What I made, by Sharon

In the middle of our "longest weekend ever" we heading up to my favourite relaxing place in the world, Marysville. On the way we stopped and took photos of my just finished Stranachlachar. It was a really fun knit. I changed nothing at all - except ignoring all the weird directions when Kate Davies says to "push the stitches aroun d the needle" Makes no sense, so I skipped it. I even knit it to the length specified in the pattern - very unusual for me, because I'm fairly short. I also made a pair of little mitts a very clever pattern by Martina Behm, that took me one evening to make, and like the vest are a very clever construction.  The outfit kept me warm and comfortable during a very relaxing weekend, which involved much sitting on the deck looking at this view: Quite a lot of drinking tea form the ugliest tea pot in history, on said deck,  And some trail running to the top and bottom of waterfalls.  I love my urban life, wit...

I mentioned that I've had a lot of relaxing reading time this break. I was very excited the other day when I saw that NetGalley was offerin a Charlaine Harris book. Charlaine Harris wrote the Sookie Stackhouse books, that became True Blood. I read them all, and I loved them, so I just presumed this would be some form of urban fantasy. I was completely and pleasantly wrong. This book is a series of four linked short stories, all centering around the same main character. The stories are clever and quietly hilarious, the characters are calculating and clever and fantastic. The only downside is because it's just four short stories, it was over far too soon. Thanks to NetGalley and JABberwocky Press for this ARC.

This is one of those glorious years where Anzac day falls in the same week as Easter. In practice, that means that for three days leave I get 10 days off work. And, because it's all such a bonus, rather than feeling like a holiday, it feels like a very, very long weekend. The difference is that for a holiday I always feel like I need to do things. Achieve things. For this time off I don't feel that at all. We have some things going on in the evenings - as well as Easter it's pesach, but the days have been gloriously languid. Some Crossfit, some reading, some knitting, some sitting on the balcony in this ridiculously warm weather, some time out with friends. It's meant to autumn, and climate change scares the crap out of me, but I do love the warmth and sunshine. We're heading up to Marysville for the middle of the week, just to take relaxation to a new level, so there will be all of the above activities, plus some trail running. I'm knitting Stronachlach...

I blocked my Quicksilver Shawl and I love, love love it. The pink did not run at all, and the mesh flattened out and the colours together make my heart sing. The only small downside of this shawl is that it demands to be worn what I always thing of as "backwards" rather than wrapped around the shoulders. "Backwards" or the way it looks good This is how it is pictured in the pattern, and for some reason it just doesn't work the other way around.  "Forward" not so good It's big, probably bigger than any of my other shawls, and likely to grow a bit more over time, and I really do love a huge shawl these days. I used ALL THE YARN! Or at least all the pink and brown. I got a couple of extra stripes in at the end, and then did a I-cord cast off in the pink. I'm so happy to have used the oldest yarn in my stash, and made something that I will wear. Although it's been remarkably warm this month, eventually we will head into au...

Wendy Wilkins was a member of Victoria Police for five years in the early 90s. She provides a series of vignettes about her experiences.  This reads more like the stories you might tell in a bar, rather than a book. This "book" has no structure. She never mentions why she joined, or why she left. The stories are unrelated, and there is no insight, no inner monologue, no searching for meaning or motivation. Which is,in fact, exactly like the Victoria Police members I know.  A lot of the stories told here are reflective of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission Independent Report Into Sexual Harassment (2015). Wendy Wilkins may not be aware of the amount of work that is going on to change the culture. This book is reflection of a particular time in the organisation. She talks repeatedly about car "accidents". There are no car accidents, particularity when the story is about someone who gets behind the wheel drunk and kills someone. That...

For some reason I recently became obsessed with knitting a dress. I decided to start with Veera Vaimaki's Still Light ,since a couple of the Richmond Knitters have knit it, and it has pockets. I Love pockets. After doing some extensive research I ordered some Holst Garn Supersoft which came the other day. I wouldn't describe it as "super soft" but it feel like proper wool. This picture below is in here partly to prove that I swatched, but mainly because the colour is more accurate in this photo.  I'm not actually going to cast on until May the 1st - this is my Good Beer project, but I was between projects, and wanted to get on with it. I'm glad I did, since my first attempt came out too big. Looks like I'm knitting a dress on 2.75mm needles! Very excited to get started on this one. but first, another Kate Davies pattern. More on that next week.

I said last week that I would show you the shawl I was working on. Only one problem: It's finished! This shawl ( Quicksilver by Melanie Berg) was ridiculously fast, and so much fun.The mesh lace was so simple it didn't need a chart, and the stripes kept things zipping along. I originally picked this pattern out for Good Beer Week- and it would have been perfect for that, although a bit quick. I actually chose this shawl around the pink - that's the oldest yarn in my stash, bought in 2013. In 2015 I had it on a list called The Pile , AKA "yarn that I like that I really should knit with." So I decided I was going to find a pattern where this pretty colour could shine. I had been planning to pair it with a grey, but when i put it next to the leftovers from Leon's winter set I knew I was on to a winner. I originally had a different colour for the lace, but after I had knit the first two repeats,  The original colours I decided it looked terrible an...

There are spoilers below. Read on an your own peril. Read this book at your own risk anyway. I was very excited when Paulina Simmons The Tiger Catcher came up on NetGalley. Back in the day I loved Paulina Simmons. Tully, Red Leaves , and of course The Bronze Horseman . I will admit I never finished that series, it just went on a bit. Anyway, this was the late 90s and early naughties. Ancient history. Maybe I was more romantic then, I don't know.   So, this book is about a guy (Julian) who meets a woman (Josephine) and they fall in love. Then he finds out her name is not actually Josephine, she's called Mia and she is engaged to another man. he never wants to see her again, but then he does and then she gets shot. Then he travels back through time and she is called Mary and she's an arrogant, annoying person, not that she wasn't annoying before. They have lots of sex anyway, because their love is true.  Although she doesn't know about any of that. Then s...

Last week, on Sunday night I had only had the toe of a sock to knit, so I knew it would not be enough to take to Monday night knit knight. So I threw some 5mm needles and some of the very little very thick yarn I have and knit a Barley hat for   KOGO, a charity that distributes woolleys to those who need them. It was the most ridiculously quick knit, and I finished it the same evening I started it.  Not the best photos, and the hat is a bit big for me, but since it's not for me, I'm quite happy with that.

I never remember whether I title these by the month they are about, or the month I post them in.  Anyway, this month I knit 1 pair of socks: House Baratheon Socks by Avalanche Designs. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but Leon and I are doing a rewatch of Game of Thrones before the new season comes out in 10 days. So it seemed appropriate to knit socks based on the great houses of Westeros.  Christine Pike, who designed these has only designed four pairs of socks . She's very talented - despite looking complicated, these only had a cable crossing every six rows, and the pattern was so well written that I had it memorised within two repeats.  The yarn is from our 2016 trip to New Zealand, so it's got lots of lovely memories, as well as being beautiful in it's own right. It's actually more navy than it looks in these photos.  A very satisfying project all round. For April I am currently knitting a shawl, which I will talk more ...

What's free is the hat pattern (Barley by Tin Can Knits). I am knitting it out of yarn left over from a project last year, so that's like it's free, right? And I'm giving it away to KOGO , so it will be free to help someone. I had nothing on the needles on Sunday night, and I needed to get ready for knit night on Monday, so I threw this hat project in my bag. Very quick, very easy. it's fun to be knitting on 5mm needles, after doing so much knitting on 2mm needles.  I'm reading The Tiger Catcher by Paulina Simons. I am not very far through it, and it's the first of a trilogy. So far I am enjoying it, but it's mainly been background and initial character development. The book was free because it is from NetGalley , which also means it hasn't been released yet. Based on what I have read so far and Paulina Simon's previous books (Tully, Red Leaves, The Bronze Horseman)I would recommend it. If you want to find all my book reviews, I'm Sh...