My report card...

So how did I go on my little goals? Not very good i'm afraid... :S

• Purchase ball dress? I went everywhere today - I went through Subi and Claremont and nothing :( There were very few dresses which were tagged a size 6 (I think that's a 0 in US sizing?) and those that were commanded a much bigger bust than what I have. And as impulse would have it, I came out from a day of dress shopping with a cute cardigan from Alannah Hill instead. Not very successful. I'll just bring a couple of my dresses down and wear one of those instead.
  
• Finish Leaf Sweater: I didn't even knit a single stitch today. No new sweater for Kalgoorlie.
  
• Finish assignments : I did do this and I handed both in to my lecturer. I did however do a bit of a half hearted job given that I'm already on quite a high mark, so wasn't too fussed. I do hope that my sloppy work doesn't negate all my other work though.
  
• Play in semi final and win: We sure did! It was a hard fought battle, and my ankle got aggravated again so hopefully I'll be okay to wear heels on Friday night.
  
• Pack : Nope, still doing that.

I guess I was overly ambitious :S I'll probably be out of action for a few days with the travel arrangements, so i'll catch you sometime early next week :0

Girl on a mission!

I'm on a mission tomorrow (well, technically today as it's almost 1am here - this day light saving business is playing with my body clock. I can't adjust!!) to do the following things:

• Purchase a ball dress that doesn't require alteration and fits perfectly - I'm going to my SO's ball on Friday and need a dress by tomorrow. My sister looks at me insanely when I say that, because I have about four ball gowns in my wardrobe but of course, I don't want to wear them again. So.. I'm thinking I might wear my pretty silk Alannah Hill dress, but I need to then buy a slip to go with.


• Finish Leaf Sweater - Two sleeves (well, technically, 1.98), and finishing left to do. Here's where we're up to (There are lots of mods on this one):
  
• 


• Finish assignment on Health Promotion. When I was an undergrad, I dropped Health Science to take up a Psychology degree. Now i'm doing a postgrad, the health sciences have come back to haunt me.


• Play in a netball semi-final and win! We're playing against the incredibly violent team, who also happens to be the same team / match where I severely injured my ankle awhile back. It's still sore, and I'm still having trouble wearing my pretty stilletos, but it's for the love of the game!


• Pack for trip to Kalgoorlie. - Leaving Thursday bright and early at 7am.

All that in 12 hours. Possible? I hope so .. ! Wish me luck ;)

WIPs and Swatches

My sister is one of my favourite people in the world. She's so selfless, considerate and extremely zany and strange. Last night we decided to have a sisterly sleepout where we watced terrible horror flicks and slept in sleeping bags in the lounge room with every bit of knowingness that we'd regret it the next morning. Sure enough, we both woke up grumpy at about 8am with aches in our backs and shoulders and then promptly went to sleep on more comfortable means.

Unfortunately, I am still not feeling the best and have even come down with a cold, so with that note, i'll just post a few piccies and leave you to it :)

Progress on the Phildar Leaf Sweater. Wearing white pjs make me look like an escapee from a mental asylum, but heck, i'm not feeling well so it'll do :D What's even more interesting is that I'm still on my first ball of yarn, and i'm already up to the "bust" area!!

Swatching for Stella Smith's Bianca Cardigan, from Rowan 38 using my frogged yarn from the RYC Classic Summer Julia sweater:

I started a swatch for Lisette, from Rowan 36 using Rowanspun 4 ply in Sludge. The swatch is making me want to eat dark chocolate with nutty bits in it. Mmm. Luckily I still have some choccies leftover from my Secret Pal package so i think i'll munch on those for comfort food.

Have a great end of weekend :) And for any perthians who haven't yet done so, don't forget to turn your clocks forward. This daylight saving business is making my crook body feel even stranger ;)

Time for a sweater

Looking back at my knits, I seem to have cornered myself into one category - cardigans, or some variation of it. There was Cherry, Patti, Rambling Rose, the Capecho (Hybernating) , the embroidered cardi (frogged), and even the Phildar Swing Jacket was somewhat cardigan-ish in design and makeup.

It's time for a change!! .. of course, it'll only be a small change. I'm still not convinced with knitted skirts, knitted pants (eww), and accessories are more filler projects than anything. So , it's time for pullovers. I started knitting the Phildar Leaf Sweater, which I had attempted previously but frogged after feeling as if I was knitting a sweater inside out. But, this time round, I think i've overcome the fear of reverse stockinette and made a bit more progress:

The leaf pattern is coming up nicely and well-defined. I've also started this in the round because I wanted to avoid those "lines" you get when you have uneven tension. The only downside to this is that every row is a purl row, which can cause strain on fingers and is rather slow going, but i'm hoping the finished object will make up for it... and so far, there haven't been any dreaded lines showing up.

On another note, I got two little cards from my Secret Pal over the last two days. One - a Halloween card, and the other a postcard for Philly. We don't really celebrate Halloween here in Australia, so it's great to be in on the fun for once! Thanks Secret Pal!

Ms. Hargreaves has a book!

I am a huge fan of Kim Hargreaves, and often lust after her collections but am ashamed to admit however, to never having bought a kit from her. After factoring conversion and postage costs, a kit ends up at about $150-$180 and so, I continue to dream.. and dream.. and dream...

But Ms Hargreaves is now releasing a book. I'm rather excited about the book, though the preview pictures don't leave me drooling as much as her other collections, although they are still in the classic style that she has become famous for. I'll probably still buy the book for love of her stuff, but i'm hoping that this will be the first of a collection of books from the fabulous ex-rowan designer. Here's a peek at what I like (Pictures taken from Kim Hargreaves Website):

Yarn and yummy goodies

I have an awesome Secret Pal ! This morning I was awoken from my deep deep slumber at 10.30am (haha that's the life of someone who is currently taking a break from work) to find a parcel at the door. Ripping it open, a bunch of fabulous goodies came bumbling out !

There was some Noro Cashmere Island .. (First time I've ever had any Noro!)

There was a travel kit, and pamper goodies. Perfect given that I fly back and forth every two weeks for work!

My Secret Pal knows how to pick the choccies .. I already ate the milky way for breakfast. haha somewhere in that mind of mine, I figured it was the perfect energy pickup.

A copy of Knit Simple, and Clover Goodies. I have always wanted that row counter - you just click, rather than spin those other types. And Clover needles - my favourite to knit with!

Thanks so much Secret Pal! You've made my day :)

Cranberry Rose.. errr.. vine?

I finally finished my Rambling Rose cardigan yesterday.. which I have since come to dub "Cranberry Vine".. errr.. why? Well, I didn't actually put any of the roses on there. It came out too nubbly for my liking, and the colour of my yarn is cranberry so it made sense =D


Project Details:

Pattern: Rambling Rose, by Martin Storey in Rowan #39. This was the only pattern I liked in the entire Rowan 39, and while I tried so hard to fight the urge not to spend $30 on a book for one pattern, in the end, my love for the cardigan won out. I figured that if I knitted at least 3 of these cardigans, it would pay off (haha somewhere in my deluded mind, i felt that knitting three of the same pattern was somewhat achievable!)

Yarn: The yarn is Bendigo Woollen Mills 5 ply Classic in Cranberry. The required yarn in the project is a fingering weight yarn, but I wasn't able to find one in a colour I liked so I bought the 5 ply instead. Also, the yarn I used is wool and not cotton, so the FO didn't have the same sort of drape it should have. As mentioned, I didn't enjoy knitting with this yarn. The crepe construction wasn't the softest, but I do like the colour a lot.

Needles: US 2 / 2.75mm for the ribbing, and then US 3/3.25mm for the main part. I knitted it a little larger to gauge because I wasn't convinced I was as skinny as the model in the picture. I shouldn't have done so, because there is a bit of "air" in the waist area where I am considering taking it in for a better fit.

Comments and Modifications: Not a lot. The pattern is easy to follow and written very clearly. The most obvious modification I made was omit the roses. When I had knitted them up and sewn them on, they looked okay front on, but when turned to the side, it looked as if I had 5 very large red nipply things on one side of my body. NOT a good look. In the end I just made it without. I think it still looks nice :)

I also didnt do all the buttons. Because I had chosen to put pink buttons on a red cardigan, I felt that having 8 little buttons in a contrast colour made it stand out a bit too much. In the end I sewed on 3 buttons, and I put a little snap on the inside where the waist tie is to keep it shut (you might be able to see it in the below picture).

In the end, quite a nice little cardigan, but as mentioned there is a bit of excess at the waist area. I might just take it to my sewing machine and try and sew it up.

If I were to make this again , I'd do it in a cotton and not a wool :p

Finishing touches

I finally got off my lazy bum and managed to get to the local sewing store to buy some finishings for Rambling Rose. I had in mind some beautiful crystal buttons similar to the ones on my beloved Alannah Hill "Puff the Magic Dragon" Cardi, but they were not to be found.

A little desperate, I picked out a couple of different buttons. Plain red ones, patterned ones, and some pearl ones. Taking them home, the pearl ones made me look about 85 years old and aging, the plain red ones just didnt cut it , and the patterned ones made me look like an old lady gone senile. I finally settled for some pearlised pink ones.


Pink i hear you say? Yeah I know.. my cardigan is red. But I'm hoping that when matched with some pinkie ribbon, it'll look alright. The buttons aren't as pink as in the picture ( a little more mute) but there is a little bit of glitter and pearl in it. And it's two tone, meaning the back of the button is red.

Unfortunately, I didn't count how many buttons I'd need and only bought 6, which happened to be all that was left. Taking it home, I found out I need 8 so I'll have to figure something out.

I'm also handsewing the lovely woven labels my Secret Pal got me for that personal touch:

Besides that, I'm having a bit of a crazy moment in my head, debating whether I should put the roses on or not. You see, they look like gigantic warts. And when I turn to the side, they look like nipples. I'll try and knit smaller roses, but we'll see how it goes!

FO: Ribbed Lace Bolero

After my disappointing morning in Boulder looking for the LYS, I managed to find the telephone number of the LYS in the directory and discovered that they had moved a few shops down and across the street. How blind I was! So I promptly went back, and bought myself some little wool needles to seam my almost FO's. Here's one of them.... the Ribbed Lace Bolero

Recognise the shot? It appears I've run out of photography ideas with me myself and the camera. If only I had a little tripod or something, then you wouldn't have identical photos all the time to look at !

Project Details:

Pattern: The pattern is Ribbed Lace Bolero, by Kelly Maher, available here

Yarn: Bendigo Woollen Mills, 10 ply Aran in Woodrose. I had originally ordered 3 balls for what was going to be a Phildar sweater, but having changed my mind, I knitted up my little pink vest with 1.5 balls and needed a stash buster. It wasn't as stash busting as I hoped, and I used about 1 ball of yarn with about 0.5 to 2/3 left of yarn.

Needles: I used US 8 and US 10.5 as per the pattern. The pattern shows you how to calculate cast on for your shoulder width based on your gauge, so I just used the required needles.

Comments and Modifications: My shoulder width is 16 inches wide (i think?) + 8 inches for the sleeves and my gauge was 4 per inch. Therefore, I cast on 94 stitches to begin with.

I read the lace pattern wrong and was doing all kinds of funny things, but after re-reading, I finally understood my error.

The pattern is extremely easy to follow, and takes absolutely no time whatsover. I think it took all of 3 days of knitting to finish the knitting part.

My only issue with it is that my sleeves are a little bit loose on my arms. I'm going to seam it a bit higher and hope that works, but otherwise, I will block it and hope it shrinks just a wee little bit. All in all, a very easy free pattern, and great for stash busting!

Tagged!

I've been tagged by Andrea.

The Rules:Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they’ve been tagged.

1. My birthday is in December. When I was younger, I hated being the youngest kid in class, so one year, I told everyone I was a year older than I actually was. At my birthday party, my parents were uber confused as to why everyone was getting me 13th birthday cards and not 12th!
2. I love to collect cooking books. But I don't cook. I just like to drool and ask others to cook the food for me.
3. Sometimes I pretend to have a backache, just so I can get a free massage from my boyfriend. Sorry dear :)
4. I'm petrified about moving to a new town. I'm scared of leaving my friends, and leaving what I know behind. And I'm petrified that life will continue without me, and I might be forgotten.
5. I have a shoe fetish. I currently own about 70 pairs of shoes, some never worn, and some... well, some well worn and should be thrown out. But I love them all. My favourite pair even though I have only worn them once, is my Marc Jacobs wellingtons.
6. When I was younger, I wanted to be a postman (not very aspirational as you can tell!) because I loved getting parcels and thought that if I was a postie, I could take other people's parcels. EEK.
7. I'm currently taking a month off to do nothing. I'm not actually sure if I know how to do nothing for a whole month.
8. My next trekking adventure will be Machu Picchu, Peru, but I'm still yet to book anything!

Now.. I tag... Michelle, Christie, Paloma, Anne, Liz,

I know, I'm three short, but people have been tagged already!!

Stuck here with nothing to do...

So, I'm here in Kalgoorlie on my third day of doing absolutely nothing, and I am literally doing absolutely nothing. And I don't like it. My bf reckons I'm addicted to being busy, and to work, but really, I just like to keep busy and have the time go by.

Here in kalgoorlie, it is currently 38 degrees celcius (more than 100F by American standards though I'm not quite sure what the actual reading is), and I have no knitting left to do. I finished the knitting parts of both my socks, and the ribbed lace bolero, and only need to block/seam them up - which I haven't been able to do because my little drive to the LYS came up short given that they had relocated - to where, I do not know!

[ Just need to graft the last sock part ]

[ just need to block and seam this - the lace pattern makes the whole thing twist to one side.. hopefully blocking with make it straight again ]

Anyways, because Quan is so busy with his project at the moment, I have to keep myself occupied. I might go to the local Kmart or Target and see if they have any knitting supplies available. Wish me luck! (Otherwise it's going be to a very SLOW three days!)

FO: Pink Heart Vest

After about 6 months sitting in my wardrobe, I thought it was about time I posted this FO.. Why? Well, today was my last day at my current workplace. I loved working there, loved the people, but decided career wise that I should go out on site rather than be in an office. So, today also hailed the last of my office corporate clothing days...


I originally bought the yarn to use for a Phildar sweater, but didn't like the reverse stockinette stitch and ended up knitting a little vest instead. It's been worked into my corporate clothes very well, and always added a bit of colour to the otherwise dull black suits that were the norm.


Project Details

Pattern: No pattern, my own. I just winged it. Lucky it turned out :) I call it a pink heart vest because those little white stitches look like hearts (haha genius aren't I?)

Yarn: Bendigo Woollen Mills Aran 10 ply in colour Woodrose. The yarn is quite a sturdy yarn, made of crepe construction, and very similar to the colonial / classic yarns they produce. It's not as soft as I would like it, but is definitely a yarn to use if you're looking for something that will last you awhile. Sadly, my corporate days are over for the time being, so this vest (and all my work clothes are now being retired).


Needles: Straights, 5.0mm. In hindsight I probably should've just knit this in the round. Silly billy. And a smaller needle for the ribbing - Unfortunately I can't remember what it was, but it was definitely circular.

Anyways, tomorrow is the start of my one month break between jobs. I'll be headed out to see the boyfriend and with it comes a 6 hour train ride, and a week of non-stop knitting. I've armed myself with a few smaller projects (including those that just require finishing) and hopefully I'll have a host of FOs to show when I get back on Thursday.

Fruits of labour

My workmate makes beautiful jewellery, but because I am not a big fan of metal against my skin (yes, i've been told i'm rather odd.. ) I always marvelled and played when she brought stuff in, but never ever purchased.

Then one day I decided to ask if she would make me some stitch markers.. Being a non-knitter, she had no idea what they were and spent awhile researching them and asking me how many were in a "set", what they were used for, what I'd like etc...

The conversation was left at that for awhile, but yesterday she came in and presented the stitch markers she had made for me! Knowing that I loved sets, and adorable things, she picked out a little fruit set..

I thought they were sooo lovely, that I've decided to order myself a few more sets (not just of fruits, but other ones) and I'll be sending these off to my secret pal (i'm pretty sure she doesn't read this blog, so i'm safe for now!). Hopefully she'll get her second package sometime next week.

Besides that, I've only done some basic knitting - simple ribbing, simple stitches, no seaming, no finishing. I've cast on for Kelly Maher's Ribbed Lace Bolero as a stashbuster for my Woodrose coloured aran yarn leftover from my little pink vest (An FO I keep meaning to blog about but haven't yet done).. I love the colour, the pattern is simple, and it's going so fast!!

Anyways, this is my last week at work and then I'll have one month off before taking up my new role. I'm really looking forward to that time, and I'm pretty sure there will be lots of knitting to be had *WOOT*

Phildar Tendances Winter 07

Have you seen the BEAUTIFUL new Phildar Tendances Winter 07 catalogue? Oh i'm in LOVE! There are so many things I want to knit - enjoy the following snapshot! (click to make them bigger)

13 things I want to knit!! That's surely a first!

When is enough ENOUGH?

When is enough ENOUGH?

For the last three hours, I have been trying to unpick the tangled knotted mess that is my lovely Rowanspun 4ply Sludge soon to be Lisette Cardigan (below):

but this is as far as I've gotten:



I blame it all on my nasty dodgy possibly broken Yarn Winder. Remember my yarn winding woes from a week or so ago? Well, I took everything into account and I polymer clayed up my little stick figure yarn tensioner thing and managed to stop it from moving... Alas, when it went to wind, it wasn't winding and moving the yarn up and down as you lovely readers have told me it should do.. it only spun in an oblique direction. Surely that's not supposed to happen right? *right*? (see how it only goes in one direction??)



I'm at wits end... should I throw out the yarn winder and get a brand new winder/swift set, and should I snip up the knotted mess? Lisette requires 8 balls of 4 ply yarn, and I have 10 - more than enough to make the cardigan so I'm thinking i'll just cut my losses and give up on that 20g or so of yarn that is knotted up.. On another note, the yarn cost me a mere $25 AUD shipped from the UK for 10 hanks.. Bargain or not?!

*I am NOT a happy knitter today!*