What I made, by Sharon

 AKWAK is happy to receive any donations, they package things out in sets. I normally just make a hat, cowl and jumper, but this time I did things properly. Behold my full set: Jumper, hat, cowl, socks and mittens. The most complete set I have ever made, 420 grams of left-overs used up and a child who will be warm this winter. Winning all around.

For December and January Australian's Knitting for War Affected Children (AKWAK) held a "sets" knit-a-long. I managed to complete three sets in the period.  It was a fun challenge, and a great way of using up pretty much all my left over 8 ply, and a bunch of left over sock wool too. The problem is that knitting the items is not enough. After I've knit them I have to sew the ends in, update Ravelry, tally the items so AWKAK knows I've knit them and store them until it's time to send them, rather than leave them in a messy pile on the computer table. I got my act together this morning and did all that. Now they are packed up, and I'll pop them in my car-part storage cupboard  until AKWAK are ready to receive them - usually in August. It feels good to get the administration part of the project tidied away.

It was meant to be a quiet weekend - Leon and i got our 2nd COVID boosters (the bivalent one) on Thursday, and we both had side effects that felt a lot like COVID. It was a brutal 26 hours,a and then I got better. On Friday i was too fatigued to knit! Aweful. i wasn't too tired to read, and I'm reading Miranda Saphire's A Light in the Dark , which is a sexy, feminist retelling of The Beauty and the Beast, so much of the day was spent lying on the couch reading. On Saturday I went to the gym and then had the rest of the day for whatever I wanted (after cleaning the house of course. We always clean first, and then do the relaxing). I finished the sneaker liners with the SHaG heel.  I really like the heel, it's the same fit as a heel flap and gusset, but much tidier. Then I made a cat toy  That was meant to be a gift. Which would have been great, except I left it on the bed and Willow decided it was great to play with. Successful cat toy, failed gift. I'll make ...

It's been a lovely weekend. For the first time this summer it's warm, but not stupidly hot and not raining. Generally speaking it was quiet weekend, without any exciting plans (or photos!). On Saturday I went to the gym and then cleaned the house - I told you it was a thrill a minute around here! Then I finished the jumper I was knitting for charity. This jumper was quite the drama. I started it from a Drops pattern, but then the pattern was weird, so I used Elizabeth Zimmermann's raglan formula . I thought I was making a 6 year old jumper, but it's more like a ten year old. Still, it will keep some child far away warm, which I guess that's the point. I also made Willow a cat toy - it's delightful to have a younger cat who plays with toys. She loves to pick them up and carry them around in her mouth, so I thought the shape of this would be good. She seemed to ignore it, but when we woke up this morning it had moved from the living room and was on the bed, so sh...

After a delightful 11 day break I'm back at work, it's raining and I would rather be home with my cats. Still, I'm wearing a new jumper (which I will post all about on Friday), and I'm having fun with my knitting and reading, so it's all good. I'm knitting a child's jumper for AKWAK. It's based on a Drops pattern, and I was trying to knit a 6 year old size, but it's coming out closer to a ten. Still, it means I will use up lots of Left Over Sock Yarn (LOSY), which is my major goal for the early part of the year. I'm reading T he Blacktongue Thief   which is both epic fantasy and very funny / silly. A good way to start a new year. In non-fiction I'm reading a NetGalley review copy of Object Lessons OK .  This is using the development of the ubiquitous O.K. to track other social, technological and linguistic changes. I'm enjoying it. And that's my week in reading and knitting. To read my all my book reviews, and to see everything I kni...

I've been knitting for KOGO for a while now (probably since 2017) They are great, in that they donate locally and like baby cardigans. the problem is that they  only like superwash wool or acrylic. This is understandable, but I partly (mainly?) knit for charity to use up left overs, and a lot of my yarn is 100 per cent wool. I found out about AKWAK (Australian's Knitting  for War Affected Kids) who prefer 100 percent wool. So, when Romi Hill released a pattern for mitts, I dug out some superwash and knit them to for KOGO. The she released another pattern in the series, a washcloth and soap sack. I knit them just for the joy of it - and then I was browsing the AKWAK group and discovered that they donate these exact items. After I finished knitting Leon's jumper I needed something simple, because I was out and about last weekend. I grabbed some left over handspun that has been hanging around in my stash since 2019 and used it with the remaining wool from Leon's jumper to...