Knit Off...!

I am a dismal failure! Team Louet, I let you all down.

Despite knowing that it starts 3am Sunday Sydney time, I signed up for Socktopia's live Knit Off. "Surely it can't be that hard to pull an all nighter to knit a pair of socks," thought I.

Alas, I completely over-estimated my stamina to pull all nighters in my advancing age. (Was I insane?)

It didn't help that I had a pretty full on weekend - I came home at 3am (2am thanks to daylight saving) from a hens' night on Sunday morning, already knackered, but decided to wait for the pattern launch on the website nevertheless. 3am. Nothing. 3.15. Nothing.

When 3.30am came and went, I couldn't cope any more and stumbled off to bed.

By the time I woke up, someone had already finished a sock! I tried to catch up, purely because I didn't want to let my team down, but I was so groggy from lack of sleep the night before so I only managed 1 sock by the end of the weekend.

(I name thee, Egg Yolk sock. Second sock is still in the making!)

Needless to say, I'm not going to attempt such a reckless venture for a while. I think.

On a more joyous note, I received my first Secret Pal package on Tuesday! It contained a ball of Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran, a ball of Bouton D'or Plum'Kid and the Erika Knight Glamour book.

I've had my eye on the Kid Silk Haze gloves in there ever since I saw a copy at Kinokuniya. Thanks Secret Pal!

In other knitting news, I've started the Jo Sharp cable cardigan for my mum from Knit 2. See?

(In the background is the wonderful Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush which I got recently and a wash cloth made from GGH Scarlett. I was at a LYS a couple of weeks ago looking for 2.5 dpns and somehow walked away with a ball of this softest of all cotton yarns. Don't ask. I'm weak!)

Oh and I'm supposed to talk about my favourite knitting accessory - does a piece of waste yarn count? It's so versatile. I can use it as a stitch holder to hold live stitches, tie knot to make a stitch marker, thread it through a row as a lifeline, and best of all (unlike most other knitting tools), it's FREE! So there you have it.

Cloud Bolero II

Hi guys, it's been a while.

The 2nd Cloud Bolero was finished on the weekend with just one 'Yikes!' moment when I ran out of yarn during the bind off (the picot edge uses a RIDICULOUS amount of yarn). This led immediately to a panicked call to my LYS who kindly put a ball aside for me. I was slightly worried as I got this yarn a few weeks ago in a sale basket but I needn't have worried, there was plenty left when I went there on the weekend.

Anyway, I made it pretty much to the same specs as the first one so I won't bore you (or myself) with the details.

I substituted the Rowan Polar (which sheds like an Angora wabbit) with a yarn called Luce which I have not seen anywhere else (the brand is really stupid sounding like 'bFashion' or something). It's a mohair acrylic blend, with gold threads shot through. It actually knits up quite soft but the gold threads make it quite scratchy... so there goes my vision of wearing it on more formal occasions with a strapless dress. I think I'll have to wear a long sleeve skivvy underneath instead... um, attractive.

Here's a back shot if you're keen. Go on.

It Ain't Easy Being Aqua

Blogging on the weekend. This is getting sad. But, the Wave Lace Socks are completed!

(Incidentally, these socks are on the cover of the new Interweave book Favourite Socks by editors Ann Budd and Anne Merrow so they must be popular.)

So, project details...
Wave Lace Socks by Evelyn A. Clark in IWK Spring 04
2 balls of Grignasco Bambi Merino Extrafine in aqua (vaguely in line with the Socktopia March theme of 'it ain't easy being green')
2.75mm dpns

Modifications: I opted for the 1x1 twisted rib cuff instead of the scalloped cuff shown in the magazine but that's about it. The scalloped cuff is just a tad too feminine.

Oh and a view of the heel and gusset on my flickr.

Sadly, I'm definitely coming to the end of my sock phase and am itching to start a big project. I think it'll be a cardigan from Jo Sharp Knit 2 for my mum.

Oh and I've started the 2nd Cloud Bolero. So far I've ripped back to the beginning only once but reading this pattern is making me cross-eyed! Again!

Bubble Bobble Hat (Free Pattern)

I made this on a whim very loosely based on this cap pattern from Lana Grossa but using a standard 12ply.

I named it after one of my favourite computer games as a kid. My brother and I got up to level 100 in the 2-player game at one stage I think. Oh the memories...

I wrote up the pattern and posted it on my under construction Wordpress blog. I've been toying with the idea of moving this blog to Wordpress, purely because people have to leave their email address when they comment, which means I can reply to them, and also because it allows pages. However, the task of actually moving is a bit daunting. Have a look at it and let me know what you think.