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*