I got a parcel today. I love parcels 🙂
My friend Jill sent me my beloved magazines.

And other goodies, too 🙂 Sockotta sock yarn, and a gorgeous beaded sock pattern from Heartstrings. How lucky am I?
A few people have asked about the inside of the Fair Isle hat. Isn’t that like asking a lady her age or her weight? 😉
Oh, okay.

Isn’t it lovely? All neat and tidy. Why yes, I’m quite proud, thank you! Oh, you wanted to see the ends. Hmph.

There’s all the ends. I don’t even know if that’s how it is supposed to be done, but it’s working for me 🙂
A few more rows have been done. I’m now on row 55.
I don’t know about the rest of the world, but here in Australia (well, NSW at least), if you have a gambling problem you can be banned from the Casino.
I think I need an eBay ban.
Our latest eBay obsession is Trixie Belden books. Did anyone else read those when they were a kid? Em loves to read, and she reads quickly. She finished Harry Potter on Wednesday night. She is always asking for new books to read, so one day I was in the second hand bookstore and spotted a Trixie Belden book, so I grabbed it for her. She loved it. How much?

She doesn’t usually cuddle Trixie close, but this was how we found her last night 🙂 I’ve managed to get all but 7 books from the series off eBay so far. 2 more of them will be easy to find, but the last 5 that were printed must have been in short supply, becuase they are being sold for exorbitant amounts of money.
I nearly lost Twinkie yesterday. Couldn’t find her anywhere, and was running around the house and yard calling her. Finally, she let me see where she was hiding.

New computers, fun for all the family 🙂

Where do the days go?
Under Em’s bed.
We have a running joke in the family, concerning the state of Emily’s bedroom. Anything that can’t be found is probably located under Em’s bed. That’s now applied to places, people, anything at all. “Where is Timbuktu?” “Under Em’s bed”
So I’m assuming that all the days I seem to have misplaced must be under there too.
Knitting content? Okay. 🙂

The STYK Lacy toddler cardi is done. I love it, love the yarn, love the pattern. The recipient is currently overseas on holiday, so I can’t mail it off to her just yet, but I’m sure she’ll look adorable in it 🙂
The pattern is from STYK, and the yarn is Filatura Di Crosa “Zara” which I also got from Janette. I’m sure I’ll make this again, if there’s another female toddler about.
The Fair Isle hat progresses slowly. I’m now up to row 43.

I’ve slowed down a bit, I’m not knitting so obsessively on it, but it’s not been cast aside yet, either 🙂
I also restarted the cropped cardi.

I’m working it in one piece to the underarms. It’s based on a raglan cardi from Ann Budd’s “Knitters Handy Book of Sweater Patterns”. Slow going, with 200 stitches on the needle, but it’s nice mindless, in front of tv knitting.
It’s been quite cold the past couple of days, but today has been warmer, and the sun has been out. Twinkie is making the most of it.

Hope your day is nice, too!

What we did on our weekend, a short photo essay.

Yes, that’s the bolero. I had almost finished the back, then I took a good look at it. My row gauge was off, So it was longer than it should have been, and I tend to be short waisted anyway, so it wasn’t going to be a cropped cardi. To shorten it, I would have had to rework the collar shaping in the front, and I’m just not that mathematically minded, I’m afraid. So I think I’ll whip out my “Knitter’s Handy Book of Sweater Patterns” and see what I can come up with.
The hat progresses slowly, currently up to Row 38. Branching out also progresses slowly, I’ve done 16 repeats.
I’m swapping a bit between projects. A few rows of Fair Isle, a few rows of lace, a bit of stocking stitch. Variety is the spice of life 🙂

Quick blog, not sure when I’ll get my computer back.
It’s 9.15am local time, and we’re heading out to pick up Harry Potter 6 and some computer bits.
My computer, which regularly has new bits shoved into it, is overdue for another upgrade, as we got Sims 2 a while back, but my computer won’t run it.
So, today I’m getting a new graphics card and more memory. This would normally make me giddy with happiness, however, now that Em has discovered the Sims, it really means that I won’t be able to get near the computer. They have been fighting over who reads HP first (yes, I mean DH and Em), but the deal they have brokered is that DH can read it if he installs the bits into my computer so she can play Sims 2. Not quite sure where that leaves me! 😉
So this is probably the only chance I’ll have to blog.
I thought I’d show you all Giraffe, which was finished a while back, and worn last weekend.

Sorry, bad head day. I don’t know if I like it or not. I htink it makes me look larger. Dh and Em both like it, I’m not so sure.
Only a few rows done on the hat last night, I’m now up to Row 30. No doubt I’ll get more done today, while I am computer deprived. 🙂

Okay, I’ve done very little apart from knit on the Fair Isle hat all day, and once again, I’m making progress.
Here is a silly looking self portrait, modelling the hat.

Em has a friend sleeping over, so they have been amusing themselves on The Sims all day, using cheats to get huge amounts of money and building gargantuan houses, leaving me to knit and knit. Janet mentioned yesterday how slooow Fair Isle is. I know the feeling – I knit for hours last night and today, and I’m only up to Row 25. It might be finished for Christmas – that would be a good thing, as I’m thinking about giving it to DH’s sister, who likes unusual hats, and would probably wear it far more than I. 🙂
Is anyone a member of a knitting guild? Particularly the Knitter’s Guild of NSW? As i have mentioned before, I don’t know any “real” knitters close by me. There is certainly no local Knitting group or anything like that. The Knitter’s Guild does have a meeting 20 minutes or so away, though. However, I don’t want to join up if it’s going to be just a bunch of crotchety old ladies like my Grandma, who taught me how to knit. I have nothing against older people, I’m talking about the crotchety old ladies who insist that things be done a certain way, blah, blah, blah. My grandma insisted that I do things her way, when she taught me to knit. She would cast on and make me do garter stitch. I got sick of that, found a book and taught myself. She then told me I was doing things “wrong”. I don’t want to go to a group if that’s what it would be like. I’m certainly not intending to offend anyone!
At the recent craft fair, I approached the Guild table, which was attended by 3 older ladies, who acted as if I couldn’t possibly know my way around a knitting needle. I picked up the “Australian Afghan” book to look, and one lady said “That’s got patterns in it to make a patterned blanket. It’s quite difficult” and she indicated the afghan hanging behind her. I put the book down and walked away. Well, as the cover of the book had the afghan on it, I had figured that out! Yes, it was an intarsia afghan, but the way she said it was as if I was a child, touching the grown-ups things. Hello, lady, I can knit!
I’m often not very good around new people, so I’m a bit iffy about going to the Guild meeting. But it would be nice to talk to someone who knits something other than novelty scarves!