Well, I don't have a finished project today. I tried, really.

I made some changes to the pattern, and it slowed me down a little. The pattern called for the button band to be knit separately and seamed on, but we all know how much I like seaming, don't we?
So I decided to pick up stitches and knit the band that way. Wednesday night I sewed the raglan seams, then picked up what seemed like enough stitches to me, and happily knit away, then cast off, and looked at it. I should've taken a picture.
I didn't pick up enough stitches, and the whole front was puckered and pulled up. I tried to convince myself I could block it out, but lets face it, baby's mum isn't going to want to fiddle around blocking it every time it gets washed, does she?
So yesterday I ripped it out and redid it.
I guess I'm glad I did.
I'm sure I will be glad when I get over it!

What else?

Shetland shawl border! You know what that means? The centre square is done. Done!
That feels like a huge achievement. And not having the whole thing in my lap feels a little odd. And cold.

Twinkie.

Still Life With Sock.

Let's talk about the Shetland Shawl. It's been a while, hasn't it?

It's not been neglected, though.

See that? The centre square is finally approaching completion. Just 10 rows to go. Can I get a hip hooray!?!
Then I get to make another border. And another, and then another. But it's coming along nicely.

I got mail today. I love mail days!
After dithering for ages, I finally succumbed and placed an order with The Loopy Ewe. Now I don't know why I waited so long.
My first order was reasonably modest, just to test out the service.

But a nice one, nonetheless. 2 skeins of Louet Gems Merino Fingering weight in Eggplant. This is for the gorgeous Cookie A Twisted Flower sock pattern. To pad out the order a bit, I ordered some Stitch Keepers and a Loopy Ewe "Knit Notes for Socks" book.
This book is so cool. Inside there are pages where you can list details for your favourite sock yarns, your favourite sock patterns, details of your sock recipients, favourite yarn stores and blogs and podcasts. I love it!

And as if all that weren't enough, there was a little bonus gift in the package.

A little set of needle inventory cards, and some yarn samples.
Is that awesome service or what? And in addition to all that, the postage rates were really good. That's a big factor for me when I'm deciding whether to order from an international vendor. If you're ordering from Australia, the website automatically charges you $US16 for shipping, but if the actual rate is less than that, Sheri only charges you actual shipping.
And on top of that, if your postage works out more expensive, they still only charge you $US16.
Bargain!! I'm seriously thinking about starting these socks, but I'm going to finish something else first.

Well, I'll try!

It's raining again. Twinkie is a little ticked at the weather lately. She's not been able to go outside as much as she'd like. This morning she decided she was going out, bad weather or not.

She also decided that she wanted to relax and have a lie down outside. In the mud. That brown streak down her front?
Mud.

Okay, it's time to get everything back to some kind of normal. Or at least, approaching normal. (Which is about as close as we get most times, anyway!)

Grandma's funeral service was lovely, and all of you who said the service would help were right.

The knitting has suffered, but I promise that there has been some going on.

No Saturday sky this week (we spent it in a freezing school hall, watching children of various sizes dance about the stage), but here's a Sunday sky instead.

More rain! Months ago, I swore that I'd never compain about the rain because we needed it so badly. I may go back on that promise if it keeps up like this.

This is also the excuse for any crappy pictures I'm about to show. There's no decent light for pictures, I'm afraid.
The socks have been tossed on the UFO pile in a temper. BlueADT and I have decided to work on them together, toe-up, in a few weeks. Surely this time it'll all go well.
Famous last words!

Emily has been dropping hints like anvils about wanting a new scarf for school, so I decided to start work on that when the socks went off track. I'd ordered some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in Navy from Janette's Rare Yarns, and was going to design something myself, but then I saw Elbac in Knitty, and decided it was too nice to stuff about with.

Navy blue cables on a dreary day... Not so good for pictures! One of 63 repeats done. Don't hold your breath waiting for it guys! I love Cashmerino. And Em is pretty impressed with it, too. She just wants me to knit it more quickly.

The main thing I've been working on is the pink/purple baby cardi.

One back, two fronts.

Two blurry sleeves, up to the raglan shaping. I'd like to say I hope to finish it this week, but I've got another busy one coming up. And if I say I plan to finish it, it just won't happen.
So I won't say it. I might just hope it, quietly.

I was emailing Amanda earlier in the week, and Roxie was mentioned. As I was answering her email, I looked over at the doll, and the photo opportunity was too good to ignore.

She's made herself right at home!

Thank you everybody for all the kind words and notes and messages about my Grandma, they have been all greatly appreciated.

I am a little surprised at quite how hard it has hit me. As I said, it wasn't unexpected, her health had been failing for some time, and her memory had completely failed her, to the extent that it would upset her greatly that she couldn't remember anything, and she wasn't herself at all anymore.

Her funeral is tomorrow afternoon, and I'm hoping that the sunshine that is appearing today will hold out until then, although the weather lady is telling me it will rain. Again. Appropriate, but unwanted.

In other news, this is the knitting post I was preparing when the call came to go to the hospital on Saturday night.

The knitting has been suffering of late, mainly due to sewing. In particular, this.

This is Roxie.
She's Em's new dance partner. She has yet to grow hair, a face and some clothing, but she's been keeping me kind of busy. She's pretty much the same height as Emily, and we yet to find somewhere to store her in our tiny little house. She took me most of last week to make.

Late last week I also got my act together and finished the cream baby cardi.

I attached the white buttons, but included a little bit of yarn and the yellow buttons, in case baby's mum likes them better.
And the pick baby cardi has been largely ignored. So much for a quick knit!

The back is done, the fronts begun.

Over the past couple of days, I've been knitting, and thinking of Grandma while I knit. I've been working on the Lupine Lace socks, but last night I hit a snag.

They look good, they fit well, I'm happy with them.
But I'm starting to think the yarn is cursed. I got up to this point last night, then decided I'd better weigh the remaining yarn. Yeah.
I've used 41g of a 100g ball. I'm going to run out of yarn. Dammit. (That's mild compared to what I said last night).
I think it is going to be put aside in a temper tantrum.
I'm pretty sure that whatever I end up using it for will be toe-up. I may adapt this pattern, because I like it. Has anyone adapted Monkey for toe up yet? Yes, I'm lazy, we've been over this.
Let's hope that the yarn is even better after being knit a fourth time.

I have also been working on the Shetland Shawl, but pictures later. I have only 35 rows left of the centre square. Woo Hoo! Then I need to knit three more borders, but lets not think of that today.

And speaking of exqusite, inspiring lace, have you seen missalicefaye's Wedding Ring Shawl? It's gorgeous, no other words for it.
And I feel so much better that it took her seven months to knit. I wish I'd got a copy of the pattern, although after this one it may be some time before I tackle another one!

My grandmother taught me how to knit.

I'm sure I've mentioned this before. She was more of a crocheter than a knitter, though. I inherited my love of yarn from her, if not the method of working the yarn.

My most vivid memory of her teaching me was when I tried to teach myself to rib. I was pretty young, but in trying to change from knit to purl, I'd been passing the yarn over the needles instead of under, and I couldn't figure out what I'd done wrong to double my stitch count and end up with a row of holes. Once a lace knitter, always a lace knitter, I guess.

I remember watching her pull needles out of her knitting and just rip out mistakes, then pop all the stitches back on the needle. I was amazed, sure that I'd never be able to do that.

And I remember watching her knit, the needles flying while mine moved painstakingly slowly. I also knew I'd never, ever be that fast.

Most of her knitting was done in cheap 8 ply (DK) acrylic. It's no less valuable for that. Emily has a large white shawl that Grandma crocheted while I was pregnant. She also crocheted some lovely baby things for her, which I've since passed on to other babies.

Up until about 2 years ago, when her arthritic fingers and failing memory betrayed her, she was still crocheting lap rugs for the disabled, and anyone else who wanted one. She was proud when she told me that the centre liked hers best, because they were just the right size and they didn't get caught in the wheels of the wheelchairs.

I can pull my needles out of my knitting and confidently frog it now, then put all the stitches back on the needle, and I can knit quickly, and I wish I'd never given away those baby things.

She passed away around midnight last night. It wasn't unexpected, we were all with her, and it was peaceful. We were reminiscing around her bedside when she took her last breath. She'd been suffering with a chest infection, and it was hard to listen to her struggling for each breath.

She'd struggled for a great many things in her life, but she doesn't have to any more.

Thank you, Grandma.

Finished object alert!

Actually, I finished this quite a while back, not long after I started it, and blogged about it here. Then it sat in the knitting basket for ages, just waiting to be blocked. Then it sat on the dining table, blocked, awaiting it's debut.

Yes, I'm a slacker.

It's the Jo Sharp Tweed Beret from Knit 3.
Specs: Pattern as above. Adapted to be knit in the round instead of knit flat and seamed.
Yarn: Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed in "Potpourri", purchased from Ozeyarn. Great service!

I'm happy with it! I haven't actually worn it outside of these photos yet, but I will.
And another FO!

A poxy picture, but I took about 50, and this one was the best. I may have exaggerated just a tiny bit.
My scarf is done, but I haven't blocked it.
I'm a slacker, see above. I had the camera out, I'd just finished it, so I took the pictures.

This was made from the Rooster Almerino that I won from Yarn Magazine.
Specs:
Pattern: Made up on the fly. Cast on 20 sts, Knit 5 rows.
Next Row: Sl1, *YRN, P2tog, rep from * to last stitch, K1.
Rep that row until you're nearly out of yarn, Knit 5 rows.
Yarn: 2 balls of Roster Almerino Aran in Strawberry Cream.
Needles: 6mm.

There is also another Finished Object, but I'm saving that for another post. And it's not the baby cardi!

On the other hand, the sock.

I'd like to say that's the start of the second sock, but it's not.
It's shrunk.
I got all the way to the heel flap, and a realisation came over me. The 2mm needles I was using were too small.
This is the second sock I started with this yarn, and the first ones just weren't right. It took this long to realize that it wasn't the pattern, it was the needles.
I always use 2mm needles for socks!
So I ripped it out and restarted on 2.5mm needles. Much better! And I'm pleased to announce that frogging The Knittery's Merino Cashmere sock yarn has no ill effects on the yarn at all, in fact, it feels even softer the third time around!

No Saturday sky this week. It was grey. Cloudy. Raining.

Rain is such an unfamiliar sight around here that it's been something of a novelty. At least all we got was rain. Other parts of NSW have been flooded, with several people losing their lives, and thousands of houses losing power and water.

My clothes dryer is running. I can't tell you the last time I actually needed to run the dryer.

I have made a decision regarding the baby cardi.
I prefer the style of the yellow buttons, but the colour of the white. That makes it kinda difficult, doesn't it? However, seeing as it's not my baby that will be wearing the buttons, I'm going to put the white buttons on the cardi, (going with the majority here), but I'm also going to give the baby's mum the yellow buttons, so that she can decide which ones to use.

I had hoped to have the cardi finished, blocked and buttoned today, but the weather isn't cooperating.

So lets look at a new baby cardi!

This time, I'm going with a plain raglan cardi. The yarn is "Touch" 4 ply from New Zealand. I'd originally bought this yarn with the intention of knitting socks with it, but it wouln't behave. I think it's coming along nicely for a baby cardi.
This one is for a family friend's baby girl. I swear that there is something in the water. There are a great many babies waiting to join us!

The Lupine Lace socks are growing slowly.

Socks are usually my fill in knitting, but these have been a little neglected of late, due to baby cardi's and scarves, but I love the way the pattern is working with The Knittery's Merino Cashmere sock yarn. The colourway is "Water Lilies" I was worried about the variegation, but it just looks mottled. I can see plenty of this yarn landing in my stash box!

Help me out, guys!!

I got buttons for the baby cardi. Two kinds. The first ones looked a little bit too yellow, so I got some white ones.
Now I can't make up my mind.

(Click for big)
The yellow or the white?

And in close up.

I have a finished project!
Well, almost.

The baby cardi is done. All the knitting, anyway. It needs a blocking and some buttons. The pattern is from a Patons baby book, 1078. There's a few cute patterns in there, and some of them, (including this one) go down to preemie sizes.

The best bit? Very, very little seaming. The body is worked in one piece to the armholes, then the fronts and backs are worked seperately, then seamed at the shoulders. I eliminated that step by doing a three needle bind off. The sleeves were picked up in the armhole, then knit down to the cuff. The pattern wanted it to be worked back and forth in seams, but I worked them in the round.
The only seaming was to sew the neckband down at the back neck, after I grafted the two ends closed.

This may become my new favourite baby cardi!
That said, the next project is another baby cardi for a recently born baby girl we know. Is there something in the water??

I have been working on a quick project.

It's just a scarf in purse stitch (YO, P2tog), out of the yummy Rooster Almerino that I won from Yarn magazine. I'd mentioned to Monica that I wanted to make a scarf from it, and she suggested a nice one from Weekend Knitting. I started it, but it wasn't behaving, so I decided to go with something much simpler. This is my new "in between" project. For homework time, waiting in the car time, dance practice time or talking to my mother on the phone time when I can't work on the Shetland Shawl. It should only take a couple of days.

Kimberly sent me a lovely birthday gift, and included a packet of yoghurt bunny treats for Twinkie. We offered her one, and she was pretty keen.

Her reaction?

More!

MORE!!

There will have to be some strict rationing, I think.

Thank you everyone for the lovely birthday wishes!

We did enjoy our evening, especially dessert.

Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie. Divine. You can see I had to taste it before I took the picture. No patience.

It's Saturday, and I'm actually showing todays sky on time.

Warmish and sunny. Twinkie and I had our morning ritual, where I sit on the back step and she plays nearby in the sun.

Or just basks.
We hung my new wall sconce this morning.

Yes, there's a polar bear hanging onto my bed. You don't have one?

Here's a better picture of the sconce.

Isn't it beautiful?
The knitting continues to plod along. The Shetland Shawl has grown a little.

You can see the colour change in the yarn pretty well in this picture.
I had always considered myself to be a pretty fast knitter. This shawl is starting to convince me otherwise. I began it at our knitting exhibition, seven weeks ago. I'm a little more than a quarter of the way along. That means that this could take me six months or more. If I'd known that at the start, I may never have started it.
Did I mention that I have no patience?
Of course, the longer it takes, the more frustrated I feel, and the more I want to cast on for something new. Something quick.

Speaking of quick, the baby cardi is coming along nicely.

It's badly in need of a blocking.
The pattern is knit in one piece to the armholes, then seperated for fronts and backs. As I mentioned a few posts back, I used a three needle bind off on the shoulders rather than seaming, and I've grafted the neckband at the back, and sewn it down.
I don't like the way the pattern for the sleeves is written, so I need to do some tweaking. The pattern says to pick up x number of stitches in the armhole, and knit down to the cuffs. I have no problem with that, but it actually says "Sew shoulder seams, then pick up stitches around armhole. Do not join in the round, work back and forth in rows". What the?

Why on earth would you pick up stitches around the armhole in the round, then work back and forth in rows?
Not a chance, baby, I'm rewriting it to avoid seaming it.

And to finish, here's another picture of Twink from this morning just becasue I liked it.