We interrupt this program...

...to give you an adorable shot of my 14 month old girl, trying to knit her own sweater.

Someone's been watching mummy.

Maybe I should knit less.

...Nah.

I'm a mum, what can I say?

Well, blogging with the bub asleep on my chest once more, after nearly an hour of cuddles and screaming (from both of us, naturally). The family has been downed, one by one, by a vicious virus that left us snorking and feverish, with the feeling our heads would float off if we didn't hold them so tightly. The only family member to escape unscathed was the Boy, who really, didn't get off too lightly, as he managed to break his arm. I didn't feel like it would be kind to point out that I had warned him not to run in the house, particularly in socks, on the hardwood, but let's be honest, by the time he was smiling again, I was thinking, 'that'll learn ya.'

As a consequence, the knitting, much less the completion and photographing, has been sporadic at best. I've popped out a few little things here and there, for instance my monkeys:

Love them. Wearing them to death, and dubious about the merits of merino in a sock.

I also used 5/6 of my balls of Patons Classic Wool to make a pleated sweater from Interweave Knits Summer 2014. Here it is, spotted in the wild with the Boy's striped Cascade scrap vest.

I have no better images to supply. Lest you believe I'm falsifying my inability to knit, let me point out that it was knit at an extremely loose guage, on 6 mm needles, with multiple errors. It worked up quickly, although I've since I had to reinforce the neckline with crochet to prevent sagging.  

I've been making concerted attempts at completing Celestarium, as I know who it would make a perfect birthday gift for, but as kids and seed beads don't mix, and my children seem to fuel on my frustration, not the usual sleep, I'm taking that one round at a time. 

I'll end this post with a gratuitous cute baby shot, which coincidentally contains the Girl wearing the shortened garter cardigan I made from a leftover ball of Mission Falls 1824 wool and a 60 Quick Baby Knits pattern. Oh, and a dress I made ages ago from the same. 

Tomorrow was further than expected.

Okay, so I said tomorrow. Then our application on a gorgeous, heritage listed miners cottage was approved and things got a bit nuts. So excited, we move tomorrow. Squee!

In Canada, I bought:
- 6 balls of a ruby coloured Patons Silk Bamboo, to make a drapey tee.
- 4 assorted colours of the same, because I fell in love with it.
- 6 balls of Patons Classic Wool Worstec, for a sweater dress of some sort
- 2 skeins of Cascade Eco+ in Straw for an Aidez, like all the cool kids are knitting
- 1 skein of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock lightweight in 'Gingerbread Dude', because I have wanted to try it forever.
- 1 skein of Garnstudio Drops alpaca silk lace, ditto
- 2 skeins of Wollmeise pure in a 'gemischt' (matching) WD grab bag
- 1 skein of 'Vincent and the Doctor' on superwash merino sock from Quaere, which is so, so pretty
- 4 skeins of brown Briggs and Little Heritage, because I'm Canadian
- 4 skeins in green heather of the same
- 1 skein of Custom Woolen Mills Mulespinner in a green heather as well
- 1 skein of River City Yarns Adam and Eve in 'mount tabor'

I'm sure I've left some out. In other words, enough yarn to fill a medium suitcase, and keep me knitting for some time. If you're ever in Stony Plain, Alberta,  do yourself a favour and stop at Pam's Wooly Shoppe. What a treasure trove of delights that place was! A huge stock of yarns from around the world, and spinning supplies too. I bought a braid of Fleece Artist BFL roving, as well as the Eco+ and Briggs and Little. A lovely little spindle, too. Such a gorgeous shop.

 In an effort to clear out my stash to make room, I made a twee coat for the littlest,  seen here:

 I used up some leftover Cascade 220 from hubby's scarf (and the incorrect colour I ordered) and some vintage buttons from Blackheath, 'cause I hear that's a thing. I've also knit the son a vest of Cascade 220 scraps, but I'll blog about that once the zipper is in.

In my usual style of making it up as I go along, I'm using some Newmerino from Shorn Fibers to make the father in law some ski socks for his birthday. This stuff feels like velvet, but I want more. Thankfully have a second skein to knit a surprise present for a wonderful lady. The stitch definition is phenomenal. Look.

So gorgeous. I am late to the bandwagon in knitting Monkey, but I finished the first sock while I was away and I'm halfway down the leg of the second. I love them. Obviously, I'm not the first. 

So much to do, as always. I'm only catching up now because the baby is asleep on my chest, and I can't move. I have a bladder of iron. Ta!

I'm not dead!

I've just been in Canada for three weeks. While I catch up enough to write an engaging post about it all, have a look at the haul:

(Top photo, left to right in a spiral: 4 skeins of brown Briggs and Little Heritage, 4 skeins of the same in grey heather...oh you know what? I'll tell you all of it later. It's late and I am tired. See how many you can guess until tomorrow. )

Wild ride.

I'm too tired to pen a clever, witty and engaging post at the moment. I'm taking the kids on a last minute trip to visit the family in Canada next week, and this has led to an insane amount of finishing. It seems not wanting to leave a pile of WIPs and UFOs scattered in my absence was the impetus I needed to get off of my ass and get completing. So instead, while I crank out the projects,  you get crappy, poorly focused photos (if any at all) and pithy descriptions until I am home (with the suitcase of wool I plan to bring home...) and drinking something alcoholic after handing both children to my husband, who will have had two weeks of blissful freedom. Punk.

First up, I completed my red tweed pullover. I even wore it, all day. Did I take a picture? Nope. It fits gorgeously, and even though it's a bit scratchy,  it's exactly what I wanted.

I sewed both kids some desperately needed new pj pants. The boy got yellow flannel, which was an awesome op shop find for $5 for around 3 meters, and the bub got a soft corduroy covered in deer. I am a crap...sewist? Sewer? Dressmaker?...I suck at sewing. But I have faith that if I keep doing it, one day I won't suck quite so much. These had French seams, at least.

With free demon child!

I finished the husband's birthday Doctor Who scarf, pared down to 9.5 feet from the original 22. Cascade 220 on 5.5mm needles.  Lovely. 

Made a mei tai to carry bub through airport. Broke all the needles that came with machine. Smartened up and bought proper denim needles. Sewed hood on backward. Decided I didn't care. 

Got these in the mail from FiberArtemis on Etsy. Rainbow is perendale, gradient is Romney. Spun perendale into nav-ply for socks, which I am halfway through. 

I've also done a cute little smocked dress for bub, which I need to photograph.

Not the world's most engaging post, but I'm still trying to finish two separate socks, half a bobbin of yarn, plus packing and you know, parenting. And maybe, you know, ordering yarn I can only get while I'm in Canada. Hehe. 

Inspiration

I've been finding it everywhere lately. Of course there's the usual places, like the gorgeous old pieces in my costume dramas (which Australia produces excellently), and the millions of knitted garments one passes just walking through Sydney on a busy day, but also in things like these tiles, spotted in the floor of the Queen Victoria Building:

In the bathroom,  of all places. 

Near an escalator.

The top one I see as an all over pattern on a 50's style stranded colourwork vest. The bottom would make a gorgeous yoke for a lopapeysa-style pullover. 

Even little things, like my own hair (yes, I realize how conceited that sounds, but I'm not shy), which looks like this in the sunlight,

It's a pretty nifty mix of blonde, brown, reddish gold and the greys I've had since I turned twenty-one. I want it in yarn form, and yes, occasionally, after a fibre binge, I wonder how it would go spun up. Thankfully, I like having it long, and I haven't reached that level of poverty or insanity quite yet.

When I'm not considering spinning my own hair, I'm continuing on sleeve one of the red Donegal tweed pullover, using a nifty 9" Hiya Hiya circular, and reknitting the heinous Dr Who scarf which was my first knitted item in much nicer wool and with the appropriate needle size. It's being done in Cascade 220,  on 5.5mm needles for added drape, and is coming up a treat,  despite the orange being just slightly off. The hubby likes it, good enough for me. 

The original and its replacement. Forgive the nighttime shot.

I've completed a few rows of the E charts on Celestarium, after printing the pattern, which made it MUCH easier to not constantly lose my place.  Of course, this necessitated a project bag, as I'm keen on organization. Having some fabric in the stash, I came up with a shape I would like, hoped, and started sewing. I made one smallish prototype which is perfect for socks, and a larger one just right for a sweater, or in this case, a shawl, with all the kinks ironed out. They both have a drawstring closure and a generous pocket inside, and are fully lined.

Lastly, and forgive the show and tell air, but I honestly forget what I've made without recording it somehow, I finished the handspun socks, which are really yummy and only took about 80 grams of 3 ply handspun. Seen here with baby foot, as she wanted in to the shot. 

Toasty toes, happy fingers.

I think I've mentioned before that I'm not super keen on sock knitting. Now, the real reason that was the case was because I found it intolerably fiddly. Whether I did them magic loop or double pointed needles, it involved a lot of scooching and manoeuvring that just drove me mad.

Enter the Hiya Hiya 9" circular needle, purchased here. This nifty little needle had me churn out these lovelies in just two days (my previous record was about 2 months from procrastination).

To be fair, I think the speed was a combination of the lovely new circ and the super nifty self-striping yarn I grabbed on my last visit to The House of Wool. It's from Heathermaid, who is on Etsy. I can't be bothered linking right now.

But that's not all! As soon as those babies were kitchenered shut (a change from my usual toe-up, two at a time method), I cast on for a new pair of socks using my handspun, as seen below.

I can't express how proud I am of that handspun. It's the first time I've spun consistently and thinly enough to make socks, and although I did this first skein as a test (it's a mere 30 grams), I am itching to spin for sock two. This yarn is two plies of worsted-spun blue faced leicester, and one ply of 50/50 merino/silk from Skein. The merino silk is a lot harder to draft evenly (for this beginner, anyhow), so that ply varies a little in thickness, but on the whole, it's pretty good. I'm loving the barber pole effect, which comes from getting bored of the plain white BFL (lovely fibre though it is) on bobbin 2 of 3.

Funny story about skeining up that there yarn. Lacking a niddy noddy, I tend to wind off around two chairs in the kitchen. Well, last night around 10 PM (that should be a warning right there), I had the brilliant idea to get a more uniform, easy to measure skein by winding off around three legs of an upturned chair. I wound the yarn, measured the length, found my yardage (74 metres), and went to remove the skein to be washed. Well. One should check that the chair legs are straight. This particular chair's legs widened at the base. Sigh. So after a goodly amount  of staring (and swearing), I rewound around my arm. Lesson learned.

Oh! I finished the Tardis sweater. The front bit is a little irritating, but overall, considering I designed the thing on a whim, I'm content. Besides, the boy LOVES it. I had to pry it from his sleeping form to weave the last end in.

As a happy fluke, there are 12 Tardis' on the yoke, and one iconic bow-tie. Accidental cleverness. The red sweater only needs and inch or two on the bottom edge, the cheviot cardi is sitting untouched, and I think there's a fine layer of dust on Celestarium. Naughty. Must make socks!