A daytime class option would have been nice.

Tafe offers their multimedia subject in two ways.

A) A 1 week block (think brain overload)in the shcool holidays or

B) One class a week for the term.(more realistic as far as having time to absorb the information)

The problem with spreading it out over a term is that then it is only offered as a night class. Leaving Miss B home alone every Tuesday night and coming home myself, by train, alone and in the dark was not an option.

So Miss B spent the week with her nanna and I left my brain in the classroom amonst all the electronic components.

The advantage being that I was so busy in class that I had no time to just stay home and sulk.
When I came home and did sulk and stomp about, Miss B wasn't there to see it.

Lucy our other cat was pretty thrown by the sudden changes. Kit gone. Miss B gone. Me being gone all day and getting home later than usual. She made herself very comfy on my lap when I got home each night.

I loved the class, my brain exploded several times, and I managed to get all the tasks done. I also passed the prac test that we were all scared of . YAY!!!

Our lecturer John was fantastic!

Patient, understanding, non critical, approachable.

While he obvioulsy knows his stuff, he never once made anyone feel silly for not being familiar with the equipement.
He didn't expect us to understand it all instantly and explained things as many times as we needed.He explained things simply, yet never came accross as condescending.
He would tell us what wasn't working and leave us to think about what line was wrong, letting us figure it out for ourselves, but was always there when we got totally confuzzled and needed more explanation.
We must have driven him nuts, yet he never got flusterred or irritated. Even when we had wired up something totally back to front and inside out.

Now to clone him and have him lecture the other subjects..........

Kit was my favourite.

I know parents aren't supposed to have favourites amongst thier children, but does that rule apply when it comes to cats?

My scaredy cat Kit, who runs and hides from people let alone cars, somehow managed to get hit by a car last weekend.

We burried her in her sunny spot, but it doesn't feel real yet.

Coming home to her not being here is strange.
I keep expecting her to walk in and have her miow at me for being out all day.
Or to come sit on the keyboard so I stop studying and pay her some attention.
Or something.

I can't believe how much I miss her.

Rogue? What Rogue?

Do you remember Rogue?


That happy red blob that was knitting up so fast and squishily.

It went to the beach to have it's picture taken and then just vanished.

It is too small. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!.

Today is the day I face it.


I will be the one in the corner surrounded by the pile of frogged red yarn.

Family History and the Cemetery

One of the other things that has been recently distracting me has been family history.
Part of puttting the pieces together is either going to the cemetery or looking at the records.

Wandering around the graveyard and praying that your relative is not the one burried under the unreadable headstone, wondering if you will be able to find it at all and secretly hoping the headstone says a litttle more than just the date of death is all part of the process.

Time consuming, fascinating and frustratitng as the procedure can be, I accept all of this as part of the search.

What I didn't like was when I went to search for a relative in the Cheltenham Cemetary here in Adelaide, was that there are no searchable records accessable to the public.

No link via the council pages.

No nothing.

The way to access information for this particular cemetery is to contact their admin office, put your request in writing along with a fee and wait four weeks for a reply.

I have to say this disgusts me.

I have been able to search every other cemetery for free. I haven't come accross this before and it has totally thrown me.

What happens to those who have travelled to search for relatives? They don't have four weeks to wait for a reply.

What if the relative isn't burried in that particular cemetery? Is it fair to be charged for this?

What if? What if?

The records are obviously there. Why are they not available to the public?

I really feel that this information should be freely given.

What say you?

And another project begins

I met up with Kate, Em, Helen, Denise and others for WWKIP Day.

Of course everything I have on the needles requires concentration throughout the whole project, or it is at the point where concentration is required.

So what did I do?

Cast on a new pair of socks.......

A busy week

Last weekend Miss B and I went to the Spinners and Weavers open day at Little Hampton with Miss A and Tigers.

Dispite the yarn and ready made knitwear on offer, I found most of it just wasn't me. I did find myself fascinated with the bits and pieces in the stall offering shawlpins, tapemeasures and earing holders though.

What did others think of the offerings???

I finally got Miss B to stand still for 5 seconds and model Black Black Black.




She loves it.



The Bendigo Classic seems to pick up and hold every bit of fluff and fur possible. It probably would have looked better knitted at a tighter gauge and I really don't like the neck. It's what Miss B wants though so I guess for now it stays.




I finished my fetchings.

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in Black - 1 and a bit balls leftover from making Tubey.

Needles: 4mm dpns.

I had a discussion on Stash with a class mate.

Hi Marcus :)

His mother is a quilter and therefore he totally understands the concept of stash.

There is no such thing as too much stash, there is only the question of having enough for a particular project.

Usually you don't have enough of a particular item and therefore purchasing more stash is entirely appropriate.

Marcus's Mum has taught him well!!!!

I started Elbac

and I received an Options Folder with I managed to snaffle in the Destash Thread on Ravelry.

Thanks Barb!!!

Snug feet

I finished the Thuja's just in time for the cold nights. I think I have made 3 or 4 pairs of these now, and each pair I love more than the last. Probably something to do with knowing in advance how snuggly they are going to when they are done.

Pattern: Thuja

Yarn: 2.5 balls Cleckheaton Country 8ply -Burgundy

Needles: 4mm dpn's

Also finally cast off, seamed, washed and drying is Black Black Black. Miss B's never ending black jumper.

Hopefully I can talk Miss B into modelling over the weekend.

All this finishing, I think it's time to cast on some fetchings

Even cuter than I had imagined..........

I don't normally like soft toys or bears at all.

They don't do anything, the collect dust and they take up space that I could fill with yarn or books.

But somehow even I can't resist the hedgehog.

It's all Donna's fault, hers was soooooooooo cute and she even sent the eyes and nose so I just had to drop everything else and wrestle with the floof.

The hegdehog is done and I am totally sucked in by the cuteness. Thankyou Donna for being so evily enabling :)

Kit on the other hand isn't so sure about the blue floofiness and the attention it is getting from the humans.

Yarn Update

The international yarn supplier will be sending the replacement yarn at their cost. YAY!!!!

Now to go and sew up a hedgehog.....

A question

I ordered some yarn from somewhere overseas.

It has arrived but they sent the wrong colour.

I have e mailed them to let them know and they have replied asking "Do I want the correct colour sent?"

Duh, I want what I ordered, but I am unsure what happens if I say yes...........

Do they then send me the correct colour, but I pay for that yarn and postage?

Do I return the wrong coloured yarn, meaning I pay for postage on that?

I am not sure how it works out without me paying more money in some way, and I already stretched the budget to get the yarn in the first place.

Or do I just accept the colour that was sent to me?


How have you dealt with this issue?

Inspired by the cuteness........

Just because it's cold and I wanted a quick fix, I started some Thuja's.

Burgundy Cleckheaton Country in 8Ply.




But then Miss B and I were distracted by the cuteness over on Donna's Blog and just had to have some for ourselves.

Seriously, when the teeneage member of the household is trying to figure out how to reach through the monitor and swipe a knitted project, even promissing to knit it herself (note: teenage inhabitant generally refuses to knit, so project must be super special), you get your hands on pattern and yarn quick smart.


Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough to keep her interest, she has been distracted by a pumpkin headed person from a creative knitting Halloween issue, but at least she is knitting.

I have to try not to giggle every time I ask her to do something and she responds with "But I want to knit." or "When I finish this row."


The result is I get the privilege of knitting the Hedgehog :)




Half the back to go.

Discoveries and decisions.

Discovery.

Knitting is kicking my butt at the moment.

Gauge keeps lying to me and I find myself needing to reknit the body of Cobblestone.


Decision.

Ignore the body for now and work on a sleeve.






Much more enjoyable than tempermental knitting was spending Thursday with Tigers and drooling over her spectacular sock yarn stash.
Otherwise known as the NOT Stash, everyone knows sock yarn doesn't count - right?

There are going to be some seriously warm feet in that house.

Small projects

Small projects don't always equal a small investment in time.
I know this and yet I am repeatedly surprised at how long it takes to complete a pair of socks.
I realise that the stitch count for a pair of socks is some where up there with the stitch count for a jumper, yet I am always horribly dissappointed that socks just don't grow fast enough.
Especially when I am only so so about the colour.

The opal sock yarn was bought a few years ago when Miss B was in orange mode.

She is now in Green/Black mode so I will have some brightly coloured feet this winter.

And something I enjoyed working on sooooooooo much more.

Gretel, this time for me.

Once again in the discontinued Angora Supreme and once again Miss B insists that the cables look like trees and that the 'Tree Hat' shouldn't ever be worn.

Meh, Miss B is also on school holidays and happily giving her opinion on anything and everything.

I am conspiring to drag her to a yarn store where I can cover her in so much yarn that she can't talk for 5 minutes or so ;p

Either that or knit her a bobbled bikini. :)

About time...

It feels as though I haven't finished a project for a very long time. Everything seems to be hanging on forever and going so slowly around here. Especially these socks.
I really, really didn't like working with the tangly yarn and am glad I sent the other two balls to a new home so they couldn't sit there staring at me, making me feel guilty, knowing that I was never, ever, going to knit them up.

Now that they are done though I am glad I persisted as somehow I do like them.



They are a little scratchy but should come good with a wash.



I enjoyed finishing something so much that I decided to cast on a (hopefully) quick knit.

Koolhaas just because I wanted a purple one for me even before I made the grey one for C.






Gretel is growong slowly..............

And I am about to start the sleeves on the Cobblestone Pullover.

Fighting tangles

Sometimes you just have to sit down and do it, wether it's type up some homework or untangle some sock yarn.

The sock is progressing and is almost up to the toe, funnily enough homework is moving its way forward too.

Now if only people would stop tempting me with their never ending ravelry ques. You know who you are ;p

Settled now?

Between moving, classes starting up again, personal happenings and the ridiculous heat we have had lately, I just haven't felt settled.

Funnily enough my knitting seems to follow the pattern of my current classwork. Scattered and all over the place.
I start off all enthused and race along until something gets tricky/ I make a mistake/ I don't understand something. Then I skip ahead to the next section as best I can.
Ultimately I have to come back to that point and fix it to be able to finish it.

Guess what I am doing this afternoon...........and no it's not knitting :(.




Where does that leave me with my knitting?

Spotlight socks - Yarn needs major untangling.

Opal socks - I need to rip back a few rows, my feet aren't THAT long.

Black Black Black - I need to sew up the pieces.......... someone send seaming mood.

Mitts - I need to rip back......... I forgot to increase for the thumb duh.......... oh and what do I do with all those ends? Do I just leave them and sew them in later? Do I sew them in along the way? If so........ how and where?

Rogue - I love this. I have separated the front and back.
Working on the back and eeek, my tension seems to have changed.

I think I know how to fix this, I am just not in the mood to rip back just now.



That is one pile of uninspiring knitting staring at me. It all needs fixing of some sort.


What to do, what to do.......... ohhhhhhhhh I know cast on............

YAY!!! Cleckheaton Angora Supreme in grey. Cast on Gretel for me.

Knit, knit, knit.

What the ??? Broken yarn........

Join yarn.

Knit, knit, knit.

Broken yarn......... eeek moths have been munching.

Throw yarn down in disgust.

Get out other ball of yarn and wind it to check for damage.

Perfect ball, nothing wrong with it. Trust me to have started with the moth eaten ball.

Wonder why moths ate one ball and not the other. Decide it doesn't matter and just be grateful they left me something to knit with.

Decide it's time to work on the one thing that doesn't need fixing.

Cobblestone.

Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed raided from stash.

So called bargains...........

I bought the Moda Vera Socks from Spotlight the other week.

I am sure I had decided not to buy cheap sock yarn again after last time, but I think it whispered something about encouraging the local craft stores to stock sock yarn and I got sucked in. It came home with me.

I chose the burgundy/ khaki combo and I like how the pattern is knitting up.
The yarn is a little thicker than the Moda Vera Adore that I tried last time but still pretty thin compared to other sock yarns.
It is not super soft like patonyle, yet I am not finding it scratchy at all either.







But damn does it tangle and stick to istelf when you try knitting from the centre of the ball.
I will finish this pair, just because I am stubborn, but I can't see myself using it again.

So if anyone likes dealing with tangles and wants the other two balls of this I have in my stash...... let me know. It's all yours.

Just promise not to tell me that it was only my ball that was tangly.

A finished swift

The swift is done and I love it.
I love it so much I want to buy yarn just so I can sit and wind it.
OK, I would probably still want to buy yarn anyway, but this makes it so much more fun.
I almost think I owe C another Koolhaas for this.







And knitting......... this is Rogue at the beach.

The body is now done and I am ready to separate the front and back.

This is one of those knits I don't want to put down.

Just one more row.

Just till the cable does that next bit.

Ohhhhhhhhhh pretty, just till it twists that way again.

I am beginning to think making another of these for Miss B is going to be no hardship at all........

Project Spectrum - Fire

It took me a while but I finally decided that my Project Spectrum for the fire element would be Rogue.

I have wanted to make this jumper for a few years and even cast on at one stage.
Wrong yarn, wrong colour, and mixed dyelots. Eeeeeeek!!!!
Yes that attempt did get frogged.





Now that I have started (again), I don't want to stop.

I am really enjoying watching the cable emerge and the brightness of the yarn.

Bendigo Rustic 12 ply in Red Currant.

Knitting at last.

Thanks to the enablement of Donna and Kate I have been able to get back to the knitting.

Koolhaas is finished and modelled by the recipitant.

Did I enjoy knitting it? Yes

Does the reciptant love it? Yes

Does it look good on the recipitant? Yes

So far so good.

Do I look stupid in hats? Yes

Am I going to make one for myself anyway? Probably :)

Does kit care? Only if she can sit on it.