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Showing posts from August, 2017

Wednesdays are for books (A Stash of Ones Own / Neanderthal seek Human)

Wednesday again! I am still picking my way through Clara Park's A Stash of One's Own.  I'm glad I decided to read these one story a day. The stories are good, but there is always going to be a sameness about people thinking about stash. The basic message here is: have as much as you feel comfortable with and pass on the rest. That said, some of these stories are very touching (particularity Franklin Habit's) and they all remind me that I should do what is right for me. Because I am measuring out this book a chapter each day, I also started Neanderthal Seeks Human , the first in Penny Reid's Knitting in the City series. I read the fourth in the series at the beginning of the month,  and I loved it. This book is good, but not as accomplished as the later book, which is not surprising, since this was Penny Reid's first published book. I am really enjoying it. Although it follows some typical romance tropes (falling for the boss while not realising he is

Finger update

My finger is getting better. I saw my finger therapist last Thursday, and he said I don't have to wear the splint, except at night and when the finger gets tired.  I'm still wearing the splint when I knit - I'm two thirds trough the Endless Rainbow Shawl and I don't want to risk my gauge changing. Anyway, I find it harder to judge "wear it sometimes" than the absolute "wear it all the time" that I was doing before. With my finger being better and all, I finally found a physio for my foot. He said I probably shouldn't be running, and booked me in with an exercise physiologist. I kind of knew somewhere in my heart of hearts that I would be told that, but it's time to get this problem sorted. I feel a bit sorry for myself right now, but I'll be over it soon. In the meantime, how cure are my nails, and how cute is Tarragon?

Another bag?

Yep, I bought another knitting bag. Even though I did a serious cull on my knitting bag collection when I moved, I just bought another one. Why? Well, I'm currently knitting a white shawl. So, I need a bag that I can keep the knitting in while I knit. After this shawl I'm knitting another shawl with light colours. Here it is in action, complete with Yarra Trams bizarre seat fabric  Also, the Fringe Supply Company Field Bag is just awesome. It's got pockets, and it's large, and it stands up by itself and I just like it. I've been eyeing it for ages, but Sunspun had a sale this week, and it was 20 % off, and that pushed me over the edge. And I bought a badge for it too, in my favourite colours, because that's what people do with these bags, and this was just too cute. You can sort of see it in the photos above, but here;s a close up: All the cool kids seem to have one of these bags, so I might have been influenced by that.. M a

Not quite as teal as expected

My yarn arrived! As usual Wollmeise sent it in the marvelous paper bags, and when i opened it, the distinctive smell this yarn has drifted up to meet me.   Oh that glorious smell! And the Wollmeise Blend yarn is so soft. Nothing like adding a bit of cashmere to the mix. I love the colours, although maybe I thought that the darkest colour would be a smidge more teal and a little less green. Still I don't have a green shawl, and  I've decided to make the Millers Daughter using the darkest and lightest as the main colours, and that stunning teal as the accent colour. This will leave me with most of a stunning teal cashmere blend skein of yarn. I guess i'll start planning what to do with it. Maybe a hat. But that planning is for quite some time in the future, since I just cast on a shawl for Rachey .

Wednesdays are for Books (A Stash of Ones Own)

I think I first read about Clara Park's A Stash of Ones Own on the Knitty blog. I was pretty excited about it. When I saw it offered on NetGalley I couldn't press the "request now" button fast enough. The book is a collection of essays by different knitting personalities, focusing on stash - what it is, why we have it, how much we have, what it means to each of the authors. Stash is a subject close to my heart - one I blog about frequently, and spend quite a lot of time considering, so an entire book dedicated to the subject is quite a treat. Each chapter, or essay, is by a different author, and each (so far) is completely different in tone and content. So far I've read one by Meg Swanson, one on the stash stats on Ravely , one by the queen of stashers - the Yarn Harlot and an essay by Amy Herzog arguing that, although she has a years w orth of yarn around she doesn't actually have a sta sh! I'm reading these one each day:It feel like each chapter

Ardmore socks - finished

I finished Leon's socks yesterday and I am so, so happy with them. Kate Davie's Ardmore Guernsey charts translated nicely onto a basic top down 68 stitch heel and gusset sock pattern: And the Socks that Rock yarn shows those cables beautifully. I know that sometimes the  STR loose a bit of colour after a lot of washing, but that is worth the amazing stitch definition. Just look at those cables.They are delightfully plump and beautiful. I tried to get a picture that showed how the jumper and the socks match, but all I got what I got was this picture of Leon looking rather awkward.  Still, as the self appointed queen of matchy matchyness , I am very happy to present a matching jumper / sock set.

Next up...

Leon’s Ardmore socks are going well. I predict they will be done by tomorrow afternoon. The Wollmeise yarn I ordered for my next project hasn’t arrived yet. I’ve got a tracking number, but it’s not working, so I have no idea when it is going to arrive. I ordered it two weeks ago, which I thought would be plenty of time. I guess this is an argument for having a stash, rather than buying as you go. I think I’ll make Rachey an Endless Rainbow shawl. She was browsing the internet at Christmas, and asked for one, sort of as a joke, sort of seriously. I’m not sure if she’s a shawl wearing kind of person, so I’ve been hesitant, but I may as well make it. I’ve got this beautiful yarn for the contrast colour and picked up some wool/silk from Wool Baa yesterday. I was nervous about the yarn bleeding  prewashed it just to be s ure. And I didn't retry the skien. just before I chucked it in the washer to spin dry I thought "hmm, should I tie this in a knot? Nah, sh

Wednesdays are for reading (Reincarnation Blues)

I'm reading Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore. It's another ARC from the good people at NetGalley . It came up on Robin Hobb' s feed, and she hasn't steered m e wrong yet. Here's the description:     What if you could live forever—but without your one true love? Reincarnation Blues is the story of a man who has been reincarnated nearly 10,000 times, in search of the secret to immortality so that he can be with his beloved, the incarnation of Death. Neil Gaiman meets Kurt Vonnegut in this darkly whimsical, hilariously profound, and wildly imaginative comedy of the secrets of life and love. Transporting us from ancient India to outer space to Renaissance Italy to the present day, is a journey through time, space, and the human heart.  I'm about halfway thr ough , and really enjoying it. It reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five ,  except it makes a little m ore sense. It's a book that requires suspension of disbelief , bu

Matchy, matchy, matchyness

The other day I mentioned that I have a new splint for my broken finger. It's black. When I got it I asked if I could have another colour.  Remember  my bright blue hand brace ?  I was hoping for hot pink this time.  My finger therapist said “no. this is Melbourne, almost everybody asks for black.” So I got a Darth Vadar black finger splint.   Continuing the theme, I got my nails done to match. Because everything must be matchy in my life. 

Finished: Ardmore Jumper

As I mentioned, I finished Leon's Ardmonre jumper and we're really happy with it! It looks fantastic, and it fits really well from the front: The back has a tiny bit of flare at the hem, which improved with blocking, but is a slight flaw, which I cannot work out how to fix. If I'd known earlier I would have made the back a tiny bit longer than the front, or thrown in some short rows, but, well, hindsight is 20/20 and for this one I actually just followed the pattern. Maybe it's because of Leon's well developed shoudlers and tiny waist? I love the yarn - Blue Moon Fiber Arts Woobu . The bamboo gives it a silky shine and the semi solid dye is just wonderful. I've got enough left over for a jumper for me, I'm going to make Romi Hill's Manzanita. here's a photo of Princess Daisy helping with the blocking: But back to the point on hand: Leon, looking handsome in his handsome new jumper:   

A knitting and a finger update

You know how I love everything to be matchy matchy – when I bought the Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarn that I used for Leon’s Ardmore , I bought a matching skein of sock yarn in the same colour – Meet brown, Joe. They look a little different because they are dyed on different bases, but they are the same colour: I finished the jumper this week, it’s blocking now and we’ll do a photoshoot on the weekend. I cast on a matching pair of socks – I’m using the Ardmore pattern transcribed onto a 68 stitch sock.  This is such fun, although it has progressed slowly this week, partly because it is quite cabled: But look how the cables pop in the Socks That Rock! Mainly they have been slow because we’ve been out every night this week. I saw my finger therapist this week and he gave me a new splint: I’m seeing him again in two weeks. Hopefully I’ll be done with the splint by then. I want to finish a project at the same time as I get free of this splint, because it’s proba

Wednesdays are for reading (Beauty and the Moustache)

Katie came across this book somewhere (I really should ask here where)  and put it on Instagram. Knitting, romance and free? Yes please. This is the fourth book in the Knitting in the City series, and the prequel to the Winston Brothers series . Normally I would not read a series out of order, but it was listed as a standalone, so I “bought” it. And I loved it. This might be best romance book I have ever read. The characters are delightful, the love feels real and the process of getting there feels believable . And she cuts out of t he sex scenes, which is the way I like it - c lose the door, I know what they are doing in there, I don't need a blow by blow description thank you very much. While story is told i s told in first person from the point of view of Ashley the main character, t here is a whole cast of supporting characters – a knitting group of friends, and her brothers, and the landsca pe itself, that give the book vibrancy and texture. While t h

Just like old times

K ris is knitting a Miller's Daughter shawl, and I've been utterly obsessed with it from the moment I saw it. The pattern is written for laceweight, but I wanted to make it in fingering, because I'm still scarred by my last laceweight knitting. Also, I want the extra warmth. I decided I wanted something with cashmere in it, and so, on Friday night, I bought some Wollmeise Blend: It's three of these colours, I'll show you which when they arrive. The shawl mainly uses two colours, with just a tiny bit of the third. I bought three so I can choose when they get here.  Remember when Wollmeise was really hard to buy? They would do updates on Friday nights, Melbourne time, and I'd sit down after a boozy dinner and do my shopping. Well, it felt like that on Friday night, glass of red wine in hand, beautiful colours on my screen to choose from. I'm really looking forward to this yarn. And this feels like a suitable time to do a stashcount: 13,695 meters.

Whisky and knitting

My Ardmore jumper is motoring along nicely. I’m moving down the second sleeve. It’s been a pleasant kind of knit. Last weekend I went to the hairdresser, and Leon said he would mosey on to the fancy whisky shop. I asked him to buy some Ardmore whisky, because I thought, given the club, it was appropriate to match my whisky to my knitting. Although let’s face it, even without the club I would have thought it was funny. So, Leon went to the fancy whisky sho p, where he did not find Ardmore, but he did buy a delicious bottle of Ardberg. They he went to the normal bottle shop across the road and found the Ardmore, and bought that too. The outcome being, I’m making a marvellous jumper and have a couple more bottles of wonderful whisky. Kate Davie's Inspired by Islay club just keeps on giving.

Wednesdays are for reading (Nice jewish Boys)

I just finished Nice Jewish Boys by Sarah L. Young, which was another NetGalley book. This book was really frustrating. It felt like a lecture on how to be nice to your gay son even if you are a bit of a republican homophobe. I was reading highlights out to Leon , and he asked if the person writing it had ever been a teenage boy. I ask if she had ever met a gay teenager. The two main characters cry ALL THE TIME. Avishai  is meant to be depressed, so that makes sense, but Noah is meant to be over six foot tall and masculine. And he also cries all the time. There is an utterly cringe worthy scene where they explain to his father – who is a US Congressman, no less that “if you call anyone … a name that you would feel in any way offended or insulted being called, then my expert advice to you would be to think twice before calling them that."  Yep, don’t call your kid queer. I’m just nitpicking, because the premise of the book is great  - two teenage boys who attend a Jewish priva

Do I, or don't I?

Today I stumbled across this : Yes, Blue Moon Fiber Arts, my favourite dyer, is doing something with sending different kinds of yarn, and colours and information. I am sorely tempted. I haven't been a member of a yarn club since 2014 (as a side note, I miss Cookie A). I've had a lot of fun with pattern subscriptions from Romi Hill and Kate Davies , but right now I've got nothing coming, in either by snail mail or by email. And it is fun to have something to look forward to each month. The introductory price lasts until the 15th of August... anyone else want to join me?