Oh, them needles, them needles, them HEAPS of needles!

I have so many needles! I love picking up old needles and tend when there's a cache of yarn and needles at an op shop, will take it ALL! Subsequently I have a lot of the same size. However I wasn't aware of just how many extra I had. 10 sets of 3.25mm DPN does seem a little excessive :)
So, I finally got myself together and came up with some hanging storage.















The DPN holder was made out of an old block-out curtain and the circular needle holder from half of a sheet. It's much more efficient than anything I've had before and I can really SEE what I do and don't have! Especially with the circular needles. They are an absolute bitch to store in a way that you know whether you have the one you need.




















I've hung them at the end of the passage where my wool room is but because Brianna's using it as her room at the moment there isn't any room anyway. So I can sit back and bask in the ambiance of my superior organisation...
...of course, my house is still messy though :)
Happy Knitting :)

They seek it here, they seek it there...

Sock yarn. WHY is it so hard to find nice colours with a bit of nylon or polymide in the mix to knit nice socks in?
I don't know, or why, when I find some it's $17 for a dinky little 50g ball!
Usually I am forced to retreat to baby yarn with it's mix of wool and nylon. It works but it's hard to get a colour that really "pops!" instead of slightly insipid blue-pink-yellow-white-lime, (or just plain pucky colours!)
Brianna and I went to Spotlight yesterday (always a dangerous thing!) and for once she got more wool that me - mind you, I paid for it all! All I got was one more colourway of Moda Vera Noir.















It's the same stuff, just a different colour way as, This:

















And the stuff I used when I knit these,






















I thought I was very restrained!
The yarn was going out as $7 instead of $14.95 so there was certainly good motives behind it...really!
But I'll have to let them perculate while I fight my way though Brianna's top. I'm so close to finishing the back I can almost taste it!! But then I've got the front to do and that generally manages to temper my excitement. That and the fact I seem to be fast running through the yarn I'm using and since it was recycled from a jumper once it's gone, it is GONE!!
I may have to improvise something when It comes closer to the top.
Ah well. Happy Knitting :)

And one more time!

I have finished the second shrug using the last of my Patons Foxy yarn. Lovely stuff! So soft!














I used every last bit I had, mostly in extending the sleeves and I used a green acrylic blend reclaimed from a jumper for the bottom hem and the sleeve cuffs. I added some ties too, just to secure under bosom if desired.

It looks really nice...not on me though. Looks absolutely horrendous on me! More for the younger set, Brianna's age definitely!















Well, I think I've experimented enough with this one. There's not really much enjoyment knitting something I can't wear. But there is being able to enjoy the pleasures others receive in having something individual for them to shine in!

But I think I'll turn my attention back to Brianna's top now.

Happy Knitting :)

Sometimes stuff just doesn't work so...

I started knitting a scarf called the Loopy Scarf which has a cable-like stitch pattern.
















But I had a lot of trouble with the pattern. Eventually I got sick of it and unravelled it to start something else. But I wanted to start something I didn't have to think too hard about.
I got down "One Skein wonders-101 yarn shop favourites" and decided to give "Shrug This" a go.
As it turns out, good choice!
It took me less than 24 hours to knit and that's including 7 hours sleep between when I started and when I finished! Very, very quick!
And here is dear daughter modelling it for me :)






















































I'm going to knit another one with the same yarn since it did so well with this one but a bit longer in the body and sleeves, maybe with ties to secure it under the bosom.
And then I can go back to Brianna's top after a little rest.
Happy knitting :)

Brianna's top

Brianna's been looking through my knitting books (hard not to when her room is actually in my wool room!) and found a pattern for a top she liked, could I knit it?
Course I could!
And since there isn't a picture of this on the Ravelry site (although they do have the pattern) I'll be able to provide a picture when I'm finished! Cool.



















I've even bought the buttons for the straps although I'm going to join them to the actual top instead of make them with button holes and such. Most of it's garter stitch and it's taking a long time to get very far, or that's what it feels like. The yarn I'm using is some blend I reclaimed from a jumper I bought from the op shop ages ago. It feels lovely, soft and slightly silky.



















I'm really looking forward to finishing this because I think it's going to look so good.
Wish I could knit quicker!
Oh well, happy knitting :)

Pins? Check! Blocking mat? Check!

I made this tatted doiley ages ago but I've never taken the time to block it properly. So, since I'd washed it I thought I would take the opportunity to do so.
I should probably thought it through a little more carefully.
While blocking the middle was no problem, getting the outer areas flat was not easy. Especially since I found I'd made all sorts of errors attaching the wrong picot to the wrong loop.
So, in the end I settled for a minor blocking and then a stiff iron. While the outer picots are not as defined as I might have liked they were better than going through each and every one of them and pulling them straight.

And as you can see, the photo looks pretty special. I know now that I don't need to pull the knots as tight and to be very careful when joining elements that they are actually going where they're supposed to go.
But I'm not sure I have the courage or patience to even look at a tatting shuttle at the moment.

I think I'll keep knitting :)

Look what I found!

Brianna and I went to Denmark today to do some shopping since we're having some friends over for a meal Saturday night. The pantry's pretty bare at the moment so we had to buy some provisions and definitely some meat!
But while there we went into the Denmark Co-Op. I've never been in there before. I may regret having gone in there today! Such a lot of lovely pretty things!



















We spent over $20 there!
Buttons for a top I'm knitting for Brianna.












Also a DVD cleaner that'll hopefully help us play my "Bones-Series 4" discs which are a pain to get the DVD player to read, pins, needle threader, clear plastic press studs and point protectors for knitting needles. Then we decided we DEFINITELY needed to leave before we got into real trouble!


The Red Cross Op Shop was open so, just before getting the shopping done we thought we'd just duck in and see if they had anything interesting. Were we in luck!
Brianna found a jigsaw puzzle that my Mum had and I found-the MOTHERLOAD OF CONES!!















The large cones in the peach, green and saffron are in some cotton blend because when I burnt some strands it didn't melt or smell plasticy. It kind of burned away into nothing and smelt kind of woody. It's all 3ply but I have some dress patterns and shawl and bloses as well that I'd love to have a go with this stuff! I knit up a small swatch and I'm just waiting for it to come out of the washing machine to see how it washes up. It knits lovely with such a soft drape. Aaaahhhhh.














I also got some vintage knitting patterns. In the end we donated under $20 to the Red Cross!
Then, struggling hard under the desperate compulsion to look for more op shops and try my luck, we went grocery shopping instead. It came to under $200.
But it wasn't nearly as much fun as looking through the Co-Op or Red Cross :)

I finally thought of what I want for my birthday this year (even though it was actually 3 days ago)

After the meal we went out for on my birthday, hubbie asked me what I'd really like for a present.
See, he'd intended to take just me out for dinner but I thought the kid's would like a night out too. Also I didn't like to leave 18 yr old daughter having to chaporelle her 15 yr old brother without any warning. He's a special little individual...even if he does tower over us! So there were the four of us out for dinner.
At the only restuarant opened in Walpole (besides the Pub) on a Monday night.
The food was lovely but the ladies serving were...more mature than one normally finds wait-staff at most establishments.
And the lady serving us was partially deaf.
And she shook.
But she was really lovely and helpful. The other lady who brought our meals out from the kitchen was of a similiar generation but she still had her hearing and seemed steady enough.
After our mains, which everyone was happy with (except for a nasty experience with some battered onion rings!) we ordered desert.
No-one but me like the deserts. The kids found the creme caramels a little tougher than they were used to and Greg had difficulty getting through the jelly that made up his trifle...and lime isn't the best flavour to choose for trifle.
But anyway, we survived the night, and I was reminded again why we NEVER take Jordan out without a couple of Grandmothers to keep him in line and entertained. Long waits for food and nothing to say are not environs condusive to Jordan's particular brain chemistry! We go to the counter to pay.
$165 for the nights meal.
Oh. My. God.
If I'd realized it was going to come to that much I'd have left the children at home, I'd have suggested driving to Denmark to buy Chooks! $165!
But hubbie has been very kind and asked what I'd really likeas a present. Three days have passed now and I don't hyperventilate nearly as much as I did after we paid the bill. I finally had a thought.
I would like some knitting books.
So I've ordered 2 books from Fishpond. Both are sock books, one's a toes-up pattern book and the other's sock patterns from both the west and the east. Japan especially has some really beautiful patterns that you just don't see here.

So I've ordered them and now I just have to wait...
And be good. No more big spend ups for me! We just can't afford it!
Keep Knitting :)

Many Thanks :)

I must thank my lovely daughter for all the help she's given me to set this blog up, as well as finding this really cute template :)
She's a sweetie and I know she's very bored here in Walpole without enough employment to keep her occupied or financial and I know she really misses her beloved up in Perth.
But I really appreciate her presence and help and I pray the Lord will bless her and all those she cares for.
I love you, Darling Daughter.
My Brianna xx

My New Market Banner!

Take one old white sheet and multiple colours of felt collected over the years and what have you got?
With a bit of creativity...A new Market Banner!
I printed off large prints of the temp san font I use and then Brianna and I cut out the letters a bit larger than the prints. Then I ripped the sheet in half length ways and we pinned them into place.
Nice :)










Then came the tricky bit.
I sewed each of the letters down with thickish crochet cotton. 13 letters of all sorts of shapes and thread that didn't really like being dragged through all the layers. I think I still have bruises on my thumb!






Then I washed it and hung it out.














I am VERY happy with the result! The Q is a little puckered but everything else is great!
Now all I have to do is sew in the sheet edges, attach some ties so I can tie it to my tent and then we're done.
Sighhhh.
And I am at peace with the world...well, at least for a minute or so :)

A New Day

It was a stunning sunrise this morning. Hot, vibrant pink silhouetted against dark trees! Almost worth getting up at 6.30am!
And it just got prettier as it faded too.

Any way, I'm still a little divided in my opinion on whether to change my blog so, for a couple of days, I'm going to try and keep two and see which I like best.
Let's see how that goes.
In the meantime, I will keep knitting :)

Will I ever get this Right?

Here I am again! Another new blog. And I'm still not happy with how it looks or what I'm doing so I'm not telling anyone about it yet until I look at the sites some of the people I look at have their blogs on.
So there!