Saturday Sky!

I took the picture when we had a brief flash of blue, but it was pretty gloomy for most of the day. And cold.
Good knitting day!
The Fair Isle gloves are progressing, and I didn’t fix the mistake.

It’s actually not bothering me too much, and David’s sister will be recieving them next week, and then taking them off to the UK, so I won’t see them.
Four rows of palm to go, then it’s just the fingers left.
I haven’t touched Icarus, but I have managed to almost complete David’s second glove.

Nearly at the end of my obligation knitting!
I created a knitter today. Well, I hope I did. I was in Lincraft buying zippers, and browsing the yarn section. A lady was there with a daughter about Emily’s age. I overheard them talking about how-to-knit books, so I helped her pick out an easy-easy baby pattern (garter stitch, simple shaping), some suitable yarn (acrylic, I hate to say, but she wanted something soft, and easily washable – not a lot of choice in Lincraft!), and some needles.
After we’d left I wished I’d given her my email address so she could contact me if she had any trouble.
God knows Lincraft won’t be much help to her if she has any difficulty!

The glove remains in the same state I left it in, but thank you all for your input!
I’d never thought of myself as a perfectionist, and Donni seems to think I can’t help myself from ripping it out, so I think I’m going to leave it, just to prove to her that I can!
Well, really it’s because my lazy side is beating my perfectionist side to a pulp. I’ve been weaving in the ends as I go, and ripping it out means undoing all those ends.
Mind you, I’m not totally decided, so it sits, untouched.
So what do you do when your current project is leaving you frustrated?
You start something new!

It’s the Icarus shawl from “Interweave Knits” Summer 2006.
The yarn I’m using is Misti Baby Alpaca in Black. It’s a little splitty, but I love the feel of it, and the halo it has. As you can see, I haven’t gotten far wiith it yet. I think I have about 4000 rows before the real patterning starts.
And if starting a new project isn’t enough to ease the frustration, you whip out the dyepot.

Knit Picks Dye Your Own Sock yarn, dyed wth Gaywool originals in Meadow, Iceberg and Watercrest.
And look what arrived today!

It’s my Jordana Paige satchel in Grape, from Yarns Online. It’s gorgeous, I love it!
And there was even stuff in there for Twinkie.

Paper, for chewing and dragging about the house!

Shit.
Can you see it? I didn’t notice it until now, but now I have to decide if I can live with it or not.
If you honestly can’t see it, the patterning above the dark stripe is off by one stitch. If you can’t see it, feel free to reassure me that it’ll be fine.

Picture heavy post ahead!
We’ve been busy little beavers at Casa Del Random.
But first, it’s Saturday, so it’s Saturday Sky time!

No perfect blue sky today. It’s raining, but no one is complaining, becasue we need it. Let’s hope it’s raining over the dams though.
Twinkie is unimpressed.

Lots of knitting happening, finally!
The second Fair Isle glove is finally seeing some action.

There’s cuff. I’m past the corrugated ribbing, which really is the part I hate the most. My sister in law will be here for a visit in two weeks, and the gloves are for her, so I really need to get busy with these.
And I finished David’s first glove.

I figure that I did one Fair Isle glove, then one of his, now I’m on the second Fair Isle, then I’ll do the second of his. I’m not sure how he likes that idea. At least one of his hands will be warm!
I got it into my head that I’d like to start Peacock Feathers.
I have this gorgeous Possum/Merino yarn that my good friend Meaghan gave me, and I’d hoped to use that.

The colours aren’t quite as bright as they appear here, and I love it, but I swatched and the yarn is a little too thick for the pattern.
So I went through the stash, and found some Centolavaggi. But it was white, so I decided to have a play with some dye.
Bad idea.
I didnt’ take pictures along the way, but I wanted a green. The only green dye I have on hand is a bit pale, so I added some turquoise, hoping to darken it. It came out too dark, so I redyed it. It was too bright, so I added some purple.
I don’t like it. Especially for this pattern.

The picture isn’t quite right (my kitchen benchtop is definitely not yellow!). It’s a jewel tone sapphire, with lighter blues through it.
I’ll never use it, it’s just not my colour.
If anyone is interested in a swap of some kind, let me know. Otherwise, I think it’ll go up on eBay.
And I have to start again for Peacock Feathers.
You think I’d learn. Every time I try to start a new project when there’s something else I should be working on (like the Fair Isle gloves) the results are disastrous. Every time.
Em finished Imogen’s hat!

She also knitted the other things you see here, the jacket and the bag. There is a slight problem witht he jacket, which is awaiting my attention. She didn’t leave a long enough yarn tail, and her cast off edge started to unravel, so I’ve undone some of the crochet edge to start the work, but haven’t actually gotten around to the repairs. There may also be an end or five that require weaving in.
Another thing Em made yesterday is..

A mess!
Oops, sorry, I meant cupcakes.

Her baking skills are definitely not inherited from me.
And finally, yesterday I spent most of the day making this.

A tiara-y thing for Em’s newest dance. No costume yet, but that’ll happen. Eventually.
It’s not quite finished, I need to cover the visible wire, but I’m pretty impressed with myself.

If you look at the picture of her in her tutu a few posts back, she is wearing something similar. I paid a rather exorbitant amount of money to have that one made, and decided to give it a go. Voila!
But now she wants a beaded headpiece for every dance.
Not happening, dudette.

I started something new.
It’s still some of my promised-to-others knitting, bt hey, it’s something new.
To avoid the Fair Isle gloves, I cast on for…

More gloves! I think I need to question my sanity.
These are the cable gloves from One Skein, in Cascade 220 for David. He has been patiently waiting all winter, so I thought I’d better get moving on them before winter is over.
Plain gloves in worsted weight work up far more quickly than Fair Isle gloves in Shetland Jumper weight. Funny that. 😉
I did finally start the second Fair Isle glove.

But obviously didn’t do much more than start it.
Em’s doll’s beret is coming along beautifully.

She’s doing very well for her first go at knitting in the round. Her decreases are looking good, too! Don’t mind my polar bear pjs.
Twinkie is happy to play prettily in the weeds.