Look! I got another package

Look! I got another package from Jill!

This is like christmas! There's a lovely ball of Sugar Babies, so I can make Em another Bucket Hat, theres Cascade Sierra, Cascade pearls, Lion Magic Stripes for socks, bits and pieces of other cottons to play with, and a lovely, lovely bamboo circular. And a little pink bunny for Em, which was very much appreciated and adored :)
Everyone in our house gets excited when a parcel arrives!

I got a little done on my evening bag today, but not enough to warrant a picture.
And I was too busy admiring my new yarn to get much else done ;)

And thats all I

And thats all I have to say about the Cleckheaton sweater. No matter what I did, I could not get gauge. Finally my stitch count was right, but the row count was out, and it wasn't working. So Jill was right - it had it's chance, and it blew it!

Therefore, I'm going to work much more on Gigi. And Stella over at She Who Knits is hosting a Gigi knit-along. Perhaps that will encourage me to actually complete the sweater! At least I'm getting gauge on this one!

In the meantime, I started a fill-in project. A nice little quickie that will leave me fulfilled. Or something.

A felted evening bag. While my lifestyle has no room for an evening bag, I thought the project was cute, inexpensive and fun. And you never know when a girl might require an evening bag :)

In other news, I subscribed to Interweave Knits today. I really like this magazine. I've seen a few of the US magazines now (thanks, Jill!), and I liked this one, FCEK and Vogue Knits. If all goes well with the Interweave subscription, I think I'll subscribe to the others, too.

Jenanne left a comment about

Jenanne left a comment about the Papyrus tank the other day that got me thinking (Thanks, Jenanne!). She mentioned that her daughter wears a tank with a similar gauge over another tank. Great idea! But then I took it a step further - maybe I could line the top with some cotton lycra or somesuch. Something to consider.
I'm having issues with my Cleckheaton sweater. I knit a few rows the other night, feeling guilty that I had started Gigi. Then I checked the gauge again. It wasn't right, again! I checked the damn swatch, and it was spot on, but the sweater itself had a gauge of 20.5 sts/ 4" instead of 19sts with 4.5mm anodised aluminium needles. So I swore, stomped, the ripped. Cast on with 5mm aluminium circs. 18sts/4". Keep that in mind, it's perfect for Rogue ;)
So I cast on a sleeve with 4.5mm ordinary aluminium circs. So far, so good, I've done 8". The stitch count is right, the rows are 27 rows instead of 28. Hopefully it won't be too bad.
I will not let this sweater beat me.
It's not determination, it's stubbornness :)

Not much knitting today. It

Not much knitting today. It was the last day of the school holidays, so I took myself and Emily off across Sydney to the closest Lincraft.
I hadn't read the Gigi pattern properly, and when I bought the yarn, I didn't realise that the sweater only had 3/4 sleeves. Seeing as I'm planning to wear this in winter, I decided I'd make the sleeves longer, but I wasn't sure if I'd have enough yarn. What a wonderful excuse for return trip to Lincraft. ;)
So I now have one more ball of yarn for Gigi, and can knit long sleeves without worrying whether I have enough yarn or not. And I also got some eyelash yarn and some pure wool to make a little felted evening bag off a free pattern leaflet that they had.
Oddly enough, I couldn't get a 3.25mm circular needle there. I wanted an 80cm (32") one, but they only had them in a 3.5mm which is not a standard needle size in Australia. I didn't get it, as I doubt I'd get much use out of it. I'll just pick one up at the local craft store tomorrow.
Happy Tuesday!

I finished the beanie :)

I finished the beanie :)
It is the oddest shape hat I have ever knitted! I usually have patterns that do the shaping as part of the pattern, finished by having just a few stitches left at the top to draw the thread through, and maybe a back seam. This, as you can see, was quite different.

Lots of ends to weave in, which is not my favourite part! But weave in I did, and the hat is finished, and modelled by the house model.

I think it's too big, even if DH does have a much bigger head than Em, although the gauge was right. But then, I'm used to rib beanies, and I guess that they're smaller. I enjoyed knitting it, and I quite like the slip stitch pattern.

In other news, I cast on Gigi. I didn't take any pictures, as 5 inches of sleeve isn't very exciting, afterall :)
I was going to start with the body until I came to the realisation that I don't have a 3.25mm circular needle. Wow, an excuse to go shopping! Like I need one ;)

I stayed up very late

I stayed up very late last night, and got more done on the beanie.

Thats two full pattern repeats - I'm almost ready to begin the crown shaping. Here's the pattern up close.

I think I'll stay up and finish the shaping tonight.

I noticed that Jill has started her Gigi - I think that means that I should start mine too :)

I got some more done

I got some more done on DH's new beanie.

This is not going to be as quick a knit as I had hoped. Here's a close up of the slip stitch pattern, but I'm only 12 rows into a 24 row repeat. Sorry about the bad colour.

I also cast on Em's papyrus tank from the Plassard pattern books I ordered from Threadbear. I can't say I'm entirely happy with this pattern.

See how big the stitches are? I don't think I want my 11 year old wearing this tank. It's a little too revealing I fear. She's a little young to copy Janet. The gauge is correct, and if I change the pattern I won't have enough yarn.
So what to do with the yarn? Good question. It's not bad to knit with, I just think that the recommended gauge is not the best for clothing. I do like the hoodie in the first Plassard pattern book, but I'd have to get more yarn. Damn ;)

I finished Emily's bucket hat

I finished Emily's bucket hat today, but I don't have any pictures yet as it's still blocking. All in all, I'm pleased with it, and she certainly is! It's a great fun knit, really quick and not difficult. The yarn I used was probably a little on the soft side, I'll wait until it's dried before I decide.
I cast on DH's new beanie, but no pictures of that, because an inch of ribbing just isn't that exciting ;)
Aside from that, the current focus in my house today is Mother's Day and my birthday. Both of which occur next month. Now I'm being asked what I want. I don't know! I'd really like an Everyday cardigan kit. But with the car needing repairs, and with the current size of my stash, maybe that's not the best thing to ask for. I don't wear alot of jewellery, I don't need clothes, I can't think of any particular books or CD's I want. Except for a few knitting books, but I can imagine the faces when I mention a $65 knitting book ;) I don't want kitchen tools, I hate to cook. I don't need slippers or a dressing gown. Hmmmmm. Suggestions welcome.

My Portrait!

That's me, according to my 11 year old, Emily. Quite flattering, I feel :)
I finished Mum's hat!

I'm not always so quick a knitter - it's still school holidays here, so the days are lazier than normal and I can sit up late at night and knit. Pity I can't do it all the time! The hat is a really simple one. 2 strands of worsted weight, moss stitch all the way. I'm pleased with the way it turned out, and I may even have to make one for myself :)

I started Em's bucket hat, and it's whizzing off the needles. I also managed to ge tto the craft store today, and picked up some more Zhivago to make DH another hat. Just a simple slip stitch beanie in 3 colours.

Poor guy had cancer last year, and I didn't knit him a single hat then, but this is the second one I've made this year. I'm using the same colours as the picture, but with a rollback brim.
I also put enough Angora Supreme to make Rogue on pay-as-you-knit. I chose a nice bright blue.

And I got some black Angora Supreme to make a scarf.
I think I better learn to knit quicker ;)

Finished DH's gloves! Nice quick

Finished DH's gloves! Nice quick easy knit :)

Unintentionally artyfarty image - My digital camera takes a while on night setting and I don't hold it still enough :)
My thoughts - better knit in the round.

The colour is much closer in the first picture. Way too many ends for weaving and seams for seaming! Side seams, and every finger has a seam too.
So I finished those, and started a little hat for my Mum from my stash. Am I avoiding my sweater? Probably ;)

Here are some pictures of all the yarn that jumped into my basket yesterday.

Various cotton yarns for bucket hats. The lime is for me, the variegated Sugar 'n Cream is for Em. The white Sugar 'n Cream is for dyeing if the gauge works for bucket hats. I love variegated yarns, and just couldn't find anything in remotely the right gauge, so I'll make my own!! Oddly, Sugar 'n Cream was put out here by Cleckheaton, not Lily, and is a different gauge. Ours is 18sts/4", not 20sts/4", so it may be a lost cause for hats anyway :( It is no longer available in Australia. I wanted to try Sugar Babies after seeing Becky's beautiful hat, but it has never been available in Australia, according to my LYS. Bummer.

The pink and lavender for Em's Bucket. The colours are fairly similar, but I hope it'll come up okay in stripes.

And finally - the yarn for Gigi!! If I ever do anything about the Cleckheaton sweater, that is ;)

I also fed my eBay addiction this morning by buying some Bernat Cottontots for bucket hats, and some other cotton yarns too. There's no way I'll ever make this many hats.

So I went to pick up my car this morning, where the kindly mechanic informed me that my battery also happened to be flat and needed replacing. Oh yeah, and the tyres are all worn, and I need a wheel alignment. And no, he's not trying to get a buck out of me. I know this, because he sold me the battery at wholesale price (I think it was the look on my face that did it), and he can't do the tyres or wheel alignment at his shop. Sigh. And tomorrow the craft store is having a sale on the yarn I want for Rogue. At least I can get there now!!

I finished the first of

I finished the first of DH's gloves. He's happy with it, but I'm uncertain if I am. The pattern is knit flat, then seamed. I think I would have preferred to knit it in the round. I could have rewritten the pattern fairly easily, but I'm inherently lazy ;)
Zhivago is unusual to knit with. The finished result is nice - soft, with a satiny feel, but it's a bit odd to knit with. Maybe it's just a getting-used-to-it thing. It does have a fuzzy tendency. I noticed it particularly in the ribbing. I was definitely defuzzing as I knit. But, as I said, he is happy, so who am I to complain? I've done the ribbing for the second glove, and will hopefully finish that tomorrow.
I also managed to get about 2 inches done on my Cleckheaton sweater. I'm trying to make myself finish this before I start Gigi. Motivation, I hope :)
I also put my car in for a service today. It never quite works like that though, does it? She needs new brakes, and won't be ready until tomorrow. So now I am without car, $100 worse off than I expected, and I am minding my niece tomorrow, so I get to convince 2 children that we need to walk to the mechanics. Hmmm, less yarn money, and less knitting time. Hmph!!
Who needs brakes anyway?? ;)

Have you seen Gigi? Go

Have you seen Gigi? Go to Bonne Marie's and have a look, she's gorgeous!
I got the pattern first thing this morning, which was excellent, because I knew the yardages and stuff before I headed off on my yarn hunt :)
Gigi has the same gauge as the Bottoms Up Bucket Hat, coincidentally. So off we went this morning, and I was quite pleasantly surprised when we reached Lincraft.
What a selection! Well, compared to Spotlight, anyway. Unfortunately there was no cotton to be seen at all. However, I did find a nice 100% superwash wool which was the perfect weight. Seeing as we're heading into winter here, and the wool was only $1.50 a ball (!!!), how could I say no??? So I got a pretty mint green colour, and a grey for the trim. It looks better than it sounds. Unfortunately the colour choices were limited, but how could I complain? They had just one ball of lavender and one of pink, so Em is getting a striped Bucket Hat.
We then went to the Original Bear Factory. I think it's called something else in the USA, but it was great fun. You pick out the bear you want (Em picked out a white bunny), you decide how firmly you want it stuffed, you pick a voice, pop in a heart (along with a kiss and a wish!), they sew it up, you pick out an outfit, and as you pay up and leave, you're handed a lovely little Birth Certificate. Emily is now the proud owner of a white bunny named Flopsy in a purple and white spotty dress.
Then it was off in the other direction to the LYS. I got a lime green ball of aran weight cotton, and 6 balls of Sugar 'n cream for bucket hats. Considering the climate we live in, I'm really disappointed about the lack of cotton yarns available here. There was nothing at all suitable for Gigi, all the cottons in the right weight were stiff, and the vast majority of the cottons were in the Australian 8 ply weight. (22sts/28rows - 10cm).
Everything else was novelty yarns. Over it. Big time.

Well, at least someone around

Well, at least someone around here finished something!

Presenting Emily's first ever finished project made from a pattern with finishing and all. She has previously made a scarf for her doll, but this is her "real" knitting. ;)
A teapot cosy for her Nana for Mother's Day. Originally, it was intended for her birthday (January 8) but time became somewhat of an issue. It was finished 15 minutes ago!

Myself? Well, I'm getting startitis. Perhaps I'm just avoiding my sweater :)
We went to the local craft store today and I bought some new projects. DH wanted gloves. So a month or so ago, I knitted him some. Now he'd like fingerless ones. So at the craft store, I found this great pattern book, with lots of scarves and hats and gloves for men.

Alot of the stuff is quite upbeat and trendy, and DH says "NO!". I was quite surprised even that he picked a blue-grey colour yarn for his gloves.

I haven't used this yarn before. It's a relatively new one from Patons Australia called Zhivago. It's 50% tencel, 50% acrylic, knits up at 20sts and 28rows to 10 cm and feels really nice and soft. (Perfect gauge for a bucket hat!) Great range of colours too. I also bought the supplies for a secret project. Sssh.

I did cast on the back of my sweater again, and knit all of 2 rows before I set it aside.

Tomorrow we're off to Lincraft and then further afield to the not-so-LYS in the search for bucket hat possibilities.

So today I swatched. I

So today I swatched. I like to knit with wooden straight needles. Call me old fashioned if you will, but the truth is I prefer wooden needles, and it is difficult to come by wooden or bamboo circular needles here in Australia.
However, it was not to be. I had begun the sweater on 5mm wooden straights, so I swatched with 4mm straights. Nearly got gauge - 20sts/28rows. 5mm aluminium circs got 18/28. 4mm circs got 20/28.
4.5mm anodised aluminim circs - bingo. At last.
So now I can go again on my merry way. From the start. Maybe tomorrow ;)

Presenting my Cleckheaton Sweater!!!

I swear that I swatched!
Okay, maybe it was lazily, but I did! I cast on 25 stitches, knit 10 rows and measured it. This time, I'll do a proper square.
Instead of 19sts/28 rows = 10cm, I was only getting 17sts/24 rows = 10cm.
And I only noticed because I finished one side of the front, and the neck seemed very low. So I measured it. You think I'd learn.

Mail Day!! My order from

Mail Day!!
My order from Threadbear arrived :)

Plassard pattern books 32 and 36 and 2 balls of papyrus, which I'm going to use to make this for Em

I liked this top alot. Mind you, we're heading into winter here, so she might not get much wear out of it - hopefully it will still fit next summer. I think it'll knit up very quickly, but I was most disappointed to discover that it has a crochet border. I detest crochet, can't follow a crochet pattern, and don't know a single crochet from a double crochet. Guess I'd better figure it out quick, huh?
Alot of the stuff I liked from the current Vogue and FCEK magazines have crochet edgings, and they just put me off, I'm afraid.
Anyway, the Papyrus is most unusual. It's kind of papery, kind of fabricy. I think it's very similar in texture to those paperish hospital gowns. It'll be very interesting to knit!
I also got my new ball winder.

I immediately wound a skien of Cascade 220, and it was a pleasure!

And yesterday, I received a set of Crystal Palace size 0 DPNS, ordered from Knit Happens I immediately cast on a sock for my DH, David.

I didn't get any further than the cast on though :)
The yarn that I'm using in that picture is Elann.com Sock It To Me Colori in shade 40 Highland Heather.

I got more of my Cleckheaton Sweater done, I'm up to the neck shaping on the front, pics of that tomorrow!

No knitting today. My Uncle

No knitting today.
My Uncle Ray died on Easter Sunday. He was only 51 years old, and died after a short but hard fight with oesaphagal (sp?) cancer. His funeral was today. It was a sad occasion, although it is nice to catch up with cousins that I haven't seen in many years, and to have the opportunity to say "That's your baby?? My goodness, he's so big!" and the like, but I hate it that we only catch up at sad occasions.
I'm glad he is no longer in pain, and that his family is no longer watching him die slowly.
I didn't see him (or other relatives for that matter) nearly often enough, but he will be missed by many.

Here are the blankets, all

Here are the blankets, all finished up.

As I think I said before, these were a great knit for new babies. They knit up nice and quick, are machine washable and dryable and look cute too.
The pattern called for tassels on each corner, but I don't think the tassels would stay nice, so I just didn't bother.

I am now considering options for the Bucket Hat. I may try the Mission Falls 1824 cotton, but I love the look of Becky's Plassard Grand Large. The Manos Cotton Stria that Jill sent me is the right gauge, but I think it might be too soft. Still to get to Lincraft, so I won't make any firm decisions until I see what I can get locally.

I intended to take pictures

I intended to take pictures of the blankets today, but I forgot until it was too late. Tomorrow.
I did a little knitting on my Cleckheaton sweater, and I bought the pattern for the Bottoms Up Bucket Hat from ChicKnits to join in my first knit along, the Bottom's Up Knitalong hosted by Becky from Fluffa
I'm not sure yet what yarn I'll use. I have a decided lack of yarn stores around me :(
My not-so-local yarn store is a 50 minute drive away, all others are much, much further. I don't live in the middle of nowhere, I think Sydney is just a bit slow on catching up on the so called knitting "craze". Closer by, I have Spotlight, a craft chain store that generally carries the most popular yarns (mostly superwash and eyelash), and further afield, Lincraft, a craft chain store that is slighty more upmarket than Spotlight. The closest Lincraft is a 45 minute drive. However, it is now school holidays, Emily has some birthday money left, and I think a trip to the nice big shopping centre (that just happens to house Lincraft ;) might just be in order next week!

Happy Easter!!

We all love our chocolate in our house :)

A nice, lazy day was had by all, and I knitted. I am now up to the last border of the duck blanket, which I intend to finish tonight. I'll then get stuck into the Cleckheaton sweater.

And we took Emily's yarn out of the KoolAid and wound it up. It came out a great blue!

Didn't get much knitting done

Didn't get much knitting done today, Em and I played with Kool Aid instead :)

We went up to the local shopping centre, and Emily bought herself a ball of white wool to dye.

It's a superwash yarn, but 100% wool, so I hope the colour takes okay. The KoolAid came from the wonderful Jill who sent me a whole lot of colours a while back.
So we filled a plastic jar with water and a splash of vinegar, then Emily stirred in the KoolAid.

Sorry about the picture, I should have taken it from the other side. (The sun was behind her). She then plopped the whole ball in.

We did that at around 1pm this afternoon, it's now nearly 11pm. The water is still blue, but definitely fading. I'm hoping we'll get a variegated effect by tossing in the whole ball. I have no idea how long it will take for the yarn to soak up all the colour, I'll keep you updated.

I finished the middle strip of the blankie, and I am seaming now, that's all the knitting I got done today.

I am kicking myself this

I am kicking myself this evening. I had the middle strip of the blue blanket 22 inches long, when I decided that maybe I should do a stitch count, as I hadn't checked in a while. Quite a while. I had dropped a stitch. Here I was, merrily knitting along, thinking that I'd be seaming today, and starting a border. I had dropped the stitch waaaay back when the strip was only 7 inches.
Can you say frog?
I really like the way this yarn knits up so quickly, but it's a pain to frog. The boucle bits get all caught up. Anyway, it's now back to 7 inches long, and I am ready to start the knitting again.

I think I'm over the idea of the Sirdar sweater. Fickle? Me? ;)
The internet is either the best or the worst thing to happen to my knitting. At least once a day I see something that I want to knit. I have the pattern for Rogue, and that was to be my next project after the Cleckheaton sweater. Now I'm thinking about the Everyday cardigan in Peace Fleece. Just thinking at this point. Because tomorrow I'll probably see something else I like :)

Here is the progress on

Here is the progress on the blue duck blanket. See what I mean about quick knit?

I'm about to start the duck at the top of the second strip. Then I just have the centre strip to knit, sew it together, and knit the border.

Here is the progress on the front of my Cleckheaton sweater.

No new parcels today. At least I have no excuse not to knit these two items over the Easter weekend. ;)

I've been at Elann looking at this.

It's not something I would normally knit, and I'm not a huge fan of polyester, or plush yarn, but there is something about this sweater that I really like.

I think I'll just consider it over the next few days, and if I haven't forgotten about it and I still like it, then I'll order it.

I received another parcel today

I received another parcel today - a skein holder that I won off of eBay. I'm something of an eBay addict, although I'm getting better :)

That's it! That's also my Lisa G knitting bag in the background that Em bought me for christmas this year.

I bought a wool winder off eBay a month or so ago, and thought I could manage without a skein holder. The first skein I tried to wind proved how wrong I was. It took me 5 minutes to wind the yarn and an hour to untangle the mess I made.

However now I have discovered that the wool winder I bought is too small. It only winds a ball around 50g in size. As I have skeins of 100g, this is a problem. Easy solution - buy another wool winder!
Done!
I won another off eBay on Saturday :) I hope it'll arrive tomorrow, but I probably won't get it until Tuesday because of the holidays. I don't need it, I'm just impatient.
I'm also waiting on an order from Threadbear I ordered the Plassard books, and some Papyrus to make one of the girl's tanks for Em.
I just like to receive parcels in the mail :)

I've made good progress on the blanket - one strip done and well into the second, and I cast on the front of the cleckheaton sweater, pictures tomorrow when I have better light.

In unrelated news, I got my hair cut and coloured today. I have been seeing my hairdresser for around 8 years. She is a friend who works from home. She does a great job, is really inexpensive, and I love her.
She's retiring. I hate finding a new hairdresser. She very kindly wrote down the details of the colour she uses on my hair for my new hairdresser when I find one, but it just won't be the same :(

Yesterday I recieved a wonderful

Yesterday I recieved a wonderful package from my friend Jill

There was also a box of peanut butter Girl Scouts cookies, but they didn't make it to the photo ;)

Spring/Summer Vogue and Family Circle Easy Knitting, a *great* book "A Knitters Template", a ball of Plassard "Alizes" to play with and a skien of Manos Del Uruguay Cotton Stria in a gorgeous shade of blue. There is also 3 balls of Bernat Baby Boucle, 1 white and 2 blue. Only one blue is shown, because the other ball is already being knitted into this -

My sister-in-law had twins on February 27. I purchased a kit of eBay to make a cute little pink blanket with ducks, and Jill was kind enough to get me enough yarn to make a matching blue one. I've finished the pink one. It was a great baby gift to make, it's soft and warm, really quick to knit, and is machine washable and dryable.

That's what I'm working on right now, although I've also got this on the needles.

I've done the back, and will cast on the front soon - maybe tonight.