October 2, and stuffed already!
Well, exhausted, anyway. It’s school holidays (yes, again) and I’d promised Emily a day out in the city, shopping. So today was the day. I sweetened the deal for myself by meeting the ever lovely Rose Red, and having a coffee and a knit first, which was great fun!
I’m being a knitblogging socialite this week, SnB on Saturday, Knitting on Tuesday night, coffee with RR today. On Saturday we’re heading to Canberra for a day trip, to see Floriade and catch up with friends. (And coffee with knitters!)
Anyway, EM dragged me all over the city, and I’m exhausted. And my feet hurt. But she got to spend all her money on geegaws and doodads, so she’s happy. But alas, I was too tired to even knit on the train on the way home. Lucky for that coffee this morning! (And at the Lindt cafe, no less!)

So today I saw on both Bells and Jess’ blog that they’re participating in Blogtoberfest hosted by BigCat.
I’m going to give it a go, but I can’t make any promises. Way back when, I did used to post every day, but I have no idea what about, my life just isn’t that interesting!
Thank you for all your supportive comments about the evil, thoughtless woman I mentioned in my last post, and a huge thank you to everyone who offered to send on a Knit Picks order for me! I have someone lined up, but I may call on someone else next time, now that I know there are so many helpful people out there!!
I started something new today! Inspired by a friend, I’ve finally pulled out my Evie kit from Kim Hargreaves. I purchased it as a kit some time ago, but it’s not available in that format any more, only in her new book, Thrown Together. (Which I don’t have yet, but it’s on my Christmas List. Are you listening, dear? Bookmarking?)
The cardi is knit in RYC Cashsoft 4 ply, which is just heavenly to touch! But. Yes, 4ply. Fingering weight. Sock Yarn size. I may be working on this one for quite some time!!

Not-so-huge progress was or was not made today!
And something else I noticed as I changed the calendar over today.

Polar Bear, relaxing.

Twinkie, relaxing in the aftermath of a hay cube.
Am I the only one who can see a similarity here?

Quick updates!
I finished the cardi this morning (Monday), after starting it on Thursday. If I could finish all my projects this quickly, I wouldn’t have a stash! Here it is, unblocked.

It would actually have been quicker, but I had a hectic weekend. SnB was Saturday afternoon, and Em had a dance comp on Sunday. Both of which I always think will give me plenty of knitting time, but both of which fail me every time.
I had an unpleasant experience at SnB. I was talking about Twinkie to a friend, and she was asking if Twinkie had Angora in her. I explained that we didn’t really know, but that she’d been sold to us as a dwarf rabbit, but at 5kg, she obviously wasn’t a dwarf.
Someone I don’t even know, who wasn’t even involved in the conversation butted in with “That’s eatin’ weight!” and smacked her lips at me.
I was dumbfounded. I just grabbed my stuff and moved to the other end of the room where I fumed for a little while. Shelley, if you’re reading, I’m sorry I walked away mid-conversation, but I was angry. Would a person talk about eating someone’s pet cat or dog?!? Of course not, so why is it acceptable to tell me you’d like to eat my pet bunny?
Simply, it’s not. It’s rude, and it’s enough to piss me off badly, and have me never, ever talk to you again.
In other (happier) musings, I’d like to ask a favour of a friendly US knitter. Knitpicks for whatever reason, refuses to ship to Australia. The cite reasons such as mail unreliability, but we all know that’s crap. Personally, I’m thinking it’s laziness, but whatever.
I’m in love with Autumn Rose. I want the kit in that colourway, and the pattern book. When I discussed it with Ailsa at SnB on Saturday, she decided she’d like to knit it too. In total, we’re talking about maybe 25 balls of yarn and a book.
So we need a friendly US resident who’d let us have the parcel shipped to them, and who would then send it on to me. I’ll gladly pay you for the postage via cash funded paypal, and there may even be a small thank you gift of some description involved. One of the colours is out of stock until October 10, so we’d be ordering in two weeks or so.
Anyone? Pretty please?

I also finished my Yarntini socks earlier in the week.

The colour is wrong, wrong, wrong. They’re actually much brighter in person, and I love them!
I also have a decent amount of yarn left over, so if I can find a complimentary colour for toes and heels, I may be able to manage another pair.
This means that I finished two pairs of socks in September, yay me! However, I didn’t let that stop me casting on for the next pair.

Marina Piccola in Fleece Artist Basic Socks yarn. While the socks are nice, I wanted to use this picture to show off some of my recent etsy purchases.
I love my Sunnyboy bag! (I actually have two!) It’s the perfect size for my sock knitting, and I love the knitting related fabric it’s made from. I got this from my friend Quilting Mick’s etsy store, Buttontree Lane.
And the other item is my super cute new DPN holders. Here’s a close up.

I got these from Compulsive Crafter on etsy, and I got a little pair of pigs too, that I forgot to take a picture of. (And she’s keeping an eye out for Polar Bears for me, too!)
I love these little finds.
I did cast on something other than the socks, too. I’ve had some Blue Sky Alpacas Sport weight in the stash since we visited the US, and it’s divine. I finally decided what to make with it, and yesterday I cast on. I’m making the Cropped Cardigan by Amy O’Neill Houck, from Blue Sky.
I cast on at lunch time yesterday.

By midnight last night when I went to bed, this is where I was up to.

(First picture is more accurate for colour)
Talk about speedy knitting! If I could knit everything this quickly, I wouldn’t even have a stash! Mind you, I did have some difficulty wielding the 7mm needles at first. Quite a bit different to 2mm sock needles, and 3mm lace needles!

I finally pulled my finger out and finished the Magic Carpet Ride.

Specs:
Pattern: Magic Carpet Ride(Ravelry Link) by Susan Pandorf. (Purchased as a kit from The Woolen Rabbit)
Yarn: The Woolen Rabbit Laceweight Merino in Moroccan Spice
Needles: 3mm Addi Lace
Extras: Seed Beads purchased from eBay. I have no idea what the colour is called, but they’re a rainbowish light Topaz.
I started this scarf on June 24ish, and finished it a few days ago, so around 3 months total, but it sat, ignored, for quite a bit of that time. I just didn’t have the lace mojo going on.
A close up of the beads.

But the colour isn’t great. This picture is much better in terms of colour.

And I’m very proud of my grafting!

See the line of plain triangles across the middle? That’s where it was grafted. I think that’s the best grafting I’ve done yet.
I still don’t think I’ll ever be fond of grafting in general, though.
Twinkie is unimpressed.