What I made, by Sharon

  We had a quiet weekend - Leon has a nasty cold, and I'm fighting off the same bug. It did give me a chance to knit up a quick pastel charity baby set. I started with a  Baby Surprise Jacket pattern by Elizabeth Zim mermann . I've knit 12 of these before, but the previous one was in 2021. I love this design for using up leftovers because, no matter what,  When I looked at my pile of pastel scraps I was worried about getting the sleeves of a jumper to match, and then I remembered that, with a BSJ the stripes are all ways symmetrical.    The only problem with the BSJ is that the sleeves are three quarter length. This time I picked up the sleeve stitches and added some extra garter. Next time I'll use a provisional cast on for the sleeve parts, or even knit the sleeve extensions first. This is such a well loved pattern that there are suggestions for every variation available. Then I made a matching hat. It looks tiny off, but it's actually fine - it the adult size...

 I've been saying for a couple of years ( since 2019 ) that my sock draw is full, but I still find excuses to knit more socks! This time it was Socks for the Bendigo Project. I love a knitalong and I love using up leftovers / making things matchy and this fulfilled both of those. I thought they would be perfect for our trip to Launceston , and I was right. Easy to knit, compact to carry, perfect all around. I recently bought some Addi Novel for knitting socks. This came about because I read about the Addi Unicorn and they looked so cute, but I couldn't get them here and also I think they are a blunt tip. So I bought these and I really like them. They are sort-of square and have little ridges on them. They are not as sharp as some of the needles I use, but they are sharp enough. And they don't bend while I'm using them (I'm looking at you, HiyaHiya !)  As part of my packing I took my Hederas , a pair of Cookie A socks I made in 2010 from the sadly departed Socks Th...

Every book I mention this week was given to me by NetGalley. I feel so privileged, getting to read all  these books early, and for nothing more than a review!  I fini shed  The Tea Planter's Secret by Clare Flynn . It dragged for me, I struggled to emotionally engage with any of the characters. Which doesn't matter in an action packed book, but this was an historical romance. Now I'm reading  Over to You by Georgie Tunny  and really enjoying it.  In the best possible way it's giving  The Bold Type . Three female friends working in media, going through career and relationship highs and lows. And it's set in a recognisable Melbourne, which is a favourite thing for me. Next up is  Hunger and Thirst by Claire Fuller , which is gothic horror and I'm ready for it! It's also got a good cover, but I'll be reading it next week so I'll share that then!  I'm also listening to a review book  The Secret of Sunrises by Ellie Block . I'm only far enoug...

This weekend we headed down to Launceston for the Australian Music theatre festival. We were flying after work on Thursday, but I decided to take the day off , and Leon took an early mark. On the way to out we went to The Lincoln for our last Pint of Origin pub and lunch. The Lincoln was serving Tasmanian beers, so our trip felt like it has started before we even left the CBD!  Melbourne is famous for not having an airport train, but having a very expensive, privately run bus. By comparison, public transport is currently free and the Sky Bus is 36 dollars. Since we had plenty of time, we took a tram and train and then a bus from Broadmeadows (I think you have to be a Melbournian  to really understand the situation.)  I had only been to Launceston once, briefly. It's the perfect small city for a festival like this one. we went to shows every night and ate good food constantly. The city is built around a gorge and it's stunning. We went for a run and saw pademelons ! So cut...

  It's been quite the week for going out, which may have slowed the reading down a little, but not the knitting. The other thing that has been good for knitting and not good for reading is that I'm listening to Yesteryear . It feels like everyone has read it already, and it's a pretty interesting book. I'm not sure if it's a thriller or something else. It's about womanhood and family and social media and so many other things. There is definitly a mystery here, and I'm looking forward to finding out what is going on.  I am desultorily reading    The Tea Planter's Secret (The Ceylon Series #2) by Clare Flynn , the second in a historical romance series set in Ceylon.  It's as expected - rather dramatic and quite fun, but I just keep doing other things instead of reading it. Next up is also a NetGalley book - Over To You by Georgie Tunny , which I think is about newsreaders and might be Australian. Can you tell I'm not much of a blurb reader? I'...

This weekend was the beginning of Pint of Origin - a ten day beer festival that happens in different venues all around Melbourne. We went West on Friday and got to catch the new tunnel home from Footscray. We don't have much call to use that route, and it's pretty exciting to have new train stations. the free public transport is still a thrill, and we are getting very good value from it. On Sunday we continued our beer adventures, going to six pubs Northside. Kris joined us, and we managed to get one, rather terrible photo with all of us!              Late last week and over the weekend I finished a little charity jacket, which was super fun to knit and also used up some left over yarn. The back is striped, but right now I've only got this one terrible photo. (I'm sensing a theme!)  Once I get the back closure on I'll post photos of the back as well as the front on  Ravelry: sharondoubleknit's French Macaroon (charity 12/26) .   I t...