Not much knitting done today, but I did finish sewing 3 more costumes – Yay!!
I got the heel done on the second Waves sock, but my most exciting knitting news was that I managed to win a copy of “Sweaters From Camp” off eBay for $AU20.50. ($US14.35)
I’ve never knit Fair Isle, and the idea of steeking just plain scares me, but when I saw the book, I grabbed it. Perhaps there will be a Fair Isle in my future. I’ll just add it to the list. Theres around 500 other things on the list, I think 😉
Wendy from Catknits sent me an email last week with a link to this sock pattern site. It’s a free download, but it’s a 3mb pdf file (be warned!). There are 99 pages of sock patterns!
Enjoy!

Look what I got today!

Just think of all that beautiful yarn money down the drain!! It’s a very funky new machine, all push button and computerised – I must admit, the first thing I thought was “How do I make it repeat the cycle for felting?”
I ICQ’d my DH at work to tell him it had arrived, and he asked if I’d used it yet. Not even a brand new washing machine gets me enthusiastic about housework, I’m afraid. LOL! So I washed a towel, just to check it out. Tomorrow I get to catch up on all the laundry. How do 3 people make so much washing in four days?
Jill emailed me with some tips for the poncho which I think I’ll try out. She suggested extra increases to shape the shoulders, and I think that’s just the thing it needs. I’ve finished the leg on the second Waves sock, and am up to turning the heel.
I should have been sewing. Oops 😉

I got quite a bit of knitting done on the poncho today, but I’m not happy with it.

It seems to be too wide at the neck, and too narrow in the shoulders. If I just pop it on her, it sits high up the shoulders. To get it to sit down, it needs to be pulled down. But I don’t want it any wider at the neck. So I had a look at the Poncho Generator. For the slim poncho I was aiming for, it says I need a shoulder dart for the poncho to sit properly. So I’m going to frog the ball and a half that I knit today, and instead of winging it, I’ll use the generator.
It could be that I’m tired, but the pattern didn’t seem all that clear to me. And it’s knit in two pieces, so I think I’ll sit down, dust off the old thinking cap and convert it to knitting in the round. If I’m thinking right, I just have to do the pattern twice in a row, and knit all the purl rows. Sounds right?
Let’s hope so 🙂

Despite my rule about no more than 3 projects at a time, I caved in and started something new – and it’s not from the Handy Book of Patterns.

I finally started Em’s pink poncho. Mind you, it’s been quite warm around here of late, so it won’t see much wear – but better late than never 🙂
I have only seven 50g balls of yarn, so I decided to do a narrow poncho, rather than a wide. After perusing the many, many poncho patterns out there, I’m winging it. I’ve cast on enough stitches to get it over her head, done a few rows of garter stitch, and now I’m going to do stockinette with increases only at the centre front and centre back, not four sets of increases as in a wide poncho. Then she can wear it with the straight side at the front, or the points at the front. I’m using yarn overs for increases, then I think I’ll use my lovely “Knitting On The Edge” book and do a lace edging.
Lets hope it all works out the way I think it will!
Tomorrow is another Dance Day – 12 hours in a crowded school hall. It’s that time of year *sigh*. So I shall take the poncho and hide in a corner with my knitting.
I’ll bet it doesn’t happen 😉

Well, the day started out well!
I got this in the mail finally 🙂

Inspiration is mine!!! I love this book, why didn’t anyone tell me about it before? I’ll have to get the sweater book now. I love the way it has all the sizes and all the gauges so you can use anything to knit with, more or less. As soon as I finish something, I’ll start something from this book.
And yesterday I went to the local craft store for a sewing pattern, and I picked up a pattern leaflet. It was cheap enough ($2!) and I liked the cover cardi, nice and simple, and casual.

The recommended yarn is 50% wool and 50% acrylic, and really cheap, but for a casual around-the-house and toss-in-the-wash cardi, it’ll do fine.
But after I got it home, I looked at the other pattern. And I looked at it again. And it’s drawing me in, I must say.

I can feel my oath to not buy more yarn wavering. It’s on special for 20% off until Sunday. It would be a crime not to buy it, wouldn’t it? 😉
Then I got home, and put on a load of washing. After eleven years, and a month of tormenting me, my washing machine finally shit itself. I’ve been in denial for the past month, ignoring all the warning signs, hoping it would just carry on, but alas, she is dead. Being eleven years old, I doubt it’s worth fixing, especially seeing as it appears to be both the water pump and the motor. So tomorrow I go forth to waste good money on a housework machine. But better that than hand washing!!
Then, as we were preparing to leave for Em’s dancing lessons, I realised that I couldn’t find two costumes I was taking to the studio for kids to try on. They were nowhere to be found. After spending 10 minutes of ripping the house apart, I called DH at work.
It was garbage night last night.
For some reason, he picked up the plastic bag containing the two completed costumes from the kitchen table, and took it out for the garbage men to collect this morning.
They’re gone. So I now have to go and buy $60 worth of fabric to replace them and start them over.
The sewing will never end, I fear.