Last blog post for a bit and a DIY project

Holiday time is drawing near, and I've been thinking about holiday knitting. I won't tell you DH's reaction when he saw that on my "list of things to pack" lol Needless to say he clearly wasn't expecting me to bring any knitting!

I'm torn about what to take though.

I posted this photo of current WIPs a little while back....


I'm thinking I should take one of these, but I'm not feeling the love for any of them. In fact, the blue-green shawl is actually off the needles and cable altogether. I'd love to knock the striped vest off, but it's just too fiddly and probably not a relaxing knit for a holiday. The green sock requires close following of a chart, which I don't think will suit holiday knitting.

I originally thought I'd do the second sock of the purple one picture top-left, but the first one is not a good fit, so I need to fix it first.

So it looks like my choices are limited. I want an easy, thoughtless knit, that doesn't require charts or close pattern following. I don't want to knit anything that I've already got on the needles. I want some new and exciting yarn and a new project (even if it isn't exciting!!) on my needles. I think I'm going to take my Dyelicious Sock Club cashmere blend and make some more plain socks. Or maybe not. I've got a few days to decide.

And something else I've been meaning to post for a while. My DH made me this swift some time ago. I think he was getting tired of (a) hearing me cursing at my yarn when I tried to wind it msyelf and (b) being used as a swift himself! He used an online tutorial as a guide (can't find the link), but he made the entire thing out of wood - no metal parts at all. Works a treat! And now I can wind yarn to my heart's content, all on my own!

Babydoll

Miss F sure is just like a little doll to me :) And so I couldn't resist making her a cute little babydoll top for spring/summer. The pattern is Kaia Babydoll and it was super-quick and easy to do.



It is knit in BWM 8ply Cotton. I used "Wild Lavender" and "Parchment". The colour looks a little blue in the pics, but it is actually a lovely purple. I did make a small mod to the pattern - I knit an extra 4 rounds after finishing the increases, before casting off the arms, as it looked as though the armholes were going to be too small. I was right, and it has turned out perfectly! I want another one on the needles asap!

Oh, and at almost exactly 16 months, Miss F decided she'd like to try walking :)

Bloom

I was very lucky and privileged to be asked to test knit Tikki's new pattern "Bloom"





I used WOOLganics 8ply in "Kyoto". The one dress is designed to grow with your child, and it's pictured here on a 1yo, nearly 4yo and a 6yo!

Love it! Can't wait to knit another one! Look out for the pattern release soon :)

Fire!

Some people may have seen this on the late news on Channel 10 last night. It was a plastics factory.

I walked into our bedroom around 6pm and for some reason decided to look out the window, and this is what I saw! Must have just started. You can see that the smoke plume is *new*.


The next pics are about 20 minutes after the first and the smoke is just starting to be blown around. Look at those toxic fumes!

We could actually see the flames from where we live. If you look at the very last pic, although it's quite blurry, the orange lines about 3/4 down just below the horizon line are flames.


2 hours later and we could actually see the building itself burning from here, and the smoke was still billowing out. I think they had a hard time containing it.

3 weeks

And my ILs will be here. They haven't seen L since just before his 2nd birthday. They have never seen M and F (apart from photos of course). And they haven't seen our house fully finished. The last time they were here we didn't have a garden, fences, or most of our flooring. And we certainly didn't have all the accummulated "junk" we have now. So I've got 3 weeks to do something about it! You know, all that stuff that you stick somewhere to get rid of it, because you don't really have a place for it, and you think you'll come back in the near future to deal with it properly, but you never do. All that cleaning up you need to do that regular visitors to your home might never notice, but people actually STAYING IN YOUR HOME will have more opportunities to find. I have a list. It's pretty long. DH has been very good and done a few things from the list without even being asked to. Much better than me. I wrote the list, and that's about as far as I got.

Fortunately they won't be here for all that long before we head off for a family holiday together, but still. Although I don't really know why I am worried about it. I remember the story my MIL told me about how she was once addicted to Pacman (remember that revolutionary game?!). About how she would pack the kids off to school (all 5 of them) and then sit down in her jammies and gown for a morning coffee and some pacman, and all of a sudden it would be 3pm and ooops! kids will be home from school soon! Makes me feel not so bad. But still. I've got a bit of work to do.