What kind of yarn are you?

You are Mohair.You are a warm and fuzzy type who works well with others, doing your share without being too weighty. You can be stubborn and absolutely refuse to change your position once it is set, but that's okay since you are good at covering up your mistakes.
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What Not To Do

Don't knit with a 2 year old in the room.




That's all *sigh*

Baby Knitting

Finally getting around to some baby knitting that isn't nappy-related!



This is the yarn and pattern that I received in my ROAK swap. It's lovely and soft and I love the colour. Should look great on a newborn bub. I plan to embellish a bit when I'm done. Well, that's the plan, but whether it happens on not is another thing! Hopefully there'll be enough left for either the hat or some matching socks :) Should look good with baby vomit on it LOL

None of my bubs have worn handknits so far (at least not anything other than soakers or shorties/longies!). My mother knitted madly for L when he was a baby. Unfortunately it seemed to slip her mind that he was going to be born in summer, so everything she made was unsuitable for the time of year so never got worn. She did make him a nice hooded cardi when he was a bit older, which coincided with his size and the correct season LOL but it wasn't lovely soft wool. Just some acrylic she picked up. Cute still though. M had a box of beautifully knit baby goods come from my elderly aunt in Sydney, but once again he was a summer baby, and everything was white anyway (again not wool, but acrylic) so never really got to see the light of day. All very much appreciated though, just a shame that sizing and seasons never worked out for them. If this bub isn't careful it'll be in nothing but handknits, being born closer to winter!

Presto Chango

From this.....



to this.....



The pattern is Fetching from Knitty.com. I use the recommended yarn in all cases - Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. I love it! These are very quick and easy to knit up. I used larger needles than recommended because my gauge was a bit off - no idea what my gauge was though, since I didn't swatch. Just knit one up, decided it was too tight feeling, ripped it out and went up a size. Perfect! I made a few changes to the thumb though - added a couple of extra stitches to start with and knit a few extra rounds. Made the wrist part longer on the natural coloured one too. So far I've only made one of each in each colour. Waiting for more of the yarn to come so I can finish. Have toyed with the idea of just doing one, but thought that might be channeling a little too much Michael Jackson, circa early 1980s, and that might just show my age too much LOL Two of these are going to be gifts. The natural coloured one will be for me.

Totally Spoilt

I was extremely surprised to have this lot of goodies delivered to my door this morning! I was expecting one parcel, but when I saw him carrying two to the door I started racking my brain for what I'd bought that I'd forgotten about! LOL Opened it up to find all these beautiful things!



Turns out it was my ROAK (random acts of kindness) Swap from Woolaholics!!!!! I was so excited, but only got a quick look at it all as we had to dash off to playgroup right after it all arrived. Had a good look now and everything is just gorgeous.

Hard to capture it all in a picture so hope readers can pick out the things, I'm describing....

There are 2 skeins of some gorgeously soft Pear Tree Merino. It's a lovely pale green colour. I've really wanted to try some of this wool and now I can! A pattern to go with the wool for a sweet little baby cardigan (so I know what I'll be casting on tonight!) There are also some "hand knit" tags to go with the finished cardi. A block of Green & Blacks Organic Milk Chocolate (which we love here and I'll have to hide from my husband LOL). The item with the ribbon tied around it is a needle roll for dpns in a gorgeous fabric that has parasols all over it, and inside the roll a set of 2.25mm dpns (a size I don't have so great choice swapper!) and the larger item that matches the needle roll fabric is a project bag, which everything came packaged in. The card also has a pattern for a child's hat on it too, so something else to knit up eventually! Everything is just beautiful, and I feel very lucky to have received all of these lovely things.

Thank you so much swapper. I love all of it. And so pleased to receive it at the end of this particular week, which hasn't been much fun with all of us sick in the house since last week. Definitely made my week and has cheered me up for the weekend!

New Obsession

These are so, so, cute.



I thought that these socks would be a good way to use up some of the leftovers I have. The pattern calls for worsted/aran weight wool but since the socks came out quite a bit bigger than I expected, I figured if I knit them in a different weight on smaller needles, I'd just get a smaller sock, right? Right! This size should be perfect for a newborn to 3 month old I'm guessing. At least one of my children in that age range LOL This is Four Bags Full 8ply merino that I used for another project for someone else. Unfortunately I don't have enough left to complete a second sock. It's still cute though!

And this is how to beat SSS - just make both the socks you are knitting so much smaller than just one adult sock, and you can't go wrong! These whipped up so quickly - I started them last night and finished them this afternoon. Probably 1.5 hour all up I'd say. Maybe not even that really. I don't time myself. Maybe I should?

Banana Chocolate Icecream Surprise

That's what my husband calls the colours of this soaker and socks! LOL I managed to squeeze these out of one 100gm skein of Monster Knits BFL Aran. Super quick to knit up. The socks are actually called Super Quick Baby Socks, and it's true! I started these on Sunday and finished them on Monday! (the socks, not the soaker - that took a bit longer) I see a few more of these in my future. Lots of left over wool that I can get rid of. I have no idea what size either the soaker or the socks will fit, but I'm guessing older than 3 months based on the size of my children, maybe close to 6 months. I'll just have to remember to get them out and try them on at an appropriate time. I'd hate to have spent time knitting them only to forget them and miss out on using them. That's probably what will happen though! Oh, and another couple of FO's to add to my list for 2008.

I must say that the socks look quite huge in the photo, but they aren't really that big IRL. I'm sure they'll fit a baby foot at some point. I should try them on M and see if they fit LOL

Tea Time

It is relatively chilly here today! compared to recent weather anyway, and it's raining! I rarely drink tea these days (mostly because I'm so incredibly thirsty for ice cold water instead), but M just went down for a nap (fingers crossed it will be a decent one as he seems to have a cold) and I can't be bothered cleaning at the moment. I'm going to enjoy my cuppa and not sure what else yet.

Last night I attempted to cast on a soaker for the new bub, but I messed around with it and started a bit too late, so didn't really get anywhere. I am considering moving myself and my cup of tea to the couch to start that now, but not sure. I'm suffering from some severe sciatica at the moment :( Which is extremely painful whether I sit, stand or walk. I could barely walk L into class this morning. If it wasn't for the pram holding me up I think I'd have fallen over! And the weird thing is it's on my left side now. I've never had it on my left, only on the right. Right side is fine. Oh the woes of pregnancy LOL

Something else I'm thinking of casting on are these. They are so cute! And I have a friend who's due to have her baby boy sometime next week that I think these will make a great gift for. Or maybe a couple of pairs. And maybe a couple of pairs for our new bub too. I was thinking of making a jacket/cardy for her bub, but I don't know that it will get the "love" it deserves, if you know what I mean ;) so socks/booties might be more practical (and cheaper to post since she lives in Ballarat!) LOL

Off to decide what to do now. Might have pics of my decision later if I can drag myself from the couch.

Current WIP - Updated to FO!!

Finished!! and not one mistake in it at all. Fits perfectly too. Husband was wearing it last night while watching tv LOL


Well, one of. The Omo Scarf is still technically a WIP, but I'm thinking I might do only a bit more of that then be done with it. Maybe I'll have enough of that yarn left for something else too.

Anyway, this is what I've been working on pretty much exclusively for the last week or so.




This is the Koolhaas Hat.

I'm using 100purewool in the "Winter Joy" colourway. This hat is for my husband, and he picked the wool. I was a bit concerned about how the variegated yarn would work, but I think it's really looking good. The pic isn't so great, but trust me that it looks pretty good in real life LOL I had to cast on a few more stitches than the pattern called for (128 to be exact!) because his noggin is quite large :) I did originally start out with the amount called for in the pattern, but it was looking like it would be too small, and hubby doesn't really like super-snug-fitting hats, so I frogged it and started again with more. Ugh. This involved having to rewind the wool, so I could start again at the other end, because for some reason I kept making mistakes and having to unknit and/or frog and start again **much eye rolling** The wool didn't seem to hold up to all this too well :( so we'll see how it holds up to general wear and tear on a head. I'm just pleased it's looking reasonable, seeing as no one else seems to have used this wool on Ravelry, so I feel like a bit of a rebel!

I'm up to the decreases on this, so it will be done soon. Next dilemma is what to cast on next? Start baby knitting? Or do the felted clogs for the boys?? Decisions, decisions.

Stash Diet

I've just done a serious budget overhaul, and the news is not good. In order to achieve some of the things we want to do this year (including an overseas trip with 3 children to visit the in-laws!) cuts will have to be made. Sadly this will have to start with my wool/yarn purchasing. I have skeins/balls of wool lying around here all over the place. I have two storage boxes full of dyed and undyed wool. I have two large drawers in the bed which are full of wool and knitting paraphernalia. I have two more wool purchases due to arrive sometime next week hopefully. After that.....

I WILL NOT BUY ANY MORE WOOL/YARN.

I believe I have enough here to keep me going for quite some time. And certainly after May there won't be much time for knitting anyway, so if I take that into consideration I can probably add about 6 months to how long I think my current stash could last me.

If you read my blog and you see me posting new purchases, then yell at me in the comments. I need help.

Disclaimer: This does not include the Yarn Collective Sock Club installments, which I am already committed to and have coming up throughout this year

Wooly Goodness

Or should that be yarn-y goodness?

These have all arrived on my doorstep in the last week or so. And now I am on a serious ban. I really do need to start using up what I have. I need to do some baby knitting, and I have quite a bit of undyed wool lying around that would be suitable. So just need to buy some dyes LOL





There's two skeins of 100purewool, which I am in love with. First time I've used this and it's soooo soft! The combo pic has two more balls of BSCF which is to add to what I already have, 3 skeins of Cascade 220 and some beautiful sock yarn from DHDY at The Yarn Collective.

Today I also received another gorgeous 1-2-Go bag from the lovely Jacki over at The Complete Fabrication. The black with butterflies actually arrived a few weeks ago and has been put to good use, but I forgot to take a pic and show it off. Just perfect for a small project, needles and yarn.



So now I must go and do some knitting. And hopefully in the near future there will be more pics of things I've made, and less of things I've bought LOL