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!*

Sock it to the teevee

With the advent of new series TV, I had thought that my knitting progress would skyrocket through the roof and I'd be pumping out FO after FO.

That has unfortunately not been the case. With all season premieres is that niggling feeling of "what happens now!!". I sat and gaped at the whole George and Issie, Meredith and McDreamy saga on Grey's Anatomy, wondered aloud and giggled at the secrets being kept by the Desperate Housewives, and smirked and delighted in the return of the fabulous Dr. Gregory House... but no knitting. Nope, I was much too interested in what was happening in my pseudo hospital/wisteria lane life that I failed to focus on what was happening in real life.

Despite this however, I have made a little bit of progress on my second pair of socks. Using Silver's Sock Class pattern again (yes, it's FABULOUS for n00bs), I managed to finish one whole sock. It was actually the perfect knitting project for my intense tv watching - what with it being small, portable and full of stockinette! Here's a progress shot:



The yarn that I'm using is Four Seasons Gründl Hot Socks Multi Jacquard which my SP10 got for me, and I must say that it has been an absolute pleasure working with this yarn. The fabric produced is super warm and mildly thick, but still lightweight enough to not feel like you're wearing a pair of grown up booties. One sock down, one more to go (let's hope I don't get a severe bout of one sock syndrome!)

Besides sock knitting progress, I have completely frogged my WIP Julia sweater. I actually got all the way up to the armhole shaping before deciding that living in the city and working in the mines did not exactly equate well with the lifestyle that is so beautifully portrayed by the RYC Classic Summer English model-on-a-happy-swing-set in the book. Plus, as I have previously eluded to, I was starting to feel that the lacy pattern was a little too "old" for my liking - more frumpy than romantic swingie goodness...

Given that Julia's been frogged, I have now opened up a slot in my sweater WIPs quota! Unfortunately (or fortunately!), I have a rather long ravelry queue and can't for the life of me prioritise what I want to knit. Ohhhhh.. decision making - something that my significant other can surely attest as one skill i don't have :)

What a package!

Today is a public holiday here in Perth. We're supposed to be celebrating the Queen's Birthday, but to be honest, I've noticed the Queen seems to have various birthdays in EVERY single state and country she presides over and so, I've never actually gone out to celebrate it, except for that jump of joy I do each Friday before the long weekend... but how awesome would it be to have a birthday any day of the week?! Well.. it sure feels like I just did today!



While I was lounging around in bed resting my poor unhealed ankle and contemplating doing a bucketload of washing, my dad called to say there was a package with Chocolate in it waiting for me.. He had read the contents statement on the outside of the parcel, but I was still a bit confused because I hadn't ordered any chocolate and only thought that perhaps some special secret admirer had sent it to me with high hopes of wooing me.. Well, not quite.. but some would say it was an even better non-birthday gift!!

Here's what my fabulous Secret Pal 11 got me (turn your eyes away if you're subject to envy!):

(the whole kaboodle!)

I have always wanted to try KnitPicks since it's not available here in Perth. And I'm so envious that the US have such fabulous yarn at great prices. Sure, we have Bendis, but they seem to have much more of a colour/yarn type selection than us!!

And *drool* i LOVE the colourway of the Memories yarn (above). Reminds me of Autumn.

A copy of Knitscene where I have been eyeing some of the sweaters.. a delightful little notebook (ooh my brother's gf is going to be jealous of the monkies) and a cute little card

Oooh la la... chocolate chocolate and more chocolate (and fondue!!). My poor skin is going to hate me.. but my tummy is going to LOVE me!

Sew-in labels! I'm so excited I want to knit for the whole world!!!

Oh and I also got some lovely soap from Maryland, but it was hard to photograph because it was in its packet.. but smells scrumptious.

Thanks so super much Secret Pal! =D

WIP: Rambling Rose

Thank you for the help/comments left about my yarn winding problem. I have stuck some clay on my winder hoping it will airdry and make my thin wiry loopy thing stay up. I'm still waiting for it to dry, but fingers crossed!

I had hoped to finish Rambling Rose this weekend, but was sidetracked because my boyfriend came up for the weekend and we went off to see the fabulousssss Snow Patrol concert (Gosh, I love those irish boys!).

I did however manage to sneak in a little knitting and am pleased to say that rambling rose is .. well.. err.. rambling along (haha yes terrible wasn't it?). I have knitted up all the pieces, and am now doing the button bands, roses, and finishing.

I haven't really enjoyed the process of making Rambling Rose so far, in part because it hasn't been the most exciting knitting pattern, and in part because of the yarn. As I have eluded to previously, rambling rose is a whole lot of 1x1 ribbing (15cm worth to be precise), awhole lot of stockinette and a tiny bit of rambling and rosing.

(I couldn't find my pins, so am using scrapbooking pegs to mark my button placements. Cute huh?)

The only other issue I had is with the yarn. Admittedly, I decided to go for a 5ply yarn simply because I didn't like the colour choices that were available in the 4ply cotton at the time.. but I may be regretting it. The yarn itself is from Bendigo Woollen Mills, and I must admit, the crepe construction leaves me a bit wanting.

I don't enjoy knitting with the crepe yarn, and I dont actually think it knits up as nicely as plied yarn. BUt that might just be my imagination. I also wind yarn strangely on my fingers, and the crepe has a tendency to become un-creped, a problem that I don't usually have with plied yarn.

But.. what's done is done, so i'm going to have to forge ahead with the yarn and see how it goes at the end.. which is of course, oh so close!

Help with zee yarn ball winder!!

*sigh*. I am hoping that someone can help me. Awhile ago, I picked up a Royal Yarn Ball Winder off ebay. It came without instructions, boxes, any of that doo-da. In the months that i've had it, I was blinded by my love for "owning a yarn winder" so much that I neglected to notice that my balls were not coming out as cakes.

I've done some research and some people have been able to fix this problem by adjusting their tension and winding it less tight. Unfortunately for me, I just ended up with a GIGANTIC mess that overtook the space for 50gm balls I am able to make and then got all knotted up on the base.

So, I am hoping someone might be able to help me diagnose my problem?? Could it be because I don't currently use a swift ? Or is there something wrong with my yarn winder? I should note that the little skinny loopy thing (gee I'm technical aren't I) doesn't stay still. It bobs from side to side as I wind - could this be an issue?

I'm about to throw it all out and buy a brand new swift + winder set, but before I do that, maybe someone can help?? *Please*

Vintage bedjackets

I bought a little vintage bed jackets pattern book the other day, and I am adoring some of these little vintage numbers. I think they're *much* too pretty to wear to bed - i'd definitely wear them out (in the right colour and yarn of course!).





(maybe not the last one so much - i love capes, but there's something a bit strange about this one. Maybe shorter and I'd wear it. Long like that and i'll look a bit freakish I think)

Socks Part II

Maybe it's the fact that I'm on crutches at the moment and all I'm doing is concentrating on my feet. Maybe it's the fact that my trusty "first socks" were the only pair of really colourful socks that I had in my wardrobe, that were actually suitable for hobbling around in my office (except of course, that nice pair of Little Miss Naughty socks I have). Or maybe it's the fact that knitting two sweaters (one which is predominantly stockinette) on fingering weight yarn is neither fun nor fast.


But, I've had to start myself another sock. Yes, after the "first sock encounter" I had vowed never to knit a pair again. Done, ticked, moving on was my mantra. But, my fabulous Secret Pal 10 had bought me one more skein of sock yarn, so it was a perfect way to start something from my stash without needing to go to the LYS (not convenient when on crutches).

I've started them on Hot Socks Four Season Jacquard yarn, on 3.25mm dpns. I'm still refusing to be a "sock knitter" just because I never found it practical to put so much effort and time into something so basic and so available, so it'll be a project on the side ;)

Also, I've finished the body part of my Rambling Rose Cardi and only have two sleeves, and the finishing to do. I'm hoping we'll have an FO by next week ;) *woot*

Klumsy Klutz

I am what people often call a "klumsy klutz". I have a tendency to fall down when i'm just standing up straight, I have a tendency to fall both up and down the flight of stairs in my house.. I have a tendency to walk with my boyfriend and then stack it only to be "saved" because I was holding his hand.

Right now, I'm at home in bed because I sprained my ankle really badly last night at netball. I had sprained my ankle before but it was never this sore or this swollen, or this debilitating. I had always been able to get up, hobble out of bed and get to work. But not this time. :( I can hardly move my ankle even when I'm sleeping without it hurting!!

So, i'm working from home today.

In knitting news, I am itching for a new project. Julia and Rambling Rose are still coming along, but knitting with fingering weight yarn is going uber slowly. There are no pretty 'progress' photos to show because progress on fingering weight is only 2 inches a day!! So.. looking at some of the other projects available, I have a keen eye for :

Juliet from ZephyrStyle:

Drops GarnStudio Sweater:

I was considering knitting both of them in Mystique Express 16ply which is currently on sale for $12.00 instead of $16.00 a ball!

Oh, and I'm not usually a sock knitter, but I absolutely adore these!!

Anyways, besides working from home today, I am off to hire my crutches. I don't want to be bed-bound for the next week or so, so crutches is a definite must for someone as active as me :) Have a great day :)

Rambling Rose Progress

I was looking over the past few posts and noticed that there wasn't actually anything on *my* knitting, only things on books and magazines and more drool worthy knits. So , just a little progress shot on Rambling Rose Cardigan by Martin Storey (Rowan #39).

I confess, I bought this particular Rowan magazine just for the Rambling Rose Cardigan. I figured the cost of buying the magazine just for one cardigan would even out if I made say... 3 of these cardigans. Afterall , this particular cardigan reminds me very much of one of my favourite designers, Alannah Hill - very whimsical, very girly, and very lovely.

Unfortunately, I don't think that justification is going to come (but we are still in early stages). I have completed the back, and am now about 1/3 through the front left where the roses will go. And I must admit, I hate bobbles. I think they will definitely add a touch to the cardigan, but actually making the bobbles is driving me insane - all those k,p,k,p,k into one stitch and then back again. It's not very fun :(

But anyways, above is a progress shot of where i'm at. The vine and edging is a bit knobbly, but i'm hoping when I attach the button band it'll fix itself. Anyways, not much else being knitted at the moment - these knits requiring small gauges are taking their sweet time.

Veronik Avery's New Book

Have you guys seen Veronik Avery's new book titled "Knitting Classic Style: 35 Modern Designs Inspired by Fashion Archives" ? It's got some fabulously classic knits which I am looking forward to knitting. A few of my favourites:

Anyways, my workplace did a "Speed Dating" team building night where we went out for a beautiful degustation meal and each time the meal changed, we had to swap seats. It was a great way to get to know the people in my office - people I don't usually work with, or have much to do with. The most daunting time was having to sit through 30 minutes with my CEO !!

But anyways, as part of the night, we had some prizes for "most humourist date" "ultimate date" "most intriguing date" and "most well mannered date".

I won the Most Well Mannered Date. To be honest, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. Sure, its good to be polite and well mannered, but is 'well mannered' also code word for "boring but polite.. has nothing to say.. too quiet but nice anyways" ? *thinks hard*

Anyways, besides the great company and great food, I did manage to win something to take home. My prize for being the most well mannered was a gift voucher to Borders, so I'm looking forward to stocking up on some new things! What to buy?

New jobs and new experiences

I don't really have any exciting knitting news, but I do have some news which is at least exciting for me! After about 2 months of lots of stress, I have been offered two new jobs plus a counteroffer/opportunity within my own organisation to take a transfer.

Company 1 offered me a Perth based role, with the opportunity to visit sites as required. The package was not so great, so I turned it down.

Company 2 offered my a Fly In / Fly Out role, with the opportunity to rotate sites if I don't like where I am. The package was FANTASTIC to say the least, and at this stage, the one I am likely to tick off on.

Company 3 (mine) offered to transfer me to the same town as my significant other, with the opportunity to fly back to Perth fully paid as often as required. Very tempting and the subject of some serious thought but I think company 2 might just pip the post.

I'm awfully excited because it will mean I will eventually get to work on site (some might go 'why on earth would you do that') , and it will also mean that with all offers, I have the opportunity to spend more time with my significant other. At this point in both our careers and lives, I think that's just what we need.

Anyways, the news is probably only very exciting to me, but I thought i'd share anyways.

On the knitting front, Rambling Rose is coming along nicely. I have finished the back and am starting the left front where the roses will be. The product so far however does not make for exciting photography - 15cm of 1x1 ribbing and all stockinette. So, when I have something more exciting, I'll put them up.