What I made, by Sharon

 My cosy house jumper is progressing nicely, and it's still cold enough here that it will get a fair amount of wear before it's time to pack it away for summer. I've just got the collar to go, but it is 24 cm of 1x1 twisted rib  - which is as longer than some of the hats I make. It normally takes me two or three days to make a hat, so I might be back with finished photos on the weekend. The reading has been a tiny bit glitchier - I started a review copy of Indomitable by Claudia Brooke, and could not stand it. In the first ten percent there was two incidents of self-fat shaming and one where the main character steps in dog poo and gets it on the laces of her shoe (how?) and then "has" to throw the shoes out, because there is no way to fix that. A main character who literally cannot deal with shit on her shoe. I'll have to give it a decent try, because it is a review book, but I'm just finding it so frustrating. Instead I decided to read the oldest book o...

We spent the weekend in Bendigo again, this time for a beer event - Bendigo on the Hop.  Leon and i decided to make a long weekend of it, and public transported up on Friday, getting there in time for a lovely lunch. Then we walked to the mill.  I was pretty excited, because I keep on buying dyes, but I don't actually have any bare yarn to dye. they only had one skein of undyed sock yarn, but it's beautiful- really round and looks a bit like Socks That Rock , so I'm looking forward to dying / using it. I also bought some slow colour-changing yarn for a TellyBean Knits jumper - or dress, maybe. We had afternoon tea in a cafe by the lake, where we ended up going back for breakfast both days. Delicious.  Then Skip, Bee and Chris arrived and we had a lovely dinner. Saturday was Bendigo on the Hop - you go to 9 different venues and choose from 4 types of beers. it was a lot of fun and the town had a really great vibe. After finishing up we ate more delicious food and col...

I have some exiting knitting plans for the next three months. I think all the designers and KALS happen now because the northern hemisphere is heading into autumn / winter. Here in Melbourne we will soon be experiencing spring, but, since I'm an equal opportunity knitter I knit just as much in summer as in winter.  So, what are my plans? I've just signed up for the Joji Fall KAL. I'm going to knit the Flores Socks  and the Lace and Fade Boxy .They were both in my queue - I recently discovered that I had the yarn for the Boxy in stash (yes I bought it for something else, but lets not be rigid). So pretty. Photo from Joji Then there is the Westknits KAL. I didn't have the best time last year - my yarn colours were not quite right, the shape wasn't to my taste and it was during this KAL that my city grabbed the "honour" or being the most locked down city in the world, so the vibe was weird.  I wasn't going to do it this year, but then I started looking ...

Last week I'd only just started both by book and my knitting project, and now i am about 70 percent through both of them! In knitting I'm on the sleeves of the Wednesday Sweater. It's a really fun knit, and I think it will fulfil my requirements for a warm, cheerful shlumpy house jumper. In reading I'm still on Harrow the Ninth . It's sort of starting to make sense (70 percent through!). I have found it a more compelling read than the preceding book  Gideon the Ninth , and it's definitely held my interest, although it really doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I'm also listening to the second in the Rivers of London series Moon over Soho . I suspect these books are all quite reliable - great narrator, interesting plot, but not so interesting that I can't do other things while listening. 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...

Katherine is getting married and, as is the tradition of the Richmond Knitters, we are making her a blanket. I'm pretty sure she doesn't read this blog - and she knows in general terms about the project - she gave Katie the quiet word that she would like us to all choose our own square design and use yarn from our stashes. I've got swancho left-overs that I have been saving for the right project, and this seemed like the right project. I started by crocheting a nice, pretty square, and then I found I could not stop. So far I've made 4 squares - 3 from Swancho left-overs, and one from my handspun. It's probably time to stop, but although I'm more than happy (and have the yarn to) make a couple more if they are required. I could always go back to crocheting my own blanket. 

Last week I knit a jumper for AKWAK -  Australian's Knitting For War Affected Kids, who are my current knitting charity of choice. They are mainly a facebook based group, although they have a Ravelry presence. Basically their volunteers knit through the year. You email to let them know what you are knitting, and occasionally they post saying they need more cowls, or jumpers for a certain age group or whatever. Then at a certain point they call for the donations to be sent in. Someone packs them up, puts them in a container and they get shipped to Syrian refugees living in camps in (I think) Afghanistan. I knit for them because I think it is a worthy cause, but also because they want 80 percent or more wool in garments, and since that's what most of my left-overs are, it works well.  This jumper was really fun: I started it as a raglan, but as soon as I joined the body and sleeves I decided I wanted to make it a round yoke. Also I ran out of the green contrast colour, and used ...

This week everything is fresh and new. In reading I've started Harrow the Ninth ,  the second in the Locked tomb trilogy. I did't love the first one, but it was interesting. This one is, if anything, weirder. All the reviews and Leon say stick with it it makes more sense later. It's 560 pages, so plenty of time for anything to happen! In knitting I've just started a new jumper, PetiteKnit's Wednesday Sweater . It's oversize, and slouchy and I think it will make a really good house jumper. Here's the back, after one episode of The Expanse and one of Ghosts, so about an hour and a half. It might be quite a quick knit. It's certainly fun so far. I've also been spending some time crocheting blanket squares for another Richmond Knitters blanket project. I'll be back on the weekend to tell you more about that. And that's what I'm knitting and reading this week.  To read my all my book reviews, and to see everything I knit, you can find me on Ra...