What I made, by Sharon

Choosing the next sock pattern for Leon was easy. I'm in love with pretty much every pattern from The Knitters Book of Socks, and a couple of people I know have just knit the Firefly socks. Although I also know that they sucked the knitting love out of Nicola , I had to knit them! I've only just started, but we have a four day weekend, so I'll probably get at least one of them done.And they seem to be a fairly quick knit.  Although the weather is lovely, and I may just spend all my time sitting around in the sun drinking coffee and reading. I'm using a stunning almost solid shade of green I bought from Stranded in Oz . It's my favourite k ind of sock yarn - high twist, springy and all round lovely.

I just finished a cowl, to match the Wurm hat I made f or Anna . Basically I cast on 200 stitches, and kept doing the pattern until I almost ran out of yarn. This is all I had left: For full disclosure I've got a whole other skein of this yarn, but I didn't want to break into it, just for the cast off. As soon as I finished it I blocked it, and the hat too. The weather we are having, things are drying very quickly. I'm really happy with the size it came out. Perfect length to wrap twice around her neck, without being too tight or too bulky.  H ere's some nicer post blocking pictures of the hat as well: Very happy with this pattern. It was quick and simple, although I'm still  really not a fan of purling in the round.

I made a hat. After two weeks of cables every day I needed a break. Something plain and soothing. My fried Anna asked for a cowl, but I thought I'd make her a hat too. I used the Wurm pattern, which I've been seeing around for quite some time. The yarn is O ld Maiden Aunt MC N . I had intended it for a Bigger on the Inside Shawl , but it was turn ing into one of those projects that never quite make it up to the top of the queue . And this way I get to reduce the sock yarn stash by at least one skein . I love knitting with c ashmere - not socks, I can't understand why everyone is putting it in their socks, and this is my third week in a row knitting with cashmere. So luxurious.   I've also finished Leon's Winter Set.  I don't have modelled shots, and the weather has warmed up here again, so I think it will be a while before I see him wearing the set. I will try to get picture s of him wearing it, when we get to that time of year.

Before I went to Adelaide I put in an order with Webs for some Madeline Tosh. I figured it might take a while to get here, and one of the things I ordered was Pashmina Worsted (Merino, Silk! CASHMERE!) for my winter set.  I also ordered some laceweight for Lettuce. I was quite relieved when they emailed to say that was out of stock, or I would have ended up with an awful lot of lace yarn. Anyway, I figured I'd get some of the stash knit up before this came. But instead, it arrived on Tuesday. So, less than a week from when they sent it. It's beautiful. The Pashmina is in a colour called Alarazin and apparently it's discontinued, so I'm really glad I bought it. It's not pink, and it's not purple and it's just perfection.   And of course I bought a skein of sock yarn for Leon. I'm going to stop that now.  Now, everything does still fit inside the stash box so it will be fine, although I do have a jumper's worth of wool coming for Leon, an...

T hese were the only photos e ither of us took for the whole 8 days we were in Adelaide. The photos were taken in Adelaide's Rundle Mall, by the famous Rundle Balls . In some of them you can see me, reflected in the background.     So, as previously mentioned while away with Leon I like to knit for Leon. I started his winter set, the wonderful Autobahn pattern from Twist. It's taken me a while to understand Twist collective but now I've got the hang of it! The pattern is clearly written and well charted. And, the most important thing for a scarf pattern, fully reversible. I started with the hat, and then I did mitts - there wasn't a mitts pattern so I just transferred the pattern onto a forty stitch gusseted mitt. They have, perhaps, come out a little tight, but they look pretty and will keep Leon's hands warm. Then I started the scarf. I struggled with the pattern at first, even though I had already knit the hat and gloves with the same patter...

A quick hello, as I'm back from Adelaide and back to everyday life. I planned to blog yesterday but we were exhausted. Leon and I do tend to take the kind of holidays that mean we need to catch up on sleep afterwards! We saw loads of great shows, stayed out late and generally had an all around good time. But I know you don't want to know about that, you want to know what I knit and what I bought. I've only got a minute, so today I'll tell you about my shopping.   As I planned, I went to see Mel from Stranded in Oz . She is just such a wonderful dyer and she has a stall at a funny little market in Port Adelaide, where we also bought a whole lot of very bad ties.   I bought a couple of skeins of a very Jen colour to try to make Lettuce again.  Like the original Malabrigo I knit this in, it's a laceweight singles yarn, but such a stunning, strong colour.     I bought some black Tofutsies for Leon   Some dark green sock yarn...

Leon and I  are having a weeks holiday in Adelaide. This is the third time we have gone for the fringe festival and I'm very much looking forward to it. Both previous trips have included me making Leon's winter set and I decided this year to continue the tradition. I have 500 grammes of Merino / Cashmere in a silvery grey And I'm going to knit the Autobahn hat and scarf and mitts, although there isn't a pattern for them, so I'll have to make them up. Other knitterly highlights will include a trip to Stranded in Oz and the Port Adelaide market. I know I can order online but seeing the yarn - and the lovely Mel, in person is so much more fun. I probably won't blog while I'm away - so I'll catch you up on all my knitting news on my return next Sunday. Have fun!

I'm going on holidays on Saturday! And, when I go on holidays with Leon I like to knit for Leon. So, for the last couple of weeks I've been knitting small projects, so that I can be finished up before we go. The mitts didn't take me quite as long as I expected, so on Monday I cast on a pair of socks, for the sneaker liner project .    Today I went to Wangaratta for  work, which involved 6 hours in a car for an hour and a half of meetings.I hadn't intended to go to the mill shop ,  but when the guy who was driving me said he was just going to talk to someone and he'd only be ten minutes, I grabbed the opportunity to run up the road. I was pretty rushed so I didn't get a chance to look at everything, but in the three minutes I actually had in the shop I bought a kilogram of Rowan Denim,    and some awesome self stripping sock yarn in navy, grey and black. All of Leon's favourite colours in one yarn!  And then I hopped in the car for the three...

I finished the Emily Dee mitts . They are a gift for a friend of mine, although I changed the pattern to top down, so I could use as much of the yarn as possible. I feel like I've succeeded in that, I didn't even have enough left for a blanket square. After I'd finished them I asked Leon to take some happy snaps so I could show you all the finished project. It's been pretty warm around here, so I was wearing short shorts around the house. Originally I held my hands up over my legs  the less said about that look the better. Then I thought I would lay them flat on the floor. I didn't expect to look like like Dickie Knee .  Or maybe a corpse.  The picture that best shows the gloves is this one: I'm convulsed with laugher, but at least you can see the patterning on the mitts. Suddenly i can see the point of blockers. I'll le ave you with the obligatory cat picture, in this case Juniper, wondering what we were carrying on about...

I finished Snug , with only a little bit of drama. Basically I ran out of yarn about 24 rows before finishing the hood. So, I plied up some more, but the skein got hopelessly tangled and it was all quite frustrating. Particularly for Leon, who untangled it for me.   So, after I finished I put it on the Teddy Bear that has been living on the couch since I pulled him out to photograph a previous baby jumper.    I think he looks really cute in it, giving me his best " blue steel ". I also sort of thought he might benefit from wearing pants, since he looks a little bit nude below the waist. Maybe when I have time I'll knit him a little pair of denim shorts.   Just to be clear,this little jacket isn't intended for the teddy bear, it's for my boss, whose baby is due in June or July. But he bear looks so adorable in it, don't you think?