KnittingNatty

Friday, washday

I was hanging out the washing recently and fell to contemplating the collection of handmade socks that were all lined up in a row:

It struck me that they were a lovely assortment of gifts for the Hubster, surprise socks, some made in response to requests from the kids with them hand selecting the colours they were after; patterns written by friends and knitted up by me; yarns bought by me for special occasions; even the plainest of socks reminds me of a dear girl (and now mother of 3) who taught me to knit in Germany many years ago... It was good to take the time to admire what is the achievement of one of my knitting goals - to clothe my family in woolly goodness and warm them from the inside out with love as well as  wool.

Hanging  out the washing and knitting of socks are similarly humble activities - both serve a necessary but ultimately non-lasting function. Washing gets worn and requires re-washing in such a short space of time. The washing is never all done. Socks are made to get dirty and worn out and ultimately thrown out.

Now, to the other side of the sock equation, a picture of some of my sock wool stash for your viewing pleasure:

Reversible cable shawl update

This is now 20 percent complete (one skein down, 4 to go!), and it is looking lovely. Would you not agree?

I got tired of knitting for everyone else, and thought dammit, it must be my turn, non?

Holiday retreat - a snapshot (or two)

We're back from our family holiday, which was really well appreciated by everyone and lets just say a little overdue for some of us.  We went to the usual place in the bush which is secluded, no phone, no tv, no radio, no mobile reception, no internets; just perfect! We cooked porridge for breakfast, warming soups for lunch and good hearty food for dinner each night, accompanied by a little red wine, to ward off the cold, of course ;) We did some bushwalking, snoozing, played board games, that kind of thing.

It was not exactly freezing, but at least we all got to wear our winter woolies!
 I took knitting, and lots of it. Of course, I took more than I could possibly knit and still be responsible for the supervision of small children, and some of my estimates of what was possible were  based on sitting up late into the night just to get extra knitting done, but this did not eventuate, as catching up on sleep proved to be more important on the day.  And not just for me, it seems.

I got to read my new book, Buddism for Mothers (recommended reading), using the bookseat. This next picture is pretty typical of what the first 2 or so days looked like:







And, what about the knitting, you say? Well, I got roped into making some socks for the kids. I always tell myself that "socks don't take much time". Note to self - socks do so take time! Last week, DS Ian was allowed to wear "odd or unusual socks" to school, and well that brought out the first request. Except to make an odd pair, requires the eventual knitting of 2 whole pairs. And what is good for one child is also good for his or her sibling. They chose the colours themselves. Sigh.

The Fo' s for the family knitting retreat are:

• Noro st st socks

 
These socks are purposely non matching, and the wool was a lovely and unexpected present from Donna. I cut out the yellow colour on the first sock and put in an afterthought heel. By using an afterthought heel, and by leaving the yellow in, the socks (would have) had a reasonable chance of matching. These socks are cast on over 60 stitches and the foot is not overly long.

The yarn does catch on itself, which can lead to lots of unnecessary tangling. I countered this by not pulling very much out of the skein at one time (makes sense, right?), and by pulling on any tangles from the skein end of the yarn. This helped a lot. I have a reasonable amount of yarn left.

• TOFUtsies socks

These are the socks for Ian's odd sock day at school. They have been on a few bushwalking adventures, and somehow missed the washing machine this morning, and are presented for your viewing pleasure in all their red mud glory.

These socks are cast on over 50 sts.






 

• Caitlyns purple socks

These are the "what about me?" sibling socks. Purple Opal sock wool from stash. Cast on over 50 stitches as well. Call it insurance for next year's odd sock day. (Can I just whine for a moment? My socks are only cast on over 60 stitches! Whinge over!)

• Caitlyns yellow socks

Same as for the purple sock, above. Except mercifully without partner for the moment. I could take no more of the stocking stitch fest that was our family knitting retreat. I am so over  stocking stitch!

• Noro coffee pot cozy

This is a bit of a cheat - all the knitting, and felting has been done for some time, it just needed some sewing up.The yarn is the left over Silk Garden from my Clapotis. I added blanket stitch in Dream no Colour Smooshy "Strange Harvest". I cut the size piece I needed without fear or favour - the pot has no real need of further insulation, having a double wall already. But this coffee pot is something I use absolutely everyday (yes, it comes on holidays with us), and I liked the idea, having been inspired by 2007's tea cozy swap (but being too busy to play at that time).




I am still on holidays today and tomorrow, and looking forward to some more knitting time. Yay for holidays!

Oh, one last thing - family portrait time!

On being slack... again ...

This is going to be a quick post. We are going on a well deserved family break for just over a week.

We will return.

There has already been knitting to report. I have cast on even more stuff.

There is lots more knitting packed in my envirosak (Donna, I had to go back and get another one of my own!)
There have been yarn purchases. Frivolity. And a book seat!

I have a couple of artsy photos planned.
And the deposit has been paid on a knitting retreat!

See you next Thursday!

Quickie

Noro sock:

Monkey sock (best colour representation):

Monkey back side - pretty pretty stocking stitch!

And introducing - baby monkey!

I'm lovin' the monkey!

First repeat of many, no doubt

The lighting for this photo is dreadful, but I wanted to show you some progress made over the weekend. The yarn is Artyarns Silk Mohair Col #418, bought locally.

There is some striping of the colour which I am just going to have to live with. There are worse fates! And  the yarn is delightful - soft, lofty but very strong (that'll be the silk talking). The cable on the left gives you a better indication of how it will look when more of it is knitted up and blocked.

I doubt that this will make a good blogging project (lace sucks that way), but all the same, I will try and capture a better photograph soon for your viewing pleasure.

A good long weekend was had by all, peaceful and relaxing - batteries all recharged and ready for the week ahead. As a family, we are about to embark on a money saving exercise (analysis of bank fees and products, phone accounts, that sort of thing) Don't worry, as is evidenced by the above, the yarn budget is not yet (thankfully) under threat. Although when I was explaining to the Hubster about what Ravelry can do (eg tell you how many yards of yarn you have) he added without skipping a beat "Does it tell you how many years it is going to take you to knit it up?".

Phhhhhhht. Harsh but probably fair.

So, what's new

Yesterday, I finished the body of the thick and thin cardi coat (ravelry link)

I am none to  sure about the ribbing at the bottom of the garment, and am going to opt for the sleeves whist I make up my mind. This project has languished since the initial enthusiasm, and when I picked it up, I remembered why - too many stitches, and only a short needle. The yarn is so big that my usual method of throwing does not hold up. Anyways, at least it is quick, right?

I have also cast on the reversible cabled shawl which is a Lily Chin pattern published in Vogue some time ago. (Rav link here). It is going to take a lot of time to knit up - I bought a kilometer of yarn for it, hoping that will be sufficient. It's a shawl, right? So past a certain point, I'm sure it will be okay. I will beg a little more time before posting a picture for youse all to see. The WIP is not yet really photoworthy.

I have also cast on the sleeves for the Hubster's  winter pullover. Again, its not really worth a photo - although the Hubster's face when it is all finished will be a joy to behold!

After the Hubbie's pullover is done, I will be knitting up some more cardigans just for me!

Stash knit down 2008

I have calculated the totals for DS's jumper; DD's cardi and the Hubster's pullover for the April challenge, and it has come out at just a smidge over 2.5 klms. There is a bit of knitting for March included in here, but not a great deal.

So it must be time for an updated photo of the Hubster's pullover:

This is the front, the back is already completed, and there's not much to go to the cast off, and then its off to sleeve island we go!

I'm itching to start something else for me, but I must also finish the thick and thin cardi first!

Anzac Day, a little late

DS Ian marched with his school

DD Caitlyn wanted to walk with big brother ...

We have had a busy and therefore tiring weekend. I am up to the armhole shaping of the Hubster's jumper, and I have to hurry as he is complaining that he is the only one without a new jumper this season... To which I reply to him, if that's the most you have to complain about, then your life is going along quite nicely.

Which it is, except I have to go and pull the kids apart. The fighting today has been terrible. Sigh ...
I am going to take them out somewhere so at least the house will stay clean and they will be properly tuckered out for bed time tonight. (The other recent battlefield of the Wills.)

WIPS in pics - Sunday edition

When we bought this house, it was full of old fashioned blinds. So, once again, I find myself making curtains:

The fabric is proper curtain material, a sunblock fabric with the pattern printed directly on - no more rubber backing to stick in the wash!

and it is as soft as it looks (but a bit delicate for pins...)

Onto knitting, I have started some more plain socks with the Noro that Donna sent me for my birthday!

And the Hubster's jumper (the Anniversary pullover) continues apace. This is the front, and makes for good tv knitting. Steady, steady...