Happy Saturday!

Yet another gorgeous one here in sunny Sydney.
Due to a stomach bug that hit me yesterday afternoon, I haven’t enjoyed it much, but I’m feeling a bit better now. Not much knitting has been done, either, but I did get a start on Faina’s Scarf.

Not much of a start, but a start! I’m really enjoying the Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette. It’s a nice soft yarn to knit with, and I think that it has good stitch definition for a project like this.
The second Bloomin’ Sock is moving along nicely.

The heel is done, and pretty soon I’ll be moving on down the foot. (I just typoed that as hell, but really, it wasn’t that bad!)
Due to all that lovely rain we had earlier in the week, we actually have glimpses of green in our yard.

Twinkie is doing her best to single handedly eradicate it.

Rain? We had rain! Lots of rain!
The local shopping centre’s roof caved in under the weight of the rain.
The yard got wet!

Twinkie wasn’t happy. She’s three and a half now, and she hasn’t really seen a lot of rain.

But she’s seen enough to know she doesn’t like it.
We had another visitor through the downpour. Early Monday morning, I could hear some distinctive squawking out the back.


A Sulphur Crested Cockatoo. They’re not unusual around here, but he sat there in the same spot all day Monday in the pouring rain and all night Monday night. On Tuesday I was worried that he might be a lost pet, or injured, but then a friend came visiting.

Then they left together. He must have got his days mixed up for their date.
Is there anything better to do on a rainy day than knit? I think not.
The Fern Garden Stole is growing.

I’ve got the hang of the pattern now, and it’s going along very well. I’ve also been working on the second Bloomin’ Feet Sock.

I’m at that stage with both projects that blogging feels boring. It’s the same old, same old, looks the same, just longer. Who wants to see that?
Of course, today is February 14, which is the first day of the Faina’s Scarf-along, which means I get to start smething new. Now I’m entering danger territory, because I have far too many projects on the go, which means the blogging will stay boring. I apologise in advance.
I’m trying to be organised and apportion a certain amount of time to each project per day.
But lets face it, I’m not organised.

No new pictures of the Fern Garden Stole, because it looks pretty much the same, just longer.
And no Saturday Sky picture because I forgot.
I’m getting a bit slack with this blogging caper, aren’t I?
Here’s a sky photo David prepared earlier.

Wednesday night to be precise. We had a thunderstorm, and the sky turned orange, as it frequently does in those storms.
It’s raining again today, but I’m not complaining because it’s desperately needed, although I’d bet piles of money that the dams aren’t getting any.
I’ve decided on the Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette for Faina’s Scarf. Much as I love the Wagtail yarns, it’ll be much cheaper and easier to get one more ball of the Jo Sharp if I run out. With less leftovers laying about to haunt me. And hey, thanks to the International Date Line I get to start mine before everyone else – at least 12 hours or so, anyway.
Bloomin’ Feet Sock One is complete!

At this rate, they’ll be done 2 months before the deadline. How totally unlike me. I think that parting with them is going to be the hard part.
And finally, me and my bunny. (Em would argue that it should be titled “Me and Em’s bunny”. Or more correctly “Em’s bunny and I”. But facts are facts, right?)

Still totally in love with the Fern Garden Stole.

It’s not growing as fast as I’d like, but I’m enjoying the knitting. Despite the fact that I’ve tried very hard to ignore any and all housework this week, Emily went back to dancing after the summer vacation. She’s there a lot and all that chauffeuring is eating up valuable knitting time.
And she can’t get her license for three more years. Dammit.
However, back to the stole. It’s labelled an Advanced Knit, but I’m finding it to be relatively easy. I’d guess that it earns the “Advanced” label because it has lace patterning on both right and wrong side rows, so there are no plain rows.
I haven’t had any trouble yet, and I’m on the second body repeat.
I haven’t forgotten the Bloomin’ Feet.

It’s so nice to have two knits going, both of which I’m enjoying. I probably shouldn’t say that, huh? (Cue ominous music)
I am having a little bit of a problem with this swap.
I have some sock yarn. A bit. Well, a lot. I’ve been checking out all the blogs involved in the swap, and everyone is using al this gorgeous sock yarn. It’s far, far too tempting. I keep seeing beautiful yarn that I don’t own, and I’m lusting after it all. And lets face it, I think it’s going to take about ten years to knit all the sock yarn I already have.
It’s such a hard life!
Next week La’s “Faina Scarf Along” begins. La wants to see our yarn. There is a teeny, tiny problem.
I haven’t decided what yarn I’m going to use. Here are my choices.

The pink from Wagtail Yarns is 100% mohair in a 4ply. (Aussie equivalent to Fingering weight). The Jo Sharp Yarn is Alpaca Silk Georgette in Musk. This is an Aussie 5ply, or Sportweight. The purple Wagtail yarn is 80% Mohair/20% Merino, also a 5ply or Sportweight.
The pattern calls for 450 yards. I have only 410 yards of each of the Wagtail yarns, and 426 yards of the Jo Sharp, so I’m a tiny bit short on all of them.
Decisions, decisions.
I have a week. Almost.

I got mail! Look at this wonderful parcel I received from Kimberly and her lovely bunnies.

2 hanks of Knit Picks Bare Lace Weight, and 3 hanks of Knit Picks Shadow in Sunset. The Sunset is not a colour I would normally have picked for myself, but seeing it in person, I love it! I’m thinking something autumn-y, and I’m already on the lookout. And chocolate. Milk chocolate, yum. And toffee and almonds in milk chocolate, totally droolworthy. Thank you so much, Kimberly!
Something else I’m totally in love with?

The Fern Garden Stole, which I’m knitting in White Zephyr.
I’ve just finished the edging, and I am totally in love with this pattern so far.
I had originally planned to add the beads, but then I decided that it wouldn’t suit the design. After I knit the little bit I’d shown in the last post, I decided to frog it and just try it with the beads, to see if I liked it.
As you can see, I did indeed like it, and the beads are staying.
They are glass 3x10mm dagger beads, in Crystal AB.
In all of this, I have not abandoned the Bloomin’ Feet socks, in fact I’m pretty pleased with the way they’re coming along.

Housework? Hasn’t been happening, obviously!