Today's bounty

I love getting parcels. I especially love when more than one comes on the same day! Although that does mean there likely won't be anymore this week.

I can't believe I managed to take a pic of them all before ripping them open LOL



And only one of them is an actual purchase! The two smaller bags are swapped items - one being a mei tai kindly sent to me by the lovely Donna to try out with Miss F. No pic of that but it's a lovely butterfly print - can't wait to try it out!

And here's a pic of the treasures within....



The pink and the red are Cascade 220 Wool from Yarns Online. The service there is fantastic and I think it's the only place to get Cascade yarns in Australia. Anyway, I can highly recommend buying from there! The pink is for something for me. The red is a secret! shhhh..... The other yarn is some sock yarn I scored in a PIF swap on Nappycino.

And just as I was getting excited about my parcels and about to open them, there was another knock at the door. The delivery guy had found another parcel for me that wasn't on his list! It was like Christmas twice in the space of 10 minutes LOL



No pic of the inside of this one as it's some toys for L and M for Christmas, but as you can see M has claimed the box already. Just have to convince him to give it back to me now so I can hide it! Oh, and if you're wondering what the contents are, it's some toys from this place. I got the wooden toaster set and the wooden fruit. And I can highly recommend purchasing here too - came super-quick in the post and prices are really reasonable in comparison to wooden toys I've seen elsewhere.

As for the July challenge, well I fell off the wagon on the weekend and cast on something new. But then I decided I didn't like it so I ripped it off and cast on something else. Then that was giving me the pip, so I ripped it again and cast on something else. All with the same yarn. Anyway, in the end I'm making a hat for F because it has been bitterly cold here in the mornings and we all have to go out for the school run and she has no woolies to wear :( Not sure what I was thinking though because she seems to dislike hats. But in the spirit of knitting-things-for-my-children-that-they-will-hate-wearing-but-making-them-wear-it-anyway, I am perservering with it. I still haven't seamed the Eyelet Yoke Cardi or finished the Omo Scarf, but I intend to do both by the 31st. Just watch me.

Two more done!

From this.....



to this....



I feel so much better now that this is gone. Had a hard time unravelling the yarn though :( had to cut some bits off, but I'm sure I still have plenty left for a pair of socks. Will put this away until I find a nice pattern for it.

And finished the Rainy Day Socks.



Shortly before finishing I remembered why I hadn't started the second sock. I'd made a heap of mistakes in the first sock - not really noticeable at first glance, but there nonetheless. But it's really ok I think, since the second sock is far from perfect also :( For a start, I knit according to the pattern. That's good, right? Generally I'd say yes, but this time no. Since the mistakes I made in the first sock have caused it to be a whole pattern repeat longer than the second sock (which was knit error free up to the heel part). So the sock is a bit shorter in the leg. No biggie really, but then the toe on the second one looks a bit weird too. Not sure what I did wrong there, and you probably can't see it in the pic, but when they are on they look a bit odd. Also, I think that I have just knit the foot length a bit too short for my feet anyway. And that's another thing I recall thinking when the first sock was done and remembered once I'd done the second one. Oh well. Not sure if I'll actually wear them now, but my mum showed a liking for them on Saturday so maybe I'll give my mismatched, error-riddled socks to her LOL

It feels good to cross them off the list regardless.

And DH and I had a real heart-to-heart about his throw rug over the weekend too. I just haven't been able to feel the love for it at all. Even though I'm knitting something for my dear husband and all. And I worked out the reason. It's something like 256 stitches wide! It takes me 20 minutes to do one row! So I can knit for an hour or so on it and it really looks like minimal progress. I just can't see an end to it. So we both agreed that it was going to the frog pile, and I would make something for him that involves smaller pieces and seaming. Much as I don't like seaming, I like knitting 256 stitches at once even less. Haven't ripped it off the needles yet, but I am feeling a lot free-er with that no longer hanging over my head LOL

So now what's left? Have to seam the Eyelet Yoke Cardi and organise buttons and finish the Omo Scarf. Definitely going to achieve my July goals PLUS I added another frog to the head count. Woohoo! I think that will leave me with my Central Park Hoodie on the needles and that's it. Oh, and I'm going to frog a few other projects that were actually completed because they never fit F :( I'll reuse the yarn and make the same things in a bigger size for next year I hope!

July Challenge Progress

I decided to give the other Rainy Day sock a go and this is my progress so far since casting on at 5pm yesterday...



I'm up to the heel flap now. Progress has been helped by an early wake up call this morning - 5.45am to be exact! Can't complain about that though since F slept all the way through to then from 9pm last night! I'm feeling quite refreshed after my almost full night's sleep - discounting the few wake up's I had to check that she was still actually breathing LOL

So I'm thinking I can get this sock done this weekend if I really focus on it. I had been trying to make progress on the Omo Scarf, but I've got approx 6 inches to go if I want to make it as long as the pattern suggests and I'm kind of over the two row pattern repeat. So I'll just plod along with that one for the rest of the month and see how long I can get it by the 30th. Then it's just seaming the Eyelet Yoke cardi and frogging the Clementine Kimono (which should take all of about 10 minutes if I get the winder out) and I think I'm done. Looking forward to August so I can cast on something new! F needs some more handknit soakers so they will be on the list and I promised the boys a pair of socks each too. Oh, and I have a secret knitting project that I'll need to start, if only the yarn I want would get here!

A Fetching Helena?

Well I think it is anyway :)

Helena is done! Had a few dramas with the edging - picked up stitches according to the pattern and knitting on smaller sized needles but the whole thing puckered and pulled in, so that looked crap LOL Ripped it out and did it again, just by picking up more stitches and I'm much more happy with it now. Although I have decided I don't really like either the look of garter stitch, or knitting it! So if I was to do this again I'd change the edging and the bit between the lace and the bodice to moss stitch. Much prefer the way this stitch looks. Anyway, I'm very happy with the way that it's turned out. I did the 18 month size as my gauge was off, hoping it would be more like the 12 month sizing. As F is still not quiet even 3 months old, it will be a while before I know exactly when this fits LOL But I love it anyway :) Just need to find some suitable buttons. And since Spotlight and Lincraft are my only local options, I'm concerned about this. Already looked at both and found nothing. Anyone know any online button stores?!





And last night I finally finished the other Fetching....




Already been wearing them and they are lovely and warm (could have used them yesterday when I was freezing at the railway museum for the Thomas and Friends thing that was on!). I did forget to cross the cables in the front instead of the back on the second one, so I have an identical pair, rather than a mirror image pair. Meh. No one IRL will know this and it doesn't affect their ability to keep my hands warm, so I can live with it. Now that all the Fetchings are done, I've got to figure out what to do with a few balls of leftover Cashmerino Aran.

So I'm on track with the July challenge. Just have to dig my ball winder out so I can frog the Clementine Kimono, and the next knit to get some work will be the Omo Scarf. Jury's still out on the Rainy Day sock. The first one is a little tight to get on, so I'm not sure just how much wear they might get. I guess I could give them away, but I don't know who would fit them (my feet are big, everyone I know who might like a pair of hand knitted socks has small feet). Will keep thinking about that one.

Rainbow Mittens - First FO for the July Challenge!

Ok, so technically I finished these on the 30th June, but I'm still counting them as they were on the list, and really, there was only half a mitten to go so I thought it best to knock that one off quickly LOL




I'm also posting a pic of the finished green mittens that I made for M (the rainbow one's are for L), which I finished the day I started the rainbow one's. So now they both have a pair of nice warm mittens for their evening walks with Daddy.



I used this pattern (non-Rav link here), which was really quick and easy. I just added a few extra stitches to the rainbow ones to make them a bit bigger for L's hands, rather than going up a needle size.


A lady noticed the other day that M was wearing mittens and remarked that someone must have knit them for him because "you don't see mittens much these days"!