Err…

There has been much knitting in knit-knerd land! There have been socks!

There has been the beginning of a shawl!

There was also a scarf and some dyeing (and some scarf dyeing). Man, I can’t wait til it gets cool enough to actually wear knitted crap

The knitting is good, and most other things are good, too.

Christmas and New Year came and went (thankfully). This is not exactly my favorite time of year, so I’m usually pretty happy when it’s finished. I’m happy that life is getting back to normal.

I made a few resolutions, but decided to mostly keep them to myself, so the only person I disappoint if I don’t make it is me

I also bought myself a birthday present - a set of sock blockers from The Wool Shack, and I can’t wait to get home from work today to play the “let’s block socks” game. Does that make me a dork? Gee, I hope so

Oh dear.

94%DRUNKARD

Bikes!

Yesterday hubbyface and I went for the first bike ride since the biggun back in September.

I got a new bike months ago (Canondale Six13), but due to ongoing illness and weather issues, I hadn’t been able to ride it. I’m still not 100% healthy, but decided yesterday we’d give it a go anyway.

I managed about 12km! I was really pleased, given I’ve had a chest/throat infection for more than 4 weeks now, and I’ve stuffed my back from all the coughing. It was great!

In knitting knews, everyone loved the the face washers I gave as Christmas presents with a bar of yummy soap from The Body Shop and some other bits and pieces.

I’m up to the cuff on hubbyface’s second sock, which I will hopefully finish today or tomorrow. As my Christmas present to ME, I treated myself to the Harmony Sock Set so as soon as those puppies get here, I’m casting on another pair of socks

Now, off to start my Sunday - who knows what the day will bring? I’m banking on boring, but we’ll see

Bloody yarn…

No, really - it’s called Bruised Bloodwood, and I think it’s now my favourite colour in the world.

I’ve been playing around on Ravelry a hell of a lot lately, and before I start carrying on about how that place is basically crack for knitters, it really has been a good resource for inspiration.

I found an Aussie dyer with an Etsy shop called Yarncakes, and while browsing her shop came across one of the most beautiful colourways I have ever seen. I knew immediately that this yarn would be perfect for Jeanie from Knitty. Of course, I’m going to need about 500g of this stuff, and the skein she had for sale was only 100g, so I contacted her to see what we could do.

Not only was she happy to do a special order for me, but she sent me some samples to play with to help me decide!

The original yarn is a sock weight merino, which I love, but she also mentioned that she could do a baby alpaca yarn in the same colourway. Faced with options (sometimes I hate options, ya know?), I wasn’t sure which to choose, so she sent me a colour card with a bit of the merino attached and a big ole chunk of the alpaca to swatch. I had a bit of a fiddle with the alpaca but decided that the cables didn’t “pop” enough. As nice as it feels, and as beautiful as it is, I just don’t think it’s right for this project. It’s also a finer yarn, so gauge would have been an issue. Seeing as the intended pattern is a wrap, gauge is not as important as if it was a sweater or something, but I didn’t want it to end up Barbie-sized.

So I decided to wash the sample of the merino to see what it would do - after all, I would have to block this project (I don’t do a lot of blocking) and I wouldn’t want the wonderful squishiness of the merino to vanish after it gets a bit wet. Washed… and huge amounts of dye came out! OMG! It also seemed to lose a lot of texture, I was a little worried but after it dried fully, it seems to have sprung back pretty well. The colour doesn’t seem to have been affected by the bleeding either.

So, top marks to Donni from Yarncakes for both product and service, and I can’t wait to get my bloody yarn

Uhg.

Bleurgh, I’ve got a dirty stinking rotten cold.

Because it’s not the most attractive thing in the world, I will leave you with a picture of what I consider to be one of the most attractive things in the world, which is Natalie Wood.

I sort of watched a documentary about her on telly the other day when I was home sick. She seemed to be such a beautiful, tragic figure. A biography was written about her, which I’m currently trying to find at the moment.

Things! They happen!

Quick update!

1. Finished the cardigan, at last! It’s currently winging its way over to TwistedTexan’s house!

2. Made 4 out of the 5 wash cloths I plan to give as Christmas gifts… I love making wash cloths, they’re so quick and give me a chance to try out stitch patterns I wouldn’t ordinarily try. They’re like useful gauge swatches!

3. Cast on P’s second sock today because I was at home sick (and sick of knitting plain square wash cloths

4. My sister’s boyfriend finally proposed to her! Yay! I can’t wait to find out when the wedding will be, although knowing my sister it will probably be a little while off. That’s OK - gives me plenty of time to come up with an embarassing story to tell at the reception. Hmm, if she reads this blog, she’ll probably muzzle me now

Tiki tea cosy. So awesome.

I got my secret tea cosy swap package today!!!

Some drama involved, however - my stupid dog got to the package before I did, and helped herself to a packet of Haigh’s chocolate coated coffee beans (SOB!) and Hello Panda biscuits, and chewed a nice big hole in the calico Tapestry Craft bag.

The haul!

The cosy!

The side

An eight-sided magical octarine hotpad

The Librarian, in sock form

Chocolate. Cheesecake. Brownies.

Webgoddess, you completely rock

Da biggest boigah in da woild.

It’s fun going through old photos

This is the burger K and I shared at this little nowhere food stand outside of Mareeba, Queensland. Truly, it is a burger of great magnitude!

Man, what I wouldn’t give for one of those right now. Minus the beetroot, of course. Bleah

Now onto the knitting! Tea cosy is totally done! I just need to get the rest of the little pressies organised, make some bikkies, pack it all up and send it off. What a fun project this was. I designed something totally out of my head, and it actually worked. I’m happy but surprised, since most things I design generally turn out stoopid and I have to frog and start again about fifty times before I end up with something decent. No photos til after my pal has received the goods!

Isaac Asimov Harley Squab Purvis.

I don’t know why I felt like posting this photo, or talking about this topic.

Isaac was my pup. I bought him from a woman who was selling puppies on the side of the road outside the Kroger parking lot on 1960 in Humble, TX, near the end of my senior year of high school. This was before Humble was built up to the point it is now, and every weekend you’d have a stretch of people setting out these chicken wire enclosures full of the unwanted results of clandestine meetings between neighbourhood dogs. You never knew what cross breeds you were going to come across - all kinds of things.

One day we stopped to look at a bunch of collieXchow chow puppies. Holy moses, were these guys cute. I mean they were all kinds of cute. One in particular, who had a fat little round belly and a raccoon mask around his eyes caught my attention, and I just couldn’t physically put him down. We bought him for ten dollars.

I cannot tell you what a great investment that was.

Isaac was not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but he was so sweet, so affectionate. He loved a tummy rub, hated flea spray and the vacuum, and was impossible to walk on a lead because EVERYTHING WAS JUST SO INTERESTING!!!

I think he was a ripe old ten years old when we finally had to put him to sleep, because he had bone cancer and would have been in a world of pain, but according to my parents (who kept him when I moved to Australia), he never showed it and was his sweet little loverdog self up to the very end.

Ziccy, you were a sweetie. I love you.

SQUEEEEEEE!!!

Ok, this is probably more excitement than most mere mortals can bear, but I’m a nerd, so bear with me.

K’s cardigan - other front piece is blocking. Will block the back tomorrow.
Tea cosy - again, no spoilers, but the knitting is done and phase two has begun… phase three when it’s dry.
Christmas cloths - one down, one on the needles. I think this one is too big, but I’m going to knit it anyway. It’s a quick jobbie so I can always frog it and start again if it starts looking weird.

All other projects still on the backburner, but I feel like I’m making progress.

Another thing to look forward to - Friday is our Christmas luncheon and Secret Santa gift exchange at work… we’re going to Kabuki and I can’t wait! I love that place, and I love teppanyaki. Dinner (or lunch) and a show! Does it get any better? Wait, yes it does! The boss is paying! w00t!