A postcard from Brussels

I love travelling and exploring and being immersed in another culture. If I had all the money in the world, and no responsibilities, I'd spend my time travelling and learning all about the different cultures of the world. Unfortunately for my travel ambitions, neither is the case for me, so until I get to that point, I must vicariously live through other people's travels.

This time, it's my secret pal who sent me this postcard all the way from Brussels:

I plan to visit Europe very shortly but until then, I love seeing the world through other's eyes. Thanks Secret Pal :)

On another note, I was thinking of knitting harvey from Rowan Studio 1, but the only picture I have is one in which Harvey is belted. Would this be completely shapeless, or does anyone know of any finished objects or other piccies I can have a look at?

New Knit 1

I'm not usually a fan of the Knit.1 stuff, but I'm quite looking forward to the next edition. I wasn't ever really a fan of their fluffy novelty yarn knits, weird graphic places, and sometimes the odd "trying to be too cool" garment. However, the latest preview of Knit.1 is looking very promising! Here's a sneak peak.

Oooh , I love greys (my bf says it's a bit boring) but I am totally loving the first and possibly the second one in this picture:

Number 2 and 3 look interesting - I'd probably do the middle one in different colours but it looks quite mod, which is a look that I really love.

And I'd definitely wear all three :

Also, I went to Borders today and saw that they had the new Interweave Knits mag in stock. I had previously been looking forward to this but alas, in person it just didn't look that great :( So, I left empty handed. Fingers crossed that I don't see a beautiful FO somewhere in blogland or ravelryland which will inspire me to knit something, only to find out the issue is sold out.. !!

Age and knitting

There are some patterns that I just look at and go "ooh too old for me" and then swiftly put them away. This is not one of them. There is afterall, a difference between a vintage looking sweater (which I originally thought Julia could become - vintagey and romantic) and then there is "old".


You see, I have made some progress on Martin Storey's Julia Sweater (as above) and while the little leaf lace type pattern has been very interesting to knit, I'm getting a little unsure about the overall look of the pattern, and whether a sweater made completely of little leaf lace types would look too old for me ? As I continue to knit, I'm feeling more and more aged, more and more older... and less and less romantic and vintage.

Always up for a second opinion, I put my knitting out in front of my bf (who has the pleasure of looking at my little knitting progress on his weeks back here) and asked "does this look like a granny sweater??" and he smiled not so politely (more like a cackled grin) and then told me "it looks like something my grandma would make".

A little disheartened, I put it aside... but something in me is ticking. It's telling me to continue knitting ... I did afterall, like the original sweater so there must be some light at the end of the tunnel! Right?! Right?!

Oh, and I didn't manage to finish my assignment in time. I am not sure if I'm writing too much, but it's ballooned to a 50 page assignment so far ..!? Anyways, I've got three more 3 case studies to examine , and I'll be glad to be able to do some more relaxing things!!

Broad Street Mittens

There's something nice about knitting and gifting for someone. When my boyfriend asked me to knit him a pair of "glittens", I was at first hesitant. Not because I didn't want to make them for him, but because my dpn skill was limited to that one pair of socks that I knitted. However, it's not every day that he specifically requests something, so I set off with the task of knitting his glittens for him.

Unfortunately, winter officially ends in two weeks, but he has managed to get some wear out of them when they were still in its "knucks" stage. Unfortunately for the glitten, his rough hands got the better of the soft merino wool and pilled it somewhat. But anyways, here is the finished object.

Project Details

Pattern: The pattern is Broad Street Mittens, by Janis Cortese and published in Knitty's Fall 2002 issue.l

Yarn: I used 1 ball of Heirloom Argyle in a dark chocolate brown, and 1 ball of Naturally Haven 4 ply in an Olive Green colour. Both are fingering weight yarn and both are a pleasure to knit with. The Argyle is a wool yarn, while the Haven is a merino yarn.

Needles: I used a set of 5 dpns in sizes US 2/2.75mm and US 3/3.25mm.

Comments and Modifications: I knitted the first glitten as per the pattern and found that it was way too big. After a quick search online, I also discovered others had the same problem, so I ended up increasing about 1/4 of the stitches called for.

The pattern is only written with one hand in mind, and asks that you reverse all shaping for the other side. Not that difficult really, but it'd be nice if they had given a pattern for both sides.

The only other modification I made was rather than picking up the stitches and knitting the shell, I knit the shell separately and then stitched it on. I did this more out of necessity, as my boyfriend lives 6 hours away and I had left the "knucks" with him so wasn't able to pick up stitches. I just cast on however many stitches the pattern asked to pick up and knitted it much the same.

All in all, I had a few annoying moments with this pattern and almost gave up and switched to using Magknit's pattern but the fact that I couldnt find the same colours in a different weight yarn made me stick with the Knitty version.

I personally don't think I'd knit this pattern again. It just wasn't fun.

My boyfriend on the other hand loves his mittens, and although they are a little worse for wear at the moment, it at least shows me he wears them!

Yarn and tiny knitting

I'm not much of a stasher. In fact, knitters may look at my little shelf and wonder whether I even knit. There's a few packets of yarn where the selected yarn wasn't successful in its desired project, and a few oddballs, but besides that, I don't really stash.

In fact, I often only buy yarn when I need to. When I finished Patti, I had nothing to knit. I was itching to go to my SnB on Monday night, but without anything in my hands, I felt a bit useless.

Anyways, it has since arrived, and I can start knitting again!

[ Cranberry coloured yarn from Rambling Rose, Rowan 39]

While I usually knit projects on at least DK weight, my next two projects are all in finger weight yarn so it'll be interesting ;) I can already see the menace that 15cm of 1x1 ribbing will do on my hands. Regardless, I'm excited because I think the next two projects will be dreamy romantic types!

[ Bendigo Woollen Mills Baby Wool 4ply in Lilac for Julia sweater below]

[ Julia Sweater from Rowan Classic Summer]

In other news, I'm feeling better but I definitely don't sound better or look any better. I do however, have the snuffles but given that the weekend is so precious, I'm not going to resign myself to bed. I'm off to Ikea and Lunch with my bestie, and hope you have a great day ;)

Coming down with something...

I know that a lot of knitters actually enjoy getting sick, because it means they can stay in their snuggly bed, tissues on one side, needles in hand and pattern on bed and just knit knit knit for hours on end undisturbed and feeling unguilty.

I have to admit, i've been tempted every now and then to call in sick just so I can finish that little pattern i'm working on that is oh so close!

Well, I'm coming down with something. The watery eyes, the crooked throat, the sluggish energy. Sigh. I suppose it's about time I came down with something since I haven't been sick this year (well, let's not count that bout in hospital.. that was an infection not an illness haha).

While I would've felt a little better knowing that I could spend the next few days in bed knitting, unfortunately I can't. I'm going underground the next two days for work so I won't be able to. Instead, I'm likely to get more sick because of the humidity and the constant travel between airports and several hour drives between locations.

How fun.

So anyways, thought I'd let you know I'm likely to be out of action for awhile because of this. Have fun in the meantime =D

Rowan Studio's Patti Cardigan

Project Details

Pattern: Patti, from Rowan Studio 1 - designed by Sarah Hatton.

Yarn: 8 balls of Rowan Felted Tweed, in Watery 152 which is a greeny blue sort of colour (almost teal). My fabulous bf had the yarn shipped from cucumberpatch for me. *hugs*

The actual knitted item took about 7.5 balls of the felted tweed, but I ended up using all but about 10m of it for seaming. I seamed a million times simply because the end result was a bit too big so I had to keep readjusting. Oh, and the yarn was quite brittle - as I was seaming, it would snap so I had to restart the seam. It didnt snap during my knitting, but I felt as if it would any minute!!

It was also the first time I used the yarn and as I have mentioned previously, I wasn't impressed with it on first touch. However, when knitted, it produced a beautifully light tweedy fabric, and I guess that's why everyone loves it so much!

Needles: I used my Denise needles, on a US 6 / 4.0mm for the main part, and a US 3 / 3.25mm straight needles for the garter stitch and pickups.

Comments and modifications: The actual knitting was quite straightforward and very easy. I did however, pick up one error but I think it was quite minor because I can't actually remember what that error is now! The knitting only requires garter stitch and stockinette. Nothing major, and very easy for the beginner if they choose.

While I enjoyed knitting this, my problems began when I had finished the knitting part.

The armholes were massive, so when I seamed my sweater, I had to take it in about 6 stitches from the edge of the armhole. My actual sleeves were also massive, and I ended up taking those in at about 6 stitches from each edge.

Additionally, as mentioned before, the pleats seemed to fling everywhere and while I did attempt to sew them down, I wasn't really happy with the end result. In the end, I blocked the pleats while sewn, and then ripped out the tacked stitches. My pleats are now free and they're okay at the moment. Just not sure if they will continue to behave.

All in all, I think that while the small is meant for 32-34, it is probably better suited for a 34 and 32's should consider amending it a little

The only other thing I have to fix is my third button , which I sewed on crookedly. But it's done :) Onto the next thing - which I'm not sure what it will be just yet!

Tweedy goodness makes me happy

I've always hated garter stitch. The mundaneness of doing a never ending knit stitch, the resulting fabric texture that's made, and the fact that it seems to take double the time of doing a normal stockinette stitch. Anything with garter? Pass please!

But that was all before tweed came along. I've never knitted anything in a tweed yarn before, but as I have been progressing along with Patti, my love for tweedy garter stitch has developed. It's something about the texture of tweed that makes the garter stitch so much more exciting, it's something about the way the little slubs pop up and give character and life to the stitches, and it's something about the quirkiness of knitting with unexpected slubs and the perfection of straight stitches that garter stitch demands.

Oh i love thee!



But back onto Patti - she's almost done. I have done most of the finishing, and just have to weave in the ends and solve my "what to do" problem with the pleats.

You see, the pleats don't behave. They're unruly, they're wild, and they never went to sit in the spot you gave them. They're almost like those two naughty kids in primary school that always had to be separated, but they'd always find a way to wreak havoc on class.. but i digress.

I have looked at some other finished Pattis and seen that people have sewn them down, have decided to block it every time they want to wear it (this is not one of my options. I'm far too lazy for that), and have put in little catches here and there.

So anyways, i'll have a play, and hopefully there will be an official FO post shortly :D

Secret Pal 11 Questionnaire

SECRET PAL 11 QUESTIONNAIRE

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

I love to knit with blends - cashmere, merino, angora and silk blends. As with many others, I don't like acrylic as it is too rough on my hands and uncomfortable to wear, and I don't like any novelty yarns. If we have to talk actual names, I love the Rowan RYC range, and the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino range.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

For my straights, I keep them in these ceramic cylinder vase type things that my SP10 got me.
My Denises are kept in its case, and my circulars are kept in a needle roll that I made.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I have been knitting for about 18 months now. I learnt mainly from books and websites. I think of myself as an intermediate knitter -I can cable, I can shape, seam, read charts and knit with dpns.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

Sure do! I have a wist, and an Amazon wish list

5. What's your favorite scent?

I love fruity fresh smells and my perfumes currently include things like Ralph Lauren Ralph, YSL Babydoll, Ralph Lauren Romance, Ralph Lauren Blue , and I also love DKNY Delicious and Britney's Curious...Other smells I love include the smell of fresh bread, and I love the creaminess of vanilla.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

Certainly! I love chocolates - especially chocolates with hazelnuts, I love truffles, and I love those japanese chewing gums, pocky, and hello pands! I love dark chocolate, but no white chocolate thanks!

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

I also sew - but not too often, and not particularly well.. ! I am also just learning to craft with polymer clay.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

My current favourites include Snow Patrol, The Fray, Cold Play and Keane - that sort of music. My computer can play MP3s, but my car can only play normal CDs. And I have a Creative Zen Micro so I can play mp3s on that too.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?

I love all things cheerful - so pastels, and bright colours such as turquoise, fuschia, greens... I also love a lot of neutrals such as olives and grey.. Im not too big a fan of browns, oranges and yellows..

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

My partner lives 6 hours away and I have one brother, one sister (both younger) and my dad. No pets.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

I do! I love scarves and mittens .. Unfortunately, as much as i love hats and beanies, I look ridiculous in them .. and ponchos often swamp me :(

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

I like to knit sweaters and cardis - things that are functional and I can incorporate into my wardrobe easily.

13. What are you knitting right now?

I have just ordered yarn for Rowan's Lisette, Rowan's Rambling Rose, and Martin Storey's Julia sweater.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

I do - but they need to be animal and smoke free :)

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

I'm a straight knitter - and I prefer bamboos from size 3.25mm up , and aluminium or metal if they're smaller (I tend to break my bamboos and plastic ones otherwise!)

However, since buying my Denise set, I have been moving towards circulars!

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

Yes to the first, no to the swift.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

Norah Gaughan's Capecho. I can't bear to frog it. It's about 6 months old.

18. What is your favorite holiday?

I like adventure holidays where I get to do things and immerse myself in another culture. I trekked out to Everest Base Camp in Nepal in March-April of this year and had a blast. I'm planning my next adventure and it looks like it will be to Vietnam and China at the end of this year.

19. Is there anything that you collect?

Nope.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

I am dying to get my hands on some of the Kim Hargreaves patterns which are currently Kit-only but where I only want the pattern. Patterns such as Maggie, Carrie, Marigold, Bea, and Violet

Patterns - I would also love to get my hands on the pattern for knitted dress from Vogue SS07, and the Central Park Hoodie.

Books on my wishlist can be found at my amazon list

Needles - I would like some addi turbos - currently my circulars are bamboo and I'm not particularly fond of bamboo for circulars..

Yarns - I would like to try yarns not available here in Australia. Things knitpicks, some of the rowan range, cascade yarns, etc.

I don't currently have any magazine subscriptions but I do read and buy on a regular basis Phildar, Vogue Knitting and Interweave.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

Not really, but there are some nice crochet patterns out there and I can't crochet at all.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

I have knitted one pair thanks to my SP10!!

23. When is your birthday?

8th December

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?

Klement

Fall Knitting and new patterns

I (as with many other knit bloggers - i shall call them...hmmm knoggers?? or maybe not teehee) have been eagerly anticipating the new fall collections from Interweave Knits and Vogue Knitting (ESPECIALL vogue knitting as it seems like forever since they put out an issue).

Interweave
Anyways, I am very pleased with what Interweave Knits has put out. I am a huge fan of knitted dressses, and I love that they have catered to my desire to be knitting such functional little pieces (very good for day to night wear!!). Amongst some of the other items I love are:

(red knitted dress minus cowl neck - have never found them flattering)

Vogue Knitting
Onto vogue knitting.. I have just realized I have not bought a knitting magazine since the famousNorah Gaughan capecho cover came out !! But anyways, I was incredibly excited about their 25th Anniversary edition, but the online preview is... meh .. to say the least. While I am in love with several of the free patterns coming out of this issue (for example):

I am however disappointed with the 80s revival that seems to have overtaken their preview. Can we say "EEK"?

But, I won't judge yet. Apparently the issue has "over sixty styles" so I'll judge when it hits the shelves at Borders.

Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Collection
In other news, I also received my copy of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Collection the other day, and am very pleased with my purchase. A couple of lustworthy knits:

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 cutest puppy in the world

I have been knitting - I promise.. But in between flying here and there and work, I haven't been able to take time to take photos of anything to show..

But... on non-knitting news, I just had to share some cuteness with you. Can someone please fly to Japan and steal me one of these?


Pleaseeeeeeeee pretty please?


He's adorable!!

Decisions Decisions

I have a 7 hour train ride tomorrow and for the last hour or so I have been faced with the dilemma of what to pack. I'm only going away for the weekend, and flying back on Sunday night, but I've packed two pairs of jeans, 2 cardigans, three tops, pjs, shoes and knickers. That seems rather sensible doesn't it.

But as with all knitters, how much knitting does one pack? Given my 7 hour train ride, I figured that I'd be able to get quite a bit of knitting done. So, I've packed the broadstreet mittens in my carry bag (only bringing one bag - i'm not that bad!!), and i've also packed some supplies for Patti.

I reckon I could get my second broadstreet mitten done by the time I reach my destination, but then I'll have time over the next two days to knit. Will three balls of felted tweed (almost 600m) suffice for the two days? Or is it too little?

I once brought one skein of bendigo rustic for my weekend, and having finished my one skein on the first day, was left with little knitting for the rest of my trip. The other time, I didnt have enough, and ended up at the LYS (very very limited range) and bought 10 skeins for a brand new project (don't want to do that again!!).

So... how does one decide how much knitting to bring? Will three balls of felted tweed for Patti be enough???

Winter warmies and new projects

I've been a little slack with my posting of late , and I am unashamed to admit that the main reason has been due to Ravelry. I've been spending hours scouring through everyone's lovely stashes, projects, and coming up with a queue twice as long as the great wall of china !

Life has taken a bit of a different sphere at the moment. With decisions to make, and jobs to hunt for, it's been a little bit stressful to say the least.

Enter knitting.

Knitting has always been about "me" time.While Saturdays are about fitting in sports, catching up with friends, househunting and all the other necessary weekend things one has to do, and Sundays about winding down and getting to bed early for work the next day... Fridays are my one day of crazy knitting. I come home from work, have dinner with my family, and plop myself on the couch or in bed, prop up a great dvd or tv show of some sort and knit until the wee hours of the morning. Gosh, i heart Fridays!


Anyways, yesterday i came home to a lovely little welcome! My significant spoilt me with 8 skeins of Rowan Felted Tweed in Watery 152 so that I could start on the gorgeous little Patti Cardigan (go over to Knit Annie and see her version! I love it without the collar!).

So, I've cast on and done a few rows.


This is my first time working with Felted Tweed. I have to admit that at first, I wasn't impressed by the acrylicy feel of the yarn itself. However, knit up, it makes the most softest, nubbly, wonderful fabric. The stitch definition is just right, and my only gripe is that being made of 25% alpaca, it sheds a fair bit.

My other project that I've started is Knitty's Broad Street Mittens for my bf. I'm doing it in Heirloom Argyle in Brown, and Naturally Haven 100% Merino in a lovely olive colour. It's been awhile since I gifted my knitting but I'm hoping to finish it by Friday before I head over to KGI to see him.


Anyways, I'm off to high tea with my girlfriends. Hope you have a great one!

Revealed!

It's official - secret pal is coming to a close.

I've revealed myself to Elaine my spoilee, and been spoilt by MissyFee my spoiler!

It's been fabulous - can't wait till SP11!

Three yarns i'm dying to get my hands on...

Aww... secretpal 10 is coming to a close :( I've had fun on this one! It was actually my first, but it's been fabulous.

My spoiler has been miss fee - go and say hello :)

I have outed myself to my spoilee but i'm not sure if she's got my final package yet so that's still hush-hush.

Anyways, the last SP10 contest is 3 yarns i'm dying to get my hands on. Here we are:

Tilli Tomas Salt and Pepper - Silk and glass beads. How divine is that!! Unfortunately, at more than $50 a pop, I just can't justify anything that luxurious!

Rowan felted tweed - for a lot of people, this is one of their staples. I have yet to try it, but my lovely boyfriend has agreed to buy me a little to fondle :) I suppose I just want to know why it's such a loved yarn!

Malabrigo Angora because I love the softness of angora, because I haven't seen any malabrigo here in Perth, and it comes in over 100 colours!! Ohhhhh colour heaven!

A little bit of privilege

In this world, we have the haves and the have-nots. The haves are the ones toting around their latest Marc Jacobs Stam Bag, or the latest must have Louis Vuitton totes, while the have nots are the ones that walk past Gucci on King Street and peer inside and only dream.


In this world of knitting, I was a have-not. I looked on as thousands before me got invited into that elusive "Ravelry" community , wondering what special privileges those admitted to the club had received and what I was missing out on.



Well, two days ago.. I went from have not to have... I got my invitation! Given that I play sports after work, I wasn't able to have a proper play on there till today, and I love it! I could seriously spend hours on this thing, just playing and viewing and browsing. So for those that are still on the list, be a little patient :) It's definitely worth it!


(Oh, and the picture up there is the start to my Feminine Puff-Sleeved Cardigan by Stefanie Japel from her book Fitted Knits. I'm knitting it up on 4mm using Heirloom Merino Magic and making the 34 with mods for a 32).

*I am not a sock knitter * I am not a sock knitter * I am not a sock knitter*

*I am not a sock knitter * I am not a sock knitter * I am not a sock knitter*

.. That's what I keep telling myself :p To be honest, I never understood the sock knitting craze. I just don't understand why people spend hours knitting a pair of socks from yarn that costs more than a few pair of socks when I could go down to my local department store, pay $5.00 and walk out with a pair of comfy socks to be desire in 10 minutes.

.. But, I have always wanted to learn to knit with dpns, and when my secretpal gifted a little sock kit, it was my perfect chance to learn both the art of dpns, and the art of socking.



.. and you know what? I kinda enjoyed the experience :0 It was a relatively quick knit compared to all the sweaters I normally do, and I learnt a whole lot of skills. So here's a look at my FO.

Project Details:

Pattern: Silver's Sock Class

Yarn: Lana Grossa Sock Yarn

Needles: Umm I forget - I think they're 3.75mm dpn's - set of four.

Comments: For anyone who has yet to tackle socks, I would definitely recommend Silver's Sock Class. With fantastic photos and very clear step by step instructions, she guides you through the whole process from start to finish and explains everything in exquisite detail.

I didn't make any modifications - well to be honest, I probably have no idea how to make mods on socks.

The whole thing took me approximately 6 weeks, starting at the end of April. I haven't however been exclusive and after I finished the first sock, I went on a one sock syndrome phase. I did however, pick up the second sock on Saturday and today is Wednesday, and I have finished the second one.

The one thing I would like to do better is probably to make sure I start at the right point in the colour change so that my sock actually matches. Besides that, I'm quite pleased with my first sock attempt :)