Best Exhibit!

I'm starting to feel a little like I'm bragging, but you guys understand the knit thing better than anyone else I know.

I skipped out of the pavilion, somewhat embarrassing Em in the process. Next weekend, Campbelltown Show, Tuesday April 7 is the Easter Show Preview, so the results will be in, and that's it for the Shows until next year, I promise.

Saturday

Not an awful lot to blog about. I'm knitting a secret sample, which can't be blogged about just yet. Other than that, I'm still working on the same old stuff. Off to SnB this afternoon, the best way to spend a Saturday!

So with little else for fodder, I present Splendour In The Grass.

Yes, the lawn will be mowed this weekend!

Ribbons abound!

I picked up all my knitting from Castle Hill Show today, and I have to say, I'm ridiculously proud of the final result.

That's everything, here are the details.

Puzzle Wrap, Highly Commended. The section was G19, A knitted Shawl or Stole for an Adult.

Autumn Rose, First Place. The section was G4, Traditional Fair Isle Garment.

Tangled Yoke, First Place. The section was G8, Lady's Jumper or Cardigan

Kitri Socks, First Place and a Champion Ribbon! The section was G15, Personal accessories (Not a scarf)

There was also a little note attached to the Kitri Socks, which read "Very Snazzy Socks!"

Magic Carpet Ride, First Place and a Champion Ribbon, the section was G18, A knitted Scarf for an Adult

And finally, the big winner, the Shetland Shawl.

First Place, Champion Ribbon and Reserve Grand Champion overall.

So now, the Shetland Shawl and the Kitri socks are off to Camden and Campbelltown Shows, and everything else is off to the Royal Easter Show. (The Easter Show has no sock category - Boo! And the Shetland did the Easter Show last year)

Awesome news!

So on Monday, I took a bunch of stuff out to the Castle Hill Show for the knitting competition. I entered six items into six categories. There was the Shetland Shawl, the Magic Carpet Ride, the Puzzle Wrap, my Kitri Socks, Autumn Rose and the Tangled Yoke Cardigan.

I'm not going to the show itself, this weekend is pretty full on with Em's dance stuff, so I thought I'd find out on Monday how I went, when I pick up my entries again.

But the lovely Janette went to the Show yesterday, and brought me some news. It would appear that I won 5 sections. The Puzzle Wrap got a Highly commended in it's section. Yay! But I'm not done.

The Magic Carpet Ride took a Show Champion ribbon, and the Shetland Shawl got Reserve Grand Champion. Colour me stunned. I'm still bouncing in excitement! You can see Janette's Ravelry post here, complete with pictures. Thank you, Janette!

More on Monday when I pick them up!

Let's talk about the current state of the knits, we haven't done that in a while.

The sock category is currently being filled by the Whisper Lace socks in Lang JaWoll. 3/4 done on sock number one.

Not nearly as hard as they look, but they're fun to knit. I'm knitting them on 2.5mm needles, which is a change for me, I usually use 2mm needles, but it means they're moving along nice and quickly.

The lace category is my Flit n Float scarf, which is rapidly approaching the finish line.

Once it's done, the lace category is open. I had planned to start Aeolian, my beads have arrived, and the yummy Mama Blue silk laceweight is sitting here flirting with me, but I think I'm going to be doing some sample knitting for a friend. Top Secret type stuff. I think.

And the garment category is being filled by the sparkly, bling-y pain-in-the-butt Shoulder Warmer.

I'm not even thinking about what I'm going to do when this is done, because at the rate I'm working on it, it'll never be done!
Well, the main body part is nearly done, then I'm in a bit of a quandary. There is very deep ribbing around the edge of the body and the sleeves. I can't decide whether to just do it in the sparkles, or find a plain yarn for it. I'm 99.9% sure that if I do it in the blingy stuff, Em will never wear it, because those sequins are going to itch. So I thought I might do the main part in the bling, and the ribbing in a plain black yarn. But I can't decide what yarn to use. The bling is 100% acrylic, light worsted weight (20sts = 4"). KnitPicks has 3 yarns that might work, Shine worsted, Comfy and Main Line. Of course, they won't ship to Australia, so I'd have to go through the drama of having it shipped to someone in the USA, then forwarded to me, which would give me time to start something else (ha!), or I could just use the bling and get it over with. Unfortunately, the Light Worsted isn't a weight that's made very much in Australia, and I can't think of another alternative.
Maybe I can just put it aside until I think of something else! (On the other hand, listening to Em whine until it's done might also be painful). Decisions, decisions.

Twinkie has made a decision.
I bought a new Easter candle on Thursday, because I couldn't resist the cute. And it smells like chocolate. I showed it to Twinkie.

She decided that she's not impressed.

Finally, Autumn Rose

And so, finally, Autumn Rose.

This is, officially, my favourite knitted item, ever.

There are not many words, the pictures say it all.

Specs:
Pattern: Autumm Rose by Eunny Jang from Simply Shetland 4: At Tomales Bay
Size: 35" (smallest)
Yarn: KnitPicks Palette (purchased as a kit in the Mineral colourway)
Needles: I had to go down to a 2.75mm (US2) to get the recommended tension. I used KnitPicks Harmony needles.
Modifications: None, knit exactly as the pattern says.

The worst part of it all was weaving in all the ends. I did some as I went, and I'm glad I did, or it may never have been finished!

Now I just need to wait for the weather to get cold enough to wear it!

New Knitty and a FO!

I have to admit that I haven't touched the bling-y bolero since my last post.

But I do have a finished project to show you.

Robin is done!

And as you can see, Emily is very happy with it. Apart from it not being quite as quick as I would've liked, so do I!

She very much wanted a pompom on it, so I used some leftovers to make it.

Specs:
Pattern: Robin by Kim Hargreaves, from the Thrown Together book. (Rav link)
Yarn: Cleckheaton Merino Bambino in shade 003. I think it's supposed to be white, but it's much more cream to me.
Needles: KnitPicks 2.75mm circs.
Mods: I knit it in the round, rather then flat, just because I'd prefer not to sew a seam unless I absolutely have to.

Thursday morning when I got up, the new Knitty was up. This may just be my most favourite issue ever. And I had all good intentions of working on the Bling-y Bolero, but I just couldn't with all that prettiness there.

I love the Aeolian shawl, love it. I'm going to make it with my precious Mama Blue silk laceweight. I've already ordered some beads.

I also love the Shipwreck shawl, Reverie, Absinthe, Cachoeira, Sourwood Mountain and Flit n Float.

Seeing as I have to wait for the beads for Aeolian, I decided to use my long neglected single skein of Malabrigo Lace to start the Flit n Float scarf.

It's biasing a little, but apart from that I'm really enjoying it. So much so that I've neglected every other project to work on it.

Poor Bling-y bolero!

Startitis

So I finished Robin on Monday night. Not as quick as I would've liked, but four days is okay. I soaked it yesterday and laid it out to block.

And due to the crappy and overcast weather, it's still there, a full day later. It's only damp now, though. Emily has requested a black pompom, and who am I to refuse?

And speaking of outlandish child requests, I can't believe I'm granting this one. Emily has requested a black bolero. So far, so good. A *sparkly* black bolero. Uh, okay.
Then she picked the yarn.

Moda Vera Ballroom. 100% acrylic, with added sequins. It's awful. It isn't easy to knit. However, I'm hoping this'll make me knit it quicker to get it over and done with. Even David looked at it last night and said "What is that shit? Who are you, and what have you done with my wife?"

I'm using the Top-Down Shoulder Warmer pattern from Cosmic Pluto. Nice and quick, I hope! (You think I'd learn not to say that after Robin, wouldn't you?)

And I finally finished weaving in and trimming the ends on Autumn Rose.

There were just a few! Modelled pics at the weekend, I hope!

Sunday, Sunday

See this?

The Not Pink Puzzle Wrap is off the needles. At last. According to Ravelry, I cast on for it on October 25. And then it sat. And sat, and sat. Until I pulled my finger out and worked on it monogamously. Then it actually went pretty quickly. All it needs now is a bath and a stretching and it's done.

So I decided that I needed a quick project. Something easy that I could do while on the train yesterday and at the Knitters' Guild AGM. Which was kind of funny, and also kind of sad. They're resisting change, and I guess I can understand that. But they're committing a very slow suicide. If the Guild continues the way it is, there will be no Guild eventually. They can't see it. They have the attitude of "It's worked for 23 years, it ain't broke, don't fix it" It might not be broken, but it's worn out and needs to be updated. I'm starting to doubt that it can happen, though.

So back on point, I cast on for Kim Hargreaves "Robin", from the Thrown Together collection. Emily spotted it months ago, and has been asking for it on a fairly regular basis ever since. It looked easy enough, and I thought a hat would be a nice, quick, easy project. Nice, easy, yes.

Quick, not so much.

I started it, and did most of the ribbing (on 2mm needles) on Friday night. I worked on it on the train to and from the city (about two hours) I knit it all through the AGM. I worked on it for several hours last night. And there's still miles of it to go. Right now, it's gt around 240 stitches on the needles, and I'm just knitting around and around.

I think all hats will be bulky yarn from now on.

On Friday a parcel arrived that contained bubble wrap. I dropped the bubble wrap, and before I could pick it up, Twinkie found it.

She had great fun, popping bubbles with her teeth. Bubble wrap, fun for all the family!

Amazing

It's really amazing what happens if you actually put your mind to it and work on something, isn't it?

The Not Pink Puzzle Wrap is racing towards the finish line now. Once it's all blocked, all those little diamonds will have points all around the shawl. It's a bit hard to see all unblocked.

It may be growing because it's now the only thing I have on the needles.

The Ankle Biters socks are done.

I have so far resisted the temptation to start a new pair of socks, because I know that the Puzzle Wrap would be tossed aside, but I did let Emily choose a Sock Club parcel for me.

This month, I got Lang JaWoll Superwash sock in hot pink!

I'm going to make the Whisper Lace Socks (free Ravelry download) with this yarn, I think.

As soon as I finish the Puzzle Wrap.

Great News!

Great news ahead!

After buckling down and forcing myself to work on it, I hit the half way mark on the Puzzle Wrap yesterday. Suddenly I feel a whole lot better about it.

I have actually done all of those points since that picture. A few people asked me why I didn't just frog it and be done with it.
I had a few reasons. First off, I'm a bit stubborn like that. Maybe more than a bit.
Second, the Filatura Di Crosa Superior is a bit fuzzy, and doesn't frog easily. If something is driving me mad, and I'm not happy with it, and it's not going to frog well, I've been known to just toss it out. But the Superior is pretty expensive, and the yarn itself is as soft as clouds. I don't want to throw it out.
The finished stole itself is so pretty, too. And pretty cleverly constructed.

The stole is cast on in the middle, with a provisional cast on. You knit the first half, finishing with those diamonds. Which are technically not cast off, just reduced until there is only one stitch remaining. Then you pick up the stitches at the provisional cast on and work the other half.
At the end, you have a stole that is pretty, and has no cast on or cast off edge! Pretty clever, huh?

It's also been entered into the Easter Show, and I don't really have time to knit something else. So it's on with the Puzzle Wrap.

When I wasn't knitting this weekend, I was sewing sequins onto Em's newest tap costume, and then last night I sat down and played with wire and beads until I came up with a headpiece for the new costume.

Once the whole costume is finished, I'll show it to you all. I'm on a deadline for that, too. Due in two or three weeks!

No Twinkie photo today, but Squeak is obsessed. With his bell.

He's spending several hours a day trying to kill it. When he's not doing that, he's holding it close, snuggling up to it, and whispering sweet nothings.

Giving us endless hours of amusement!