Eeeek!!!

Eeeek!!! I misread the hood decrease instructions so I now have a very pointy hood. OOOOPs. All that nice grafting has to be frogged and about ten rows need to be ripped back and redone. Hopefully I'll get to it tonight.

Essay was at 1004 words yesterday morning and by 9:30 last night was all done 1957 + referencing bringing it up to the 2000 words needed. Got to love referencing when the brain simply refuses to come up with any more words. Well no , the brain thought of lots of words, just none that were polite or even remotely related to the essay topic. Blah it's not actually that many words......... it's putting them in some kind of order that makes coherent sense that is the problem. And never being happy with what I have written and re written and blah. But for now it is as done as it is ever going to be and that will have to do.

Hoods and things

I nearly didn't make the Central Park Hoodie because when I first saw it I didn't like the seam running down the centre of the hood.

Introduce the magic of grafting and there is no seam.

YAY!!!

Just got to pick up way to many stitches for the band eeeeeeeeeeeek!

Distraction socks are all done........... pity the essay they were distracting me from isn't.

Focus on books....... hide yarn............. eat chocolate.

Ohhhhhhhhh Looky

After reading instead of studying as usual I read Angela's blog and wow, she has some socks. Nothing like seeing a pile of someone elses knitted socks to make you want to start another pair.

I sat and watched some CSI last night and now have the hood started on the Cenral Park Hoodie. I am loving how this is all coming together. I just want to spend all day on it........

The weather has been crappy as I thought, but my mindset on it has changed. I decided to to not worry about blocking and trying to get things dry and have instead been enjoying listening to the rain hitting the roof most of last night and this morning. Doesn't make for good sleep but is a great sound to knit to.

Sleeves all done!!

I have no idea why but that second sleeve seemed quicker than the first one?? Anyway now I have to put it down so I can actually do some work and try and get an essay written.

Of course all I want to do is put all these peices together and knit the hood and finish.

The weather is all crappy and probably going to be wet all weekend so blocking the peices is going to be fun....

Ok OK back to the pile of books and papers.

One sleeve, two sleeve

Well not quite, one is done and the other is started so at least the first one finally ended.

Miss B was in a performance at the Festival Theatre on Monday night. Part of the "Festival of Music" which is held each year and consisted of students from 13 different schools all singing together. Each school practices alone all year and then all get together for only two rehersals together before the final performance.
I have to say I was impressed with the performances the children gave and the way it all came together.
On the night I also bumped into my neice , Miss J, who was also singing. Neither Miss B nor Miss J had realised the other was involved. I'm glad I did manage to bump into her as her mum hadn't been able to come and watch her. At least she knew someone was there in the audience watching. Funny how things turn out.

I really should go and attack this other sleeve, but I'm tired. Maybe I'll just go and hunt down some chocolate instead.

Never ending sleeve

I always think sleeves are smaller than they actually are, so when I actually knit them I can never figure out why they take so long. Maybe it's just because they get bigger and bigger and I prefer to knit things that get smaller like socks and beanies.
I am still stuck on the first sleeve.

I have to admit I might have got past the first sleeve if I didn't decide I feel odd with no socks on the needles and start a pair. I am calling them Distraction socks, they are in Heirloom Heatherwood shade 581. A bluey torquisey colour.

The presentation is done. I'm not sure how as it was only the day before it was due that I only had one page of scribble. On the actual day I had pages and pages of typed notes, handouts for the class, synopsis for the teacher and managed to keep it together and not run away.

Now I just have to get it together and put together a sensible sounding essay. Nah. Lets just forget all about it till next week when it's actually due. No idea why but this seems to be how I work best.
I'm not going to argue with it, especially if it means I get to knit for another day or two.

Speaking of knitting, how much do you love it when a friend says "Lets go to the yarn shop."
How much more do you love it when this friend is a non knitter????(Yes I am trying to convert her. Give me time.)
That's what happened on Friday and of course some yarn came home with me. The Heirloom Heatherwood and some Merino and Fur. 30% Possum Fur 70% Merino.

Love and hate

Loving:
Central Park Hoodie now has a back and two fronts. Still need some sleeves but I am loving how it is knitting up. I am having to force myself to put it down and actually do some work.

Hating:
My assignment is just hanging about and not moving very fast. Some how it just doesn't seem to be coming together this time. A week ago I thought I pretty much had it all together and just had to type it up. Now as I go to type it I keep finding myself taking more and more parts out and it hasn't left me with much to work with.
Just to top it off I am feeling all crappy like I'm coming down with a cold and my brain isn't making any sense of what I am reading.

Deadline is looming so I am thinking at least half of what I took out is going to have to get thrown back in, re worded, juggled, shaken about, stirred anda crazy miracle has to occur for it to actually work out.

30 minute presentation ......... 30 minutes of standing in front of people having them all look at you crazily while you stand there and pretend you know what you are on about.


Anyone want to swap places???

Offer only open to people who spend their days knitting and drinking cups of tea :)

When yarn is nice

I am loving the Bendigo yarn. I loved how I got most of the back of the central park hoodie out of one ball of yarn. Great big ball of yarn that seemed to just go on and on and on. I was begining to think it wouldn't ever run out at one point.

Just as well I love the yarn so much as more arrived today. Another ball of the blue rustic just in case and 6 balls of classic aran magnolia for my Mum.

The central park hoodie is so much fun to knit I am having to hide it from myself to get any homework done. I have another presentation due this week and of course all I want to do is knit. Then again when don't I??? I always want to do something else, rather than what I am meant to be doing.

So the back is done and most of the left front. I have to frog about ten rows because I was having too much fun and just kept going. Suddenly it seemed a bit long and I checked the pattern. and then measured. Oooops. Oh well at least it's only a little bit. Perhaps I am unintentionally dragging the knitting out just to avoid the sewing up part.

Spam that isn't spam

Oooops..... I nearly ignored a readers e mail thinking it was spam.......... then me being me just had to open it even if it did contain yet another virus.

C has got my computer going enough that I can get on line but will be reformatting it later. Hence why I still have no nero installed and no camera software and lots of other little things I would normally have on my computer but haven't bothered because he is only going to take them all off again and then re install them and blah. All too hard.

Anyway the e mail didn't have a virus......... yay!!!

It did have a request ....... one of which I am not totally sure of the answer.

Is there any store in Australia that sells tortoiseshell needles?

Are they even manufactured anymore?

And am I right in thinking we really only get them in secondhand stores? ( thats the only place I have seen them, well the only place that will let me buy them, everyone else wants to keep theirs :) )

Let me know as I may have responded with incorrect answers totally due to ignorance.


Anyways I am feeling way behind and kind of lost without being able to post pictures.

All this talk about tortoiseshell needles reminds me of the stitch markers Sharon sent me as a thankyou for the needles I sent her. The markers are made by Sharon and are beautiful. See I need my camera software. Perhaps this post can be my reminder of all the things I need pics of.

I need a pic of the craft room for Kimberly......... I'm not sure about the whole room but maybe the yarn corner :)

I need a pic of the Central Park Hoodie. Knitted in Bendigo rustic, Bluestone. ( scroll down through the posts and there is a pic of the colour somewhere)


It's up to the armholes on the back piece, ready to start decreasing, but some things you just got to leave alone when you have people talking to you and making sure you will loose count. Especially when said people start counting 2, 5, 8,15, 66 have you lost count yet???
I know, I only had a few stitches to decrease and probably could have done it but I figured I would enjoy it more if I left it till today.

What else... oh yeah I forgot to tell you about the spinning wheel that jumped out at me and insisted I take it home.

Yeah, a spinning wheel that I have absolutely no idea how to use, what the bits are called or if it even works properly. Total crazyness. What can I say? It was cheap :)

Luckily Tigers can come over and take a peek and then tell me exactly how crazy I am.

What the???

After being all impatient and skitting about all over the place this week I finally get to Friday 1st September where I can cast on for the Central Park Hoodie. The knit that I have been trying so hard to not cast on for...... and what do I do? I spend the day rearranging furniture and don't knit a stitch. Not even the cast on row.

At least now my craft room actually looks like a room and I have room on the desk to actually write on paper and do some homework. Damn maybe that wasn't such a good move.

Why is it that to move furniture about you have to move 3 other pieces of furniture to get one thing where you want it???

Oh and you have to empty everything first so it's not so heavy. I don't mind that bit too much, it's having to put it all back......it never seems to go back how it was.

Time for a cup of tea and some casting on....

Impatience

I am fidgeting about flitting all over the place. I really, really, really want to start the Central Park Hoodie.

Instead I have finished the Blue Opal socks, cast on and undone the purple mittens....... wrong size needles. Cast on yet another pair of fetching, this time in a pale blue Zhivago.

I probably should work on the purple jumper but all I seem to be doing is playing with yarn and mentally rearanging the craft room.
Nothing fits as it is and of course however I move it , it isn't all going to fit.

The problem is that the whole house is like this, so there isn't anywhere else to move things to in any other room.

I think it's time for a clean out. Blah. Why do I always want to do these things in the middle of term when the holidays would be a much better time for it.

Anything to avoid assignments I guess.

On changing my mind

I started knitting the purple handspun, I had knit most of the ribbing.
Then I decided it looked way too pretty to go on my foot. So I think it will become a pair of mittens instead.

I am still sneaking in rows of my sock when I can and I really need to learn how to knit and read at the same time.

Does anyone know how to type and knit at the same time????

Drowning in books

Surrounded by papers and books and of course not the books I would like to be reading. Books I have to read to write another essay. Sitting in amongst all the books is my blue opal sock and I keep sneaking in a row whenever no one is looking.

I have given in and started a pair of socks from the handspun yarn I bought at Mt Pleasannt. I couldn't wait anymore. Besides, it's better to start a sock than start the Central Park Hoodie. Only a few more days till the KAL starts.

Computer is still down

But I am still here and sneaking in a read of your blogs when I get a chance.

My Blue opal socks are growing, the purple jumper is growing very slowly and my assignment is glaring at me. Why is is knitting research is fun but any other research just isn't???

I am still restraining myself from starting any new projects like the hoodie top and I really want a pair of socks from the handspun yarn I bought at the Mt Pleasant Fibre festival.
I spent too much!!! I bought fibre and a drop spindle....... even more stuff to distract me from homework.

And the computer sleeps

My computer seems to be permanantly sleeping at the moment. A nasty virus has snuck in and stopped my computer from working. Hopefully I can fix it but at the moment I have no idea how. Throwing the computer out the window is sounding pretty good about now.

Sunday was knitting day

Miss B and I caught up with Tigers and Miss A who also gave Miss B a knitting book for her birthday. No picture of that yet. Why is it I always forget I haven't taken pictures until I am sitting here blogging?

I think I knit all of 3 cm of ribbing on Sunday and it ended up having to be frogged. I miscounted the cast on row. I really shouldn't try to talk and count at the same time.

Knitting this week seems to be slow as all I have managed to achieve is fixing up what I did on Sunday.

I got mail yesterday. My tin needle protector arrived!!!!
Nat has been hunting these down and solving all the niggly shipping issues and being a fantastic enabler. Thankyou also goes to Donna for thinking of me when the idea of getting these needle protectors first came about.
So of course I had to start something on dpn's just to try it out.

My first toe up attempt. I really don't know if these will grow into socks or not, but it was good to try out a new method.
And of course in the needle protector.

I love this, no more lost needles in the bottom of my bag.

No more stabbing myself when the needles poke out through my bag.

Today...... So far I managed to wash my hair with conditioner again.......The bottle is nearly empty and I suddenly can't read the label anymore. I have no idea what that is about.

Miss B is home from school..... She had a headache and a sore throat yesterday but said it was ok. I was thinking I would just keep her home today and hope she can fight it off with some rest.

Well she woke up today and has a cough too. So the keeping her home I had been thinking about became a definate, possitive, has to happen.

All I can hope is that she doesn't decide to share.

Now to see if I can get my knitting to behave.....................

And my brain is where???

I seem to be having one of those days where my brain just refuses to function. After forgetting to boil the kettle for my cup of tea this morning I thought I would go and have a shower while blogger decided if it would load pictures today or not.

I then tried to wash my hair with conditioner instead of shampoo....... was wondering why there were no bubbles.

I am almost to scared to pick up any knitting today in case I mix that up too.

Anyway here are the pictures blogger was holding out on.
Is there some kind of bribe /sacrifice /offering thing with blogger I don't know about cause it sure seems to like keeping my pictures for itself.

The Shawl that finally ended.

And the sock that got forgotten.


Ok not forgotten but I just couldn't seem to get around to that heel for months.

Now do I try and make my brain function and knit or just go back to bed???

And it's done!!!

Thanks to Tigers who suggested I work on it for just a little bit each time I knit before I pick up what I actually felt like knitting, the never ending shawl actually ended.
Well it's cast off and now I have to wash it and figure out how to pin it out. I haven't done this before so me and pins, um yeah.

I have joined the Central Park Hoodie KAL and of course I want to start right now. It doesn't start till September.
Do you think they would mind if I started early? You know, just swatched..... and kept knitting?
I would still finish late as assignments and things will get in the way later.

Oh Ok I'll wait.

And make a cup of tea and read blogs. It would help if I had actually boiled the kettle first. That mouthful of lukewarm tea when you are expecting nice hot tea is just gross.

And just cause it has been looking incredibly lonely and unloved I picked up the blue opal sock. It now has a heel. Lets see how long it takes to actually get a foot.

Never ending shawl

still hasn't ended. It is growing though. Just very slowly.
Nearly there..................

Blah

Why is it I am now halfway through this jumper and suddenly I am really not liking it much at all???



Probably because I know I have Bendigo yarn to play with.