Anticipating Interweave

Well the new Interweave Knits mag has been previewed - and seeing as I subscribed several weeks ago in a fit of knit-fever I'm expecting mine in my letter box any moment! (a little wishful, you think?) In the meantime I've checked out the sneak-peaks at the Interweave website. And I have a clear favourite :)

The Belle Cardigan - Mmmmm, yes, look at the chunky yarn and the hour-glass shape!

Big over-size buttons.. vintage perhaps? yes.. I'm liking it more and more!

And the ribbed waistline, defining the womanly curves - verra nice :) I don't know if I'd knit it with the puff-tastic sleeves, maybe just as a vest - but I like it :)

shhhrug!

(no spoilers)

Alright, I admit it.. It has again been a long time between finishing a much anticipated knitted delight, and posting about this said delight.. I'M SORRY! *throws self at feet of knitting gods* Please do not strike me down with your smoting sticks of smotey-ness for my seemingly disinterested attitude to my Finished Knits!

Here! Here is my offering to you!
My Gryffindor Two-Tone Shrug from Steph Japel's Fitted Knits!!

Hehe, no picture as yet of me sporting the snuggly warm shrug itself, the mattress shot will have to do for now *grin* Skoot's decided, since seeing me in the lovely shrug, that it should be renamed from a 'shrug' to a *ahem* 'booby bragger'. He thinks it a little unfair or unnecessary that someone as endowed as myself should draw any further attention! haha but I say FIE! FIE to the bosom etiquette of our society!! *shakes fist in air*

I had knit the Two Tone Shrug in anticipation of the two exciting Harry Potter premiere's that are now one and dusted - the Order of the Phoenix movie and the most exciting debut of The Book, the FINAL book! (Which I enjoyed very much but shall not speak of in case any folks are still reading!)

My lovely mate Bink and I went to both these events in full Hogwarts worthy attire (you can see our early EARLY morning drink above, this was before our breakfast spot was even open to serve us!), which required me to not only finish the shrug in time (does binding off in the line outside the cinema and then finishing off as the credits rolled count?!) but also whip up a little be-ribboned Gryffindor glory too.

It has a very castanettey spanish feel about it :) I likes it!

So more shrug photos to come, and I will make them more satisfying shots too :) I wasn't altogether over the moon with it when I first tried it on, a bit of a let down I must say, but now I'm much happier with it. At first I had thought it a little too large - bit too baggy at the arms, but on reflection if I had done the size smaller it would have probably been too tight.. so this is the lesser of two disappointments - and SO WARM! So I'm loving it :) Have even worn it to work once already... and might wear it tomorrow too actually...

Secret Pal 10 Finale!

Well my GOODNESS! What a delightful package I had awaiting my arrival home yesterday!!

As you are fully aware, my kick-arse Secret Pal Karen is COMPLETELY fabulous in every way and her packages have always utterly spoilt me and left me gabbling and ranting my thank-fulness and glee at all the goodies and treats! And suffice to say this finale reveal package was no different!!

Just look at all those lovely gifties!! I really CANNOT fully express how lucky I feel, how spoilt, appreciative and thankful :) But I guess I'll try.. hehe *wink*

See those colourful stripes at the bottom of the photo? Those are HAND KNIT MITTS!! How completely awesome is that?! They fit perfectly (like a glove, some would say) and are SO beautifully made - Karen you're brilliant :) They're just the thing for those cool evenings when the house is warm enough, but my fingers are feeling a little too cold to knit, much to my dismay! Well, I shall no longer be kept from my knitting by frosty fingers! =D

So many other treats; spritely fairy pencils (I'm using one at work right now!), fun-fun magnetic dogger bookmark clips, a mini jumper keyring - in aussie colours no less!, jotter pad, maple leaf Canadian travel tissues and an awesome Oriental rug bookmark! It's truly ruly woven out of threads and such, in the pattern of a 1600s Isreal rug! Yeah, Mum, I'm watching you there... I'm aware it would look lovely in a dolls house... *grin* hehehe

Karen again used her amazing powers of psychic knitterly connection and gave me a knowknits knitting pouch!! I'm so thrilled!! And what a COLOUR! I bet you're liking it Cindy! Vibrant Acid Crazy-Apple Green - Yum!! And what's that poking out of the bag, I hear you ask?

** KOIGU **

Oh. Goodness. Gracious. I must have gone all quiet after my first gasp of recognition after opening the skein-shaped parcel because Skoota looked up from near-by to see what was up! I have been longing for Koigu for SO very long, but never felt comfortable purchasing over the 'net as I wasn't sure on colourways. So I've always kept Koigu and Socks That Rock up on a pedestal - yarns that I will reward myself with when I reach personal goals or to celebrate special times. So I am absolutely thrilled to bits that my first encounter with the luscious koigu was at the hands of my delightful new friend Karen :) THANK YOU! I've taken a bazillion photos of the snuggle-worthy skeins and will surely post more as I continue to gaze upon their loveliness!

I have thought about what I'd like to knit from them - perhaps a clapotis? I have about 300m, 2 skeins, will I be able to fashion a slap from that do you think? I imagine the yarn would be so well shown-offin a pattern like that. A simple pattern so as not to detract from the colour variations.

And on that blissful note, I shall return to the normal world of reality, and leave my dreams of delicious knitting safely tucked away in my new knowknits bag, until next time :)

Another HUGE thank you to Karen for being such a fabulous Secret Pal, my first ever!, and spoiling me so very well with SUCH generosity!! I'm am absolutely delighted to count you amongst my knitterly mates! :) *big hug*

Cap'n Sash

Last night Skoot and I scooted out to the Surplus/camping store to rustle up a few necessities for the sweetie - a nice thick pure wool coat, new beanie and a back-pack he can put his tools into for work (instead of the stupid shoulder bags they all tend to use! Gah! Excuse me, spine?!) .. we found all these items.. and something a little more.. *grin*

Allow me to introduce my lovely new hat, my Cap'n Hat, gifted to me by my Shweetum :) - It just screams Moby Dick and conjures all visions of oldy worldy sailing ships and such!

Also, I find it very stealthy with my black coat - hence the appropriately Spy-vs-Spy photo!

Will you walk into my parlour said the knitnutt to the ply...

Last night I plied the bobbins of singles together with much fervour and flurried foot treadling action!

Until, that is, one of my bobbins ran out! Augh! It's often the way that one bobbin, though they are seemingly similar in their rotund plumpness, is actually not as long as the other.

So this left me with one and, unfortunately, a half bobbins of deliciously plied scummy Sea Lavender merino! Mmmmmm...!

Nothing like some evening spinning with a fluffy-tiger-pants-wearing honey in the background! *grin*

Our Lovely Ms Goat approves of the outcome, as do I! :)

Swimming in Sea Lavender

Not much mental/emotional capacity for words, so some pictures and brief blurbs will hopefully suffice :) Gripped with the uncontainable urge to SPIN late last week and all this weekend, I cleared out my studio, unpacked boxes and arranged furniture in a mad scramble to produce a clear, spin-worthy environment. Took some lovely fleece, some of my loveliest in stash, the Treetops Colour Harmonies in Sea Lavender, gifted me by Skoot for my birthday this year.

Using the wheel I still have on hire from the Guild (I'm on the look out for my very on Ashford Traveller) I spun up first on bobbin..

...Then a second a little later.

My desire is to make a little bolero or such from the yarn I produced with the lovely fibre, but I don't know if I'll have enough =\ I had spun the yarn at a certain thickness/thinness and varying that width of thread, with the intention of plying the two bobbins together to create a lovely rustic style, artful type yarn. But now I wonder whether that will leave me enough to make the desired shrug or bolero from.. I'd like to make an article I can wear, rather than just an accessory like beanie, scarf or neck-warmer...

I have some silk throwsters waste in the matching colourway and am thinking I'll spin the remaining amount of fibre with this silk as well, to give a different texture to that yarn. I will then hopefully use this silky, textured, exciting yarn at the cuffs or border of whatever I make. I cracked out the drum carder and tried carding the silk a little - as it is so densely tangled as the throwsters waste. And it worked fabulously!

Silk is a very strong fibre, I hear, which proved itself as I was carding, it doesn't appear damaged at all, but much fluffier and, hopefully, more easily spinnable post-carding!

You can see here the carded silk on the left, and un-carded on the right. It's good to finally get some use of the drum carder too :) More carding, spinning and plying will follow soon, but for now there's a rather exciting book I'm still devouring...

Scattergories

I've always been a huge board-game fan, so when I saw the Scattergories meme on Claudia's blog I had to jump on the wagon!!

Here are the rules:
~Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following.
~They MUST be real places, names, things…NOTHING made up!
~If you can’t think of anything, skip it.
~Try to use different answers if the person before you had the same 1st initial.
~You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Your Name: Sasha

1. Famous Singer/Band: The Shadows
2. 4 letter word: Smug (yes, that's right, I'm staying OUT of the gutter, thankyou...)
3. Street Name: South Tce
4. Colour: Silver
5. Gifts/Presents: Soaps
6. Vehicle: Sugar! (the name of my lovely '61 Holden) - or if you want to be technical,
7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: uhm... Souvenirs...
8. Boy Name: Sascha (Russian)
9. Girl Name: Samantha
10. Movie Title: Some Like It Hot
11. Drink: 'Shake
12. Occupation: Steel fabricator
13. Celebrity: Santa Claus
14. Magazine: Skateboarding (that's truly it's title)
15. Australian City: [amended this one from U.S City] South Hedland
16. Pro Sports Teams: So out of my depth here!
17. Reason for Being Late for Work: Sick, Slow traffic, snowed-in!
18. Something You Throw Away: Snotty tissues
19. Things You Shout: Sorry!!
20. Cartoon Character: Smurfs! (or should it be 'Smurves' in plural...? hehehe)

See how fun that was?! hehe

In other news, I'm thinking I'll continue with the shawl as is, doing the SSKs purlwise.. if I can figure out how to do so! It's awfully tempting to swap back to normal SSKs but for the rest of this part of the lace I'll do them purl-wise. When I get into the Lily of the Valley borders I'll start doing them knit-wise :) That sounds like a plan!!

Thank you all for helpful comments and suggestions :) Much appreciated in my hour of need!

OH no.

Oh yes.

Within days of Knitty-Bitty Michelle posting about her lace SSK dilemma I TOO am experiencing this woe!!! I cannot believe it!? can you?! IT'S INSANE!!!

Alright, I'm calm enough to look at this rationally. I think (think) I've been doing my SSKs for the swallowtail shawl incorrectly all the way along. I think (think) I've been slipping the stitches purl-wise. Problem is (and the reason I've been emphasising the THINK part so much!) that it's been so long since I've knit on the shawl that I can't even remember how I've been knitting it!!!

*sigh*

So.. tell me, please, if you know - How different does an SSK slipped purlwise look from an SSK slipped knit wise?

I would be inclined to continue knitting my SSKs the same way, purl-wise, exactly how I advised Michelle that I would do in her predicament, but now I find myself failing terribly at my attempts to carry them off! It feels so clumsy trying to knit them! And seeing as I can't even remember which way I did them.. Well.. I do recall thinking it was odd that an SSK had you slip one stitch, then another, when they could just say slip 2 stitches etc.. So i must have been slipping them purl-wise, otherwise I would have seen that, knit-wise, one must slip them one by one for ease of manipulation.

*sigh*

Alright, I feel quite tired so won't think or act on it anymore at present. But please, if you have any helpful suggestions do let me know!!

p.s. I am brightened by looking at my shiny happy new shirt, purchased the other day on an absolute walk-by impulse.

I actually did a double take and had to race back to the store exclaiming "RAINBOW BRITE!! I don't BELIEVE it!!" She is such a hero and idol of mine - I've adored her since I was a littlie :) For the last few years I've been trying to figure out how to get my hands on Rainbow Brite clothes, shirts, lunchboxes, and other such goodies and had basically resigned myself to printing them myself or making iron on transfers, et VOILA! There she is! hehe :)

Well washed Spoilee

I am SUCH a lucky Secret Pal Spoilee =) The other day I was finally packing my Parcel#1 goodies away in my stash and so on, and spent a little while just holding and fondling the hand-knit wash cloths (in an admiring way, not a creepy way!) I thought on how special it was that somebody knit this item especially for me, and put their time into doing it meticulously and artfully.

And I hesitated to put it in the bathroom. I looked down at it and held it a bit tighter, but then I set my mouth firmly and said in my head "No. I always preach to my knitted gift face/dish cloth recipients that they MUST use them! They were knit to be USED not to sit about ornamentally, however adored. And I will not be a hypocrite on this matter." And with that I walked resolutely to the bathroom and hung it on the rail.

And I've used it, I promise ;) It's gotten wet and soapy, wrung out and everything!

Not only did lovely Karen be-gift me the squidgy washcloths, but part of parcel#1 also included some of the yummy organic cotton itself! 2 soft and textured balls, one a pale sage colour, the other in the same mottled green and brown of her gifts!

I wasn't sure immediately of what I wanted to knit with the cotton - I had in mind some more gifty face/dish cloths ("fisht cloths") or some baby items for some up'n'coming new little people I wil be meeting in October (a close frined, and my cousin are both expecting then!) but wasn't set on anything.

Then I found on the very ball band itself, a pattern for the cutest little pair of baby booties!! You can see them in the picture above, on the Sage coloured ball band. So I cast on straight away and they've come along so quickly!! I'm already ready to seam up the first pair! I think a lot of these little munchkin booties will be coming off my needles in the following months !

The pattern even includes a French version along with the English! Oh! To be able to speak French again! I must get out my books and start learning again to bring it all back. Must learn to read knitting patterns in French!! =D

Grandad's Birthday Neck-Tie!

It has been FAR too long that I have left this fun finished knit without a blog post! And I shall now finally remedy that herein!!

A few weeks after finally (FINALLY!!) finishing Grandad's pressie we were able to make a time to catch up with Gran and Grandad for the gift-giving! The knitted item I had been working away at so frantically, my fingers whittled down by the tiny little sock needles, was indeed a self striping sock yarn NECK TIE!!

My Grandad is a big fan of bow ties and I remember always seeing him in a different one at Christmas and Birthday gigs while growing up :) So I decided that while I couldn't quite master a bow tie, I could quite easily adapt a sock pattern to become a tie! So I started with a short row 'toe' very VERY pointy! And from there I knit a section of 'tubing' so to speak, round and around then decided it was time to start the shaping. I worked out how much width I wanted to decrease over what length of the tie, and what that translated to in terms of stitches. From those calculations I was decreasing 1 Stitch every three rounds and off I went!!

Round.. and around... and around..

Finally I was at the desired skinniness sufficient to continue at that width for the long tie-able part of the tie! So again...

Round.. and around... and around..

With only 4 stitches on the needles! Fiddley!! And finally it was complete! =D I decreased sharply for the little triangle point at the end of the tie, et voila!

Grandad was absolutely chuffed with his hand-knit neck tie and put it on straight away! The contrast with the shirt he was wearing isn't ideal, but the tie works very well I must say!! We caught up this weekend just past for my Uncle's 50th, and Grandad explained that he had been very tempted to wear the tie, but didn't in case it dangled too dangerously into the bbq!! A very wise decision, and a man who respects hand-knit goodies!! =D

I'm very glad I created and gifted a hand-knit to Grandad for his Birthday :) I'm hoping to hand knit at one item for each of my near-and-dear loved ones. Better get knitting!!

p.s. Happy Birthday Grandad! =)

Motocross Knitta!

The last two weekends Skoot and I have headed out to more remote and bush-covered areas to indulge in our Trail Bike obsession. I've yearned for a motorbike since I was about 8 years old, and after making the decision earlier in the year to take home two frisky trail bikes (not road bikes - as we value our existence and refuse to put our lives in the hands of negligent drivers) we have never looked back!

Every time we go riding we get out of the city, out to the 'wilderness', doing something active, muscle-toning and exciting, and doing it together, sharing times together doing something we love.

Skoot's much more experienced than I, but I've been coming along in leaps (literally) and bounds and am now much more confident on the bike, corners and in the wet - which is just as well seeing as the last two weekends have seen us mud-covered and drenched!

Weekend before last I learned an important lesson to add to my TrailBikeExperienceSet...

Wet logs and roots are not your friend.

I, of course, learnt this the 'hard way'. Wet log = slippery, UBER slippery, and the result can be seen below.

[The two red circles should be TOUCHING and attached!! Not the clutch dangling away on its cable]

We'd only been out for 20 minutes or so when I managed to very expertly detach the clutch lever from the handle bars. COMPLETELY. The clutch lever itself didn't snap as has happened before, no no, the ENTRE bracket sheared off! I was thankful though, that it was the bracket that broke, not my wrist or hand (can you IMAGINE?! NO. KNITTING. *eyes widen with the horror of that thought*) but it did mean Day Over for me. The ignition had been busted out from the guts of my lovely (and GREEN no less!) bike by the fall too, so we fiddled about and managed to start her up, then we swapped bikes for the ride back to camp, as Skoot was able to gear shift without a clutch.

And then, when we made it back to camp and the rain had started to just sprinkle ever so lightly down upon us, and we decided to pack up all together and head home... I redeemed myself. Oh yes!! I may have completely come unstuck in a very unco-ordinated and bike-mushing way, but I REDEEMED MYSELF!!

The red dirt clearing seen in the top photo shows where we parked the car that day, in the centre of a sort of amateur motocross set up, with berms and jumps, drop off and a vague circuit around the clearing. As Skoot was sorting out my Greenie near the ute I did a bit of a circuit on his bike and pulled off two, yes count them TWO, air jumps and landed them both!

*leaps about with the excitement of it all*

Skoot saw the first one from his vantage point on the ute and told me it was awesome, that I'd soared through the air a decent way and landed convincingly. I am THRILLED!! Just those 2 seconds of the first jump filled me with confidence and dashed any residual fear or apprehension I had for motocross. Now that I am relaxing more each time I ride, my body is more flexible and connected to the bike, instead of staying rigid and tightening up at bends or rough terrain.

We went out with a group of friends this last, soaking weekend, which was SO much fun! Skoot and I, and the two lads were all on bikes, and Kelly brought along her racing quad. That's a LOT of bikes! We barely fit them all on to Gus our trusty, faithful and adorable ute. Lookattitall! We barely had enough room for the camping gear!

We went out Saturday arvo and stayed over night in such a gorgeous spot, absorbing the mellow surrounds and crisp air. The next day we got up bright an early to get some riding in before the forecast rain made its inevitable appearance. I've always thought riding in a 'pack' would be awesome, but I hadn't realised just how much fun it really would be! We encouraged and motivated each other, played about and enjoyed the trail rides, supported each other when things went pear-shaped or repairs needed to be done, and basically had a ripper of a time!

I even managed to get a little knitting in by the fire =)

Ravenclaw Represented!

My lovely friend Binkett is VERY deserving of hand knitted goodies :) Seeing as her knitted birthday gift was promised but not finalised or commenced (lovely cuddley Tess-Bug's doggie coat!) I decided I'd get stuck in and knit her up some surprise goodies instead, and have them ready in time for the Harry Potter movie and book premiers coming up because...

They're RAVENCLAW goodies!!

Binkett is undeniably Ravenclawish what with her extreme and daunting intelligence, level-headedness and irresistable hugs (are you blushing yet, bink?) - not that hugs are necessarily Ravenclawisms.. but she does give a mighty fine snuggle! hehe In any case, I decided I'd knit her up the beret from Charmed Knits and use Ravenclaw colours of Navy and Silver. So off I went knitting away frantically, determined to have it finished in time. And I did! It only took me two days or so of knittering away on the bus and train and... TA DA!! It was a disaster!! I don't know what went wrong but I tried it on and it simply didn't work! What was I to DO!? Panic stations!! I had just over a week to knit something else up for Bink AND finish my shrug! Eeeep!

I decided that a pair of Dashing Mitts would be perfect! Binkett needs somehting nice and snuggly to wrap around her fingies in the cold mornings for her commute to work, and I knew her last pair were all stretched out so it was just right! I left out the cables for the sake of speed and knit away in another Hogwartsy frenzy! If only I could bewitch my knitting needles like Hermione and have them knit one while I knit the other glove! But no, I was left to knit them both by hand. I toiled away, adding in the silver bands and tackling the fiddly thumb gusset and...

Phew!! I finished them JUST in time to gift them to Bink when we all caught up for a meal and a moofie... well.. I ALMOST finished them in time.. I finished up the gusset on one glove, and sewed in the ends over our late night game of Trivial Pursuit!

Bink's chuffed with them and I'm so glad =) They were a fun and quick knit and feel so snuggly - now I wanta pair too! And the super nice ending to the story is, that when I brandished the sad and lonely beret exclaiming how disappointed I was that it simply wasn't human shaped at all, Binkett tried it on - and it FITS!! It looks just like a beret should! PHEW! =D So I have yet to sew in the ends on the beret and then binkett shall be sporting a DASHING set of matching Ravenclaw mitts and beret!

Down to the wire!

ooohhh my goodness!

If ever there's a time to wear my Cast-On homage shirt it would be NOW. The reason?

I must KNIT.

KNIT LIKE THE WIND!

The lovely Gryffindor toned shrug that I've been feverishly knitting up for the IMPENDING Harry Potter premiers for both moofie and book has been coming along well and I was confident that with a late night last night I'd be able to have the last increase rows and 6 rounds of ribbing done in time for the session Bink and I are booked for at 5:30 tonight (EEE!!!!)

BUT.

Oh yes, there's a but.

I looked at the pattern as I was happily knitting away and though "Geez, that's strange, the don't mention binding off... I wonder if it's on one of these other pages..?" Seeing as I was using a photocopy of the pattern from my copy of the yummy scrummy book.. well.. Turn over the page and LO!!!

...

Another paragraph of increase rounds and another 6 rounds of ribbing!! ACK!!

So wish me swift stitches and flying fingers! I've gotta get it DONE!

Add another addiction to the mix..

As if I didn't have ENOUGH addictions pulling at my time, stealing me away from the world and causing my fingers to nearly ACHE with the need to indulge in them!

Well.. now I have one more!

ravelry.com

Yes folks, I have joined the Ravelry community with much glee and exuberance! I'm already running late for a new knitting group, still in fact sitting in my pajamas in front of the computer.. but I simply cannot pull myself away from the engaging, exciting and inspirational features of Ravelry!!

Having put that down in text though, it somehow seems easier to extricate myself and hop into the shower to get ready!

RAVELRRYYYYYY!!!

EEEE!!!!

I have just this moment, RIGHT NOW, received my invite from Jess and Casey to the much beloved and extolled RAVELRY!

WHEEEE!!!!

*dashes off to start exploring*

2007 Anglicare Knit In

Wednesday this week was the 2007 Perth Knit In both promoting knitting and collecting knitted squares for blankets to aid in the Winter Appeal. This was the fourth year the event has been run - now held in the stunning and very swish Grand ballroom of Government House. It was my first year in attendance and I was keen as mustard to be a part of it! Just look at all those knitters!!

They were even upstairs and in the balconies!

I had taken the day off work and made my way into town for the event - I was very excited! I met many of the Library Knitting and Citiknits knitters there and sat at a table together for the festivities. We had all the tasty treats and necessary "fuels" we needed to knit knit knit away while the radio presenters, singers and dancers entertained us.

I snuck up to the opera balcony and took some snaps - Here's our circle from the air! We had a great time sitting together and chatting as we knit away - such fast knitters I couldn't keep up!

All in all a very worth-while day. Many thanks go out to Anglicare and all the supporters of he event who made it happen. And of course to all us KNITTERS!! I think the count got to over 200 blankies before I left - what an achievement for everyone! They will make such a huge difference to under-privileged and chilly people this winter - not just physical warmth, but warmth from the heart is knitted into those blankets too, and that makes all the difference :)