Last FO for the year!

Rosedale United is done. The last finished project for 2007.

I went with the rolled neck after all, I just didn't decrease as many stitches as before and I am much happier with it than I was yesterday.
It is looking even better now that it has had a bath and is now snoozing on the trampoline, waiting for the cats to keep it company while it dries.

Pattern: Rosedale United

Yarn: Noro Kureyon col148 - 10 balls

Needles: 5mm Addis

Modifications:

I made this longer; almost 20cms longer. I seem to need to make most patterns longer, but lately it seems that every jumper I make I am adding more and more centimetres to each garment.

I skipped the intarsia rectangle as I felt with all the colours this jumper is busy enough.

I also decreased about 20 stitches less than what the pattern stated for the neck band.

Notes:

I really wasn't too sure whether I was liking this very much while I was making it due to there being a lot more baby pooh brown in the mix than I had counted on. It wasn't until I had knit the sleeves and the body, joined them and started decreasing for the yoke that it all started coming together and the colours seemed to fit in a way I could live with.

Now I am looking forward to the weather cooling down and this being a very warm, cheery jumper on a cold grey day.

UGH!!!

Casting off too tightly really takes away the excitement of almost finishing something.

Rosedale United is fighting me with it's neckline.

First try - followed pattern, neck too small for my cat let alone me.

Second try - tried more stitches and ribbing instead of rolled edge and managed to cast off too tightly.

Third try - redid cast off. Neck is still a tad tight and I'm not happy with how it sits or looks.


I may go back to rolled edge but with more stitches

............ tomorrow.

Happy Holidays

I am hoping you all had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying your holidays as much as I am.

Christmas Day was spent at the beach with a picnic lunch.
Eat when you want, doze when you want.
Walk along the waters edge when you want and of course chatter and catch up.

My family is one of those which seems to be not only spread out all over the place, but also have family members who work during the holidays, so we have several smaller gatherings and it can take weeks to catch up with everyone.
The benefit......... Christmas lasts for weeks :)



Also benefitting from the holidays is my knitting.



Madder Ribbed Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks.
Yarn: Hot Socks Lincraft Brand
Needle: 2.5 mm
Notes:
I cast on 72 stitches and fudged the ribs a bit. There was no way the original stitch count was ever going to fit.
I also used my standard toe as by the time I got back to these I had forgotten I was supposed to be following a pattern.








A gifted Gretel and a very happy Nannna.

My Nero project has grown.

Rosedale United from Knitty.

The body is done, the sleeves are done. I just need to join them together and keep knitting.

Gretel

Gretel is done and I love it. Pretty, pink and poofy, just how it is meant to be.

Miss B is still in her 'refuse to model hats' mode so I will have to wait till this is gifted to get a better pic.

Yarn: Cleckheaton Angora Supreme (Discontinued) 1.5 balls.

Needles: 3.75mm and 4.5mm

I followed the pattern as written, apart from the few times I became distracted or interrupted which required fixing.

This yarn also sheds fluff which somehow ends up in your mouth when knitting. I don't remember the purple I used to make Wicked doing this, maybe it's just the pink

It is very warm and really shouldn't be knit on a 33 degree (celcius) day.

Hats

I am really looking forward to making things for those of you who are participating in Pay It Forward.
I think I am just as excited to see what you come up with for your giftees.
So many choices to make; patterns, yarn and colours.


Miss B could not be bribed into modelling hats today (or any time in the last week) so I'm sorry, you get flat hats on a table pics.






These beanies are going to family in Canberra.

Yarn: Cleckheaton Country 12 ply
Needles: 5mm
Size: Hopefully one that fits; it's hard to measure peoples heads when they live hours away.

Seeing as these were cast off I decided to ignore all other WIP's and cast on for Gretel.

I am taking Miss B's advice...... we don't need those jumpers finished until winter....
Shush about taking advice from a teenager when it suits me.

I am loving the prettiness of this and will shut up about having just stuffed up half of the last row by twisting the wrong way in the wrong place.
Just when I was thinking I knew what I was doing.........




Time for a cup of tea, some chocolate and some fixing.........

Pay it forward

I saw this on Chris's blog.

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange.

I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise!

The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Flitting all over the place

I have spent a ridiculous amount of time just staring off into space and wondering why we are here.

Why do some people die early and others seem to live forever?

Do each of us really have something we are meant to achieve in this lifetime?

If so, what is it?



Losing someone close also makes you look a little more closely at your own life.

Am I living in a way that makes me happy?

Am I really focusing on the goals that matter?

Do I still want what I previously wanted?

What do I want the most?


All of this in an attempt to deny the reality of just how little control we have in our lives and how much it scares me.

Luckily I can control yarn and needles.

The back of miss B's BlackBlackBlack Jumper

A Blue sock in Patonyle.

A Sleeve in Noro.

And Crochet.

Inspired by the dishclothes I saw over at Brainylady's I decided to give these a go.

Shush about the fact that mine came out as a long rectangle. I just kept going till the ball of cotton ran out.

And Thankyou to those of you who left messages or e mailed. It means a lot.