What I made, by Sharon

 I'm writing this on Friday, but I don't know when I will be able to publish it because, although I have finished the set, I haven't managed to take photos. We are heading off camping this afternoon, and Leon will bring the set so I will be able to get photos. Then we shall see what the internet situation is like (I'm with Vodafone, and you know what you are getting with country internet when you sign up to Voda!) But if you are seeing this, I have been successful! This set was really fun to knit - the sort of knitting that isn't so simple as to be boring, but also isn't too complicated to knit in all sorts of strange places. The set is based on Kate Davies Paper Caves scarf pattern.  It's a rather wonderful reversible cable that looks fantastic on both sides.   The mitts were a bit more a struggle, and in the end I decided not to include the big cable, because it pulls things in a bit much.  I struggled with the set up row of these, and actually ended up m...

We are heading off for some camping and hiking and general R&R on Friday, so I'm currently in planning and preparing mode. Of course that mainly means deciding what to knit - I'm going to make the Old Romance cardigan by Joji Locatelli. The yarn is wound and I'm ready to go. I completed Leon's Winter Set (2023) just in time, and it's currently blocking. I'm reading Georgette Hayer's Fredrica , which I am enjoying very much. Regency romance is so sweet and, unlike current romance offerings, I know it won't suddenly tumble into gynaecological territory!  For unexplained reasons, NetGalley is offering some Georgette Heyer books at the moment - (maybe it's re-release?) and I'm taking this opportunity to read a few more of them And that's my week in knitting and reading.  To read my all my book reviews, and to see everything I knit, you can find me on Ravelry as  Sharondoublekni t and on GoodReads as  Sharondblk .  I'm joining in with Kat ...

A week or so ago I finished the Xena socks I was knitting for Leon. I love this technique, it looks so cleaver and is so easy. It's just helical stripes and 1x1 cables in a pretty intuitive, charted pattern. I used Sarah Jordan's SHaG  heel, which doesn't interrupt the stripes, but still provides the fit of a heelflap and gusset. What went wrong was something about this technique, combined with some other factors in my life, has borked my right shoulder. Which is a nice change from my left shoulder hurting, which it does if I spin without the exact right posture.   Anyway, I'm rehabing the shoulder, and I'm still allowed to knit, which is the main point really. Because when I can make projects as fun as this, why would I want to stop, or even slow down?

 I'm a little bit unwell today  - something sinusy and tired making, so I called in sick and am spending the day sitting very still, reading and knitting. Luckily I've got good books to occupy me (actually, maybe it's not luck I DNFd Kate Atkinson's Life anfter Life  on audio and Master and Commander as an eye read earlier in the week.) I'm now eye-reading meg Mason's  S orrow and Bliss  a book about family and mental illness and lots of other things too. it's quite compelling and enjoyable.  I'm listening to Ben Aaranvich's  Broken Homes, the 4th in the Rivers of London series. I love the narrator and it's a very soothing listen. I'm still knitting Leon's winter set (2023). The scarf has about 7 repeats to go, but since I'm home it was a good time to work on the mitts. I'm freestyling the pattern, and it's worked out well, but not perfectly - I'm going to have to redo the second mitt. You can play spot the difference be...

I spent the weekend in Orange, a town in outback New South Wales that hosts the NSW State Titles. we decided to do those, rather than the Victoria ones for the fun of it. Six of us hired a car to do the 9-hour drive. It's a long way, but it was a big car and we were quite comfortable.  It was an epic weekend. We got there on Thursday night, and weighed in on Friday morning. After brunch, i spent the rest of the day relaxing: hit the op-shops, and then sat in the back yard in perfect weather, reading, knitting and generally relaxing.   I failed to get any photos of me lifting. There are tons of videos, which are currently refusing to post. i did get a photo of this sign, which made me laugh, because I am all about being a sheep not a lion! Saturday we competed. It was a fun day. Hectic and long, but full of laughs and heavy lifts. I put 15KGs on my total (squat - 90kg, bench 50kg and deads 115kgs) and came first in my category . On Sunday we drove home. I drove the fi...

This week everything is new and everything is good. Maybe because I've got six days leave - starting and the end of the workday on Tuesday! On Thursday morning I'm heading up to Orange with my powerifting team. We're coming back on Sunday and then Monday is a public holiday. The trip to Orange involves a nine-hour drive each way. I've cast on a scarf for Leon's Winter Set (2023). I'm using Kate Davies' Paper Caves pattern and so far it's delightful. I'll have to work out how to covert it into a hat and mitts, but I've got some ideas. It's pleasure to knit, interesting enough to want to keep knitting, but intuitive enough to knit on public. I'm reading Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow  by Gabrielle Zevin. It was highly recommended by a number of participants in Unravelled Wednesday and it is, so far, a delightful read. I just want to sit and read and see what happens next. Lovely.  I finished the audio book I was reading, Atomic Family...

it just took me a long time to tell you about it. I finished my Find Your Fade on Tuesday last week (as in ten days ago), exactly three weeks after I started it. Then I blocked it, which took until Friday and then I didn't get photos until Tuesday and it has taken me this long to sit down and write about it.  I love this shawl, it's giant and warm but still light and airy. I love the way my colours came out - I wasn't quite sure when I choose them, but in the finished object I think they are delightful.  I love these photos - we took them on the way to the pub across the road and it looks like we are in a delightful garden, but this is just a patch of dirt between a side street and the fence to a major road.  I loved doing this as a knitalong, and am looking forward to whatever the Richmond Knitters choose as our next knitalong or group project.

This week has been a bit of a continuation of last week. I finished the first sock , and am on my way into the leg of the second sock. The pattern is Xena by Birgit Feyer I adore how it looks, such a clever technique.  In reading I'm still clearing the Kindle - I'm deleting books I no longer want to read and reading some of the older ones. I've got 16 books left to go and some of them I'm really looking forward to. I'm currently reading a NetGalley review book called Death and Croissants .   It's fine. When I started reading it it really annoyed me, but it has grown on me a bit. It's sardonic and funny in places, although it's got some very strange (or maybe just old fashioned) attitudes and approaches to "swingers". It all feels a bit dated and, while it's pleasant enough to read I do not feel any emotional connection to anything about this book.  And that's my week in knitting and reading.  To read my all my book reviews, and to see...