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.

On Knitting Gloves in the round

I love it, it gets rid of the giant, huge, monstrous seam down the side. Can you tell I don't like seaming???
What I don't like is remembering to convert every second line of the pattern seeing as it was written to be knit flat.
Not that it's really hard, because it's not. Just distracting to try and remember while you are watching TV.
You look up at the next add break and realize you have been following the pattern for flat knitting again and have to rip back...... again.
I ended up writing out the pattern for in the round on paper instead so I could just knit and not have to really think. Much better and the glove is now looking like it should. Now I just need to add some fingers and a thumb and try not to leave any gaps between the fingers.

This is Lucy, the one who always insists on sitting on my knitting and just can't seem to understand why I don't want her fur on everything.
And this yumminess is a Christmas present I recieved from Miss B's Nanna.
100 gm of Boucle Random in shade 591 from www.touchyarns.com
The only question I have now is what am I going to make with this?

After Christmas Blahs

After all the mad rushing around shopping, buying presents, wrapping presents, exchanging presents, catching up with my family and C's family this week I woke up this morning feeling a bit flat. Nothing wrong, just blah. I finally have a couple of days to myself which I had been looking forward to for weeks, now that it's here I find I can't settle to anything for very long. I got this out.
And started knitting this. Another pair of orange socks for Miss B. Perhaps ankle socks this time as I really don't think I can face a full pair in orange.

Then I spent some time keeping Kit company and reading blogs. Mary and Bliss both blog about their pets and definately cheered me up with their pets crazy antics, thanks so much. I just love Bunny's little jammies they are precious. And hide and seek with Mary's little sooky cat Ali. I mean sook in a good way, in that Ali is just so cuddly she couldn't get any closer to Mary if she tried. If I didn't already have Kit and Lucy I might be tempted to run off with Ali. Here is my sleepy Kit.

I pulled out a glove that has been waiting to be sewn up properly for months. It was knit on two needles and there is way too much sewing left to be done for my liking.
I didn't sew it up but made a start on the second one. This time using dpn's to save on the sewing at the end.

Christmas Eve already???

Yes, yes, yes, Grumperina these socks can definately go in your gallery. I love them. I love them so much I even put them on in yesterdays ridiculous heat for a photo. If it wasn't so hot I would have left them on they are so nice and comfy. I am very tempted to make more.Check back after the christmas break.

This is the big ball of yarn I was left with after frogging the pink jumper. Thats 3 balls of lincraft poodle, 83% mohair, 17% acrylic all rolled up there. My hands and wrists were sore after unraveling and I now understand what ball winders are for. Can I add one to next years x mas wishlist???




Miss B's secret traveling project socks. Ok so they are no longer the secret traveling project as Miss B barged into my room at 6 am the other morning while I was knitting and saw them. She immediately got all excited and knew they were for her. She is the only one crazy enough to want such brightly coloured socks. She was even more impressed that I had been knitting them secretly for the last ten weeks on the bus to tafe so she couldn't see them. The only problem with this is the bus ride to tafe isn't long enough to get much knitting done hence the secret knitting in my room and her discovering them.


And here is my little christmas corner on top of the yarn drawers. Seems it's a perfect place for the cats to sit aswell.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=0263787433
click the link for your chritmas card from me :)

If it doesn't work just copy and paste it to your browser.

Jaywalkers Done

They were done last week but I needed a picture. Here you go Cara, picture proof they are all done. I love them. They are so soft. Now I just have to wait till it cools down enough to wear them.
Patonyle yarn in discontinued colour, knit on 2.5 mm addi.

38c or 100 f = HOT!!!

Either way yesterday was way too hot to look at knittning. Instead it was spent shopping (airconditioned shops) and wrapping a gazillion presents. Wrapping, wrapping and more wrapping.
Then a visit with my Mum to exchange presents.
After worrying needlessly about wether she would like what we bought for her, she likes it so much she ripped the box open instead of opening it like anyone else would. Was begining to wonder who the child was....... Miss B or my Mum. At least we know she liked it.
We also went to the beach for a couple of hours to walk along the sand and cool down. All I needed was a camera to be able to take pictures of it all. Soon. Very soon I will give in and just go buy a digital camera and then the blog will be smothered with way too many pictures.

Now there is a pile of christmas paper all over the lounge floor to be thrown out and some more wrapping and sending to happen.

Frogging

Frogging is fun!!

But only when you know what you are working on really isn't working out. That's what happened with the pink jumper. The back of the pink jumper , that's as far as I ever got and it has been sitting around for two years. I started working on it today, decided to stop and measure it. Crap 7 cm out. Add that to the 7cm out the front would have been and it would have been a sleeping bag, not a jumper. No way that would have been wearable, although the cats would have loved to claim it as a kitty bed.
So serious frogging happened and I now have a large ball of yarn sitting on the coffee table and a decision to make.

Do I restart the jumper or let the startitis that I've been fighting take over?

About the green sock

It is done, finally. It was the first pair of socks I ever started. I had finished the first one and then done the leg of the second before I ran out of yarn and left it for months.

Can I tell you just how ugly these socks are? They are green. Green is ok but not this green . They are acrylic .100% acrylic.
They are long, up to my knees. They are ribbed with a 4,3 rib.
I have ladders between every plain and purl and yet from purl to plain it is fine. I have no idea why........ a tension issue perhaps???

The only reason I finished these socks is that I like to keep them as a reminder of how much better my sock knitting has become.

Jaywalkers are done!!!

I love these socks. They are done and I want more of them. Lots, lots more. Unfortunately I have no more yarn suitable for this pattern. Yarn shopping anyone???

Ok Ok maybe I do, but the shopping bit sounded like fun. Time to raid the yarn stash and see what I come up with.

Continuing Jaywalkers

Yes I know it's the same pic as before but it's where I am up to on the second sock now. So just imagine a completed sock placed next to this one and thats what I have.

And imagine my eyes skipping from project to project amongst all the wip around the house trying to figure what I should work on next while the whole time I am really wanting to start something new.

All done

Assignments are all done that is. Finally, all done!!! Untill next year anyway.
This means hopefully some more knitting time and more importantly some jaywalker knitting time. I am almost up to the heel on the second sock. Then I have to figure out if I have any other yarn that is suitable for this pattern. Would yarns printed to knit up in fair isle patterns work ? Are there enough stripes in between to be able to get away with it or will it just look a jumbled mess?

Teresa was kind enough to e mail and let me know she couldn't add a comment. I have changed my settings now, so feel free to say hi.
Yes that includes you Col.

Firstly we have pics of the finished fuzzy feet. They are probably about a cm too long, but compared to the unfelted 45cm that they were I can live with that. Miss B is still waiting for a pair for herself.

Secondly we have completed blue/brown stripy socks. These were the first socks I ever made using my addi turbo and they went so fast. There is definitely more brown in this than I would have liked, but there is still something about them that makes me like them.
Third is one patonyle self striping sock for Miss B . Sshhhhh It's a surprise. These socks are sooooooooo bright, I'm really not sure about the colours but I think she will like them and the Patonyle is softer than I would have thought. The only problem is sneaking in any knitting time on these so she doesn't see me making them.
And of course the Jaywalker. This one actually got finished last night and I am about to start it's mate. I love this so much, I am also loving the yarn. Also Patonyle but unfortunately it is a discontinued colour. I will have one ball left over after finishing these socks and am wondering if I could get away with using it for the top of a pair of socks with a solid colour for the foot. Something to think about for now.

Slow socks

Jaywalker's are growing so slowly still. I'm not sure why this is as everyone else's Jaywalkers seem to be flying along.
The pooling has stopped and the sock is looking very pretty. Maybe that's why it's not growing....... I keep looking at it instead of knitting it.
It's also the fact that after having tried the sock on, I have found that everyone is right, the sock is a tight fitting sock......DUH! It will still fit but not with as much give as I am used to my socks having. If I were to make another pair I would definately make the larger size. I am dreading the thought that Miss B may realistically be able to claim these socks as her own.
I really don't think Grumperina's plan when making these socks was for the finished product to be used to slide across wooden floors.

Knitting continued

Cara over at January One has added me to the Jaywalker kal. The Jaywalker socks are growing, just very slowly. Something to do with assignments being due. I am up to the gusset decreases and I'm not sure if I like the pooling that seems to have appeared. I am hoping it will look better once I get further into the foot.

I have finished the blue/brown self striping socks and Miss B is now loudly saying she wants me to actually knit something for her. She wants socks and she wants them now!!! What she doesn't know is that I already planned on making some for her but am trying to hide them from her. I want it to be a surprise.

Bliss over at I Hide Yarn is having a birthday so go over and say Hiya. And Bliss, Miss B and I have a little something here for you. E mail me with a snail mail addy.

After me telling Miss B about Yarnharlot's entry with her daughter using dpn's, Miss B decided she wanted to try them.
Not a complete success but not as totally unco-ordinated as I was with them at first either.

Procastinating

Your Aura is Purple Your Personality: You're a dreamer and visionary. You believe you were put on this earth to do something great. You in Love: You're very passionate but often too busy for love. You need a man who sees your vision and adopts it as his own. Your Career: You need a job that helps you make a difference. You have a bright future as a guru, politician, teacher, or musician. What Color Is Your Aura? Take This Quiz :-) Find the Love of Your Life (and More Love Quizzes) at Your New Romance.

Ummm yep this is what I do when I should be typing up an assignment. Pleasant quiz diversion tactics. That and knit. And keep reading over my information , but somehow not seem to take any of it in. Blah

Jaywalkers ressurected

The Jaywalkers have been restarted, this time using patonyle in colour 4305. This is giving the zig zag effect a much better result. It's still rather short colour repeats but definately long enough to show the pattern.

Jo has convinced me to join the Jaywalker kal . She has just started some socks herself and will be knitting the Jaywalkers later.

A frogging expedition.

Yep those Jaywalker socks I spent an incredibly ridiculous amount of time casting on for, knitted the ribbing, knitted about 5 repeats and it just wasn't right. The yarn wasn't right for the pattern. The yarn is definitely variegated, but a little too much so. No lovely zigzag stripping happening here, just mottled splodges of colour that looked a lot nicer in the ribbing than in the pattern.
So it all got frogged. C looked on horrified at first, he hasn't ever seen me deliberately undo knitting before. Then he wanted to undo it. Watching him pull the sock undone was like watching a little kid, he liked frogging. I finished winding up the yarn and C turns around and says "Can you knit something else I can undo? Can I undo that other sock you have half done in the loungeroom?"

What the????

Shall we just say man bits were seriously threatened and half done socks are safe.

40 minutes

Is how long it took me to cast on and knit ONE row!
I was casting on for a pair of Jaywalker socks on the addi and it just really didn't want to happen. I seem to be casting on extremely tight and therefore totally struggle with the first row.
Having now knit the first twelve rows of rib it seems that it would be totally possible to knit a pair of ribbed socks on the addi after all. Unfortunately ribbing and my hands don't like each other. My hands are already so sore I don't think much more knitting will get done today.
I did manage to knit the first pattern repeat and totally stuff it up, seems I cant count at 6am for some reason.

Donna suggested I join the sock it to me summer kal so yep I have and the Jaywalker socks will be the first ones to be a part of this if I can remember how to count.

The benefits of feeling crappy

Are that you get to spend some time reading. Yes feeling too crappy to knit, argh. Not really getting much reading done either, mainly just flicking through pages and not really understanding much. Might have something to do with the fact that the book is about creating webpages with HTML.

After taking months to figure out how to add stuff here because I was too stuborn to ask anyone and wanted to figure it out myself, but not thinking to get a book. I decided I wanted to be able to understand what the little code thingy's I was typing in were actually for.
This alternated with Monste Stanley's handknitters handbook and a book on Roman Mythology. No wonder I'm not understanding anything!

Another bonus are the kitty cuddles. And if I push it Miss B might even get me a cup of tea.

Fuzzy Feet Felted

The Fuzzy Feet are all finished and felted, and they fit !!! All my worrying was for nothing. I just have an impatient Miss B wondering when I am going to be making some for her.

I have been using my new addi whenever I have had a chance over the weekend which has made the blue/brown sock grow rather rapidly. Now that it is longer it is much easier to move about so perhaps a ribbed sock would be managable on the addi.

I forgot to mention how wonderful the store I got my addi's from was. I had sent extra money to cover postage which it turned out wasn't needed. They were lovely and returned the extra money with my order. Yay for honesty. I will definately be ordering more addi's from them.

On abandoning all current ufo's

Sorry but a state of startitis seems to be happening here. It's all the addi's fault. The new 30cm circular and the sock yarn I bought from the craft fair got together and as a result all other projects are sitting and glaring at me in disgust. I may end up feeling guilty and knit a bit of something else later tonight but not promising anything for now.

I'm still not sure if knitting socks on the circ is that much easier than dpn's as the ribbing makes it all tight and doesn't leave much room to move with, but once I got to the plain part of the sock things moved much more freely. I still have to shuffle the sock around more often than I'd really like but I'm getting used to it slowly. I probably wouldn't want to do any ribbed socks this way, but for plain socks using self striping yarns it's great. Definately more travel friendly too without the million needle ends sticking out you get with dpn's.

What the boss does on his day off

Yep he sends me more pictures of my knitting. :)

Firstly we have a completed fuzzy foot along with a normal sized sock to show just how huge the fuzzy foot really is.

Then we have C's beanie which he sometimes sleeps in.... it isn't cold here, guess he likes it.

Next is the pair of huge gigantic fuzzy feet that were so big they really didn't want to fit in the picture.

Now for the scarey part....... felting.
Will they felt enough and become smalll enough to actually wear? Or will they become oversized, weird cat toys?

I spent some time showing Col how to use power point, he has now learnt how to apply music throughout his slideshow and set the timings on each slide............. no more clicking each slide for him!
If only he was as quick a learner when needles and yarn are involved.

Once I got home there was a nice lil envelope waiting for me. My Addi needles had arrived, my 30 cm Addi's that every yarn store I called in Adelaide said " 30 cm circulars? Nope they don't exist." Guess who will be taking her Addi's to yarn stores to prove them wrong.

Nice Boss Person

Thanks to a nice boss person who sent them to me, hiya Col, I actually have pictures of the white cozy wool socks and the retro ribby socks.Yay for nice bosses.
Col, you seriously need to hurry up and take up those knitting lessons. Because only then will you understand when I call and say " I can't come in today I need to knit."
And hiya Ann who was lovely and took the pictures for me. Pssssssst I need pics of those purple socks and purple fuzzy feet too. Oh and one of Col really trying to knit. :P

Giant Feet

That's what it looks like I have if you were to look at the one completed fuzzy foot. It's Huge!!! I am really tempted to just felt this one on it's own and see how small it felts down to. But if I do that the other one will never felt to the same point and I'll have odd fuzzy feet.
I have made fuzzy feet before and I don't remember them being this big. I guess I'll just knit the other one and see.

Other crazy stuff..... all the stuff in my sidebar seems to have disappeared on me. I'm not sure what happened there.

And no I didn't catch any fish with my knitting, but Miss B did manage to catch a little one that had to be thrown back. She was still happy as no one else caught any at all.

Finished Objects All Over The Place

Yep finally, the retro ribby socks are done. So are the white cozy wool socks and C's beanie.
I have even started the fuzzy feet. C, Miss B and I went fishing.Actually Miss B and C went fishing and I went knitting. I have knitted the first three inches, the heel flap, picked up the stitches and then decreased for the gusset and just have the foot and toe to go. And then the other one. I am using a raspberry coloured yarn called cozywool by lincraft, and 7mm dpn's. Will just have to wait and see how they turn out.
I haven't even finished them yet and Miss B has put an order in for herself.

Whoot!

I found another woman at Tafe that knits. It has only taken me a year. Perhaps together we can convert the others, hand out needles and yarn at the start of classes. Surely it would be more benificial than keyboard skills and essays??

Do Australians Knit?

Apparently not according to how many stalls were allocated to knitting at the craft fair.
5 stalls. That's it. 5
Actually one of those was for crotchet.
One was for machine knitting.
One was a display by the handknitters guild.
One was a display by the spinners guild.
And there was only one measly little stall where you could actually buy yarn.
All the other gazillion stalls had either fabric or sewing machines or both.

Admittedly it was a Quilting and craft fair but sheeeeeeesh. That's just pathetic.
One lonely little yarn stall that offered very little in real yarn. Lots of novelty crap. If I am going to buy novelty crap I will go to Go Lo and buy it for 50 cents a ball, not $15.
But the one redeeming feature of this lonely stall was the needles. They sold Addi's. Yep Addi's. Whoot! I have finally seen an Addi in real life and not just in peoples blog pictures. Guess what....... That sneaky little Addi followed me home along with a ball of sock yarn.

Even better, the lonely little stall has a store in Australia where I can order more needles and pay by money order. Yep I am one of those strange people who as much as I love my internet I am not going to be putting any account details out there. So off to the post office to get me a money order I go.

Progress of sorts

The Retro Ribby Sock, see it's growing. It would actually grow quicker if I picked it up and knit it instead of just looking at it from accross the room. It is further along than the picture shows as I have done the gusset and part of the foot.

The other thing I seem to keep just looking at and not working on are fuzzy feet. I have the yarn, the pattern and the needles. But that is as far as I have gotten this week.
Hopefully some knitting will get done over the weekend although there are some fun distractions happening. http://www.craftfair.com.au/craft/adelaide/adelaide.html

For a Boss who supposedly doesn't want to knit...

These are some pics Col sent me aswell as an e mail asking for a little help.......





I am trying to knit some undies for my wife but need a few lessons, can you help me, I was able to knit the string part of the g string and then got stuck.....
Regards the phantom closet knitter..



So does anyone have a knitted g string pattern???

About My Mum

My Mum has always knitted for as long as I remember , it was her who taught me to knit.
My Mum knits beautifully and so damn quickly.
I remember the cabled jumpers my dad wore and the reindeer jumpers she made for my brother and I. The school jumpers she made for us. For some reason I don't remember hats or scarves though.
I remember the pattern she couldn't read as it wasn't in English. It was a jumper made from wrist to wrist in two pieces, just a front and a back with no separate sleeves. It had a parrot ( or some bird) that went right across the jumper and around. She couldn't understand the pattern at all and still made the jumper just from the pictures. That jumper is amazing.


When I first tried making a sock my Mum said " Why on earth would you want to make a sock? " I told her I just wanted to see if I could. I wanted to see if I could understand the pattern. My first pair of socks is still unfinished as I finished one and then did most of the leg of the second and ran out of yarn. But I was happy, I could make a sock.
So when Mum saw the Retro Ribby Sock that I am working on I wasn't expecting much of a reaction...It's a sock.......
But Mum loved it. She loved the pattern, she loved the yarn I was using,
she was actually excited about something I was making. (At this point I started pinching myself cause I must have been dreaming)
Mum and I discussed what other yarn she would be able to use to make some.
It turns out she has some BlueBell yarn that should be ok for her to substitute. White Blue Bell yarn that has been sitting in the cupboard from the last baby cardigan she made.23 Years ago. She has yarn that has been sitting there for 23 years.
After 23 years, surely it must fall apart when you pick it up. I asked her if it's still any good after all that time, she says it's fine.

Anyway she sat down to start making herself some Retro Ribby Socks....... got out her yarn, her dpn's. Then she read the label on her yarn and found that as it is so ancient it will need to be handwashed. ( her words).
So she decided she isn't going to be bothered to handwash her socks and didn't make them after all.

WHAT THE?????
Is it really that hard to handwash one pair of socks????
Isn't the specialness of wearing handknit socks worth the handwashing?
She could just buy some other yarn that is machine washable.......
Blah I do not understand my Mum.



So this brings up a question.......... What is the oldest yarn in your stash and how long have you had it for?

Ok two questions......... Are handknit socks worth handwashing for?