A Brief Interlude.

This afternoon I sat my second last exam. The final one, for my Environmental Law subject, is on Friday, so I'm tantalizingly close to being able to fall down and sleep for a week, but I'm not quite there yet. So I need to plod onwards, and give myself small rewards along the way to encourage my poor brain not to curl up and die quite yet. Rewards like a new cardigan...




What you're looking at: Easy Top Down Raglan, by Laura Chau. Knitted on a couple of 6mm circular needles (long one for the body, little one for the sleeves), out of six skeins of Noro Kureyon (100% wool), colour 213.

The endless prattle: Well, I had some Kureyon that I'd gotten my filth paws on the last time that the Aussie dollar was doing well, and I needed some stress-free exam knitting, so it's not particularly surprising that a cardigan happened. This is a great basic pattern, though I didn't follow it exactly, as my gauge was different. I used it to get a rough idea of how many stitches to cast on, and then went from there, adding a very small amount of waist shaping along the way (placed quite low on the body). I opted for 3/4 sleeves because I thought that I didn't have enough yarn for full length - though the body turned out being somewhat larger than I thought it would be, so I really could have just knitted it smaller, and then I likely would have had enough yarn for long sleeves. Oh well - I'm still happy with it.

As I mentioned before, everyone who has seen me knitting this in real life has admitted to finding it ugly. Yes, I'll admit, it's a little garish - Noro has a tendeny to be that way sometimes. But I like it anyway - it cheers me up to look at it. And I'm very enamoured with the blue buttons. I'm not normally one of those people who pays a lot of attention to such finer details, but these please me quite a lot.




See that smile? Totally forced - less than two hours before this was taken I was writing frantically in an exam, and really, what I dearly want to do is collapse (possibly after ingesting a glass of wine and something unhealthy). That said, I still quite like the cardigan.

Up next: Anna's adventures in needle-felting, a.k.a: Anna discovers a craft that basically involves stabbing something repeatedly with a barbed needle - and realises that this is actually quite a soothing hobby to pursue during exam period!

Guilty update...

Well, I'm quite thoroughly repulsive for posting now, because I really should be doing my Admin Law assignment before I go out making merry. But instead I'm indulging in the blog. For shame.

Anyway, in case you all hadn't noticed, I'm still alive. The crazy kind of busy, but definitely still breathing. Uni is running me down, but in a week I get a brief reprieve from it due to the Easter break, so hopefully there'll be some breathing space soon on that front. Japanese is still heaps of fun - I got embarrassingly excited yesterday because I could read some of the hiragana on the back of my packet of soba noodles. I was happy all afternoon because of that. I'm keeping up with my '52 Books' challenge and various creative writing pursuits too, as wordy blog will testify.

Anyway, here are the developments on the craft front:

1. I made reference to a silly knitted thing at the end of the last post. Well, ladies and gentlement, without further ado I give you... the engagement lobster!


The nitty gritty: Knit Lobster (Ravelry link) by Molly Lincoln. Knitted with a small amount of double stranded Lincraft DK acrylic yarn, on a set of 3.25mm dpns

The colour commentary: I was quite happy with how this little guy came out, even if the double stranded yarn on small needles was rather painful on the hands. I don't make toys often, but I enjoyed this one, or as much as one can enjoy knitting to a strict deadline (does tend to suck the joy out of the whole affair). Dodgy photo I know, but I finished this one with only a couple of minutes to spare, so there wasn't much time for meticulous photography. I didn't even have time to give the little guy his lobster whiskers! Oh well, the couple in question thoroughly approved of their lobster, at any rate. And don't worry - I do plan to give them a slightly less ridiculous wedding present...

2. Scarf!


The boring stuff: Basic mistake rib scarf in Dream in Color Classy (100% wool, about 1.6 skeins), 'November Muse' colourway, on 5.5mm straight needles.

The colour commentary: Not very interesting, I know, but it had come to my attention that most all of the scarves that I owned were kind of, erm, bright! Retina searingly bright. So this was my attempt at something a little more understated. I'm very pleased with how it came out. It's huge too! Over eight feet long, I'd say, as I just can't abide a stingy scarf :) If I did this one over I probably would have made it a little wider, but at least the fact that it's a little on the skinny side means that I can wear it in milder weather.

Oh, I've said so before, but I love Dream in Color yarn. So much. I've never come across any that was anything less than gorgeous... The fact that there is some more winging its way to me from the States as we speak makes me a very happy Anna indeed... Hey, what can I say? The planets aligned, the pathetic Aussie dollar rallied, and I got given an extra shift at work. Coincidence? I think not. If the universe wants to buy yarn, who am I to argue?

3. Hat!


The details: Vortex by Lee Meredith. Knitted with Noro Silk Garden (Colour 86, about half a ball) and Dream in Color Classy (leftovers from above project!) on 5.5 mm straight needles.

The colour commentary: I love this hat so much that it's embarrassing. This photo is testament to how much I love it. I am all of thirty-five seconds out of bed in this photo. Literally. I wanted a non-wet-hair photo of the hat, so I rolled out of bed, pulled on my dressing gown (see that suspiciously satiny looking black thing I'm wearing? Yep, that's a dressing gown), ran a hand through my hair (comb, what's that?), walked out into the hallway and took this photo (oh, and a couple more that don't bear speaking of). And I'm willing to post my eyes-glazed over looking, pre-shower self on the internet. Just because I love this hat, and couldn't wait any longer to put up a photo of it.

This design is constructed quite unconventionally - it's knitted side to side on straight needles, shaped using short rows, and then grafted together at the end. The pattern is genius - this is by far the funnest hat I've ever knitted. The moment I finished it I informed my brother that he would be receiving one of his own in the near future, because I wanted an excuse to make another. Fun and easy and quick - what's not to love?

The fact that I used two of my favourite yarns to make it probably doesn't hurt either, but the pattern really is great. The only mod I made to it was to wrap my short rows, because with my loose gauge it looked weird and gappy when I didn't. It's a forgiving pattern too - I think I messed up the grafting in a couple of places (hey, it was really late at night), and it hardly shows. Also, doing stripes by carrying the not-in-use yarn up the side of the knitting works so well that I can't believe that I've never done it before...

Now I just need to make one for Richard so that he can wear his own, instead of just filling in as a head model for me...


Now: off to go and do my Admin work like a good little law student (you know, one who doesn't have a terminal crafting fixation...)

Returned from my wanderings...

Yep, I'm officially back again. Got back to Melbourne this morning, after stopping off at Sydney, after stopping off at Seoul, after catching a plane in Paris, after getting on a train three hours earlier in Avignon. Yeah, it was a very long 28 hours... Haven't slept yet. But jetlag hasn't hit me like a brick to the head quite yet, so let's try for an update anyway...


So, Europe. Erm, where to start? I'm not actually sure. Here's a brief outline of the movements anyway: flew to Seoul (yeah yeah, I know that isn't in Europe) and spent a night there, then flew to Paris. Bummed around there for a few days, doing touristy things, and then high tailed it to Munich, staying a while in Brussels along the way. After Munich headed down through Austria (COLD!!! -8 degrees, people! To a poor little Aussie cold-wuss like yours truly, that's cruel and unusual torment) into Italy. Hung around in Venice (well, in Mestre, the town next to Venice - staying in Venice itself costs an arm and a leg, not to mention it was flooding at the time) and Florence, and then drove along the coast (passing through Monaco on the way) back into France. Then we stayed at a friend's place in a little town in Provence for a bit under a week, and then it was back to Paris/Seoul/Sydney/home! Whew - no wonder I'm tired.


I ate what felt like my bodyweight in cheese, gave my liver a right pounding with all of the lovely European wine and beer, tracked down all of the most morbid historical sights I could find, got hideously sick in Venice (we're talking virtually bedridden for two days - I haven't been so ill in over ten years), ran gleefully after flamingos in the swamps of the Camargue, used the most confusing toilets ever, went on some truly epic supermarket adventures, and generally had an awesome time.


If I tried to write all about what I did, I'd be here all bloody night, so I won't. And if I tried to post all of my pictures, everyone's computers would crash, so I won't do that either. So here are some of the better photos:

Because everyone loves a German beer hall... Here's the brother, showing off his manly, beer wrangling strength (hey, those things hold a litre apiece - they're heavy!)

Here's Venice, now with 10% extra flooding. I was so annoyed to get sick at this point of the trip, because Venice was basically the thing I was looking forward to the most - I've wanted to go for years, because I've studied a lot of the history and just generally dig the place.

Some of the Roman ruins in Arles. They had a fantastic amphitheatre in Orange as well, but I'm particularly enamoured with how blue the sky was on this particular day. To be frank, the weather was rotten for most of the trip, but while we were in Provence it treated us wonderfully (aside from the first few days of having our arses frozen off by the Mistral).

I took heaps more - that's just a few at random. Suffice to say, I had an awesome time.

And yes, there was knitting. I only got one pair of socks finished the entire month I was away (can we say pathetic?), but I'm quite enamoured with them. Noro goodness...

And they match! For some bizarre reason, it turns out that when you knit a women's size 11 sock with this yarn on this size needle, you end up magically back at the start of the colour repeat when you finish. Total fluke. Weird. Anyway, I love them quite a lot. It means I can reprise my look of head to toe black with brightly coloured socks from a few years back - it'll brighten up the law school at least, even if everyone does think that I'm a right idiot...

Mildly disobedient

Whoops. I might have cast on for my Corona jumper after all. Despite not having finished either the raglan or the hat. Bad Anna. Oh well, I did do some work on the raglan - just a sleeve and a half to go - and the hat only needs a good solid half hour or so sunk into it before it's finished.

Behold, my illicit jumper startings...

Yum.

Anyway, I figure since this pattern commences by asking you to do five inches of 1x1 ribbing right off the bat, it made sense to start it while the motivation was there. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Anyway, the Dream in Colour yarn is just as beautiful knitted up as it is in the skein. Once again: yum.

I got my Sundara yarn too. Turns out that it was actually sitting in my PO box while I was writing the last entry, but I didn't get it until the next day because I'd assumed that it wouldn't be there yet, so hadn't bothered checking for it. Silly me. Anyway, it is indeed absolutely beautiful. I have wicked plans for it too... I'm thinking I want to make another Woodland Shawl, except a longer, thinner scarf version. Now my only decision is whether or not to save it for Europe knitting... Just not sure if I have the restraint to wait over a month before getting stuck in.

Still beavering away on the raglan - it's getting there slowly. I've finished the body, and I'm very happy with the fit - especially considering that I employed my usual happy-go-lucky method of waist shaping.



Doesn't look like much now, but I'm happy with how it's coming along (but happy enough to bother taking a halfway decent photo? Apparently not!).

I took a photo of my Belle Beret too, but it still looks frustratingly like a showercap. Perhaps I'll go and finish it so I can have closure on the matter... Oh, and I may possibly have raided WoolBaa this morning. I might possibly have bought more Noro Iro, because I'm so in love with this yarn in this particular colourway that it is apparently insufficient to possess merely a hat made from it - the universe is telling me that I need a scarf also... Stupid universe...

Off to tackle me a sleeve...

Slow going and retail therapy.

Still beavering away on the Mrs Darcy cardigan - all the knitting is done now, and I should finish seaming it tomorrow. Then I'll just need to procure some suitable buttons, and we'll be in business. So expect a finished cardigan soon...


Things have been a little slow on the knitting front - between working a lot and hurting my hand the other day, there hasn't been a lot going on. A bit of swatching, and a few false starts at experimental projects. I'll get back on the horse soon enough. Or at least I'd better, given the amount of yarn I've bought over the last week.


Still, there's been progress on the, erm, materialistic end of things. This was the result of my little jaunt over to Malvern. I should not be allowed to go to Wondoflex again for quite a while...




(clockwise from top: some Silk Garden in a colourway that I just couldn't resist, some Noro sock yarn, and some more of the Montage 8ply handpainted yarn that I'm so hopelessly addicted to)

Yes, yes, I have a serious Noro problem. I know. At least I can afford it now.

It was the first time I'd been to Wondoflex - the shop was great. I liked the fact that it was a bit more spacious than other places in Melbourne - sometimes I feel a little claustrophobic in the smaller shops. Definitely worth the train trip, anyway.

Anyway, while there hasn't been a great deal going on as far as knitting goes, I've been doing lots of cooking. Seems I've finally gotten my sourdough to work, so I am now officially one of those hippies who bakes their own bread. Behold:

This one was a white/rye mix, and I was very pleased with the way that it turned out. The crust was perfect, and it actually had the texture of bread (as opposed to the scone like/damper texture that some homemade breads often have). Last week I went around to visit some friends and we had a cook up - I instructed them in the ancient art of guacamole, and we all ate so much that we couldn't move afterwards. And tonight I made white chocolate, pecan and cranberry biscuits (from one of my beloved Nigella Lawson cookbooks). They turned out beautifully (the mixture tasted pretty bloody good uncooked as well!). Oh, and I've now tried goat's butter. As in, butter made out of goat's milk. It was really nice actually - snow white in colour and with a very slight savoury taste.

Anyway, that's enough about food... I'll conclude with photographic proof that not only is my venus fly trap still alive and well - it's thriving. Haven't given it a name yet though... must do so.

My knit blog has carnivorous plant life. Does yours?