You know how I said it was all going just a little *too* well? I was right.
I started the sleeves, and immediately realised that somewhere, someplace along the front I had a total screwup moment, and I rearranged the lace pattern.

See all those circles? In every lace repeat I've circled, I only did 8 rows of lace pattern, not 10.
Now the question is can I live with it? It's not a hideously obvious mistake, but of course, I know it's there. I don't think I can. Of course, that means I need to rip out half of the front.
I'm going to finish the sleeves then see how I feel about it.
Here's the sleeves.

What puzzles me most is that I stuffed one repeat on the front, then I got one right. Then I stuffed up three, then I got two right, then one wrong, one right then the whole right front wrong. Totally clueless.

I got a new book from Amazon today!

Louisa Harding's Modern Classics. I really like this! Modern Classics indeed. Very simple, timeless designs.

That's most of the designs. There are three sections in the book, DK, Worsted and Aran. This is the design I saw that made me want the book.

That one's in worsted weight. And am I the only one who thinks this model has no idea of how to knit?

To me it just looks like someone has thrown the needles at her and said "Here, hold this!"

Just because there hasn't been a picture in a while, here's Twinkie, as cute as ever.

This is what David came home to today, Twinkie and me cuddle time.

And finally, if you're from Australia, NZ, the UK, Europe or any other country or continent that Knitpicks refuses to ship to, and you're disappointed because of it, pop on over to the petition that Ailsa started and have your say.
Maybe if enough of us have something to say, Knitpicks will realise how much money they're missing out on and will do something about it!

Saturday sky, just a few days late.

Once upon a time, I used to blog every day. Where did I get the time??
The carpet rose is blooming again.

This is all thanks to David, I can't grow anything. Lack of attention span and forgetting to water anything at all may have somethng to do wth it.
Saturday was Stitch n Bitch, followed by our christmas dinner. A great time was had, but the only picture I took all day was of Miss Bronte. She wasn't very happy on Saturday, and didn't want Sharon to knit. Sharon managed to finish this headscarf however, but I don't thuink Bronte wanted to be the model.

Still adorable, regardless!
I seem to be going through one of those patches where we're lurching from one minicrisis to another lately. Nothing dramatic, or really very serious in the big scheme of things, just very, very wearying.
This amused me, though.

A new polar bear, in very poor taste, but enough to make me giggle every time I look at him.
I also bought David a gift, with an ulterior motive.

A gingerbread man cookie cutter. It caught my eye, and I love gingerbread, so I bought this gift in the hope that it brings me little gingerbread men. I may also have bought all the ingredients to go with him.
All the avoiding of the kitchen has resulted in plenty of knitting time.
Enough that I got the front of the Lace Panel sweater done.

I'm loving it, but I haven't cast on for the sleeves yet. I wish all my projects knit up this quickly. It's almost going too well. There's going to be something at some point that's going to trip me up, I'm sure.

And just in case anyone has been wondering about Darwin lately, he's doing very well, thank you!

The honoured position!

Look what I got.

This book is just gorgeous. And my wish list just got a lot longer. If I knit everything that's on that list, I really need to find a way to live about 100 more years than the average human being.
This list of things I want to knit from this book alone is about a mile long. Why is nearly everything I want to knit made from laceweight? If I liked more things knit in Aran weight, my list would move a whole lot faster.
Like the Lace Panel Sweater, which is moving along very nicely, thank-you-very-much!

Half way up the front, and all is well so far. I'm enjoying this knit immensely, in fact. The fact that it's going so quickly might explain a large part of that.
As a result, Spring Blossoms is being sadly neglected. I haven't even picked it up in days.

I may have accidently started something else though. Not the Krista tee! I've managed to resist ordering the kit. So far. I do look at it about 5 times a day though.
I had to go to an appointment near the city yesterday, and in my infinite wisdom I decided to catch the train. The stop I had to go to is on my train line, and yet I had to catch three different trains to get there.
You go, Cityrail!!
Anyway, I decided that the sweater was too big for the train. i took along my beautiful new book, but I decided to start a sock, too.

Pomatomus. Yes, I'm a bit late to the party, as usual. Why dd nobody tell me what fun this pattern is? The yarn is KnitPicks Sock Memories in Easter, which is sadly discontinued. The minute Emily saw the colours, she claimed it. She hasnt had new socks in a while, so I grabbed this yarn from the stash, printed out the pattern and hopped on the train(s).
What a dilemma. I couldn't decide whether to knit or read, and the pattern is a little complicated for both at once. So I'd read a bit, knit a bit, get off the train. Read a bit, knit a bit, get on the train. Read a bit, knit a .... oh, you get the idea.
And I had my first ever approach from a stranger about knitting in public while sitting on Strathfield station. (Waiting for a train - theres a surprise!)
It was a youngish guy, looked like a bit of a nohoper, but I may just be casting aspersions of course.
He walked past me, stopped, then walked back. I made sure my bag was nice and close, then realised he was looking at my knitting, not my purse.
He siad "What are you making?", so I told him it was a sock. "And you need all those needles?" I explained that is was knit in the round, so it would be seamless. He just stood there for a minute or two, watching me knit. Then he said "That's incredible" and walked away.
I'm glad he walked away, becasue I didn't quite know what to say!

I finished the Zigzag socks!

Sorry for the crappy pictures. David has found a box, and we're going to build a lightbox ala Ailsa.

The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in "Somerset" and was a lovely gift from Lindy.

As soon as I get a decent picture, I'll fix up the pdf and upload the pattern.

A little more work has been done on the Lace Panel Sweater, too.

True to form, I'm not even halfway through this sweater, and I've found a new obsession.

It's the Krista Tee from White Lies Designs.
Isn't it gorgeous? I have resisted ordering it so far, though.
I'm trying to be strong. In order not to just add willy nilly to the stash, I'm going to sit and think on this top for awhile. I love it, really. But I'm going to work on the lace panel sweater, and when I'm nearly done with it, then I'll order the Krista kit.
Who thinks I won't last? (I'm raising my own hand here! ;)

However, look what I did buy!

I'm sorry he's sideways! I can't work out how to turn it right side up.

He's a 3 feet tall singing and dancing polar bear, and I love him! I've been eyeing him off for a few weeks, and when we were at the store on the weekend, there was only one left. Really, I'm surprised held out that long. He has four different songs, and David claims he's sick of them all already.
I'm not! He's the closest thing I'll ever get to a real polar bear.
Twinkie hasn't really been intoduced to him yet, but if he loses a toe, she's in big trouble.

And in the most recent news, my mum fell over down the street yesterday. She's grazed her face and shoulder, given herself a black eye, cracked two bones in her hand, and cut open a finger. She's in a half cast right now, so this morning I went up to do her dishes ad hang her washing, but she claims she can manage just fine. I did do few little jobs for her, though.

You think she'd be taking full advantage of the situation and putting us kids to work - payback for all those years she had to do it for us!
As you can see from this picture, it's not exactly a hardship going up to help out mum.

The red circle is my house, and the blue one is mum's. It's maybe 250 metres away!

Saturday!

Boring, blue. But mighty nice!
Here's one I prepared earlier.

Thursday sky, much prettier.

The socks, they are not done. All that remains is to graft the toe of sock number 2, but I'm lazy, what can I say? Kitchener has always been my least favourite part of sock knitting!

So, Saturday. I've been knitting.

4.5sts an inch seems to go so much quicker than lace or sock weight, doesn't it? My row gauge is off (Alert the media!), so I find myself tugging at my knitting, trying to stretch it into submission. Not quite sure if it's working yet, I'll keep you updated.
This is the first time I've knit with All Seasons Cotton. It's okay, I guess. It's not grabbing me a whole lot. I'm not a fan of cotton, and it's definitely an improvement on cotton.
Can I be sacreligious and say that it really seems much of a muchness as Lion Brand Cotton Ease? I used cotton Ease earlier this year to make a zip jacket (still zipless!!). The compostion is similar, the weight is similar. Similar is a pretty good word, I'd say.
The Rowan does have a nice velvety-ness that the Lion Brand lacked.
I like it, don't get me wrong. It hasn't grabbed me the way the Kid Classic I used did, that's all.

Being a Saturday, and the right time of year, Em danced at a fete today.

No, that's not her hair. I'm a cheat, and use a hairpiece.
When I downloaded the pictures off the camera tonight, I discovered she'd been taking self portraits after she got home. She probably didn't intend it for the blog, but it was just too tempting.

Some day some lucky boy is going to have that coming at him.
God help us all!

I'm a slack blogger, aren't I?
I was feeling better, then I felt like crap again. Australia's weather has gone insane, and no-one knows wtf is going on. It's mid-November. That means we're heading into Summer. We should be having weather in the mid 20's, nice and sunny.
It's snowing in the mountains! It's cold. Well, it was this morning. Then it got warm this afternoon. Now it's cold again. I'm in my winter pj's, with woolen socks and my frickin' dressing gown on. No wonder we've all been sick.
Snow. In Australia, in November.

But I'm really overdue for knitting updates, aren't I? Not that there's been a lot of knitting going on, but I'll update all the same.

Spring Blossoms. The purple blob.

It's still a purple blob, but it's a bigger blob. Nearly finished the seventh repeat. Each row is currently taking 45 minutes or so.

My art director was on hand to help out with the pictures today.

So I asked her to help with the ZigZag socks.

Nearly done! Here's a better view of socks number 2.

Only the toe to go! The pattern seems to be correct, so I'll put it up when I'm done.
And that's as much knitting as I've managed.
Yarn buying? Yes, I've managed some of that!

Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed in "Fleece". Bought from eBay at a bargain price to make this.

What's one more project in the stash anyway? The cardi is from the new Jo Sharp "Knit" magazine. Speasking of which, remember the Rowan All Seasons Cotton I bought recently to make the lace paneled sweater from the same magazine?
I bought a bag of the yarn from eBay, 10 balls. The yardage was just a tad short though. So, to be on the safe side, I ordered two single balls from English Yarns. I figured that I could alternate those balls with the balls I ordered from eBay on the back of the sweater, and it would be fine.
Luck was on my side.
The yarn from eBay.

Sorry for the crappy lack of focus.
The yarn from English Yarns.

I hadn't even dared to hope.

What a week!
If I owe you an email, I apologise sincerely. Last weekend, Em had the sniffles. By Wednesday night, both David and I had colds. (And Wednesday was David's birthday!) By Thursday night, my face hurt.
Early hours of Friday morning, I was in the painful throes of a full on sinus attack, and was ready to start driving anywhere to find a 24 hour chemist. At least three different people took the time to tell me how terrible looked on Friday.
So most of Friday and yesterday were spent in bed, suffering.
But I'm feeling much better today!
Pascale has been pointed in the direction of all your lovely comments, thank you very much!!

Costumes? Dress Rehearsal is over, and it was far less painful than I was expecting. I got around a dozen costumes back for alteration, and there was nothing major. I still have 5 left to fix, but hopefully I'll be done by the middle of this week.

David very thoughtfully took a Saturday Sky picture for me while I slept yesterday.

Didn't I miss a great day?
Knitting? Not much. But I have had a sneaky project going for the past week or so.

Birthday socks! He really did deserve another pair.
The yarn is a DK weight pure wool, purchased from an Australian ebay seller, Highland Cottage Crafts.
A nice quick knit, and I'm told the socks are the most comfortable yet.
The zigzag socks are heading down the foot on the second sock, and the purple blob is still a purple blob, lbiet a little bigger than the last time I showed it!

35 costumes went through dress rehearsal last night, and 8 came back for alterations. Nothing major, at least!
Another 20 go through tonight, and the rest over the course of the week. I did get a phone call just a little while ago saying that I need to make 6 headbands. Wake me when it's over.

Seeing as I have no knitting to blog about, I'm going to blog about someone else's!
Last year, I knitted the very cute little STYK cardi for a gorgeous little girl in our extended family. Earlier this year, Little Miss Cute gained a baby brother, Ellis. For him, I sent the baby shawl I designed and knit, and a cute little hat.

All these lovely knitted goodies inspired the kidlets' mother, Pascale, to take up the needles herself. Isn't that what all us knitters like to hear?!?
Pascale emailed me to tell me that she'd taken up knitting and was enjoying it and had even signed up for a class to learn some finishing techniques.
She's on fire! She's already designing little purses to hold Annabel's toys, and is thinking of doll blankets with sheep on them, and all sorts of wonderful things.
But she has sent me a picture of her first finished project, a jacket for Ellis.

That's her first project! Hasn't she done an excellent job? BTW, I'm talking about the knitting, although he's a mighty cute baby :)
All comments will be passed along.

Saturday sky. Grey, wet and generally crappy.
A pretty good sky for my mood!

I'm having a bad week.
David got the sack on Thursday.
This actually isn't really a bad thing as some of you are well aware.
Back in August he left his job of 5 years, because he was underpaid and underappreciated. He started at a new job, where the pay was much better, and it appeared to be a place where his skills would be appreciated and utilised.
It wasn't. He disliked his co-workers, was managed by a moron, and was even more miserable than he had been in his old job.
But his old job had realised how much they needed him, and he has been in negotiations to go back there. Problem was, he would have to give four weeks notice at his new job, and his old emplyers were anxious to have him back ASAP.
So he did his best to get sacked, and he succeeded.
So, it's not really bad news. His old employer is now being a jerk about a few key points in his contract, but it'll work out. And ultimately, at some point next year he will be going to work for a client of this employer, which is what he really wants to do, so the future looks rosy.
Doesn't stop me stressing out, but that's my nature.

Dress rehearsals for the concert begin tomorrow, and run for most of the week. Most of the sewing is now done, but this year I've really pushed the time limit. I still have 3 small jobs to get done tomorrow, but everyone will be dressed at the rehearsal.
Now I'll start to lose sleep over the idea that there'll be problems with all the costumes and they'll all come back for adjustments. I have this concern every year, and I always get a few back, but nothing major. Yet!

Hopefully, by Friday, everything will be over, I'll be reassured, David will be settled into his new/old job and the knitting can recommence in earnest.

Twinkie is thinking "Bring on Friday, then I'll come out!"

Me too!

The Icarus, she is done!

This has been the hardest shawl I've ever had to photograph. It came out blurry, then it was too dark. It's taken 3 days to get a half decent shot.

Specs: "Icarus" from Interweave Knits Summer 2006, Designed by Miriam of Mimknits
Yarn: Misti Baby Alpaca in Black, purchased from The Knitting Zone
Needles: 3.5mm Addi Natura bamboo circ, from STYK
Pattern Modifications:
I left out on full repeat of Chart 1, because I was fairly certain I would have run out of yarn otherwise. I did have yarn leftover, but I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't have made it if I'd done that last repeat. I'm happy with the finished size, regardless. It's 77cm (30.5") down the centre back, and 155cm (62") across the wingspan.
It's an easier lace pattern than I would normally do, and those endless repeats of chart one nearly drove me insane, so much so that it got put aside for a good while in the middle of knitting it. Once I moved on to Chart 2 though, I loved it.
I also really enjoyed working wtht he Misti Baby Alpaca.
Now back to the purple blob!