First front of the lacy edge cardi is nearly done.

Usually, I knit both fronts together, but the wording of the shaping wasn’t making any sense to me, so I’ll do them one at a time. I’ve not felt very motivated in the past few days, so I haven’t got as much done as I should.
I’ve just not felt myself for the past day or so, so I’ll be laying low for a few days. I’m okay, it’s nothing that won’t pass in a couple of days.

Where do the days go?
Em and I went to the Stitches and Craft show today. If you like scrapbooking or quilting, it was great, but not so great for yarn. There was some nice stuff available, but on the whole, I was underwhelmed. I bought a few nice beads for Em’s tutu, some sewing machine bobbins, a couple of patterns and some fabric, but that was all. Yes, I even come home with no yarn. I think DH was even more surprised than I.
There was not much available in the way of yarn at all. Ecoyarns had some nice Bamboo and Soysilk yarns, and Ashford Australia were there, but nothing called out to me. I nearly bought some Opal Cotton, but I resisted temptation. We met up with Donni, Ailsa and Donni’s mum for lunch, and all in all it was a good day out.
Speaking of sock yarn, I took part in Beth’s Unloved Sock Yarn Swap. None of my sock yarn is unloved, but it was a fun swap. I sent some of my sock yarn to Helen, and yesterday, I recieved this cascade fixation from Christy.

Thank you, Christy! I haven’t used Fixation before, although there is some of the Elann version aging gracefully in the Stash.
Knitting? Yes, I have been.

The back of the Zhivgo cardi is done. It has a decidely apricot cast in this pic (on my monitor, anyway), but it’s definitely pink. It’s a nice easy knit, but I think I’ll be glad to get to the lace edging.
Hey, remind me of that when I’m whining about how long the edging is taking! 😉

I hope everybody had a nice Valentines day!
Look what DH gave to me.

A tiny Polar Bear and a bunny in a bottle! For scale, here is the Polar Bear beside a row counter.

They’re gorgeous! And I had a most excellent mail day, too!
The Zhivago that Carol snagged for me arrived.

Only nine balls, because the tenth is already busy becoming the ruffly cardi.

Something appears to have happened to my knitting. I have always had to go down a needle size to get gauge. On the last 2 or 3 projects, I have gotten gauge with the needle size suggested in the pattern. What is with that? And more importantly, are the Gauge Gods laughing at me, just messing with my head? As soon as I assume that I’ll get gauge with the suggested needle size, it will change again, won’t it?
The pattern for the cardi is from a Patons Australia pattern leaflet, called “Zhivago Summer Knits”. It’s a fairly new pattern leaflet, released in the last year or so, and nearly all the garments are knitted in the new variegated shades, which they’ve already discontinued. Good going, guys!
There are other shades of Zhivago available, but I like these nice bright colours.
Knitting on the main part of the Mystery project is done, but I can’t show you until May. Sorry 🙂
And the postman brought me another great letter. The Stitches and Craft show is in Sydney this week, and I entered a competition in the local paper to win tickets, then promptly forgot all about it. Then yesterday, I couldn’t figure out why the local paper would be sending me a letter.

I won a double pass, yay! There’s not usually a great deal of knitting stuff available, (it’s definitely not Stitches West or Rhinebeck!) it’s usually more scrapbooking/patchwork type of stuff, but a free double pass is a free double pass! And it’s probably a good thing for my wallet and the stash if there isn’t too much yarn about!

It’s done!

Once again, it’s a picture of my trying not laugh, and telling the DH to just get on with it and take the picture already. Am I happy with it? I guess so.
I had a few issues with it. The pattern is from Family Circle Easy Knitting, Spring/Summer 2005. It’s knit in Cotton Ease, which I won in a competition from Lynette a while back. Thanks, Lynette! However, the pattern called for 9 balls, so I hunted some some more until I had enough.
It only took 5 balls.
I quite liked the Cotton Ease to knit with, though. The pattern told me to get a 20″ zip, so I did. I need more like a 26″. When I looked at the schematic, the front measures 22 3/4″ without the 4″ collar. (Which I knit to 5″) There was no way that zip was going to fit. So right now, it has no zip. I probably wouldn’t use it anyway, so I’m not too worried.
Overall, I like it, but it’s over 30C today, and it was hot to try it on! The collar hasn’t been blocked, and it needs it, to avoid the shrinky collar syndrome Evelyn mentioned in the comments a few days ago. The sleeves are a little long, but not so long that I’m willing to rip it!
I’m sure it will get plenty of wear when the temperature starts to fall.
Whats next?
This.

I’ve been waffling about knitting it, I really like it, but I have too much yarn to justify buying more for another project. I wanted the pink variegated Zhivago. Patons have discontinued it, but Carol spotted it in her local Spotlight on clearance and managed to snag a bag for me. There’s my justification! So, it’s on it’s way to me. Zhivago is a Tencel/acrylic blend. (See, I’m not totally averse to acrylics!) I’ve only used it for small projects (gloves and a hat for DH), but I liked it. It did have a tendency to fuzz up, though.
Still behind on my sewing, and that’s what I should be working on until the Zhivago arrives, but we’ll see.

Sorry, the Cotton Ease cardi isn’t done yet.
Mrs Stripey went to San Fransisco a few weeks ago, and let us know in advance, so that if we wanted anything, she could get it for us. So I placed an order for the Knit Picks Palette Sampler, and she picked it up and brought it back to Oz for me. I don’t really know what I was expecting, but yesterday I met up ith Mrs Stripey and her two and a half adorable tiger cubs for morning tea, and to collect my yarn.
Wow! Here in Australia, most of our 4ply (fingering) yarns are baby yarns, and come in 25g balls. Maybe that’s what I thought I was getting. Not quite.

I think I’ll be able to make a dolly or two out of that!! I have nowhere to put this yarn. But it’s so nice to look at. And I love the way they pack the bag so that all the colour groups are shaded, with the neutrals down one side.

I haven’t actually pulled it out yet, but I had a little feel, and it’s softer than I expected. I thought it’d be scratchy, but it isn’t. I’m tempted to cast on for a Knitted Babe, but I have to finish a few things first.
For Sandy, who tagged me, here is my knitting spot.

That’s my seat, as you can see by the various books, yarn and stuff laying about. We need a new lounge suite!
And here’s the view from my seat.

Twinkie thinks she has a better seat!