Jaywalker 2

A finished object for January........ just in time.
Jaywalker socks , I love them, love them, love them.
Patonyle in discontinued colour knitted in the larger size.

What is whith Blogger and it rearranging all my pictures??? It doesn't seem to matter what order I put them in they come out all mixed up. Anyways I have been playing about with some scrap yarn and have a Birch swatch. No it's not in right weight yarn, I just wanted to make sure I understood the pattern. Now I just need to time and the courage to actually use the Kidsilk Haze. Thankyou Donna and Ann for helping me get hold of the pattern :)

Ummmmm Spotlight is bad..... good....... bad umm yeah, they had 10 balls of yarn for $8.

80 cents for some sparkly stuff that there is no way I want to wear but am happy enough to play about with every now and again just cause its pretty and girly and fluffy and totally crappy novelty stuff.

And 80 cents for some zhivago to make a scarf out of sounds pretty good to me too. Takes away some of the guilt of spending soooooooo much on the Kidsilk Haze that I am too scared to knit with yet.

Next, from a local salvation army store....... I have no idea what it actually is except that its laceweight and soft and cream. Oh and theres lots of it :) If anyone has any more idea of what it is then let me know.

All about socks........ again.

Even in the 40 degree heat ( 104f) I have still been knitting.......... Just very slowly. I seem to be doing more planning of knitting than actual knitting. I suddenly want to knit blankets or throws. Things that you use when it's cold. I want it to be cold. I am so sick of being hot, of not wanting to do anything much or go anywhere and just feeling tired and drained from the heat. I want some cold days where I can really enjoy knitting and not just do a few rows here and there because it's too hot.

I don't even know why I want to make a blanket as I will probably never finish one........ I just want to .... hmm

But yes anyway........... socks




No one said they had to match.

The start of the second sock, picot edging still on dpn's

Sock slowly growing and transfered to circular

Proof that I have started the second sock of each pair. Also proof that I am officially crazy . Putting socks on in 40 degree heat just to take photos is crazy........ right?

A day out with my mum

Pigs
More pigs ( photo's came up in wrong order....... Blah )
And more pigs.

For some strange reason we have these pigs in the middle of Rundle Mall. Kids love them, you quite often see kids trying to put their fingers in the pigs noses. I tried to take a pictue of the little boy doing it but his Mum started giving me funny looks.

Cupid displays in shop windows. Ready for valentines day already.

Miss B was in a weird mood and wasn't letting us take pictures of her so this is what we got. Her feet.

We spent the day walking and walking and walking. Up and down the Mall, into Spotlight and Lincraft to look at yarn ( of course), into the camera shop to get pictures developed, into Hungry Jacks for lunch. Down one arcade and up the other, just looking looking and more looking. Once we had enough with the looking we decided we need another day out at the real yarn stores, you know , the ones that actually sell sock yarn and stuff........

I have no Idea when this outing will eventuate but it is definately one that I will be making happen. Might be an idea to wait a couple of weeks and put some money aside.

I do have one problem though....... Do I really want my Mum to know how much I am prepared to spend on yarn???

Sleepy Happy Dances

I seem to still be receiving birthday presents. Not just actual gifts as such(although I am still getting those :) ) but nice things are happening, things that matter. My mother and I are actually getting along, not only are we getting along but we are being honest with each other, we are bonding.

I was thinking this last Tuesday on my birthday after spending nearly 2 hours on the phone with her then. I was too scared to acknowledge it then in case it was just one of those things..... You know....... Mum was in a good mood but next time we speak it will be as distant as ever.

To totally understand what I am trying to say and how big a deal this is you need to realize that my mum and I generally only speak two sometimes three times a year.

Usually once around Christmas and then again in July for Miss B's Birthday.

It's usually stilted and awkward and uncomfortable with neither of us knowing what the hell to say to each other.

For those of you close to your Mothers I realize you probably can't even begins to understand this..... but it's how we have been for years.
Several times we have both tried to talk more and spend more time together but I don't think either of us was totally ready to just be ourselves and say what needed to be said. There was a lot of you annoyed me when you did blah and it hurt when you said blah and none of us was ready to just say it.

So for us to be able to be saying some of those things and asking questions and really listening to the answers is a big thing.
Previous family history is coming out and emotions are being discussed honestly instead of being denied or not accepted. We are just being us.

Our reasoning for different things is being discussed and we are getting to know how each other thinks, what matters to us, what our priorities are and why we value one thing over another.
We are finding common ground with Knitting and craft. Yay for knitting!!!

I called Mum last night to confirm the time and place we are meeting up today. I called about 6:30 pm. We didn't get off the phone till 1 am.
6 and a half hours......... That would have previously been about 3 years worth of contact. And I get to spend today with her too.
Amazing.
It has only taken me till I am 30 to finally get my mum back. She is no longer the person called mum that I feel I should call every now and again. Now she is MY MUM and I want to call her and I want to know what she is doing, how she is. I want to send her silly things just cause. I want her to know what I am doing, how me and Miss B are doing. I want to share things with her.
Does that explain why I am doing sleepy little happy dances all around the house this morning.

Oh yeah knitting content........... Well there is none......... Blame mum and the phone call ;)

Jawalkers don't go any faster when it's hot

I'm loving these sooooooo much, they are colours I wouldn't normally put together and if I was choosing colours I personaly would have skiped the orange and green. But in this I love them. Unfortunately as the temperature gets hotter the knitting gets slower so I am only knitting a row here and there. Today is going to be 41c or about 106f today so send cool thoughts this way.

For some reason the colours are showing ok in the heel but the rest of the sock looks muddy. Imaging the whole sock as bright and cheerful as the heel.

My birthday gift

12 Balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran................ To make Tubey.
I figure having a Birthday is a fantastic excuse to go wool shopping. Oh wait, who said I need an excuse.........

Knitting in the park

We have knitters, real life proof that I am not the only one here in Adelaide that knits.
Miss B hiding behind the start of her scarf. The ducks that kept us company during our knitting, They would wander from the lake and creep up to the edge of the tables and quack. Maybe they wanted to knit too.
More knitters

We had a great day, with most of the knitters being new to the group. It seems I wasn't the only one who just couldn't go on a wednesday night. There was lots of shawl making and pattern testing going on aswell as some socks and scarves.

It was fantastic to be with others who share my love of knitting and the best part........ no one asked me why on earth I was making a sock.

Disapointing socks

Opals chameleon. Looked gorgeous in the ball but just isn't that great knitted up. I'm thinking perhaps it's the stripes, I'm not liking the wider stripes. Is it just that they seem so plain after working on the jaywalkers? Whatever it is these socks leave me feeling rather blah.

Good news though. Today I get to meet up with other knitters YAY!!!!

Looky Looky

What do we have??

Besides a serious case of unsettled startitis where I don't seem to be able to work on just one thing ( even more so than normal) and want to start even more things. I have the start of my second pair of Jaywalkers. This time with the picot edge. I am loving these even more than the first pair, mainly because I know the pattern and don't have to think too much this time. Also because the pattern just works so well for this yarn. It turns what would otherwise be a rather blah smudgey mish mash of colour into something just amazing. How can you not love that?

1 year = lots of socks

Like many others I have been reviewing the completed objects in my side bar.

* Purple Scarf
* Debbie Bliss Aran Lace Scarf
* Feathers scarf - Gift

*Black Beanie 1- C
*Black Beanie 2 -C
*Grey Beanie 1 - C
*Grey Beanie 2 - Gift
* Brown Beanie - C

* French Market Bag

* B's Mittens

* Purple Fuzzy Feet - Gift
* Pink Fuzzy Feet (mine all mine :)
* Blue not just bootie socks - Gift
* Purple Zhivago Socks - Gift
* Pink Zhivago Sock Pal Socks - Gift
* Orange Socks - B
* Blue Socks
* Blue Stripe Socks
* Grey Socks
* Pink Cleckheaton Socks
* Pink Retro Ribby Socks
* White Cozy Wool Socks
* Blue/ Brown Striping Socks
*Jaywalker Socks
*Green Socks
*Orange Secret Socks -B

13 Pairs of socks

Looks like 2005 was the year of the sock.

I seem to really have trouble finishing bigger items. I either get bored with them way too quickly or they require more effort and concentration than I am able to produce after a day of studying. I envy those knitters out there who have a years worth of jumpers and intricate work. Having said that I think 13 pairs of socks is a pretty good effort considering how much time I actually get to knit. Who knows, maybe this will be the year I actually finish a jumper.

Socks , socks, socks

Why is it with all the things I could be knitting all I want to knit are socks? I can't even wear them for months and months as it's too hot. But still I want socks. The ones that are calling me lately are the 'go with the flo socks' from interweave knits summer 2005. If anyone has a copy of this I can borrow ,trade, or buy, let me know. I seemed to somehow miss that issue but end up with two copies of the fall 2005 issue.( Mumble something about mean newsagents who don't get knitting magazines in)

Adelaide Knitters
There is a meet on Sunday at the Botanical Gardens from 2 til 5pm meeting at the kiosk.

Yay, finally something I will be able to attend as their wednesday night meetings are just way too impractical. Transport, traveling at night, Miss B, School Night ......... yeah it just doesn't work. So it will be great to meet up with other knitters instead of stalking anyone even remotely looking at yarn in a store.

Some goodies that I forgot to blog about . Opal sock wool and Patons Lush. Still not much knitting happening but maybe some will get done later tonight when it cools down.

Excuses Excuses

This is why I haven't been knitting......... I've been too busy shopping for yarn and drooling over yarn to actually knit any.
I spent a week in Melbourne where unfortunately many of the yarn stores I tried to visit were rather rude and closed over the holiday break. Didn't anyone tell them they were supposed to be open just for me?

My favourite would have to be sunspun where I raided the gorgeous kidsilk haze in liquer. It's definately as beautiful in person as everyone has ever said it is. I haven't decided what I will knit with this yet. I am thinking some kind of lacy shawl, something like birch perhaps although I'm really not keen on tracking down a book for one patern. Any suggestions are definately welcome.

There is also a ball of Calmer in there as well as some Opal sock wool, blue and grey with sparkles. The yellow, pink and blue ball is Jigsaw sock wool and destined for Miss B's feet whenever she decides to give up her feralness* after visiting her dad for two weeks.
* Feralness refers to the attitude, answering back, rudeness and basically ignoring everything I have asked her to do since she walked in the door last night. She hasn't even been home a full 24 hours and I am seriously considering sending her back.

The orange, purple and green is a discontinued colour of patonyle as is the odd ball of purple,green and mustard. This last one matches the odd ball I had left after making my jaywalkers.
I can only try and describe the store I found the discontinued colours in. It was small, with lots of cubbyholes. All the cubbyholes were full, like any other yarn store so far. But then you walk past the first shelf of cubbyholes to the next one and between the 2nd one and the third shelf you find yourself stuck. You can't get to the last shelf of yarn because on the floor is even more yarn. Not just little baskets of sale yarn or special yarn. Not even a box or two. No. This was a pile of yarn. A huge ginormous pile of yarn. Bags and bags of yarn all sealed in their plastic bags piled up on top of one another.
The pile was up to my waist and about a metre and a half square. It looked like someone had dropped off a huge box of yarn, taken the box away and left the yarn still in the square shaped pile. And this yarn was old. I'm sure it was so old that not even the lady running the store could have told you was at the bottom.