So, the Lace Panel Sweater is finished.

Laid out flat like this, I love it. I'm pleased with the way it looks. The sleeve fit into the armscye was a little tight, as Nat predicted, but it wasn't too bad. A little bit of extra ease wouldn't have been a bad thing, though.
But actually wearing it? I don't love it so much.

I like it better in this picture than I do in person, though!
It makes me look bulky, but David and Em tell me I'm imagining that. The sleeves are too tight, and a bit too long. I'd have liked the body to bit a bit longer. I'd say it's too small, but it's not really, theres a little bit of ease in the body, but it feels too small. That may just be the sleeves.
Will I wear it? Maybe, it's growing on me. Maybe I need to do some upper arm working out!
Specs:
Pattern: Lace Panel Sweater, from Jo Sharp Knit 2
Yarn: Recommended yarn was Jo Sharp Desert Garden Aran Cotton, but I subbed Rowan All Seasons Cotton in Purr. I used just under 10 balls for the second size.

A success or a dud? I'm still undecided.

And something to prove that knitting and crochet isn't just for grannies anymore, it'll also help you visualise your geometry problems.. If someone asks what you're knitting, tell them it's Lorenz manifold.

We're off early in the morning, and will be back next Wednesday. Internet access will be limited, so I'd like to wish everybody a happy and safe New Year!
See you in 2007.

Phew! That's over with again. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy Christmas, but it wears me out for a week afterwards!

It was a great day, with some awesome gifts.

Barbara Walker treasuries 3 & 4, which completes my set and Sterling Silversock needles from Celtic Swan forge. And a cute little guy waiting for me.

Amongst other things!
Emily did very well for herself as usual, and had a great day with the extended family.

Twinkie got a box. Trust me, she was overjoyed

We spent Boxing Day recovering, and somehow I managed to volunteer to babysit all of my nieces today, as both of my sisters had to work. There are 3 of them, so with Emily, I had a 10 year old, an 11 year old and two 13 year olds.
But it wasn't too bad. We went to Spotlight, because they had a 20% off sale, and I managed to snag 12 balls of Cleckheaton Country Silk for a plain V neck jumper.

Then we came home, where I plied them with food, a DVD and a board game, and they proceeded to amuse themselves for hours, only requiring me to supply additional food at convenient intervals.

I used this time to seam the Lace Panel Sweater. Nearly there, only one side seam to go.
We're off to visit family for a few days in Bundaberg in Friday, so I'm trying to have it done by then, although I doubt I'll need it up there. It's going to be a flying visit, flying up on Friday, and we'll be back next Wednesday.
We took Twinkie to the boarding place this evening.
She's not happy with us, and she made me feel bad. Yes, I'm pathetic. It's only a few days, but I miss her already.

At least I had something to cheer myself up. I ordered a Christmas present for myself back in october, and it arrived today.

A Kitri sock kit, complete with prestrung beads for the lace beaded cuff.
I hope it fits my fat ankles!

Both Annie and Debbie have tagged me for the "Six weird things about you" meme that's floating about. I'm not usually a huge fan of the meme, but i've already done a version of this one, way back in July 2005 when it was about 5 personal idiosyncrasies.
So all I have to do is reprint it, and add one.

1. I have to have the blankets straight at night.
Yes, while I'm in the bed. I can't stand crumpled blankets. I smooth the quilt out when I get into bed. And it has to cover the whole bed, neatly. Lately, we've had an extra blanket thrown over the bed, and that has to lay neatly and straight too. DH takes great pleasure in folding a corner back or uncovering part of the bed to drive me insane.

2. I sew barefoot.
I can't operate the sewing machine with shoes on. I can't stand not being able to feel the pedal. So at most, I wear a pair of socks.

3. I hang the washing out with matching pegs.
If I'm hanging out a shirt or something that needs two pegs, they have to match. eg. they have to be 2 red ones, or 2 blue ones. I can't have a blue peg and a red peg together. This happens to the point where I'll rearrange pegs if there are no matching ones left.

4. I hate waiting.
More so than is normal. I hate queues. I hate traffic. I hate red lights. To the point that I say I have a Red Light Elf, who goes ahead of me in traffic, sending lights red, just to aggravate me. I hate sitting at school waiting for Em in the afternoon. I hate waiting for Em to get ready in the morning. I hate to be late. I hate waiting for something I've ordered to arrive. Waiting and time wasting infuriates me. Seriously. And Em is a slow, laid back person. no wonder we fight ;)

5. I cannot sit still and do nothing.
Can't just watch TV, Have to be knitting or sewing, or blogging or surfing. I can't lay in the bath for hours. This is probably connected to the time wasting above. I seriously never have enough hours in a day. I can't even just talk on the telephone. If I'm on the phone, I'm doodling, or folding washing or playing solitaire. My mother says I need to learn to relax.
Pfft. Who has the time??

6. I got bored ridiculously easily
I get severe Shiny, shiny-itis. I see something, I become obsessed with it. Totally obsessed. It consumes my life, then suddenly I'm over it and I move on. It could be anything. My stash is a perfect example. I se a pattern, I must knit it, I hunt down the yarn, the pattern, whatever, and I'm over it long before I cast on. I have a house full of craft supplies that I absolutely had to have, and never used. teddy bear making supplies, doll making supplies, embroidery, sewing. And it's not limited to craft, either.

So that's it. There are weirder things that none of you need to know about.

Saturday sky.

It's looking like we'll have a wet, wet christmas. Today has dawned exactly the same way. I don't mind, really. Maybe the farmers and the firefighters are getting the christmas gift they want, but then again, it's probably not falling where it needs to be.

David cooked barbeque last night.

I've been working on the P-p-p-p socks, and I'm pissed.
This is the one thing I hate about variegated yarns.

Same pattern, same needles, same dyelot. Knitting up completely differently. My tension must be different this time, no idea why, but I much prefer sock number one. Emily doesn't care, luckily for her, becasue i'm not ripping it out. The boredom I mentioned before is setting in, and I can't be bothered starting over, I just want them done now.

And have you been checking Google? Two years agao, it was Polar Bears for christmas.
This year?

Knitting kangaroos!

Merry Christmas and Happy holidays to you all!

So last night, after everyone else was in bed, I wrote a blog entry. Then my computer froze, so I gave up and went to bed.
Don't you hate that?
Yesterday was day one of the Christmas school holidays. Em decided to celebrate by burning toast and setting off the smoke alarm to wake me up. Only five weeks and four days to go until school goes back!

In knitting news, I started and finished Twinkletoes.

They don't look like much in that picture, do they?
But they look much prettier on!

They're a great knit. I knit them to gauge, and if I knit them again, I'd probably knit them a little tighter. The calmer has a nice stretch to it anyway, but they're a little floppy for my taste. Em loves them though.
She went to a costume party last night, as a Fairy Princess.

And she would have worn the Twinkletoes if I'd let her - fortunately I didn't as the party was out in the unfinished back yard. She has another party to go to tonight. If only I had half of her social life!
Then again, I'd probably just be tired.

The Lace Panel Sweater is inching along in it's progress. I've seamed the shoulders and knit the neckband.

As soon as I get over the Nundle sweater, I'll seam the shoulders and side seams!

I've gone back to working on the Spring Blossoms shawl. I've almost finished the eighth pattern repeat. If I was using Zephyr, I'd be almost done! But I'm using a finer yarn, and i really think it's too small, and I still have plenty of yarn, so I'm going to resist the temptation to cast off and keep going for at least one more repeat. Two if I can stand it. I'm at 792 stitches right now. We'll see how far I can get.

Twinkie hopes you're all enjoying the Holiday Season.

Really though, she's saying "I can't believe what you people will do to me for blog fodder!"

So I finally got around to finishing the ZigZag sock pattern.

I really should have blocked those socks, shouldn't I? And the light box that David created for me needed to be a bit bigger, but the pattern is done.

And it's available here.

It's in a pdf file. If that doesn't work for you, email me, and I'll send you a word doc. If you make them, don't be shy! Send me a picture, I want to see them!

Merry Christmas, happy holidays :)

Things have been busy knitwise at Casa del Random.
The Lace Panel Sweater is in a lovely pile of blocked pieces.

Not seamed yet. It often takes me a while to work up the seaming bit. Like the Nundle Sweater. Yes, I finished knitting it on June 15. Well, while I was waiting for the LPS to dry, i finally decided that it was past time to finish the Nundle Sweater.
It took 2 hours on Tuesday night and all day Wednesday, but it's done.

Six months later. Yes, I'm ashamed of myself. This is how many ends I got from just one side seam.

No wonder I put it off. Too hot for modelled shots yesterday, and no-one here to take pics today. I blocked all the pieces back in June when I finished it, but I think it needs to be blocked again. It went together beautifully, but there's something funky going on in the top of the sleeve. See where it looks all puffy? It's a drop shoulder sweater, so it looks funny to have the sleeves puffing up like that. I'm hoping a blocking will help.
And that's not all.
P-p-p-p sock number one is up to the toe shaping!

And there's one other thing that I'm saving for another blog entry. But here's a hint. I love Calmer.

It's raining here today again. But Twinkie still wanted to go play outside.

So she found the only dry spot in the yard.

Thanks to everyone who offered a ball of Calmer.
A prettily wrapped ball arrived today from a friend.

And look at the colour!

Perfect for a pair of ballet slippers! I'm itching to cast them on, I even raced off to block the Lace Panel Sweater. As soon as it's done, I'm casting on for Twinkletoes. Or maybe earlier. It was 37C here yesterday, sticking hot, and today is cold and grey and drizzly. Bad day for blocking, so the Twinkletoes may hit the needles a little earlier, if I really can't resist!
This arrived today as well, and has my fingers itching.

It's a cashmere scarf kit from Rabbit Tree Farm. I first saw it on Kim's blog, and she helped me track down the seller, as they don't have a website. Wonderful service, with the whole transaction done by email, with just one quick phone call to provide my cc details.
The yarn is 80% cashmere and 20% silk, and just feels heavenly.

And we finally did it.

The tree is finally up.

Saturday again, they sure do come around quick, don't they?

Another beautiful day, although it had started out gloomy and grey.
I have sleevage.

Two sleeves, knit exactly as the pattern said. They look very narrow, but I'm too lazy to adjust the pattern, and frankly, I'm already over this sweater. They go around my arm, but I don't have skinny little arms anymore, and I think they're going to be fairly fitted. I'm hoping they'll loosen up a little with blocking.
After much consideration, I ripped the front back to the mistakes.

I have to admit that I was very tempted to just leave it as it was, but it would have driven me mad knowing the mistakes were there. It's not too bad, I'm at the armhole shaping, so there's not too much to be done.
I have a blocking question for everyone.
The back neck has some live stitches sitting on a stitch holder, waiting to do the neckband. Do you prefer to block it, live stitches and all, then seam and do the neckband, or do you seam, do the neckband, then block?
Usually I seam the shoulders, then do the neckband, then block it as one piece before puttng in the sleeves and doing the side seams, but I was interested to see what everyone else does.

New Knitty!

David loves this, but I think I'm too lazy.

For myself, I like the monkey socks. (There's a surprise!)

And the Argosy scarf.

And Em likes the Piggle hat.

And I haven't shown her Twinkletoes, but don't they just have her name all over them?

And they were designed by Chloe, who was my lace swap pal!
However, I have no Calmer. I've never knit with Calmer before, though have heard all good things. I don't suppose anyone has a lonely ball laying about in a girly colour that they want to offload? ;)
Is it worth buying just one ball for them? Like I've ever needed too much of an armtwisting when it comes to yarn buying!

A Twinkie photo. She's found a new hiding place.

Still no green christmas tree, but I bought a new Christmas candle.

Pretty!

So the dance concert is over, and for a little while I have my life back. Or so I thought. My just-barely-teenaged daughter has gone and got herself a social life. Stuck to my fridge are four party invitations. There's also the senior's night out for dancing coming up, and a multitude of other social events, including my niece's dance concert this weekend. All before Christmas, bar one of the parties.

She has a better social life than I do!

Some pics from the concert.

I actually took heaps more photos, but they all have other kids in them, and I don't have permission to put them up here. I'd hate for someone to come across a picture of themselves. Although seeing as no-one I know knows about this blog, it's highly unlikely.

Knitting! Isn't that what this blog used to be about?
There's been a little. Hopefully now there can be a lot more.
The Lace Panel Sweater sleeves are growing.

They're looking very narrow. I don't have skinny little stick arms. I'm getting worried. Nat? You knit the other cardi from the book, and the sleeves look similar. Opinions?
However, I'm going to ignore than gut feeling and knit on. Bet I'll regret that later on.
What else?
P-p-p-p-p-socks.

I was charging on down the leg to the hell, with only 12 rows to geo, when I realised that I'd forgotten to move the stitches around at the start of the last repeat, and 12 rows had to be frogged. Live and learn.
The other side looks like a totally different sock.

And the purple blob, previously known as Spring Blossoms.

Looks exactly the same as the last time I showed it. I've not touched it at all. I'm not even sure what I've done with my chart which shows me where I'm up to, which may be a problem. I'm sure it's here somewhere.

Christmas? I'm in denial.

That's where the christmas tree should be. I'm having some anxiety issues with putting it up. Earlier in the year, we replaced our end tables with these stash boxes. The tree goes on the table. There's nowhere else to put the tree in our little house. So, it has to go onto my stash box.
What if I want something from in there? All my sock yarn is in there. I had a fleeting moment where I considered emptying the box, just in case, but I realised I have nowhere to put the yarn. Maybe I can use it to decorate the tree. Then it'll be right at hand!
Mind you, it'll only be up for three weeks or so, and I'm sure that the other yarn around the house will keep me busy until then. But what if??
So I got some more yarn, just in case.

Because you never know. 3 skeins of Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette, intended for Faina's Scarf, and a skein of Merino Cashmere Sock, in "Water Lilies", both from The Knittery. Like I said, just in case.

Saturday sky.

Grey, rainy, taken from the roof of Jussi's building. What a hostess! We had a lovely soiree, complete with wonderful company and yummy food. Jus can cook as well as she can knit, it was a feast of gastronomic excellence.
She even served yarn.

As modelled by Ailsa. It's Iranian fairy floss, called Pashmak. (I think). Yummy, and definitely looked like yarn.
There was cheesecake.

Donni ate all that. Seriously. Or not.
Then she tried to show us precisely how Em leapt over the step.

There was some delightful company.

Lara.

Sandra, Mary-Helen, and Ailsa.

Em, Ailsa, Donni, and the lovely Jussi herself.
And one more blurry pic of everyone in attendance.

We had a great time, it was just a shame that more people didn't make it.
There was knitting.
I should never have said that the Lace Panel Sweater was going too well. It's done nothing but stuff me around ever since.
At some point yesterday, I realized that I was short a stitch in one of the lace panels. Emily insisted that it was because of the wine I'd drunk, but in fact the mistake was made before I'd even left for Jussi's party, and I'd just blindly knitted for 10 rows past the mistake.
That may have been the fault of the wine.
So most of the work I did yesterday was frogging.
I'm beginning to dislike this sweater.