Friday, December 29, 2006

Stashing again

So yesterday I pop past to check my PO Box. Things have slowed down now that the nomination period for the fiction awards I've been judging is over and it's a bit sad to not have any mail.

I like the small post office where my box is. It's that old skool Australian vibe thing, small business and family run and they know who you are and stuff.

So the conversation yesterday:
Me: Two (red cards) today!
He walks off to get them from the back room and comes back with two decent sized packages. One looks like a book (and it is).
Me: Ooh! They look exciting!
Him: And ones from overseas, darling!

For some reason when a really ocker man over 50 calls me darling, it's not offensive at all.

So I wander off wondering why I have an overseas package. I see it's from Sophie's Toes and thus that it must be yarn. But for the life of me I could not remember ordering any. I have a feeling I paid for it whilst we were sitting in mourning for my grandmother who past away (late October).

It was indeed yarn that I did indeed purchase. I am very happy with two of the colourways (latte and walnut) although I think one might have been for socks for the bf, which is a bit sad. Debated whether I could make a pair for him that I could still fit into. The third skein is like, hello? the same as two others I have bought this year. It's called City Lights but looks pretty much like Chocolate Covered Cherries which looks like another one I also bought. I do that. My wardrobe often has shirts that all look kinda the same. I like something and then I just continue to like it. A lot.

I mean it's okay cause it means one of them could be a sock gift for next year without too much pain. But still.

I'm thinking of putting my favourite skeins on display. The bf's sister suggested it - that it could be an installation in constant transition. It's not a bad idea - I like the skeins for themselves alone, regardless of whether I knit with them. Why not get to appreciate them whenever I walk past them in a room?

Relief!

I can't express how great a feeling it was to rip out Sarcelle, put away the ridiculously small needles for such thin yarn and pull out a new pattern and start over. I really love the Print o Wave Stole by Eunny even though I left it tinking back the first row on the second repeat! It is a much simpler pattern to learn on and I have raced through (my measure being when I surpassed the length of the yarn I had ripped out from Sarcalle) and even though it's only an inch long, I can see that I could finish this.

Sarcelle looked like maybe I never would even pick it back up again.

Although I should not knit lace at 7 in the morning. And I should remember this and work on the many socks in progress instead.

I feel like I should have a knitting new year's resolution.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

And we're back

I must say this blog feels quite funny - like I'm talking into a big empty hall. But that's okay cause it does work well to chart and log progress of projects. That's something I'm hoping to be more diligent about next year. Especially since I've already gone through the year's knitted gifts and allotted items to birthdays and so on. So I should really be able to plan all that a bit better in 2007.

I'm having difficulty taking photos too - I think it's an issue of light and the time of day I am home to catch up on things like this.

But the most important things to say is 1) I finished the Clapotis. I hated knitting the second half of it. It was sooooo boring and as soon as I was finished, I loved the look so much I am honestly contemplating another one. But see I do that. Enjoy a project and then flog it to death (see photos to come of the scarves I am working on). 2) I am giving up on Sarcelle. For now. I think when you don't work on a project that says something to you about what you think of it. And knitting should be fun and the gift is wayyyy late. I'm going to try Eunny's stole tonight and see how I go with that.

And that brings me to the saddest part of the post. I am in the midst of doing my yearly wrap up and self examination of performance (I gave myself a 7) and setting of goals and aspirations for 2007. One of the things I want to reach for next year is balance in all things. And it's made me realise that in order to do that, I have to work less knitting in my week. I think that's sad and I will likely miss it (although have had very little time these last 3 weeks for knitting and I've been okay) but I need to admit I've been a tad over-obsessed with it to the detriment of other things (like cleaning the kitchen, doing the laundry, going out to do things with friends). I think this summer we will do lots of gadding about with talk of the outdoor cinema and such. I don't really think I'll be taking knitting along with me. So I think there will be less of knitting, which maybe there should be. I was getting into about 6 to 7 hours a day, sometimes 2 hours before work and 6 or more afterwards.

I'll need to rethink the bootie thing too. But that's for another post, another day.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Knitty Gritty

I just saw my very first episode of Knitty Gritty which only just premiered on Australian cable this month.

I dunno. The very first thing that struck me is that um, it's al upside down. I had no idea what she was doing from the angle it's filmed from. But, you know, it's cool that there's a whole show on knitting.

And I enjoyed the Simply Quilts which was also on. Again, the instructions were hard to follow - maybe it's the medium, I just can't follow it.

Friday, December 08, 2006

The Clapotis

Very little knitting got done last night. I was a very lucky girl in that I got picked straight up from work and whisked off to the casino with the bf and another couple to have dinner and see Kylie Minogue. Twas a fantastic concert but a late night.

When I got home, and after the friends had had supper and left, I had to finished detangling my ball of yarn. And it got a knot in it that could not be undone. So ... yes. I had to start over with the Clapotis. By the time I left for work this morning, I was right back where I had originally got up to! Sigh.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

gj got her groove back

All day yesterday I dreamed about my Lisa Souza Can't Elope colourway. What would I make out of it? What pattern? When could I start? Could I justify knocking something of the needles for it. And then it came to me! They don't have to be socks!!!! And from there, it was easy. I thought about it and I thought it was time for the Clapotis to be trialled again.

I had a terrible time with the Clapotis a fair few months ago. I bought yarn specifically for the project but could never get the pattern to work - either it was too light, or the needles were too big or not sharp enough or maybe wrestling with Sarcelle has given me some lace knitting practice. In any case, Can't Elope is making itself into a Clapotis and I'm enjoying it - I'm still untangling my ball which is pretty much par of the course with me (never enough patience to ball the skein up first, and usually start knitting whilst balling and/or don't take the time to ball it up properly and tangle the last 20 m or so. I never learn).

Can't Elope is probably a lot more rockmelon-ey in colour than I was expecting. My version has just the slightest hint of green in it. I shall have to give the pattern a little bit longer to knit up before I decide on it. Photos to come when I get my camera back.

In addition, I had extra time yesterday afternoon so I knit a miniature sweater - like it's maybe 2 inches long? I got the pattern from What's that Gonna Be's post the other day. I used some leftover sockyarn that is supposed to be knit into baby socks for sale on my new website ... but, um, yeah, gotta a new miniature knitting addiction.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

It Knits

Progress has been slow of late. I have almost finished my sushi kits which of course means I have turned to other projects. I am working on a bday present and I am staring at all my socks in progress. You see, yesterday, I got some gorgeous Lisa Souza sock yarn in the mail and have not a spare set of dpns anywhere to cast on with. That'll be a December project me thinks - free the dpns!

Friday, December 01, 2006

Sushi!!!



I'm kinda up to my neck in sushi right now. Oddly it's all I'm knitting and I have so many other projects to do. But I keep finding more people who need a set.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

More socks!



My 17th pair of socks! Watermelon Patch from Sunshine Knitting. Standard plain pattern. My very first skein of handdyed yarn so this pair has taken almost a year to knit.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Photos at last

I feel like I can't post without photos. It's weird.

This pair of socks was the second pair I made this year (and at all) - I've made 17 pairs this year and am trying to relocate them all to put together a gallery. Made with Sundara yarn in Fruit Punch. I must admit that I was initially disappointed because the yarn looked prettier in the skein (but that way lies madness). However these are truly comfy socks and they wash really well. After conversion and with postage, these socks cost nearly AUD$50.

A recent FO from Soctoberfest. The pair of socks using the Rainforest Jasper from Socks that Rock, Rocking Sock Club. Cuff, heel and toe done in Jasper. This was what the bf did with them after being presented with the pair. Do you need a better shot than this? Admittedly, it is starting to get hot here and socks are far from people's minds. He will love them in winter, I know.

Um, yes. This looks how it feels. There are actually two pairs of finished socks there waiting to be photographed. And an array of works in progress. It's all a mess. Plain socks and a scarf are good to work on whilst reading online in bed. The Sarcelle is suffering because of that.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Hee



I love this photo! The chick looks either like she's the woman from The Collector and any minute she's gonna make a run for it out the window or she's a heroine addict in withdrawal and wants the photographer to leave her alone.

Either way, I'm not likely to check out these knits.

Don't ask!

My sister's birthday was November 2. I was making her the Sarcelle. It was late. Obviously.

I made a mistake about a week or more ago and put it down - that's when I know I am too tired for lacework.

Then I was always too tired to unpick and work out what went wrong. (And that's why always have socks on the go)

Last night I decided I'd *fix* it. I wish I hadn't. Cause fix it i did... all the way to getting the scissors out, cutting the line and putting it down to frigging start over. Grr... I was so near to the transition bit too and looking at it, I almost want to cry at having to cast on again.

And for the bf's mum's 60th birthday, I want to make her a lace shawl. Am guessing it's not going to be Sarcelle.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Boeme Bebe

Ah, now that Blogger is back to publishing my posts ... I've been spending my time making newborn socks out of the sock yarn scraps again. I find Socks that Rock so interesting - the fabric comes out totally different on a sock with 32 stitches compared to one with 72. I have had to opt for a three stitch rib for the Rainforest Jasper in order to get some kind of striping instead of vertical pooling.

Photos to come, I really promise this time.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

FO

I must admit to having left this blog flail a bit. I feel like I can't post to it if I don't have any photos and then .. the camera was in the bf's car and I didn't have anything to photograph.

I finished the bf's socks two days ago - the Rainforest Jasper from Socks that Rock, Rocking Sock Club. I must say, that with all the socks I have cast on in various stages of progress - and there are a few - I like the Socks that Rock yarn the best. It really is a beautiful yarn to work with.

I took the needles from the finished pair (my 16th for the year) and put them to good use working on baby socks with leftover sock yarn. Not sure what I'm gonna do with them all. I have this growing stash of baby's booties and whatnot. I dunno if I'll ever sell them all but oh well, I hate the ever-growing pile of tiny leftover balls of yarns. And I can't throw em out. So newborn socks they become.

Anyway. Have managed to not cast on another pair of socks as yet, but the week is young and my list of socks as gifts grows.

Friday, November 10, 2006

not more socks!!!

I do need to at least itemise my sock knitting list. I need to figure out how to do the bars along the side but it looked too fiddly when researching it yesterday. In any case, I decided to cast on a new pair of socks - the pair for my aunt - last night. And I actually took the needles from Seashells. bad. And also, I'm trying not to think about it too much but to get gauge, I had to go up a size in needles and then cast on more stitches - seems wrong but I'm gonna be zen with it. I'm using the cashmere/merino from The Knittery in Exotic. Its a delicious red and black with graduations between the two in greys and the lightest reddish pinks. The fabric is coming out just stunningly.

Will attempt to photograph random things on the weekend. Have a good one!

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

A Projects List?

I don't want to make my knitting a to do list. Knitting is the only place really where I can just let loose and do whatever. I try not to be too anal about whether or not I have 18 projects cast on. Things tend to go in ebb and flow for me. Sometimes I'm rotating and knitting on 7 things at once. Sometimes I have 18 projects cast on and I only work on one. Sometimes I go past and finish off a whole heap of almost finished items and sew up things that have been done and cast aside.

But the sock knitting is getting out of control. I have a ton of sock yarn waiting in the wings. And a heap of projects I want to do. I might lose track.

You see, my grandmother passed away last week. And things have been sad and so on. My aunt has been really great - hosting meals all times of the day at her house and being really supportive. I'd like to make her a pair of socks to say thank you and to show my appreciation. In addition, because of Socktober, I had the pair of socks made for my Nana's birthday. It was really great to be able to grab them from the cupboard and run, when needed - her birthday was also this week. So it made me think how good it would be to have a list of presents for the next year that I plan to knit for and then gradually work on them in advance in the year so that they are ready. It'd be great to get things to the person on the day instead of the "it's coming" which I'm doing for two birthdays that have gone already. And in case something comes up, it's nice to have things ready and not have to rely on being able to (and remembering to) go to the shops the week before and hope you find something appropriate.

Of course, that would involve admitting how many socks I currently have on the needles.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Not much Doing

Just a very quick note to say that I haven't been knitting much. But I'm still here.

Monday, October 30, 2006

What? An update?

Still no photos. Photos of my bedside table are too depressing. You see, I have ended October in the same state I started it in - all dpns have socks cast on them again. At least I finished some I spose. I cast on a pair of Chocolate Cashmere Merino from The Knittery for my uncle's birthday (which was yesterday). I am still working on the Seashells and am on the gusset for the second sock in the Watermelon. And I cast on the second sock for the bf in the Rainforest Jasper. And I am working on Sarcelle. And I decided to knit up all the little balls of end of sock yarns so that I can see what is leftover for the sock yarn blanket.

I got knitting needles in all directions again!

On my other blog (girliejones.livejournal.com) I had a meme a while back where you put your name down and I make you a craft thing and you make me one back. I think I got like 8 people on that list so I've started looking at what I'm going to be making. Out comes the sushi pattern from Magknits and a couple of the fun things from Knitty I've been wanting to try.

And I have at least 3 pairs of socks in the waiting queue for other people.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Quickie

So the Sarcelle is no longer kicking my ass. I ummed and ahhed about it for a couple of days until I accepted that I wouldn't be happy with the finished item as it stood - like with an extra yarn over or a missed one somewhere near the very end corner. So, I cut it off, called it a swatch and started over. And oddly enough, calling it a swatch worked because it didn't take me long to replace the work to where I was up to and to steam ahead.

You have to be wide awake for lace knitting. This meant that the row I just recently stuffed up due to not reading the instructions properly meant it was time to put it down, at 11.45pm. Trouble was, I was wide awake from lace knitting!

Monday, October 23, 2006

Distracting you with a nonknitting picture

Here is the view from my kitchen, the bf on his phone there down the front. We look straight out over the park and in the distance you can see the baseball rooms where the police got called to on Saturday night but from what I could tell, nothing much doing.

I have been doing a lot of knitting these past few days but didn't take any photos. To be honest, I'm avoiding the truth about Sarcelle - which is that I am going to have to start over. I think I will do so tonight.

Let's see... I pieced another nine patch together, leaving me two to go. I finished a watermelon sock and turned the heel on the Seashell sock. I also cast on the second Rainforest Jasper sock for the bf. And resisted urges to cast on anything else.

I also finally decided to knit all the tiny weenie balls of sock yarn into a free form long cabin. I knit socks top down. I then knit a pair of newborn socks if possible from the remainder. Then a third if there is yarn or just the one if not enough for the pair. These I souvenir in that box in the previous post as sock yarns I have knit. There is usually a tiny ball left over that I can't throw out. So I have now knit them into a logcabin, the sizes of each rectangle determined only by the amount of sock yarn in the ball. It will either be a work of art or the dog's new blanket. Too early to tell which.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Lace knitting

I never actually knew what other people meant by knitting kicking their ass. Just goes to show that I hadn't tried anything really beyond my skill level, or more than just a little bit higher than my skill level.

Lace knitting is totally kicking my ass. I frogged the Sarcelle again last night and then it took me another 4 goes to get past the initial lace pattern repeat (by past, I mean to the final 6th line in the repeat without having stitches left on my needle). I think I was doing the cast on using the backward loop method wrong - this is the first time I've ever used this method. I have to knit so slowly and count every stitch and double check and so on and in the end I decided to thread in some life lines. The bf wanted to know if I was going to phone a friend! If only I had a lace knitter I could go to in real life. I'd only cry though.Lace seems so much harder to go back and correct mistakes with - I haven't managed to do it yet, I have to frog.

Maybe I'll show you a photo later when I have like more than half an inch knitted to snapshot. I can see why lace knitting takes so long - it's very hard to do in large spurts. My eyes got sore and I got frustrated. I guess that's good news on the other projects front!

Not more fat quarter stashing?


I might be on a new thematic kick. Shame the oriental one passed through so quickly, although I suspect it will rear its dragon head again soon. Recently I was diverted to an online fabric store whilst browsing through some Aussie knitting blogs. And I found some fabric that I *had* to have - you know the feeling? Anyway, the above photo gives a hint to this theme. In fact, I originally only took this photo to show the bust in the front as a recent acquisition. It was only on closer inspection when I loaded this photo that I realised all four objects here are thematically linked. Okay, fine, represent the beginning of this new obsession.


Yesterday's mail brought this lovely packet of fat quarters, all beautifully tied in a ribbon. I must say how much I love buying materials from one woman operations. Everything is so personal. It always comes with something slightly extra (here it's a packet of needles and her card, which is good cause I forgot to bookmark it) and I love having contact with the person who actually made it or packaged it up. It makes handicraft so much more personal and warm and fuzzy.

The newly aquired stash.












And here are some close ups.



Wednesday, October 18, 2006

When socks get too much

Well I think I OD'ed on the sock knitting. Personally, I'm impressed I lasted this long. It's very unlike me to be so monogamous in my knitting. Last night though, I just couldn't face another sock. So ... I cast on some more projects instead!!!

I thought I might try the scarf that the Yarn Harlot just finished - the one repeat pattern. It's quite delightful to knit, simple enough to not have to concentrate but not too boring either. The yarn is from Natural Dye Studio in Primrose, and yes, it was destined for a hot water bottle cover. Am cannibalising that stash ASAP to prevent too many covers hanging about the place. I was looking for this yarn, actually, on Monday night and got quite agitated because I couldn't find it. The bf was most amused to see me pacing between rooms so upset because I'd lost yarn. And it was neatly in the reorganised stash, just where I'd left it. *pout*

This might be what the bedside table looks like at the moment after all the casting on. I'm also sewing up the nine patch garter squares.

The purple ball poking out from behind is the beginnings of a Sarcelle shawl for my sister. This is the first lace I've ever knit. The pattern is not for beginners. Much cursing occurred last night along with frogging, ripping and cutting. I ended up knitting through the initial increase (28 rows) and the first repeat before having to start over because I was doing something wrong but it was just as well cause I'd been ignoring the instruction of how the chart alternates between a right and wrong side. No wonder I wasn't getting that nice border. So. Lace work is hard. You can't watch Australian Idol, talk on the phone to your mum and do it at the same time. But it's very satisfying when you do pull off the repeat and I'm loving my new Addi Turbos.

I'll admit to getting addicted to these shots. I should probably take them in better light so you'd like them as well. But I quite like marking progress or regress by them. As you can see, all the garter squares have been removed from the middle shelf (*cough* most of them are on the bedside *cough*) and you can see the top of the pile of the finished nine patch squares on the bottom shelf. I think I might knit plain squares the size of these to intersperse instead of the border idea. This also helps with the nine patch square shortage. Finally, note the emptiness of the basket on the middle shelf. I discovered only one cast on sock in there - the watermelon ones in the shots above. There was a ball of yarn for my log cabin squares in there and random ones of bootie pairs. These will all be dealt with in due course. Of Course.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Mail!

Here is a photo of yeserday's mail.

I got very excited as I neared the front door only to discover that the very biggest package was for the bf. Not to worry, lots of littler parcels is better anyway.


My first package from The Knittery came. That's the yarn on the left - sock yarn in Chocolate and lace weight in ... I forget!! but it's a fine purple rather than the blue that the photo has come out. And then on the right I got me some of the issues of Yarn magazine. Thanks to No No Kitty for that heads up! The other half I ordered of the magazine website and are yet to come but these came from Ozeyarn and what I loved was the inclusion of yarn colour samples! *That's* good business!

On Friday I got my skeins from Emily's Sophie's Toes Sock yarn - Fall Mums and Pony.

The Fall Mums colourway (in purples) I think is exactly like the colourway Chocolate Covered Cherries that I bought from Sunshine Knitting.

It might be hard to compare due to the lighting in this photo. I haven't actually yet put the two together cause .. well, I don't *actually* want to know!

And that leads me to: sock pair number 15!
Sherbet by Socks that Rock. Plain stockingette, 60 stitches, I think. For my Nana's 91st birthday next month.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Darn it

Now that I've gotten used to posting photos with my entries, I don't know what to do having left my camera at home! Well, its probably a good thing cause whilst I want to show you my new yarn that came in the mail on Friday, I want to do a close up of one skein with another recently acquired skein. It might be that they are in the exact same colourway.

I finished the Sherbet socks last night. That's my 3rd pair for Socktoberfest. I immediately put the Watermelon ones from Knitting Sunshine back on the needles and managed to turn the heel this morning. I should have been working on the Seashells but I guess since it's all socks .. what does it matter?

I'm getting a wee bit antsy. I was all into the socks until about last night. Admittedly they are all in plain stitch and mostly are the second sock so how the variegation is going to go is all in the open. I guess I'm just wanting to work on Not!Socks for a while. I picked up all those garter squares and matched them into 9 patch piles and sewed almost one nine patch last night alternating with socks. I'm only going to get 3 more squares to add to the 3 I've already sewn and that's not quite big enough for a blanket. That might then have to go back in the yarn closet and await more scraps. I do though like the fact that areas are getting tidied up, organised and projects completed. I suspect completing half made booties might be next.

I also have a new idea for some of the Boeme Bebe stock - or maybe just more of it than I originally thought.

Photos to come.

Friday, October 13, 2006

On clearing out the knitting clutter

What I *should* have done this morning was take a photo of the sock I finished last night. But I was lazy and didn't. Also, the pair will be finished pretty soon, stockinette and a quick knit cause it's in such a small size. I seem to be racing through the socks this month and am wondering why they take so much longer normally. I mean, yeah I do usally work on 8 things at once so that could explain it. Also, with all this plain knitting going on, I am tempted to do something far more complicated next, once all the October sock commitments are done - and the seashell socks aren't actually plain. I'm going to try the pomatomous in Socks that Rock Lemongrass at some point.

So instead, here are some more photos of my knitting area. The top one is the before shot when I just set up the shelves. It's probably where I'd like to believe I can get back to, one day. I honestly believe that I am finishing up all these random projects and not progressively creating more works in progress and I'm thinking that may not actually be true. Here is the area after cleaning it up and rationalising projects this week. That's the book I was reading and the coffee I was currently drinking so imagine them not there all the time! I guess note the book creep which has spread from the bedside to the knitting storage area.

A close up shows some of my more long term works in progress. The top shelf has random booties in random states of completion - some just requiring two more wheels to be sewn onto rollerskate booties for example.
Time to complete project, 10 minutes.
Time spent procrastinating on completing project, so far about 1 and a half months.

The second shelf has the bf's first sock in the pair to be finished for Socktoberfest (front right). Next to the sock are a variety of garter squares (15 stitches, 14 garter rows) made from the lefover yarn from the hot water bottle covers. I wasn't actually convinced they all actually "went together". I have even contemplated buying more yarn to make more covers (only sold 2 so far) to have more leftovers to finish this blanket. I am sewing them into nine patche squares. Then I wasn't sure how to join the nine patch squares together. I've been thinking about buying a black or very dark navy to knit borders and so on but I think I will just random sew them together in true crazy square style and be done with it. In fact I'm thinking of making this blanket for the boat so the care put in so far for how it should be pieced is probably already far too much. Plus we are going to holiday on the boat not this weekend but next so I should probably get a move on.

Behind the sock and the pile o squares is potentially the rest of the Socktoberfest commitment. I don't know cause I've been too scared to venture in that far. I may or may not have randomly cast on socks and then tossed them in that basket. Time will tell as I complete the three pairs currently in sight with about half the month left to go and a good strong will not to cast on more socks till all those already cast on are finished. Hope I make it .......

Thursday, October 12, 2006

I like to stash

I like to stash so much here is a photo of fat quarters I've bought in the year even though I haven't patchworked in more than 7 years.



I've got some kind of Japanese theme going on but the fabrics are so beautiful that I'm scared to cut them up. Also an African safari thing going on. I dunno. I find multi crafting a bit tough at the moment. Earlier in the year I got into cros stitching as well as the knitting but I haven't stitched in a couple of months and I am actually contemplating packing them away for now too. Not good since I did some good stashing on cross stitch kits this year too.


Typically, instead of making up the second sock for the bf, I'm working on the first sock for each of these skeins. All three are to be done by the end of the month so I think that's still all on the up and up. I have almost finished the first sock of the Sherbet colourway - will do so tonight, no doubt. I was quite tired last night and got more reading done than knitting.

However, I'm going through an interesting period in my life right now - for some reason I seem to be tidying things up without noticing - like across the board: my house, my study, my handbags, my to do list with reading, editing, reviewing, studying etc etc. It's weird, especially since I don't *feel* overly more motivated than normal. I don't seem to be all fired up to tidy and organise but it's happening anyway. I do have a theory that once I get on top of one area of my life, be that my email account or a corner of my living room, I look over and over at the totally perfect space and then roam my eyes to other areas that can be similarly pleasing. This is good when I am in this place, the trouble is figuring out how to get here when I am not.

So obviously this is extending over to my knitting and stashing. I am quite content at the moment to work through and finish started projects and put empty needles back in their jar rather than cast on something new. I am enjoying seeing piles of stuff about the place get reduced. I have a large basket in my bedroom where I have been tossing my more favourite skeins of yarn - I get to perve on them as I come and go from my room. Trouble was, I love a lot of skeins of yarn and the basket got more and more full and I actually could only perve at the top of the pile and was forgetting what the hell was in the basket at all. So I decided to rearrange my stash closet - I have 5 hanging shoe tree or jumper shelf things stuffed with yarn - mostly acrylic and a little bit of wool all for the Boeme Bebe stuff, and one shelf of sock yarn. I've sorta been a bit tough with rearranging these - black and white in the same shelf for example - to get more room to put more of my hand dyed sock yarns in. And so now, I can see a lot more of my yarn. The basket in my bedroom was then emptied enough to fill with ongoing projects or things I'm doing next (end of year presents etc) - all previously stacked on my bedside and the set of shelves I have next to that.

Here is the area for refernce. This photo was taken months ago so imagine it all kinda piled higher and deeper. However, now I have actually got a free bedside except for the two skeins of yarn above and the books I'm currently reading. I cleared out the top shelf next to the bedside and stacked it with booties that need sewing up and all my bedside queue books (and some more huge short story collections I bought at the con a couple of weeks ago).

Amazingly, I was able to shut the drawers in my bedside for the first time in what must be months. The top drawer has current projects and some leftover balls of yarn which I make up socks for Boeme Bebe from. The middle drawer has all knitting books and current patterns and the bottom drawer has once-current balls of yarn but now lay forgotten. I guess my next aim would be to empty these out and use them like normal people use them - whatever that is.

I can't express how much of a load has been lifted in seeing so much free space and areas cleared of projects-in-progress and other random things. There's a lot of release in saying, yes I will read this book but not in the next two months so stick it in the library and come back for it later. And similarly for yarn projects. It's kind of freeing to just draw a line in the sand and reset your life pace. It's horrifying to realise the pressure that project and reading queues were weighing on my subconscious.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Knitting for Charity

The whole Boeme Bebe concept came out of the World Vision Guardian Angel Drive - where you can knit garments for babies and drop them off at Guardian Pharmacies for eventual delivery in the developing world somewhere.


I've always meant to go back and actually do that, or something similar. This week I am gloriously catching up on my podcasts (I fell behind last week having a house guest) and I was listening to Guido's Its a Purl Man podcast. He had someone from Save the Children in the US describing their Caps to the Capital project. She mentioned that 4 million newborn babies in the world die within the first month of life from a variety of reasons including being wet and lacking warmth. She was very determined that it was for Americans only - basically knit or crochet a newborn hat and send it with a note to President Bush telling him that American Knitters and Crocheters care about newborn health.

Well, I would say that Knitters and Crocheters across the world care about newborn health. I especially do. I especially do when thinking about all that stash hanging out in my stash closet and not draping itself around a sweet, tiny baby. I have a lot of stash that I bought for Boeme Bebe. And I am thinking of knitting/crocheting some portion of that stash and donating it, I guess, to World Vision. If you want to join me, drop me a line - either here in the comments or at girlie dot jones at gmail dot com and let me know the caps you have made and donated or if you want to send them to me to include in my donation. You can download an action kit here with some patterns for very simple newborn hats. I think I'll use these patterns, they look simple and they have newborn sizings. It's an ongoing project, so I'll add a tally on the sidebar.

New FOs



My 14th pair of socks! And my 5th pair for myself. Thank goodness for Socktoberfest because I started these socks ... maybe in April? Finished the first, cast on the second, got to the heel and abandonded ship. I actually made a pair in the same colourway right before this one and I think I overdosed in red. These are Red Slippers in Socks that Rock. I used a slipped rib pattern. I didn't love the pattern (3 knit, 3 purl and then next row, knit 1, slip 1, knit 1, purl 1, slip 1, purl 1) - it wasn't mindless enough that you didn't have to concentrate but it wasn't interesting enough to be fun to knit. Also ... they are a pretty tight fit. I struggled to put these on this morning - maybe my feet were still wet from the shower. They are warm to wear though and pretty snazzy. I'm wearing them at work today with a three quarter length skirt (and pink top!).

And of course, I picked up the next set and began working - the Sherbet, also from Socks that Rock (see photo down below somewhere). These are for my Nana and she is tiny (maybe a size 4? need to check) so I zoomed through the leg and heel last night and did the gusset and half the foot this morning.

Here's something my Mum has been making lately that I love but she hasn't had any luck selling. I think maybe she hasn't found the market yet. These are hat pins but for holding scarves, shawls and stoles in place. I have on in amtheyst. Here are two in blues and she also has some in amber. She's selling them for Aus$20 (including postage). And I need to make myself a shawl or two to be able to use mine.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

From the Fair


My random sock shot of a bit of the fair. I had trouble with the lighting but the sock will feature later. In the background you can see the church and in front of that my hatstand with various knitted and crocheted hats. I spent the day chasing these round in the gusts of wind. I ended up with windburn too. I sold one hat - my favourite one actually - the wasabi green and dark green stripes beret, which you can see on the left.

Hot water bottle covers. I got a bit crazy with them. The pattern is courtesy of Yarn A Go Go and its a really lovely pattern to work. I can do a cover in just over a night now. And so I um, got carried away and knit a few too many in rather nice yarn from Natural Dye Studio. I think I made 7 for sale - I sold a further 2 to a livejournal friend and I made one for myself, cause they are lovely. I got some interest at the fair but didn't remotely sell a one. And I fear coming into summer now, this is something that will sit in stock for six months or more. And yet I have 6 more skeins looking at me wanting to be hot water bottle covers, which is just crazy. I may have to knit them into scarves just to stop the madness.

I'm not sure if you can see in this photo but I wrapped them up in cellophane, added a sticker for my name (Boeme Bebe) and labelled the yarn colours and then tied some silver ribbon round the top. They looked lovely when I wrapped them in the morning. I'm so heartbroken though cause they got so thrown about in the damn wind that I think the cellophane may be all creased and stuff and detract from the product. I haven't had the nerve to look - I just packed them up and put them straight back in the cupboard.


And then of course .... the socks! I finished my first pair for Socktoberfest at the fair, which does mean it wasn't entirely a waste of my time. I'm happy with them. They look good and the yarn was fun to work with. And they are bright and cheery, I worked extremely hard at matching the second one to the first but if you look closely:
you'll see, not so much!

Some FOs

Finally got my butt into gear and uploaded a whole heap of photos. This morning I finished my 14th pair of socks. I thought I might show some of the earlier ones first.




These are the very first pair of socks that I knit. I desperately wanted to try self striping yarn and this Opal was the only yarn I could find in Australia. I bought 3 balls and the other two are sitting in the stash, long forgotten with the love for other yarns. I love these socks because they fit perfectly and they wash in the machine in a regular load and come out like they went in. However, this was also the pair of socks that I learned that there is such a thing as too much (the yiddish (?) word would be "murra duddi"). I did a basketweave or similar stitch which is mostly lost in the stripes and just comes out as extra texture.



These are the first pair of socks I made for the bf. Just plain stocking stitch in Socks that Rock, Carbon Dating. I had to buy a second skein cause ... yeah, mens feet are bigger, and so I ended up with an extra half or two thirds of a skein. I made my Dad a pair with the leftovers exactly the same. On this pair I learned that even though socks might be machine washable, you should use wool detergent and not throw them in with the rest of the wash. A lot of the colour washed out and they don't look much like this anymore - very faded now.



Knitted Sushi! Pattern from Magknits. I fiddled with it once I'd done a few and did the slice of sushi (as opposed to the nori rolls) myself. I was going to do a second slice of sushi with like carrot or whatever but I got .... distracted. This leads me to the question of copyright. I've never come across this before - like if you buy a cookbook and you make the recipe and sell the cake ... whatever. But that's a real no-no in the knitting online world. I'm really not used to ownership of patterns, mostly because I change everything I knit anyway. I never gauge, I usually take something I like from a pattern and do something else with it. I was really shocked to read that something like 80% of knitters knit a pattern in the same colour as that shown in the picture! That kind of knitting is totally not the knitting world I come from - probably due to lack of patterns and lack of yarn brands available. So I guess my question is, when is a pattern changed such that it's no longer bound by copyright? Is the slice of sushi mine even though I only adapted the pattern for the nori roll?

Monday, October 09, 2006

in brief

I have a ton of photos so will post later on tonight. But I'm a bit down - we did the fair yesterday and it was horrible. We sat there all day and it was a very windy day and I sold two items. My Mum did slightly better with her jewellery but basically it was just unpleasant. I'm sore all over and very down about it all. My Mum is friends with the lady who ran the fair and that's why we ended up there this year and she was already asking us to come back next year. The thing is that it's a church fair. There were four stalls including us and pretty much only the parishoners came to the fair and none of them had money. I don't mind if you don't sell because people don't like what you have but to sit all day and not have anybody show up with the intention of buying anything just seems like a waste of my time.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

snippet

Will try for some photo action tonight. But I was thinking last night how I actually see a benefit in the photo-centric kind of post for knitting blogs. I ripped out all but the cuff on my Seashells sock last night and reknit a couple of rows in a garter rib. Of course the fabric changes when you change size of the needles, the numbr of stitches or the type of stitch and now I have something to compare the new version of against the old. I'll do that in the next couple of days when enough sock is knit but I am now much happier with it looking more like sea shells.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

The lure of new yarn

I know it's October and I'm supposed to be hooning through my second socks. I have a friend staying over and so not much knitting is really get done. I finished a scarf, though, this morning which is good stash restocking justification (SRJ). This is useful information since I see that Sophie's Toes is to be restocked today some time and Wendy's Mentionables kits are starting to appear at Yarn Botanika. Yarn Botankia have such lovely names and alluring colourways - peach spice and the pumpkin spice in particular. But it's also the draping their skeins sexily over Japanese pebbles. Sigh. I just *want* them. Good work girls!!

I also have some stunning sock yarn that I'm ogling in my kitchen - Sunshine Knitting's Chocolate covered cherries. I figure say i get all my socks done this month (ha!), and likely I'll cast on Avocado Salad, I can then cast those on. And yet? Day 5 and very little sock knitting currently achieved.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Soctoberfest begins!

I owe photos. They are forthcoming. I have made good progress on my Sweetwater Vesper socks. I took that to Fandomedia instead of the Seashell socks. I cast on before leaving on Saturday morning and by Sunday afternoon I had turned the heel, done the gusset and was steaming down the foot. I'll finish that at the fair this weekend.

The seashell socks did not fair as well. I made it down to the heel on Friday night and as i did the reinforced heel realised the fabric would be better in some kind of pattern, perhapsa rib. So they have been abandoned to be frogged and hopefully returned to somewhere at the end of October.

I also managed to knit the sushi from Magknits. Will take photos and add links and whatnot tonight.

Friday, September 29, 2006

Some of the socks



The complete half pairs. From left to right, the Vesper Self Striping Sock in Sweetwater, knit plain; Socks that Rock in Ruby Slippers, pattern is slip rib, I think; Socks that rock - the first sock club yarn Rainforest Jasper which I teamed up with Jasper and for the cuff, heel and toe). These are for the bf. These are the first three pairs to be tackled in Socktoberfest.


These are other socks that I have on random needles which will also be included in Socktoberfest. The Sherbet Is a Socks that Rock that I bought for myself but have since realised my Nana will love more so these are for her birthday in November. The other is my much loved Seashells by Sophie's Toes. Both are plain knits. The colourways are too beautiful to mess with more than that. The Seashells will come with me to Fandomedia.

This was as far as I dug the other night in tallying up socks in progress. I do fear there are more to be discovered when I clear the path by knitting up all these skeins of yarn!

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Holiday knitting

I'm always ahead of myself. The future possibilites are always more enticing than struggling with the current actualities.

I have my eye on the end of the year and holidays. Being Jewish I don't have to worry about knitting for the holidays but rather I get to dream about what I am going to knit on my holidays. At the moment we are planning to head off to the island for a week or so. And I'm dreaming about what knitting I think I shall take. Initally I thought Socks! But really, in theory after October I should be going well, sockwise. I want to knit my sister a shawl for her wedding - as a present not to wear. And that may take up November. But now I'm kinda thinking I should bite the bullet and knit a large garment for myself - something like a jumper or a tank top or I really like the dressing gown in Mason Dixon.

I've never knit something this serious before. I am a competant knitter. I have no trouble following a pattern and am quite happy to change or adapt others and am adequate with maths. I just have never undertaken something that requires that much yarn. I think it would be nice to be working on something that large when you have nothing ahead of you but days lazing on the boat deck and using your progress as a way of measuring time.

I'm thinking about it cause if I do decide to, I'll need to organise tools and yarn ahead of time.

Date night is Wednesday night so only had a couple of hours to knit and um, I crocheted those hats - one completed, two only need the brim to go and I started a new one as well.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Yarn Incentive II

And does it work? Straight after posting the last post, the first thing I did was see what was left to do with the results section of paper 3 and actioned a few things, tagged some others to be done at home and I'm already further ahead.

I think it works.

Yarn as incentive

Sometimes you have to have a reason to buy yarn - to legitimise accumulating yet more sockyarn, to be exact. Recently I bought several skeins of Sophie's Toes yarn. It's gorgeous and interesting and a delight to knit up. And then she updated her store. And there were two more beautiful skeins that I had my eye on. The thing is, at some point you have to feel guilty about making pairs of socks for AUS $35. Well I do. But then I haven't told you how much sock yarn stash I have. So I thought and thought and then I thought, "Well I need a kick in the bum to finish my ezine and launch it and to make the edits to a nonfiction article I wrote AND got paid for agggggges ago. These might do the trick." The ezine got launched and I had earned the Fall Mums colourway. But I kept forgetting to work on the article. I didn't though keep forgetting to wander past her etsy store and ogle Pony. And then last Friday I thought, "Bugger it. I want the yarn, I want it now, finish the damn article." And I did. I sat there until it was done. And then I ordered the yarn.

Having the first skein contigent on the second really worked for getting two hideous tasks out of the way. And now that I lust after yet more sockyarn that I probably don't *need*, yet am weighed down by many odious tasks that I don't want to do *cough* phd thesis *cough*, I'm wondering if I may have found a cure.

So in that frame of mind, and considering that I will do Socktoberfest next month and hopefully finish many of my started sock pairs, and may sell some of my knitted baby items at the upcoming fair ... I thought I might state here what I have my eye on and what they are traded for, so it's on record if I cheat :-)

I'd like to try The Knittery. I've got four skeins picked out (Passionfruit, Chocolate, Summer and Coral Reef). I'm going to trade 3 skeins for completing the current 4 books I have to read and 1 skein for cleaning and sorting out my garage (how did it get this bad in so short a time?)

And completing Paper 3 for my thesis will be traded for 4 Lisa Souza yarns. I have my eye on Mars Quake, Milk and Honey, Mombassa (my mother was born there) and Lime and Violet. Completing the results section of the paper gets me Mars Quake. I'll have to work out the rest.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Yarn stashing

I think I actually live in fear of yarn vendors closing shop before I have managed to buy their yarn. There is a level of panic when I see yarn I like of it not being there when I come back. Probably this is partly from the quest to own Vesper Sock Yarn or Brooklyn Yarns or Sundara - all of which I have actually managed to buy but not necessarily in the colourways I most wanted.

We really don't have very many yarn stores here in my city. We have Spotlight. If you are prepared to drive, there's a Lincraft left somewhere here. And there's possibly 3 dedicated small yarn stores I can think of - I've only actually been to 2. These are still very much aimed at the grandma type knitter; I have not seen much in the way of "young" colourways and yarns.

So I don't get to see and touch and enjoy the types of yarns I can see on the internet in person. And so, sometimes it's hit and miss when I order things. And that's okay because *someone* will like the skein as socks! And half the time I'm finding people bag'sing them anyway. And that's okay too - maybe because I'm a process knitter - I don't mind because I get to knit with the colourway and see how it turns out and then I gift it and it's like a two for one deal.

Some yarns are nontradable. Some I have bought specifically for me and no matter what, you can't have them. I buy Socks that Rock for me but seem more happy to gift those socks away than a lot of the yarns from smaller outlets I buy from (except for Ruby Slippers and Lemongrass - mine mine mine) . Maybe I just have more favourite colours than others.

But even with larger sellers, I still have this urgency of what if they close down and I never got that skein? Like Lisa Souza for example. And I ogle the certain colourways that I have my eye on and I hope the site will still be there when I come back later. Somehow, I guess, I'd rather buy all my future yarn purchases now and have them at home in the cupboard than never have them at all!

Socktoberfest!

I didn't do any knitting last night at all. I spent the whole knit crocheting instead :-) I broke my own rule - to finish all the projects on my bedside before bringing any new balls or skeins of yarn into the room (and thus starting new projects). I was doing well after the weekend and there was space and room to pile things, you see. And it's far easier to repeat a project when you do them all up together. And that's how I came to start 3 new sunhats last night and am now working on 4 at the same time. These are all for the fair on the 9th and are variegated acrylics. I'm testing the theory that you need to have the stock to sell it :-) We'll see.

But the fair is on the 9th of October, as I said, and after that I might lay back a bit on the baby wear. I'm thinking of taking a pair of socks with me to the convention I'm going to this weekend. I'm knitting my Seashells socks on bamboo needles and I'm thinking of taking them. I don't want to be distracting to the people on the panels but to sit all day long for the whole weekend is a lot of time sitting still.

I was listening to Lime and Violet on the way home last night and again into work this morning. I think they convinced me to sign up for Socktoberfest. I have that many pairs of socks in various stages of completion I thought I might aim to get them all done in the month. I have 3 finished half pairs. And at least 3 more half pairs started on needles (none the second to any). I asked the bf how many socks he thought I could get done in a month and he thought for a while and said, "hmmm... I think 8 halves" and that was without telling him I was contemplating completing started socks first! So that will be my goal - to finish all started pairs of socks.

Of course that's sooooo hard to do when you keep getting beautiful new skeins in the mail. Yesterday brought Sunshine Yarn's Chocolate Covered Cherries, or similar. I took photos and they are to come.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Mystery Solved - Sock Candy

Ahh.. new from Blue Moon Fibre Arts ... or just new to those of us not with access to distributors of this fine product - the Tube Sock Kit! Wonder what colours they comein! And other, nonwool fibres.

http://knitty.com/blog/2006/09/knitty-yarn-peek-thursdays-start-now.html

The last order I made with them was very large (about 20 skeins) and there was mixup with postage so I'm too shy to email and find out what colours they come in.

Monday

I started another post but it sounded a bit apologetic. When I have photos I'll post them and if they suck, they suck.

I've been thinking a lot about why I knit and what kind of knitter am I? Am I a process or product knitter? And does it matter if I am one, or the other or both or neither? I suppose I could be trying to understand my uncontrollable urge to stash. Except reading other knitters' blogs and books, this isn't really that weird. And lots of people stash tools for their hobby ... like my Mum with her beading and quilting and most people who love to read keep libraries, often with large book queues. There's nothing worse than sitting down at 9pm at night with a good DVD or movie on TV and thinking ... "hmm yes I'd like to make this in pink and white" and not having any pick or white whatever on hand. It stifles creativity.

So then, I am trying to understand my compulsion to cast on and start projects and then ... cast on and start other projects. I guess I'm not project driven to the point that I think "I want a scarf/socks/sweater" and then sit down and make it to have it. I tend to think of wanting to make things so I've made them. Sure I like to have things I've made, although I don't tend to keep a lot of what I make. But often I enjoy the experience of following a pattern and seeing how it turns out. And that means that since I'm not driven by a need for whatever the object is NOW, I can enjoy trying out a variety of patterns at once and pick up whatever I feel like knitting at that point in time.

The trouble with that is that every so often I suffer anxiety - too much to knit, too little time, what should I be knitting now? And whatever I am knitting now is preventing me from knitting that, over there, now. I deal with this in two ways. The first is to pick one object, the thing closest to being finished, and work on that to completion. This satisfies the panic that I finish nothing. The second is to pick say 5 objects and work on them in rotation, either by repeat or number of rows or next step in the pattern, or sewing up. This satisifes the urge to be knitting everything at once.

Finally, why do I knit? Especially if I gift most of what I make, or like I am doing now, making to sell generic items. If I knit things and don't care about them when they are finished (often they go straight to the intended person or put away in the cupboard to be wrapped and labelled and priced for sale) then I can't be knitting for the finished object. This got me thinking last night about artists. Painters paint and when they are done, they try and sell it. The majority of their work goes away to be viewed by other people. They put their heart and soul into a piece and then out it goes into the unknown. Gone forever. On the other hand, how many paintings can one person keep? Even if the answer is 30, prolific artists will paint far more than this in a lifetime, and they won't love every single one of them. Thus, its the act of painting where the pleasure is derived - the act of creating, and once done, the enjoyment is found in doing it again and the first object, whilst loved, may not hold the same allure as the blank canvas of potential.

So then. Does that make me an artist? Am I practicing my craft more as an art than as .... a craft?

Friday, September 22, 2006

First genuine post

Knitting blogs are all about the pretty - I'm well aware of that. I shall dig out my camera and get into the habit of diligently photgraphing the pieces I talk about.

I didn't do that last night though due to ... well... general procrastination. I did, however, do heaps of knitting. I frogged back the heel of my Vesper sock and reknit it and got an inch or two into the foot. I worked on another hat for the fair I'm doing on Oct 9 - it's an orangey-yellow and lemon yellow stripe. I have about 12 rows left of decreasing to do and another bites the dust. I also finished one baby sock out of the left over Beachcomber colourway of Sophie's Toes. I'm hoping to get a pair out of them and sell them for ~ $6 or 8. A nice subsidy to my own pair of socks.

I feel really bad though. Not only do I have about 16 UFOs on the needles, I have at least 7 socks on the go. Not pairs either - the Vesper stripe in ... I can't remember the colourway but its blue, orange and lime; Sophie's Toes in Seashell (and I'm gazing longingly at the other colourway I have of hers on the bedside in Avocado Salad); Socks that Rock in Ruby Slippers (its the second); Sunshine Yarn in Watermelon; Socks that Rock in the first sock club colourway, Cedar Creek (it's for the bf so I added some Jasper for the cuff, toe and heel); Socks that Rock in Sherbet. And I have a feeling I started another Socks that Rock for my mother but I need to check.

This is disastrous. It's not even all the projects I'm working on. And the worst of it is that I have this many sets of dpns so when I finish a sock, I just cast on another one since I don't really need the needles for anything else. *sigh*

Thursday, September 21, 2006

begin

this is my test post