Dolly!

I've broken my own three project rule.

I cast on Gail (aka Nightsongs).

I had this sudden realisation that Christmas is less than two months away. That normally wouldn't bother me too much. I rarely knit for Christmas, and besides that, I can knit two garments in two months!

Well, I used to be able to. Since starting TAFE, I can't even finish a pair of socks in a month. So I started to panic and cast on Gail for my Mum for Christmas. Natasha (my sister), if you're reading along, keep your mouth shut! ;)

Mum admired my Aeolian, particularly the colour, so I bought this Yarn Daze watercolours with her in mind. Now I just need to actually knit it!

Some more sewing managed recently - a Miss Buttons kit that I purchased at Purls Palace in Daylesford last year when Meaghan and I went to Bendigo.

Poor Miss Buttons. I cut her out as soon as I got home from Bendigo in July 2008, and there she sat, waiting. And waiting. And.. well, you get the picture.

And it was just stupid, because she was ridiculously easy, and super cute!

All the bits go together beautifully!

Add some legs.

Sew her up around the edges.

Turn her out, ready for stuffing. Stuff her up a little, sew her closed, and ta-da!

She's done! Easy-peasy. I can't believe she sat there for over a year!

Breakfasting on the Bridge

So Sunday morning we got up at the ridiculous hour of 4am to be at the Sydney Harbour Bridge ready to picnic at 6.30am.

That bit sucked.

Apart from that though, it was great fun! They had cows on the Bridge.

Apple trees

Entertainers

Old ladies wearing purple with red hats that don't go

Picnickers

Freebies

and knitting, of course

It was all quite surreal, really. Sitting on grass, on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, with news helicopters circling about, and piped in sounds of kookaburras and crickets. But great fun, I highly recommend that all Sydneysiders try for tickets next year!

After some deliberation, we think that we are somewhere in the vicinity of the red circle in this picture

There's definitely worse ways to start a Sunday!

October 23

Venezia, again. She's taking the vast majority of the little bit of knitting time I have these days. I want her done, even though it's getting too hot to wear her until next year now.

The body is now complete, including the neckband. I'm very much hoping that the hems will lie flat once she's blocked.

And I've even started a sleeve.

Yippee!

Some more sewing I've been working on. I made this little puff purse with the leftovers from Emily's handbag.

How cute is that? It's a Nicole Mallalieu design called "Puff Purse". I first noticed it when we were at the Craft Show a couple of months back, but resisted the kit at the time.
But I kept thinking about it, and finally caved in and ordered the kit. It arrived one Friday morning, and I had the purse finished by Saturday afternoon, I just couldn't resist.

It's a great kit! The instructions are detailed, and easy to follow, and you get a great result. I wouldn't recommend it for an absolute beginner, it had some fiddly bits, but a little bit of patience is useful!
You get the pattern, the purse frame and some interfacing in the kit, you just need to supply the thread and the fabric. I actually used a little bit of fusible pellon too, to make sure it held it's shape.
I chose not to add the beads this time, because I think the fabric is busy enough, but I can't wait to try it next time!

It's also a bit bigger than it looks, about as big as my hand. I'm trying to decide now which kit to make next.

I've got a great, social weekend ahead of me. I'm off to the races tomorrow with one of the funnest people I know, where we're apparently going to do our best Kath & Kim impression.

Sunday morning our family is up at some ridiculous hour for a Sunday morning to have breakfast on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, then Em and I are off on a bus shopping trip.

I hope I can sleep through TAFE on Monday!

Venezia progresses

So I mentioned in the last post that Venezia was a little further along than pictured.

I've actually finished most of the body! Here is how she looked before I'd cut any steeks.

Not much like a garment, huh? Eunny says in the pattern that Shetland wool is sticky enough to not need any reinforcement, but I'm far too nervous for that, so I did a machine sewn reinforcement.

I started with the neck steeks, because it was too hard to sew the armhole steeks before the neck steeks had been cut. I carefully, carefully snipped the neck steeks.

Having successfully done it before, for Autumn Rose, didn't make the process any less nerve wracking!

Cutting the neck steeks opened up the neck enough to sew and cut the armhole steeks.

The neck is a boat neck - all that remains for the body is to knit a front and a back neckband, and seam them. Next up - sleeves!

And just because I'm so proud of it, here's the inside.

Knitting Update

Sewing is a much quicker craft than knitting, so it appears that I have managed a lot more sewing than knitting while I was absent. It didn't help that all of my current knitting projects are slow ones - Venezia (Fair Isle on 2.25mm needles), the Entrelac socks (now done) and the Cap Shawl (cobweb weight on 3.25mm needles).
However, there was some knitting managed. Of course, you've seen the entrelac socks all finished up.

I am travelling nicely on the follow up socks, Mingus.

The pattern is by CookieA. I've knit a few of Cookie's patterns, and I can honestly say I've enjoyed them all.
Mingus is no different. These are not for me, they're a gift, and that's a lucky thing, because these would never go over my cankles.
The yarn is Yarntini's Very Berrytini, which I bought from someone's rav destash.

And of course, Venezia is coming along, slowly.

It's actually a little further along now, but to be honest, it's taking so long that I'm getting to be a little bit over it now. I want to start other things!

Twinkie is quite happy for me to sit at the table and sew. All day, every day, with her.

Not just knitting

So while I was on an enforced, involuntary internet sabbatical, I caught up on a few projects, not just knitting.

There's always a sewing project laying around waiting for my attention. Or five.

Emily asked me a year or so ago to make her an Amy Butler handbag. Specifically, the "Smart Handbag" from In Town Bags. And she wanted it in the exact same fabrics as the pattern. So, dutiful mother that I am, off I went and bought the fabrics, (duck egg/french wallpaper and pink/coriander, both from the Belle collection) and then I put it aside. And promptly forgot all about it.

Then I found it again early last week. And I kicked myself, because it really was easy and quick to put together.

It even has little pockets on the inside. And I put a magnetic clasp in it, too.

I just wish I'd gotten a photo of her face when she realised that I'd finally made it for her.

I did however, get a picture of my two favourite girls together. Yes, it's a long overdue Twinkie picture.

And yes, she's still voluptuous!

I'm back!

I'm back! We have internet again! Ailsa thinks I should now admit to my internet addiction, but obviously, going twelve days without internet proves that I don't have an addiction, right? Right?!?

The good thing about twelve days without internet is that I've got a backlog of bloggable stuff now. The bad thing? Well, one of them is more than 1000 unread blogposts in bloglines. I'm getting there, though. Two days later, and I'm down to around 200. I'm reading, but not leaving comments, I can't do it all!

First blogworthy topic?

Finished Entrelac socks!

Specs:
Pattern: A Step Above by Kathleen Power, from Knitters magazine, Summer 2004.
Yarn: Noro Kureyon Sock, colourway 95.
Needles: 2.25mm Kollage square DPNS
Mods: I changed the shape of the toe and the heel a little, but that's all. I often find that toes and heels are a little pointer than I would like, so I round them off.

Verdict: Love the pattern! It's the first time I've done entrelac, and it wasn't anywhere near as hard as I'd thought it was going to be. It also went a lot quicker than I was expecting. I'm not a huge fan of an afterthought heel, although I think it's a necessity to keep the flow of the pattern in the entrelac.
The yarn I didn't love so much. It looks perfect in the entrelac, but I just didn't enjoy working with it. A bit crunchy, very twisty, a little bit of vegetation. Thankfully, the colour flow worked fine, and there weren't any knots. I haven't washed them yet, so I'm hoping they'll soften up when I wash them, like so many of you have assured me.

I don't think I'd use the Kureyon sock again. I'm not sure if the Silk Garden sock is any nicer. I do have some Mini Mochi that I got from the Loopy Ewe that would work well in this pattern, too. I'm dying to try the Zauerball. DrK had hers at SnB last month, and it feels so squishy! I think that would work well in this sort of pattern, too.

Next up on the sock parade - Mingus!

Still here!

All apologies for the blank blog! I'm still here, kind of. Our throttled internet has now been reduced to no internet. Apart from the iPhone, which I don't find the best platform for blogging. We've been without Internet for 8 days now, and despite complaints, phone calls and emails, it appears we'll be without Internet until Friday.

Colour me unimpressed.

At any rate, no pictures, but there's been action on the sock front and on Venezia, and I've been playing with a new style of project bag - pictures of it all, as soon as I have internet!

PS - our local McDonalds has free internet that moves at a snails pace and doesn't like Ravelry (gasp!) and the library has free internet. For one hour at a time.