It’s done, it’s done!

The baby shawl is all finished, bar the blocking. I’m pretty pleased with it, and I’m sure I’ll like it even more when it’s blocked! It has just now occured to me that this may not be the most appropriate gift for this baby. The mother is not a knitter, and she has a toddler in addition to the new baby. A shawl that needs to be blocked may not be appropriate. And the family lives in Brisbane, with the baby due next month. Brisbane’s temperature in February averages 25C.
Hmm. They’re getting it anyway!
The shawl will not be blocked today, because it looks like this again.

However, that means it’s a lovely day for knitting. And just in the nick of time, my haul from Yarns Online arrived.

Yum! The colours didn’t show up very accurately though, here’s a better pic.

The purple is Lambs Pride Bulky in Supreme Purple. The pink is Cascade 220 in Raspberry. Scarf Style has some nice patterns in it. I have some Green Cascade 220 that my friend Jill gave me ages ago, and I think I might make “Backyard Leaves” with that.
However right now, I’m going to use this grey, dull, rainy afternoon to start my bag!

Look!

Sandy made this button for all of us who show our skies. So, with no further ado, here is Sydney’s sky this afternoon.

And as a result, Sydney ground.

We like rain, we want lots of rain to break the drought. And it sure beats 48C!
Edging update, just over halfway around. Nearly there!

Look! Do you see what I see?

Edging! I’m finally up to the edging. Mind you, it took me two days to come up with an edging. Here’s a closeup.

I made it up myself, which isn’t what I had originally intended to do. I was going to use one from “Traditional Lace Shawls”. But then I wasn’t sure how copyright worked. If I do decide to offer up the pattern, am I allowed to use patterns from books? Even if I use it directly from the book, with no changes? What if the book is a stitch dictionary? As I don’t know the answers to these questions, I thought I’d better strike out and do my own. It’s not exactly what I wanted, but it’s good enough that a newborn baby won’t care!
I’m around half way down the first side of the shawl. And that means that I can start thinking seriously about what to knit next!
Just in the nick of time, a new Australian online store has opened! And Meaghan, the owner, stocks Cascade 220! And Lambs Pride! Which we haven’t been able to get in Australia before. And some nice books and accessories, with lots more to come in the next few weeks. Go have a look! It’s called Yarns Online.
So I placed an order this morning. I can’t wait for it to arrive, so I need to get moving on this edging. I’ve ordered some Lambs Pride Bulky for this bag from Knit Picks.

You can find the pattern here.
I haven’t knit a bag in ages, and I like this one, and I think I need to do something fun and quick to finish next. I also ordered some Cascade 220 for a hat and scarf set I’ve been designing in my head for Em.
So much for not buying yarn. I’m glad I didn’t sign up with Stashalong 😉
I also ordered Scarf Style and some Clover bits and pieces. Aah, retail therapy!
I’ll show you all when it arrives. And I plan to have a finished shawl by then, so I can immediately cast on.
Twinkie has a problem. Because she is rather voluptuous, she has been having difficulty reaching the food in the bottom of her bowl.
I’m serious, I’m afraid. Her big fat dewlap gets in the way, and she can’t reach. So this is her answer.

You just tip the food on the floor.
I think we need to get her a new, lower bowl!

So it’s back to the knitting!
Still working on the shawl. I have (I think) 15 rounds of the main part to do, then I have to come up with an edging.

Here’s a close up of where I’m up to.

The diamonds need to be finished, and I’m done on the body. If I counted correctly, I’m going to have 740ish stitches on the needle when I’m done with the body of the shawl. That’s a lot of edging! I’m looking at narrow ones 😉
Yet, I’m already considering my next project. Shawls make such boring blogging. Even if I manage an hour of knitting at night, there’s no real progress to blog about. And it’s a bit boring to constantly show the shawl with maybe 4 more rows done!
My cottonease jacket has been long neglected. I think I’ll finish that when I’m done with this shawl. I also have a hat and scarf set in my head that I’d like to make for Em.
It’s boredom. As soon as I’m bored with a project, I start imagining what I’m going to knit next.By the time I’m actually finished with the project, I’ve changed my mind 34 times.
Here’s Twinkie’s latest trick.

She knows where the food is! As soon as the fridge is opened, she’s there in front of it, begging for something to eat.
Those are Em’s legs, btw. Skinny little chicken legs!

Well, I have spent the best part of the past two days in tutu hell. At midnight last night I sat down to knit 2 rows of the shawl, simply because I hadn’t knit a stitch all day. This is what it is like trying to get the damn thing under the sewing machine.

On Thursday night I made a bodice from scrap fabric. Yesterday morning, I tried it on Em, and made all the necessary adjustments, then for the best part of yesteray and last night, I made the real bodice and basque, then pinned the basque to the skirt.
This morning I sat down and tried to sew the basque to the skirt by machine.
I swore, I threw a tantrum, I kicked the tutu across the room. The piece of shit would not go under the machine foot. There was simply too much fabric. The feed dog was jamming, and the fabric wouldn’t feed properly. Then the machine wouldn’t run. I found out that was because Twinkie has chewed her way through this stinking cord as well. This is the second sewing machine cord she has massacred. However, I just taped it up and went on. But I had to give it up. It simply would not go under the machine.
So I hand sewed it.
Yes, I hand sewed the entire basque to the skirt. It took three hours. But it’s done.

(pic is clickable)
Well, the worst parts are done. It still needs to be flattened (also by hand) and decorated. (Yep, by hand).
But no more wrestling fabric under the machine. My arms are aching from holding it all out of the way and constantly reaching over it.
In not-so-breaking news, Twinkie has a fat face.

And just to show you all how pretty Fuzzy is when he isn’t dripping wet,

He also has a fat face 🙂
Marti sent me a lovely gift, which arrived yesterday, pics tomorrow.
I’m not finishing the tutu tonight. In fact I don’t think I want to look at it again for at least a week!