It’s my 600th post! Is that like an anniversary? Should I buy myself a gift? What’s the traditional gift for the 600th post?
Seasilk perhaps?

Maybe I should have more 600th post anniversaries!
Seasilk, in Ocean. Divine!
Today was the first day back at school after the summer holidays. My baby is in Year Nine!
And she missed the bus.
Day one, and she missed the bus.
Lets hope that this doesn’t set the tone for the rest of the year. But hey, her hair was straightened and looked pretty, and that’s what matters, isn’t it?!?
Pardon my frustration.
In other news, the Jo Sharp Cardi is coming along very nicely, thankyouverymuch.

Yes, that’s a pair of sleeves you can see. This all went by very quickly, didn’t it?
And the Bloomin’ Feet socks are also behaving nicely.

I think Twink got a bit scared when Em missed the bus.

She went into hiding.

Monday morning, Saturday sky.

I call this photo “Oh shit, I nearly forgot the Saturday sky, and now it’s almost dark”
It was cloudy and gloomy all afternoon, though.
We spent the afternoon as Stitch n Bitch, and despite the fact that I actually remembered to take the camera, I forgot to take it out and use it.
Knitting has been happening!
The Bloomin’ Feet sock.
I cast on with the Touch Yarns, but I felt it was too fine for socks. It’s labelled as a 4ply, (Aussie equivalent to fingering weight), but it doesn’t feel like it to me. I debated just casting on more stitches, but I didn’t want the socks to be too thin, and have them wear out quickly. So it was back to the stash to find another alternative.
See, it’s good to have a disgracefully large sock yarn stash!
I’ve decided on Lorna’s Laces in “Old Rose”, but I stuck with the Sockbug pattern, “Sheri’s Lace”

I’m pretty happy with it so far, and I’m enjoying the pattern, it makes the knitting go so much more quickly.
I’ve also been working on the Jo Sharp cardi.

It’s coming along nicely, but the stocking stitch is driving me mad.
I took the sleeves along to Stitch n Bitch on Saturday, and I managed to stuff them up entirely. I did far too many increases, and I ripped the whole lot out on Saturday night when I sat down to look at what I’d done.
I thnk I’d better stick to really plain knitting when I go to SnB. It seems that every time I go, I stuff up whatever I’m working on.
I promised a Twinkie photo, so here you go. She’s been a big baby the past couple of days and wants me to pay constant attention to her.
I was cutting out a new costume for Em the other night, and Twink was most put out that I wasn’t paying enough attention to her.

So she took matters into her own paws, and made sure I knew she was feeling needy.

Happy Australia Day!
A day where all across the country we celebrate being Australian by having the day off and doing next to nothing. What’s not to like?
We’ve done very little all day, and will top off the day by going out to watch the local council’s fireworks display.
I thought I’d toss out a few facts about Australia that many of you may not know or realise.
A lot of people look at a map of Australia, and think we live on a little island. Let me assure you, it’s not small. The total area is 7,741,220 km

Thank you all for saying such lovely things about Spring Blossoms. She’s still on the back of the couch, so I can look at her.
But today I have another finished project to show you. Although this one was over so quickly that it may not deserve the title “project”!

It’s the cashmere scarf kit that I purchased from Rabbit Tree Farm!
The true colour is closer to the picture of Em modelling, but it’s somewhere between the two. This is supposed to be a scarf, but it’s almost big enough to qualify for a shawl, I think.
The yarn is an 80% cashmere, 20% silk fingering weight blend, and it was lovely to work with. The pattern was relatively easy, and worked up super quickly.
The pattern called for US 10.5 needles, and I couldn’t figure out precisely what size that is. Some places say 6.5mm, some say 7mm. As I usually need to go down a size anyway, I used a 6mm. I had heaps of yarn left over, so I improvised an extra 2 rows, then added the crochet chain bind off, which isn’t part of the original pattern.
The pattern is a variation of the “Roman Stripe” from The second Barbara Walker treasury.
A quick knit was just what I needed. I started the scarf on Friday afternoon while Spring Blossoms was blocking, and finished it on Saturday night.
Not an awful lot of knitting has been accomplished since then, because it’s just been too hot.
I was invited to join the Bloomin’ Feet sock swap, and I received my swap partner information on the weekend. Most of today was spent figuring out what I want to do. I ransacked the sock stash and decided on some yummy Koigu. But I couldn’t find a pattern that did justice to the yarn. So I tossed the yarn aside and went back to square one. I finally decided on this yarn.

This is “Touch Yarns” from New Zealand. Apart from the fact that it’s pretty, I thought it would be nice to use something (reasonably) local that isn’t readily available to my pal. It’s 100% merino, so it has no nylon content, but most of my favourite sock yarns don’t have nylon – Fleece Artist, Koigu, Socks that Rock to name a few.
And I’ve decided on Sockbugs “Sheri’s Lace Socks” pattern to go with it. I hope it all works out nicely.
It’s really hard to knit for another knitter.
What if she doesn’t like the yarn? Or the colour? Or the pattern?
What if she weaves in her ends differently to me? Better than me?
What if she’s disappointed?
I have until May 1 to deliver them. So I think I’ll try to knit them quickly. Just in case I’m not happy with them and need to start over!

You know what my most favourite thing in the whole world is?
I love it when you have this

And you soak it for a while, then you do this

And in a couple of hours, it’s turned into this.

Spring Blossoms is done. And I love it.
I am so glad that I persisted with the extra repeats. The pattern called for Zephyr on 3.5mm needles, and 8 repeats. I used a finer yarn on smaller needles, but it still came out to the same finished size – 115cm, or 44″.
Specs:
Pattern: “Spring Blossoms Shawl” by Eugen K. Beugler, from Fiber Trends.
Yarn: Lane Borgosesia Cashwool. It’s a 100% merino yarn that feels so unbelievably soft. It was sent to me by Chloe in the Lace Swap last year, and it’s gorgeous to work with. I used 90g of a 100g hank. (1460yards per 100g)
Needles: 2.75mm
Changes: None, except that I worked 11 repeats instead of 8.
The yarn is superfine, and here’s a picture to show just how fine the shawl is now that it’s blocked.

And a close up of the stitch pattern.

I love it. I’m also very glad it’s done!
So, what’s next?
Well, I started something yesterday while the shawl was blocking that’s almost done, so there’ll be another finished project here next time.
And the Jo Sharp cardi is still on the needles, and so are the new blue socks.
I’ve signed up for La’s Faina Scarf-Along, which starts on February 14. I have bought two different lots of yarn for Faina’s scarf, some Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette in “Musk”, and some 80% Mohair, 20% Merino from Wagtail Yarns in purple. I’m not being very adventurous in my colour choices, am I? I have 3 weeks or so to decide which yarn to use. I’m not usually much of a knitalong person, so we’ll see how it goes.
I also purchased the “Fern Garden Stole” pattern from Alpacas with a Twist this week, so I think I’ll cast on for that as soon as the pattern arrives. I may also have bought the “Heere be Dragone” shawl from there, too, but I thnk that’s a long term project. (Like I need any more)
It’s Saturday, here’s a sky.

It’s already well over 30C outside, and it’s only going to get hotter. Tomorrow it’s predicted we’ll see 41C. We’re going to the movies. Or the shops. Or the Library. Somewhere with air conditioning, at any rate.
Oh, and see what I picked up at the supermarket this week?

Hot cross buns! In January! I bought them anyway.