What I made, by Sharon

Leon and I are flying to Russia today. We're doing the Transiberia Express and ending up in Mongolia. I've spent a little while planning what knitting I'm taking. I'm knitting Angee from Sock Innovation using Collinette Jitterbug that I bought in Bendigo last year. I love this book. It's my third pair from it and I'm inending to knit my way through the entire book. I actually cast on on Monday, and turned the heel of the first sock yesterday, so I will have most of a pair of socks by the time I get there. Unless they take my needles at airport security. We are taking three flights to get there, so that's a lot of security. Next up a stippy scarf inspired by Jen's . I bought this Mimi Mochi sock wool at the Sock Summit last year. I'm a bit obsessed with self striping wool, but its a singles yarn, and too fuzzy to make the type of socks I like. Should make a lovely scarf. And then, if there is time, I'm casting on for Featherweight Cardigan ...

Last Tuesday I was at the pub with some wool I had spun. I originally intended it to be a jumper for Leon, but it turned out far too thick. In fact perfect bathmatt wool. I had a pattern with me, but when I cast it on it looked aweful, and was not fun to knit. So I made a mitred square, but cast off with about 40 stitches left, so it sits against the toilet: I never imagined I would put a picture of my toilet on my blog. It was very simple: cast on 121 stitches, mark middle stitch. Knit in garter stitch, purling middle stitch on the wrong side, doing a double decrease on the right side. Cast off when it fits nicely around the base of the toilet. It's so springy and squooshy and warm on the feet..

On Friday I caught the train to the Bendigo Sheep and Wool show, the country's largest celebration and exhibition of all things sheepy and woolly . I had fun from the moment I got the Southern Cross Station. Joining me on the hideously early 7.10am train were Sonia, Susan, Debs, Patricia and Sophie - who we hadn't met before, but she lives just around the corner. The first thing I saw when I got there (after the coloured sheep!) was the people who make Majacraft wheels - not the people who sell them, the people who actually make them. I had a chance to spin on the Little Gem, and fell in love. I nearly spent the rest of the day sitting there spinning... But I'm glad I didn't. I bought fibre, and yarn and only three balls of sock wool. Everything I bought was on my list of things to buy, and I bought everything on the list, except a Turkish spindle, and that was option. Sonia, Deb and Patricia bought spindles, so I may have companions in the spinning obsessions s...

Over two years ago I started a Lace Ribbon Scarf. This was when I had just joined Ravelery and just before I started knitting with the Richmond knitters. And I struggled with it. I thought it was because I had not read charts before, and never done a yarn over, let alone a double yarn over. So I put it aside. I thougt I would come back to it when I was more experienced. Yesterday I picked it up again. Now I can read charts, and have done some simple lace knitting. And I found the pattern completely unintuitive and unenjoyable . A combination of these factors and the bamboo wool have left my hands very sore. So, I apologise for my language at knit night yesterday, and say goodbye to the scarf. It's getting frogged and I'm going to knit a bathmatt out of chunky handspun wool.

This is the second clapotis I’ve made: It’s one of only three patterns I have made more than once – the other two being the baby surprise jacket and a tea cosy. This one is for Carrie, my sister-in-law’s birthday. When she saw me making mine, she asked if I would make her one. There are some substantial differences: mine is made of sock wool that I dyed myself, and I did many more repeats than the pattern called for, so it is about 2 metres long. Carrie’s was made exactly as the pattern called for, except on 5.5mm needles, rather than 5. Also, checking Ravelry my last one took me a month to finish, while this one was done and dusted in 9 days. I have been knitting quite a lot, perhaps to take my mind off all the other things that are going on. Nothing bad is happening, but there is a bit of disruption, including getting my WorkCover claim finalised finally, and interviewing for the job I have been acting in for the last 7 months. On the plus side there is Bendigo in Friday and I start...

Technica l: The pattern is Leo , from knitty. I made some modifications to the pattern. I knit the body and sleeves in the round, because I prefer knitting in the round and don’t like seaming. I left off the roll on the neckline, because Leon said he would prefer it that way. I took ten centimetres off the diameter, so that it would fit. When I did this, I failed to realise that I should use a number that divided evenly by two. I have 29 repeats, which meant that, when I went to divide I had an uneven number of repeats, and ended up with 14 on the back and 15 on the front. In order to get that wonderful effect of a centred line down the front and back a number of repeats that divide evenly by two, but is an odd number would have been more appropriate (so 30 pattern repeats would have been ideal). That said, I don’t think the unevenness shows, and, because there is an odd number of repeats on the front, I still got that flowy effect that makes the original pa...

Helen asked me to knit her an iPhone cover. Here's hoping she can't tell the difference between knitting and crotchet.