Thank you secret pal!

After a rather long day at work today (it is my last day before I go on holidays and so my mind was not in work mode), I came home to a little package waiting for me...

It was from my Secret Pal!! And guess what I got!?? A sock knitting kit!!! Just what I need to tackle that elusive sock, and to master that dpn obstacle that has been in my way for ages!!!

I got
- Lana Grossa sock yarn
- Knitting notebook
- two sets of dpn's
- a cute little windup butterfly
- sock instructions
- and those gorgeous little jumper holders that I blogged about earlier!!

I want to post pics, but my camera is being charged up for my holiday..! :(

Unfortunately I can't start just yet - am off to Nepal tomorrow morning... buttttttttttttt my knitting group has asked if I could please take a photo of myself knitting at Everest Base Camp, so perhaps I'll be taking my knitting with me?? (have to find room for it in my overly stuffed backpack though).

Anyways, thank you so much Secret Pal!! It's Perfect!

Just an inch extra

There are a few types of knitters out there.

There are those that start on one project, and zoom off, finish, block and voila. One project every week or two. I think Jesdmill of Green Apples Knitting Blog is one of them - the rate at which she finishes projects are amazing.

There are also those knitters that have 7 WIPs at once, and slowly, painfully manage to finish a sweater in say... six months.

Me? I'd say i'm an in between. I usually start off a project with full throttle excitement, and I'm even pretty good with getting on and seaming etc. But I never really *finish* a project quickly.
There's the Phildar Moss Green Cardi who is still waiting for buttons. There is the Pink/White Heart Vest (above) that is still waiting for my left arm cuff to be completed. And of course, there's the Norah Gauhan Capecho that is just waiting for a neckband.

New resolution: finish a project's details before starting a new WIP (this doesnt include already WIP projects! teehee).

Anyways, so i've reswatched and restarted my Phildar Swing Jacket. I'm absolutely loving the fabric that is being created by the New Zealand Aran Pure Wool. It's a nice dense fabric, but the texture is still there. mmmm yummy.

But anyways, I was moving along quite contently (albeit a little slow), and remembered that I have the cutest little brown swing jacket hanging in my wardrobe. Curious, I decided to pull it out and measure.

Uh-oh. What a difference. There's about an inch and a bit each side of the hip. Granted, the brown jacket is a little more wider and swingy than I would like, but is my little Phildar Swing Jacket going to be a bit *too* small?

Dilemma Dilemma!

My favourite accessory

SP10's latest contest is a blog post about your favourite accessory. Gee, I got stumped looking at my knitting accessories. Besides the requisite row counter, stitch markers, needles and cable holders, I dont actually *have* any accessories. Is that a bad thing? Should I have some? I've always figured that as long as I have the necessary yarns, basics, and pattern, then i'd be fine. But I had a look around and noticed some people really love their accessories!!

[ sheep tape measure - just because they're oh so cute!! ]

So, unable to do a post on my favourite accessory, I thought i'd do a post on what I love but have never bought - mostly because I just didn't need it. Anyways, when I want things I dont "need", my sister, my boyfriend, or someone else will treat me to it. I guess I dont mind spending on things that I need and can use, but accessories are just something i figured I could do without. I'd rather spend it on some yummy yarns or patterns instead!

[im a big fan of clover accessories. I love the big plastic look - so cute and funky. This one I like because it's really easy to use. Currently, my row counter requires me to physically spin a few little wheel things.. this one just goes "click!" ]

So, here this post is just about what I've stumbled across before and have loved.

[ Namaste knitting needle vases. I love the colours, but at $45 a pop, I could go down to Ikea and buy something for 3/4 off that price :P ]

[ clover dpn holders. They're shaped like jumpers! so whimsical - too bad I dont know how to knit with dpns. haha i have one pair, but my feeble attempt at knitting with them was disastrous. I will however, conquer it this year!]

One for me, one for you

I spoke too soon. I couldn't hold off buying yarn till end of April (when I get back from Nepal), so on my way back from the library, I stopped off to get some yarn for myself, and for my secret pal whose having her birthday this coming week.

For me, I bought myself some Naturally New Zealand 100% pure wool , which comes in big 200gm hanks or a very generous 350 metres of wool. It's not the softest wool, but I decided that I needed to restart my Phildar Swing Jacket, and this seemed perfect for the job. It does have that fresh farm smell though - but I don't mind it too much!



Naomi, my brother's gf, had a fun time being my swift. She had been eyeing my yarn winder for some time and always wanted to see it in action, so when I got home, she immediately volunteered to be my swift while i winded it up into cute little dumplings. 2 hanks down, just 1 more to go.


And for my secret pal? I got her some yarn , and will also be getting her other goodies. This is my first secret pal so im more than excited about spoiling her!

My dream of hospitalization dashed

For the last few days, I have been rather sick and have had to even spend a bout in hospital. Previous to this, the only time I had ever stayed in hospital was when I was a wee bub and was hospitalized for eating too many lychees. Almost 15 years later, I had to spend some time at Sir Charles Gairdner, where I was being treated for a virus/infection in my colorectal area. Basically, I spent my time nauseous, vomiting, and passing out blood.

For the last 15 years, I had always thought it would be great for me to go to hospital. I wanted to have a nice little room, to have lots of visitors, lots of cards, flowers and bears, and lots of little gifts. Nope. I hated it. I spent all my time on my back, and when I was cold, the nurses wouldnt let me have extra blankets (I was running a bit of a fever, so they said it was so that I could cool down). I did gets lots of messages and lovely thoughts, but it just didnt feel the same as what I had imagined hospitals to be like. It was really boring more than anything.

Finally, I decided to pretend I was getting better. I told them I wasn't hungry (i was STARVING but the thought of waiting more hours for food just deterred me), I told them I could get up and about (despite the fact that each time I got back, I almost blacked out), and that I had no nausea or pains left (eek lie). Eventually I got discharged, only to be bedridden again at home because I was so iv-ed and doped up I couldnt do anything at home. *sigh*.

So all i've done in the past few hours since I woke up is surf the net to find new inspirations. ANd what did I find?

Phildar Cute Cardigan from Spring's Collections Magazine. Too bad it's the ONLY pattern I like in the entire magazine

Phildar cute bolero from Phildar Spring Tendances Magazine. Once again, one of only 3 patterns I like in the entire magazine.

Oh, and I have discovered that The Wool Shack is now stocking Cascade 220. While I have never knit with this stuff, i think the colours are just beautiful!! My buying of knitting things is on hold though, as I am going to Nepal in one point five weeks, so anything I buy will just be stashed away anyways - so rather than get impatient about knitting with my new goodies, I'd rather just wait till I get back :)

When people around you get excited

.. When I went to pick up my best pal to go for brunch this morning, she excitedly got in the car and told me all about a little knit cafe that she discovered and that I would have a ball in..

I already knew about this place, but I loved that she was excited too, and that she remembered to tell me something so quirky and lovely.

I also love when my boyfriend smugly drops knitting terms when he's talking to me... or when we're out and he says something like "would you like a ball of wool?" proceeded by "... I know you can't make a sweater from one ball, but maybe you can make a small project"... or he'll try and say something cute about merino yarn as opposed to itchy wool...

Or when someone comes over and sees that you're blocking something, and they get excited too...

I just wished there were more knitters around me (not just excitement)...

What will it be?

Apologies for not posting lately - I've been caught up with life and my dad was sick the week that just passed, so haven't been able to do much else except worry :)

Lucky for me, today is a public holiday for us perthians. Being rather sleep deprived for the past 5 days, it certainly is one that I have been looking forward to. I managed to (almost) finish up my moss green cropped cardi that had been sitting in my WIPs pile unloved and untouched because of that rather annoying set in sleeve fiasco!!

Moss green cardi is looking a little bit bubbly at the moment - and I take full blame for that. You see, I wasn't really paying much attention when I was seaming and ended up with bits that were too long, or too short for that matter. The cardi is being blocked at the moment, and we'll see if that fixes the bubbling - if not, then I'll have to reseam (boohisss)


So, with Green Moss Cardi almost out of the way, and Norah Gauhan's cardi still still puzzling me (sizing issues), I started to knit Phildar's Leaf Sweater.

Unfortunately, the sweater is knit with reverse stockinette as the right side. I started doing this, but kept worrying about thoughts of me wearing an inside-out sweater. So I frogged, but decided that I still wanted a bright fuschia sweater of some sort, so started knitting this:



I love the little white "hearts" that are popping out of the pink knit. Although, I'm thinking a sweater in this colour will be a bit too much, so I'm thinking of turning it into a vest. This will be the first time I come up with my own "pattern" (derived of course, from a number of other patterns)... But i'll keep on knitting and see what my heart decides.