Odd wishes

When I was younger and started to reach puberty, I would make weird wishes such as "i hope my chest doesnt grow any faster" because it was just a weird thing to have. As a uni student with little more than a B cup, I used to wish that it WOULD grow faster hahah..


Last night, i tried on my leaf-tie cardi and while it fit me all around, there was something just amiss about it. Running to find my sister, I asked her what was wrong with it and without a second's thought, she proclaimed "you just dont have a chest for it" .. to which I realized she was more than right.


I think that's why i've never really been a fan of cardis like the leaf-tie cardi. Not because I didnt like the way they looked, but because everytime I put one on, it just didnt look like the model with her ample chest in the photos.


Oh well. This is what's left of my leaf-tie cardi.



My sister has been quite pleased that she no longer has to help me wind my knits into balls, but she did say that she missed the quality sisterly bonding we did over 2 hours of winding skeins. So maybe next time I frog (hopefully not anytime soon) ill make her wind the balls ;)


Anyways, having frogged leaf-tie cardi means I can start on something else without feeling guilty! While I'm still working on my socks and my Phildar Swing Jacket, I am thinking of doing Rambling Rose from Rowan 39, Big Button Bolero from Phildar, Provincial Waistcoat from IK Winter 06 or Patti from Rowan Studio.


I suppose I could start on the Waistcoat or Bolero as I have yarn for it.. but oh, Rambling Rose and Patti are certainly calling me ;)


Anyways, I have my first kickboxing class now.. gotta run!

Tagged!

I've been tagged by Liz for the 8 random facts meme:

It's quite hard to think of 8 random facts about myself! But here goes :

1. My mother died of cancer when I was 12 years old. It runs in my family, and so everyone around me freaks out a little when someone gets ill.

2. I have a thing for boys with british accents... unfortunately, neither my partner or any ex's have one.. haha

3. I am uber competitive - I don't like to lose, and I don't like having poor players on my team

4. I am still too embarassed to be seen knitting in public (bar stitch'n'bitch and that one day where I knitted in the common room at work).

5. I have a shoe addiction. I have about 60 pairs of shoes - some which I have never worn before

6. I like to sleep with my balcony door open - it gives me lovely fresh air in the morning.

7. I learnt italian, japanese and chinese as a child... and am hopeless at all of them

8. I have a phobia of fires. When I was in Year 8, my school campsite burnt down and bus caught on fire. Ever since, I always examine potential places where fires might start and plan an escape route at the start.

So many knits, so little time...

At dinner last night, the girls and I lamented at how we've forgone our nights of hitting the bars or pubs to days spent curled up in pj's in front of the tv or with a good book, and how we don't miss those bar nights at all. I suppose that's a side effect of the very busy lives that we all lead now - everyone with their full time jobs (no more uni student days!!); Jess, Shaz and I with our long distance / off shore partners; and just the grind of everyday life.


For me, time is a precious thing. I spend a lot of time not only working, but also completing my post-grad course, as well as travelling for work (which inevitably results in me being tired FROM travelling), i play team sports a few nights each week, and somewhere in between, I try to find the time to fly out to see the boy (or vice versa) and find time for myself.

And so, looking at my knitting pile and my list of "things i want to knit", I'm a little disheartened at my slow progress. Here's a look at what's on my WIPs list:

Vogue Knitting / Norah Gauhan Capecho
This is the famous Capecho which was knitted with so much passion by so many people, but I have yet to see a single capecho that isn't ill-fitting or weirdly shaped. I started this project a little later than some of the other KAL-ers, and so was able to see how they were progressing.


Unfortunately for me though, the sight of all these ill-fitting capechos meant that my own was put on hold - it's still a WIP because I'm not sure I want to frog it (that in itself will be painstaking as each hexagon will need to be unfrogged), and because I still have a wincy little bit of hope that it might turn out okay.
Silver's Sock Class - First Socks
I started this about a month ago, and i'm about to finish my first sock. It's a great little portable knit that I'm able to pick up and put down very easily, and I'm really looking forward to finishing this!
Phildar Swing Jacket


Ahh, the famous swing jacket. I started my first swing jacket at the start of the year, and like many others at the KAL, had to restart the project a few times. I think this is my fourth attempt, and my first with another yarn. Everything seems to be going well this time round - the texture is there, the knitting is even. It just takes a lot of work, but I'm still hoping to finish it by July in time for the cold months.

Stefanie Japel's Fitted Knits Leaf Cardigan


I only started this one a few weeks ago, and am almost done. I picked out a grey because it was the only wearable colour that was available in this little country town LYS that I resorted to while visiting the boy. I'm not sure how wearable the grey is given I love colours, but it's been an easy knit and I should be finished shortly.

And on other knitting news.. guess what i've treated myself to? A set of Denis Interchangeable needles. I picked these up for $AUD80 which I thought was reasonable, and I've tested one out and am amazed at how light and smooth they are! I bought these because so many projects now require circular needles and given that I haven't many, thought it was a much better investment.

ooooh a new book!

I got my second secretpal pressie today - the fabulous "Fitted Knits" book by Glampyre..
I've been eyeing this book since before I went to Nepal but kept putting it on hold because of a myriad of silly excuses.. but.. it's in my greedy lil hands and there's quite a few projects I want to make :
Thank you once again Secret Pal! =D It's fantastic that you're so attuned to what I like!

Despite my excitement over my new book, unfortunately (or fortunately) for me, my list of "wants" is piling up so fast I haven't made a single FO in recent times! One of my new years' resolution was to have only 3 WIPs. Oh I failed miserably. So, here's a new resolution : only start a new project when one of the ones on the right are done. Shouldnt be too bad right??

Anyways, I will be on site for the next few days. Unfortunately, when I travel for work, I dont tend to do any knitting whatsoever - super early starts and 6am flights out to remote site locations, then staying in accommodation dominated by a 90%-10% male to female ratio and then flights out after exhausting 12 hour days does not equal good knitting time... but not too worry, at least i'll have plenty to keep me occupied for the time to come!

Interweave Summer

Being in Australia, we often get our magazines later than those in America and in the UK. So, while they get the new Interweave magazine this coming week, it's likely that I will have to wait 2 weeks until it reaches Borders' Shelf.. and i can't wait!

What do I love?

In other new, I also placed an order for Rowan's Patti last Sunday night, and it is now Saturday and I still haven't received the order. You would think that given it is an "emailed pattern" it would've arrived, but when I enquired as to whether there was a problem with my payment or email, they simply said that it was a bank holiday on monday (fair enough), and that it will be processed shortly.

Not impressed with their service... but i still want my Patti !!

New years resolution achieved!

At the start of the year, I resolved to learn to knit on those scary looking double pointed needles... Since then , I had attempted to knit with them a few times and failed miserably. I didnt realise that you always alternated your working needle - instead i was knitting with one needle, and then thought that I had to divide the number of stitched up every single round.

I can hear you going "what was she thinking?" but the truth is - i didnt know any better!! :D So, tasked with what I thought was impossible and much too time consuming, I decided to bin it.

But alas, my secret pal came to the rescue with a lovely little sock knitting kit!! I started off with the mini traditional socks and learnt that no, you do not keep one working needle! and no, you dont divide up every single round! Enthused by my progress on the mini traditional socks, I ventured into knitting a "real" sock and here's my progress!!


For those that want to knit basic socks and need some instruction, i highly recommend Silver's Sock Class which provides fantastic photos and step by step instructions (at EVERY step). I know the above has a few issues (ie. uneven ribbing) but i'm proud to say that i can knit on dpns now! :) Thank you Secret Pal for helping me to achieve my new years' resolution!

On another project, this is my progress on Stefanie Japel's Leaf Cardi. :


It's not much at the moment, but well.. I love to take photos to have a record of how i'm going, and I love blogs with lots photos.

Interesting thing to note - see that little white string I've used as a "stitchmarker?". Well, in kalgoorlie, I was left to my own devices and scrummaged a bit to find something suitable as I didnt have my ring markers with me. The solution? Dental Floss.

haha. I wouldn't recommend it. It's a terrible stitchmarker!! =D ... well, one of us had to try it right?

Ode to television

Secret Pal 10 today asked us what our favourite thing to do while knitting was? Me? I'm easy. I like to knit while watching television .. it's that easy relaxing joyful thing to do where you get two things done at once!! *perfect*

However, given that I am on site on occasion, or travelling to some rural town to check out a minesite, or that I have things on after work three times a week, I rarely get the time to plonk myself in front of a tv at said time and watch it.

Nope. I must admit. I'm a little bit of a pirate. I ADORE my torrent websites. I make sure I build up my little tv collection for the week so that when the weekend comes and if I've got nothing on, then I indulge in a feast of drama episodes, lots of gluttony and lots of knitting.

On my list is Desperate Housewives (available Mondays), Prison Break (available Mondays), Grey's Anatomy (my utter favourite and available Fridays), One Tree Hill (available Thursdays), Heroes (available when Alvin passses it on to us) and whatever Korean Drama Series i'm watching at the moment.

I'm a tv whore. Making sure I get each of those episodes allows me 6 hours of fabulous tv drama, and 6 hours of bummy knitting.

And the best of all? When the characters on the tv show knits with you (although.. I dont really think that's going to happen with Prison Break).. ! It's like pseudo living in their world! *hangs head in shame*