What I made, by Sharon

A couple of weeks ago I made myself a Sockhead hat .I didn't put any pictures up here, the process was so quick, and then I put it on my head and have barely taken it off since. When I was deciding what wool to use I really struggled. I had some pretty Opal which is one of the oldest wools in my stash. I bought it on impulse at Bendigo wool show two years ago. I had made what I thought were all my purchases and was just waiting for Sonia to come back from her last errand and the Opal called my name. I really haven't been drawn to knit light purple socks though. In my stash I was also drawn to some Socks-That-Rock-Silkie, which I knew would make a squishy, stunning hat. I went with the Opal, and really like the results. Two days after I finished knitting my sockhead Elise, my BFF who lives across the road, emailed and said she wanted a slouchy beanie. Well. I invited her over and said she could choose any wool in the stash. We narrowed it down to two - a dark Drea...

Five hundred twenty-five thousand Six hundred minutes How do you measure, measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights In cups of coffeeIn inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife. In five hundred twenty-five thousand Six hundred minutesHow do you measure A year in the life? (Extract from the song Seasons of Love, from Rent) As knitters and spinner perhaps we measure a year differently: In stiches, in bobbins In skeins of handspun, In friendship and laugher and fun. Today is my blog is one year old. This got me thinking about everything that has happened in the last year, since I started writing here, and feeling rather sentimental. Thanks for playing along with me on the blog and in real life.

Yesterday I wore my hypernova scarf out for the first time. I love the way it came out after blocking, its drapey and bright and cheerful. I suspect it will be my go-to scarf this winter. I also caught up with some of the Richmond Knitters at a little fibre fair at Brunswick Town Hall. I bought this: Some camel / bunny / silk and some Wensleydale, which I am going to spin and then ply together for a shawl for my mothers birthday,which is in November, so no rush on it. I'm particularly excited because I have never spun longwool, or camel, or bunny so playing with these fibres should be a whole new experience.

I have been knitting and spinning like a madwoman. I thought I had lost my spinning mojo, but it turned out I just needed to rethink my plan. On the weekend I spun some green alpaca, which I am going to ply with this Miss Babs Merino / silk / bamboo and some merino / silk that I have not yet dyed, I haven't even received it in the mail yet. Still that's my plan. I have become very keen on the idea of doing more dying, which means I need to buy some more dye colours. Not that I don't love dying everything green, but maybe the addition of some other colours might be exciting. Like red and yellow and blue, so I can make all the colours. Or possibly dye more rainbows. I'm obsessed with rainbows. I finished knitting something green: the Hypernova Scar f, in Wollmiese. This was an absolute joy to knit. The pattern was simple but not boring and I love the way the yarn looks in this pattern. It makes me think of dragon scales, but that might be just ...

My sister in law asked me to knit a jumper for my niece Isabella. So I did. That's Ezra in the background. I might make him an Owlet. I asked her what colour she wanted it. She said pink. And so it was. I also made a matching hat, because I could. When I gave it to her, she said "I love it Auntie Sharon". But of course, would not stand still for photos. Total knitting satisfaction.

I know last post I promised to tell you what the Signature needles are for. I wrote the post, but Blogger has been down and it ate it. And I've got too much to catch up on, so I'll tell you about that project another day. On Monday the airconditioning was on at work. The boilers had been "services" on the weekend and had completely stopped working. It was freezing. On Tuesday they still hadn't fixed the problem, and I forgot my tights. By the end of the day I was so cold I was crying. I worked from home on Wednesday, with the heating set at 22 degrees and a knee length knitted cardigan on. On Thursday I went to work prepared. Amongst a whole lot of other warm things I wore my knee high Spring Socks. These have elastic in the tops, but the elastic appears to have perished. So all day, I was pulling them up. It was very annoying, so when I go home I pulled out the sewing machine and made knee garters. And now my socks stay up. I'm learning to make button holes ...

On Friday I came home to a blue card letting me know I had a package in the package centre. When I got down there yesterday there were two! I had been feeling a bit blue - winter has hit Melbourne hard and fast, and work has the air conditioning on. I don't cope well with cold at the best of times, and having chilled air blown on me all day at work had literally left me in tears. But when I got these packages home, my mood lifted. Jimmy Beans Wool included a free pattern on their mailing bag. How cute is that? And inside were these squishy, pretty, warm Cascade 128 skeins Perfect for my niece Isabella's jumper, which I am starting as soon as I finish my current project, which I haven't told you about yet. Its a sockhea d hat. I finished the Vampire Boyfriend socks on Sunday, for those keeping track at home.( Rav link here ) The other package is from Signature Needle Arts. I'm not going to link to them, because every time I go to their site I want everything! I bought ...

I've been knitting My Vampire Boyfriend socks, and loving it. The heart shapes, the bitemark cables. So much fun. I told Leon that My Vampire Boyfriend is Spike, from Buffy the vampire Slayer. Last night we watched the episode where he first comes to Sunnydale, with the weak and crazy Druisilla. Tonight we are going to watch the Angel episode where he comes back. If you are nodding your head, thinking, Spike's my vampire boyfriend, or shaking it and saying, it's Angel, Angel all the way, you might have as much fun as I am with these socks. Addictive cables + vampires = fun. And all the talk of vampires has led to a vampire theme for the weekend. We have plans to watch From Dusk Till Dawn, and also Interview with a Vampire. And throughout I am knitting with dried blood coloured wool, on my Vampire boyfriend socks.

The first package of the many I have ordered arrived: It took four days from America, which was amazingly quick. It's strong, stable and well designed and I didn't have to do anything permenant to my wheel to attach it. And here it is a wheel mounted cup holder : I'm drinking Sangria that Leon made while I was spinning. I'm always drinking tea, or coffee, or beer or something when I spin. At home it's easy enough to put my wheel next to the coffee table, but this gives me a new level of flexibility. And fun. I finished the hand dyed merino, and plied it. It was impossible for me to capture the colour with my little point and click camera. It's actually a sort of pale mint green and a misty grey. It's going to be knit with the pink on the right this for a Taygete shawl . And I made a pair of mitts for my brother-in-law, because he asked for them. These were fun, I didn't use a pattern, just winged it. I'm happy with how they came out. That's Leo...