I'm so so so sorry!

I feel like the world's worst blogger right now. It's been almost a month since my last post and that must be horrible boring for all of you. Unfortunately my morning sickness still hasn't abated and I find spending time on this thing a bit nauseating. Couple with that my camera was playing up so I couldn't take any pictures. Oh, and I still haven't actually knitted anything due to aforementioned sickness and lack of inspiration.

But the most important thing I have to do first is send a huge, big, virtual thank you to my Secret Pal. She sent me the most lovely parcel which I received 2 weeks ago and I feel so terrible for not coming on here and thanking her. As my punishment I wasn't allowed to eat the lollies that she sent until I'd blogged about it (well ok, maybe one or two). So here's the terrible photo. I didn't notice the smudgy 2yo fingerprints on the lens until well after I took this so apologies for that.

Since taking that I have polished off the entire packet on Sunbursts and feel great (I hope it lasts). The wool is just gorgeous and I'm thinking it will make a great felted bag either for me or for a Christmas pressie. There was also some gorgeous handmade soap and some lavender scented powder, which smells just divine.

I do feel a little bit sorry for my Secret Pal though. Here was me thinking I'd get someone from overseas so I'm asking for all these things that I can't get here in Oz. The poor woman is probably reading my list and nodding, as she also lives in Oz! So Sunflower, ignore most of what I asked for. The stuff is so hard to get here that I don't want to worry you. I'll just keep hoping that designers will start writing patterns for DK wool or that we will suddenly get great, affordable worsted wool in Oz.

Another big thank you goes out to all the people who emailed and chatted to me about my last post. I know it was a pathetic case of self pity but it was very real at the time. I know I have a great bunch of supportive friends out there, I guess it is just hard to ask for help. I think now that I have got into the swing of my daily puking I'm feeling a lot less stressed (does that sound weird). The big thing for me is the scan next week. I've had too many friends lose babies recently so I'm feeling a bit apprehensive about it all. I can't wait to see this little one and make sure everything is ok.

And to help me with my knitting block I finally got my Ravelry invite (I really wished I joined when I first heard about it!). I'm OzSusie for anyone else who's on there. I'm trying to look for patterns but my pc nausea makes it a slow process.

I will try and take pics of my new yarn to show off and get this blog back to interesting status.

Big hugs to everyone!

Did you notice???

I know, I'm so sad, but so excited at the same time. Yes my good news was that I'm pregnant. Finally, after many, many months of trying. I know it's early days but it's such a relief for Dan and I. Just hoping the next few weeks fly past without incident and then I can relax a little. The first few weeks are always a little nerve wracking.

So my great dilemma now is what do I knit? I had all these patterns lined up but most of them are fairly fitted and not much use for a large bump. So do I stop knitting for me? Do I knit comfy cardis? (yuck!) Or do I find something that may be suitable during and after pregnancy? I think the latter makes the most sense, so now I'm on the lookout for some good patterns. I have a few ideas so I'll get back to you asap.

Yay! Happy dance!!

Good news week

There is so much happening this week and most of it is great, if not fabulous. The only problem is that I can't really tell you about it yet. Sorry. I just wanted the world to know that life is wonderful at chez moi!!!

I have another FO and an almost finished FO so I'll sort those out tomorrow for you. And I have to post my SP11 questionnaire so I'd better sort that out and make it interesting. I don't want my Secret Pal to think that I'm really boring.

Off to have an early night so I can catch up on a bit of sleep and have enough energy to enjoy my week.

Hope everyone else is having a great one too!

Oh my god!! I'm in stash heaven

After feeling a little down this week due to family illness and other more personal issues, that needn't fill the pages of a knitting blog, I decided that have a little retail therapy. There is a beautiful "yarn shop" (I'll explain the "" in a sec) near me whose website makes very pleasant reading. They are one of the few places here that stock the proper yarns like Rowan, Debbie Bliss, Artyarns etc the only problem being that their prices are usually a fair bit higher than other places online. Now, if I could actually walk in, handle the yarn, get advice from the staff etc I wouldn't mind paying a little premium, but no. They operate not far from me but they won't even let you go and pick up your order. It's online only, which I find very disappointing. So I generally boycott them. (On a side note, there is one other shop that sells really nice yarn, but who is going to pay $20USD for a single ball of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino?? Honestly). Somehow, on Wednesday, I was wandering around the web and I happened to drop into this website and had a browse through their Sale section. $350 later I came out with some lovely, lovely, did I say lovely, yarn. The therapy worked for me!

Would you like a peek? I thought so.

Here is Euan showing just how big the bag was that it all came in. He's a pretty tall 2yo, btw.

And here is Koshka, just dying to climb in a sleep on all that lovely yarn. If you've never seen a Maine Coon then you may not appreciate how big the stash is. She's a bloody big cat!

And here is the all important close up:


Now how do I justify the expense (oh, the green stuff was from a different store, but happened to arrive at the same time. I won't add it's cost into the total for now. I think Dan would cry). The Cashmerino I had to have because I am in love with it. I have 15 balls in a deep burgundy that I bought in the UK but I have been too scared to use it in case I make the wrong thing out of it and waster the yarn. I thought it I had 30 balls of Cashmerino then I wouldn't feel so afraid and could use it for multiple projects, so I bought 15 balls of blue (no idea what the name is).

The Blue Sky Organic Cotton was going to be used for the Ribs and Lace Tank from Interweave Knits Spring 07, but I'm a bit concerned that the top looks a little like a bulls eye and I'm not sure I want that effect. Either way, I will knit something similar-ish to this for summer. The yarn is so incredibly soft I can't wait to wear it.

The Rowan Cashsoft is for Dan. I've been wanting to make him something for ages and he finally decided that he liked the look of this, but as I refuse to knit him anything that big in a silk blend we had to look for other wool. It couldn't be itchy, it had to be fairly hard wearing and it had to be good quailty so we went with Rowan. Luckily this was on sale too at Angel Yarns, who are great and buy heaps from them. Though don't order if you're in a rush. I think this took about 6-8 weeks to be posted as they had run out of stock. They aren't very good at keeping you up to date but luckily I didn't care. I'm just hoping that the Boyfriend Sweater Curse doesn't apply to husbands too!

And last but definitely not least the silk. Debbie Bliss 100% Pure Silk. I have no idea what I'll use it for but it was so so so cheap and I've always wanted to try silk so I bought heaps of it. 15 skeins to be precise (or 750g). It is D-lux stuff and will take dye beautifully so I have a few projects in mind but will take my time with this one. God knows what a mum with a toddler does with silk yarn. I wonder if it gets badly stained by vegemite?

Oh, I am actually working on something right now. After putting the Tree Jacket on the backburner I started the little surprise and have got this far:

I'm sure loads of you (you know, all my readers Hahahaha!!) will know what this is as it is so popular right now, but I'm not going to tell the rest of you until it's done. The colour pooling is a bit annoying but I can't wait to see the finished item. Still don't know who it's for either. Any suggestions?

And one last look at the silk. Couldn't you just swim in it!

I really had nothing to say until...

I finally discovered what all this Secret Pal business was (should've googled it a few months ago, lazy me) and got myself signed up for SP11. Yay!! It'll be so much fun. I just hope my obvious lack of talent isn't too disappointing for my swapee. Can't wait to start planning.

Apart from that it has been a lousy knitting week. The Tree Jacket is just lagging. You'd think that straight garter stitch sleeves would be a breeze but I'm just finding them so boring that I'm avoiding it. In fact I've only done about 6 inches on one sleeve since my last post. I'm thinking of putting it aside this week and making a little surprise. For those who know knitting it's a little Elizabeth Zimmerman surprise, and for those who don't knit, you just have to wait and see. I have the perfect yarn and oodles of recipients so I think I'll use it for a distraction this week. My only issue is that I don't understand the stitch marker placements but I think I can wing it.

I think the other thing contributing to the knitting lull is the fact that Dan has been sick and off work all week. We have such a small cottage of a house that it's been like having two toddlers under my feet all week, and one of them complains an awful lot! He finally seems on the mend today so hopefully he'll be less whingey and he can help out with Euan a little bit. It's not fair that he eats into my knitting time (joke!!). To ease my pain I did a "little" bit of yarn shopping but it is all so lovely that'll you have to wait until it arrives for further details.

Well we finally have a sunny day after weeks of rain so I'm off to do loads of washing and then start my next little project. Hopefully I'll have some progress for you soon.

As there are no pictures here's a little yarn p0rn for you:


Old stuff of mine, but ever so pretty.

Little progress

I'm sorry to say that things have been moving rather slowly this week. One of my close friends was in the final stages of pregnancy and needed help with her kids and so I discovered that looking after 3 kids (ages 2, 3 and 4) is not that conducive to productive knitting. The baby arrived at 11.59pm Sunday and after a few days of readjusting their lives have settled back to normal (well, as normal as it can be with a newborn) so I've taken the opportunity to get a few projects finished....almost finished.

Ok, one project. And here is Euan modelling the little bit that I have managed to get done on his jumper/sweater thing.



It's all made up as I go along but it seems to be fitting ok so far. I made the body far too short on the first go so it all had to be ripped and started again. In all honesty I wish I'd still made it a bit longer but I'm not adjusting it again. Hoping to finish it today as we have a rare patch of sunshine and I want to block it before I start the next exciting step (that's a secret).

I decided that I needed a bit of a treat and finally gave in and bought 2 things that I have wanted for a long, long time.


The book is Barbara Walker's First Treasury of Knitting Patterns which is the most fabulous book for all sorts of stitch patterns; laces, cables et al. It's one of those basic books that everyone should have in their collection. It arrived from the US yesterday and I've flicked through it about 3 times already and picked out a load of patterns that I want to incorporate into garments. If only I could design! I bought it from Schoolhouse Press (the publishers) as they have recently reprinted it. I'm sure most people in the US have it in their local library but my local libraries are severely lacking in knitting books and, anyway, I didn't want to have to give it back!

The second thing is the Elizabeth Zimmerman Surprise Baby Sweater Pattern. This is the most fabulous little garment and with all the new babies arriving this week (there have been 3!!!) I thought it was a good time to try this. Yarn Harlot has a great description of this jacket. This came from Schoolhouse Press too. Can't wait to make a start on it.

I promise I will get some better photos of my argosy really soon. I think it would look better modelled than lying flat but I'm in no shape to have photos taken this week. Blergh!

Adventures in Blocking

Like a lot of novice knitters (and probably experienced knitters) I have always had a fear of blocking. I know it's important and I know it makes things fit better but I've never really know how to do it so I tend to knit everything in the round, give it a wash and hope for the best. As I've mainly knitted baby clothes so far this approach has got me by. But now I am trying to make a few more things for myself I realised that I just have to bite the bullet and try blocking.

After reading the endless info about blocking on Interweave's Knitting Daily newsletter I thought I should really make a start. Luckily I had just finished my Argosy scarf so I chucked it in a bucket of warm water and set about finding somewhere to block. That's when I realised that I live in a 2 bedroom cottage with a 2 year old and a large cat and absolutely no where big enough and off the floor that I can lay a wet scarf and a heap of pins. So it sat in the bucket for 3 days (I guess it was thoroughly wet after that) until this morning when Euan went out with his grandfather and I got some free time to lay a scarf on the floor.

So here it is in all it's blocking glory. I think the picture is a bit average but will take a better one when I can wear it.


Pattern: Argosy scarf from Knitty

Needles: Addi 4mm 40cm

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden (colour 244 I think) 2 skeins

Duration: I think it was about 4 days. It's a really quick knit and an very easy pattern to memorise.

Comments: I think my gauge must've been really out as although I was using the same yarn and needles called for in the pattern I only got 21 pattern repeats instead of 27. It's still a pretty big scarf so I'm not worried.

I guess now that I have crossed the blocking frontier I might need to have a think about gauge swatches. They seem like such a waste of time as I always want to get started straight away and I haven't had a giant failure just yet. Hmm...off to find some good links.

FO - Candy Socks

I know I have a heap of other FOs to post about but they are old and these are new, so these can go first. These are the 3rd pair of socks that I have started but the first that I have actually finished. That may be because they are in DK yarn instead of sock yarn, but they are socks none the less. I did these after a bit of inspiration from this Craftster thread and also because it's the middle of winter here and it's nice to have something a little colourful in all the gloom.

Pattern: just a basic toe up sock using this great cast on tute, which I found on Grumperina's blog. Also a little help from Knitty and a reminder about short row heels.

Needles: Addi 3.5mm 60cm. My first go a the magic loop and I thought it was great although I wish I'd had 80cm needles.

Yarn: My own hand dyed 100% merino. It's superwash, takes dye beautifully and hardly pills at all. It was a large batch that I did for a few other things (see previous post) but had enough left over to make these. It only took about 60g for the pair.

Duration: A weekend. Basically one sock Saturday and one sock Sunday. I was pretty happy with that!

As you can see my short row heel needs work. I think I was just being too loose with my stitches so I will have to try a bit harder. I'm a bit disappointed actually but as I have firmly caught the sock knitting bug I will get a lot more chance to perfect this.

I'm really happy with the way this yarn turned out that I'm thinking I should get back to dyeing. I'm even thinking about opening my little shop back up. I've found a great source for merino and merino/cashmere yarn and I think it would look great in funk bold colours. What do you all think??

OMG Finished!!!

I can't believe it. For the first time in my life I had wanted to knit something for myself and actually carried the thought through to reality and then completion! Not only that, but it fits which is a bonus.

So presenting to one and all....my Sahara

Please excuse the lack of blocking, the inappropriate undergarments and the flab. These pics made me realise that I must lose some weight. I can't go to Europe looking like this!

I made a few changes, but nothing too exciting. Instead of the Tilly Thomas I used SWTC Oasis (100% SoySilk). I think the colour was Canyon but I can't remember the number. Went up to a 4.5mm for the body and 4mm for the lace, but probably could've gone to a 3.75mm if I had any. I didn't want short sleeves and didn't have enough for long sleeves so I thought I do a good mid-season 3/4 sleeve. The best bit is that it only took 2 weeks, which is lightning fast for me.

I'm really happy with the way it's turned out although the minimal seaming is terrible as I have no idea what I'm doing, and the lace is a bit bunchy. I'm hoping blocking will sort that out. I just have to learn how to block :)

Oh, and this is a small, which is right for my 34" bust and will look better when I have smaller hips and waist :)

In progress

Well I've been really slack lately and just haven't found the time to update this. I've had a bunch of things on the go or getting ready to start and have even taken photos, but nothing has made in onto my blog. So here is a little bit of what I've been doing for the past 3 weeks or so (and don't get excited, it's not much).

Here are some bits that, when assembled, will make the cutest little toy. Unfortunately I need my 4.5mm needles for something else so this had to wait.

These are some progress shots of my Sahara. I start this on the 4th of Jan and am really excited as it's the first top I've ever made for myself. I'm just hoping that it works out. The pattern calls for 100% silk but I think that's pretty impractical with a 19 month old so I'm making it out of some SWTC SoySilk that I had lying around. I'm not sure how long the sleeves will end up because it depends on how much yarn I have left.

This is 2 days work (I'm not actually that slow, I just don't get much knitting time)

This is 4 days later. The best thing is, as it's knitted top down, you can try it on as you go, and it fits like a glove. Sorry no pics of that as without the collar all you can see is boob :)

Also thought I'd add: we had a great time over the holiday period. Euan just loved having Dan at home and Dan loved being here. We didn't do anything too exciting but it was just great family time. I even managed to leave the house without taking my knitting which the boys seemed to appreciate. It's been a bit blergh having Dan go back to work, but it means I can get back to doing Angel Blossom stuff and Euan can get back to seeing his friends, so it's not all bad.