Mel-Made

Resolutions...amended

2012-01-27T20:15:00.003+11:00

I'm adding a resolution. This year I'm also going to knit a cardigan or a sweater or something. The idea freaks me out a little and I don't know why (really, there's just as many stitches in a pair of socks as a thicker wool sweater). Maybe it's the thought of working out the shaping so they actually fit nicely. Math! (Hah, I am an ACCOUNTANT, I laugh at math, I can use spreadsheets and calculators just fine).

Besides, I live in cardigans and hoodies and jumpers. It's ridiculous not to make my own.

Plus, I spotted this on Pinterest the other day...pale grey and dark blue and really just beautiful (clicking through the pin should take you to the Rav project page). I wanna make something as pretty!

So in true Virgo fashion, I am going to test out my theory on a couple of doll/baby sweaters. Get my head around making a cardigan or sweater top down because, while I don't mind sewing things up, knitting things in one piece has to be simpler. Then I shall attempt something bigger. Along with the colorwork and the socks and the everything else on the list. In my copious spare time : )

PS I am very excited because I find out my Nerd Wars team tomorrow!

Colour steps

2012-01-21T16:33:00.005+11:00

So I said in my crafty resolutions that I wanted to try some colourwork projects. Now I will confess, my only real experience with colour work (other than contrast heels and toes on socks) is a very ill conceived attempt at an intarsia sweater when I was a teenager. It involved mohair, a fox pattern, batwings (it was the eighties!) and basically was a project way above my knitting paygrade. It never got finished (as my mother who paid for the yarn at the time still likes to remind me) and I kind of swore off colour work (come to think of it that was possibly the project that put me off knitting way back when too!).

But when my sil was over for the Bendigo Sheep and Wool show, she showed me a DVD of someone doing two handed fair isle (this is an extract of it...it's a Canadian company called Philosopher's wool). And it was kind of intriguing even though my brain went "what, how, crazypants". (And yes, we watch knitting DVDs. Knitting nerds, unite!)

I will admit that a lot of Fair Isle I look at and think wow, amazing work, but it's a bit too busy for my personal taste. But I have been stumbling over color work patterns on Ravelry that I like so it seemed like time to give it a go (I'm still avoiding Intarsia like the plague). Being my usual Virgo self, I ordered a book or two on the subject (Virgos must READ ALL THE THINGS and KNOW ALL THE STUFF before starting something) then determined that I would order some yarn for a hat pattern in one of the books. In the meantime, I wanted to practice, so I trotted off to the LYS and got three balls of wool and decided to knit the sampler purse pattern from the Philosopher's Wool page I linked to. Only in eight ply. Because the thought of trying to manage multiple balls of yarn and teeny needles seemed liable to do my head in.

Anyway, this is how far I've gotten so far (about three quarters-ish)

Not too bad. The tension seems okay and I figured out not to change the order in which the yarns come over or under after the first five rows or so. And that row near the top with white blue white blue white blue. I totally knitted that using the two handed technique! My continental tensioning continues to suck but I shall work on it as it's definitely faster than wrangling both yarns in my right hand. Best of all, I'm quite enjoying it! See what happens when you try stuff?

So when my hat yarn arrives I'll be ready to dive in. My only thought with the whole stranded colour work is that it essentially produces a double thickness knitted fabric, which is going to be maybe TOO warm for Aussie conditions. Then again, I am the chick who feels cold when everyone else is warm, so maybe that's a good thing.

So, one resolution progressing. My ankle is mending so hopefully I can get back into the spinning soon too! And in a fit of madness, I have signed up for Nerd Wars on Ravelry...eagerly awaiting my team assignment, so I have to make at least one project a month for the next few months.

Crafty resolutions

2012-01-07T16:23:00.002+11:00

It's a New Year and I've just gotten out of the walking boot that has been firmly attached to my right foot and limiting my world somewhat for the last three months...yep, I'm a klutz who busted her ankle! Not recommended. But it's on the mend now which hopefully means I'll be able to use my spinning wheel and sewing machine soon.

So herewith are some crafty resolutions for the year:

1. Decrease the fibre stash with more spinning
2. Knit with said homespun
3. Knit at least one pair of socks top down...I'm a toe up gal but hey, let's try the other way
4. Try some simple color technique (just because)
5. Make myself some more KIP bags

How about everyone else? What do you want to try this year, craft wise?

Shadow Kin yarns

2011-12-23T11:07:00.003+11:00

I posted about this over on the writing blog awhile back but now I have my very own stash of Shadow Kin yarns (colorways created by my sil based on my book).

So here's a squiz.

Can't decide which one I want to knit first....leaning towards Wraith or Half-Light

A tale of two shawls

2011-08-22T09:48:00.011+10:00

I've been busy busy with writing things (my very first book comes out in just over two weeks!) but have managed to finish two more projects. I get cold easily so I'm a big fan of wraps and scarves and shawls and am trying to bolster my supply.

Firstly...a small shawl...The Age of Brass and Steam shawl out of lovely soft PearTree supersoft merino. This is gorgeous snuggled around your neck. It's about 150cm at its widest point and 54cm deep.

Blocking

Finished

The second shawl is a bit bigger. Probably about five years ago, my sil gave me a lovely smallish shawl that I use as a writing shawl. I always liked the pattern (Landscape Shawl by Evelyn Clark) so when I came across it at Bendigo last year, I bought it. And realised that you could make bigger versions. Marry that with said sil also having some gorgous deep oceany blue green 10 ply for sale at the time and a project was born. I didn't get around to starting it until this year though but now it's done! It's about 170 cm wide by 93 deep, so quite a bit bigger. And that's without being the full pattern as I didn't have quite enough yarn. Nor have I blocked it terribly hard. It will be an extra snuggly shawl for writing or sitting on the couch in winter.

Unblocked

Blocking

Close up

Both of these were relatively speedy projects. The grey shawl, I knitted half of jetlagged on our day of waiting for our onwards flight to NY in LA and probably could've knitted the rest in another day or so if I'd had another marathon session. I did an extra repeat, so mine is bigger than the pattern. The Landscape shawl takes a little bit more concentration for the changing sections but grows fast once you get the hang of it.

Now I just need yarn to arrive to my next two projects. I'm doing a Knit along with a couple of fantasy loving friends for the Dragon Wing Shawl from Knitty (waiting for a skein of Dream in Colour Baby in Bermuda Teal) and I also signed up for the Knitspot Fall in Full Color club as I've always liked Anne's patterns and thought this would be a good way to ensure I make some of them. I did the pattern only option due to budget. The first pattern is a laceweight pattern but because I'm doing the shawl in a lace/light fingering, I decided to do it in 4ply, so I'm waiting on some more Dye My Pretties yarn from Stranded in Oz. I'm sure I said after Bendigo, no more yarn buying for awhile. Hopefully the next few Knitspot patterns can be accommodated out of stash! I'm still working on a pair of socks and a cabled scarf too...oh and another lace shawl. Need a clone army to get more knitting time!

Toe-ectomy (or a tale of knitterly denial and remorse)

2011-07-25T00:55:00.010+10:00

Well, having finished the green socks and then wearing them around yesterday, I decided they were definitely too big.

At first I contemplated just giving Dad a bonus pair of socks as they would probably fit him but then I wondered if he would actually wear two tone green socks. Plus said socks were knitted for me because I need more nice warm handknitted socks.

So, being a virgo, I went and did some investigating on Rav about other people's experiences knitting these socks. At first I thought the heel was too big (ie I needed to wrap a diff number of wraps next time or something) but then someone had mentioned that they got that problem when the foot was too long on their sock. Sure enough, when I pulled the sock forward so the heel fit nicely on my foot, the foot itself was suddenly revealed to be about an inch or more too long on both feet.

*HEADDESK* Don't ask me how I got a foot that much too long. A combination of swatching row gauge instead of using the toe plus somehow managing to think that round a 10.2 inch foot up to 10.5 made sense (rather than rounding down to 10, if not 9.5 as a sensible person who knows stuff like negative ease is required for socks (WHICH I DO) would do). Le sigh. Maths skills and logic were apparently taking the day off when I was setting up the socks.

Also, because of the construction of these socks, you can't really judge the fit until you've finished the heel and at that point I was in knitterly denial about the fit and just kept blithely on (next pair, there will be a life line before the heel and frogging if the same thing happens). Knitterly denial is a wonderful thing. Granted I wanted them as house socks but I didn't need house canoes.

Anyway, too long socks were the problem. As I knitted them toe up, it wasn't as if they were going to unravel nicely from the toe. But I was trying them on (still vaguely hopeful the problem would disappear like magic...knitterly denial again), I suddenly thought, well, Mel, if you threaded a lifeline through the row that hits your little toe where the toe would usually finish and snipped a stitch and then unravelled the toe, you could just start again from there and knit a top down style toe back on from that point.

And then I had to go have a fit of the vapours at the thought of CUTTING knitting. Scary stuff. But when I consulted with Melissa, the knitting guru, she seemed to think it was a perfectly sensible plan. And suggested just threading the circ back through rather than a lifeline. I will note that she has been knitting many more years than me and knows what she's doing with stuff like picking up stitches rather than winging it with much internet assistance like I do. But with confirmation that my plan wasn't complete lunacy, I had no excuse to back out and try plan B (which may have involved hot water and a tumble dryer).

So, I steeled my knitterly nerve and decided to try a toe-ectomy on one of the socks. With the cunning fallback plan of knowing that Melissa was coming to visit next week and could probably save my butt if I stuffed it up too badly. So I tried the sock on, worked out where my litte toe hit, reloaded the stitches, checked that I had 30 on each needle (my number after finishing the original toe ie I was starting at a point before I'd started the increase rounds for the sock), then snipped a single stitch below the reloaded row and started to unravel.

Which looked like this.

And then turned into this. Eeek! Toe-ectomy. (sorry blurry pic, was overcome with the vapours again)

I invite you to look closely at the bit I removed...see how much there is with straight sides after the curved bit...that's how much too long the sock was. Just to prove my knitterly denial.

At which point I had either just invented socks for pedicures or those weird toeless boots that are around this season or I had to carry on and re-knit the toe...okay, a more patient knitter than I might have skeined and washed the frogged yarn to unkink it at this stage but I figured waiting for it to dry might make me lose my nerve, so I skipped that bit. Given I have only attempted kitchener stitch twice in my life and didn't think I wanted to add that into the experience, I decided to kind of reverse engineer the star toe I'd just knitted for my new pair of socks, so that I could finish by just threading the tail through the last six stitches and pulling the toe tight. And lo and behold, it worked. I had a sock that now fits reasonably, if still a little wide given my assumed drift in stitch and row gauge. But definitely now wearable without vast pouches of excess fabric at my heel which were just going to remind me of my knitting fail every time I wore them.

So then I turned around and did it again on the other sock. Knitterly redemption! And lessons learned (plus now the cutting my knitting bit I have to do in the new pair of socks is far less scary).

A final pic of new improved green socks. Go me. I'm hoping the new socks are less traumatic.

More socks

2011-07-24T10:58:00.011+10:00

It must be sock finishing week as, lo, I have managed to finish another pair.

These are the Riverbed master pattern from New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book One by Cat Bordhi. Knitted in nice cushy 8ply Merino in various shades of New Greens and Blues by Stranded In Oz. I was worried about running out of the darker one so swapped to the lighter shade for the legs but I think, looking at how much yarn I used of the lighter, I might have almost made it (I'm hopeless at eyeballing how much yarn I have left). But I think they kind of look like the feet are wet, as though you stepped into a river, which is fitting given the name.

I found the pattern really easy to follow and fast to knit (yay for thicker socks), and even though these are a little big (purely due to me stuffing up somewhere in the calculations and nothing else), I'll definitely be making Riverbed socks again. They seem to fit my high instep very nicely and the heel is very easy to do. I could've frogged these back a bit and fixed them but I just wanted a nice warm pair for wearing with slippers round the house and they'll do that nicely. Plus I practiced cabling without a cable needle on the leg (which having just looked at this tutorial again, I realised I did a little bit wrong but hey, it still worked).

But next up, sockwise, I'm moving onto Cat's other book...Personal Footprints for Insouciant Sock Knitters: Book Two in the New Pathways for Sock Knitters Series and trying that method out. Which involves....eeeek......cutting the knitting at one point! It may yet require alcohol.

For those I have this lovely stuff:

Which is the new Mitey Sock by Stranded In Oz. The colourway is KDO serendipity, one of Melissa's random mixes...it makes me think of an underwater garden somehow.

Victory!

2011-07-17T10:42:00.004+10:00

The demon socks are finally done! I would have finished them in the US but stupidly did not take the first sock or make notes on where I changed colour for the leg after finishing the heel. But they are done now. And if I ever knit socks for my dad again, they're going to be 8ply. Men have big feet.

But yay, they are done so I can turn back to my other projects without guilt. Including some socks for me, given how cold Melbourne's winter is being.

And here is the proof. The pattern is Diamond Gansey from Socks from the Toe Up by Wendy Johnson. It's a nice easy pattern. I subbed in her gusset heel as I prefer those and I knitted these as 78 stitches, so added a stitch or two to the lace pattern. The leg is a 3x3 rib, so I increased another stitch each side in the middle of the row when I wanted to start ribbing.

Bendigo spoils

2011-07-16T14:15:00.022+10:00

Have been up at the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show today and this morning and thus must show off my stash enhancing aquisitions. I was relatively restrained (even though these pics may indicate otherwise)....

Bendigo Woollen Mills 8ply Alpaca...destined to be this scarf (and maybe the hat too).

Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury Merino 4ply...for a planned shawl. (more blue-grey than grey as it looks here)

More Bendigo Alpacas because it was on sale and pretty blue (probably another scarf of some sort)

A nostepinne (which one uses to wind skeins of wool into balls when one can't be bothered hauling out the swift and the ballwinder).

Moseley Park 70% Merino 30% Tussah silk fibre (Colourway is Balm)

Tarndwarncoort 4ply Polwarth

Handpainted Finn (4ply again, I think) Love this colourway...it looks like stormclouds. Am going to have to make a shawl out of this.

And now onto the Stranded in Oz pretties. Because, let's face it, I always buy more of Melissa's stuff whenever I come within fifty feet of it (or even just looking at it on the interwebs). She'd outdone herself this year, simply beautiful colours and yarns. I have pics of her stand too but will check with her before posting them.

This is her June 2011 Fibre Club fibre...Merino Lyocell in Melbourne Twilights (slightly pinker than this) and Black Diamond Bamboo

Silk Sock Yarn (Ocean Blues)...will probably be another shawl and once again this yarn falls somewhat foul of the hard to photograph certain blues and greens rule! It's even prettier in reality.

Superwash Merino 8ply (am making some handwarmers and then a matching scarf or socks)...and I will apologise for this shot as the greens just won't photograph true to life. It really is the most beautiful malachite/good green opal green with opaline blues.

And again in "Drama Queen"

Sterling Sock Yarn in Heaven (it sparkles...I must have sparkly socks!)

And more sock yarn that has lost its tag. I think it's the Dye My Pretties sock in Fairies in the Garden...

Btw, if anyone has SIOz yarn lust now, she's also doing the Craft and Quilt fair in Melbourne in 2 weeks time or there's the online store or she has a stall at the Port Adelaide Market in Adelaide every Sunday.

Some international yarn hunting

2011-06-24T05:10:00.009+10:00

So I am currently in New York, so naturally have to check out some local yarn stores to play with some American yarn...

So far have been to Purl Soho and scored these:

Spud and Chloe Fine Sock in Calypso (which is more aqua than this pic)

Madelinetosh Tosh Merino light in Pop Rocks (awesome deep pink)

And Knitty City where I added these beauties

Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in Bronzed Lake

And more Madelinetosh...this time the Pashmina in Ink (darker and more indigo than it looks here)

I think most of these are going to end up as shawls for me. I could do some serious damage to my credit card here but it all has to fit in the suitcase plus I have many beautiful yarns waiting for me at home too. Plus I want to have a little bit of money to spend at Bendigo!

Random pretties

2011-06-03T13:31:00.009+10:00

Have spent part of the morning playing with my yarn stash and my new camera so I can practice with the latter and get the former up to date on Ravelry so I stop deluding myself that I have made stash inroads. There is still plenty of yarn in the stash! Maybe I need to pic a project for each yarn and not let myself buy more until I have made some of them (er apart from NY and Bendigo and, um, the box I'm expecting from Stranded In Oz, any minute now.

But it's nice to have an excuse to fondle one's yarn. I'm picky about how yarn feels, particularly if I'm planning it to be something that will go anywhere near my face/neck where certain wools make me itch, so my stash is just a big bundle of pretty, nice feeling things. Like a rainbow of kittens that don't bite and scratch (or purr...ooh, purring yarn, that would be awesome! Like the living fur in Brothers In Arms.)

Anyway, having loaded all the pics onto my Rav stash, I thought I'd share a few here too. And I swear there are some things in my stash that are not blue, green or blue green. Really. Just not many. Need more pink.

Stranded In Oz Wool/Merino roving in Dark Matter (Am half way through spinning this, so this is what's left) This is from this year's fibre club.

Stranded In Oz Handpainted Wensleydale top in Bottle (ditto re fibre club)

Stranded in Oz Merino sock

Stranded in Oz Alpaca/Wool sock (have to knit something with this soon, so soft and squishy!) (last year's SiOz yarn club)

Knit Picks Shimmer Lace in Shallows

String Theory Caper Sock (with Cashmere! We likey) Bye Bye Blues (gifty from Melissa, I believe)

And now, back to the non yarny world!

Progress

2011-06-01T19:10:00.004+10:00

The second devil sock is about a third done. I can't always knit too long on a sock project as between mucho typing and teeny needles, I get sore hands. So I started a couple of thick needle projects. A nice snuggly shawl for me and a conversion of shawl project to cowl project for friend's well overdue birthday present (yarn didn't want to play nice with the lace). All this signals the usual May/June onset of knitting urge frenzy. I spun far more than knitted between October and April (as overdue present and devil socks will attest to) but, just like last year, as the weather gets chillier, my need to KNIT ALL THE THINGS suddenly gets out of control.

Which is not good when I'm on deadline and also because I have to limit my needle time to keep shoulder and hands happy. Still, progress is being made. I even had a small victory today in frogging. Now, I was taught the basics by my Mum when I was a small thing. The basics being casting on in one way, knit, purl, probably some sort of increasing and possibly k2tog decreases. That's about it. Back then, if I dropped a stitch or something, Mum fixed it for me.

Since taking knitting up again, I've been expanding my repertoire and learning from books and YouTube (all hail YouTube) and websites. I've picked up a lot of stuff, I can knit socks and lace and things but still sometimes feel like I don't know what I'm doing with basics like picking up stitches for heel flaps (I avoid this mostly as I prefer toe up) and yes, while I can pick up a dropped stitch, if I notice a mistake too far back, I've tended towards the "must rip out many rows to get to error and cry if you don't have a life line" school of repairs. I am not a gun knitter when it comes to such things (or anything really). Trust me, my sil is a gun knitter, my Mum is pretty good and my grandmothers both knit like the wind. Me, I muddle through.

But today I was knitting away on the cowl on the train (which I don't often do as most of my projects require too much referring to patterns) and noticed I had purled two stitches that should have been knit about three rows down, two thirds of the way along a row. At first I thought "Frak" followed by "no, lifeline, noooooooooo".Then I thought "pull yourself together, self, it's just two stitched, just drop them down and fix them". Which I proceeded to do. On the train, no crochet hook, just needles. Dropped 'em down, figured out which way made a knit stitch and fixed them. Go me!

Not a big achievement but a small step to understanding this whole sticks and strings thing a bit better. Now I just need to con said sil into showing me some of the other stuff and I'll be set.

Sad knitter

2011-05-20T10:26:00.008+10:00

Or dumb knitter. Or both.

The first demon/devil sock is done! Hurrah!

The second sock is started which would also rate a hurrah! but observe, if you please, the size of the red yarn ball.

I am thinking that is not enough to knit the whole foot of the second sock. D'oh and damn and blast. Of course, the yarn is discontinued (it is Elann Sock It To Me in Red/Burgundy (I think it's 7319) just in case anyone has a ball they would be willing to sell a dopey aussie knitter). Which means I either need to find a very close match here in Oz and offer Dad either that, or overdyeing them. And no, ripping and restarting is not an option, his feet are big! I would have to cry.

So I have posted of Ravelry that I am ISO of yarn and, in the mean time and because I need to knit something on slightly bigger needles and don't have the brain power for lace while I'm trying to also churn out many words on the wip, I started these.

Gorgeous cushy 8ply premium merino from Stranded In Oz I have 2 50 g balls which should be enough and I am going to knit both at the same time (not two at a time on the same needle) but work on one for a bit, then the other for a bit. That way if I get to a certain point and feel like I don't have enough yarn, I'm sure Melissa will have something else pretty in 8ply that will go nicely and I can do different coloured legs or something. I will defeat the evil yarn demons! The socks are my first attempt at a sock from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters. I'm doing the Riverbed architecture in probably a plain vanilla sock with ribbed leg. Hopefully I do not screw them up! The toe of the first may have a little boo boo in increases but as they are for me, I just fixed it how I wanted and moved on.

Sock saga

2011-05-08T09:07:00.006+10:00

I am a bad crafter lately, or maybe an absent crafter. Am officially running out of hours in the day. My spinning has progressed to half the Dark Matter.

I have started the second half on a new bobbin and hopefully one day it will be finished and plied. The weather is turning distinctly chilly which means the knitting yen is returning (I tend not to knit much in Australia over summer as it's hot...also because this summer I learned to spin instead). But before I can make anything for myself I have to finish a pair of socks for my Dad and a shawl for someone else. Dad's socks are one of those projects that just won't grow, dammit, even though I don't mind the pattern. The yarn is one that's nicer once it's washed, so a bit scratchy to knit plus men's feet are loooooooooonnnnnnggggg, I keep managing to have needle disasters (aka slipping out of the wool or dropping stitches randomly which I don't usually do), last night I failed the heel in the pattern completely and am now substituting a different heel and really, the thought of the second one waiting to be knitted is not that appealing. But we shall persevere! Hopefully my horrible suspicion that I may run out of the main yarn will turn out to be wrong....

But I am calling them the Devil socks in my head...see they even refuse to photograph nicely.

There are also discussions being had with the new cat over knitting etiquette. She's pretty good with the spinning wheel, she watches it and occasionally tries to tap the yarn (especially if one stops and has a dangly bit) but mostly leaves it alone. But the knitting apparently is all Dangly! Wiggly! String! Mine! so we have extreme knitting with bonus random doses of cat pouncing at the moment. I'm hoping she'll lose interest eventually, the other two never really thought it that fascinating...Tabasco mostly minded that I didn't always let him sit in my lap while knitting. Anyone else got a project that just won't die?

Finally

2011-03-25T20:50:00.004+11:00

There's has been a bit of a crafty hiatus due to general craziness around here and the need to keep my spinning wheel in my bedroom to keep it safe from the curiousity of a new cat. But she's calming down, so I've been doing a little bit of spinning again and, luckily, haven't completely forgotten how.

This is Dark Matter which is a wool/mohair blend from the Stranded In Oz fibre club this year. It spins beautifully and it turning out purty. The other half of the roving is mostly blues and greens so I think it will ply up pretty! Much spinning between here and plying though!

Mermaids

2010-11-28T21:21:00.005+11:00

Last spinning class today. We did silk (cocoons, caps/hankies, lap, tussah top and mulberry top) then angora, milk fibre, soy, bamboo, alpaca top, tencel, corn fibre and nylon glitz.

Tonight I came home and felt like going back to good old uncomplicated wool...so I decided to spin some of the fleece I dyed last week (third pic down). So far, so good, I think it kind of looks like mermaids.

Not sure how much yardage I'll get but hopefully I can ply it with silk thread or something to eke out the length.

Colour my world

2010-11-21T16:10:00.008+11:00

Here are the results of the dyeing adventures at spinning class today...these are all dyed with Landscape protein dyes, using the slather in dye, wrap in glad wrap, steam in a ziplock bag method.

My yarn, the colours are a little deeper than this but you get the idea

Some merino top...which is really a nice jade/malachite semi solid...a colour my camera refuses to photograph well

Some Finn/Corriedale fleece...this is getting close to felted maybe...will have to see what happens when it's dry and I can flick it.

Hopefully it's okay because I'll be interested to see how it spins up.

And some more fleece and ditto.

I managed not to dye myself, so go me! We also tried spinning suri alpaca (in locks...HARD plus the locks look spookily like human hair so it was hard not to feel you'd mugged some poor brunette and shaved her head), bamboo top/carded (ditto), kid mohair (pretty and nice to spin so it's a pity that mohair makes me itchy), cotton (well, Jo was brave enough to try that and the verdict was WORSE THAN THE ALPACA) then some of the other sort of alpaca which was do-able. After all that, it was kind of nice to go back to spinning some nice coated Finn/Suffolk fleece which I've mostly got the hang of. Yay for wool!

Next week is our last week where we shall attempt silk! Should be fun.

Excited!

2010-11-20T17:34:00.004+11:00

Because I have ordered one of these!

It's a Majacraft Pioneer and I can't wait for it to arrive! I've been spinning on an Ashford Mk1 Traveller loaner at home and using a Majacraft Suzie at my course. I really like the Suzie but between cat dramas and car dramas and various things, it isn't quite in the budget. The Pioneer is the next best thing and if I ever want to trade up to a Suzie or Suzie Pro, all the bits and pieces will fit. Plus my fellow inner nana embracer, Jo, has bought a Little Gem so I'll get to play with that too!

Tomorrow at class we're doing some dyeing. I'll probably manage to dye myself rather than the yarn!

This is one of the things we'll be dyeing...

Yarn flicked, spun, plied and washed by me. Not exactly sock yarn yet and it's kind of underspun in spots but yay, yarn! (From memory it's a Finn/Corriedale cross fleece which was pretty grubby). Currently spinning fron a Finn Suffolk which was coated and is much nicer to work with. Plus trying to master spinning top which the Traveller doesn't like so much!

To ply or not to ply

2010-11-07T16:31:00.003+11:00

We choose...ply! Because I think knitting with singles is for better knitters than me at this stage.

Today in our spinning course we plied the singles we'd spun over the week (well, I plied most of mine...I apparently spun more than would fit on one bobbin!)

And this is the result!

Not sure how many yards this is but it must be a few. It needs to be washed and then we get to dye it next class.

Of wheels and lanolin

2010-11-05T15:47:00.004+11:00

I started my spinning wheel course at the Handweavers and Spinners Guild of Victoria last week.

We're starting off spinning raw fleece (which means I smell like lanolin in a way I haven't since I was a teenager helping with shearing on a friend's farm)...and so far I have produced this:

So yay! It resembles yarn (though I won't show you the start of the other bobbin which had a few issues!) At the moment I'm using a Ashford Traveller Mk 1 on loan from the Guild and lustfully looking at pics of wheels on the internet. I think I like it better than spindling. It's kind of hypnotic despite the inevitable beginner frustrations!

On Sunday I'll learn to ply and move onto spinning top...we're lucky because there are only four of us in class, so we're getting lots of time with our instructor.

Candy coloured happiness

2010-09-26T15:05:00.004+10:00

I am seriously loving this teeny tiny spindle. I don't know if I was just at the point where I was about to make the leap to suspended spindling and finer spindling anyway or whether it is just that this is a great spindle but with this little thing, something has definitely clicked. Much more consistent, much finer. Plus it's small enough to carry around with you easily (as my critique partners found out yesterday!). Now all I have to do is resist spending a fortune on more turkish spindles. Not getting along quite so well with my other non-CD top whorl spindle. Not sure what's going on there. I shall persevere for a bit longer otherwise, I'll be on the hunt for a new one that suits me better (hard when you have to do things over the internet without trying!)

PS The pretty pretty pink fiber is Show Girl 100% Merino from Ewe Give Me The Knits

New toy

2010-09-25T09:30:00.003+10:00

Still spindling and couldn't resist the chance to try a different type of spindle when the lovely Jo gave me a Spun Out voucher for my birthday...resulting in this bit of cuteness...a Jenkins Turkish Delight in redheart. It's teeny (about 15cm high) so I have to spin fine but am getting the hang of it.

Still working on the purple fibre on the cd spindle. It takes a long time to spin stuff on spindles when you only have a few minutes a day but it is strangely relaxing. Next month Jo and I are doing the Intro to Handspinning course at the Handspinners and Weavers guild where we'll learn to spin on a wheel. Then I suspect we'll both be in trouble!

Spinning around

2010-09-02T21:24:00.018+10:00

And hello, I have remembered my craft blog. Or really, I hadn't forgotten it, I've just been kind of stupidly busy. Busy to the point of not even knitting for the last two or so weeks! Though that needs to change as I am making two things for other people and the probably want them before the searing heat of summer.

But I haven't completely abandoned my crafty endeavours...I've been trying something new! And we can once again blame Melissa aka the sil. Last year when I went to Bendigo for the first time, I spent a lot of time watching Melissa spin on a drop spindle and her friend Anne spin on a very cute spinning wheel (I think it's an Ashford Kiwi or perhaps a Joy). Now both Melissa and Anne are great spinners and spin teeny tiny fine yarn seemingly effortlessly and part of the back of my brain went "hah, that looks interesting" and another part went "Mel!! You do not need another hobby. Back away now". That part is bossy and won but I did have the odd conversation with Melissa about drop spindles.

(And I must confess I tried it out a little at Bendigo but really hadn't grasped the concept at all and was not what you would call an instant spindling genius...or anything other than total spindling klutz, really.)

This, for those of you who have never seen one (and I hadn't before I met Melissa) is a drop spindle (or several).

This eventually led to her sending me a cd drop spindle, which is a quick home made spindle (if you google there are many instructions on how to make these).

Then I looked at the cd drop spindle, thought "Mel!! You do not need another hobby." And safely tuckedit away in one of the yarn stash boxes for "one day." Though I did keep hearing the odd reference and thinking about the idea from time to time. As writer brains intrigued by things tend to do (sigh, writer brains have distinct magpie qualities....probably essential food for making stuff up but still, sometimes annoying).

Then I went to Bendigo this year. And again, there was Melissa spindling and Anne spinning and my friend Jo who came along thought it looked intriguing too and while I resisted buying anything at Bendigo, not too long after I gave in and, playing on the benefits of having a yarny enabler for a sil, asked Melissa if she had any cheapy fibre lying around that I could have to try (and she being extra awesome, sent me some). I also was looking at books (because being a true Virgo, one must!! research before trying something and remembered that I'd heard Elizabeth Bear talking about reading a book called Respect the Spindle on her blog), so checked that out, and found out that Abby Franquemont also had a few spindling demos on youTube etc, so I ordered the book and then, having learned that I am somewhat visual when it comes to handcraft, also ordered her DVD.

The book finally arrived about two weeks ago and last weekend I finally picked up the spindle (after more reading and watching of YouTube videos) and the fibre and gave it ago.

Hmmm.

My first attempt looked more like rope. Yes, really. Here's the evidence....

Told you I was not an instant spindling genius. But I did scratch my head and figure out that maybe I was using too much fibre at once, so I divided my roving (I think it's roving...I'm still not sure what you call all the different fibres) into thinner strips on Day 2 and tried again.

Not quite rope. But definitely on the chunkier end of yarn....

I'm using the park and draft method as recommended all over the place for beginning and over the first few days, started to understand how the twist travels (which was the bit I didn't really ever get in Bendigo the first time...logical brain though it should go down towards the spindle but it runs up towards the unspun fibre) but drafting the fibre to feed to the twist was a struggle (drafting is essentially pulling the fibres out thinly before they're twisted...the thinner the draft, the finer the yarn). So I watched a few more YouTube things and found one that helped a bit and the yarn was getting a little bit more consistent (I also decided that perhaps I needed another spindle and went and ordered a Greensleeves Bare Bones - that's the other thing about spindling...there are many, many, many pretty spindles out there).

But I kept persevering with the CD spindle (a little bit each day as it's one of those skills that relies on your muscles getting the hang of it, rather than your brain..like riding a bike). Yesterday Abby's DVD arrived (as did the new spindle) which looks like this:

(Pretty. I do love beautiful simple wooden things). Perhaps I was a Shaker in a past life. Or more likely, it's the inheritance of my wood carving Nana.

But apart from trying it out very quickly yesterday with some of the test fibre it arrived with, I knew I had to stick with the CD for a bit longer. Last night I was still having drafting issues. I've watched Melissa and Anne and people on the internet and the fibre just seems to slide out effortlessly. I felt like I was wresting and tugging and pulling far too hard and while I had some thin yarn moments, those were kind of flukes. Tonight though, I popped in my DVD and watched the first two segments and, lo there was a lightbulb moment! Which boils down to I was holding my hands too close together (if your hands are closer together than the length of the staple (hairs) of the fibre, it won't won't want to pull apart). So then I tried again.

Yay, something finally looking like decent width yarn:

Though it's still kind of inconsistent and a long way from being the gorgeous stuff M & A produce, at least I'm making progress. Though now I really also want to try a wheel because the arm doing most of the work with a drop spindle is my dodgy shoulder arm so I think a wheel might ultimately be more Mel-friendly. But in the meantime, I shall keep playing (and hopefully get to meet up with some nice Melbourne ravelry gals to practice/be taught a big more (given Melissa is inconveniently interstate!) with the spindles. (The fibre I'm using is Bendigo Readyspin in Damson).

And try not to buy too many. Cos they're pretty. You can make them out of all sorts of things. Look:

One of Melissa's gem spindles (yes, she makes them!)...more here. (Have I mentioned I also like gemstones? That's my grandad's influence!)

Another Greensleeves (I think this is an Ethan Jakob)...man, I love polished wood things.

This bit of gorgeousness is a Golding spindle.

Golding make GORGEOUS spindles. I may have a slight case of Goldings spindle lust just because they're so damn pretty. Plus I hear they're pretty good. And yes, spindle lust has commenced and this is why I did not need another hobby! And don't get me started on buying fibre!

Golding also make what might be the world's most beautiful spinning wheels...I mean, check this out:

Or this:

Seriously, those are art (they will customise them for you). Of course, they're not cheap so I will have to admire from afar until I win the lotto but really. I just have it in the house to gaze at. See, this is where letting yarny enablers lead you down the garden path gets you. Eyeing off $5000 spinning wheels or even just trying to figure out where in my house I can fit a normal wheel. And more stash boxes for fibre. Oh dear.

Bendigo spoils

2010-07-17T12:42:00.012+10:00

Yesterday the lovely Jo and I roadtripped it up to Bendigo for the annual Sheep and Wool Show. The weather cooperated and was cold but not rainy so we could drive and traipse around the show without fearing for our lives on the highway or getting soggy at the show.

As per last year, I was hardpressed to not try and kidnap an alpaca but I resisted the urge and instead we focused our efforts on stocking up on yarn (and some lovely soaps). So herewith the booty obtained:

Pear Tree Yarn's Supersoft 8 ply merino. Possibly destined for a small shawl of some sort. If I stop petting it.

Bamboo/Wool/Nylon sock yarn from Mosley Park. The colourway is called overcast and as we were driving back towards Melbourne in the late afternoon we decided it was well named as the sun just starting to set overcast sky was indeed these shades of pale blue and silver and sand-with-hint-of-pink.

Then of course, I had to raid Melissa's stall as she is my favourite yarn purveyor. All attempts at self control go out the window at this point.

4 ply premium Merino Sock yarn (Loch Ness) Maybe socks. Maybe a shawl.

3ply Merino sock yarn. (Sooty). Mostly likely a scarf or shawl.

Handpainted Kollage Fantastic (10 ply merino). Not quite sure yet. (Mid-Blues)

More Premium Merino Sock yarn in what I have decided is the world's most impossible colour to photograph. It's more emeraldy than this and a semi-solid I guess. Beautiful in reality.

And then there was this that batted its eyelashes at me and refused to be left behind.

Namaste Laguna in Peacock.

Then, of course, after forcibly dragging ourselves away from the show, there was the Mill to be visited on the way home.

Melody in the Sapphire colorway. This ball has friends but they didn't all want to be photographed.

To finish, the obligatory cute alpaca shot!

Idle hands

2010-06-20T19:01:00.004+10:00

Needed something to keep the hands busy while I mentally wrestled my last few chapters of plot into some semblance of working order (and while watching telly last night!)

Star Crossed Slouchy beret (pattern available from Ravelry) in the Dream In Color that arrived this week (yeah, yeah, resistance is futile, I know). Lovely soft yarn and my favourite shades of sea blues and greens. Very speedy knit (like six hours maybe?). Plus hey, I commited cables! Very easy cables but still, cables!

It will look a bit better after blocking but Mr. Wolf wanted to model it for you anyway. Must remember to throw some bigger needle projects in amongst all the teeny tiny sock needle knitting! Nice to see something grow so fast. And it can keep my head from freezing while waiting for the train!

Socked again

2010-06-19T20:38:00.002+10:00

Yay, another pair done. Next up, a pair for Dad (men have big feet!)

Pattern is Spring Forward from Knitty 2008, yarn is Stranded in Oz premium merino.

Stashing

2010-06-18T11:10:00.007+10:00

This week has been good for the arrivals of lovely new yarn. None of which I'm allowed to play with right now as I am trying to finish revisions and other things on the needles. Will see how long that resolve lasts.

But I can take pictures!

First, June's instalment from the Stranded In Oz One Hank Happiness Yarn Club...gorgeous icy blue semi solid wool/lyocell yarn. Destined to be the cute beanie you can see here. Which will require me figuring out the whole i-cord thing but I'm sure I can do it.

Next, Kollage Fantastic (lovely 100% Merino worsted?)

No plans yet...shall have to pick something and then acquire more! Gorgeous colour.

Third, Dream In Color Classy in Blue Lagoon from The Loopy Ewe to become a Star Crossed Beret (aka Mel learns to cable). It's definitely hat weather this winter.

And last but not least, some lovely merino DK weight for me to attempt some Cat Bordhi New Pathways socks. Also from Stranded In Oz. This having a hand dyer in the family is kind of awesome!

And hmm, am noticing a distinct color theme in my acquisitions which will surprise no-one who knows me and my love for blues and greens (I'm sure if I looked at all my stash right now there'd be about 90% these sorts of shades and combos) but think I shall have to be radical when I go to Bendigo and branch out!

Socked

2010-06-04T13:31:00.005+10:00

One UFO now finished! Inspired by the sudden cold snap in Melbourne which is making wool socks seem very appealing.

These are your basic toe-up sock based on Silver's Sock Class sock. The yarn is Elann Sock It To Me fingering weight. They need to be blocked (waiting for the Loopy Ewe to have my size back in stock...sock blockers being hard to come by in Oz) and I need to learn to take better notes on what I'm doing in case of long pauses between one sock and another lol I think the heels are different sizes and one cuff seems longer even though I think I counted the rows right. And they're possibly a bit big (didn't quite figure out the negative ease bit right perhaps). Oh well, it's just me wearing them and I don't care! They shall keep the tootsies warm.

Now have to finish my Spring Forward toe ups. Then I think a pair for my Dad will be next on the needles. Tossing up whether to do something simple or try something more adventurous....

All thumbs

2010-05-27T22:39:00.003+10:00

Wow, I have been neglecting this blog...though really it's probably not that much of a coincidence that the last post was around the time of my book sale.

Anyhoo, it's getting chillier by the day here in Oz, so have been hauling out the knitting again with the good intention of finishing off various UFO's so I could, you know, actually wear them this winter.

Instead I got distracted by the absolutely luscious merino/silk blend yarn that was the latest installment of my sil's yarn club and have been knitting away at a pair of gloves of the fingerless variety. Now, I started sock knitting, as I have mentioned before, on circular needles (first two but these days, I magic loop) so have never wrestled with dpn's but tonight...look...I made a thumb. On dpn's. Go me. Must admit it wasn't my favourite knitting experience ever (not helped by the fact that I possibly needed short DPNs cos I misplaced the ones that were meant for the project) but it was only for a few rounds and I did it. *is unreasonably proud of self*

Even managed to pick up stitches etc to carry on with the hand but now have to call it a night because tomorrow there is diving into revisions and I need some sleep. Plus I need to not knit too much because I end up with sore hands. Boo to whiny appendages!

*Yarn is Stranded In Oz silk/merino blend in Woodland Creatures.

Way over the rainbow

2010-02-27T12:38:00.003+11:00

This is the first yarn from my clever sil Melissa's yarn club.

Hopefully I'll get time to knit over the next few months in between writing madly!

You can still join the yarn club and get your hands on this pretty and the accompanying pattern! Head on over to Stranded In Oz.

Turning Japanese

2010-01-30T22:03:00.002+11:00

Today I did something a bit different. A class in Japanese patchwork at Kimono House. A class in hand-pieced Japanese fabric. Hand quilting and piecing, by the way, are things I admire but don't have much interest in doing big projects in.

But these are cute and you can put them together in units as small as one for coasters or a few for a runner or placemats or a wall hanging or, if you have far more patience than me, a quilt.

I'm going to start with a few and see how things go. These are my two practice blocks from today. I think I'm going to switch to something other than white for the sashiko trim, the white is too stark against the buff tones in the fabrics.

Pretties

2009-12-20T10:15:00.006+11:00

Now that I've delivered these to their very patient owner (the lovely Robyn who writes historical romance hence the pretty regency-ish fabrics) as a much belated birthday gift, I can show them off here.

Make-up/jewellery/bits and pieces purses:

These are fun to make as they don't take long individually, are made from easy to cut rectangles and squares and help perfect your zip techniques. Plus, they're all based on free internet tutorials (yay for people who post tutorials)!

Back left - Sweet Treat bag by Moda

Back right - Wet bag (ie vinyl lined for anything potentially spilly) from Little Birdie Secrets' tutorial (First time sewing vinyl which was interesting...may have to order some different kinds online to experiment seeing Oz stores don't seem to carry much that's lighter than heavy tablecloth weight...I used a shower curtain.)

Front - Two pouches which are size variations on Rousabout Is Vera Jean's lined pouch tutorial, which is a very flexible pattern in the size and shapes you can produce.

The fabrics are a quilting weight and I interfaced it for the rectangular pouches.

PS, In true virgo twin freakiness fashion, Robyn had just bought a gorgeous summer dressing gown in very similar fabric lol So now she'll be all elegant and co-ordinated in the mornings when travelling.

Taking a stab

2009-11-22T12:51:00.006+11:00

I did my sashiko (which means little stabs, insert groan at title pun here) class yesterday and it was great.

Sashiko is quite simple but there are some tricks to getting it all to look good, so worth taking a class. I did mine at Kimono House in Melbourne. It's not worked with a hoop so the tension is important (which effects how you work the stitches/change directions etc hence the handiness of a class). But not being worked with a hoop also makes it very portable. You really only need your thread, material and needle/scissors (and you can precut the threads so you could even live without scissors...so you might be able to take it on a plane perhaps? Will have to check out the Aussie stance on a sewing needle (knitting needles and crochet hooks are no go).

Sashiko designs are stencilled onto the fabric first, then you stitch them. I've previously only really done cross-stitch before so it was relaxing just to have to follow the stencil and not think too much. Quite meditative plus easier to do while watching TV or something as it doesn't require quite as much focus. You make several stitches with your needle at a time (or more than that with a straight line design) so it's relatively speedy too. I'll definitely be doing some more!

Here's my progress to date...

Tomorrow

2009-11-20T21:05:00.004+11:00

Tomorrow I'm going here to learn how to do this:

(Photo from Handmaiden)

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a sucker for blue. Pair it with white and I'm generally even happier. And I love the simplicity and elegance of Sashiko designs.

So yay! I shall report back.

While we're in completing mode

2009-11-07T15:18:00.008+11:00

Obviously I am productive gal today because, besides finishing my book draft (woot!), I also finished one of the bags from my class.

This is the Hobo by Nicole Mallalieu. It's a nice easy to put together pattern with some good skills to learn in straps, putting in a zippered gusset (my first go at this) and various pocket options.

The fabrics are both quilting weights from Spotlight (the outer being more blue and green than mostly blue like in these). Looking forward to giving it lots of use.

Strap detail (antique brass-y O rings also from Nikki's shop) with improving topstitching abilities by me, thanks to Nikki's tips!

The gusseted zip (which I like a lot, I'm fond of zips for bags).

And a glimpse at my couldn't-resist-it silly smiling skull and crossbones lining (and zip pocket). Maybe a pirate bag will attract a pirate (hey, a girl can hope *g*).

Progress

2009-11-01T11:59:00.005+11:00

Had a great time in class* yesterday, despite Melbourne turning on a heatwave (and a blackout for about an hour or so in the middle of our class!). Learned heaps about the tricky bits and finishing secrets for bags (zips, straps, structured bases) and made progress on, but did not finish either of mine, so will have to keep sewing over the next few weeks.

Nikki is a great, relaxed, fun teacher with oodles of knowledge. Hopefully one day I can do one of her longer bag courses.

Given I can't show off a finished product, here's a glimpse of a bag in progress.

*I did the one day A Sharper Edge course.

Preparing

2009-10-30T11:10:00.007+11:00

Sorry for the radio silence, I have been uncrafty Mel for a bit while I wrestled with the book and got back into the day job swing of things. But tomorrow I'm off to Brunswick to do a bag class with Nicole Mallalieu (yay!), so have been doing some homework....

Hopefully by the end of tomorrow I'll have two new bags to show off. Then I have make-up bags to make (sorry, Ms R but I swear they're next on the list), a quilt to bind (now that it's turned warmer, I might even be able to use it as my summer quilt if I get organised), socks to knit and a Babette blanket to start as a summer crochet project (in the vain hope that I'll do all the squares and be able to sew it together when it starts turning cold next year). And I still have yet to make one of the Creepy Cute Ami's who re-ignited my knitting/crochet yen earlier this year. Plus I've signed up to do a Sashiko embroidery class next month at Kimono House. Who knows what that'll lead to.

I got the blues

2009-08-04T11:25:00.009+10:00

Look what arrived in the mail yesterday....

Skeins of blue and green deliciousness. Beautiful ten ply Australian Merino hand painted semi solids done by the clever clever clever sil (who will be at the Sock Summit this weekend and is doing the rounds of other US shows over the next few months if any of you US types want some pretties of your own). All destined to be made into a Babette blanket over time. It's going to be a long term project because it's almost FOUR kilometres of wool, people. But it will be very very pretty. Until then I just have to hug it and pet it and call it George because seriously it's like all my fave colours in yarn. (well, all my fave blues and greens). My own little tropical ocean.

And now I'm thinking I need a swift and a ball winder....

Experimenting

2009-07-30T18:35:00.001+10:00

This is what I'm doing with the first of the wool I scored at Bendigo.

It's the Spring Forward pattern but I'm doing it toe-up, so it's my first go at converting a pattern. So far it's coming along well. I'm actually further along than this photo, almost done with the first cuff. It's my first lace sock and is turning out to be a quick knit. Nice easy to memorise lace pattern. Unlike the scarf I'm working on which is pretty but has a 10 row pattern in which five are lace and each of those is different. Not hard lace but not really memorisable so it gets worked on a bit at a time. The wool is prettier than in the picture, subtle mauve and pink and blue and grey...kind of like early dawn or something.

Hopefully I'll get it done a bit more quickly now that I'm on vacation (woot!).

Purple, purple oh where for art thou purple

2009-07-29T18:22:00.001+10:00

I made my sil a bag. She wanted purple, fair enough it's her favourite colour. Turns out a good purple is hard to find right now. There's lots of lavender and mauve and some weird darker warmer...almost yellowy purples, plenty of burgundy but nice deep cool purple was pretty hard to hunt out. Not that hunting through fabric stores is a hardship (though sometimes a danger to the credit card). So note to fabric designers...make with the purple.

Anyway, this is the finished product. It's the Expandable Tote from U-Handbag. It's a bit fiddly but turns out really nicely. I think I might have to make one for myself, it's really roomy if you undo the ties and very cute tied up.

Booty

2009-07-18T18:54:00.000+10:00

So much yarn, so little time. My spoils from the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show. And this doesn't include the yarn I bought because apparently I'm thinking about knitting an actual garment. This may be insane. And all Melissa's fault as she painted most of this. And infected me with knitting germs. Oh and I also bought soap.

Tales of cute alpacas over at the writing blog.

Up or down

2009-07-08T19:18:00.000+10:00

One of my works in progress is learning to knit socks. (Yes, weird urge but follow the creative urges etc etc).

My first pair was made toe up on two circular needles. My second pair is in progress. It's toe up on one circular (magic loop). Traditionally socks were knit cuff down on four double pointed needles. DPN's just seemed like an invitation for me to drop stitches like a lunatic and possibly stab myself in the process. And toe up seemed logical (plus you get to avoid the dreaded heel flap/turn/pick up/gusset process that made my eyes cross when I looked at cuff down patterns).

But the other day I thought "I should try cuff down just to see". (I think the sil was feeding me knitting germs with the food in Adelaide). I hadn't gone completely insane, so I decided to do a little cuff down sock (the Class sock from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks).

I've finished it now and can I just say I am VERY glad I started with toe-up. Cuff down is fiddly (of course, your mileage may vary and I accept it might be easier on a full size sock) and some of the instructions almost melted my brain. (I think I need to get the sil to demo some of it to me). But I did it. Turned a heel, picked up stitches, grafted a toe.

Here's the wonky proof (sue me, I couldn't be bothered knitting all the bits full length when I was interested in the how rather than the end result). Also, apologies for the slightly dark photo.

I doubt I'll be knitting many cuff down socks but hey, at least I know how.

Let there be lace

2009-07-04T22:21:00.000+10:00

I finished my first lace knitting (well, apart from a wonky dishcloth). Woohoo. I never really contemplated knitting lace but I quite enjoyed it.

This is the morning snack scarf pattern, which was nice and easy as an intro to lacy things (though I still managed to screw up a few times and have learned the value of lifelines in lace knitting (it's pattern every row with no purl row so not easy to pick up if you have to frog).

It's a little short even though my yarn had more yardage than the pattern said. It's a cotton and nylon mix (Filatura di Crosa Brilla) so it's not really going to grow. If I did it again, I'd probably grab two balls. But it's still a pretty thing to wrap around the neck.

I'm working on another scarf that's a bit more complicated lace. That's growing slowly as I'm only game to do one or two repeats a time then I stop and thank my lucky stars I didn't mess up. Plenty of lifelines going on there too.

Practical sewing

2009-06-25T22:10:00.000+10:00

It's nice when two hobbies collide. Because of starting with the crochet and knitting again, I have several projects on the go. And a rapidly increasing collection of knitting needles and crochet hooks.

All of which require project bags and storage. Hey, I can make those, thinks me (though okay, I caved and actually bought myself a knitting bag...a lovely Namaste Malibu in Peacock but mostly because I really liked it as a handbag...I have this handbag problem and one of my faves came to a cat induced unfortunate end recently).

So last weekend I did some experimenting. And then I realised that maybe the superknitting sil probably should be the first recipient given she's gives me good deals on wool and needles and is partly responsible for me taking this stuff up again. She likes dogs and retro prints, and now that Australia Post has delivered them I can reveal:

Knitting needle roll (all circular needle sized)

There's heaps of knitting needle roll tutorials on the web and I took ideas from a few of them to come up with this one. I'll probably tweak it a bit more when I make one for me.

And then a couple of project pouches. The rectangular one is also a mash up of some internet tutorials and a Lazy Girl designs pattern I had. I was aiming for a square so need to change the measurements a little. More tweaking when I do it for me. The pyramid purse is based on this free pattern by Nicole Mallalieu. I made mine bigger (from memory a 22 by 40cm rectangle) and the size came out about perfect for a small project like socks with one ball of wool and your circulars. Or a crochet project. After I make some for me, I'm going to try some drawstring project bags too. Small projects like this are great because you can do them in a couple of hours. When you spend a lot of time doing long projects like say, writing novels or making quilts, small fast projects are a good way to get that nice sense of "yay, done".

A new skill

2009-06-25T12:01:00.000+10:00

So lately I've started to knit again but also I've been learning to crochet.

Mostly because I found this guy in a market and thought he was adorable and worth learning to crochet for.

He's from Creepy Cute Crochet by Christen Haden which I promptly acquired. Since then I've been practicing and getting the hang of the whole hook thing. My mum didn't crochet neither did either of my grandmothers so I never learned growing up.

So far I haven't made a creepy amigurumi yet but I did make this little dude the other day.

He's Roman Sock's elephant pattern (I think her ami's are some of the cutest round the web). I used Patons Zhivago which is slightly fluffy and learned a lesson about the difficulty of seeing stitches clearly when working in slighly shiny slightly fluffy yarn. Which means he's a slightly wonky heffalump but he's still pretty cute. I'm still getting the hang of working in the round and doing spirals (much counting of stitches) but I'll get there. I've also been practicing granny squares and increases and decreases as homework from my crochet class. I think a wampyr buddy for my Adelaide Drac is next on the list now that I've acquired some non shiny non fuzzy black and white yarn.

Inevitably the returning to yarn-y crafts means I've discovered Ravelry (I'm bookgal71 if anyone's on Rav). Seriously, when it comes to crafty things, the internet is a fabulous invention. Tips, advice, techniques, videos (I'm a surprisingly visual learner when it comes to knitting and crochet. For some reason I really need to see things for them to click. Some weird hand/eye link), more free patterns than you can poke a stick at and general goodness to keep me inspired and help me try stuff out.

Hopefully this blog will track some of my adventures along the way.

Mel-Made

Resolutions...amended

Colour steps

Crafty resolutions

Shadow Kin yarns

A tale of two shawls

Toe-ectomy (or a tale of knitterly denial and remorse)

More socks

Victory!

Bendigo spoils

Some international yarn hunting

Random pretties

Progress

Sad knitter

Sock saga

Finally

Mermaids

Colour my world

Excited!

To ply or not to ply

Of wheels and lanolin

Candy coloured happiness

New toy

Spinning around

Bendigo spoils

Idle hands

Socked again

Stashing

Socked

All thumbs

Way over the rainbow

Turning Japanese

Pretties

Taking a stab

Tomorrow

While we're in completing mode

Progress

Preparing

I got the blues

Experimenting

Purple, purple oh where for art thou purple

Booty

Up or down

Let there be lace

Popular

Practical sewing

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