I got mail!

All that is for this.

I saw Monica’s and thought that it would be a pretty good way to start Fair Isle. There’s only 14 colours. Yes, 14. 🙂
Monica offered to get the kit for me, but then she told me about the Shetland Wool Brokers, and the price was similar, but I got full balls from there. Thanks, Monica!
Only trouble is that they were out of colour 135, so I’m waiting for that ball – and of course, that’s needed in row 10. Have I mentioned that I know nothing about Fair Isle?
Finished baby clothes!

Baby Boy’s cardi and hat set.

First cardi for baby girl. I started this one way back, and all I had left was the bands. I’m not happy with the button placement, but I’ll leave it, or I’ll never stop fussing with it. Besides, I’m also knitting her this.

It’s a Cleckheaton pattern, from the same book as the blue outfit. I’m changing it a little, though. It calls for crochet around the edges, and I can’t crochet. So I’m just doing garter bands. I’ve got some mauve 4ply stashed, so I’m using that. I like lacy babies 🙂

The tiara didn’t stay there for long, but I proudly present Princess Twinkie!

My freakin’ car is playing up again and is in the shop. I tried to start it this morning, to go out and run errands, and I heard this horrible whining noise. It wasn’t Em, she’d already left for school 😉
So off I go to the mechanics. Turns out it’s the alternator. And they need to get the replacement in from another state, it’s not repairable. And it’ll cost almost $500. Oh, and the left c/v shaft is gone, and it’s long overdue for a service. I’m expecting a $1000 bill. As if I have that kind of money just laying about.
Of course, there’s a craft and quilt fair on this weekend that I wanted to attend. And really shouldn’t, because the money is needed elsewhere. Sigh. Grumble.
Of course, none of the errands were run, instead I had to walk home from the mechanics, arrange to borrow my sisters car for an hour to pick Em up from school and get her to dancing, arrange for someone else to pick her up from dancing. And I am the laziest soul alive when it comes to exercise, and I had to walk home from the mechanics (20 minutes), to my sister’s place of work (40 minutes) and home from the shopping centre (another 20 minutes).
Now I find out that I’ll be carless until Wednesday at the earliest. At least I should get some knitting done!
So I have to try to save money. Am I the only one who instantly wants to race out and shop when that happens? 😉

Mad baby knitting is happening all of a sudden 🙂
I have a friend whose baby was due last week, and DH’s cousin’s wife was due in around 2 weeks.
My friend had a baby boy on Tuesday, and the newest addition to DH’s family tree arrivd yesterday, a baby girl.

I started this yesterday morning, it’s now 8pm Saturday, so I’m making good time. This is the same cardigan that I made earlier in th eyear for another baby boy. I like this pattern 🙂
It knits up quick, and I love the little stripes – badly in need of a blocking, as you can see. Still thinking about what to knit for DH’s cousin’s baby. I have the garter stitch cardigan from Simple Knits for Cherished Babies that I started earlier this year. It just needs bands, and I bought a ball of pink yarn today to do that, but I think I will knit her a lacy cardi too.
Everything else is on the back burner now until these are done!

It’s cold here today! Well, cold in Sydney terms, anyway 🙂
I was hanging the washing out this morning, and my fingers were going numb! The sun is out now, and it’s warming up a bit, but winter is definitely here.
I finished Em’s gloves, but I can’t show you, because she wore them. Looks like I got them done just in time 🙂
Look what arrived in Tuesday’s mail!

My Lorna’s Laces order from Lisa. Two skeins each of Hawaii, Girly Stripe and River. Yum!
I started Branching out, too. It gave me some grief, becuase I couldn’t decide what yarn to use. Originally, I had planned to use some Bendigo Wool Mills 2ply wool that I have in a pretty pink shade, but it was just too fine. I have some nice pink beads that look lovely with it, and I had planned to put a bead in the centre of each leaf, but to get it too look the way I wanted, I had to go down to around a 3mm needle, and the scarf was too narrow. So, that plan has been shelved, and I think I may try to design a scarf myself for that yarn and the beads.
Then I remembered that I have some Anny Blatt Fine Kid stashed.
I bought this over a year ago, and couldn’t decide what to do with it. I’ve just kept it for petting so far 😉

The colour is “Iris”, and it is 51% wool and 49% Kid Mohair. I’m liking this 🙂

I’m knitting it on my 4mm Lisa G needles. I usually use circular needles, but for scarves and lace, I like these needles. And they’re pretty!
You choose your ends, and pick the colour of the needle and end. These are my 4mm ones.

I have other sizes, with sparkly things on the ends too 🙂
Twinkie always comes outside with me when I hang out the washing. I have a decrepit old table out there that I sit the basket on, and Twinkie has claimed under the table as her own. She has dug up the dirt to her liking, and likes to sit in the dirt to watch me hang the clothes. This morning she decided to have a roll in the dirt.

Lucky it’s dry dirt that I can brush off, because I don’t think she’d like a bath 🙂

Haven’t I been slack in posting lately? I used to post every single day. Unfortunately, I’ve been busy doing things other than knitting, and nothing interesting enough to post about. Unless, of course, you all want to listen to me whine about the state of the house, and all the housework I’ve been doing 😉
Giraffe is still not finished. I’m afraid she’s been neglected.

As you can see, I’ve started the neckband. I think my fears of running out of yarn are groundless. I still have this much yarn.

I don’t want the neck to be as long as the original anyway, so I think I have plenty of yarn.
I have also been knitting Em some gloves. We head out for her to catch her bus at 7.30am, and it’s been getting pretty cold in the mornings. Because she is at the Catholic school, they insist that full school uniform should be worn at all times. Yes, even on the bus on the way to school. Any extras, such as scarves and gloves must be in the school navy blue.
She managed to convince my mum to knit her a navy blue “feathers” scarf, but she wanted matching gloves. My mother insists that gloves are too hard for her, so I got that job.(She did try, but she can’t follow a pattern, and the final product gave everyone a giggle. I should have taken a picture 😉
So I got the job of the gloves. None of the local discount stores had Navy blue feathers this year, so I had to go to Spotlight, and of course the Navy blue was only available in the dearest brand they had. So her gloves are having “Feathers” cuffs, but the rest is done in Cleckheaton Country.

She loves them. I knit the cuff and forgot to count rows as I went. Now I can’t see the rows clearly enough to count them for the second glove. Anyway, that’s what I’ve been working on.
I also joined the Summer of Lace knitalong.
Mind you, it’ll be a Winter of Lace for me. Still considering exactly what to knit. I bought some Peruvian Baby Cashmere from Elann a little while back with the intention of knitting some lacy gloves for me, maybe I’ll do those. I’m also planning on knitting “Branchin Out” at some point, and I have the pattern and yarn for “Faina’s Scarf” too. I’ve also been planning on going through my stich libraries and maybe designing my own lace scarf. I’ve had a”A Gathering of Lace” on my Amazon wishlist for a while, maybe I’ll buy that for myself, and get even more ideas. 🙂
Em fed Twinkie her breakfast this morning. She doesn’t move as quickly as I do, and Twink got impatient.

The comic relief that this rabbit provides is priceless.