Voila!

Here 'tis! It's not this badly blocked really - I just flopped it out on the floor and couldn't be bothered straightening it!



And a close-up that gives a good idea of the yarn variegation. I love this chocolate colourway - it truly is delicious enough to eat!



Tomorrow I am tripping off to work in brown tweedy trousers, a black v-neck knit and my clap - can't wait!

Mes clapotis est finis!!

Yes! I am a proven knitting sprinter! My new Addi turbos were my best friends, slipping each stitch so beautifully smoothly and easily. Without them, I'd still be clicking away no doubt.

I happily finished off the last rows while watching episodes of "The Brief" on DVD. Maybe it's an occupational hazard, but I adore Henry Farmer! Of course, I sit there muttering "that would NEVER happen; as if you'd EVER ask that question!; object, object!; that's not admissible!" but that's all part of the fun, isn't it? My version of yelling armchair advice to referees.

My clappy was blocked this morning and is now lying saucily spreadeagled on towels on the dining room floor, beckoning me to wear her soon. I had an outdoor brunch to go to today and it would have been perfect!

Photos to come, been somewhat busy with work, baby and, of course, knitting. Will someone come and do my housework so I can knit socks?

My ankles aren't THAT fat!

I have thick ankles. They are the bane of my life. Frivolous little shoes make them look like they belong to a rugby player in drag. They are the one reason I envy my mother-in-law. She has natty ankles. And so does my husband, who doesn't need them or care about them. Sometimes, life is very unfair, isn't it?

In my stash was some gorgeous burgundy Regia Silk, which I thought would make a splendid pair of diamond rib socks for .. moi! (that's about the full extent of my French). So I read all the instructions in my Sensational Knitted Socks book about unfortunate souls with fat ankles, I swatched, I washed and I measured. Bah! My sock is enormous. I got through enough to stick it up over my foot and, well, it's okay, but very loose. I think it would slip down as I walked around.

The only woman I know with thicker ankles than me is my mother. So I thought I'd be generous and finish off the socks as they were and give them to her. She lives in Central Queensland and they have very cold winters, so I'm sure she'll enjoy them.

I do like the diamond rib pattern though. Terrible photo - still working out our new camera, but you get the picture (yes that awful pun was intended).



Oh, and here are my dad's socks-in-progress. I love this yarn. It's very dad-like, isn't it?



I was worried they would be a bit boring, but I think they're quite elegant really. Simplicity is a wonderful thing.

And a pic of my baby girl, just because she looks so wonderfully earnest! Obviously having some kind of serious political debate with her dad.



I'm cruising along with my chocolate clapotis for the Tour de France KAL. I've decided to do 17 straight row repeats, rather than the pattern's 13, just so I can wrap it right around myself and be deliciously warm and cosy. I've got a few more straight repeats to do, then the decreases and I'm done! No lagging behind the peleton for this Liquigas girl.

Oh and I've even managed to get some work done. Sleep? What's that?

I'm Baa-aaack

Yes, I am still alive. And still knitting :) After a long absence from the blogosphere, I've returned. Of course, it is very likely that no-one will notice!

I also had a long absence from knitting. Just before my last post I discovered that we had a little one on the way. Unfortunately that little one decided to make it impossible to knit! Motion sickness or something - it was dreadful! If only I was at the stage of not having to look at my needles I might have managed lol.

She arrived safe and sound at the end of April and has been frequently dressed in handknits that I managed to make near the end of my pregnancy and soon afterwards.

So, a bit of show & tell!

Our little girl. Clearly I will never be a hairdresser!


Love this jacket! It was made from red merino bambino and some cream 4 ply I had in my very meagre stash.


She wears this a lot - it's nice and soft. I used Cocoon for this.


And matching hat


Something pretty




Have joined the ranks of the Tour de France knit along too - cycling on TV has never been so much fun! Go Cadel go!! Since I'm probably the only knitter in the world without a clapotis, I decided, with the help of the lovely Bells, that it was a good project that I'd be able to get through in between working and mothering.

Am using merino chubby sock yarn from the Knittery in the chocolate colourway. Just gorgeous. And thanks to Daphne for the special dye job! The yarn has a lovely sheen to it and will be light enough to wear in Brisbane, as I'm doing it on a 4mm Addi Turbo so it's nice and open. But undoing the ladders - ugh!

Am halfway through now, so I'm confident I will get it done before the deadline. I quite like the pressure lol! Plus the added pressure of having only just enough yarn - eeep!! My daughter has her last feed at 10pm, just when the telecast starts and I have recently perfected the art of knitting whilst breastfeeding. Handy.



Also on the needles are a pair of garter rib socks for my dad in Regia. Good TV knitting and a bit of a break from the clap. Nice subtle browns and creams with a bit of blue-grey for pizzazz. Very dad-like. Especially for an oh-so-conservative one!

Plus a pair of socks as in passionfruit cashmerino, also from the Knittery. I had the most wonderful friend as my doula for the birth and I thought "what's more perfect to say thanks than a pair of handknitted socks?" She's been coveting my passionfruit lacy mock cables for some time. I couldn't face yet another pair of lacy mock cables, having made two, so chose the oblique openwork pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks. Very easy - just a 6 row repeat.

So that's me!! I look forward to catching up with old and new blogs in between everything else I'm doing! Why, oh why, are there only 24 hours in a day?

Lots of Odd Socks!

I sometimes wonder how many lonely handknitted socks there are in the universe. Do knitters, filled with a burst of enthusiasm for new yarn and a new pattern, madly knit up sock number 1 and then sock 2 becomes a nemesis?

Spring rains have thankfully brought some gentle relief to our drought-stricken city. It rained for a week before we went away, then was lovely and sunny apparently, so the garden has burst forth with breathtaking new growth, the roses and vegetables in particular. And now it's raining again - our garden won't know what's hit it! I think our level 6 water restrictions are now delayed a month.

Well, life is back to some sort of normality after my trip out to central Queensland to celebrate my youngest brother's 30th birthday. Unfortunately, he dislocated his ankle and broke both bones in his lower leg a couple of weeks ago and only got out of hospital after surgery a couple of days before his party. So he didn't have quite the big night that he was planning - more an evening of holding court in a comfortable chair while friends fetched his dinner and drinks. Actually that sounds pretty good!!

I saw my other brother, David, on Sunday night and presented him with the Brown Nemesis! It immediately went over his head and was pronounced to be "awesome" and a "perfect fit". Oh, so satisfying to see one's creation being truly appreciated! I forgot to take a photo so my sister-in-law is taking one for me and will email it. I'm sure my brother won't mind modelling on my blog :)

Unfortunately, my father has decided he'd like one too, with the "Flying A" emblem of his 1949 Austin A90 Atlantic convertible on the front of the shoulder. Hmmmm. He will have to wait a while for that one. There will be no man's jumpers on this knitter's pointy sticks for a while, I think!

My opal lacy mock cable sock is now finished and I'm really rapt with it! It's too small for me, which is perfect, because my sister-in-law (for whom it is intended) is a couple of sizes smaller in her shoes. She has lovely, dainty little feet!





And last night I finished the first passionfruit lacy mock cable. It is divinely soft and really feels like I'm wearing a warm cloud on my foot! I had to adjust the pattern a little because I have big ankles and very high insteps, but it worked out very well indeed.

Although I was cursing a blue streak when my yarn broke halfway through grafting the toe, leaving a 3cm tail which looked innocently up at me. But I knew it was secretly full of malice. A weak felted join ensued, followed by me very gingerly finishing the toe and then weaving the strong yarn through the stitches from the inside. Hopefully my toes won't poke through.





Also on the needles is a fun, merino bambino jumper for an old friend who's having a bubba next year. He or she will be born in March, so I'm making one for a 6 month old. She lives in Queensland, but out west, so they have very cold nights in winter. I love these bright colours! Not sure why, but I have a faint aversion to the insipid colours babies are so often dressed in. To me, they scream, "I am vulnerable and helpless" rather than "I am a cool little person with my own personality."





She won't lose her little baby in THIS jumper - that's for sure!!

My habit is to save the best until last, whether it be food or otherwise. I got back to chambers on Wednesday after my trip away to find a curious little parcel on my desk! I didn't know the address and, after scrutinising the signature, took a stab in the dark and Bells confirmed my suspicions! A lovely little red box was inside, in which were nestled five gorgeous stitch markers from our very own Georgie!





They were a present for finishing the brown nemesis! And, to make my gift even more special, George informed me later that she had in fact made them herself. Funnily, I'd been hunting around for some lovely stitch markers that weren't ridiculously overpriced.

So thank you George - I love them!!

The Nemesis is Finished!!

I can scarcely believe it and am still recovering from the shock.

I promised myself I would not blog until the brown jumper was done. That promise was kept and my knitting nemesis is no more!! I had a deadline of this weekend, as I'm seeing my brother, David, on Friday 31st when we head out west for my other brother's 30th birthday party.

The last stitch was completed yesterday afternoon, jumper was washed and dried flat and I'm really happy with the result. My neckband is much better than the first one I did - not such a struggle to get it over a head! Bells and I had a deal going where we had to report to each other every day with how much we'd done - me on the brown jumper and Bells on her steeked jacket. It worked really well because the thought of reporting that I'd done nothing resulted in far too much guilt!

Don't have a 3D model yet, but here is my nemesis lying on a towel - it's been raining here so I couldn't dry it outside.



My next gift deadline was for the red branching out scarf as my friend's birthday is 9 September. I got to 1m and thought, hmmm, that's probably long enough once I block it. But it didn't gain as much as I thought it would. Oh well, I'm sure my friend will love it anyway. This is my first go at blocking something. It turned out just over 1.2m long, so I'm not sure I did it right - wasn't sure how much to stretch it. I guess I can do it again if necessary so hints welcome!






So not much other knitting has been done! But I do feel extremely virtuous.

I did frog the knittery passionfruit socks (again!) and started making lacy mock cables with it. I'm really happy with it - I will end up with a pair of beautifully soft, pretty socks all for ..... ME!!



Such a simple, quick pattern. I think these will become a staple of my sock-knitting library (that so far consists of only 2 patterns!)

Work has been a bit tough this last week - had some difficult, emotionally draining matters to deal with. It's hard to remain completely detached sometimes, but one has to in this job, just for self-preservation. So knitting the brown jumper has actually been quite soothing. But it will be a long time before another adult jumper goes on my needles, I think!

But ... my oldest friend called me today and told me that she has a little one on the way, so more baby knitting. Such quick results when making tiny things - I love it!

A willingness to frog ...

to fix a mistake is the mark of a good knitter, I have been told! And today I had to frog 20 rows of brown jumper sleeve number 2. A milestone has been passed. I was clicking away watching Anne of Avonlea last night while Glynn was at work. This morning, I noticed that I had done an even row where I should have done an odd row. Bum!! So I frogged it and have now passed it on to Millicent. Her brain is only the size of a pea, so she is unlikely to become bored with it.



I should probably introduce Millicent properly. She is rather prissy and, despite the jaunty bow on her head, a little conservative. But her unzipped abdomen did yield up a set of 2.75 DPNs that I forgot I had, which was very generous of her. Actually, that's a worry. I've been knitting since May 14 this year and I'm already forgetting purchases. Hmmmmm.

It is a time of indecision. I was so in love with my passionfruit knittery yarn that I simply had to start something. Jaywalkers were commenced, on 2.25s, but I soon got fed up with the double decreases. Just too difficult in that slightly thicker sock yarn and disaster almost struck in the form of a snapped knit pick DPN! So they were frogged.

Consultation was had with my newly arrived Sensational Knitted Socks book and waterfall rib socks were then commenced on 2.5s (after ripping the needles out of a grey striped basic rib!). The going was slow on that and came to a standstill while I consider what to do. Bells suggested lacy mock cable socks. But after seeing that it involved casting on only 56 stitches I was worried they may not fit my tree trunk ankles. A brainwave struck! My sister-in-law has size 7 feet and smaller ankles, so I figured I'd make her a pair of lacy mock cable socks, in some Opal yarn I had, and try to squeeze them over my clodhoppers.



I'm loving this pattern!! The leg was churned out in a few hours. The heel took some time, as it's, I understand from Bells, one step along from an eye of partridge heel, as the wrong side row is Sl1, P1 all the way across.

So now I have 4 socks on the go, all different!



The grey ones do look a trifle forlorn with no needles don't they? I'm thinking of frogging them and doing something different anyway - maybe garter ribs.

Have been doing a little shopping from Little Knits since they're having a sale. There was a lovely Regia sock yarn in burgundies and cream. Unfortunately, some horrid person walked out with it without paying, so it won't be coming to my house :( I simply don't know how anyone could bear to knit with something they stole. I hope they throw them in a boiling hot wash with their white sheets, which all turn pink and the socks turn into booties. Is that bad karma?

But, on the bright side, Glynn came up with a solution for a little problem. When I knitted his jumper, which was my very first big ticket item, the first piece I did was the back. It had some mistakes in it, so I made another one. But what to do with the first?

Time for some background. At the beginning of the year, Glynn and I rescued a 2 year old part Himalayan cat from the RSPCA. We renamed her "Libby". She had been abused and was very timid. Just coming out of her shell now (and how!!). Unfortunately, she has formed a liking for sleeping on our bed and kneading my cream damask duvet cover. Aaaaaggghhh!!! Because she's so uncertain of people, we are loathe to kick her off all the time and reject her.

But, she also loves Glynn's moss rib jumper. So, a catbed was purchased, lined with the discarded jumper back and she looks very happy with her new arrangements. When she's totally in love with her bed, it will be relocated to the windowseat and the bed will be ours once more! I do so love a happy ending!



Today we decided to enter her in our vet's pet of the week. That's really quite obsessive isn't it? But Glynn did this comic and I thought it was so cute that we just had to give her some publicity. Of course, the 10% discount prize doesn't hurt, either!