Back in the real world

After spending a really enjoyable, quiet (but exciting) weekend with Harry, Ron and Hermione, I'm back and raring to knit :-) (How cool was it that whilst the rest of the world queued and queued through the night to get their copy at midnight, we were able to walk into Big W when they opened at 8.30 on saturday morning and be handed a copy upon entry...love living in australia :-D)
Anyways!....on to my knitting progress...
I started the Coquette Lace Tube Top from Fitted Knits...this is knitting up really nicely. I thought it would take more concentration than it does, but the centre lace panel is easy to remember, making it a good telly watching project :-) I'll probably make the Two-toned Ribbed Shrug from the same book, to wear over the top of it. The yarn is just THE best...I'm using Colonial 8 ply from Bendigo Woollen Mills. This is the first time I've used it, and I am loving it...will definately buy more.
My winter top down cardi is kinda designing itself...The shape is just going to be a basic scoop neck, and I'm letting my stash of Sean Sheep wool determine the colours ... meaning I'm knitting blindly until it's all gone! :-D

Still using up my stash

I was trying to hold off starting a new project until my copy of Fitted Knits arrives from Amazon....but y'know what it's like...sometimes you've just gotta knit ;-D
I started this generic top down cardi using some Sean Sheep 100% wool from my stash...I'm using size 15 (us) needles with 3 strands of yarn held together...it's really cold in Adelaide right now, so it needed to be extra thick...it was going to be a sweater, but the wool is a bit scratchy and will probably need an underneath layer of clothes, so a cardi it is :-)
I'm still trying to decide if I like my Tubey/one skein wonder 'hybrid'... so until I know, I've put it on hold for a while....this is where it's at so far:
I also got out my old Bond knitting machine after reading about one on another blog....I've had this Bond for over 20 years, it's survived 5 house moves and one 'other side of the world' move, and has not been used in all that time...well, I managed to find all of the pieces, got it set up, and I even remembered how to use it! It's awesome...and I can't remember why I stopped using it?...the last thing I made was a baby outfit (jumper, leggings, hat) for my daughter (who is now nearly 21!). I even found the pattern book, and showed her what I'd made (ha! she said she would have prefered the pink dress on the next page!!!! I offered to make it for her now, but she thought it might be a tinsy bit small...!!?!!) :-D

Panic over!

Thanks to everybody for your dyelot comments :-) ... I had a hard time trying to decide what to do, so in the end, thought that I would try a few different options, until I found one that I was happy with. I wasn't convinced that it would work well with cap sleeves, but gave it a try anyway, as it was the easiest ... ok, I have to say that I'm really glad that I tried this, as I love the way it turned out (who'd of thought!?!) . It will work great in the summer for airconned buildings :-)
I had enough of the original colour to finish the body and sleeves, and only used the 'off colour' for the i-cord edging and leaf ties (where, I'm pleased to say, that it's no longer noticable). This was my first attempt at an i-cord border, and it is definately my fave part of the whole cardi ... I loved the process of knitting it, and loved the way it turned out :-) I changed the i-cord method from the one in the pattern, to the one in Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Workshop ... they are basically the same, but I found EZ's less fiddly.
Ok...on to more Fitted Knits!...(as soon as the postie brings me my parcel from Amazon :-D )

Dye-lot disaster

I was thinking how cute my cropped cardi was looking, until the sun shone through the window and highlighted my two-tone sleeve!!! **insert hammer horror-esque scream here!!**
You can see it pretty clear in the photo...a few centimetres up from the picot facing...shame it wasn't so clear when I was knitting it....
...soooo I guess that 2 lessons have been here
1. the obvious one of course..ALWAYS check dye lots before you buy (yeah, now it's obvious!)
and 2. never change to a new ball whilst sitting in a dimly lit room watching Spicks'n'Specks on tv!!
I don't have any more of the same yarn, so I'm thinking that my best option would be to rip the sleeve back to the underarm, and make them both into cap sleeves with a picot edge to match the bottom..the only different colour then, would be the applied i-cord edge and front ties.
Oh well, it wasn't quite what I had in mind, but at least it'll get a lot of wear in the summer months as a singlet topper :-)

A very Glampyre weekend

After reading the posts on the Fitted Knits Along
I decided that I HAD to order the Fitted Knits book from Amazon...I've been thinking about it for ages and really loved the stuff that I saw on the KAL, so I ordered it at the weekend ... I now have about 3 weeks to wait for the postie :-D
Whilst I was googling the book, I found this free patern from it on the Knitty site...I'm so glad that at least I can still be making something from it while I wait for it to arrive :-)

I also started this blue jumper... I wanted to see how it would turn out, if I started with a One Skein Wonder, and just extended it downwards..kinda like a OSW crossed with a Tubey..?
I'm not sure how (or if!) it'll turn out, but I figured it was worth a try.
...see, I said it was a Glampyre weekend :-)

Dollar skirt!

I tested out my new Bonfit skirt patterner yesterday...All I wanted was a basic, A-line(ish) skirt, with as little detail as poss, and something quick that could be worn today...so here it is!..my VERY basic skirt, made from one metre of fabric that I bought from the Op Shop for a dollar. The fabric had the added bonus of being slightly stretchy, which eliminated the need for any kind of fastening...it has two side seams and a hem at the top and the bottom. I made the waist measurement bigger, so that it would go on easier, and so that once it was on, it would settle more on my hips than waist (fitted waists always make me feel uncomfy, like I've been chopped in half!)
It took less than an hour to make, and fits and feels great :-)
I bought about $20 worth of fifty cent/one dollar fabric whilst I was op shopping ... most of it will have to wait for the summer, but I'm really pleased that there were a few pieces that I can use to make more winter skirts :-)

Warm hands in a flash

I bought a bag of yarn oddments from the op shop for 75c (you'd be right in thinking that I had enough yarn oddments already, but hey, I couldn't pass up such a bargain!). I'm going to try to use it all on winter mittens ... starting with these fingerless ones. The pattern was from here ... it was really quick and easy :-) For my next pair, I'll make them seamless (my seaming doesn't look too brilliant on these ones, but at least it's mainly hidden by my sleeves) ... think I'll also cast on a few less stitches, because I think that these will stretch out a bit more than I want.
I have hardly taken them off yet since I made them...warm hands but with finger freedom...love it!

Stashbusters!

Over the (very cold) Queen's Birthday Long Weekend, I tried to make a move on some of my stash :-) (really....it did nothing to deplete my 'supplies'...it just made me realise how much stuff I have!).
With the weather being the way it was, I started to make some quilts/blankets ... I don't have a plan for them yet, just started knitting and sewing without too much thought ;-D
I wish I'd have known that the new Knitty was up ... I love pretty much everything in this issue (and they're nearly all, small, quick knits! :-) ).

...it's finished!

I love this Rusted Root :-) As I was knitting it, I wasn't very happy with how the leaf pattern was (or actually wasn't) showing up so good, but now that it's done, the pattern shows great (not in the photos, but it does in 'real life').
The top down construction made this a really easy knit, and the 14 stitches of lacy leaves in each row, meant that I didn't have to be constantly looking at the pattern (although, if you've read my earlier post, you'll already know that I did make a stuff up by not concentrating enough!!). The yarn was from my stash that I bought when Big W was clearing it's shelves of their Sean Sheep range. I can't remember if this was the time when I filled my trolley with the 50c marked down range, or whether it was a few days later when it was down to 20c!... either way, this top took just under 2 balls, so all up it cost me under a dollar, maybe even under 40c!!
I plan on making more of this style top (who wouldn't for 40c!!?!!), it's great for the layered look, and with today being the official start of winter in Aus, layers will definately be the way to go :-)

A Finished Dickie

How easy was this neckwarmer!?! ... and what a really neat alternative to a scarf (just perfect for the start of our Adelaide winter). The pattern is from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Around...the Simple Dickie on page 36. It took hardly any knitting time, and hardly any yarn (I used some Aussie 8 ply, which knits up to about 20 sts x 30 rows on 4mm needles, in stocking stitch). I'm thinking that these would make great little pressies, maybe with some wrist warmers to match...the complete layered sweater look! I would be able to get the complete set out of one 100g ball of yarn...ok, it's on my list :-)
Adrienne at Magic pixie knitter has tagged me :-) (Hi Adrienne!...love your blog!)
OK, these are the rules: I have to list 7 random facts about myself (I've been reading some other people's, and random seems to be the key word here :-D), I then have to tag 7 other bloggers to do the same....still trying to find another 7 that haven't already been tagged, so in the meantime, here are 7 amazing! Linda facts:
1. I have an IMMENSE dislike of tomato ketchup...can't look at it, can't touch it, can't smell it, can't do the dishes after it, and CERTAINLY can't EAT it!!!!...eeeww, quickly onto number 2...
2.I don't own any makeup...not one piece....nope, not even a lippy!
3. I've been married to the same person for the last 24 years :-)
4. I knitted my first sweater from a pattern in primary school (think I was about 11ish)...it had short sleeves, crew neck, a lacey eyelet pattern around the bottom of the body and sleeves, and was purple and pink random stripes (still love my random stripes!)...I think it was going to be purple, but I seem to remember that we didn't buy enough yarn...I must ask my mum if she has any photos of it.
5. Keeping the same theme, I crocheted my first wearable garment about a year later...it was a granny square vest/waistcoat....I started a trend in my class, and within a few weeks, every single girl was wearing one...my friend Karen offered me 50pence to make hers, but my mum wouldn't let me :-( Think Karen enlisted the help of her Nan in the end....Wish that we'd had yearbooks back then, we would have looked soooo good in our class photo!!..ha!...aaaah the 70's!!
6. Triple J is the only radio station that I'll listen to...drives the rest of the household mad :-D
7. My new favourite TV show is Life on Mars....sunday night at 8.30 on the ABC...check it out...it's really cool :-)
Well thats my 7 random facts...totally random, totally useless!!!! :-D Thanks Adrienne, I had fun thinking them up!....I didn't think I could make it to 7, but I ended up with a whole heap to spare :-D

My week in piccies

I'm having heaps of fun making this cardi :-) I'm definately a make things up as I go along, sort of person...things don't always turn out the way I expect, but that's what's kinda good about it :-D

Back to my Rusted Root (yeah!)
I know it looked like I'd given up on it for a while there (and of course, you're right, I had), but I'm back now :-) I put it down because I stuffed up a line in the leaf pattern, and couldn't be bothered undoing it (lazy?..yep, you bet!)

...but, it's all fixed up now, and ready for some serious knitting :-D

I have sleeves...

...and I guess that if don't like the rest of the
cardi when it's finished, at least I've still got a
cool pair of armwarmers :-D

I made a start on the body, shown here with my new reading goodies...I wanted the Vogue Knitting specifically for Elizabeth Zimmermann's baby surplice pattern (there have been some beautiful ones made over on the Zimmermania blog), and The Friday Night Knitting Club was an awesome Mother's Day pressie :-) ...oooh... and, and, and!! ...my Bonfit Skirt Patterner arrived from Ebay :-D
Such excitement!!... what to do first?

More lounging!

I don't think I'm ever going to get fed up with this lounge pant pattern :-)
I made these from the same pattern as my last ones, but made them with a drawstring waist instead of a zip. I figured that putting a zip in them was going to work out too pricey, as most of the zips I looked at, cost more than the actual fabric. The first pair were darted at the front and back waist, so I left the darts out, turned over the top edge to make a casing, made a drawstring from the same fabric, and just threaded it through :-)
There will be more pants to come...!
2paw, the scarf in my last post was just made by decreasing at the start of one row and increasing at the start of the next...I really liked how the fringe was formed, it was as easy as tying on the next colour, and just leaving the ends dangling...It was an easy knit, and I think it looks really effective ... thanks for the comments :-)
Joanm, I'm more than happy to share my favourite op shops with you :-) The bonfit patterner was from the big Salvo's at Christies Beach (go down beach road towards the sea, through the last set of traffic lights, and it's just on your left)...also on beach road, there are at least 3 other op shops, 2 second hand book shops, and a factory direct fabric seconds shop (I think its called Talking Textiles, just past woolies on the left). I also really like the Salvo's at Hallett Cove and the big one just past Coles on Brighton Road. I keep meaning to go to the big car boot sale at Brighton High on sunday mornings, but haven't gotton around to it yet. I agree with you about the wharf markets at the Port, and only go there very rarely now :-) I tend to stick to the south of the city, but I would love to know if there are any other good ones that I'm missing out on :-)

Dickies, Sleeves and Scarves!

I couldn't decide whether I wanted to knit or crochet, so I opted for both :-)
I'm still working on my Rusted Root knitting, but I wanted something that I didn't have to give too much thought to, and something that would give quick results...Elizabeth Zimmermann's knitted Dickies fitted the criteria (yep I did say Dickies....for anybody like me, who lived in Britain during the '70's and maybe watched one too many Carry On films, I think that the Dickie should be re-named as the Neckwarmer! ;-D ....cue Sid Jame's laughter!!! )
For the crocheting, I just sorted through my stash of blue yarn, chose a hook to suit (4.5mm), and started to freeform crochet some sleeves :-) I have no idea how it will turn out, but I think that it may be a cardi for me...?...perhaps?!

Winter is set to arrive in Adelaide in the next few weeks, so I thought I should sort through my wardrobe in readiness...I've got heaps of scarves, but still keep going back to my very favourite. I made this scarf a few years back from a pattern in Patons Creative Accessories
I really must get around to making some more in different colours...it may be an oldie, but it's still a goodie...and still my fave :-)

Quilts,quilts,quilts!

I've spent all week working on some quilting UFOs...these 3 quilts have been waiing around forever to get finished (the house one has 2002 appliqued on the top!!)...I don't seem to have made too much progress, but hey, at least I've got them out and done enough to get me enthusiastic again :-)
As you can see in the photo, all 3 are scrap quilts....the double wedding ring was pieced by hand, using the english paper template method (cut out the shapes from freezer paper, iron them onto the back of the fabric, tack the edges over the paper, then whip stitch the fabric pieces together). The house one was machine pieced and hand appliqued (again, over the paper templates), and the star one is machine pieced and surrounded by red and white log cabin blocks.
I 'found' another Bonfit Patterner this week (yay!!...can you see me jumping for joy from where you are?!!) I was SO impressed with my pants patterner that I started looking for the other 2 (skirt and bodice) patterners. No luck yet with the bodice, but I bought the skirt one off ebay :-D Hopefully, it is winging it's way from Tasmania right now....soooo excited!...and just the bodice one to go now :-)
Thanks heaps for the comments about my pants both here and on Wardrobe Refashion...the bonfit system is really clever...you just need to take a few easy measurements (pretty much just waist, hips, crotch) and then slide the patterner pieces along until your measurement appears at the arrow, and tighten the knob to hold it in place..there is a bit of pivoting to do as you're drawing around the tempate, but once you've done it a few times (and watched the video), it's really easy. It took me a couple of attempts, and about an hour, to get it sorted in my head...next time should be as easy as! I dropped the waistline slightly, and shortened the crotch, because I wanted low slung, not waist hugging...to do this, I measured my waist a few centimetres lower than I normally would, and took the shortened crotch measurement from there...easy :-D
Can't wait to get my skirt one!!

Lounging in style!

....so this has gotta be my best op shop purchase EVER!...I'd never heard of Bonfit patterners before, but as soon as I saw it propped up in the craft section with the template of the pants piece on the front..I knew it was going to be good :-) So of course, I grabbed it quick, paid my $12.50 (yep! $12.50!!) and pretty much ran out of the shop to my car.... ....Yes it's good!..how have I never heard of these before?!
I'm guessing that it must have been sold originally in Aus, because the video plays fine, and has a PAL compatability sticker on it. I'm on the look out for the bodice and the skirt versions now (don't suppose it will be as easy as walking into the op shop again though!) I thought I would test it out on some lounge/pj pants...I used a piece of sheeting that I had in my stash (originally going to be a quilt backing), and followed the patterner guide for palazzo pants...the result? - a perfect (and stylish ;-D) alternative to my old trackydaks :-) Love it, love it, love it!!
(and the best bit is, there's no annoying paper pattern to fight with...I drew the pattern straight onto the fabric)

Knitting book goodies

.....ok, so not much knitting has been done these past few days, but that's not to say that I haven't been thinking and planning and reading about it ;-D
...oh yes..and shopping! Look at these books that I bought from the Op Shop (thrift store) for $10 the lot!
I now feel fully inspired to get moving on my Rusted Root :-)

Awesome new software

I downloaded some free sewing software yesterday from Wild Ginger Software
It drafts out patterns for bags, hats, pockets, shawls, aprons, slippers, thongs...and heaps more stuff. All the dimensions can be custom set, and the full size patterns can then be printed out.
I made this tie-top bag to be the same size as one I already have...I printed the pattern and cut out the fabric last night (it printed onto 9 A4 sheets which I just taped together), and then I sewed it this morning...I reckon all up, it took less than an hour to make :-) I still have to topstitch around the edge, but I don't have the right colour cotton yet (oh I guess that means another trip to Spotlight!...really, I'll use any excuse!)Now that I know how good the software works, I'll spend a bit more time on the next bag...maybe some inside pockets and a closure?... the options are endles :-)

Rusted Root

Just a quick Rusted Root progress piccy :-)
I guess that black isn't the best colour to highlight a lacy panel, but as long as I remember to wear something light coloured underneath, it should still show up ok.
It's knitting up really fast with the Sean Sheep 8ply, and has a really nice feel to it.
...so far, so good :-D

Unbiased

Well, my Unbiased from Knitty is finally finished :-) This was such an easy bag pattern, a one that would look heaps different with every yarn choice. I made this one to the measurements on the pattern, and it makes it a really good size for holding knitting projects with straight knitting needles.
I think I'll make another one, but next time make it deeper, for a more slouchy kinda bag. The good thing about this pattern, is that it can be made to any size just by adjusting the dimensions of your 4 diagonal pieces.
One of the current projects over on the Sexy Knitters Club blog is Rusted Root. After sorting through my stash (really, I am trying hard to de-stash!) I found some black Sean Sheep Bonza 8 ply, that I thought would work good. I love the look of the puff sleeves on the pattern, but thought I may change them to an ordinary cap sleeve...I'll be wearing it layered over other clothes, so maybe the puffy will be too much. With changing the sleeves, I got to thinking that it might be possible to make it, by just using a basic top down raglan. I looked through some stitch pattern books to see if I had a similar leaf pattern for the lacy insert, and I found what I think is the exact one!! :-D How cool is that!?!
...ok!, time to put my pattern adapting to the test :-)