What I made, by Sharon

For some reason I only have one sweatshirt style jumper, Veera Valimaki's Breathing Space. There are a few problems with it: 1) The shape has become kind of baggy
2) The sleeves are a slightly odd length - in the original photos they are proper full length, so they must have shortened
3) The neckline in a bit wide, which makes any shirt I put under it visible
4) At some point I must have worn it with a cross body bag and, despite it being made out of sock yarn, there is a matted patch near the shoulder 
5) I can't find it. Yes, I appear to have lost this jumper, which is quite strange. These pictures were taken last time we went to Marysville.

Because of all these issues, I decided it needed replacing - which is why I am currently knitting Joji Locatelli's Japan Sleeves.

We are going increasingly into lockdown, following the rest of the world in both severity and response. And that was expected. What was not expected in that building renovations which they have been working towards for two years are now scheduled to start tomorrow. Yep, apparently the building is going to be scaffolded, access to balconies removed and basically get turned into a building site while we are all living and working inside, 24/7. I am still desperately hoping that it will get called off last minute. Otherwerwise we will live with it, because we don't have a choice, but loosing all my natural light while being stuck inside all the time is pretty dire. Also, they have to take the heating out, so if it gets cold we'll just have to shiver. I can't even think about it.

The knitting is going well, at least. Joji's Japan Sleeves:

I love the yarn, and the pattern is lovely. A really interesting construction. Some really long rows there, but I have quite a lot of knit…

Yesterday was the last day my office is open, so we were running around, organising things that probably should have been done a few weeks ago. Meanwhile I was keeping an eye on the DHL courier site. Not very long ago I bought a Joji bucket bag. It got stranded in Hong Kong for a couple of days, and was meant to be out for delivery on Monday. Since it was my last day in the office, I really, really wanted it to come.

Meanwhile, at 7.30am I had a notification of a package in my parcel locker. I picked it up on my way home - pro tip, if you cycle, putting a single strap laptop bag on your back like a backpack isn't the best.


The Joji bag is just great. I wanted it for those times when we're just running across the road to the pub, but I want something to put my stuff in. It's a good size - big enough for a proper jumper or dress. That's how it looks like with 7 skeins of yarn:

And the second package had yarn for Birkin. It's Ixchel Bunny's tweed, and is very like Ka…

I finished my Wubble socks, sewed in the ends, blocked them and gave them to my father last night.

Then today I had to message him and ask him to weigh them, because I don't know how much yarn they used! It turns out they are made from 83 grams of Left Over Sock Yarn - the background colours are largely from Leon's socks, and the self striping from a yarn swap I did with the Monstersock group last year.

I did the 64 stitch 4 x 4 pattern option. I hope they fit him. Leon was kind enough to model them for me.

I really love how the heels came out, with the colour change in the middle.

I love using LOSY, and this was a bright, happy project to work on, culminating in a truly lovely pair of socks. 

What a weird time! Here in Melbourne, we're just ramping up the COVID-19 response, going from gatherings of 500 being banned, down to 100 this morning. I'm not working from home, I'm not set up for it, so if they close my office I'll be on personal leave. But there are only 4 of us in a large office floor, so we shall see.
I've just started Joji Locatelli's Japan Sleeves  - and I mean just started!

The simple lace in bright, bright yellow is very cheering.
I finished Tucker (The McBrides of Texas #2)and haven't started anything else yet. I read a NetGalley review copy - someone emailed me and asked if I wanted it,and I said yes. It's a pretty good read, but I wouldn't normally start a series at book two, and there is a whole other series that loads of the characters come from. So, worth reading the previous books first!
And I finished my last audio book and haven't started a new one. Weird. It's like the world is holding it's breath. Actuall…

It was a weird weekend for everyone, and even weirder for me! I live in St Kilda, very close to the Grand Prix track. I don't like car racing, but I mainly dislike the Melbourne Grand Prix because it is in a park (which is full of concrete for three months), and because you can hear the cars from my house and there are combat aeroplanes flying around (I don't know why) and loads of helicopters. Leon and I planned to go to Ballarat for the weekend to escape the noise. Then, on Friday they cancelled the race. A couple of hours later I got a call from my mother saying she's off to hospital. She was very vague about what is going on - it's got nothing to do with COVID-19 though.

Needless to say we cancelled our trip. I saw my mother yesterday, and I think she's ok, but they are not quite sure what is wrong with here, which is always a worry.


Everyone is getting ready to settle in with this pandemic outbreak, and I'm no different. Earlier in the week I asked Melbourne…