And the boxes come out again!

Yes! We are on the move again! I mean, hey! we've been in this town now for nearly 2 and a half years!! Crikey! Got to love the Police Service. But Hubbie and I are looking forward to a new place, a part of W.A. that we've never lived in (I've never even seen it!) and new experiences so we're fairly philosophical about things.
But!...That means I have to pack up my wool and sewing room!
Horrors!!
Actually I could just leave it to the removalist to do but the disbelieving looks on their faces when they're faced with three walls of shelving FILLED with yarn makes me uncomfortable so I do it for them.

...They should thank me!
There's a bit of wool still on the shelves in the top picture. I ran out of boxes. But that's okay. When I get another big box like all of the others I can pack up my variegated yarns, novelty yarns, feltable yarns and then probably open the basket box behind the packing boxes in the corning which are full of my cone yarns and pack them too. Do you think we're done?
Oh, how little you know me!
No, still in the cupboard is my small hoard of spinnable rovings and slivers as well as some unprocessed fleece, not to mention my embroidery frames, collection of small cross stitch patterns, boxes of small balls of yarn and just to top it all off, my huge box holding my wedding dress, hooped petticoat and veil.
There!
Now I'm done!
(Well, excluding the magazines and knitting needles but hey, you get the idea!)
So what is my point behind all this?
I don't like packing up my yarn...
...what if I need some of it?
Seriously! I get anxious packing up this vast plethora of yarns and fibres with the misguided thought that somehow a purpose will suddenly materialise for some miscellaneous ball of yarn the minute I tape down the top of the box despite the fact that the last time I looked at that yarn was when I unpacked last time!!
So to try and assuage this miasma of anxiety I have kept some projects out just so I have a couple of projects going that I can vacillate between and distract myself from the trauma of the packing process.
Unfortunately I have completed one already.
The Alpaca Warmers are a pattern I've had on my list to do for ages and since I thought they'd be complicated enough (they have a lace pattern on the back of the hand after all!) I thought I'd give them a go. I decided to use a lovely yarn I have by Moda Vera simply called Angora blend. And they aren't kidding! The angora content of this yarn caused me nothing but problems but not of a knitting nature. All the fine fibre filaments that come off the yarn as you knit make my nose feel itchy the whole time! But when you touch the gloves it makes it all worth while. They are SO SOFT!!!
I chose to knit these both at the same time. The only time this was a problem was the couple of times I had to unravel a couple of rows to fix a problem but it wasn't too difficult. I just decanted the mitt I needed onto DPN's and then knit them back onto the circular needle when I fixed them.

 These took longer than I thought they would but the lace wasn't actually that hard. I just kept losing my place on the pattern because I was trying to read but it really got complicated when I got to the lace pattern up near the fingers. You have to actually look at the mitts to realize where in the lace pattern to start each row. But well worth it!

All done, off the circular!...and now excuse me while I blow my nose again because I can feel the residual effect of tiny fibres!!!

Oh wait. Pointless vanity shots!

So there is one of my distraction projects done. Bother. I wonder what I'll do now....

...that's not going to be a problem, let me tell you! Later :)

Okay, and the list of completed works...

This is what happens when you don't keep up with this stuff. I've got a heap of projects I've completed since moving to Carnamah. But should I put them all on the one post? It's not like I don't have enough wip to keep me busy!

Ah well, let's see...

I finished the Shetland Shorty almost as soon as I'd finished unpacking my wool room...

Then I started to go through some of my stash, trying to use up those bits that were too much  not to use but not enough to make anything substantial.

So I made a waterfall scarf...

And a ripple scarf out of the same cotton-ribbon yarn.

 I used up a small ball of really pretty blue-teal flecked acrylic I'd been promising to make a pair of mitts with since there wasn't enough to do anything else with it. 

Turned out really nicely :)

I used some ice green yarn I had, from Bendigo Mills, beautifully soft and made up a very simple shawl.

Tess of the D'urbervilles Shawl

 Using some nice earthy coloured acrylic yarn I'd bought at Spotlight in Geraldton and marked another project off my Ravelry Queue with this simple scarflette with flower. Took only a couple of days to knock up!

Used an old penny turned into a button for the flower's centre!

Oh yes! My proudest project though was the Hex Mesh Socks that I finally finished after what seemed like forever! I used up all the yarn I'd reserved for them and was forced to use some white baby yarn that I had on hand to finish them. But it looks really good, almost like I meant to do it that way! So proud!

They look so PRETTY!!

So there we are. I've been in Carnamah, what, two maybe three months? I reckon that's a pretty good haul! And that doesn't even include the 4 or 5 projects I have on the go at the moment! I have all this stash and so many ideas!! I love it!!!!!

Okay, I'll calm down now. 

Happy Knitting :)

Finally managed to make the Swallowtail Shawl

It's a project I've had in my queue for ages but I've never been quite brave enough to actually start it. Once I finished a few other projects from my queue I thought, what the heck, I'll give it a burl. I've been saving some reclaimed yarn for at least the last 7 years for a lace project so it's not like I've not had it in mind! So, despite having a deep fear that I might not be able to give it the concentration it needed, I cast on.

It was much easier than I imagined. The budding lace section was really very easy once I got into the swing on it and the yarn knit up lovely.

I had to stretch the lace out because left to itself it's really not that impressive!

I didn't really hit any problems of note until I started the lace with the nupps on it! 

It didn't take me too long to decide I didn't like nupps! They require REALLY pointy knitting needles (which I didn't have!) so I had to do each one with the finest crochet hook I had that I use doing fine filet crochet !

And it was almost impossible to see whether I was making progress!

But eventually I finished, aburdly pleased to leave the nupps behind and looked at my finished creation...

Didn't look like much...

...rather like a large crumple spinach leaf really.

So I carefully washed it, got out my blocking wires and pinned it out on our spare bed and went to bed. It was nearly midnight, after all!

In the morning I went and looked at this amazing creation. So worth every irritation and frustration to be able to just look at it!

So beautiful! It's not very big, really only fit to drape round your shoulders like a triangulr scarf but it is so light and SO beautiful! I can just stare at it!

Can you tell I'm a little proud of my little project?

Happy Knitting :)

A new Year begins!

And here's hoping it's not too bumpy a ride! But on a plus side I've finished my first project for the year. I started the Cinnamon Grace Shawlette somewhere in December using some of the dyed yarn I'd been fooling around with. It's a well written pattern, very easy to follow and I'm really pleased with the results.

And one day I might even get brave enough to wash it carefully and then pin each and every one of these dinky little picots at the edge out. But I'm not holding my breath! That would be a lot of work!
Now I just have to find the next project to do. I've already got a wish list knit from Brother's Fiancee for a Celtic Tote but I need to find a nice coloured wool that'll felt. I'll need to think on that for a little while.
Ah well, so much to do and a brand new year to do it!
Happy Knitting :)

Okay, burning through my knitting queue!

I have been going through the projects I've got on my Ravelry queue and am very pleased with some and glad I've given some a go but will never do again. I've completed three in the last week and a half.
Leaf Lace Shirt-Really loved this pattern. Was simple to follow and completely seamless! I also got to use some of my recycled yarn, this one from a huge jumper I got from the op shop and unravelled and made something I will actually wear!


Cotton Potholder-Interesting. Used 5mm needles and doule stranded the cotton. Not really in love with this but it has now been conquered and I can move on!


Cabled Cowl-Another unravelled jumper gave itself to this worthy project. Was really pleased how well the cables worked, crisp and clear, just how you want them. My only real problem with this is the neck material doesn't seem to know what to do with itself. I haven't yet figured out how to get it to sit right.


I've finished another bulky hat which is blocking and drying at the moment and I've cast on another project. I'm addicted! My fingertips are cracking up under the pressure but I don't care. It is so fulfilling to be able to tick each project off one by one. Ahhh, lovely!
Anyway, I'm off to keep going and if need be put my finger guards on to stop poking holes in my fingers.
Happy Knitting :)