Left me feeling worn and frayed

And here we have WIP #2, finished and being worn by the crochet artist *cough cough*



I used almost three balls of Jet for this hat, but given that it is crocheted in single and is super warm, I forgive the pattern. Besides, it was fun to make.

I started swatching up the Botteh scarf in Regia Silk tonight. This yarn is so, so, so soft and luscious. I'm going to really enjoy making this, I think. I just don't think I am in the right frame of mind to start this at the moment though - my new job is kicking my behind fair and square and I need to be in a good mood for the Botteh. Maybe in a few days.

In the meantime, Scott made the mistake of leaving me waiting twenty minutes for him outside, in the cold, and very close to Lincraft. To get warm, perhaps I had to go inside, into Lincraft, and perhaps purchase two balls of Jet in green shades.

Perhaps I might be making me a nice simple shell scarf to keep me warmer next time he makes me wait so long

Cold shoulders no more

I really, really want to start a Botteh scarf using the Regia silk I got from Georgie. But I'm not letting myself start until I get rid of at least two WIPs.

One down.


In this photo it hadn't been blocked yet, but I'm really happy with how it turned out. I abandoned the idea of ties and pompoms, and went for a closing strap and vintage button. It was worn for the first time to the clothesline so I could bring the washing in. My shoulders stayed nice and snug.

Earlier this morning I went to Vinnie's. I dropped off about 40 quilting magazines and a box of clothes and shoes, and came home with this instead (the 11 balls of yarn at least take up less room than 40 quilting magazines).

Al - he's a crafty one

Today was the weekly knit-in at Craft ACT as part of the Knit1 Blog1 exhibition. As has become custom, Al was adorned with the latest WIP, but at least this time I had a camera. The Shopping Sherpa provided his scarf earlier in the week so at least his neck is warm.

On the way out, Jacqui (the non-blogging knitter) armed him with drop spindle and blue stuff, and I think he looks quite the spinning expert, don't you?

This is a long post. You've been warned.

I haven't been able to post for the last week due to a notoriously slow 16kbps internet connection (bloody hurry up and connect me, TransAct!) and the stress of leaving one government department (and the same job of more than 5 years) and joining a new one.

But productivity has resulted. When one gets up at 2 o'clock on Saturday morning because the bad dreams are too much, and one goes into one's sewing room to turn the oil heater and the radio on, well what is one to do but pick up a hook, a book and start something new?

That's my excuse anyway.

New WIP Number 1: An Anarchy hat from The Happy Hooker, done in Patons Jet (another $2 bargain from Big W).



Old WIP Number 1 (which is now WIP Number 2) is the Cold Shoulders Capelet. Those who were with me at the Knit1 Blog1 knit in last Friday would have seen me crochet an entire row ... then rip it out again when I discovered a very obvious mistake (too obvious to get away with). So progress, but not much.



After discovering Sean Sheep still on sale for $2 at Big W, and inspired by Dreaming all the Time's felting exploits, I bought a few balls of Armytage and started a scarf for felting. I probably should swatch before I get much further though.




Last Saturday I had a very traumatic experience at the hairdresser which actually didn't involve a bad haircut, but did leave me sitting there in the chair with wet hair and no hairdresser for a good 30 mins until someone realised I was there. An already-stressed out wreck in tears. Idiots. Anyway, to make up for said traumatic experience, I went shopping at Cassidy's. Ooh boy ...



Yes, that's Country Silk for $4 a ball, and Naturally Tussock for $3.50 (perfect for homeless heads). The other stuff was mega bucks but it will help keep baby feet warm next autumn.

Then I headed to the nearest op shop ...

Old Patons Jet? "Patonised"? What on earth?

Round and round she goes

The capelet is moving right along ...



I'll be at the Friday knit-in at Craft ACT tomorrow with a knitty work mate. Hope to see lots of you there as well!

What started as a whisper

I escaped to the Knit1 Blog1 exhibition at lunchtime today to take a better look at those knitted and blogged treasures.



Lovely. Just lovely.

Frosty Sunday morning

Next project, originally uploaded by quiltingmick / michelle.

So I've finished adding rows to the Shelly scarf. Most of the rows were done yesterday - the reliable Maytag washer suddenly decided to stop working so I packed the wet clothes into the car and ended up at Lyneham laundromat. Not an entirely unpleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon, I have to admit.

New project on the hook is the Cold Shoulders capelet from "The Happy Hooker". I don't do mohair (too itchy) and I have mountains of Jet left from the Big W $2 sale the other week.

This is the post where you get to the see the ugly carpet in my sewing room

I've brought home a huge haul of cheap yarn over the last fortnight, and there is no where to put it. So in the organising and cleaning and searching for spare space in my sewing room (thank goodness yarn is so squishy - it can fit in almost any crevice if you squash it enough), I came across 4 very sad WIPs.

One was a pink hat I crocheted years ago in Paton Jet - it was always too short and my ears got cold. Last night I finally added another row and a stupid looking half-frayed flower, and now it is wearable enough that I showed up that farmer fashionista crowd this morning at the markets with it. (Also ran into The Shopping Sherpa at the happy hens egg stand, wearing her fantastic skull 'n' crossbones jumper).

Anyway, no photos of the pink hat - yet. I want to fix the stupid flower first.

WIP number two is this pair of socks. Except it's only one sock. Half done. And it's too skinny to get on over my size 11 clodhopper. I think a fair bit of frogging is required (maybe back to ch1 - eek).

WIP number three has already been frogged almost to death. It's a pair of mittens, again only one mitten and a wrist cuff. I started using a free web pattern for these but found the pattern made no sense so I made my own version. I'm using Lincraft Lima (alpaca/acrylic blend) and it is so soft and warm that I really should get these finished before winter is over.

The fourth sad item is the Shelly scarf I showed a few posts back. When I completed it in autumn it was long enough to wrap around my neck once for balmy afternoons and cool mornings. With the frosty mornings we've been having though I would really appreciate being able to double wrap it around my neck. So about 20 more rows are going on to the end, and they'll need to do that by the end of today as my other scarf is in the exhibition and I'm going out to the movies and dinner at Sammy's tonight and bloody hell it's COLD.

The exhibition opening last night was amazing - I met a few fellow bloggers like The Shopping Sherpa, Jejune and Dotter, Bells, Taph and I saw other amazing recognisable creations in the distance but there was no chance of getting near some people with the huge crowd that was there.

And it's done

I hooked the last of the ribbing at lunchtime today, and then finished it off tonight.

I twisted the wrap once and then stitched the ends together. I suppose it's more of a shrug than a wrap now. I really, really like it and it is surprisingly warm for the amount of holes in it (that's a crocheting joke).

Here is a pathetic photo - taken on timer when the camera was sitting on a shelf in the cupboard. There were another 40 photo attempts - of the wall and one arm, of the camera strap, of half the wrap and all of the bedroom door. One day I'll know where to stand the first time.



Knit1 Blog1 exhibition opening is tomorrow night at CraftACT. Can't wait to see it!

(it's almost a) wrap

Wrap, originally uploaded by quiltingmick / michelle.

Progress by Wednesday night. I still have a couple of rows of top ribbing to do, then I'll sew it together.

I'm very pleased with how it's turning out ... but I'm trying not to be too confident. Surely it could be a disaster when it's finished?

*slaps self silly*

Bugger

I have a little problem. Yesterday I bought a large skein of red variegated hand dyed alpaca yarn, and in winding it into a ball tonight we discovered it leaves nasty red stains behind on your hands.

What to do? I've never used hand dyed yarn before. I don't want it staining my head, my neck, my clothes. Surely I can do something?

Help? Please?

In other news, I dropped off three little items to the Knit1 Blog1 exhibition today - Barbara, it was so lovely to finally meet you! And I've nearly finished the Canberra Corporate wrap, which is going to have to change name, as "Canberra Corporate" depresses me too much.

Fibretastic

The Old Bus Depot Markets in Kingston had a Fibre Day today. I helped out on the Canberra Quilters stand in the morning, but after a couple of hours I was free to roam. With $50 in my wallet, I was ready to shop well ... unfortunately I had to use my credit card for one purchase, but it was SO worth it. Look at those colours! Those textures! Oh my!

The green yarn is Waratah Fibres English Wensleydale Aran. The one in the middle was bought because I couldn't decide whether to buy this or the other. So I bought both. It's 100% alpaca yarn while the one on the right is wool slub yarn. The slub might become a scarf, and the alpaca - a hat perhaps.



Progress on the Canberra Corporate wrap continues. So far I've used only 2 balls of the light grey. How very economical of me!

Some days I'll wear blue and yellow, some days I'll wear beige*

It's one of those wet, cold, Canberra Saturday mornings. The day started with a quick trip to the farmers' market (where we, of course, showed up the farmer fashionista with our spectacular new crocheted hats) followed by 10 minutes of sunshine during which I decided doing 3 loads of washing was a REALLY GOOD IDEA. Of course the washing is now hanging on the line, sodden and cold and I refuse to go outside to retrieve it. Maybe a warm wind will blow through this afternoon. Maybe.

I spent the rest of the morning in the sewing room listening to an ArtSound
FM interview with Barbara McConchie who is curating the Knit1 Blog1 exhibition at Craft ACT in the Canberra Museum and Art Gallery starting on Friday. I've been invited to be the guest crocheter for the exhibition, and I'm so excited!

This photo just reminds me that I never did finish those crocheted socks I was making ...



And I got a lot of work done on my latest project. It's a wrap of my own design, and I'm thinking of calling it "Canberra Corporate". Because it seems in winter that this is Canberra's uniform - grey and black.



I'm using Lincraft Balmoral Tweed for this project - I bought some of it on sale for $2.99 a ball this week. I don't mind crocheting with this stuff. It holds it's twist pretty well, but occasionally you can get a ball with knots all the way through it, which can be annoying enough for me to refuse to pay the regular price of $3.99 a ball for it. Hooray for mid-winter sales.

Right. It's time for the St Kilda match on TV, and another few rows of the wrap.


* lyrics by Fred Smith "Chockabelly".

Two hats

With winter in Canberra truly setting in, I find myself at work dreaming often of cozy days at home listening to ABC local radio, hook in one hand and ball of wool in the other. Sure that work conference today on e-government strategies was interesting - but my mind kept wondering to unfinished projects at home.

Spurred on by the current $2 Patons yarn sale at Big W and the resultant overabundance of Jet and Inca in my stash, I've hooked up two quick hats in the last two nights.

On Monday night I tackled the Newsboy Cap from "Crochet Today" magazine. It looked tricky in the photo, but it was dead simple. I made it bigger by hooking with a 6.5 mm hook instead of the specified 6, but my head is huge (it's all in the brain) so I needed the extra room. I think I started it at 6 pm, cooked dinner, drove to Jacqui's and by the time I ripped the brim off and changed the pattern a little, I'd finished it by 9 pm.



Last night I opened to "The PDQ" in the Happy Hooker. I was using Patons Jet this time. I love it but my short hair tends to stick out of the holes in the hat! I'd like to make another version in the grey Jet which doesn't have the holes. One day.

Following the pattern

Crochet scarf, originally uploaded by quiltingmick / michelle.

I know it's hard to believe, but even though I've been crocheting for 30 years, I didn't know how to follow a crochet pattern properly until, oh, about 10 weeks ago.

Once I taught myself that handy skill I was off. This scarf was the first off the hook. It's the Shelly pattern from crochetme.com. I used Lincraft Balmoral Tweed - an expensive scarf as it took 3 balls of the stuff. I also made another Shelly in a lighter tweed yarn for a friend - not photos as I forgot, but I was really impressed with how it turned out.

Ripple blanket - finished!

Ripple blanket - finished!, originally uploaded by quiltingmick / michelle.

I actually finished this weeks and weeks ago, and it's even been delivered to the birthday boy in Brisbane (on Tuesday 15th May).

I'm so pleased with how this came together.

Float Away

Float Away, originally uploaded by quiltingmick / michelle.

I saw this on the Interweave Crochet site and just HAD to make it. And I finally found a use for the Naturally Merino Fur (possum/merino mix) which I bought ages ago. Of course I didn't have enough for the scarf, so I then had to search Australia to find another skein. Very lucky to find it too - Naturally has ceased distribution of it in Australia.

Link to pattern: www.interweavecrochet.com/projects.asp