Em’s pyjama’s are done 🙂

I’m assuming she likes them – I finished them at around 2pm yesterday, she tried them on, and then didn’t take them off for the rest of the day. 🙂
Here is the Lizzie McGuire pyjama pattern she wanted.

I don’t think I did too badly – take *that* Lizzie McGuire 😉
I really need to move onto something different – I think we have enough pyjamas now 🙂
Still little knitting done. I’m around halfway through Clapotis. If anyone is interested, I reduced the width, simply because I knew I wouldn’t wear it as bulky as it was. I’m working on 82 stitches, and it’s around 35cm or 14 inches wide. It’s also made in pure wool, so it had a bit of bulk too it. It also just doesn’t get cold enough here to warrant the full width.
Still haven’t decided what to start next. I think I’m in sewing mode right now – knitting inspiration isn’t coming!
Here’s Twinky hopping out of her bed 🙂

Hmm.. maybe she needs pyjamas 😉

Hardly any knitting done this weekend – I’m still on the pyjama kick!
We went to Spotlight again yesterday so that the Empress would pick out a summer pyjama pattern. When we got there, it turned out that they had all of their sewing patterns on sale for half price, so I told Em to pick out a few patterns.
Simplicity has Lizzie McGuire patterns. Emily went mad, picking all sorts out. I restricted her to four or five, we went to the counter, stood in line for ages, got to the front.. you can see where this is going, can’t you?
Lizzie McGuire patterns are not available outside the US. She was mightily disappointed to say the least. We went back to the Simplicity book, and sure enough, in tiny letters at the bottom of the page it says “Not available outside the US” Scumbuckets.
I hate that. In most of the pattern books it happens. The dress up costumes especially. So I came home, checked out eBay – the only Lizzie McGuire ones there are toddler sizes, scarves, or too big. (What’s with an 8 1/2 being bigger than a size 12??)
I convinced her to pick another pyjama pattern, so I’ve cut it out, and I guess I’ll sew that up today. I like to make her clothes – that way we can usually reach a compromise on the skirt lengths (not too short), where the pants sit (Not too low!), that sort of thing. Honestly, half the clothes in the shops will not be worn by my child. Not while I have a say in it, anyway!

My Pink Beads sock is on the front page of the Yahoo group for the Six Sox Knitalong.
Yes, I’m easily thrilled 😉
So, right now I’m working on Clapotis and the second sock in a pair for Emily. However, I’m getting itchy fingers and hitting the “What should I do next?” phase.
Here is the current progress on Clapotis.

I have many projects in the wings, but the current frontrunners are the Ribby Cardi, or the pink star sweater from Vogue Teen Knits. The pink star sweater (for Em!) is made with Lion Brand Imagine, which I had not seen, so it was difficult to substitute, but I got some Imagine off eBay. In the book, there are metal studs in a star shape on the front, but I have some white Imagine, so I may do an Intarsia star instead.
Hmmmm… decisions, decisions!

I’ve decided to start writing my blog entries in the morning, Sydney time. If I update in the evening, the server my blog is on chunks up, and it takes forever to upload pictures and the entry. We’ll see how long it lasts, because it just doesn’t feel right 🙂
I finished the Pink Bead Socks!

I’m pleased with them 🙂 I also think I could’ve gotten them out of a single skein of Lorna’s Laces. However, there are plenty of leftovers, and the Empress has decided she wants a pair too.
I also got all my sewing done. I have managed 4 pairs of pyjamas this week, and an additional pair of pants. I also made myself a new knitting bag.

Polar Bears!! I won an eBay auction for a polar bear cushion panel, and recieved this strip of fabric also. I couldn’t quite decide what to do with it, then inspiration hit 🙂 I modelled it after my absolute favourite knitting bag from Lisa G.
Heres a close up of the bears 🙂

I love it 🙂
Well, the uploading of pictures was way quicker this morning!

Today I took my Mum out to our local Spotlight store. I think it’s somewhat similar to Hobby Lobby or Jo-Anns in the US.
Every January, Spotlight tosses all the discontinued yarns into a sale rack for $2 a ball. We’d been out there on the weekend, and I noticed a lot of Mum’s favourites were on sale. Now taking my Mum shopping is never an easy task. She’s on a pension, and generally has cash flow problems. So I called her yesterday and asked “Wanna go to Spotlight?” and of course she says “Maybe later in the month, I’m a bit broke” Fine, but later in the month there’ll be no yarn left in the sale bin. So I offer to loan her money, she says no. (No point offering to give her money, she’ll refuse, so I just never call in the debt) Finally I convince her to come out just for a drive.
We get there, and they have Angora Supreme for $2 a ball. I paid $7 a ball less than six months ago for the damn stuff. I show her, and she says “I don’t like that boring plain stuff!” and heads straight for the fun fur.
I convinced her to borrow 😉 some money from me, and she finally left the store with a bag full of fluffy acrylicy scarfy stuff. Sigh. She’s more than happy to knit fluffy scarves and little else, although she has branched out into fluffy baby sweaters and jackets. I gave her my stash of fluffy stuff a few months back, and she was in heaven, and couldn’t believe I didn’t want it. 🙂 She’s knitting these scarves to try to make some money, and to try to quit smoking. It makes her happy.
However, I carried around a bag of Angora Supreme the whole time, and then I put it back before we left the store. My guilt got the better of me. Here is my poor mother struggling to buy fluff, and I have enough yarn to outfit her forever, even if she doesn’t want it! I played with my stash when I got home instead. I am in awe of what I have collected 🙂
I have yarn planned for 12 sweater projects, 3 scarves, 25 or so pairs of socks, 6 tanks, 3 pairs of gloves, 3 hats, 2 ponchos and 4 miscellaneous projects. I also have 23 lots of unallocated yarn.
I’m glad I put that yarn back.