New Year, New Socks.

... not that I've finished them yet!
But they're moving along nicely. I think I've hit my stride in knitting just your plain, basic socks. I grabbed this ball of yarn and needles to take with me to mum and dad's place on Boxing Day, after I did something not-quite-right after turning the heel on LeTissier's beaded cabled sock I'm (still) plugging away at. I might ask for a little assistance from the always lovely and talented Dianne when I'm back at KnitNight next week.

I'm a little disappointed to report that I'm nowhere near finished Lola-Frog's 2009 blanket... although to finish up to and including October (I think it was October, anyway!) is no mean feat in itself. As soon as I get one little poncho out of the way, I'll crank out another couple of squares, and block the three or four I've got sitting in my knitting bag, just waiting to be displayed!

Felting, felting, la-la-la-la felting...

Well, here goes nothing!

Gigantor, the Christmas Stocking that threatened to eat Paris, is currently residing in the washing machine, hopefully being felted down to a more manageable size. It's always a bit of a hairy experience, felting; you just don't really know what's going to come out the other end.

Let's recap the 'Stocking' story from the beginning, shall we?

Back in November, when I thought I was leaving myself plenty of time to knit and felt a stocking (hey, it's knit in the round, on large needles - how could it not go quickly??). I cast on a few times, each time adding more stitches when I thought it might shrink too much in the felting process. So we went from 64 stitches, to 72 stitches, to 128 and then finally to 188 (I was tired of casting on and counting over and over again).

I knit in the round for awhile and then started the fair isle pattern, convincing myself that it would not be too big (because of course, there is no 'too big' in felting - is there?), until I got to this point:I continued on, past the fair isle and into the solid colour, which I thought I would just zoom along on... I turned the heel - if you can call it that when you're trying to put a heel into a doona cover!

Once I'd passed the heel and the gusset decreases, I ventured back into solid colour territory and began to slow down. And I mean really slow down. Anything was better than hauling out the gargantuan sock. Pete started to crack jokes about needing to bring it on a trailer when I knit in the car, and my lap was getting too warm as I sat to knit of an evening.I began to doubt the stocking. I asked Pete his opinion (and got more jokes in response!) and I seriously considered ripping the whole lot back and winding up whatever yarn I could salvage from the whole experience. But curiosity (and laziness) got the better of me and I continued to knit on the behemoth every night.

I finally grafted the final stitches a couple of nights ago and wove the ends in, resulting in this:Here are a few to demonstrate the 'actual' size of this ridiculously enormous stocking...Yes, Lola-Frog fits inside the stocking. Just like a sleeping bag. The reverse of the fair isle looks pretty neat though, doesn't it?And so today, with my heart in my mouth, I crammed it into a hot wash cycle and crossed my fingers. Let's go and see what we've been left with, shall we?Well... it's not as big anymore, I suppose... but I'm a bit disappointed in the way the fair isle really doesn't show up at all... and in the size discrepancy between the width of the leg and the length of the toe. I either should have cast on fewer stitches, or made the toe quite a bit longer... but all that said, it's felted into some good strong fabric, and it'll hold gifties from Santa - that's the main thing!

Weirded out

I really am, too.

Last Sunday we stopped to browse in Best and Less, a discount department store/chain while wandering through the shopping centre. It's a good place to go for cheap singlets, t-shirts, undies etc for the kids, and we thought we'd grab some stuff to pop in WonderBoy's stocking.

Pete wheeled Lola-Frog in the stroller, choosing undies and a couple of pairs of jammies for Wonderboy, and I kept young Mr. W out of the way in the little girls' clothes, looking at the wee skirts and dresses for sale.

And that's when I saw it.

It's still freaking me out to write this, even now.

It was there. Lola's Dress.

The darling wee smock-dress I'd bought the fabric and pattern for, and sewn all by my little lone self.

Same fabric (though a slightly duller version of the colours), similar style (except with unnecessarily naff looking bows on the straps), and buttons on the back in place of press studs.

Now, if I'd been perusing seed, or Pumpkin Patch, or some gloriously overpriced children's clothing boutique in Mosman or Bondi Junction, I'd be okay with finding this crude counterfeit hanging on the rack. But Best and Less?

Now I'm depressed AND weirded out.

Potentially the World's Largest Christmas Stocking

I've decided this year that since Lola-Frog will need a Christmas Stocking for her First Christmas, I should knit and felt one for her, rather than buy a cheap one from Target or Big W with the thought that "... one day I'll replace it with a nicer one", just like I've thought I would for WonderBoy. Which I haven't. Yet.

So I got started on Lola-Frog's this week, with some Lincraft Cosy Wool (it's DK weight. I'd've preferred to be using 10 or 12-ply, but you use what you've got access to - especially when it's cheap!), and I know it felts well. KnitNight's Franee has made a fantastic 'Team Swiss' (That's a Twilight reference, apparently!) felted bag with this stuff that is gorgeous.

I cast on twice for this stocking - the first time, realising that I was going to need to make it that much bigger to compensate for the felting process... the second time, making it ridiculously big. This kind of ridiculous:I'm pleased with the fair isle bands, and on one hand, I'm really excited to see what they'll look like once felted... ... but on the other hand, I'm nervous as hell about felting this bugger! I know that felted knitting usually shrinks lengthwise, rather than widthwise, and I know that the fair isle bands will shrink entirely differently compared to the plain stockinette, but... well, we'll see! On the up side, if it looks a bit weird, I don't see it being an issue - after all, it's for Santa Claus to pop presents in, not to be worn...

... unless it ends up being large enough to actually FIT Lola-Frog entirely into!

In the meantime, there's the small matter of actually completing the knitting part before it can be felted!

Thursday Night Shuffle

Tonight's song is actually today's song... wasn't able to get to KnitNight tonight... and today's song surprisingly ended up holding some significance for me and for our little family, since today is the day that Lola-Frog was told that she didn't have to be a froggie anymore. The hip brace is off and our darling girl is off and away!Today's song is "Life, In A Nutshell" by one of my favourite bands, Barenaked Ladies. It originally featured on their 1994 album, "Maybe You Should Drive"... The lines that appealed to me, and to Lola's situation as I was driving home are

'... But I don't tend to worry 'bout the things that other people say
And I'm learning that I wouldn't want it any other way
Call me crazy but it really doesn't matter
All that matters to me is she...' '... I fell down with no one there to catch me from falling
Then she came 'round
And only her tenderness stopped me from bawling my eyes out
I'm OK, and that's why... '

I mean, you can read anything you like into almost any song you want, but that's what I saw in those lyrics today. Bless you, my darling daughter!

Lavender and Lilacs

The light was bad, but I just had to get some photos of the Cabled Beaded Sock as it is right now, alongside the lavender and lilacs in my Mum's garden, cause that's just where I feel the colours are from!
It's a lovely pattern to knit, and very well written (Thanks, Lynette!) by LeTissier designs in British Columbia, Canada. It's my first attempt at knitting anything other than plain socks, and I LOVE how these are turning out!

Sadly, I've put them aside in the last Wednesday in a big hurry... My little sister, Lucy, was turning 24 on the Saturday, and we'd arranged to take her out for dinner on Sunday night. I figured, as I bought the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, that if I got stuck into the pattern right away (Humanity, by Denise Lotter - Rav. link), I should be able to get a couple of fingerless mitts done quite easily by Sunday. Especially during a trip to and from Sydney on Saturday, which gave me an additional two knitting hours.

So, it was decided. I cast on Wednesday afternoon and got all the way up to the start of the thumb gusset by Thursday afternoon (couldn't work on it Wednesday night - we were with Lucy for dinner!), and I resolved to have the gusset done during KnitNight Thursday evening. Maybe even right up to the cast-off point.

The bottom fell out of the plan right around now. I may have not been reading the instructions correctly, maybe I was distracted by chatting with everyone at KnitNight... but I cocked up the gusset, big time. The increases were messy and disorganised, and after I'd ploughed through the gusset (delusional, I know), I found I had way too many stitches. I tried ripping it back, but couldn't get the needles back in where they should be.

And, fighting back the urge to cut the whole damned thing up into tiny, tiny pieces and feed it to the cat, I frogged the whole bloody thing. Dianne noticed I was muttering to myself a lot that night! I fished around in my bag and pulled out an old faithful standby: Fetchings. I cast on (again) and set to work. *sigh*

Here's Lola-Frog, all dressed up and ready to go visiting friends in Sydney on Saturday. Recognise the top?
Yeah, it's her 'Rainbow Dress', shortened to be a top since she's not walking yet. The yarn is that cotton that I dyed months ago for her - it didn't quite knit up into the big stripes I'd envisioned, but I like it nonetheless, and it suits her little yellow daks. If I could change anything, I'd alter the shoulders a bit for her, this is knit in the two year-old size since she's such a Gigantor, so the shoulders are pretty wide for her.
I think she's laughing at me and those damned fingerless mittens.

More on those next post.

Quickie 'finished' post - now with added photos!

Wow – a whole month without a blog post! Instead of trying to explain, as always, why I haven’t added any posts through September, I thought I’d look at it positively. I enjoyed a month-long blogging holiday!!

On the up side, I have a heap of knitting that I have actually completed. Blocked and photographed!

‘Fetchings’ are done, knit in Jo Sharp Silk Road Tweed in Aran weight. I liked knitting with this stuff, it’s got a lovely cushy, rustic feel to it - sort of like knitting with something a little bit felted already. The yarn was still able to highlight the cabling in the Fetchings quite well. I gave them to my dear friend Ali last weekend, as a very very late birthday gift - she's moving to Adelaide very soon for a year. Does is get cold down there in winter??

Okay, so at this point the ends weren't woven in, so they weren't 'finished' in the legal sense, but WonderBoy looked so cute modelling them that I couldn't resist using these photos to showcase them!

I feel like I'm on top of Lola-Frog's blanket squares, with all of August and one of September done and blocked here. I've also done the last two for September and the first for October, but they're either not blocked or not 'finished' (ie ends woven in) and blocked. I'll get there.

August Square The First;

August Square The Second (the Apple is to signify both Lola-Frog's first solid food as well as to have a Beatles reference within the blanket without resorting to anything gauche and obvious);

August Square The Third, and

September Square The First.

Another finished object still yet to be blocked (and I must do it this week, Dianne was asking to see it last Thursday at KnitNight) is a lovely chunky cabled scarf for a friend who is definitely going somewhere cold - New York - in November. Photos to come soon.

One of the reasons I've not blogged lately (and I've just now realised this) is because of all the spinning I was doing! That, and we got our hands on 'The Beatles: Rockband' game...

You go, Ringo!

...and both these pursuits have taken up considerable portions of spare time. I've spun up 200g of lovely naturally fawn-coloured merino roving that my mum brought back from Tasmania for me a long time ago now.

I have to say, now having spun with both raw fleece and prepared roving, that I find spinning with the pre-prepared fibres much more satisfying - in a totally instant gratification kind of way. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee once said that to learn how to spin well, you should start with good quality fibres. I think that since I'm certainly no professional at cleaning and preparing raw fleece, I certainly wasn't learning with anything approaching 'good quality' fibre, and this was affecting my ability to focus on the spinning itself. Plus, I'm an impatient person at the best of times. Who can wait for fleece to be cleaned and prepared properly when there's spinning to be getting on with?!

Photos to come, as well as a new idea I've been tinkering with to reintroduce some fresh 'randomness' into the blog...

Finally

Done, and done.

We have July squares! Ends woven, blocked and dry. Looking lovely.

Here's Square One, knit at Lola-Frog's hospital bedside. I like to think it represents the high temperatures she was experiencing at the time of her pneumonia. Let's call it 'Fever', shall we?
This is Square Two, possibly the result of some hallucinations on my part after looking through a lovely book of children's knits given to me by our friends Sam and Stevie. I saw several beautiful Fair Isle jumper patterns and thought 'hey, I could incorporate that into a square for the blanket'. Mistake? Possibly, but how many mistakes could it be said turn out this well? Not too many. I'm pretty pleased with it, I have to say.
And now, Square Three. I've now knit L, O and R, and still have four more letters to go. Kinda getting a little tired of knitting the same thing over and over, but I think it'll look pretty good when all done - I hope!
I still have to knit the thumbs onto the pair of Fetchings I've knit for a good friend's birthday (which was waaaay back in July - bad me!), but I've still cast on the DK cotton I dyed awhile back to knit a wee summer dress for Lola-Frog. After that? There are plans afoot for a thick, chunky cabled scarf for another friend who will be living a New York winter - I think she'll need it!

And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Meh.

It really really has been one of Those Weeks. Poor little Lola-Frog spent five days in hospital over these last two weeks with pneumonia. It just about broke my heart, seeing her all hooked up to the IV antibiotics and oxygen. But she's home now, much stronger and eating better. She's almost back to her usual smiley, giggly little self.And now for the knitting?

Firstly, all the time spent sitting with Lola-Frog in the hospital made for ample knitting time, particularly to catch up on knitting the Sea Wool Scarf which was intended for Mum's birthday... last Wednesday. So, after one complete frogging and several tinked rows, I found that I'd done somethin' stupid with the 'feather and fan' rows, creating wobbly waves that increased rather exponentially...

... so I was left with wobbly-wave-ruffles.After finally casting off and realising what had happened, I did a totally non Knitter-with-a-capital-K thing. I looked at it and held it up. I threw it across my own shoulders and pulled it round my neck. I turned it around and held it across my neck and chest, and said:

"Meh."

I was so over the whole thing that I think I conned myself into thinking 'Hey, it's still pretty, it still looks kinda cool... sorta free-formed and avant-garde. Yeah, avant-garde, I like that...'. I'm about to sew some green glass beads onto the corners, where I've also added the requisite tassels. More photos to come on completion.

Having upheld my end of the bargain in casting off the scarf successfully (hey, I said I'd get it cast off, not finished!), I decided to open my package from Interweave...I'm very impressed so far. I'm trying to read both books at the same time, and I've already watched the beginning of the DVD three times over. Once to get an idea of what's going on, once to try to commit it to memory, and a third time whilst actually having a crack on the spinning wheel. Excellent, excellent stuff - the books are well-written with lots of useful information and clear photos that really help me to make sense of what's being said. I'm learning lots, which for me is a pretty big deal!

3x Thursday... AND photos!

Wow, I am SO following everyone else on the Internet. Innovator? Me? Hell, no.

Firstly, a meme from this site: Three questions posed every Thursday. I thought I'd give it a try, see what emerges from this. Doesn't work? I'll ditch it!

1. What's the weather like today? Describe it.

Really strange weather today. Quite misty, then nice and sunshiny, followed by heavy cloud and rain. Repeat.

2. Did you/are you going to do anything productive (sure, it's relative) today? What did you/are you up to?

Since it's five minutes to eleven o'clock Thursday night, I'm going to answer this in the past tense. I think I did well today: a couple of loads of washing, dinner in the slow cooker by 10.30am (beef and red wine casserole) and WonderBoy and I spent 'quality time' together making a banana cake. Oh, and I finished Lola-Frog's third June square. Haven't woven the ends in, but it's off the needles. Success!

3. Do you need to make some phone calls or send some emails to people that you haven't heard from lately? If so, who? Here's your reminder to do it!

No, strangely! I usually take three days to remember to call or email someone, but today I'm up to date. Hurrah! No, wait... I'm still trying to get through to someone at Sunbeam; our slushie maker seems to have carked it during its second outing, and I'd like an explanation-shash-replacement. Not my fault I haven't spoken to them yet though, I keep getting the recorded message that all their operators are too busy to deal with my call. Cheers, guys.

And now, as promised: photos, taken last weekend on WonderBoy's very special outing to the Galston Valley Miniature Railway. He had such a fantastic time, but I'm not sure who was more excited, WonderBoy or his Poppy (my dad)...

...here they are together on WonderBoy's first train ride!

My sister, Lucy, Pete and my darling Lola-Frog.WonderBoy enjoying a ride with my sister, Sarah, and her boyfriend, Shane.The whistles on the steam trains are pretty loud!

Stuff I like this week...

A big mug of hot chocolate: Always good before going to the gym.
Opening my first birthday present at 12.20am - hey, it was technically my birthday then! I can't wait to try making some of these little dresses for Lola-Frog!'Yes, Minister' and 'Yes, Prime Minister': I'm getting right back into these series; Pete bought me the complete collection for Christmas last year since I like to have half-hour TV shows ready to watch while breastfeeding. Best quotes?

"Politician's logic: We must do something. This is something. Therefore we must do it."

"A somewhat unorthodox procedure means The act of a gibbering idiot."

Hacker: "Do we ever get our own way with the French?"

Humphrey: "Sometimes."

Hacker: "When was the last time?"

Humphrey: "Battle of Waterloo, 1853."

My new Noro Striped Scarf: Yes, I was that crazy lady draping a scarf on a lilac tree outside this morning wearing Cookie Monster pyjamas. Wanna make something of it?White dudes dancing: I love this filmclip so much, I showed it to WonderBoy yesterday and he laughed himself silly. I always found Christopher Walken to be somewhat scary, but not after seeing 'Weapon of Choice'. Or 'Hairspray', for that matter...Being lucky enough to be spoilt for choice: Will I cast on Woolly Wormhead's 'Meret' for myself? Will I cast on another baby-sized 'Unoriginal Hat' by Yarn Harlot for a friend's bub? Will I cast on Lola-Frog's third June square?

James May's Plasticine garden in this year's Chelsea Garden Show in London. I think what i like best about it was the outcry it caused in the Establishment. But Stephen Fry liked it, and that's good enough for me. Top Gear UK, and by extension, James May totally rock.My lovely new Fetchings: Thank you so much, Barb! They're lovely and soft and beautifully warm to wear - I'll be sporting them tomorrow for the World Wide Knit In Public!

The Weasley Sweater, and other completed works

WonderBoy's Weasley Sweater (say that ten times fast!) has been complete for a couple of weeks now, but I have had so little time online except to check my Facebook, I just haven't got round to blogging properly! I don't like blogging if I can't put a little time into each post.

We've been really busy at KnitNight these last few weeks, preparing for World Wide Knit in Public Day, which is the day after tomorrow. We decided to set ourselves up in a cafe, outdoors in a local plaza for as much 'publicity' as possible. It's going to be cold, but we figure it'll mean we can wear as many of our lovely warm handknits as possible! As part of our knitting in public, we're going to use the opportunity to collect some money for a very worthwhile charity, Father Chris Riley's Youth Off The Streets. We have knit dozens of wee coffee-cup-cozies to give out in exchange for each donation we receive, so we've been knitting away madly on these as well.

But I digress. Here we go - photos!
He really does like it, despite the face! He's very much a three year old, and loves hamming it up for photos...He wore it to Preschool the day this was taken, and when he strolled in to greet his teachers, he pulled the hem right out in front of himself, announcing, "Look! I've got X for Xander! Mummy knitted it for me!"

Bless his little heart.

And here's Miss Lola-Frog, sporting her very own 'Not So Original Hat', just like Mummy's. Bless her giant head, she grew out of that beret-slash-bakers' hat in about a week (if I'm honest to myself, I do know that it never really did fit her!).

I used the Yarn Harlot's 'Not So Original Hat' pattern, altering the cables very slightly (I think I decreased it by about eight stitches and four rows) to make it small enough to fit her. It's knit in Patons Inca, on two 7mm circular needles - very handy for hats for little ones, as you can try the hat on more effectively as you're knitting it...
Doesn't she just look thrilled with it!?