New inspirations...

Feeling a little in need of knitting love? Here's a few that caught my attention (from a variety of Knit.1 and Phildar) :

Spot the mistake

I got snooty last night.

I was working on a little neck hugger, and while following the cable chart I decided that I didnt need it anymore because it was fairly self-explanatory and the cable wouldn't be too hard to continue on with. luckily, I didn't get too far because I realized that snooty knitting does not agree with me. Spot the mistake?


Anyway, the yarn used is the same yarn I used for my little hearts vest, and my little bolero and I still have about 150gm left of the stuff. Talk about stretching its use!! =D

Hope you are all enjoying your Easter break, and enjoying the chocolates :) Have a great one!

Ribbit-Ribbit

(apologies for low light photos in this post)

Don't you just hate when something doesn't turn out as you wish? All those hours of knitting, the efforts spent into seaming and measuring and late night "just one more rows"?All that money spent on yarn , needles and notions, when all the while you could have been out and about, or working on something tres fabulous?

*sigh*. This is what's happened to me.

The James Coviello lace top from VogueKnitting was all but done - I had finished all the knitting and had just sewn on the first little sleeve ruffle when I decided to try it on. Now, maybe it was the pre-menstrual bloatedness talking, but it was just frumpy and dowdy in all the wrong places.

Gone was the vision of me prancing around in a cute little delicate lace top, and replaced with it was a somewhat pregnant looking girl. Not the look I was trying to achieve (although I did love those girly details immensely).

So, tell me lovely readers ... when you hate something, do you frog it immediately, throw it in the bin yarn and all, or leave it be for awhile with high hopes of maybe fixing it one day or at least reusing the yarn ? At the moment i'm thinking of just chucking it in the bin...

Progress: James Coviello Lace Top

Because girly details makes me happy, here are a few progress shots on the James Coviello Lace Top so far:


I do love the girly details of this one - a little bit of a lace edge, with some ruffle detail and in a very girly (but not too girly) colour.


I'm up to the front, and because it's a top rather than a sweater or cardigan (yay for quick knitting), I only need to cast on for the ruffles on the sleeves, and do some finishing and voila!



On a similar note, I think my mind is trying to sabotage my cardigan knitting mojo. For some reason, it seems to think that knitting a project with only fronts and backs to it (as per the top and sweaters in general) as opposed to "left front" and "right front" (as per cardigans) is a much more soothing and calming task.

And while I do love cardigans, I just haven't really felt up to knitting them... something in my mind keeps telling me that extra "left front" or "right front" effort is extra work not required in knitting (nevermind about having to knit more stitches on a sweater front than a cardigan front). I do admit then, that I am feeling a little cardigan lost at the moment, but I do hope my cardigan mojo comes back though - I would be absolutely lost without these lovely staples in my wardrobe! *sigh*

A room just for knitting

For the past few months, I have been toying with the idea of buying a house. It's just one of those things that "you do" as part of growing up, and I felt that it was about time I bought one.. something along the lines of "growing up, investing for your future ra ra ra".

So anyways, last week I saw a house that I liked, made and offer and got it! I now have to just organise finance and settlement and it's all mine.

While I was looking at houses, there were a few criteria that I really wanted, with those being a 3x2 , nice kitchen, and nice bathroom. My significant other was puzzled though, given that it would just be the two of us in the house (and me only being there 1/3 of the year given I work away), he wasn't sure why I wanted three bedrooms.

I pulled him aside and told him nicely.. 1 for us.. 2 for a guestroom or study.. and 3 for my knitting room. hehe. He was somewhat amused by my need to have a knitting room, but he was very obliging on the basis that it would create less mess for the house (my knitting stuff is everywhere), and that it would be my little retreat. I'm so happy to have an SO that is happy to indulge my knitting wants and needs - no matter how silly they seem!

But anyways, settlement isn't for awhile and I'm planning on doing a bit of work on the house, but i'm definitely looking forward to it!

On knitting notes, I had an urge to start a new project today. Thermal is going well - I have to just do the sleeves and finishing and it will be done, but I was flicking through my old VKs and rediscovered this:

While I won't be wearing it the way the model is, I do love the quirkiness of it! I'll be doing it in this yarn (the colour is a bit off in the photo.. ) and it should be a quick knit:

In happy news, I've also discovered my local newsagent stocks VK, Knit1 and KnitSimple so I no longer have to trek out to Borders or my LYS to specifically buy my knitting mags. I haven't seen IK there , but the new one isn't due to arrive in Australia for a week I believe.. *fingers crossed*

Jumping on the bandwagon

In my efforts to destash my unconsciously growing stash, I've jumped on the (long gone) bandwagon that is known as Thermal. As much as I tried hard not to jump on the bandwagon and follow the other hundreds of people before me that have knitted this sweater, I could not for the life of me resist - it just looks like such a cosy, easy to knit, easy to wear sweater! What more could I want?

So I cast on for it yesterday and my, it has grown quite a bit! I'm taking a 7 hour train journey tomorrow so I should also make good progress on the sweater.


Besides that, I've just been hectic crazy with Chinese New Year and enjoying my R&R week. At the moment, there's a cyclone up where I work so I'm here in Perth until the cyclone danger dissipates - and one of my workmates reckons it won't be till Monday or Tuesday at the earliest!

Anyways, short post this one as I have to pack for my short trip :) Have a good weekend!

FO: Noro Cashmere Island Scarf

Everyone knows the ubiquitous Noro Scarf that has been done by hundreds of people and still counting, so I won't go into too much depth for this post. However, after I finished my last project, I was a bit stuck on what I should knit considering that my only condition was that it had to be knit from stash. After getting some great and useful comments about the seahorse cami, I decided to leave that for another day and rummaged a bit.

Alas! I had two skeins of Noro Cashmere Island in my stash, which had been gifted to me by my secretpal 11, Genevieve. Now I must admit that I've never understood the fascination with Noro Yarns. To me, the colours were garish, the yarn (Iroha that is) a little wanting, and overpriced for what I thought it was.

However, armed with not much confidence, two skeins in hand and not much time to decide on a pattern, I went for that noro scarf. The result was a surprise, and the end FO was a very soft scarf, made from a pattern which utilises Noro's colour schemes very well.

Swatching, Swatching, Swatched!

I'm in a little bit of a bind. I'm flying off to site again tomorrow, and don't have a knitting project to take with me. Well...actually, that's a lie. I still have Lisette, Florence, and those Rippled Weave Socks, but Lisette is getting boring, Florence is overdue, and socks are just that, socks.

I love knitting sweaters because they're the most functional, but given i'm leaving tomorrow, I haven't had any time to get more yarn and consequently, am reduced to knitting from the stash. I did swatch for the beautiful James Coviello Ruffled Jacket using the lush plum colour that I bought specifically for it, but I wasn't liking the fabric created by the larger needles I was using. So, I've put that aside for now.
I then had a look in some of my patterns, and found Kid Acne's Seahorse Cami from Rowan #39 which could either come out CUTE, or DISASTROUS.


The plus side is that it's a quick knit, and I have the cotton needed for the project sitting with me but the bad side is that it's a knitted cami with a seahorse on it!? Will I wear it.. will it be a waste of yarn.. or will I actually like it? (Unfortunately, I don't sail so I'm probably not going to have much occasion to wear a seahorse cami with white pants like the model).

I know one thing though - I can't survive two weeks without a single knit stitch... !

FO: Vogue Ribbed Minidress

Eek! It's been awhile since my last FO hasn't it. I'm not really sure what i've been doing with myself. I vaguely remember starting a million and one (okay, exaggeration, more like 5) knits just before christmas, and not actually having finished any of them. *shame* Somewhere between lost knitting and crazy travel schedules, I managed to find an hour a day to finish off the vogue ribbed minidress.


Details:
Pattern: Vogue Ribbed Minidress by Mari Lynn Patrick, from Vogue Knitting Spring Summer 2007. I knit the smallest size.

Yarn: I used Rowanspun 4ply, in colour Squirrel which I bought for a bargain price off Cucumberpatch. The pattern itself calls for a gauge of 24x28 so I doubled the rowanspun and managed to get stitch gauge, but my row gauge was completely off. I ended up knitting at about 24x36 which meant for a heck of a lot of maths and modification.


The yarn itself is okay to knit with , but not so fun to seam with. The rowanspun is fairly "dry" and snapped a few times while I was seaming. The colour itself is a light grey, littered with little bits of dark greys and the occasional blue. Knit up, it produces some uneven stitches, but it does give an overall interesting texture.

Needles: Denise size US 5 needles, and Addi Turbo 3.25mm for the top parts.


Comments and modifications: The pattern itself is very easy to follow, but because my gauge was completely off, I had to do a whole lot of modifications on the way and it ended up being a fairly long knit. It was well written, and I dont remember finding any mistakes in the pattern at all.

I did however feel that because the pattern was in essence, a raglan style dress, my preference would have been to knit the raglan in once piece as opposed to several pieces and then having to seam them together. This was particularly so since my gauge difference forced me to perform a million calculations.

Overall, I "like" the result, but I don't love it. I'm not sure why, but it just hasn't grabbed me. It may be the colour ( I originally wanted to do it in a dark charcoal colour), it may be my knitting itself, or it may just be that knitted dresses just aren't made for a 39 degree celcius day!

On the home stretch

I know a lot of knitters who don't enjoy seaming and who just as much loathe finishing. I'm not a great finisher, nor am I great at seaming, but I do enjoy that little home stretch towards a finished object.

Progress has been going well on the Vogue Ribbed Minidress, and I am now on the little homestretch to a new little FO. At the moment though, i'm left a bit uninspired. Having not sewn up the sides yet, my tres chic minidress is looking more sack that chic.


Additionally, some people tell me I have a lollipop head - meaning that sometimes it's too big for my body (haha i say sometimes because I go through periods where my body freaks out and does weird things). So i'm hoping that tiny little neckline will magically expand or fix itself once i've sewn up the rest of the body so that the lollipop half of me will be able to squish through.


Hopefully there will be an FO within the next day or two ! :)

Some Phildar Love

OOh it has definitely been a long time since I last posted! Between then and now, Christmas and New Years came and went, and Ive just returned from another stint offshore. This time, I actually did do some knitting, and I'm making great progress on my Vogue Ribbed Mini Dress. There is just the right sleeve, and finishing left to do. I'll post progress pics very shortly, but for now, I just wanted to share some more Phildar love with you.

Most of my regular readers will know I'm a huge Phildar fan. The patterns are always tres chic and very wearable, without looking too boring and generic. The latest offerings from Phildar is absolutely no exception, but are not yet available in English translations. Fingers crossed though! In particular, I love the styling of the latest patterns - it reminds me very much of the Rowan Studio collection and could quite easily pass as a fashion mag preview.

PS. Doesnt the model look so happy? I would be too, if I was dressed in such lovely chic knits!

No knitting

If you're like me (and most other knitters I know), I tend to pick up my knitting anywhere and everywhere possible. I like to knit in the car, while watching teevee, just before going to bed, and even when I'm supposed to be paying attention to my significant other (teehee).

So, it was with much dismay when I came back to site just over 10 days ago and realized I had brought my current WIP , but no knitting needles. I panicked, I stressed, and I wondered what I'd do for the next 10 days without my knitting.

I went through the classic signs of addicts - I went through feelings of wanting to substitute my knitting with something else, I went through withdrawal symptoms, and I definitely felt a weird sense of longing. One week later, I had calmed down and can say that I am slowly overcoming my addiction. A good thing? I dare say no. But it's definitely a good thing while I'm holed up on site with nothing to keep my fingers going.

2 days till I get home. Home to family, friends, Christmas.... and my knitting.

Secret Pal Revealed

I arrived back in Perth last night at about 1.30am, after a rather horrific flight experience fueled partially from motion sickness, an inability to digest the food, and a bit of alcohol which resulted in constant throwing up and being sick. Nonetheless, it was great to finally come home after 1 week in Phuket, and 2 weeks out on site, even if it was just for a day.

We had a great trip in Phuket, and celebrated our birthdays in fine style scootering around the town and lapping it up on the beach.

On coming back, I woke up to a lovely surprise from my secretpal who has once again spoilt me with yummy goodies and fabulous knitties. Just wanted to say thankyou to Genevieve for having been a fantastic spoiler, and introducing me to the world of international knitting! Thank you so much ;)

There was some Colinette Point 5.... a bit of big and small yarn in a mauve/blue/white colour combination. The yarn is very soft to touch.

and some pre-wool... which is the most interesting "yarn" (I will have to clarify this) i've ever seen. It's almost mohairish / roving mixed in one so I'm just going to ask Gen whether I need to treat this beforehand!

And some Clover Stitch Markers, Lantern Moon needles, some lipbalm and some yummy choccies. My sis and I smothered ourselves with the Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and I can't wait to try the Hersheys Truffles!!

Thanks so much Genevieve. You've been a delightful secret pal11!

Apologies!

Hi all! It has certainly been awhile, but I've only just returned from site about 2 hours ago and I am flying out again tonight at 1am to Phuket for a short holiday. The holiday is a lovely birthday pressie from my boyfriend, who also shares the same birthday as me (8th of December). So, I've got very little time to catch my breath, let alone get my Perth life back into order before flying out tonight, and the day after I get back from Phuket, I'm back onto site again for 2 weeks.

I haven't actually done very much knitting the last two weeks. I've made a little progress on my sister's christmas pressie, but it's currently confined to only about 1 hour of knitting each day. Let's hope that it's all done by the time Christmas swings around! Here's a boring snap of the loads and loads of stockinette (and it's crinkled from being in my luggage for 4 hours):


There is also 247 bloglines to read in my 6 hours back in Perth, so I'm trying very hard to get through them all.

And a little shoutout to my Secret Pal 11 Spoilee , Margit! Go and say hello :)

Arrived! New Yarn from Bendigo

Hoorah! I am thinking the fact that my schedules got mixed up and my flights postponed for a week was actually a blessing to give me extra time to wait for my yarn to arrive (Unfortunately, my book order from Amazon still hasn't arrived, despite being "shipped" 2 weeks ago. I think i'll email them).

Anyways, I took advantage of the Bendigo yarn sale and ordered up a few balls of yarn. Being a non-stasher, these of course have designated projects, and while it is only part of my order, I'm sure the rest will come shortly.

The first is Classic 12 ply, in Plum for the James Coviello Ruffled Jacket. I think the colour is divine, and reminds me a lot of the Currant coloured yarn I used for my Cherry Cardigan, and is just a smidge darker than the picture below. Unfortunately due to my recent spate of startitis, this project will have to wait till at least two of my other projects are completed.

The second is the 8ply Cotton, in colourway Maritime, for my sister's christmas present which I have to get cracking on soon. I think i'll bring this project, and my little sock project to site with me when I fly out Wednesday.

Oh yeah, I asked my HR person today "I sometimes have problems bringing knitting with me, and just wanted to check it was okay for the charter flight to site?" and her reply? "umm.. i can't say many miners have asked me that question before" hehehe :) They must think I'm an anomaly :)

Starting on the Vogue Mini dress

You know that anxious wait by the postbox or the door when you know that you're supposed to be getting parcels any day now? Well, after my last post about my mail woes, I decided to head out early this morning to go look for a dress for my friend's wedding tomorrow as that's around the time my postman usually comes by. I figured I'd drive myself insane if I sat and waited around all morning, so decided to give my little emotions a break from it all.

Sure enough, when I got home from my unsuccessful bout of shopping, there was a lovely parcel waiting on my kitchen bench for me postmarked from the UK. Ripping it open, out popped my 20 skeins of Rowanspun 4 ply, in Squirrel which I bought to make the Vogue Ribbed Minidress.

As I've mentioned before, I love Rowanspun and wish it wasn't discontinued. Unfortunately, the stock that is still floating around is limited in colour selection so I haven't been able to stock up on it.

After winding up 4 little balls, I cast on for the minidress. A little progress:

Amongst all this startitis however, I know that I'm going to have to put them aside when my other parcels arrive as those are the ones with Christmas present making yarn in them. Unfortunately, every day that the postie is delayed means one less day to make presents for people! I can already see the bleak short term future that is often known as the 'leadup to christmas' and how I dread it :p

Oh mister postie - where are thee??

Well, there was a schedule mixup and instead of flying out this morning as originally scheduled, I will now be flying out to site next week. Which means I've got a few more days here in Perth to play around and relax before having to start my roster. Also, my schedule has changed from 2 weeks on / 1 week off, to 12 days on / 9 days off, which means more sleep and relax time for me and that's always a bonus :) Nonetheless, at the moment, I'm being paid to sit around waiting to fly out!

Anyways, I've been waiting for my postman to deliver three parcels which should've arrived by now in most instances but with the silly season coming up, I think they've been delayed.

• According to Amazon, my book order shipped 1st November and 14 days later it hasn't arrived.
• I also placed an order with Bendigo on the 7th November, and still nothing.
• I'm also expecting some yarn from the UK which was shipped last Friday so that one might not come till next week. Is anyone else having issues?

But i'm itching to knit something interesting. Lisette is coming along with the left front now finished, but it is a boring knit so I've also started two projects I normally would've knit but because I wanted to use up stash yarn and so, i've begrudgingly started a sock and a baby item.


Florence is from Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Collection and is being knit for an ex-workmate's bub:


And Ripple Weaved Socks from Vogue Knitting ... I'm just knitting when bored of Lisette. This one might go to my sister.