What I made, by Sharon

I started these sneaker liners on the way back from camping a month ago , because I had finished the size 12 pair for my trainer and I had nothing to knit on the train home. I didn’t really work on them much over the month, but after I cleared by mothers jumper off the needles (photos on Friday, I promise) I picked them up, and finished them in a weekend.   I really do prefer the fit of a heel flap and gusset. This is the Yarn Harlot's pattern , but really, any 64 stitch heel flap and gusset pattern will do for me.    They are not the colours I would have chosen for myself, but they were what I had. Also, I really did not want to be adding 30 grams of yarn to the left over sock yarn stash.   In fact, I ran out of yarn and had to finish the toes in LOSY. Better out than in, that’s what I say.   And so, I have a very wearable, durable, easy pair of socks to add to my sneaker liner collection. Which is quite timely, since I really need to do ...

I was putting away the yarn from my mothers ASJ , which I have finished - it's having a bath right now, and I found this blue yarn: Now, I'm pretty sure that the yarn I left at book club a month ago was Patonyle in navy, and that's what this is too! Either way, it is an exact match: That's the old yarn and the one I just found, together, and they are the exact same colour! There is only 13 grams, so I don't know if it will be enough to finish both sleeves, and the  iC ord front, but if it is I won't have to wait another month to declare this project done!

After crocheting a cup cover last month, I knew I wanted to do more. There were two problems - what to crotchet, and why do I have 6 4.5mm crotchet hooks? Very odd. I actually also have a set of wooden knit-pro  hooks, but they have really deep hooks, so are not very pleasant to use.  I decided to crochet a baby cardigan - exciting because I get to practice my crocheting, I need a baby jumper for a not-yet born girl - and I can continue to avoid purling - not something I started on purpose, but I've done almost no purling this year, and I like it! So I went on e-bay to buy some new needles. Less than ten dollars later, I have needles in every size imaginable, in a case to keep them neat. Now, lets see how the baby cardigan goes!

Instead I went to run club in the park. Run club starts at 6.30pm, I finish work at 4.30 and in between I sat under a tree and read, knitted and listened to an audiobook.  I'm reading T he Course of Love  by Alian de Bottom, for book club, but I didn't go to book club (see above). Anyway, this book was a pile of crap. it's not a novel, it's a case study, which hammers its points home - monogamy is unnatural, your upbringing is to blame and therapy might help. Ugg.  Now, how do I get out of future book clubs, when its hosted by one of my oldest friends, and she still has my yarn? In this picture  I'm knitting a pair of sneaker liners, because the ASJ is way to big to take oput with me. In fact, tonight I've been seaming it! very exciting. I'm listening to Stephen King's collection of novellas Different Seasons . It was mentioned in Nick Horby 's afterword, and I'm loving it. I'm up to the second story  and it's SO creepy. An...

It's been a pretty good weekend. Yesterday was Geelong Beer Festival. I debated the wisdom of taking a giant, almost finished jumper with me, rather than a little pair of socks, but in the end I took the ASJ . I'm glad I did, because I got the i-Cord cast off done. And that's all I got done. I shudder to think how many days it would have taken me if I hadn't had one big day for it. Also, it was a bit colder than I had dressed for, so having a big warm chunk of knitting on my lap was perfect! My friend who has the yarn for the baby jumper dropped by the beer festival, but failed to mention the yarn, so I guess it's still at her place. Non-knitters just don't understand. And today it's raining gently. Leon and I are going to go to the shops, buy some of the whisky that Kate Davies husband Tom recommends, and then we are going to sit on the couch, watch Center Stage , and I am going to make some progress on the sleeves of this amazing garment.

Like everything in my house doesn't involve cats! I put this on the floor to photograph it and Tarragon (on the right) came to sit and judge, and Daisy (at the top) came to have a sniff and assess the situation. I'm up the the endless front rows of the ASJ - Elizabeth Zimmerman herself described them as such. With the crazy busy time I've been having, I managed one row each night this week so far - not one ridge mind, one row. I'm still reading Fields of Fire . It's not my busyness that has stopped me finishing it, it's an action packed book, but it's got lots of battles and running and shouting and not quite as much plot as I might desire -  but I'm reading military sci-fi, so really, that's the nature of the genre. And that's another week gone by. By next week I *might* have finished the jumper, although I'm not taking bets on it! Click over to Ginny from Small Thing s and see what she, and the rest of the Yarnalong were doing thi...

My life has become even busier than usual, and it's impacting on my knitting!Normally on Monday nights I go to knit night with the Richmond Knitters, but this term, like last term, I’m doing beginners tumbling at circus school.Learning to do somersaults and handsprings and all sorts of fun things. Then on Tuesdays – just for February – I’ve joined a running technique class. This Wednesday we went to a show. Then I took Thursday off work. It was so glorious to have a day to catch up with everything. And the bonus day meant I could actually spend some time knitting on my ASJ . I knit on the couch, and I knit on the balcony and I knit at the dining table while eating chocolate cake. I think the ASJ is quite a quick knit,  but it’s taking me quite a while. On all those days where I was out I took my knitting with me – but knowing I’d only had a limited time to knit I didn’t want to lug around a giant jumper. So I took my unfinishable Tomten with me, and on Monday I didn’t kn...

We’ve joined a running group, which meets near the Botanical Gardens 6.30pm on Tuesdays. Since I finish work closer to 4.30, I went and sat under a tree, in the sun to knit and wait. It was delightful. On Tuesday I was knitting the top of the second sleeve of my Tomten. I can’t finish it until I get my yarn back,   which is driving me a bit insane, but at least it will be ready to go when that happens, which should be Saturday next week. I’m listening to 18 and Life ,   Sebastian Bach’s  (from the 90s rock group Skid Row) memoir, read by the man himself. Since about three months ago I was thinking “I wonder what happened to Sebastian Bach” when I saw this on Audible I had to listen to it. It’s fun, if, like many (most?) memoirs, rather one sided. Ahh, Skid Row in the early 90s. So much hair. I’m reading Fields of Fire, by Marcos Kloos. It’s the fifth book of the series, and I think each book is a little better than the previous one. Also...

I’m loving knitting my mother’s Adult Surprise Jacket. It’s squishy and floofy and every colour in the whole world. One unexpected pleasure has been knitting down memory lane.   All this old sock yarn  has memories attached. The other day I used up the remains of my first pair of socks- which were knitted before I joined Ravelly, so I can't even link to them! I’m currently holding together the yarn from a shawl I made for my mother and a pair of socks that wore out last year. It’s surprising to me how much of these leftovers have lasted longer than the things I knit from them originally. So many happy hours knitting with these yarns, and now they are giving me joy again, both through the knitting and through the memories. A knot that will need tucking away   And from a practical standpoint, when I started knitting this Louisa suggested trying the magic knot.   Well, that was a revelation! While I wouldn’t use it for anything single stranded, and I ce...

I normally take a photo specifically for Wednesday's post, but Leon snapped this one of me knitting and reading on the weekend, and I thought it was appropriate, particularly since  I was so fortunate to spend four days knitting and reading (and hiking and camping) in such beautiful surroundings.  I'm reading The Grand Sophy   by Georgette Hayer. How did I get this far along in my life without ever reading her? It's a super fun romp of a book and I'm loving it. I'm knitting away on my mother's ASJ. It's got ALL THE COLOURS, and I'm loving it too, although stressing that it will be too small. But I did a gauge swatch and now I just need to trust the process. Click over to Ginny's blog Small Things , to see what she, and the rest of the yarnalong were up to this week.