grumpygirl

Not fine bone china

Getting him hooked early.

And slow progress on a WIP.

Bark, Forest, Brick and Frost

We went for drive to Bendigo yesterday. I'm glad I didn't attempt this with WB on my own. It was a long drive there and back, and although I thought I'd taken enough food for him, it wasn't. He really enjoyed his first proper babycino.

Plus, it took me ages to choose colours at the mill. I'm glad I saw them in person though, as the shade cards just don't give you the full picture. I really liked the Denim colourway in the 8ply cotton, but there weren't any other complimentary colours to make up a blanket so I didn't buy any. I also tried to get some matching colours for the leftover Oceanic in 8ply Luxury, but nothing goes with it.

So, I ended up buying some colours that I normally wouldn't have gone with. Not sure what kind of knitted or crocheted blanket these 8 balls will become. 

And lastly, here we have WB's usual reaction to anything which I lay down neatly on the floor.

I'll do a proper photoshoot after it's been washed and blocked.

Oh and yes, I skipped posting yesterday, but that means I'm only 2 post short this month, which is not bad, all things considered.

And then there was puke

Late yesterday afternoon, we set off for the hills to our first Xmas do.

Once again, we didn't really talk to many other people, mostly because we don't know them and also because it's really hard to chit chat whilst 80% of your mind is focused on one very active toddler who really just wants to be allowed to stage dive down the verandah, into the rain and close to the dogs.

But it was nice to be outside and to see sockmonster. And WB LOVED the dogs and the people and the space and the dogs and the children and the trampoline, and, did I mention the dogs? And sockmonster's littlest, who is way taller than me.

I didn't get any pictures apart from on the drive home, but they just didn't capture the eerie light through the trees.

Today, we picked up some yarn from Northcote and then went swimming. Where I frogged half a ball of that dratted lacy chevron blankie. For the third time. 

I love seeing all the dads in the pool with the babies though.

Then home to veg out and wait for the crazy rain to stop for a ride. It didn't really happen. Which it turns out was probably a good thing, as WB threw up on me again about an hour ago, poor thing. God I am loving childcare.

But he's asleep now and I've actually cast on some knitting for once. I still have the garter striped blankie to knit, but it's a bit boring and since I'm no longer knitting it for WB and have no other kidlet in mind yet, there's no imperative. During the hot hot hot days of last week, I was racking my brain about what to knit but just couldn't contemplate anything substantial, really, as the idea of holding any amount of yarn bigger than a granny square would make me sweat.

But today, I decided on Ishbel. Only half the world has made it now, so I guess it's safe, right? I really really wanted some slightly variegated yarn for it, but I don't have any, so I settled for the Blue Sky Alpaca's Alpaca and Silk, of which I have 3 skeins of in Garnet. It's lovely and squishy, so should make me happy.

Incidentally, yarn shop in Northcote? Weird. But it was 20% off and had the Purelife Organic Cotton in Logwood, which I can't find anywhere else in Australia, so I can't complain. It saves me from doing a purchase from Webs in the US, and then buying more yarn to make the most of the shipping.

Hot

This morning I sat outside during the swimming lesson again. This hot weather is killing me. It's only the second day and I'm not sure how I'll cope by the time next week's lesson rocks around. Tonight, it hasn't even cooled down sufficiently to open the windows.

So I'm sitting here under our very old, electricity-guzzling airconditioner finishing off another washcloth, practicing my new continental knitting style.

 

WB is draped over his cot mattress on the floor in front of the tv, sound asleep. We've bought a little evaporative cooler for his room, but it's still a stinking 28.8 degrees in there. I really hope he doesn't end up in bed with us again tonight - he spent most of last night hogging the bed and feeding rather frequently.

Project monogamy

Well, if you count three as 'monogamist'. But they're three that I feel like I've been working on forever whilst everything else is on backburners.

Herewith some badly-taken photos of my three WIPs.

Firstly, the random stripes garter blankie for WB to take to childcare. I'm still not sure about it. It's a bit girly. And I still have about 40g left of the pink to go.

Next up we have two halves of the two pink and purple grannies I'm making.

I'll need to split these squares in two and knit 36 more squares of two colours in the middle vertical row. I hope they don't turn out too dark, but I'll be dammed if I'm going to buy more non-sale yarn for my sale-yarn projects.

And lastly, the lacey ripple. It's slow going on a 3.25mm hook and I keep on having to frog, recrochet, frog, so I'll be glad when it's done. I think I'm about 40% through.

Slightly random

I managed to get about two rows done in the sandpit this morning. I hope it gets better with more repeats. I'm using some leftover 8ply cotton I have; the Sublime Organic Cotton and some Bendigo 8ply cotton. These yarns are DK weight, but are waaay thinner than the Rowan Handknit Cotton DK or the Debbie Bliss DK Cotton (both of which I also have leftovers for).

However, it's the first time I've mixed different types of yarn, so yay me! And yes, it's random stripes, but I must admit there are a few rules. Like the 3 base colours must alternate with the slightly stronger colours of pink, green and blue. And there must be an even number of rows. And that I can't use the same repeat as the previous. And um, whatever else I make up as I go along.

I've been testing out different needles with this one. I started on the Addi Click interchangeables, but for the first time, I found addis slippery with cotton. And I've been reading whilst I've knit, so I think I held my hands funny in order to see the book, so I got a bit of RSI in my left wrist.

So I switched to my Brittany Birch straights, but they were too short for 186 sts. I then switched to my Addi Natura circulars, but the 60cm cords were too short. I then finally remembered about my Knit Picks Options, which are perfect for this knitting. Lucky. I was beginning to think twice about my plan to get stiletto points when I eventually get my Signature Arts needles, because I was beginning to fear that longer points would mean that my knitting would sit really far away from the end of the needle. But it isn't sitting as far back on the Options as on the Clicks, so it's all good. Geez, I really need to get better with the sentence structure and punctuation once I get back to work!

No coffee, no wine

I'm bone-dead tired this week. The boy has a chesty cough and a runny nose and is feeding up a storm. So no coffee to keep me awake or wine to send me quickly off to the land of snooze.

On the plus side, I've finally sorted out child care arrangements for when I return to werk, so that allows us to do some planning.

This is given me the kick I needed to start his child care blankie. I was just going to use Bendigo 8ply cotton, but when rummaging through my knitting basket, found some leftover Sublime Organic Cotton DK, and as they are supposedly the same gauge, I cast on! Just random stripes, but I'm hoping to get it finished sooner rather than later, so that there is time for WB to start using it enough to know it's his. Then it can be a comfort item for him at child care. Ok, one more row in bed then I'm off to get some sleep before he wakes for a feed.

Impending sale

Oh dear. My LYS is having a winter sale starting Saturday. At least 30% off off discontinued lines and colours. I really really don't need more yarn. I've got at least 3 girl blankets yet to be cast on, but I was planning on buying some Bendigo yarn (loving their Luxury) for these. argh!

Of course, I will be there when it opens, but I shall try to take some restraint with me.

Cakes and pooling

We went to a 3rd birthday party today.

Best overheard line of the day was: "Don't worry about your costume Batman, just run!" Superman also made an appearance:

The birthday girl's mum (of three, one of whom is practically a newborn) baked up a storm and made the coolest Upsy Daisy cake:

I am such a sloth. WB got a home bought cake and a candle.

On the continental knitting front, I think I am getting a bit faster. If nothing else, I'm knitting much more loosely than I was. I'm even tempted to go down a size. But it wasn't until loosened up a bit that I realised that I'd I had been so focussed on the technique that I didn't pay sufficient attention to the pooling, that eventually started to annoy me with it's ugliness:

So this morning (or was it last night? I'm a bit vague these days), I bit the bullet and frogged back. Luckily, I was able to knit in the car today without getting carsick, so I'm now back to where I started. It still pools a little, but not quite as bad as it was. I'm almost ready to join the second skein and start the decreases. Hopefully the scarf will be big enough.

Saturday morning knit-in

Hooray for husbands and babies who go to sleep at 7pm.

I'm loving the way this KPPPM is knitting up. No crazy pooling. Fingers crossed this continues. My gauge is 26sts/4" rather than 28sts on 3mm needles. But I like the drape on these needles. 2.75mms might be too tight. Plus, my 2.75mm straights have been chopped up, waiting for the ends to be removed and re-glued onto the shorter needles.