More FO's

After knitting I don't know how many hearts for World Aids Day, I felt it was time for something a little less ... twee.

One (I think) anatomically correct heart.  Why?  Just because.



I've also finished a top-down sleeveless cardi (minus buttons for now - I have some, I just hate sewing them on.)  My photos of the cardi suck, but I'm reeeeeeallllly pleased with how it turned out.  I changed the sleeve edges slightly.  The pattern tells you to just cast them off when you reach them, but I put the stitches on holders instead, then came back & worked the same garter st border as for the bottom edge.

Lower right detail.

My next project?  I'm working on a skirt!  You can see it in progress hiding behind the heart.  It's knitted on the bias, so hopefully it won't hold the shape of my rear end after I've been sitting for a bit!!

The Lismore Yarn Guerillas strike again!

Before the sun was up, the Lismore Yarn Guerillas were up & painting the town red ... with yarn.

Today (the 1st of December) is World Aids Day & to help bring awareness & reduce stigmas of Aids & HIV.  We were lucky enough to be the recipients of some grant money! So with lots of plotting, planning & secretive giggling we formulated a plan.

Red is the colour of the Aids/HIV awareness ribbon, so red it would be!

We even made it onto the local NBN 6 o'clock news!  It should be available to view online, but I'm unsure how to find it.  If you do manage to find it, try & find the sleep-deprived deliriously daft cheerleader!
(omg it's me - cringe)

Another pair of socks & a LOT of yarn.

 Some more Jaywalkers.  This time in Noro Kureyon Sock.  I rewound the ball as per usual for sockie #2 so the "pattern" would go the other way.  For some unknown reason the blue decided to land in the same spot for both socks.  I quite like it though ...

I've had a couple of small "accidents" with my credit card and Bendigo Woollen Mills' sale.  Third time's the charm - I really fell off the wagon this time!  That's one of my dining chairs the package is leaning on for scale.

And inside:

Some light silver 5ply Classic for a cardi I have in mind (the short sleeved version).

And a few more balls of some Rustic in colour Damson.  No definite plans, I'm making a Tappan Zee & was worried I'd run out.  I'm loving the colour (it has slightly different hues to it - it's a purple with reddy tinges).  When I rang to ask if they had any more balls in the same dyelot the words "I'll have 10 balls of that please" were out of my mouth almost before I knew what had happened.  Can yarn fumes affect you over the phone?!

And yes, they are 200 gram balls!

A mismatched "pair"

 I've been having some fun playing with a ball of Zauberball.  This one's a crazy Zauberball & is called "tropical fish".  Very appropriate, wouldn't you say?

The pattern is Marietta rib socks from Cool Socks Warm Feet by Lucy Neatby.

They don't match.  At.  All.

I don't usually try to make my socks match by rewinding the ball for the second sock so the pattern deliberately goes the other way, but for some reason when I rewound this ball, it had other ideas & reversed it's patterning so the second sock would have been almost identical (close enough that it would have looked like I'd tried to match 'em & failed).  So I rewound the ball again & continued on my merry way.  (We will not speak about my inability to count during the production of the second sock.  My language would not be ladylike.)
The first sock is on the left, second on the right.

Love those scallopy edges!

These will be a pressie for my lovely friend D (although she doesn't know it yet) who loved the yarn from the moment she saw it.

Quant the 2nd, a hat & a shawl

My adventures into the land of entrelac continued when I discovered I had enough yarn left from my original ball to make another one!

 


I'm not overly fond of the yellow, but all in all it's quite a pretty little thing. (Feels great to wear too -

nice & soft)

I'd originally bought the Noro Taiyo with this hat in mind but was waylaid by the call of the Quant.  Happily, I still had enough to make one!  I love the way the colours look like stained glass against the black.

Turn a Square



Herbivore in a yummy Silk/Merino blend

And because I love the one I made for my beautiful daughter so much, I made one for me too!  This is a yummy hand-dyed 50/50 silk/merino blend which has a gorgeous stitch definition & drapes devinely.  Yum!

Entrelac adventures

I purchased a ball of Noro Taiyo from my favorite yarn shop a while ago, just because it was pretty (as you do) & thought it would make up into a perfect gift for my gorgeous friend D.

But what do you make with 200m of BRIGHT aran weight yarn?  A hat?  A scarf?  It's a bit warm where we live to get much wear out of those ...

I was trolling through Ravelry this morning, & stumbled upon this little cutie.  It's called "Quant".  It's a headband, but wide enough to warm your ears without baking your head as well.

It was also a really good opportunity to give entrelac knitting a go for the first time (yeah I know, I've been knitting for so many years now I can't quite believe it either).

All in all I'm quite pleased with how this turned out.  It was a bit lumpy bumpy at first but now I've blocked it (it's still drying) it's flattened out quite nicely.  AND it only used up half the ball.  I've got enough left for another one! (The other half of the ball has most of the bright colours in it - go figure ...)

Free pattern ...

Here's a little gift for you.  This is my interpretation of an AIDS molecule ... a bit of fun.

AIDS MOLECULE KNITTED PATTERN

Worked in the round.

Cast on 6sts using figure 8 method.

R1: Kf&b all sts (12sts)
R2: K
R3: K1, Kf&b; rep from (18sts)
R4: K
R5: K2, Kf&b; rep from (24sts)
R6: K
R7: K3, Kf&b; rep from (30sts)
R8: K
R9: K4, Kf&b; rep from (36sts)
R10: K
R11: K8, Kf&b; rep from (40sts)
R12-14: K
R15: K8, K2tog; rep from (36sts)
R16: K
R17: K4, K2tog; rep from (30sts)
R18: K
R19: K3, K2tog; rep from (24sts)
R20: K
R21: K2, K2tog; rep from (18sts)
R22: K

(stuff ball at this point)

R23: K1, K2tog; rep from (12sts)
R24: K
R25: K2tog; rep from (6sts)

Cut yarn & thread through rem sts on needle.

For suckers, place these wherever you feel they are appropriate, however many you like.

Pick up 4 sts (2sts in one row, & 2sts in the row directly above).
Work 2 rounds on these 4sts, then:
R3: Kf&b in each st (8sts)
R4: Kf&b in each st (16sts)

Cast off & darn in ends.

Quick pressie!

What to make for a dear friend who you're seeing the next day & have just found out it was her birthday last week ...

I raided the stash & came up with some 8ply cotton & raided my bathroom cabinet for a yummy bar of handmade soap to match that I buy from the local market.  Next came my "go to" pattern for facewashers & approx 2 hours later I have this.  In my haste I managed to flip the washer around when it came time to do the graft (my preferred method for a seamless object) & the join is screamingly obvious, being stocking stitch on a garter stitch background.  Oh well.  I hope my friend E likes it! 

Another FO

Yep, another pair of socks.  But not Jaywalkers!  These little cuties are Marietta Rib Socks & are destined for a 7 year old girl in Cambodia.  

And look!  As a happy & completely unplanned accident, the colour pattern matches exactly!

I hope she likes them (& I hope they fit - I've taken a complete guess on her foot size & am hoping the 2x2 rib is forgiving ... )

I'm still here!

I may have been absent from the blog for a while, but I haven't been absent from knitting!

I present:

Brown Jaywalkers

Purple/merlot Jaywalkers



 I do seem to be rather addicted to the Jaywalker pattern don't I?  (I have another pair on my needles right now)



Lichen dyed Thelonious

Purple Mary-Jane Slippers

I've also had a few little credit card "accidents":


Goodies from Evoke

Yummy Noro, Zauberball, & a hand-dyed Yak blend that tells me it would like to be a shawl.  Possibly one of these.

And then Spotlight had a sale on it's cheap sock yarn (why do they call it "Noir" when it clearly isn't? Oh well).  I had this insane idea to make a cardigan out of it (I know, 4ply, 40" chest - obviously I'm mad) but which colour, & how many balls would I need?  So I did what I always do & bought by the kilo - 10 balls.  I'll probably realisticly only need about half that, but I ran out of yarn when I was a newbie knitter & developed a pathalogical fear of running out of yarn.  (I've been asked how much yarn to buy if you want to make a hat & had to bite my tongue to stop myself saying "probably about 100g of 8ply, but you'd better buy a kilo just to be safe)
And then there was the colour choice.  Do I go for the go with just about everything grey or the earthy brown?  Hmmm ....  The purple's not bad either ...

Whoops!

Goodbye Womb

This coming Tuesday I will be saying farewell to my womb.  I've had enough of dealing with certain unpleasant issues (cramps which make labour look like a breeze & heavy bleeding), & other methods of trying to control them have failed.
Last Wednesday we had a farewell party at Evoke complete with a suitably decorated cake (thanks Friend D!) which we had to shield from the view of the general public until it had been ceremoniously sliced up with many howls of laughter.
My beautiful friend D also made me a card which contains the most wonderful poem she wrote:

I just love the Monty Pythonesque "Parrot sketch" references!!  (What fun having friends as warped as me!)
I'm starting to get a little nervous now as my surgery date gets closer, but I know I'll be in good hands.  Is it strange that I'm mainly worried that they'll insert the drip in my hand in a manner which won't allow me to knit?  Wish me luck!

Things I have learned in the last 48 hours ...

I love playing with dyes.  Watching a dye-bath go from a deep colour to almost clear as the yarn/fibre slurps it up is deeply satisfying, particularly when I'm playing with multiple colours & sprinkling dye powders.
However.
When I'm trying to get a particular shade of something, be it blue or yellow, red or green ... I suck.
I had this hat pattern in mind, where I needed particular shades of primary colours for the nautical letter flags that adorn it's brim, but attempt after attempt using my precious handspun failed to produce appropriate shades.  I have now given up, gone stash diving, & found the right colours in some commercial 8plys. (I knew they were in there all along, I wanted to use my handspun & thought I had the knack.  Wrong!)

Ribbit Ribbit

I'm having trouble finding a project that pleases me.  Last night in a fit of frustration I frogged all my WIP's that I wasn't happy with.  Two socks (different yarns/patterns), one hat, one shawl, one blankie (not Yggdrasil the cream cabled one), and a facewasher.
I now have only one WIP left (Yggdrasil).  One!  Not even a travelling sock in my handbag!
My stash room looks like a tornado has swept through it as I've delved into it's deepest reaches searching for some inspiration.  Hmmm .... maybe I could make those yarn angels my friend D suggested a while ago ...  (You know, kind of like snow angels where you lie on your back in the snow & wave your arms & legs, but in yarn - lol)

Mission accomplished!

After much planning & plotting my return yarn bombing attack was a success. I told my lovely friend D (who bombed my front door) that I would have to return the favour & she replied that if I tried to bomb her front door, she had a guard dog.

Brilliant idea - bomb the guard dog!

I figured that a jumper would be the least uncomfortable for the dog, so I took some measurements, made a basic jumper out of some of Lincraft's Cosy Wool & embroidered "Yarn" & created a bomb complete with a lit fuse. I then waited until my gorgeous daughter visited from Melbourne to create a diversion for me, & bombed the unsuspecting creature. She was surprisingly co-operative & loved the fuss being made of her.

Meet Macy, Lismore Yarn Guerrila's new mascot!

Yarnbombing

Last Saturday, June 11, was International Yarnbombing Day. I, together with many others (the Lismore Yarn Guerillas) bombed the main street of our little town.

Every tree, every pole, nothing was safe. We even "bombed" a lovely gentleman who was manning a raffle stall for the local rescue helicopter! (He seemed quite chuffed to be a part of our fun & even posed for photos!!) It was soooo much fun & looked fantastic when we had finished. The mayor even knitted for us & posed for photos too! All in all there were over 70 "targets" covered up & down the street.

Lots & lots of photos, too many to post them all, so here's a linky-dink to more.

And when I came home this afternoon, this is what I found on my front door:

I LOVE IT!!!
The lizard is a dead giveaway as to who the culprit is. "Left Hook" you won't know when, you won't know where, but I'm sure you know I have to return the favour.

Cairn complete.

One finished hat.

I like the hat & am quite pleased with how it turned out, but I don't think I like it on me. Hmmm ... I may have to try to find a different hat pattern. Maybe something slouchier ...

Suggestions?

Something warm

This year, on June 11, for the first time ever is International Yarnbombing Day. I mentioned this little factoid to a couple of friends, thinking it might be fun to cover a lamp post or two & then run giggling anonymously into the night. This little thing has suddenly become bigger than Ben Hur! We now have council approval, a government grant, & have appeared on both the local news (the feel-good story after the weather) & in the papers (most recently the front page of the Echo!!). I can't tell you exactly what we're planning as we're trying to keep some level of surprise, but just know that our target is large & high profile. We'll start on the installation in the wee hours of the morning, so even here in sunny northern NSW, it will be COLD. Hence the need for something warm.

Enter some fingerless mittens. Ideal for keeping hands warm whilst allowing the fingers free to do their thing. The pattern is Cairn by Ysolda Teague. It looks complex, but you only work with one colour per row & slip stitches to create the "brick" effect.

There is a matching hat, but I started with the fingerless mitts as a "tension swatch". It works! I was originally tossing up whether or not to use purple instead of navy blue for the "grout", but I think I like the blue. Now to get started on the hat for a groovy Yarnbombing set!!

Piccie for my beautiful daughter

Hiya sweetie - this one's just for you ... Remember these? (giggle) Gravel with measles!!

Birthday outing

It was my birthday a few weeks ago, & my gorgeous buddies D & E took me to the beautiful Crystal Castle for lunch. It's such a lovely place to visit - chock full of crystals of every imaginable sort (obviously) & serene gardens to wander around in. We found lots of really interesting things to look at too - unusual flowers, spotty gravel on the paths (honestly! The gravel looked like it had the measles!!) & plants doing things I'd never seen before. I'm not much of a gardener (& know next to nothing about plants) but check out this leaf! We decided to turn our expedition into a 3D5S excursion (3 Dimensions 5 Senses) inspired my by friend T & her group in Melbourne. (Now we just have to decide what we do next!) We were very lucky with the weather too - it had been spotting rain on our journey there, but the clouds cleared & the sun came out whilst we wandered around the gardens. When we decided it was time for lunch, no sooner had we sat down in the covered (thankfully) cafe than the clouds returned & the heavens opened. It poured! I was also surprised with the most thoughtful gifts. Miss E gave me this shirt with my name on the back! And Miss D enabled me (read "gift voucher") to go a bit purchase mad at my favorite yarn shop. (Actually, I went quite a bit purchase mad, but those pics will have to wait) Thanks girls! I had so much fun! (& Miss E's lemon poppy seed birthday muffins were divine)

Bunny Nuggets

How cute are these little guys? They're Bunny Nuggets! I changed the tail though - I don't like making pom-poms, so I made an "ear" & rolled it up tightly. Made from some handspun mini-balls from the stash. In the bottom picture from left to right: merino/cashmere blend (soooo soft!), merino/flax blend, and a fibre sandwich batt from the lovely Miss V. These will make a fantastic sugar-free alternative for chocolate Easter bunnies (I suspect they'll last longer too).