What I made, by Sharon

Last Saturday Lu (who is my best friend Elise's older brothers girlfriend) was out with us when she asked if I could knit her a bikini. I logged her in to Ravelry and she searched through until she found this pattern .  I wasn't really planning to make it, but about ten minutes later she invited us for a New Year's Eve dinner party. So I dashed to Morris and Sons, bought some cotton and got knitting. The main issue I had is that I went down a needle size, to make sure the fabric was tight, and in the end the bottoms were tiny, so I unpicked the seams and added a moss stitch panel.  It's a bit difficult, knitting a cotton bikini for someone whose measurements I don't have, but Lu, while tall, is quite tiny. My other concern is that this is 100% cotton, and may well stretch when wet. I loved the pattern, and may even knit it again for myself, but if I do I will use a cotton/elastic yarn, to ensure it actually stays up. The house we are going to tonight has...

I finished Laika on Christmas Day, sewed the buttons on, blocked it and wore it to the second day of the Boxing Day Test. It's one of the best cardigans I have made. it fits me exactly as I intended, it's warm, and comfortable and snuggly and perfect. The Pear Tree yarn, neither grew nor shrunk on blocking and I can see myself getting a lot of wear out of this, both casual and to work. I made a couple of modifications. I don't like hooded tops, except for the most casual occasions, so I replaced the hood with a v-neck and shawl collar. I was a bit nervous about doing this, because some of the changes I made are in the set up rows, but the results cannot be judged until after the whole thing is finished. Still, it worked out well. I love the line of the shawl collar. I really enjoyed knitting this. The lace is easy enough to knit under any conditions, but just interesting enough to keep the project fresh. A very satisfying project, with a very satisfactory...

  I finished Laika yesterday and sewed the buttons on this morning. It's currently blocking, and I'll try to get some action photos tomorrow. Leon and I are going to the Boxing Day Test (cricket, for those of you not from around here). The first day is today, and it's crowded and huge and Leon always goes with his friends. Last year I went to day four and it was so much fun. Sunshine and beer and knitting, and some lovely lads playing cricket, which wasn't really the point for me so much.    So, knowing I've got four full on knitting days ahead of me I cast on a sock for Leon. I'm using Ursula Dyed Yarn in Tardis Blue, and knitting Tardis socks - basically the Bigger on the I nsid e Tardis motive, placed into a basic 64 stitch sock pattern. So far I'm very happy with how is it knitting up.   

For my birthday, Jen (link) gave me a teeny tiny project bag. Not only is it very pretty, but she pointed out that it is the perfect size for amigurumi  projects.   So, for her birthday I made her a trio of teeny tiny bunnies. So tiny, so much fun.                                 Look at their little white tails!   These were designed by Justyna Kacprzak, the person who designed the flamingo and Vlad. They are part of a collection of teeny tiny animals, and I think I'll be making them all. They are just so incredibly cute, and fun to make.  

like a small flamingo. You may recall I made Leon a "from vlad to bat". Well, Leon took him to work and it lives on his desk. Apparently every night he turns it to the Vampire side, and every morning he turns it back to the bat side. His boss thought the whole thing was so hilarious he made me a certificate of recognition. Since I didn't want him to feel left out, I made him a flamingo. Why you might ask, is he surrounded by rulers? Leon's boss "built a pen for him, so he can't fly away".  

The last Cookie A Sock Club delivery came this week. The patterns are both lovely lace, the yarn is a merino cashmere nylon in a lovely  shade of purple unlike anything I have in my stash.  I've loved being part of the club this year, but part of me is glad its over. I've knit eight pairs of Cookie A Socks so far this year (and, to my surprise 6 pairs of other socks) and I'm ready to spend some time with other designers. Still it's been a wonderful club, with only one pair of socks that I disliked ( Jedi Mind Trick socks, I'm looking at you). The "Cookies" have been really fun and have rather reinvigorated my baking. I made the easy ones from this months package, lemon bars. They were easy and tasty.

I have just started knitting  Laika , by Ysolda Teage. I did the right thing and knit a swatch, blocked it a measured it. I was particularly careful, because some of you might remember the yarn, originally used in this missized project. So, this project is likely to take me a while, given that it's a lace cardigan. I'm quite happy to be digging in and enjoying the process, rather than rushing to the finish line, as I seem to dow hen knititng smaller projects. I am making some modifications, the main one being that I'm not knitting the hood and I've made it a v neck, rather than the round neck in the pattern. This is making me a bit nervous, I'm not sure if I'll make the neckline a shawl collar, or just a straight edging. Luckily it will be weeks before I actually have to consider such things. Until then, I'll knit gently away on this, enjoying the rhythm of the lace and the drape of the fabric as it emerges from my needles.

I've been really busy at work this week. Flat out. I had to go to Morwell and Bendigo and all up there was a lot of time moving around the countryside. Which I choose to do by train. So, I got the second pair of Cookie A September socks done in pretty good time.  These look good, and were reasonably fun to quite, although I found something annoying about them. Perhaps it was the fact that they are called Hamantashen socks, after the biscuits that Jewish people  eat at Purim, a festival that happens in March. More likely it's just doing two pairs of socks in two weeks. They fit me well and are very comfortable and I'm sure I'll get a great deal of wear out of them.

  R ecently my friend Melanie bought some combs and started combing and colour blending fibre. She makes a wonderful, light, smooth fibre blend, which spins up gloriously.    I really haven't been doing any spinning at all, but I did sit down at the wheel to spin up a sample of this fibre, which she blended with me in mind. Such a perfect colour. Now I just need to find the spinning love again, so I can finish spinning this up before the end of the century. Still, if anything is going to give me back the joy, this blend will. If you want your own Melanie blended fibre, here's her etsy shop. And then Ursula discovered dying. And dyed more yarn than she knew what to do with. She brought some in to the Richmond Knitters last night and left with less than she came in with. I scored some BFL sock yarn in "Smaller on the Outside" a wonderful TARDIS blue. Leon has agreed to a pair of TARDIS socks in this colour, even though it is significantly...