UFO discovery

When people ask me "do you go to the gym", I often reply with a smile "I have plans..." knowing full well that somewhere in my mind, I have blocked out all thoughts about the $60 / month that is coming out of my credit card and I have only been twice in 2 months, and that while I'm on site for work , I get free membership to the gym.

I block these thoughts out because I don't want to feel guilty about the money i'm wasting, the food that i'm eating, and the general lazing around i've been well known for .

Today, when it started to pour outside, I woke up and couldnt get back to sleep so I decided to be a little bit resourceful and unpack one of the boxes that has been hiding in my craft room for some time (a box that I brought back with me on a recent trip to Perth). In it , I discovered several sweaters that I had forgotten (including my Phildar Swing Jacket and Patti Cardigan).

I also discovered a shoe box with some UFOs, including my first chocolate brown Lisette Cardigan, Thermal Sweater, as well as a stashed away Phildar tie up sweater I had only just started..

I don't even know where I'm up to for Thermal, or if I even still have the pattern but luckily it's freely available so *phew*


Regarding the phildar sweater.. I am ooooooohhhh sooooo close, but in my attempt at being "smart", I decided to pick up the neck band and knit rather than sew on a separate neck band. In my "smart" state however, I grossly undercalculated how many stitches I would need and the resultant neck band hardly ties up. In fact, it just bobbles.


So, in an effort to finish off some of the knits I've started, I'm hoping to take a leaf out of Christie's blog, and make it my two aims to finish these knits. Unlike her however, I won't be putting a timeframe on it.. hehehe i'm just "planning" to do it ;)


And finally.. here's a progress shot on the Millefiori Cardigan. It's been very quick going.. only two sleeves and some finishing to go. Hopefully i'll end up with something finished ;)

Phildar Swing Jacket

It's finally finished! Before I post, PLEASE forgive the mess that I sometimes refer to as my bedroom, and err please forgive my bathroom/self-portrait taking photos.


Project Details

Pattern: Phildar Swing Jacket from Phildar

Yarn: I used New Zealand Naturally in 10ply , in a light grey colour.

The actual yarn is fairly rough in both a finished form and while still on the hank. It came very smelly and very "fresh from the sheep", and I actually dreaded the smell every time I opened my little project bag for this little jacket. After blocking however, the smell has somewhat subdued and only re-ignites itself when it gets wet (as with many yarns).

I wouldn't normally pick this yarn for a sweater or any project for that matter, but I needed a little bit of structure, and the yarn's rough/raw-ness ended up perfect for this project.

I managed to get gauge with this yarn, and I used approximately 3.5 hanks in total (200 grams per hank) with about half a hank left over. The yarn was fairly cheap, and the overall cost of yarn ended up at approximately $58.

For the inside pockets, I used some stash yarn that happened to be a perfect match for the lilac trimming. It was acrylic Panda Magnum 5ply.


Needles
4.5mm - I used a circular needle for the back as it was quite a heavy project, but the majority was worked on straights. For the pockets, I ended up using 3.25 mm straights.

Comments
As I have alluded to recently, this project caused me quite a bit of heartache. At first, it was because my yarn just wasn't producing the right structure fabric so I had to restart the project using the Naturally 10 ply. Following that, I had a few sizing issues, but in the end it worked out fine.


I knitted the smallest size (34 in French sizing), and it turned out a nice fit. As it is a swing jacket, it's a little bit loosish around the waist, but I like the flippy-outedness of the finished object.

The pattern itself wasn't the easiest to work with. Although the french to english translation is quite spot on, I found myself knitting 10 rows before the pattern actually said "at the same time" to which I then had to frog back 10 rows and redo the section. If anyone is planning to knit it, I recommend reading at least two paragraphs ahead just to make sure you don't encounter the same issues.

Once I had knitted it up, the biggest challenge was to find buttons and trimming to go. Boy did that take awhile. I ended up using quilter's satin trim, and had to recut what I bought so that it was perfectly sized for my jacket.


With regards to the buttons, I had absolutely no luck finding the right buttons even after 1 month of trawling. So, I ended up making my own buttons. It was my first go at polymer clay so it was a dodgy result, but my significant other says it adds to the charm and cuteness of the overall jacket. The buttons are not functional but rather, there for decorative purposes. The jacket does up with snaps.


My end comment? I'm very pleased with it, and if I were to put in an extra 6 months or so, I would reknit this in a charcoal colour with silver trimming. All in all, a nice little jacket that I wore out today and quite loved.

6 months, 4 tries and lots of heartache later..

I am so pleased to say that I have finished my Phildar Swing Jacket!! Unfortunately, there isn't much natural light at the moment, so pictures will have to wait till maybe the weekend. But I must admit (without too much big headedness) that I think it looks adorable and I'm very pleased with the results. More on that later! Stay tuned!

Crafters become even more crafty

When I first laid eyes on the Phildar Swing Jacket, I fell in love. I have many little jackets like the Phildar one in my wardrobe - my cute little checked one, my little black one, and my little brown tweedy one. But I didn't yet have a pretty light grey/lilac one. And so I started to knit.. and knit.. and knit.

That was about 7 months ago that I started. And it's still not finished. This jacket, while lovely, has given me a whole lot of heartache. Not only was my first yarn choice too floppy (got gauge though!), my second try ended up all mis-sized.... and now, my third try.


Well, the knitting was actually quite fun. I loved the little stitch pattern and the slip/knit pattern kept me from the total boredom that is stockinette. So, about one month ago, i finished the knitting and prompty ran out to look for buttons and for bias binding.

One month later and many mismatched button purchases later, I've decided to be more crafty and make my own buttons from clay. I've done the basic shape, and now am waiting for them to dry and tomorrow I'll paint and varnish them. Here's hoping! (and don't look too closely, the buttons are a bit dodgily shaped!!)


I've also basically finished the broadstreet mittens for my SO. Unfortunately, the actual glove part is with him in Kalgoorlie, and the fliptop part is with me. Why? Because he wanted to keep his hands warm while driving to work so I let him keep the actual glove part which I finished when i was in Kalgoorlie.. but the fliptop is with me. So, a little sewing and they're done. *voila*


.. and yes, they ARE garfield pj's haha.

The boy with the sweet intentions

There are certain qualities in guys that I love - besides the British accent which I alluded to in my meme post (and which unfortunately my dear significant other doesn't have), I also love a guy who can dance (bonus points to my boy there) and a guy who puts lots of thought into being creative about presents for a girl (lotsa points there for my bf).

The other day, a good friend of mine was looking for something to get his girlfriend's birthday, and came up with the sweet idea of knitting her a scarf. Now, my friend is a big bloke - 2 metres tall and very well built. He is not what people would imagine a knitter to look like. But yesterday, armed with a little bit of shyness and a little bit of hesitation, we headed out to the LYS and he fondled all the wool and fell in love with beautiful silk/cashmere blends (yes, the boy has fantastic taste) but in the end, with the birthday looming in just 7 days, we decided on a bulky yarn to be knit on 10mm needles.

After 15 minutes of teaching him the knit stitch, he's got it downpat. I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished product (which I will , because I haven't taught him how to cast off yet, so will need to do that) and seeing Michelle's reaction to the gesture. Even if the scarf doesn't turn out perfect, the thought and effort he's gone through to learn the technique and devote hours per day is enough for a big hug and kiss!

In my knitting world, I've been inundated with work and assignments (2 down, 1 left to go for the semester) but have managed to score a little me time over this long weekend in between friends' birthday and teaching friends to knit..



I have made some progress on the Phildar Swing Jacket, of which the first sleeve is almost done. I just realized this has probably been one of the longest WIP i've ever had - with almost 6 months devoted to the project!

In anticipation of finishing, I also picked up some bias binding for the edging. I was thinking of going mature and natural with the dark grey binding or taking inspiration from the girlie parisian original model and going with the lilac colour.. Oooh decisions decisions! =D

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!

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!

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!

Phildar Swing Jacket

Ever since I received my Phildar catalogues, I have been lusting over about 10 of the knits in the catalogues (*must wait till i finish other projects first!*). But one of the things that I just *cannot* stop lusting over is the Phildar Swing Jacket for which I have also joined their KAL.


My initial intention was to do the swing jacket in a lovely cream with either a pale yellow or pale purple bias trim.... when I got my bendigo wool in "aran" colour, my initial reaction was *EEK - that won't work*.. but after swatching, i've come to love it. It doesnt have the same effect as if I had used a wool with bits of rustic other colours in it, but I love the clean creamy colour and so, have decided to keep going.






I have cast on and knitted a little bit, but I know this is definitely one project that is going to take a long time to do.. lucky for me, Winter isn't for another 6-8 months !! Yayyy.




On other project news, Jess is dry but I dont have any buttons for her yet so am going to hold off on the "finished object" post until I've done the buttons. :D