What I made, by Sharon

I was a bit concerned when I finished Vitamin D, because it hang rather stiffly, I didn't like the  way the shortrows looked and it just felt a tiny bit not right. Before blocking And then I blocked it. it's lovely. The shoulders fit me perfectly,  the colour makes my heart sing and I have been wearing it constantly. The yarn is Patonyle sock yarn, which I bought (for four dollars a ball!) from the Wangaratta Woolen Mill on a work trip in April. I love this yarn. despite being a basic, commercial machine dyed sock yarn, it has a depth of colour and a softness without being limp. I had my doubts when I was knitting this, but it came out just so wearable and sunshiny. I did lengthen it by one set of eyelets, and I'm glad I did, otherwise I think it would have been shorter than I wanted it.  I also lengthened the sleeves to full length, just because I prefer them that way. All in all a winner of a project.

but it is different , I promise. I am reading the same book ( City of Blades ) but, because I have been carrying the paperback around with me all week, it's looking a bit battered. The book itself is good, and it's not a difficult read, it's just that last week I was right at the beginning, and this week I am heading towards the rather exciting end. I'm knitting with the same yarn as last week, but this week I am knitting Conina   socks, from Rachel Coopey's 'What would Granny Weatherwax Knit" club. Loving them, despite my s truggles following the directions. To go with it I'm listening to the next Discworld book The Last Continent ,   which is ok, but seems to have become a little lost in the middle. I'm sure it will find its way again. And that's me for another week. Do pop over to Ginny's b log. Hopefully you will be able to see what she and the rest of the yarn along have been up to, but I know she's been having computer iss...

Last night I cast off Vitamin D , and it's current blocking, I'll try to get some photos later in the week. This morning, on the train, I cast on the next "What would Granny Weatherwax Knit" sock. I guess I should have learn my lesson about c asting on on the train , because I cast on an apparently random number of stitches. Ripped it after one round. I then knit to my work meeting, and back from my work meeting (it was in the suburbs, not one of my country trips) and realised I had placed the second lot of double decreases in the wrong spot. Rip again. I reknit those rows, but at I was doing it I realised that on the first repeat I did the double decreases one way, while the pattern calls for a centred double decrease. I looked at it, decided it was fine and left it. Hopefully I can actually follow the fairly straightforward instructions for the rest of these socks, rather than continuing this 8 rows forward, four rows back dance.

I was knitting away on my Vitamin D cardigan. It's a top down, swingy loose cardigan that I am knitting in 4ply (fingering) yarn, on 3.5 mm needles. The body rows take forever, there are thousands of stitches, and it's knit flat, and we all know how slowly I purl compared with how fast I knit. I got to the "divide for the sleeves" bit on Tuesday evening. The pattern calls for the sleeves to be knit before the body, and I knit them in the round. Woosh. Despite lengthening them to full length they flew by. Two and a half days and they were done.  Now back to the rather slower pace of stocking stitch knit flat. 

I've been reading novel exclusively on my Kindle since I bought my first one, over three years ago. I just adore it. A couple of months ago I finished City of Stairs and bought the next book in the series, City of Blades, using Amazon 1-click. I happened to review the ;purchase email and realised I had accidentally bought the paper book. I immediately tried to return it. Amazon accepted the return, but sent me the book anyway. So I'm reading a paper book, and it's quite challenging. Even just holding it is more stressful on my poor hands than the Kindle, and I keep on forgetting to put my bookmark back in when I'm done. Ahh, my bookmark. I love this bookmark. It's by Bookrug and is so pretty, and has a lovely texture. I guess before I was obsessed with Kindle covers I obsessed about bookmarks. As for actual content, I'm enjoying the book. I'm not very far into it yet, but it has the same tone as it's predecessor.  I'm still kn...

Leon and I have spent the last six months or so run training, and on Sunday we ran the Melbourne Marathon . It's something I've been wanting to do for a really long time, and it feels so good to have accomplished it. I will say though, that 42.195 kilometers is a really long way to run!  It was a great day, a little windy, but not too cold or warm. My official photographer Skip showed up en route to take photos and did a really good job. While I didn't run the whole distance with a smile like this on my face, I felt strong the whole way. And that feeling, when I ran into the MCG was indescribable. I felt like such an athlete, running that lap of the G.  I'm getting emotional just writing about the day. It was the hardest physical thing I've ever done, but both the event and the training were so rewarding. I am lucky enough to have a husband that ran step for step with me, both in training and in the event, and I feel so fortunate that I am physically and ...

When I started joining yarnalong, I didn't realise how hard it would be to come up with a theme each week. I wish I had just called them by number, or just titled them Yarnalong. Oh well, never too late to change I guess. This week I am knitting Vitamin D  a drapey, open fronted summerweight cardigan. How bright and cheerful is that colour for the end of winte?  I know it's technically spring, but the weather has reverted to winter. Knitting this is really cheering me up. I'm still reading Hariku Murakami's Wind Up Bird Chronicles . I'm fairly close tot he end, and I can't say I'm actually enjoying it. There is a whole lot of plot that just fizzles out, most of it makes no sense, and it's like Murakami isn't even trying. Good read's reviews suggest this is not one of his better books, so I might try another later, but I've found this rather unsatisfactory. And that's another week in what I am reading and knitting. Make sure you po...

that swatches lie . It's just that normally knitters find that out at the end of the project, when something comes out unexpectedly huge, or tiny. With the Vitamin D I'm trying to knit, I found it out at the swatching stage. Here's my swatch: Top half is on 3.5 mm needles. Bottom half is on 2.25 mm needles. Both have the exact same gauge, and not the one for the pattern. And I don't want to go up a needle size, because the fabric is already verging on loose.  After I washed it it got tighter, but it's  a not too big swatch and the cardigan is large, and it will pull down and I'm hesitant to to go up a pattern size, although I would rather this ended up a little loose, than hugging my CrossFitters shoulders, like everything else I make. Ahh decisions, decisions. 

I mentioned ages ago that I was knitting Elizabeth Zimmermann's  baby bonnet, so match the first Baby Surprise jacket in this little EZ binge I appear to have had. And then I never mentioned it again. That's because I finished it, and it looked odd.  After a great deal of thought I thought maybe it looked odd and lumpy because it was unblocked, and because my teddy bear has ears where a baby has a big, smooth, round head. And then I looked at it, and looked at it and looked at it and realised I had it upside down I turned it the right way around, and all of a sudden it started to make sense!  Here it is, with its matching Baby Surprise Jacket. He's looking very warm and wool ly.   And here's a bonus picture of Juniper "helping" with the photos. She's pretty warm and woolly too.

I had a four day weekend, which was magnificent, but now I can't remember what day of the week it is, and it feels either like Tuesday or Thursday, but definitely not Wednesday. Since it is actually Wednesday, I'm joining Ginny for the yarnalong. Click over to her blog to see what she and the rest of the yarnalong are up to this week. I'm finishing another Baby Surprise Jacket. I decided to do an i-cord cast off. It takes a bit longer, but it gives such a nice finished finish to the edges. I'm reading  Haruki Murakami 's Wind Up Bird Chronicle . I've been wanting to read one of his novels since I read his memoir , but i didn't know where to start. Then we were talking about lost cats at work, and one of my colleagues recommended this. It's a big read, but reasonably accessible and interesting. And in audio books Stephen Fry is reading me his memoir, Moab is My Washpot . Memoir, read by the author is always good, but when that author is Stephen...

I can't believe I haven't made a pair of socks for Leon since February. But here they are, Greebo the second last pair in Rachael Coopey's " When Granny Weatherwax knits socks " club, and the last pair for Leon.  I LOVE them. As you can see, they are mirrored, front and back and top and bottom.   Leon is not so sure, and thinks he would have liked socks that were identical better, but I say give it a try, the idea will grow on you. I love the yarn too. Still working from the bottom of the pile it's Dyed by Hands Yarns Tough Stocking , and it provided such great stitch definition. From my point of view these socks are a total winner. I'll get back to you in a couple of months and we'll see if Leon has come around to the concept! 

You may remember that I knit Leon the Redford jumper. And I took some pictures where it looks quite good, if I say so myself. You can see them here . The problem is that the jumper rolls up and rides up and ends up too short. Additionally I think the rolled edge looks a bit messy. Here's a photo of it just after Leon has put it on: Here's what it looks like after he wears it for a bit: So I decided to add a band of ribbing to the bottom, which solved those both those problems quite nicely.  Done. Much better now. HA small amount of work, to make this a much better jumper.