What We're Up To

Well this can't be a knitting blog without showing off our yarn stash. It started as a few scrap balls my mum didn't want, and slowly grew as my obsession did, consuming Op shops, craft shops and now mail-order catalogues.
It grew until it overloaded the box we bought the microwave in, and Frankie tried to break into the box and dive into it, like Scrooge McDuck into his money bin. Denise's suitcase zip busted and the plane company refused to let us take the bag on anymore (at least not without three roles of packing tape), so that got loaded up with yarn that has a plan and purpose. My Zhivago jumper, some beautiful handspun just waiting for the right moment, some house slippers. Hmm, must revisit that suitcase, I'm forgetting what I left in there.
So I hung out until Ikea opened in Adelaide this April, and I bought this kid's tidy tower on our second visit (my third visit was to return the original one because there was a slip up the wood, making it three visits in as many days since opening). I love my stash tower, it's easy to access what I want, I can organise things (wool, baby yarn, fun fluff stuff, Bendigo Mills wool, more Bendigo Mills wool), I can pull out one crate and spread it all over the floor to find what I'm looking for without messing the whole collection, and when I fill this one, I can buy another, bolt them together, and have more. Yes, it does look like its already come to that stage. I seem to have found some large cones of yarn, which just don't fit in there. My favourite being three cones of mohair lycril blend. The tag looks very 70's, I have no idea what Lycril is (some acrylic I assume) and its 3 ply, but it has made the most beautifully warm shawl. Actually the shawl is piled up in the pic, its the blue thing in the pile on the right, at the same level as the blue tub. I'm not really a shawl person, and I never wear it in public, but it's one of these great things to have lying around the house when it's too cold, but you're too comfortable/lazy to get up and do something about it.

I also want to show off one of the things currently on my needles (although not for too much longer). It's my first attempt at cabling. Denise helped me a heap with it, although she found it frustrating that I am yet to remember to use a row counter. "Honey, which row did I just knit?"
The Beanie is Coronet from Knitty.com. You knit the cable first in a small strip about 25-30 stitches wide, join the ends, pick up stitches on one side and knit up. I'm using some of the seconds Alpaca yarn I bought from our trip down to the Bendigo Woollen Mills over Easter. Ooooh, that place is the best. I blew $129 on wool, and I know that I easily could have spent more. Anyway, the Alpaca wool is so soft and warm, but slippery as anything to knit with. Denise has made the same beanie, finished it and wove everything in, then it sprung a leak. The top just started unraveling while she was wearing it. Mine hasn't done that, I just have to finish it off. Currently still on the needles, although it sits beside my computer waiting for me to start decreasing.

And while I'm talking about current projects, Denise started her third jumper the other day. Knitting in Bendigo Classic yarn, its a Cleckheaton cable jumper. This is the back panel. The picture may not show it as clearly, but its a right twisting cable.
Unfortunately Denise won't be working on it too much over the next few days. Essays and assignments due, she's spent the last few days working on an assignment due next Monday, the same day as the Intro for her Graduate Diploma program, which she still doesn't know if she's in yet. Bureaucracy and meetings seems to have pushed the final decision making back so far that she may not know she's in until after the intro lecture. Hmm, that works ;-/
Today at work one of my colleagues who has been watching me knit during my lunch breaks told me she has bought a set of needles and a ball of yarn, and wants me to teach her to knit. So now I have to figure out, how the hell do I teach someone else to knit!!! I shall try.
My beanie is calling. Once I finish the beanie, I can get my hair cut, and once I get my hair cut, I'm going to put henna through my hair again, just to be different. Don't follow my logic? Don't worry, I don't either.

Socks, socks and socks

These are our little unnamed knitting mascots. They hold (most) our current projects and other UFO's. Mine is the hat-less pot with the escaping yarn. I got mine from my mum, who suggested that I use him to store potatoes in. Denise's pot was found a few weeks later at the Op shop around the corner. Maybe they were just meant to be together. Hmmm.
Today I spent my lunch break down at Spotlight with Denise fighting our way through other knitters as there was a 20% off day. I only walked away with 6 balls, a pack of thick plastic crochet hooks and stitch markers. We made up for it by going out to one of the stores in the suburbs and buying more. Although we got mainly sheets of fur for Denise's handmade Teddy bears and polar fleece for a baby blanket. One of the sheets of fur was bought for the cat. Since she loves the faux mink blanket on the bed soooo much, we thought we'd buy one for her so maybe she'll start sleeping on her bed, not ours.

So these are Denise's first socks. Top down and knitted from Bendigo Woollen Mill Sock Yarn (its a cotton blend). They are the odd socks that aren't odd. Knitted out of just over one ball of yarn, one has a lovely patterns coming out, the other looks like TV static. The only difference between the two was we got our first pair of 30cm Addi Turbo needles between sock one and two. The good thing is there is still another ball of yarn. Knowing Denise's luck if she were to knit a third sock, it would look different to the first two!


On the other side is what happens when I get an idea in my head and a generic pattern. So what does happen when you modify the dimensions of a sock pattern, smaller needles, less stitches, larger yarn but less stitches. It started with the purple/blue Fair Isle socks (first on the second row) and turned into me experimenting with all sorts of odd yarn in my stash. I've even had Carol from the Adelaide Ktog group give me her left over sock yarn to use up.
As you can see with scraps of yarn I don't bother with matching up the patterns. Actually I was lucky to finish the blue toed socks. I had to substitute Marino Bambino baby yarn in the toes to finish it. These are all for the Guardian Pharmacy/World Vision charity knitting. I figure I can play around with the sizes because some kid out there will fit them, and I get more of an idea how this wonderful sock pattern works.
A nice cup of white tea is beckoning me. White tea being tea made from the youngest and tenderest tea leaves. A definite taste difference between white and black tea, which I drink without milk (so is it black white tea?).

Day Two

In think I'm figuring out how this whole thing works. I've managed to get a picture of the three of us.
That's Denise in the pink shirt, me (Helen) in the black, and Frankie looking like she'd rather be anywhere but in front of the camera.
Today we had knitting with the Adelaide Ktog group at the Cafe in the South Australian State Library. I was so indecisive about what to knit that I brought 4 projects with me, the granny square, baby socks, baby beanie and my cable beanie. And I brought along my A5 folder to start filing away all those free patterns they give away at Spotlight and Lincraft. I found out I'm not the only one who picks up the most hideous patterns for the simple reason that they are free. Honestly, who is going to knit a cardigan out of feathers yarn????
My granny square blanket is currently sitting at 34cm and growing.
Denise was quite happy, she got her socks finished (camera has been found, pic will be uploaded tomorrow) and a scarf she was knitting for her friend who is pregnant. Two projects in one day!
I'm going to play with my settings on this thing. See if I can figure out how to set our profile. Let's hope I don't accidentally delete things.

The Beginning

Guess I'll start with the basics. I set this up to show off my knitting and to have a place where I can post pics of what I have made.
I live with my fiance Denise, and our beautiful daughter, Frankie the Cat. From time to time Denise will post here, and Frankie will more than likely sit on the desk, correcting spelling and fixing our mistakes.
Both Denise and I knit and crochet. Denise is a methodical knitter, she buys her yarn for a specific project, knits one project at a time, then moves onto the next one. Whereas I am a hoarding, impatient knitter, there will always be room in the stash tower for one more ball even if it doesn't yet have a purpose, there will always be 5 or more projects running at a time, patterns are never never meant to be followed and will work out if I sorta know what I'm doing, and there is always an empty set of needles just waiting for me to cast on. This is probably why I still don't have a jumper finished.
As of today I have on the needles:

• Tubey jumper from knitty.com


• Baby sock for the Guardian Angel Program


• Baby beanie for Denise's pregnant friend


• Granny Square blanket


• Baby blanket for... at the speed I'm going probably us in 5 years


• Cable Beanie from knitty.com


• Face cloth


• Baby jacket I started 2 years ago

Pictures of these will be added when I remember where my camera got to this time.
So at the moment, thanks to the wonderous speed of 56K dial-up I have the granny square sitting with me, a few more loops each time I wait for a page to open.
But I'm warm. I have my Blueberry Waffle socks and a beanie pulled down over my ears. And when the night temperature dips to 5 degrees C I consider wearing it to bed too. Which incidentally is where I think I might head to. Without my crochet or knitting!!!