrrrrrrrrghhhh the whole thing is really, really frustrating. I know he is the computer whiz but he is not putting any more software on for me until I know much more about how it works.

And just look at the size of the photo's and I have no idea what it will look like when I publish this, so fingers crossed that it will work.

The first picture is my progress on the Cameron Shawl. I know, I know it hasn't grown very much but it's my first lace project using cobweb weight yarn and my goodness it is very tiny yarn. But knitting with it in this heat wave we've been having is not too bad. My aim is to finish this by the end of this year, I know it's 10 months away but believe you me I think I will need every bit of it if not more.

Photo number two is for my Knitting Vintage Socks KAL - a lot of people in the group have finished theirs but I haven't even finished my first one. Since I've started my new job I have not had much time to knit. These socks I am only knitting occasionally at lunch time at work, so it's a bit slow going. I like knitting with this yarn it's lovely and soft and the flex knitting needles are very kind on my sore right wrist.

That's all I have for today. Hope everyone's had a good weekend.

2007-02-16T19:30:00.000+11:00

Work

Well I started my new job on Monday and so far so good. I am enjoying it I guess it's like having a totally different life because when you are at work you have no time to think about home or knitting at least not yet anyway because I'm too busy learning my new job. I have no pictures today but will have on the weekend. I was very excited to because finally I got to join the
Knitting Blogs group, it was a long wait but I finally got there.

I take my socks to knit at lunch time to work and there are other girls there that knit but they are not as obsessive as I am plus it has been very hot here. I have been knitting at home at night too as lately I've had trouble sleeping . So I turn on my trusty fan in my sewing room and knit till all hours of the night until my eyes start to feel heavy and I am making mistakes.

I have been working on my Cameron Shawl for Heirloom Knitting and it's coming along very nicely. Haven't knitted my Rowan cardigan for ages cause it's been soooooo hot, but I will as soon as the temperature becomes a bit more bearable.

In Heirloom Knitting Yahoo group I met Anne who also lives in Melbourne and I am looking forward to meeting up with her. It's nice to meet someone who has the same interests as you. I am sure there other people in that group who live in Melbourne but Anne is the first one I met.

So we are going to organise to meet for coffee somewhere and have a chat and get to know each other. The other thing we have in common is that we both have grown up daughters and we love Siamese cats.

It was my Dad's 75th birthday on Valentine's Day and we went there for cake, champagne and tea. Amy apparently received some beautiful red roses, beautiful lingerie (3 sets because he couldn't make up his mind, so he decided to get all three) and some nice French champagne, and he cooked dinner for her. Talk about being spoiled!

I didn't get anything for Valentine's Day(we've been married too long I guess).

That's all my news for today, I promise I will post some pictures over the weekend.

Happy knitting to you all and hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

2007-02-07T16:29:00.000+11:00

Look Where I am -

Amadeus (Amy's cat is now ours - just what I needed another pet.

Amy moved house and she is on a busy road and didn't want anything to happen to her cat so she asked if we would have him. Her reason - this way she gets to see him all the time.

Of course I had to agree, what else am I suppose to do? As you can see he feels quiet at home! Where he is sitting on the photo is 20 feet
high! It's the front part of our house and he is sitting on top of the planter boxes on the mezzanine. He is the King of the Castle even the dogs are put in their place by him. One quick slap on their back sides and they run from him. As for Pheb's she won't have a bar of him.

Back to Work Present - Ssshhh don't tell Kim, I decided to buy myself a couple of presents,
as you do when you feel you deserve one.

Heirloom Argyle is actually for Kim for a pair of sock seeing as how I stuffed up the ones I was suppose to give him for his birthday. I only managed to finish one (picture below) it turned out too small because I didn't make the required adjustments so they will have to be for me now.

And the knitting needles I need to make the socks for him so he can't complain now can he. I don't do circulars for socks so I just had to buy another pair of 2.75mm because there is something else on the ones I already own.
The Cleckheaton Country Silk I saw on Donna's sight RandonKnits and loved it so I just had to buy it. The patterns are gorgeous, there are some lovely things I can knit as presents for my daughter and nieces and last but most definitely not least, my best friend Stefanie.

February/MarchKAL - Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bus is what we are making. A good lunch break project at my new job. I get an hour for lunch so I will be knitting because without a car there is nowhere else I can spend my lunch hour.

Cameron Shawl
Cobweb weight compared to 4ply - tried to take a photo so you could see the difference, sorry it turned out a little (more like a lot) blurred. I was up till 1am determined to get it right. I am too embarrassed to tell you how many times I had to frog it, so I won't but I did finally get it right. It's soooooooo hard to knit with cobweb weight, when you swap to knit something else with a 4 or 8 ply yarn it feel so thick.

That's about it for today. Happy knitting everyone!

2007-02-06T20:24:00.000+11:00

The Alphabet Meme:

I saw this on Monica's blog and just had to do it. I'm not usually into these things but this was fun. I don't believe in tagging people so I haven't tagged anyone but if you want to take part, feel free.

A - Available or Taken: Taken
B - Best Friend: Stefanie
C - Cake or Pie: Both - dessert is my most favorite part of a meal
D - Drink of Choice: Water but Champagne comes very close second
E - Essential item you use everyday: Computer
F - Favorite Color: Green
G - Gummy Bears or Worms: Gummy Bears
H - Hometown: Ukraine – but lived most of my life here in Melbourne, Australia
I - Indulgence: Yarn, Knitting Books and knitting needles
J - January or February: January Because it’s Kims and my birthday
K - Kids & ages: Two – a girl and a boy - 27 and 10
L - Life is incomplete without: Love and laughter
M - Marriage Date or Most Memorable Date ( and why): 4th November 1968 because that's the day we arrived in Australia.
N - Number of Siblings: 2 brothers
O - Oranges or Apples: Apples
P - Phobias or Fears: Snakes I hate them.
Q - Fave Quote: Ce’st la vie
R - Reason to Smile: Family and good friends
S - Season: Autumn – the best season in Victoria and I love the colours of autumn.
T - Tag 3 or 4 People: Actually I don't like to Tag anyone, so this is for anyone who wants to do it.
U - Unknown fact about me: For me to know only
V - Vegetable you don't like: Celery
W - Worst Habit: A cluttered house
X - X-rays: Yes most of my body
Y - Your Fave Food: Duck
Z - Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

2007-02-05T22:31:00.000+11:00

Organised

No pictures today. It's quiet late at night and seeing as how I haven't blogged for ages I thought I'd best do a quick one tonight. I am trying to knit the Cameron Shawl and I'm not getting anywhere with it at the moment. I'm finding it too hard to focus on it I guess it's probably because I got that job I mentioned in my last post and I start work on the 12th Feb.

It's the first time that I have gone back to work full time in 10 years and I guess I'm trying to get use to the thought that I won't be there for Jared before and after school much.

It's also a bit nerve wrecking to have to go back into the paying workforce after 10 years. And here's the big thing, I will need to be a lot more ORGANISED!

I use to be, once, a long long time ago and then I don't know what happened or when it happened but it went and I haven't been able to find it. So now I guess I have no choice but to make sure that I find it again and quick.

I still aim to keep up with the knitting groups I belong to and my knitting too. I guess I did most of my knitting and blogging in the evenings and weekends so working full time shouldn't really affect these.

Well I guess that's about it for today, I will take some photo's and blog on the weekend and give a progress report on all my UFO's, and my goodness there are a lot of them.

Happy knitting everyone!

2007-01-27T10:07:00.000+11:00

Australia Day
I hope you all had a lovely Australia Day yesterday, the weather here in Melbourne was perfect. We went to two barbeque's yesterday, one at lunchtime with our Mother's group, yes after 10 years we still meet up at the last Friday of each school holiday and with our husbands once a year at the end of the summer holidays. And the other was at our lovely neighbors house in the evening.

Sock Blockers - are now ready for sale and I have put some up on ebay, I hope that they will do well, I am very excited about them.

If you don't mind I would love some feed back on it please. If you could let me know what you think of them would be very much appreciated.

Does the engraving look good where it is or should we place it elsewhere?

Should we have different styles of writing or just stay with the one we've got? Those sort of things. We are selling them wholesale as well and we have already sold 10 sets to an Internet yarn store here in Australia.
I am very excited about the whole thing as it was my idea and I am in the process of designing a of other personalised items for knitters.

This is a picture of my prize that I won from Katt, 4ply sock yarn that arrived in the mail on Thursday.
I love the colours and the wool feels nice. I haven't decided what sock pattern I am going to use yet.

I tried to wind it into a ball at 11.30 last night and got into an awful tangle with them. I only purchased the wool winder recently on eBay and
I guess I need more experience using the darn thing this is the third time I've used it and twice I tangled up the wool. Not to worry, I'm sure I'll get the hang of it eventually.

I finished only one sock for my Vintage Sock KAL January challenge, that's a bit disappointing. And to top it off they are too small for Kim anyway, I promised him I will knit him another pair. I'll need to find a pattern his size, they need to be size 12.

These will have to go to someone else as a present or I can always keep them for myself. They feel lovely and soft and comfy, I really like Lorna's Laces Shepherd sock yarn.

I have also been out job hunting, things are pretty tight at the moment so I've decided to go and look for employment and let Kim look after our own business for now.

I think I may have found something but I have to wait and see. It's just a maternity leave position for 12 months or less, but I guess it's a good way to return back into the workforce. It will be hard I guess to go and work for someone else again after such a long time, but it must be done. I guess I won't have as much time to blog either.

I will just need to be more organised!

I have not been for a job interview for over 15 years and let me just say that it was rather nerve wrecking. I will find out next week if I've got the job.

That's about all for today. Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

2007-01-17T16:03:00.000+11:00

I won!

Today has been a wonderful day! Katt was running a competition to see if we could guess how many things she cast on and finished in 2006. My guess was 79, I was just 1 short but it was close enough for me to win. I'm very excited it's like receiving a surprise birthday present. Thank you Katt.

Katt sells hand dyed yarns and they are just beautiful.

It's been extremely hot here not at all knitting weather but even so I did manage to knit a few rows of the socks I'm trying to finish for Kim's birthday.

Today I had the day off from work and cast on for the Cameron Shawl from Heirloom Knitting. It's my goal to finish this this year. I bought it last year and froged it 3 times and decided to put it away(give up in other words). Then today I was reading all the posts on the group site and saw a finished photo of it in black which is what mine will be and that really inspired me it looks stunning. So keep your fingers crossed for me please.

No photos today as I had to give my daughter back her camera, but I will borrow it back from her on the weekend and post some pictures.

Happy knitting everyone!

2007-01-13T21:27:00.000+11:00

Knitting Presents After All!
It was my birthday this week and I received knitting related presents after all. My parents gave me money and I bought some more yarns but that will have to be another story for another day.
In the morning of my birthday I received breakfast in bed from Jared and Kim. Yummy toast with organic honey and a lovely hot cup of tea. I took the day of and had a nice quiet time at home with Jared and his friend Mitchell which freed me up for doing some knitting. Then at 5pm Amy came over and cooking dinner started.

She organized the dinner menu and cooked it all with Kim. They made garlic and coriander fried prawns and baked Snapper with baked potato and salad.

For dessert we had birthday cake my Mum and Dad got me Bacci chocolate cake which is to die for. And now for the presents, drum roll please - I received three balls of Adobe Inca Tops 2ply for lace knitting in Jade. It's 70% Alpaca and 30% silk. There's 700 metres in one ball so I have plenty to make a beautiful large lace shawl. It feels beautiful and I can't wait to knit with it. I also got 2 sets of bamboo knitting needles 7mm and 9mm and Jo Sharp Holiday knitting book. All these were bought by Amy's boyfriend to whom she gave strict instruction in where to go (Sunspun) and what to buy. Amy told me he rang her three times from the yarn store to make sure he was getting the right things. Isn't he wonderful.

These are the socks I'm knitting for my Vintage Sox KAL that I mentioned in my previous post. I hope they fit as Kim has size 11 feet and I didn't make any adjustment's to it. I guess I could always give it to one of my nephews for their birthday and knit Kim another pair. We shall see how it progresses.

This picture I just had to put in because these flowers are just amazing. I went for my usual walk with the dog on Thursday morning and there is a gum tree on an empty block of land in full bloom with these wonderful flowers. They are just so beautiful I couldn't resist picking sum. This particular variety comes in reds as well but I think the orange one is the most beautiful.

And that's it for my posting today. It is now 10pm Jared is till up as I'm buys doing this and I would like to do some more knitting before bed. Mind you I do have a huge load of ironing to do again but that will have to wait another day. Happy knitting everyone.

2007-01-07T21:21:00.000+11:00

Socks and Lace

I cannot believe that I've spent ages drafting a post with pics and saved it as a draft so that I could finish it tonight and it didn't SAVE. I am so angry! Now I have to retype it all again and download the photos. I am spitting chips.

We got back from our holidays yesterday. The weather was really hot and we had a couple of windy days too, not good for the poor fire fighters. Venus Bay is in South Gippsland so there were no fires there, fortunately. It was a good family holiday as my parents and my daughter was there with us also. We all spent New Years Eve together, it was a quiet one but it was really lovely. I can't remember the last time Amy was with us New Years Eve its been that long.

Of course I took some knitting with me and I managed to finish Jared's Madder rib socks.

Mum kept telling me not to knit so much and give my wrist a break. I didn't knit as much as I usually do because it was just far too hot on some of the days. I have problems with my right wrist just under my thumb from too much hand writing in the past and knitting too.

I also cast on for my Victorian Lace Today KAL.
I chose the Shoulder Shawl and am knitting it in 4ply hand dyed 100% silk in colour Maple I bought from Katie at Live 2 Knit 8 months ago.

I am really happy with the way it looks (Bee thinks it looks good too, I guess she should know after all she is 16 years old). It feels good to be able to choose just the right project for yarn from your stash. I didn't bother doing a swatch. I hate doing a gauge check, to me it seems a waist of time and yarn. I have had a couple of mishaps but not enough to convince me to do gauge checks.
I now need to cast on for my Vintage Sock KAL and I chose to do the Gentleman's Fancy Socks I am going to use Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Black Purl. It's for Kim for his birthday which is on the 29th of this month.

And speaking of birthdays guess who's birthday it is next week. Yep, you guessed it it's mine. Not that I am counting or anything. I looove getting presents and hopefully I will get some lovely knitting pressies too. Although when my daughter and mum asked what I would like and I replied "yarn" they both said not knitting stuff. Hmph, why ask then? And on that note I am off to do some knitting.

2006-12-28T12:01:00.000+11:00

Abbie and Bing -

I had two extra children on the 23rd December for a sleep over. Jared's friend Mitchell and his sister Abbie as their Mum and Dad and older brother Max went to Christmas function.

As you can see Bing just loves it when Abbie comes to visit because he is centre attention for Abbie. And boy, oh boy he sure makes the most of it. He curls over her legs and stays there for hours. He just can't get enough of Abbie and the attention she gives him. Both children enjoyed their sleep over and I made them pancakes for breakfast.

Christmas Presents
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.
We had a lovely Christmas morning, first of all it rained, yeaahhh. It has been our driest December on record and we needed rain badly in the all of December this year it only rained 18.7mm. And not only did it rain but it also snowed in the hills, unbelievable. At least it helped our fire fighters a little. It meant that some of them could go home for Christmas.

The other present we got was that our daughter finally sold her house, it sounds like a funny present I know, but she has been trying to sell her house for ages.

Knitting Gifts
Feast your eyes on these lovely knitting gifts, they are from my daughter and her boyfriend. The Gossamer Webs Design Collection book from Amy and the lovely Colinette Parisienne in moss from Xavier. I also got some Robbie Williams Cd's from Amy.

Jared got me a gorgeous hessian teddy bear, a little bag made of patchwork and some more Robbie Williams Cd's.

Sock Blockers - are from Kim.
He made them for me for Christmas. We have been planning and designing for ages now to make personalised knitting items to sell and sock blockers are just one of the things that we will be making.

He really surprised me with these as I haven't seen the finished product at all. He is very clever and I'm pretty proud of him really (he doesn't know that though).

I won't be blogging for a while as Jared and I are going to have a break. We are goint to the beach where my parents have a small beach house at Venus Bay and we will be spending some hopefully much needed relaxing time there.

I wish you all a very happy, safe and prosperous 2007!

2006-12-08T19:05:00.000+11:00

Rowan RYC

This pattern is from ClassicCafe- book one - from the RYC collection and the pattern I'm knitting is called Whitney. I bought this over a year and a half ago and only just got around to it.

The yarn is RYC Cashsoft DK and it's so beautiful and soft, a wonderful yarn to knit with, the only thing I don't like about it is that the wool pills quiet a bit. I'm hoping that it will subside with wear. It is a blend of 57% fine merino 33% microfibre and 10% cashmere.

The colour is poppy which appears a bit brighter on the screen then what it really is. It is a real shame that you cannot buy the RYC range in Australia. For some strange reason when it was released by Rowan they decided not to distribute this range to Australia. I know that with the internet we can get anything we want with a click of the fingers (or in this case the keyboard), but if you don't want to spend huge amounts on postage then it's not so much of a convenience and not very healthy for your credit card either, especially if you tend to be a bit of a yarn addict like myself. Blogger is playing up on me, so if the heading doesn't look right I am sorry everyone, I've tried to fix it several times and can not do it.

Must go and have some dinner and do some serious ironing, I know, you ask "who irons these days" I do ( yep I probably need my head read). I use to have an ironing lady but since business is not doing so well I had to give her up.

If you would like to check out what we make, you can see it here.

2006-12-08T07:08:00.000+11:00

FIRST TOE UPS - These will be my first toe ups ever. I like the fact that it starts from the toe and the figure 8 cast on wasn't too bad. I joined the KAL at AussieKnitters and that's the pattern I am using. I'm hoping that they will be finished for Christmas. The wool is just gorgeous it is so lovely and soft and nice to work with it's merino cashmere hand dyed 4ply sock yarn (I know, according to the KAL instruction I should be using 8ply but I wanted to try this yarn out) that I bought from TheKnittery and the colour is ForestMoss. I will be using this yarn again it really is very nice. I have more pictures to post of my other UFO's but I did something wrong when I named the files so they will have to wait till Kim is up so he can help me sort out what I had done wrong. So happy knitting everyone for now and I will do some more posting later.

2006-12-06T20:33:00.000+11:00

HOSPITALS

Well I haven't done any posting for a while again and no knitting pics today. I have been in hospital emergency with my daughter last night till 2.00 am this morning as they all thought she had an overran cyst or appendicitis. After blood tests and urine tests and hours and hours of waiting and poor Jared fell asleep on a chair while we waited. They sent Amy and us home and said to go to her local doctor in the morning as her severe pains subsided. So we took her home and got to bed somewhere around 2.40 am. Got a phone call again this morning at 8am sorry Mum but my pains are back can you please book me in to your doctors.

Her boyfriend took her to the docs and she was told to go straight to Monash Hospital. Again either an overran cyst or appendix. Once again after blood tests, urine tests and ultra sounds and hours and hours of waiting and stressing that she will need to have surgery, thank goodness its a UTI(urinary tract infection). Poor Amy felt bad because she thought it was something more major, I told to thank God that she didn't need surgery and UTI are not "just" they are serious and obviously very painful otherwise they wouldn't have given her morphine several times during the day.

They had to consult a surgeon to get a prognosis because no one thought of looking at her kidneys on the ultrasound and no one mentioned that the urine test showed up bacteria. They seemed to drag everything out in hospitals, but all the staff were very warm and friendly and just couldn't do enough to help.

My sister in law Leanne works there, she works in maternity and she was such wonderful help. She came down and chatted to us, got us lunch and coffee and even made us laught. She spoke to the nurses and the surgeon because she knew all the right questions to ask. Thank you so much Leanne for all your kindness and help.

We got home at 7pm today and I am tired but I am very thankful that my daughter doesn't need surgery and that for now she is well.

2006-11-26T09:26:00.000+11:00

HANGING VINES Remember my last post about it, feels like it's been ages since I started it. I guess it has. I finally finished it! And I should be getting a star from Lacevember for my finished project (I hope so anyway).

I am very happy with how it worked out. Next project? I'm not sure yet, there are so many lace things I want to knit that are on my list. I need more then this life time to do them all in.

I have socks to finish and I am dying to knit up my Mountain sock yarn that I got from Monica.
I don't want to start it though until I finish the other socks I haven't finished yet.

Recently I got some Merino/Possum lace weight and another Heartstring pattern from
YarnsOnline which I did plan to do next, but I think I might put that on hold for now.

Like Donna said on her site " Why is nearly everything I want to knit is made from lace weight?" and I am in the same boat. We lace knitters need more hours in a day, especially me as I am not a very fast knitter.

Must go now, my daughter is coming over for dinner and I need to cook. Desert is my most favourite part of a meal and today I'm making Rich Lemon Curd Sponge, I have never made it before so I hope it works out ok. My daughter doesn't really eat desert but I hope she will try some.

It's such a beautiful day out there today I will have to get stuck into the garden too and clean it up a bit. No knitting for me today until late tonight I guess.

2006-11-20T20:33:00.000+11:00

Lace, lace and more lace
Yeah they finally arrived in the mail today. I had the Victorian Lace Today on back order at Amazon since July. I only had a quick flick through it so I could post some picture up. The patterns look beautiful.

The Shawls and Scarves book looks great too, so later on when I put my son to bed I will have a really good read of both. Needless to say I won't be doing much knitting tonight.

Here are some pictures for inspiration

They are all so beautiful, it will be a very hard
decision which one to make first.

Anyhow, I am off to do some serious reading of my lovely new lace books.

I also picked up some Knitpicks lace weight yarn on ebay so I will be able to use that for one of these projects. With all the stress I've been going through these past few weeks, these couldn't have arrived at a better time. Together with my bargain purchase at ebay yesterday they have really cheered me up.

Happy Knitting Everyone!

2006-11-19T20:15:00.000+11:00

Tired and no pics.

I haven't blogged for a while. Christmas in the toy industry is always busy. I had to do an exhibition at Melbourne Uni this week from Friday to Satruday, every year they have this big conference on for Early Childhood Educators and they get people in from all over the world, so you get to meet some very interesting people. Then today in at work all day making up name puzzles for orders. It's 8.10 I still have not had any dinner and I am sooooooo tired. But worst of all I tried to do some knitting between the session at the Uni and kept stuffing up my lace. I am so close to finishing it and last night I had to rip back 5 rows. I could cast off now because it is long enough but I don't want to waiste the silk yarn.

Also I don't use life lines because I never have before and I just think it would add much more time to the work but now I'm not so sure. I think I would probably have saved time.

I still haven't finished the socks either because work and house work is taking up sooooooooo much of my time. I've even neglected taking my poor dogs for a walk.

Even though I live in Melbourne I don't get to go to Lygon Street so while I was doing the exhibition at Melbourne University between the sessions I went for a walk to admire all the lovely shops.

I spotted Borders so I thought that I would go and check out if they had any good knitting books ( not that my knitting library needs any more, but I reckon you can never have enough). I saw the Magazine sign first so I went over and I probably shouldn't have. Wanna know why? Well, recently I subscribed to IK magazine in the US and I have not yet received my IK Winter 06 issue and guess what was on Borders magz shelf. Yep, you guessed it IK winter 06.

Wouldn't you think that they would or should get it out to their subscribers first. After all they do get paid in advance for it! I was so disgusted that I just walked out of there and forgot to look at the knitting books. That will teach me not to get so up tight about things.

Anyhow, I am off to do some knitting and I promise to have some pictures next time.

2006-11-13T19:36:00.000+11:00

Third Lacevember Contest

The Question: What are your ideal lace making conditions?

My favourite times :- Early morning while everyone is still a sleep or in the evening after I have finished all the home things and my son has gone to bed.

My favourite place: - In my arm chair with a cushion or my dog behind my back, and the cat is sometimes on my lap, my feet up on the coffee table and the lace chart on the arm of the chair on my left. If I happen to be on my own I listen to music while I'm knitting but usually hubby likes to have the TV on. I try to block the tv out as I need concentration.

2006-11-04T08:33:00.000+11:00

HOT SOCK SWAP

This was the parcel I sent to my Hot Sock Swap Pal Melinda in Canada. The parcel only took 8 days to get there which I thought was pretty good. Because when I did the lace swap that took 14 days to get to Rhode Island. I am very happy that Melinda liked the gooddies I sent. Some Australian Coffe, Ceylon Tea, 100% Merino 4ply sock yarn from TheKnittery
And last but not least a block of Lindt Chocolate, my favourtie.

Jared with our dogs. Bing and grandma, she is getting all white in the face now, ageing gracefully.

2006-11-02T23:22:00.000+11:00

I received my parcel from my Hot Sock Swap pal Monica. And she sent me a wonderful parcel with these beautiful yarns. The coffee is really nice. The chocolates were very nice too it was all eaten in one day.

The Mountain Colors yarns we can't get here in Australia and what a pity it is . It is the most gorgeous sock yarn I have had so far, it feels beautiful and soft and the colours are amazing, the pictures do not do it justice.

I said to my husband that I don't know if I want to knit something from it or just admire it and pat it, it's so beautiful.

Thank you Monica for sending me such a wonderful parcel. And thanks to Laura for organising a great swap.

Here are some more picutures.

The colours in the Opal are beautiful also. Monica picked my favourite colours in both yarns I don't know how she knew.

2006-10-30T22:40:00.000+11:00

Frogmouth - we have had the pleasure of these beautiful creatures company for two years in a row. Every year they come in August and stay until the chicks have grown up and learned to fly. When they leave their nest we miss them because every day they whilst they are in our garden they are here greeting us.

The picture you see is what we see from our front door, these massive gum trees are in our front garden ( I do curse them in December because they make such a huge mess). You can see Mum and the two chicks in this picture but on Sunday for the first time ever we had the entire family on the nest, Mum, Dad and the babes, they get shown off to all our visitors. Jared took this photo.

Well, that is it for posting today, it has taken me ages because I had some problem with the html. Arrrghhh! I am really tired now as it's 11.30 pm way past my bed time. And the only bit of knitting I did on my lace shawl was just two rows while I waited in the car at school pick up this afternoon.

Jared had a wonderful day on Sunday with some of his cousins and a couple of close friends. He wanted a number 10 cake so that was nice and simple to make.

My daughters' ex gave him a PSP - just what I needed, another thing to try and control his time over. It's so hard to get them off the computer and Play Station. Oh well.

Bing this is my other baby that keeps me busy and away from my knitting. He is 6 years old and a hand full, but you wouldn't think so when he is looking like this. But I don't mind because he keeps me fit, Vizsla's need a lot of regular exercise.

2006-10-30T21:07:00.000+11:00

BING

This is my other baby that keeps me busy and away from my knitting. He is 6 years old and a handfull, but you wouldn't think so would you, when his is laying down so peacefully. But he keeps me fit because he needs regular excercise. I have his grandma too, but will need to get a nice photo of her and post it. She keeps him company when we are not home and out of trouble.

2006-10-29T09:42:00.000+11:00

Happy Birthday Jared

Just a quick one this morning as I have not blogged for 12 days.
It's my sons 10th birtday today so this weekend I have not done any knitting.

Still working on the Hanging Vines shawl and socks so I have no new pictures to post. My Heaven yarn is waiting patiently to be knitted up.

I actually cheated late yesterday afternoon and did a little sample testing with it. Funny, a few people have compared it to KSH by Rowan but I don't think it's anything like it. The only thing they have in common is that they are both mohair but the feel is totally different.

I like how it feels and looks it's really beautiful and soft, light and has body to it. Where as KSH is very light and it's finer. If I had to chose I would probably go for Heaven.

My Hot Sock Swap partner Melinda received her parcel and she liked everything so that's always good. It only took 8 days to get to Canada

That's all for now, I must get ready as all the family is coming over to celebrate Jareds' birthday.
And I am an hour behind as I forgot about daylight savings.

2006-10-17T18:35:00.000+10:00

Lorna's Laces - Heaven

A beautiful soft lace weight I got from Taryn at PurlYarns.

I want to knit the lace shawl from The Kintter magazine called Espresso. It's a much richer chocolate in real life, slightly verigated and beautifully soft yarn. Lace is not the easiest thing to knit from mohair because if you make a mistake it's a real bitch to frog.

My daughters boyfriend asked me how long it took to wind it into a ball - I couldn't say because I didn't time myself and hubby helped also. I know one thing though, it took ages, that's what you get for forgetting to ask to have it wound into a ball. Must try to remember next time. And what's more I have loads of skeins that need to be wound into balls. Perhaps I should ask for a wool winder for Christmas.

Hanging Vines Shawl

This is a lovely Heartstring pattern and Mulberry Silk I bought from Meaghan at YarnsOnLine

I had have trouble concentrating occassionally but I love knitting this. It's a simple enough 12 row repeat pattern but when I first started knitting it moving the stitch markers on the 3rd row really messed me up. But now I've got the hang of it and I'm going ok.

SocktoberFest

I am knitting these socks for my son Jared. Very simple socks I know but I wanted something quick for my in between knits. The wool I bought from
Meaghan at YarnsOnline

I love the colour and it's nice wool too. The pattern is from Nancy Bush's book Knitting Vintage Socks.

2006-10-08T20:53:00.000+10:00

I am very new to knitting socks but I signed up for the - Socktoberfest - here are my answers to the questions:

When did you start making socks?

Although I have been knitting for over 20 years I only started knitting socks this year. My inspiration came from Yarn magazine, the issue they did on socks.

Did you teach yourself or were you thought by a friend or relative? Or on a class?

I just followed a pattern from Yarn magazine.

What was your first pair?

My first pair were the Sister Socks from Yarn Magazine

How did they “held up” over time?

Well, they were only just finished not long ago so can’t comment yet.

What would you have done differently?

Nothing at the moment as I haven't knitted enough pairs to know.

What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?

Lorna’s Laces Shepherd sock yarn and Wildfoote by Brown Sheep Co

Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?

I like using DPNs and I don’t crochet

Which kind of heel do you prefer?

Haven’t knitted enough socks yet to know.

How many pairs have you made?

Only two but I intend to knit a lot more.

And now for my hot sock swap, I have ordered the yarn and of course couldn't help but buy some for me too. Very naughty I know but you all know how it is. All I need to do now is buy a few other gifts with it and send it off to Canada. Parcels need to be out by the 21st of October so I'm hoping I can send mine off by the end of this week.

I haven't done any knitting today as I went to the movies with my daughter to see "The Devil Wears Prada" it was a good movie and Amy and I really enjoyed it. Amy read the book and she said it was pretty much keeping in with the story. Now I should really go and do some ironing but I think I will knit instead I have a terrible headache and I think some relaxation is in order. So no lace knitting for tonight only some mindless knitting.

Hope you all have a great week ahead.