The Big Day

Well, folks, it's The Wedding Day. It's 5.45am, still dark outside and, as far as I know The Bride, M-o-H, and FotB are still asleep [wish I was!]. I had to walk past the bridesmaids' dresses to get to my computer and the wedding gown is hanging a metre away from me as I type. I have a headache, I feel nauseous and I've been weeping for at least the last fifteen minutes due to a PowerPoint presentation sent to me by Lorelle!

DD's last night at home is not one I will remember with fondness. I was depressed and, despite determining not to say anything, couldn't help myself. So many things left, unnecessarily, till the last minute. I would have liked for us to spend some time together but I barely saw her all day or evening - she was out till 5pm and in her room all evening except while we had dinner [and then my parents were watching the news so we couldn't talk]. We did have some time together - at 9am - she had a pedicure and I had a manicure [the first of my life!]. She was then taken away for a facial while I had a pedicure [also my first].

I know I sound selfish - maybe I am - but the grief is real and must be gone through [unfortunately].

And how is today looking?

weather forecast for western Sydney: 37*C [99*F] - please Lord let them be wrong!

before 8:30 MotB goes for a half-hour walk
before 9:30 breakfast and showers all round
sometime this morning - flowers arrive
9.30 MotB drives Bride and M-o-H to hairdresser
10am Bride's hair and make-up [also two Bridesmaid's]; MotB knits socks
11am MotB's hair [will do own makeup at home]
noon MotB drives home
12.15 Bride and Bridesmaids dress; FotB dresses; MotB does own make-up and dresses
12.50 photographer arrives
2.20 photographer leaves
2.30 car arrives
2.45 Bride leaves home [and right now mother starts weeping again]
3.30 wedding ceremony
6.00 reception
midnight or later - bed!

Ten hours from now she'll be a wife and I'll be a MIL!

knitting knemesis

It seems I must have one!

For a few months it was the Myrtle Leaf Shawl - and we all know how that turned out!

Now it's the Supersocke Cotton socks - again! The first time I knitted these socks it was still 2007. My post from 4th November of that year said I was about to cast on, the post on the 12th November said the first sock was finished. It's a whole twelve months before they are mentioned again! Fast forward a few months, they are mentioned briefly here and in far more detail here.

Well, it's been more than a week since that last mention and the Supersocke cotton is now in its 6th incarnation. The last time they were mentioned I was on Version #4 - they were too small; only 64 stitches and I couldn't get them on over my heel [even with the needles taken out]. Version #5 was a great idea in theory but didn't work out in practice so I won't bore you with the details. Suffice to say that the random colourways of this yarn completely obscured the pattern I was 'inventing'.

So, now I've cast on for Version #6. I've done 12 rows of K1 P1 rib and, if I don't find a pattern soon that's strong enough to complete with this colourway, I think I'll watch the tennis and knit stocking stitch! We already know that I refuse to be beaten by my knitting, don't we?

After all, did I not say [of Myrtle Leaf but it applies to any other knitting]:

For what is yarn, what has it got?
It must yield, it must be taught.
Read the pattern is what I did
The stitches must do as I bid.

PS If anyone has ever knit with this yarn [Online Supersocke Cottone] please let me know how it went for you!

she's at it again!

Yes, I've fiddled with my blog's appearance again. I loved the overall look but felt it was a bit cluttered. Rather than delete anything, I decided to go for less background pattern and more text space. I made the font bigger too. I hope that makes it easier for everyone, though you probably do what I do: hold the control key down and scroll the mouse to enlarge things I want to read! It beats squinting at the computer!! LOL

I've added all my stash [not counting odds and ends which I use for small projects] to the footer - it will be interesting to see if this was a worthwhile couple of hours work!

I have also rejigged and added to The Queue in my sidebar. I'm going to challenge myself to work through this list [at random]. I have a few books that I have never knitted any patterns from, a few techniques and different yarns I want to try and a few fibre-related, non-knitting things I want to have a go at too. So, when I'm looking for a new project, The Queue and The Stash are the first places to look!

Knitting for charity means that just about any knitted item is acceptable somewhere - usually my three most-knitted-for-charities cover anything I can think of: Operation Christmas Child [toys and children's clothing], Australian Interior Ministries [warm clothing and accessories in all sizes] and Wrap With Love [blankets or squares]. Why these three? Because I can deliver these items without having to pay postal costs to send them somewhere; that saves money for more yarn and more items for charity! Anything else I knit can be sent to one of the thirty or so organisations on the Knit4Charities 2009 calendar!

If all else fails, I have family and friends, and might even knit something for myself - the silk yarn Sally gave me last year is ear-marked for a 'me' project!

to talk of many things...

• Yesterday was DD's kitchen tea/bridal shower. It was a small gathering - just nine people. WM bought batteries for my camera but I forgot to use it!! The maid-of-honour convinced us to play one game [we tried hard to avoid it] - we had to dress a bride using only a roll of toilet paper [over their clothes of course]! The two bridesmaids were the brides, The Bride was the judge [lucky her] and the other six of us were divided into two teams to dress the brides. Both teams won - in different categories! One for beach wear, one for more formal attire [I was on the latter team]. The prize was a choice of Freddo Frogs, a chocolate frog made by Cadburys. Mine was crunchie flavour, meaning it had pieces of honeycomb in the chocolate. DD had a strawberry frog, the other choice was plain. DD took some video footage but she's not here and I don't know how to download stills from her camera so, unfortunately, no photos.
  
  Most of the gifts were kitchen-ware [what a surprise]; mine was The Myrtle Leaf Shawl. It got lots of oohs and aahs and some nice comments so I guess the pain was worth it! I still intend to reblock it and I found another loose thread while I was wrapping it - it's attached so I hope it blocks out this time!



• One day last week I began a pair of adult-sized fingerless mitts; I started them while Chris Guccione [the last Australian male in the tournament at the time] was playing so I have called them the "Gucc Mitts" [pronounced Gooch]. I knitted them in red because he has red hair. I realised that I probably wasn't going to have enough yarn to finish two so I added the black.
  
  They remind me of football jerseys. There are no teams in the National Rugby League with those colours. Red and black are the colours of the North Sydney Bears - the team my dad played for as a junior - now sadly long departed from the competition. So I looked up the team colours for the Australian Football League - another popular code of football, especially in Victoria where Chris Guccione comes from. Essendon have red and black uniforms and, interestingly, Chris Guccione comes from the Melbourne suburb of Greenvale which is relatively close to Essendon. Even more interestingly, he has said that if he wasn't playing tennis he would have liked to have played "Aussie Rules". I didn't know any of this when I started knitting; I just can't help doing a little research - academia is in my blood! LOL
  
  So, here are the Gucc Mitts which will be given to Australian Interior Ministries to keep the hands of a first Australian warm.



• On Friday night I cast on a beanie. It's blue because Roger Federer [my favourite non-Australian player] wears a blue shirt and this beanie is, naturally enough, called the Federer Beanie. It is not what I planned when I started out - it was going to have stranded colour crosses above the ribbing [he's from Switzerland, they have a white cross on the flag], but I got too engrosed in the game to fiddle with stranding! I made the beanie according to a pattern [some readers would know I rarely follow patterns] because I was knitting my first beanie in 8ply [DK] weight yarn. I obviously have much looser gauge than was intended - the beanie is way too big for either myself or WM. I'm not concerned though - I'm sure it will fit someone's head. It, too, will go to Australian Interior Ministries.
  
  
  
• I'm trying to knit only adult sized items for charity this year - every one knits for babies and children because the items are small and quickly finished but I want to help the adults too.



• I am attempting to touch type this post - it's a skill I taught myself for uni in 2003 as part of a work-based project. I make lots of mistakes especially with my right hand [I'm left-handed] and it's incredibly slow; practice makes perfect, I guess! I just want to look at the keys and get on with the typing!



• Speaking of tennis [as we were], fickle fan that I am, I stopped watching the tennis because Roger Federer was losing [two sets to love against Tomas Berdych] but I've just checked the score and Federer won the third set and is leading slightly in the fourth. I'd better get back to it [if I can stand the excitement - I'm feeling really blue! It won't help if Roger loses!!]



• Please think of me as we countdown the last week to DD's wedding. I'm very emotional and teary and too busy dealing with my own grief to notice WM's. I expect that's normal, especially for mothers of only daughters with whom they enjoy a close relationship. I just hope I can hold it together when farewells are made at the end of the reception. ;-(
  

It's done

The hole is no more.

While it may seem like I was procrastinating, I was thinking about it a lot; going over the stitch pattern in my mind. Occasionally I would even go and look at it. What threw me was not the stitches themselves, I could see where they went; it was the big loops of yarn I had that were supposed to be a complex pattern of 'bars' holding the leaf pattern together.

I just couldn't figure out how it all went together - especially the two long loops running parallel to the leaf! The hole got worse than this photo shows as I desperately tried to find where each strand belonged! I should have taken another photo before I began the repairs but that didn't occur to me.

Although I finished the repair this morning, I had been working on it for two days - I picked up the dropped stitches that I could see and yesterday I had a couple of tries to put it together but it wasn't working. More thinking, not procrastination, was needed; the shawl had given me too much trouble to rush in and do a bodgie* job.


So, here it is; I'm sure you won't have any trouble picking the repaired leaf but it's not too bad, if I do say so myself!

Thanks for the support and encouragement; it really means a lot to this often-close-to-tears-soon-to-be-mother-of-the-bride!

And now, we're off the reblock the border to our satisfaction [DD and I not the royal 'we'!]

*bodgie - something imperfect, flawed or without value

Then fix it, dear Too-Hot-to-Knit

No, I haven't done it - the hole is still there. It was too hot yesterday and I was hit with a big dark cloud [you know those moments when it's all too much]. I just didn't feel able to attempt the repair. I know it has to be fixed, and it will be done in a timely fashion, but yesterday wasn't the day.

However, I have been knitting, and frogging, and thinking about knitting.

Firstly, the knitting. I made another beanie from the hand-dyed salvaged yarn. This one started with the thicker yarn that took up the colour much better. When it graduated to the thinner yarn, which didn't take up the colour so well, I increased the number of stitches. Then decreased again for the thicker yarn [the dark blue about one third of the way up the beanie] and increased again when necessary. I knit the body of the hat in a chevron pattern because going around in stocking stitch is boring after spending so many hours knitting complicated lace! And I thought about the pattern and realised that 'chevron' must mean a horizontal zigzag [some people are sloooooow!] not just the name of a fancy hotel in Sydney during my childhood. Ad then it occurred to me that Chevron had also been the name of the home brand of a certain department store starting with W - duh, Lynne!

Then there's the pair of fingerless mitts [known to me as the Rafa Mitts] which I "designed" on the needles while watching Rafael Nadal win his first round match of the Australian Open. They are also knit from the same salvaged hand-dyed yarn [just the thinner stuff]. There's not much to them, I know; I wanted to concentrate on the tennis not the knitting! They are too small for any hands in this house but children need mitts too and these will go [as will the two beanies] to Australian Interior Ministries which is one of the April recipents on the Knit4Charities calendar. These are obviously still WIPs - I have yet to sew them up [I can't seam and watch tennis]! Despite appearances, they are actually the same size.

As for frogging, well that poor Online Supersocke yarn better be good for multiple knitting because I have frogged again. I started knitting a modified version of the "Flame Wave" pattern from Favourite Socks but the variegated colour of the yarn disguised the subtle pattern so I frogged the twenty four rounds I had done after the ribbing.Then I sat and watched tennis and thought and watched tennis and got frustrated and watched tennis and thought and tried a couple of things and thought and then frogged the 12 rounds of ribbing too! I cast on 60 stitches this time [the Flame Wave had only 56] - I know I could have just increased four stitches but the K1P1 rib wouldn't work with the pattern I had chosen - I had already tried that!! I decided to use the same pattern I used in Version 2 of the socks - a Mock Cable which involves PSSO rather than a cable needle. I've only done about 16 rounds of Version 4 so there's really nothing to show yet. This photo shows them in their second incarnation; the first attempt with the mock cable pattern - I frogged these because I didn't like the shape of the toe! If I've confused you, I'll summarise:
Version 1 - plain stocking stitch - cuff down - finished - too big in the foot length by at least an inch and a half and too big around the foot
Version 2 - mock cable pattern - toe up socks - misshapen toes [I increased every round instead of every second round]
Version 3 - cuff down - Flame Wave pattern too subtle for colours of yarn
Version 4 - cuff down - in progress with mock cable pattern

And finally, some more thinking - about what I could knit in some of the acrylic yarn I brought back from Wangaratta. I have 5x500 grams of a bouclé yarn in five different colours - that would be the orange/green/purple/gold [sounds awful doesn't it?], the lemon, the mauve/pink, the pink/white and the blue/grey in the photo - so I guess there's enough there to make some child-size sweaters. I will have to swatch because I'm not sure what 'ply' it is - maybe 10ply [Aran]. The weather [40*C - 104*F] is not appropriate for knitting sweaters at the moment so I think I'll stick to socks, beanies and mitts.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to the tennis!

There's a hole in my shawl, dear readers...

The tennis started at 11am; Lleyton Hewitt wasn't playing till 2pm. Plenty of time to graft and block!

First the grafting - I had to do it twice; the first time I realised I had eight stitches on the front needle but 10 on the back needle; something was obviously wrong somewhere. The second time was successful and didn't look too bad.


Adam Lindsay Gordon wrote a poem which contained the line: "Life is mostly froth and bubble". I think that describes the Myrtle Leaf shawl very well. Above is the froth and below is the knitted bubble wrap! ;-)

Now the blocking. For Jocelyn, who asked about surfaces for blocking, first I lay out the cutting board, which is 190cm x 100cm [76"x40"], and cover it with a disposable white plastic table cloth. That way the cardboard stays dry but I can still see the grid underneath.
Now thread the rods through. I have never used blocking wires before even though I have had them for almost twelve months. It's a tedious process threading those burred edged rods though acres [so it seems] of lace, isn't it? Finally a bit of a stretch here and some more easing there and the shawl was approximately the size it was supposed to be [it's about 4" short but the correct width]. One good thing about the wires - a lot less pins are needed!!


So, finally, at 1.30, time to have lunch then into the lounge [living] room to check the blocking. Don't want it shrinking or tearing while drying, do we? And then I found it. I know it's hard to see ivory knitting on a white background but I'm sure you can see what I saw to my horror and dismay.
At the moment I don't know how to fix it - but I'm sure I will think of a reasonable solution in time! The wedding is still 11 days away and I'm sure it will just entail a deft hand with an embroidery needle; I'm certainly not going to undo the graft, rip out the border, frog back about 20 rows then try and pick up the stitches. Oh no, there will be some creative embroidery happening when I am calm and less hot! BTW, It got to 40*C [104*F] here again today and although the aircon is set at 24*C [75*F] it's still quite warm! And Lleyton Hewitt lost in five sets! :-(

Tennis v. Finishing

The tennis season began two weeks ago. We've had the Hopman Cup in Perth, the Sydney International, the Brisbane International, the Koorong Classic in Melbourne and the Australian Open [a Grand Slam event] started yesterday. I love watching tennis. I saw the first two games of the Hopman Cup and haven't sen any tennis since; I've had my head down knitting Myrtle.

Yesterday, I decided I was going to watch the tennis before it was all over. I got myself an easy knitting task and settled in front of the television. Good choice - I saw Bernard Tomic, a 16yo Australian, become the youngest man ever to win at the Australian Open! What a thrilling match it was - especially the third set!

I also watched Jelena Dokic [an Australian] struggle to win her game, the first set played by another Aussie Casey Dellaqua [then we went for our daily walk] and finally Roger Federer playing against a worthy opponent, Andreas Seppi, until after midnight.

Consequently, I didn't finish Myrtle yesterday.

Tennis v. Myrtle - 4:0!

I did, however, finish knitting a pair of fingerless mitts - only they weren't a pair because the yarn was irregular in thickness so they knitted up differently. They have been frogged and the yarn rewound to be used for non-paired items! DD spliced the yarn together from odds and ends we bought at Bendigo Woollen Mill, I don't think she realised at the time that she was putting different thicknesses together. You can see the yarn in a ball here. We hand-dyed the yarn and not only is it different thicknesses, it is different blends - we know that because it took up the colour differently! Here is the beanie I knitted yesterday with the same yarn [the light colours are the thinner - DK yarn; the darker colours near the crown are the thicker yarn]. The large stitches you can see at random are where the splicing has felted - it makes for a unique look!! LOL

And... I cast on the first sock from the Online Supersocke yarn I frogged in December. I'm knitting a modified version of Flame Wave from Favourite Socks.

Today, another Australian, Lleyton Hewitt, a former World #1, will try to regain some of his former glory. He enters this tournament unseeded and has a tough draw against 2007 finalist, Fernando Gonzales.

Wish me luck in getting away from the TV today!

the best laid plans...

I wrote to some of the people who commented on yesterday's post. I told them the knitting is finished [which it is! Hurrah!!] I also told them that it would be grafted and blocked today. Alas - the best laid plans [you know how it goes]...

We had people coming and going today, including guests from The Wedding. I always block my knitting on the lounge [living] room floor - it has the largest amount of open space. So, with constant interruptions, there was no chance of grafting and with visitors, no chance of blocking.

I've got my fingers crossed for tomorrow...

Almost finished

And now, the end is near;
As I approach the final corner.
If someone wants to knit this shawl
It's for certain, I'd have to warn 'er.

Ive tinked and ripped and frogged
Ive screamed and cursed and blogged
But through it all,
I've beat that shawl,
It's almost finished.

Regrets, I've had a few;
And sometimes moments of confusion.
But I did what I had to do
And saw it through to its conclusion.

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew.
But through it all, when there was doubt,
I sucked it up and knit it out.
I faced it all
And knit that shawl;
It's almost finished.

It took two weeks, no time at all
Yet many hours of labour
Soon it will be grafted and then blocked
That moment will be savoured.

To think I made it through;
Sometimes it felt I wouldn't.
It's nearly time for me to brag,
Although I know I shouldn't.

For what is yarn, what has it got?
It must yield, it must be taught.
Read the pattern is what I did
The stitches must do as I bid.
This blog shows
I took the blows -
And almost finished Myrtle!

Something old [part 2]

Oldest needles
I'm not sure if I started knitting on plastic needles, metal needles or these old tortoise shell needles. These are what's left of those given to me by my mum and nanna and supplemented by a purchase of one single needle for 10c at Mark Foys in Sydney in the mid-seventies! To remember Mark Foys, you must be really old [like me]! My dad, now 80, worked there for a short while as a teenager! I went there because it was sort-of on my way to college and I'd broken a needle on the train so wanted a replacement. In the knitting department, Mark Foys had a tin of single needles for 10c each! I know tortoiseshell needles can no longer be sold but I bet these four are worth more than 40c!
I don't knit with these - they are precious memorabilia. If I could buy some new, I wouldn't, but these are at least 35 years old and people think differently about killing animals these days.

Oldest associated tool
This needle case was made by Nanna for my 14th birthday. It has a matching scissors case and came in an embroidery basket which I still have. It also came with some really shiny glass headed pins [a luxury item in my home] which some nasty young 'lady' stole when I was foolish enough to take the whole thing to high school to show off!
The largest needle was given to me by my mother when I was in Teachers' College [I finished in 1977].

Oldest knitted item
You've seen him before but I'm very fond of Ted so I'll show him again. He arrived from England squashed in an Oxo box sometime before my first birthday. He wasn't a present for my first birthday - my grandparents emigrated from England in time for that - so he's almost as old as I am! In 1986 he was carefully beheaded, re-stuffed and sewn back together for DD. When she leaves home two weeks from tomorrow, he'll be staying here. His usual home is on the back of the lounge in the family room near my knitting corner!

Oldest yarn
The oldest yarn that was in my collection is actually in this blanket [throw] that lives on the back of my lounge and gets used regularly - it's the darker blue baby yarn given to me by my nanna after finishing a project for Baby Brother [who is now 46]. The oldest yarn in my collection that is not knitted was also given to me by Nanna and is shown in my next listing.

Oldest UFO

I started these knee length socks on straight needles in the early seventies. They would have been very fashionable then! I did try to finish them during 2007 but decided that 30y.o. pure wool probably wasn't the best choice for socks as a charity project and the foot was so narrow who would be able to wear them? So, after 30+ years on the needles, they will be frogged and turned into something more suitable. I have plenty of 'proper' sock yarn for charity knitting. And I know how to knit on dpns and/or circulars now!! LOL

Oldest FO

This ratty looking jumper [sweater] was knitted by me in the weeks just after DD's birth. I know I entered it into the Bingara Show a year after her birth but didn't win a prize because of a mistake I hadn't noticed on the inside! It's now worn as a working jumper, when I'm painting, or doing messy jobs, etc. It's too short and has holes in the sleeves but it's still toasty warm.

Oldest yarn-related object not already mentioned
As a child I was given a kit containing yarn related activities - this weaving loom amongst other things. I began this in my pre-teen years and DD has also worked on it in her younger years. She was frustrated by it even more than I was; I left it at this point because I didn't know how to get the edges straight! I did weaving at teachers' college and still couldn't get the edges right!! Possibly one reason why I'm not a weaver now!!

Anyone care to join me in showing off your old, new, borrowed or blue?

In which we interrupt the knitting

Today I did one of the most important tasks of the Mother-of-the-Bride: I bought something to wear to the wedding!

I'm not exactly a small woman and I don't like shopping for clothes. I have a large bust, almost no waist, a big tummy and small hips. I look best in straight skirts or pants and tops that come down to my hips. However, I'm not huge; I can usually buy what I need in the larger sizes of regular clothes shops. But today nearly did me in!

I went to a shop that sells clothes for formal occasions. I tried on everything that they had in their largest size - a size I don't normally have to buy. Nothing, and I mean zip, zilch, nada, nothing, fitted. Some of them I couldn't even zip up! I would have been completely disheartened if it hadn't been for the sales assistant - she was so helpful, so cheerful and totally non-plussed about me not finding anything after spending quite a lot of time in her store. It was not the most wonderful experience of my life - did I happen to say I dislike clothes shopping?

I crossed to another shop on the opposite side of the shopping mall - they were busy and there seemed to be only one assistant in the shop so I wasn't offered any help; I had to find my way around on my own. It's not a shop I normally go into - the clothes are outside the bracket I spend on everyday wear. But this is a special occasion and, though I was slightly dismayed at the price tags, I carried on. I took three garments into the fitting room. Two of them had satin camisoles - satin is not a good look on big women and the fact that the darts were way too short didn't help matters! The over-shirts were heavily beaded chiffon - beautiful and highly suitable to formal occasions. One was in a plum colour I really liked - but the satin cami screamed "big girl, big b**bs" so reluctantly I put the outfits back on their hangers.

The third outfit was a lovely shade of purple - my favourite colour. It was made of jersey, soft and clingly. DD is getting married in the middle of a western Sydney summer, people, and today is 40*C+ [104*F]. Jersey is not a good idea. But, I tried it on anyway; I was getting a bit tired of this 'dressy' thing. It was clingy but it had the most beautiful long skirt; not straight, but nowhere near circular. And the top: it was a crossover [always good for big bust lines according to Trinny and Susannah], it had a modesty piece [so as to show no cleavage] and was ruched across the front so that it hid my fat stomach. It has no beading as such; in fact, the design is quietly understated.

In short, it looks fabulous - it's a colour I love and it had to be mine, mine, mine! No matter that it cost more than I wanted to pay. I can wear the top again with black pants [if I ever have need of a semi-formal outfit]. Yes, folks, I bought an outfit [and some jewellery and undergarments to wear with it]. DD attended a wedding last weekend and her new black shoes are almost the right size for me [she wears a shoe half a size smaller]; so I may not have to buy shoes! Yay team!!

No photos of the complete outfit because some guests at the wedding [hi mum and dad!] sometimes read my blog but here's a sneak peak at the detail! The colour is wrong but it's as close as I can get. I love it [but I still don't like clothes shopping].

I've turned a corner!

Actually I've turned two! Yesterday I began the long trek up the side of the stole, 57 repeats of an eight row pattern. I completed 30 repeats before calling it a day. This morning I started again - only to discover I had actually completed 40 repeats so was closer to the corner than first anticipated! I turned the first corner early this afternoon [despite the 40*C - 104*F - heat] and have just now completed the second corner! I'm on the home straight [so to speak].

So, I'm sure you'll cheer me on as we race towards the finish line and that you'll forgive my late post today.

I'm already planning my next project - probably socks; it's been a long time since I've been monogamous with my knitting. LOL

Happy Birthday Nanna

My maternal grandmother [Nanna] was a big influence on my life. Today is the 100th anniversary of her birth.

She taught me to crochet, use a sewing machine and took us on outings. Our annual holidays - two weeks at the beach - were paid for by my maternal grandparents and I didn't know until it was too late to show my appreciation.

Thank you Lord that she was a part of my life for 32 years. Not everyone has their grandparents for so long.

Gran-nan, Nanna, Mum, Bessie - 1909-1989 - rest in peace.

edited to add: For those who've already read this post, my apologies; Blogger was supposed to hold it until today but for some strange reason, published it in the wee hours of Sunday! Thanks, Delighted Hands, for you subtle correction!

Oops! [a progress? report]

I was hoping to finish the centre panel - after all, I had only six repeats to go. But it wasn't to be!

First, I spent too much fun time writing my post about 'old' things. Then we got talking about seating arrangements for The Wedding; always a fun topic, right?

Finally I got around to knitting two repeats. I should backtrack and say that I had stopped using stitch markers at Round 18 which means I have to count every stitch and/or watch my knitting closely. I also hadn't put a lifeline in the last six rounds [72 rows]. Getting too cocky, that's for sure! On Row 10 of the second repeat I realised I'd made a mistake and started to tink back just a few stitches. Then 'it' happened. I looked down and saw a big hole in my knitting! Fortunately it was only two rounds below but it was still there and getting larger as I watched! Quickly I had my capable assistant [aka DD] pass me a safety pin and grabbed the offending six stitches. They had been one but had decided to go their separate ways in their bid for freedom! I had obviously dropped one when tinking back in an earlier row. Well, three hours later [including time for dinner] I had tinked back to that hole and an hour and half later I was back to where I was when I saw It!

So total for the day: knit two rounds, tink two rounds, knit two rounds! Total = 36 rounds [of 40]!

Something old

First, an old topic - the Myrtle Leaf shawl:
I'm running for the finish line on the centre panel with 34 repeats [of 40] completed!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now for the Wedding Rhyme Game. I started this game so I'd better set some rules!

1. The object must be yarn related.


2. "old" is relative but I'm thinking anything older than DD who will be 23 in April. After all, life before DD seems like a long time ago, back in the "olden days"! In fact, the day after my 21st birthday one of my students said: "Mrs Too Hot To Knit, back in the olden days when you were a little girl..."; so obviously 21 is old!


3. "new" can be new to the owner, even if it's not brand-new!


4. "borrowed" is something that doesn't actually belong to me although it is now in my possession


5. "blue" - something that is mostly blue or nearly blue; heck, this is a game - if I say it's blue, it's blue! LOL

So, here we go:

Oldest pattern
This is the oldest pattern I own, in the sense that it is the beginning of my pattern collection. It's the first full garment I ever knitted [mum did the v-neck and sleeve openings and sewed it together but who's counting?] Mine was aqua blue with white stripes and I was very proud of it. I still had it when I started teaching several years later - I wonder what became of it? I probably became tired of it and gave it to charity.

But the vest pattern isn't the oldest pattern in my possession, I borrowed this one from my MIL when I was pregnant with DD and it was bought for one of her children [WM is the eldest] so it is at least 43 years old.




Oldest book
I remember borrowing Kaffe Fassett's "Glorious Colour" from the local library many years ago and being stunned by what I saw. Here was someone who bent the rules [he even knots his yarns!!] - a far cry from my experience of one colour jumpers [except the striped 'Dolly' jumper I had as a teenager in the early seventies]. I had to own this book! I was inspired and even designed and knitted my own gloriously coloured jumper [I'll save that for another post]. In terms of publishing, this is the oldest hardcover book in my collection but it is not the book I've owned the longest.
That honour goes to this book. I bought this about 28 years ago when SIL#1 was pregnant with the first grandchild in the family. I knitted a lemon cardigan but it may have been too girly - it had lace panels as I recall! I certainly never saw nephew #1 in that cardigan. I still use this book occasionally - I knitted a cardigan from it in 2007-2008. This view shows the back cover - I scanned the wrong page!

Have to go - it's nearly 1:30pm and I haven't even finished one repeat! More 'old' tomorrow!

Something new [part 3]

Firstly, thanks to all those who dropped by and wished me well on the anniversary of my blog's existence. While I was 'redecorating', I considered changing my blog's name. I thought something simple like "Lynne Knits" but I also crochet and dye so that was too exclusive. I rather like "Life, the Yarniverse and Everything" or "Life in the Yarniverse" but there's a yarn store called Yarniverse and I don't think they'd appreciate it. Since I knit mostly for charity [although you'd never know it at the moment between the ungiven baby blanket and the wedding stole] I also considered "Knit to Give" but, again, I also have other yarn habits! Maybe that should be my blog name!!

Anyway, I've decided to leave it as it is for now - I feel I'm only just getting known in Blogland so now may not be the time to change!! Feel free to share your opinion - I really want to know what readers think.

Speaking of my blog, you have probably noticed that I have finally figured out how to put a photo on my blog header - one of my own hand-dyed yarns from last January, photo courtesy of WM. It was all in getting the 800x200 picture size!

Lastly, - the wedding stole* progresses - I'm now up to 28 repeats [the end of the centre panel is in sight, people].

*Somewhere along life's journey I have learnt shawl = triangular, stole is used for rectangular pieces so even though Jane Sowerby calls it 'Myrtle Leaf Shawl' my head keeps saying 'stole'.

I'm off to knit!

Something new [part 2]

It occurred to me after publishing my post yesterday that with a wedding rapidly approaching, I might continue with the theme I started: "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue."

Update on the wedding stole: I've fallen a little behind schedule but I'll try to make it up today; I've now done 23 repeats.

And the most exciting news that I only thought of in the wee hours of this morning: this blog is two years old today! Happy blogiversary to me!

Something new

My self confidence in knitting lace is slowly returning; I'm more than half way through the centre panel.

Instead of letting it get to me [which is easy when things are going well as they are now] I've decided to focus on other things I can do!

You'll remember that WM gave me this book for Christmas; on Boxing Day I managed - after four rip outs - to complete this. this was the first time I had followed a crochet pattern so I'm pretty happy with it as a first attempt. I'm not sure of its destiny yet - at the moment is a test swatch but it could become part of a panel in something larger.

There's more than one way to make lace!! LOL

Ssshhh!

It's coming along! [Knitpicks Harmony circulars included for scale]



Because I think readers are becoming bored with the one topic of conversation knitting around here I have posted a special progress report in the sidebar.

FO - a diversion

Here is the baby blanket I finished knitting some months ago. The photo is a bit dark but true to colour. Tomodachi [a.k.a. Tom] is snooping around in the right of the picture. I sewed in the ends of the blanket on 28th December during my avoidance-of-lace-but-finishing-other-things period. It was blocked last week and photos were finally taken today - mostly to distract readers from the boringness of that "other project"! Here's another photo taken by WM in the role of photographer with my 51yr old bear [Ted] and Tomodachi assisting!



Although I didn't strictly knit this during the Long Lacy Summer, I did finish it during that time. It qualifies as lace [having both yo's and K2tog.] so this blanket is my first contribution to LLS.

The pattern is Snow Berries Blanket from "Easy Afghans for Knitters". I knitted mine in Cleckheaton Fiddle De Dee [100% cotton] on 4.5mm [US size 7] needles. I used the 500g I bought on special at Australian Country Spinners' Mill Shop when I was in Wangaratta in July. This photo shows how much of the ten balls I have left - from the last ball which was not enough to do another circuit of the blanket and the leftovers of two other balls.

It's a pity this yarn is discontinued - it's lovely and soft, and knits up quickly.

I made it for my next-door neighbour who is expecting her first child in February. I love it so much I might keep it for my first grand-child and knit something else for the neighbour. Hopefully, NDN will have a girl because this is such a boy's blanket! [Just kidding - I really want to keep it!] DD says I'm rushing things a bit - they're not even married yet; besides I knitted it for NDN so I should give it to her. I don't agree. I knitted it - I can choose who the recipient should be, can't I?

For those of you still following that "other project" - I have completed 10 repeats; that's a quarter of the centre panel!

Some progress

Six repeats!

And then so tired I had to tink back several times - I think that means 'stop' for a while, don't you?

Psst...

...I've done three and a half repeats and I can't find any dropped stitches. I'm being extra careful with that K2 tog! I was tempted to turn it into SSK but have stuck with the pattern - why should I let lace get the better of me? And, no more TV [boo hoo - the tennis season is just starting]; it's talking books only for me - I won't be taking my eyes off that knitting for one single stitch!

Thanks to all who commented. I really appreciate your support. Perhaps if the stole was for me I'd have given up and knitted some easier pattern - one with a rest row on WS. But this is the one the Bride has chosen so this is the one she will have! Off to knit - truly, thank you all so much, your comments and support mean more than you know!

New Year, New old project

The lace stole continued apace on New Year's Day - I manged to complete four pattern repeats [total 48 rows]. I could see this project being finished on time.

Yesterday brought a whole new slant on the story. On New Year's Day I'd gotten cocky* - I waited 24 rows before inserting a lifeline. I knitted another six rows and whamo! I can't even remember now what happened, but I had to rip back to that lifeline! And guess what I discovered - lifelines don't always hold the stitches the way I knitted them - some of the K@ tog. had become two stitches. And when I tried to fix them [had to take the lifeline out to do so because it was understandably twisted in the stitches, I dropped some more stitches. I had to rip back to the previous lifeline 24 rows below [that's two pattern repeats folks!]

I heard that collective sigh but wait - there's more! Last night, having finally made up all the rows I'd lost, I looked down and, to my horror, found a huge hole just three inches from the start! At first, I thought the yarn must have broken but no, it was intact. It seems that sometimes have trouble with K2 tog. and one stitch doesn't get knit properly. Eventually, it drops and unravels - rows and rows! I was sitting looking at this enormous hole through tears, wondering if I could gather the errant stitches [now six from a secession of K2 tog.] with a crochet hook, re-knit them and secure them with a small sewn stitch when something caught my eyes - another gaping hole, another dropped K2 tog.!

Well, dear blogging friends, I tell you, I couldn't see any other way out - if it happened to those two stitches it could happen to any K2 tog. stitch and there are lots of them. It's for my daughter's wedding and I don't want a patched up mess! so, I did the only thing possible people - take a deep breath - I frogged the lot!!!

DD tried to talk me out of it - but I said I would do it and I've never been defeated a by knitting project yet! And I'm not about to start!!

Last night, at 10.30 I cast on a new old project - I am now six rows into the Myrtle Leaf shawl which I need to have completed and blocked in four weeks! I'm off to knit - if you don't hear from me for a while, I'm sure you know why!!

Happy "Long Lacy Summer" to everyone who's participating. See you in February!

*overly self-confident or self-assertive from Princeton Word Net Search

Living Creatively ezine

Many of you Australian bloggers have probably seen the Living Creatively website but I just discovered it on Wednesday [there was an article about Jodie from Ric Rac - one of my favourite blogs - in it].

There is also an article entitled Knitting Rocks - of course, we knitters have always known that. So many interesting articles but alas, no time to read, I have a lace shawl to finish by the end of the month!

PS If the name seems familiar to Sydney crafters, Living Creatively were at the August craft show at Rosehill Gardens. Here's a quote from their advertising:

NEW in 2008 is the inclusion of ‘Living Creatively’, an initiative for the promotion of all things creative, and partly owned by TV personality Kerri-Anne Kennerley.

a New Year - new goals

I have a major project underway - completing the Myrtle Leaf stole from Victorian Lace Today in time for DD's wedding on 31st January. Can I do it? If I knit at least four repeats of the pattern every day it is possible. That's my first goal for 2009. Beyond that, there are some things that I really want to do:

• knit a scarf with the lace weight silk Sally gave me
• knit socks from the yarn I bought for myself - at least four pairs worth
• finish the summer cardigan I started oh-so-long-ago

Other 'maybe I'll try that one day' things are in the queue on my side bar.