Twinkies tip for the day.

When your mother is hanging the washing, if you do this

And this

And this

She has to stop and give you a scratch.

"What? No more laundry? Check Em's floor, there's bound to be some in there!"

Is there a specially choreographed dance we're supposed to do when we have a finished project?

The beaded socks are done. I love them. (No, I haven't blocked or seamed the striped jumper!)

Pertinent info
Yarn : Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in "River"
Beads: 8/0 seed beads, purchased from eBay
Pattern: Heartstrings Fiber Arts "Beaded Faux Cable Anklets"
A close up of the cuff.

Pretty, pretty!
I have rather thick ankles, so I had to play with the needle and sock sizes a little, but I'm very happy with the finished result. I wore them all day today, and they most comfortable indeed.

I have actually already started something else, because I needed some easy knitting for the dance comp the other day. I'm knitting something Em specifically asked for.
Be warned, there is Fun Fur involved.

The things we do for love.

Purple fluffy trimmed socks.
I'm making them up as I go along, but they fit "perfectly", according to Em's excited squeal. If anyone is interested in the pattern, let me know and I'll write it up.
I'm using Filatura Di Crosa "Zarina". It's a sportweight yarn, with recommended gauge 26sts/4" on 3.75mm (US 5) needles.
I love this yarn, and the slightly heavier weight "Zara". They're springy, soft pure merino wool yarns that are yummy to knit with.
I'm knitting it at a tighter gauge, roughly 30sts/4", and it's making a lovely soft sock. I hope it wears okay, Em is pretty hard on socks.
Oh, and the trim is Sirdar Funky Fur magic. I held it together with the Zarina, but I really don't enjoy knitting with the stuff. I find it hard to count the rows, and I kept knitting into only one of the yarns, and accidently dropping the other. I only did 10 rows of it though, so it wasn't too much of a hardship.

It's knitting up nice and quickly, but of course not quick enough for Em's liking, who wants them now.

And another weekend is over. We need more of them, I say!
It was another busy one, I missed Stitch n Bitch due to yet another dancing event.
I couldn't take the gloves to the dancing event, but I did get a bit more done on them, and am now partway through the fingers. A few people expressed interest in the fingers, so I thought I'd document the process for you.
Some Fair Isle gloves have patterned fingers, but luckily for me, not these ones.
I finished the palm of the first glove.

I'm now up to the fingers, and we start with the pinky finger. The end of round is at the side of the hand, and pattern says "K8, place next 48 stitches on a holder, then use the backwards loop method to CO 2 sts over the gap, K8"
This gives you 18 finger stitches, and the 48 stitches on the holder are left aside for the other fingers later on.

Rather than use a holder or waste yarn, I leave the stitches on the needles, and just use a new set for the fingers. So my finger stitches are on the green needles, and the set aside stitches are on teh bamboo needles.
Using those stitches, complete the finger by knitting around.

Because your little finger sits a little lower than the rest of your fingers, rejoin the yarn to the 48 held stitches to lengthen the palm for the remaining fingers.

The pattern says "Rejoin the working yarn, and beginning at the base of the little finger, work one round, picking up and knitting 2 sts at base of cast on for little finger to eliminate any gap"
Basically, you should pick up stitches where you cast on to cover the gap on the previous finger.

The blue circle is where I rejoined the yarn, the red oval is where you will pick up stitches.
I find that just because you have cast on 2 sts on the previous finger, picking up 2 sts is not enough. If I only pick up 2 stitches, I end up with gaps at the base of the finger.
So I pick up however many I think I need to prevent holes. For this glove, I found I needed to pick up 5.

Then, on the next round, I reduced it to 3 by knitting 2 stitches together twice.

Then on the next round again, I reduce it to the 2 required. (I have begun the ring finger at this stage, and have 16 stitches on my green finger needles)
As you can see, this eliminates any holes, and still looks nice and neat.

That's as far as I've gotten. If anyone has any questions that I haven't covered, let me know and I'll put up more info.
Now it's back to more fingers!

Well, it definitely ain't sunny and bright here at Casa del Random this morning.

Thick as pea soup, people. That pic was taken at 7.30 this morning, it's now 9.30am and it's still just as bad. And it's cold.
I opened the back door for Twinkie, who usually goes bounding out first thing, and even she stopped at the door and turned and gave me her "What the f*&@?" look. I'm sure she wanted me to go out and chase it away, like I do with the birds.
Good day to sit and knit, I think.

The gloves are coming along, the flower on the first one is finished.

The colours aren't as bright as they appear here, but I had to use the flash.
I've also been working on the second beaded sock.

I've only just had to join in the second ball. I always seem to get great yardage from Lorna's Laces, and it's just so yummy to work with.
The costume sewing goes on and on. I still have 48 or something left to do, but I have until October. Of course, I use that as an excuse to put it off, and then I fall behind again. The sewing machine is out in the kitchen, and it's just too cold to sit out there some days.

While I was taking pictures of the knitting, I saw these little guys on the back fence.

Poor things, I told you it was cold!!
Twinkie thinks it's a better idea to hide inside today.

I love those little front legs!

I got my knitting back!
I went to the doctors this morning, and the receptionist told me how lovely it was, and that she'd shown it to everyone in the waiting room when she found it.
However, not having the sock around gave me plenty of time to work on the Fair Isle gloves.

(Click for big)
That's the front of the glove, and that's the start of the flower petals you can see in the green.

(Click for big)
That's the palm of the glove. Those "stripes" make up the pattern for the whole palm.

But I do have a bit of a problem. The gauge called for is 32sts x 32rows = 4". I'm getting 32sts, but I'm getting 40 rows. So the width is right, but the length is a bit squishy. I'm hoping I can stretch it a bit at the blocking stage. Or that the recipient has little squat hands!
Emily is feeling much better today, and is going back to school tomorrow. Thank you for all the well wishes!

Emily has been sick with a cough and a cold for a few days, so I took her to the doctor this morning. To pass the time, I took my beaded sock to knit.
However, when I got there, I saw an old friend whom I haven't seen in quite a while, so I chatted with her, and did no knitting.
Guess what?
Two hours later, I've realised that my knitting is sitting on the floor under my chair. At the doctors.
Now I'll have to go back tomorrow to pick it up. Bah!

A couple of weeks ago I showed you two pretty little baby hats from an Australian Cleckheaton pattern leaflet. Tracy admired the little hats, and a swap was born.
I received this lovely little parcel in the mail.

A yummy ball of Regia sock yarn, a little knitted gift and the most squishy and adorable polar bear ever!
And the little knitted gift was this lovely washcloth.

I had admired it on her blog when she posted about it, but it's even prettier in person. Thank you, Tracy!

The Fair Isle Gloves have begun.

They were actually further along than this last night, but the first time around, the green I chose was too dark, and there wasn't enough contrast with the blue.
So far, so good!
I'm with Wendy on corrugated ribbing though - definitely my least favourite part.

Em and Twinkie actually like to cuddle this way.

She makes a very good cushion - it's all that padding.

Yeehaw! Zippity do dah! Hip hooray! Woo hoo!

The sleeves are done! Done!
Mind you, I had to knit pretty fast on the pink stripes. I was getting worried about running out of yarn, and we all know that if you knit fast enough, you can beat the end of the yarn, right?

Not as close as it could have been, but pretty damn close.
Now we shan't talk about the blocking and seaming and ends weaving, okay? For a day or three, I'm not even going to think about that bit, and I'll just wrap myself in my delusions that the worst is over.
What's next?
These.

Floral Fair Isle gloves. The pattern is a free one from the Interweave Knits website.
I'm using the leftovers from the Fair Isle Sampler Hat I knit last year. I gave the hat to David's sister for christmas, and she's going to the UK in August to teach for a year or two, so I'm going to knit her gloves, too.
Hopefully they'll make better blog fodder than a stockinette sweater!

Apparently I'm not the only Polar Bear lover in the house.

(No Polar Bears were hurt in the process of taking this picture)
Really, she only wanted the tag, but the Bear has now been moved to a higher vantage point.

Thank heavens it's a holiday weekend here, because I needed today to recover. Seriously, I didn't get up until 11am.
The whole weekend was spent in a freezing school hall, with early mornings and late nights.
However, I have this to show for it.

Yes, I started and finished the scarf. Here's David modelling it at the dance comp.

(Crappy phone pic)
He's happy with it, and was especially happy when I finished it, because it was freezing. Well, freezing by Sydney standards.
It was a great knit. It didn't take up much yarn (I have still have 30g of the Cascade 220 left), and was easy enough to knit without paying too much attention. You can't see it very well in the pic (I've folded the centre under) but the cables are only at the start and end of the scarf, with 2x2 rib in the centre.

Here it is at home this morning, unblocked, but done.

Now it's back to the Nundle sleeves.

Here are some more crappy phone pics of Em practising in the tea break.

Twinkie has a favourite spot in the yard. She like to sleep under the outdoor table. You can see in this pic that it's been raining, but it's nice and dry in her spot.

Well, we decided it was high time to put the furniture away until the weather improves again, but Twinkie has pretended not to notice.

I don't think she's going to be impressed when it rains again and the groove she's created with her butt fills with water!

Oh, and Ailsa (or Knitablulous, if you prefer), has been named as a finalist in the first challenge for The Amazing Lace for her hilarious introduction post.
Go and vote here!

Chugging along on the sleeves, finally! I've had one of those weeks where you work your butt off all week (or at least it feels like it) and I've achieved very little. I've done bits and pieces of sewing, run around to lots of appointments and assemblies at school, and generally did lots of nothing all week. So yesterday afternoon I planted my butt on the new lounge and got moving on the sleeves.

I'm a bit over this sweater now, so I just want it done. Well, I don't know if I'm over the sweater or just itching to start something new.
Em has a dance comp this afternoon and all day tomorrow, but after much consideration, I've decided not to take the sleeves. Mainly becuase this is a pain to cart around.

Or maybe I'm just looking for excuses to start something new. I'm also vaguely worried that I'm going to run out of yarn. Both the pinks are running very low.
In any case, I've promised my family that the next things I start will be for them. Emily wants purple socks with fun fur cuffs.
The things we do for love.
David wants a scarf. And a Cthulhu.
So I'm taking this with me to the dance comp.

The lovely Wendy of Cat Knits sent me a copy of One Skein for my birthday, which will be perfect for using up those odd balls in my stash.
I'm going to knit this for David.

The yarn is Cascade 220 in 7920, and is a bit darker and greener than it looks in this picture.
Of course, whenever I take knitting to the dance comps, I never seem to get any done. There's also a great glove pattern in the book, and I have another skein of the 220, so he may also get a pair of gloves. Someday.

Twinkie is watching the world go by.

It's Worldwide Knit In Public day, maybe she's looking for knitters!

Never whine about the stash.
It'll get you back.
I was hunting through one of my nice, new, heavy timber stash boxes, and the lid crashed down on my head. The corner of support post hit me square in the middle of head.
Ouch. It really hurt.
I went to the doctor yesterday, and he sent me off for a CT scan straight away, because I has a splitting headache and was feeling nauseous and dizzy.
The good news is that I have a brain and it's not bleeding. It's just a minor concussion, and I do feel a bit better today.

Today was the first time I knit since Sunday, so I don't have much to report. But I did finish the body of the Nundle sweater.

Do you see what I see? A shitload of ends waiting to be woven in!
I'll use them to seam the sides, but they'll still need to be woven in. The pattern called for the front and back to be knit seperately, (including the collar) then cast off and seamed in the shoulder. Seeing as I was knitting them together anyway, I decided to go with a three needle bind off for the shoulder seams, leaving the collar stitches live, then knit the collar in the round.

If I'd thought further in advance, I would've knit the whole thing in the round, eliminating side seams entirely, but I'm the queen of hindsight. I'm happy with the shoulder seams and collar though.
Now I just need to knit the sleeves and seam it all up. The sleeves have been started, but not much more than that.

Twinkie says "Peekaboo!"

Okay, it's time for us to have a little talk about our relationship.
Yes, I'm talking to you. All of you. Well, the knitters. I can only think of 2 non-knitters who read this blog, anyway.
This has to stop. I mean it.
All of you, constantly tempting me with your works in progress, finished items and planned projects.
It seems that every day I read all the blogs I subscribe to, and find at least one more item to add to my "To Do" list, or a new yarn to yearn for.
My stash is out of control. I have a million projects I want to start, and I want to start them all now. And every time I start making noise about starting something new, my family wants to know if I'm going to start one of the projects I've promised for them.
I have good intentions every time I buy new yarn, really I do. I swear I'll knit it straight away, and not stash it. I promise myself every day that I won't buy any new yarn until I knit at least 3 projects. Okay, maybe two. At least one.
I am weak!!
I cast on a new project and immediately start thinking about what I can start next. I have sock yarn for about 60 pairs of socks. I have laceweight for at least nine ten projects that I can think of just off the top of my head. I have yarn for sweaters, for hats, for scarves. For gifts, for me, for my family. And I love it all.
And still you tempt me.
And it isn't like I'm not in love with any of the stuff I already own. I love it all. Immensely. I want to knit it all. Now.
And still I keep seeing things that I must have.
I don't have too much yarn. I have too little time.
Please stop. I can't take anymore.
Really.

(Not really!)

The birthday goodies keep coming!
A package came today from Tammy. (I'd just like to point out that Becky sent me a normal sized letter from Wollongong (45 minutes drive away) last Thursday, May 25. It arrived yesterday, 6 days later. Tammy sent me a parcel from Oregon on Friday May 26, it was opened and inspected by Quarantine, and it arrived here today, 6 days later. Maybe Australia Post is having some issues!)
The package smelled heavenly, and that's probably what made the quarantine people take notice ;)

Tammy had warned me that she wanted me to email her before I opened it, so I did, but the quarantine people had other ideas.

But I was good, and waited until I'd heard from Tammy. Look at all the lovely items inside!

Chocolate! Sock yarn! Stitch n Bitch design notebook, Threads magazine, hand lotion and tea. Not as much tea as Tammy sent, because apparently some of the ingrdients in the other tea are prohibited. Or maybe the quarantine folk were just short of tea this week ;)
Thank you, Tammy, it's all lovely.
And here is a picture of my beautiful candle sconce all lit up last night.

Gorgeous!