Mitts, handspun and cupcakes!

Whew - you can't half tell that it's semester time again! Between my lack of regular posting and my comparative lack of knitting progress, it probably goes without saying that life is busy. I'm keeping on top of it rather well though - I've even stopped leaving my assignments until the last minute. Wonders will never cease.

But let's forget about the I'm-so-busy whinge and cut straight to the knitting I have been doing. Behold! I finally finished my long-suffering New Orleans Mitts:




(it only occurred to me after uploading this picture to Ravelry that I'm doing the stereotypical pregnant woman pose with my hands - I assure you all that I am most definitely not pregnant!)

The basic info: Used Classic Elite Inca Alpaca (100% alpaca) yarn knitted on 4mm dpns. Didn't really use a pattern. Cast on 30 stitches and basically just worked a tube, adding a hole for the thumb (I used the thumb hole method from this pattern, since it works a treat). There's ribbing at the start, end and on the thumb, and there's a few increases here and there to improve the fit (I have narrow wrists but comparatively wide hands), but there really wasn't much to these. The stripes are 2 rows long, and I made them jogless by slipping the first stitch of each round on the second row of each colour.

Commentary: These aren't really anything exciting, but I'm happy with them. I love the way that the subdued colours look when striped. I love stripey things, but sometimes they can be a little bit loud - these are much more low key. They're also beautifully warm thanks to the alpaca.

Still, the thing that I like the best about these mitts is the fact that I had to restart them, odd though that sounds. Originally I cast on too many stitches, and was about three inches in by the time I realised that the mitts I was knitting were going to be much looser than I was after. However, the reason why I restarted is inconsequential. The main point is that I was willing to do a little bit of work and restart rather than just push on and ultimately end up with a project I wasn't entirely happy with. I honestly think that I would have taken the latter route a year or so ago, and it makes me pleased that I'm now willing to do what it takes to get something right. Makes me feel as if I've matured as a crafter, as incredibly pretentious as such a sentiment sounds.

In other news, I plied some of the handspun from last post.




If we're being honest, I really have no idea what I'm going to do with this yarn. It's not really my thing. That said, I love it fiercely, so I suppose I'll have to think of something!

And alas, there hasn't been all that much else going on as far as craft goes. I've been working away in fits and starts on my tweedy cardigan, and although it's not coming out exactly how I'd planned, I'm still happy enough with it. Only one sleeve to go, so hopefully you'll be seeing it soon. I've been doing a fair bit of cooking; lots of delicious winter soups, and one day when I was feeling inventive I tried my hand at making chai-flavoured cupcakes. They were lovely!

I'd like to say that I've been doing more knitting than just mentioned, but the truth is that I haven't. Don't get me wrong, I still love the craft - life has just been getting in the way. Partly it's been due to me falling down into the Designer's Void, where I drag my feet because I have to actually - gasp - think to finish my half-completed projects, instead of just looking at someone else's pattern notes. I've also been on a massive creative writing kick the last week or so, and while this is awesome, it does take away from my knitting time. Still, I suspect that once I finally get this cardigan off of the needles I'll be back into knitting with a vengeance! In the mean time, kindly admire my handspun yarn and homemade cupcake:




(Not to be confused with handspun cupcakes. That would be odd.)

Procrastination in all its forms

Apologies for the blog silence. Uni has been busy, my internship has started, and to top it all off, I spent a lot of last week being sick with a rather rotten head-cold. Being sick is never a lot of fun, but at least I got some of my assignments done. For some reason though, I never feel like knitting when I'm ill. I've done a little bit of work on my cardigan, but I've been terribly lazy when it comes to finishing my hand warmers. This is especially deplorable because I know very well that all they really need is an hour or so of work, and then they'll be done. Bad Anna.

On the up side, I have been doing some more spinning!




I bought this a while back, but wanted to go through all of my dodgier 'learning' fibre before I tackled it. And I actually kept this resolution - the last of the plain fibre was dyed with avocado pits and spun up during the week, so I've started on the nicer stuff!




(I know the photo is slightly weird - I am having Camera Issues at the moment). I'm really enjoying learning how to spin. I find it very relaxing, and kind of addictive. And I can do it when my eyes are too tired to knit, which is a plus. And as you can see, I'm gradually improving - the above skein is bordering on respectable! That said, I tried my hand at plying last night and the result is, erm, not quite as impressive. But still, that's what learning is all about, I suppose.

Next post, actual knitting content - I promise! In the mean time, I leave you with a picture of the home brewed beer we bottled a few weeks ago. Still needs a little bit of time to improve, but it's pretty good - the first brew I've been involved in from start to finish. Exciting! (well, I think so)

Time Travel

Okay, so I can't actually time travel. But the start of another semester of university always makes me feel like I can. Weeks can pass in the blink of an eye - weeks in which I tragically neglect my poor little blog. But here I am, back again.




University started last week, and it looks like it's going to be a good semester, as I've lucked out with teachers and subjects. Very soon I get to start my internship, and that should be a really good experience as well. And I've been catching up with all of the university friends that I missed when I was travelling. One of them gave me some lovely beeswax candles that she had acquired on her own travels - aren't they pretty!

Now, I have actually been managing to fit a surprising amount of knitting into all of this. However, I don't have photos. Partially because I am too lazy and/or busy to take them, but mostly because pictures of half completed projects are just never really that impressive. Or not when I take them anyway. I've seen some lovely shots of works-in-progress on other people's blogs and Ravelry pages, but if there's a knack to taking them, I don't have it, and I don't feel like subjecting people to a blurry shot of my single completed hand-warmer today.

Rest assured, however, that the handwarmers are coming along swimmingly. I've finished one bar the thumb, and the other should follow very quickly since I can just brainlessly copy the first one without having to turn my mind to questions of length, width and ribbing. Hurrah for mindless knitting.

I've also been working on a top down wrap-style cardigan out of some dark blue tweedy yarn that I've had kicking around for a while. The top down style is of course very familiar to me. The wrap style however is not, so it will be interesting to see how that one pans out. It's probably near to half finished, at any rate, so we won't be waiting that much longer.

So while there is indeed knitting progress, unfortunately it doesn't lend itself well to photos. Thankfully, however, other things do! The Boy and I celebrated our anniversary last week; we made celebratory pizzas and had Floor Picnic in front of the television because the weather in Melbourne in July is nothing to write home about. But the pizza was lovely (if a little poorly lit in this photo!).




The cold weather has also brought some of the local wildlife into the house. A recurring guest in my abode is a tiny little gecko, who made his first appearance a few weeks ago in the laundry/toilet area of all places. So it was only logical to christen him Mr Toilet Gecko. Ridiculous name aside, he's a cute wee thing:




Well, I think he's cute anyway - look at that little beady eye!

Next post: finished handwarmers!

Episode Eighty-Four: In Which Anna Emerges from her Book Pile

Whew! (Comparatively) Long time, no post! The strange thing is, I'm not really sure what's been holding it up. I would like to pin it on assignments, but I haven't really been grappling with any more of those than usual. I'm not working a larger number of shifts than usual. My social calendar has not been filled to bursting point with glamorous social events, leaving me too time-short to post. Nope, this is the scary kind of 'life going fast' - the kind where you don't even know where all of the time has gotten to!

All of that said, life is going well enough. I got the results from my first round of assignments, and for the most part they were all very pleasant surprises. I have been busily planning my holiday - a good thing too, seeing as I'm off in a little over a month. I acquired a brand new fish tank. I will be retiring my old, too-small one (because I really don't need three tanks to maintain) and hopefully making a valiant attempt to turn it into a terrarium (for some reason the urge to make one has been circling in my head like for the last few months). My fish seem very happy in their new home, and this pleases me to an extent that is probably quite silly. And finally, people on Ravelry have been making my pattern, and this fills me with excitement.

As for the knitting, I have been working feverishly away on my Tea Leaves cardigan, and it's not too far off of being finished. The body, including the Yoke That Just Wouldn't End, is all done, and I am about halfway through the first sleeve and progressing at a good speed.




Despite at least one friend concluding that the yarn is 'poo-coloured', I've decided that I quite like the colour. I can't say that there's a lot of brown in my wardrobe, and I wouldn't have the first clue as to what kinds of colours go well with brown, but I look forward to finding out! Besides, jeans go with everything, right? Even poo-brown.




Besides, Dream in Colour yarn is gorgeous. Just plain gorgeous.

Now, because I'm sure you're all sick of looking at the poo brown (see, now I'm saying it), I have been working on other things too. The sock yarn shrug that I was playing around with a month ago is coming along, though it's been on hold the last week or so, just because magic-looping the sleeve was grating a little. I've finished one sleeve though, so now there's just the other and a bit more of the back to go. I edged the sleeve with a picot bind-off in a contrasting colour and I quite like the way it looks, though I'm not sure how well the bind-off worked with the loose gauge. Oh well, you live and learn.

In other news, I finally caught up with The Boy and was able to apply my lovingly knitted scarf to his Melbourne-autumn chilled neck. See!




(note: he does not actually have a Man-Bob. It just looks that way because the rest of his hair is covered by the scarf, I swear. And yes, my desk is apparently covered in fish food and limes. Want to make something of it?)

And that's about all I have for the moment. Stay tuned for the conclusion of the Tea Leaf cardigan saga (okay, perhaps saga is a strong word), and also for cupcakes. I've been conscripted by my work to bake a huge batch for a cancer fundraiser in a couple of weeks, and I'll be sure to take pictures...

Busy, busy, busy...

Alas, aside from this brief post, the blog silence will be continuing on for a little while yet. I am having one-of-those-weeks as far as university goes: three assignments due over the course of four days. I am a very busy girl.

But it's okay, because I have stress-free knitting, in the form of the previously mentioned tasty-warm Malabrigo scarf for The Boy:




I'm also back home, and have my beloved fish to stare at. And a capsicum - I try and make sure that I have some sort of vegie plant growing at times of academic stress, because they're fun to take five minutes to go look at when things are getting hectic. Hah, I'm turning into such a hippie...




Hopefully I'll post sometime late this week, possibly with a completed scarf and news of other projects. In the mean time, enjoy my paltry attempts at home-grown foodstuffs!

New Starts

First thing is first: as promised, my new project:




This is a (really lacklustre) photo of the new project that I merrily started while revelling in the sense of freedom that resulted from sending my half finished summer top to the naughty corner. It's going to be Cybele (Ravelry link only I'm afraid) from the French Girl Knits book by Kristeen Griffen-Grimes, and I'm using the forest green Cascade 220 that I originally had earmarked for my Snow White jumper. I was a bit hesitant in starting this, because while I think that the pattern is absolutely gorgeous, it's one of those garments. You know, the kind that look amazing in the book on a model, but might not look quite so wonderful when worn in real life. Still, I decided that I'll take the chance - it will address the cable craving that I've been experiencing the last little while.

Looking at this pattern’s projects on Ravelry, I arrived at the conclusion that negative ease would really be the key to making this work like I wanted it to. I think I'm going to opt for the smallest size, which is a 31 inch bust - despite the fact that mine is more like 36 inches. This terrified me a little at first, but I looked at the sizing and realised that the above recommendations are based on the two front pieces being able to meet in the middle, whereas the look I'm really aiming for is how it's illustrated in the book, with the two pieces stretched and not quite meeting. I am really hoping that this decision doesn't come back to bit me in the behind, but I suppose that if it does, at least it'll be amusing and I will hopefully have provided some entertainment.

This project isn't the only slightly-uncertain new start I'm making at the moment. University goes back again next week, and I have, perhaps foolishly, decided to go in for one more year of educational servitude before leaving to make my way in the big scary world of Full Time Work. Not in my law student guise however, since thankfully for my sanity, those days are now behind me - in fact my graduation ceremony is in a few weeks time, so I'll be sure to post pictures of that. Rather this year I thought that I would make an attempt to tie together my love of writing, my knack for words, my English Literature degree and my abilities in Media Law - in a few days time I'll be starting a one year postgraduate diploma of editing/communications. I am looking forward to it, but I'm also mildly terrified by it, as indeed I am terrified by most change that happens in my life. Still, change is good, for all that it's scary, so hopefully this will be a good thing. Wish me luck.

And because I never feel right having just one picture per post:

This is one of the few Nice Dresses that I own, since I've never really been one for formal occasions, and generally have to be forcibly wrestled (or the social equivalent thereof) into nice clothing. I'm very keen on it - I bought it in Tasmania when I went there with with Rebecca last year, and have since worn it to much acclaim. The problem is that it's strapless, and sometimes you just don't want to be prancing around in a strapless dress alone. So it occurred to me that I should knit some sort of cover up that I could wear with it. I can't decide whether to make something black, or use my the Dream in Colour yarn pictured above (in real life it's a darker shade that matches the dress a bit closer). Hmmm... Black would probably be a safer bet, but if the Dream in Colour worked it would be just gorgeous. Food for thought, anyway...

Project Banishment and a Trip to the Zoo

A few posts ago anyone reading even slightly attentively would have seen a project I was working on - a summery top made from my long hoarded Sanguine Gryphon 'Dance' yarn. Looked a little like this (and yes, I am blatantly reusing the picture, because I am a Slovenly Blogger).




Last post I believe that I made mention of the fact that I was having trouble figuring out how I was going to finish it. Well, alas, progress was not made - or very little of it anyway. It got to the stage where I just didn't really feel like knitting any more because I knew I should be working on this, and it was niggling at me whenever I worked on something else. Obviously, one does not indulge in hobbies with the goal of feeling unpleasant about it, so I decided that something had to be done. So, from this point onwards, this project is banished to the naughty corner. Life is too short to knit things that you are just not that enthused about. I have knitted things that I have enjoyed making but have worn very little - that is not the ideal, but it's still far from a waste of time. I have knitted things that were completely tedious, but that I adore and wear to death once they're done - again, a worthwhile endeavour. And of course, there are those wonderful projects that you love every moment of, both the knitting and the wearing. But I'm not willing to spend time on knitting something that I am so underwhelmed by.

I would like to salvage this one if I possible, as that much stockinette in such a small gauge has taken forever and a half - all the more so because the bottom was deliberately designed with A Lot of negative ease. But this is gorgeous yarn and I don't want it to languish forever on something that I don't really wear, so if I have to rip it out and start over, I will. At least now I'll have a better idea of how the yarn behaves, and can design with that in mind. The amusing part is that I feel so much better now that this decision has been reached - it never ceases to amaze me how liberating a decision can be, even when it's a decision to abandon something.




In other news, life has been busy around here (all the more reason I do not need to be spending my precious leisure time on knitting projects that I'm not really feeling the love for). I got a new fishbowl (a lovely big 12 litre number) and three lovely (but tiny) white cloud minnows. This is not a good picture, I know - I found the bowl quite difficult to photograph, but at least this one shows off the beautiful plant. It looks quite lovely against the black gravel, and I've had a lot of compliments about how the whole set up looks.

I've also been working a lot, which eats a lot of my energy, especially when it's this hot (we have no air conditioning inside the shop, which means working in temperatures going all the way up to the high 30s and beyond - not fun). And I've been doing a lot of writing and sewing, and also hunting for a new job. It's been fun, but I am beginning to realise that I probably need to cut down on hobbies if I want to keep my sanity once uni starts again - I had to go home sick from work last week simply because I was so tired that I was dizzy and disoriented, and classes aren't even running at the moment! So unfortunately I think that the future holds more rest and fewer fun things for Anna - perhaps I need to learn to knit while I sleep.




And as alluded to by the title of this post, last week there was a trip to Melbourne Zoo! I went with the boyfriend and a couple of friends, and a very good time was had. It was the first time I'd been to the zoo in years, and definitely the first time I'd been since I'd gotten my mitts on a digital camera. Behold, the incredibly cuteness that is the red panda. Though the highlight for me was some leopard rays that were in a small tank near the seals. They were amazing - like big friendly curious frisbees with funny little faces and oddly human looking eyes. I fell a little bit in love with them, proving I think that deep down I will always be that little kid who collects bugs and creepy crawlies in jars.

I was going to blog a little about my newest project, but I recently came to the conclusion that this blog would probably be a lot better if I posted shorter posts more frequently, rather than the (comparatively) huge but sporadic posts I make at the moment. So in the spirit of this resolution, you'll just have to wait until next time!

Erm, whoops.

It occurs to me that I probably forgot to mention the fact that I was going on holiday in January. Holiday to a place with very little by way of internet access. Hence, please excuse my conspicuous lack of posting/commenting for the next while. Rest assured that I have indeed been getting some knitting done, not to mention all of the other things that you conventionally do when you're having a beach holiday (swimming, eating too much, chasing octopus around rockpools, going through far too much sunscreen, etc).

Come late January, I shall return, with finished objects in tow, and all going to plan, my first pattern. In the meantime, I hope 2010 is treating everyone kindly thus far!

Christmas and the Usual December Mayhem

Whew! Long time, no post. Bad Anna - I've been trying to do the blogging-type-thing more regularly, but the last few weeks have been chaotic. I've been working A Lot over the last few weeks, and when your work day is nine and a half hours long, and you only get to sit down for half an hour the whole time, you tend to come home too tired to even think straight, let alone write blog posts. Especially when you're having to deal with Christmas shoppers....

My own Christmas shopping was fairly limited. I don't tend to go into a mad gift frenzy this time of year. I tend to make things for most people, and only buy a few things for immediate family and sometimes close friends, which really doesn't take that long because I actually think about what I'm going to get them beforehand, rather than just aimlessly trawling the shops and getting depressed by the rampant consumerism and the stress all around. That sounds bitter, but it isn't really. I really like this time of year because I enjoy making people things and giving gifts - I really enjoy it. What makes me sad is the fact that so many people don't seem to enjoy it; they seem to get so bummed out by the feeling of obligation to get gifts for everyone that it sucks the joy out of the whole thing. That's one of the reasons that I like making things for people - I would much rather stay at home, relax, make up a few batches of biscuits to give to friends and enjoy the process of doing something for them than traipse sadly around department stores.

So, long story short, most friends and coworkers got baked goods this year. Though there was a little spot of Christmas knitting. I acquired a present or two for my brother, but by Christmas Eve there weren't that many presents for him under the (hastily erected) tree, and I thought I should rectify the situation. So I spent a rather delightful Christmas Eve night watching Watchmen, eating grilled cheese on toast and knitting a hat for the brother:




(I did have a picture of him wearing it, but he'd just gotten off of an international flight and I thought it would be uncharitable to post pictures of his jet-lagged self on the internet. Maybe later)

The info: Turn a Square by Jared Flood, knitted on 5.5mm double-pointed needles, out of a bit over half a ball of Rowan Pure Wool Aran, and scraps of Cleckheaton Merino Supreme and Bendigo Woollen Mills Rustic 12ply.

The commentary: This was a really great, simply pattern, and was wonderfully quick as well (I hurried it along a little by using heavier weight yarn than called for and casting on fewer stitches). Given my love of raglan style pullovers, I'm actually quite amazed that it took me this long to try the decrease style out in a hat, especially given the fact that I've in the past had quite a bit of trouble with crown shaping. At any rate, I'm definitely glad I did try it - I think I see more of these hats in my future...

The hat aside, the rest of Christmas was a good bit of fun. The aforementioned brother arrived back from Canada on Christmas morning, and bestowed some gifts that he'd acquired over there. My father was particularly enamoured with these slippers:




Not long after, we all sat down to a lovely lunch. Nowadays we don't really tend to do the Christmas roast - too often the Australian weather doesn't really lend itself to such a thing, and when there are only two carnivores in the family, there's not that much call for excessive amounts of meat anyway. So instead we were traditional in the Australian sense and had a barbeque! Behold, our fine spread:



Lamb skewers, roast potatoes, salad, and some lovely cheese and cornbread kebabs with grilled vegetables... Yum. For dessert, we had almond biscuits and ice-cream with this sauce. I have been eating the sauce leftovers today, scooped into my mouth with whole pecans. Yes, I know this will clog my arteries faster than you can say 'saturated fats' - don't care! So a good time was definitely had by all.

In other news, despite work grinding me into the ground, I have been doing some knitting. I have a nearly completed hat and a half completed cardigan on the needles - both my own designs. So stay tuned for those in the near future.

Lastly, on a sadder note, we unfortunately ended up celebrating Christmas with one less family member present than on the previous year. While he had battled on for quite some time, determined to keep sleeping all over my knitting and getting under my feet while I baked for as long as he possibly could, a little under two weeks ago Alex my poor old man cat was just not doing well, so I took him off for his final trip to the vet. We had hoped that he'd last long enough to see my brother at Christmas, but alas it was not to be, and in some ways it's probably better that way - it would possibly have been ever sadder for my brother to see him as he was by the end. I was a bit of a soggy mess at the time - the cat and I had been a duo ever since I was six years old - but really, it was a happy ending. He was nearly 20 years old - he'd had a long life, and a happy one, and he had a merciful end when it was time, with someone who loved him by his side: we should all be so lucky. I, umm, have something in my eyes.... so I'll just leave it at this: Goodbye old man cat - I'll never ever forget you.




So as not to end on such a maudlin note: I generally find the phrase 'Seasons Greetings' to be somewhat irritating, so I don't really want to employ it here, but to everyone who's celebrating at this time of year - for whatever occasion or reason - I hope you have a really wonderful time!

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!

Food related diversions

See, this is the part where I feel torn. On the one hand, last post I (foolishly) promised that I'd be showing off my newly completed Sylvi coat in the next update. But on the other, it's been quite a while since I updated!

Behold, my compromise! I shall indeed post, but it will be food related! I've been languishing, sad and baked-goods-less, for quite a while now due to oven related technical difficulties. But then my delightful engineer father returned from overseas and managed to convince the cranky old contraption to work again, so I have been making the most of it.

As shown above, I made Spinach and Feta Pie (under the guise of being Very Sensible, as I froze a goodly portion of it for my upcoming exam period and all those nights when I want to eat breakfast cereal for dinner because I'm just too burnt out to cook).

I made an absolutely delicious Honey Chocolate Cake as dessert for some visiting friends (see, this is why I need a functional oven - baked goods are my social currency and without them I feel woefully inadequate!).




And in a fit of silliness, myself and a gentleman caller (haha, yes indeed...) made Triceratops Pie. Kindly note the delightful dinosaur shaped pastry decoration. I should probably note at this point that the pie did not contain any actual triceratops - and my most sincere apologies to anyone who is disappointed on that front. The pie did however contain pumpkin, leeks, onion, ricotta, garlic, parsley and other such tasty things, so none of the parties involved felt shortchanged by the lack of actual dinosaur product.




These culinary achievements aside, there is no reprieve in sight for the poor hardworking oven. A good friend of mine is getting married on the weekend, and I have been conscripted to provide some delightful nibbly baked goods for us to graze upon while we prepare and make merry. I shall do my very best not to suffer from any kind of performance anxiety at the prospect of cooking for such an auspicious occasion!

In other, less pleasant news: it was confirmed week before last that my poor old man cat does indeed have cancer. This was obviously not good what we were hoping for, and I'm sad that my family are all away and are therefore unable to spend more time with the poor old fellow while he's still around. However, the fact that he's had such a good run of it is somewhat of a comfort - if only all cats were lucky enough to live to his age, after all. The good news is that despite all of this, he's perfectly chipper and is acting his usual nuisance self (i.e. stealing my computer chair every time I get up to get more tea). He's not thrilled about the various pills I have to wrestle into him twice a day, but you can't have everything, can you?

Oh, and many thanks to all those who sent good wishes his way via the blog, Ravelry etc - much love and gratitude to you all! The senile old man says thank-you too!

(well, actually in this photo I think he's just irked because I'm bothering him, but I'm sure he would have put on an obligingly grateful face if he knew the purpose of the photo!)




In closing, back to the details of the compromise. The next knitting related post shall remain reserved for my Sylvi (which is anyway so close to being finished that I could knock it off this afternoon if I put my mind to it, so hopefully the wait won't be long!). So I'm not waffling! Not even a little! Most definitely not!

Self Restraint and a Cat

So. It occurs to me that I probably have enough yarn (see above for pretty green things!). More than enough yarn even. Realistically speaking, I could probably continue knitting at my usual rate for an entire year without needing to buy more yarn. This is arguably a rather delightful problem to have, if indeed you could call it a problem, but I have decided that seeing as I don't really need more yarn, but will have a need to conserve money (exams are not too far off, so I won't be working nearly as much as usual), some self restraint might be in order over the next little while.

I'm not going to use the word "diet" because I'm not keen on it. It's not something I do when it comes to food (frankly, I'm young and healthy, so what on earth is wrong with just eating well and exercising?), and I'd really like to keep my life "diet" free. So I'm not going to stop buying yarn all together. However, there shall be creative and productivity-encouraging restrictions put in place: the rule of this Not Yarn Diet is that I am now supposed to knit 500g (so ten 50g balls, or whatever) from my stash for every yarn purchase I make. Blog will keep me accountable. Hopefully this will curb the unwarranted impulse buys.

I considered putting a meterage requirement instead of weight, but decided against it: I'm too lazy to add up lengths, and I don't really care about yarn weight as long as it gets used up. Yes, I know that I'll burn through 200g of bulky yarn in the same time it'll take me to knit up 50g of fingering. I don't much care - it's not a competition. I just want to reduce the space being eaten by my terrifying stash of knitting fodder. To play fair though, I'm not counting any part of Sylvi, as it's been going for so long (shame, because I believe that there's over a kilo of yarn in that monster). To not play fairly, I'm counting all yarn knitted from the point that I received my last purchase in the mail. Which puts me at nearly 100g, all from the Gathered Pullover (which is coming along nicely, thank you very much).

That's the plan. Now let's see if I stick to it.

In other news, well, life is crazy. Beyond crazy. Between uni, work, and social commitments, I have so much to do that it isn't even funny. For the first time in my life, I'm being afflicted by semi-regular insomnia, because I lie in bed unable to sleep because all of the pressing demands on my time are dancing around in my head humming circus music loudly. Thank heavens that knitting is a hobby that you can sort of slot into the gaps formed between everything else - one of the many reasons that I love it.

In knitting news, I have started seaming my Sylvi and have commenced the hood. I am so close to finishing that I can almost taste it - and I'm hoping that that will help me finally knock it on the head. Even the fickle Melbourne weather wants me to finish - the weather at the moment is bitingly cold for October, and it's just begging for a slightly unseasonal woollen coat. The Gathered Pullover is coming along nicely as well - I am still in love with the colour.




Unfortunately all is not well in other areas of life - the furred and finned areas, more specifically. More diligent readers might recall me gabbling happily about Titus, my fighting fish. Well, alas, poor Titus succumbed to a fungal infection yesterday, despite putting up a brave fight while we treated him with scarily green medicine. Poor wee fishy - he was a lot of fun, had a lot of character as far as fish go, and I will miss his hungry little face in the mornings.

If that wasn't enough, my poor old geriatric cat Alex has a large nasty swelling in his neck. The vet is not sure whether it's cancer or just a gland that's swollen up as a result of an inflamed tooth - he's going in tomorrow for blood tests and possibly dental surgery if he's stable enough. Anything involving anaesthetic is risky for a 19 year old cat with heart issues, so I'm trying to be prepared for the worst, just in case it happens. He's content enough at the moment though - asleep on my dressing gown, which I suspect is now officially His dressing gown. At any rate, please send cat mojo for my poor old man!

And that's about it. Hopefully the next post will involve a finished Sylvi - let's just hope that procrastination doesn't strike (again) in the meantime...

Help - My Life is Being Devoured! Oh, and I Made Stuff Too...

Wow - I have no idea where the last few weeks have gone. Devoured by the great twin time-sinkholes of university and the internet, I suppose. Such is life.

So what have I been up to? Ummm, lots of things! I have been playing nicely with the other children. I have been blazing trails, picking battles wisely, and doing my best to eat enough vegetables. I have been working away busily on my Sylvi. I have been cultivating a dreadful addiction to Etsy. All the usual things, really.


On the craft front: I finished Richard's Canada scarf. No brother of mine shall have a cold neck, if I have anything to say about it! He's already worn in, and given it the thumbs up:



Vital statistics: Pattern: Noro Striped Scarf by Jared Flood. Yarn: Rowan Pure Wool Aran, one skein each of 'Charcoal' and 'Noir'. Needles: 4.5mm bamboo straights.

That stuff wot I thought about it: This pattern is awesome. I mean, obviously it would have been awesome-er if I'd actually used Noro yarn, but this was for Richard and I couldn't really see him being willing to wear a rainbow striped scarf, so sombre shades it was. That said, this pattern is still great even in comparatively boring and tasteful colours - the way that the slipped stitches hide the yarn being carried up the side for the colour changes makes me very happy indeed. I may make another one of these at some stage - the small stripes are surprisingly addictive.

And now I just need to furnish the brother-thing with a hat and gloves before he leaves. In three weeks time. Hmmm, better get cracking on that...


In other crafty news, I did some more natural dyeing. I made a second attempt with eucalyptus, trying a few different things this time (using rain water, soaking the leaves first, cooking the yarn for longer, etc), and subsequently got a gratifyingly different shade from last time. This batch still came out brown, but it was a yellow tinged brown (on the left in the photo below) that was a distinctively warm colour, as opposed to the cool purplish brown I got with the last lot (centre front below). I'm quite happy with it - it's a lovely colour in a subtle way.

I also tried dyeing with rhododendron leaves, since I'd read that they could be used for such things, and I had some readily available in the garden. I wasn't expecting too much from them, since I didn't have any proper mordants to use and had to make do with vinegar. I am pleased to report that rhododendron leaves smell thoroughly revolting when they're being simmered. But I did get some colour. Not much - just the faintest tinge of light green (you can see below - it's the small ball in the middle), but it was still colour, so I was pleased.




Also, I baked the best garlic bread ever. Seriously, it is all downhill from here. The recipe was from Nigella Lawson's How To Be A Domestic Goddess, and it contains four heads (yes, that's heads, not cloves) of garlic. Indeed. Before anyone keels over and dies at the prospect, it's not actually that scary. The garlic is roasted for nearly an hour, so that it gets nice and mellow. Then you puree it with parsley and olive oil and merrily slather it all over a basic focaccia dough. It was ridiculously tasty. I will admit that you suffer from pretty killer garlic breath for a good three hours after eating it, but hey, there have to be up-sides to tragic singlehood, right? This is definitely one of them! I love Nigella Lawson so much - she rarely steers you wrong...




Yumbo. And now I'm wondering if it's feasible to make this again this evening. Preferably with a big vat of fresh vegetable soup. Hmmm... If anyone wants me, I will be rummaging frantically through my cupboard, or possibly raiding the supermarket with rabid enthusiasm...

Survival!

Just here to announce that as of 12:30pm, I have officially survived exam period. Whew! It was touch and go there for a while though - I had my last two exams (both worth 100% of my semester's mark - eeep!) one day after the other, so it has been a VERY long 48 hours. I honestly don't know if I've ever studied that hard before in my life: there were multiple days when I'd listen to well north of five hours worth of lecture recordings, and that didn't even include all of the other reading and note taking. The law degree - she is indeed a harsh mistress.

Yep, exam period is hard. It's been all right though - there are worse things than incessant studying, and since I'm one of those people who's always doodling and writing sarcastic commentary on their class notes, it's at least entertaining looking back over the work I've done during semester (even if sometimes I wish that I'd drawing critters less and taken notes more):


Look! It's an International Law notebook in its natural habitat (i.e. the desk!). Don't make any sudden movements or you'll scare it away!

At least listening to all of those recordings meant that my hands were free to knit at top speed. You would not believe how much knitting I did last night. It was about the only thing stopping me from falling asleep at my desk, actually - for reasons known only to it, my body is impervious to the effects of caffeine, so I've always needed something else to keep me awake and moving.



The above work-in-progress was single-handedly responsible for keeping me conscious during all of those hours of Restitution lectures yesterday. It's going to be a pullover, made from that lovely Sanguine Gryphon yarn that I posted about a few entries back. I'm sort of making it up as I go along, so the actual style will vary depending on my mood and how much yarn I have left, but I have vague plans for a very low front, maybe with a garter stitch neckline, and interesting sleeves of some kind. The yarn is lovely. Normally knitting a jumper with variegated yarn is something I'd pull a face over, but this is just so pretty that I'm having a go anyway (alternating skeins every couple of rows to try and minimise pooling). Granted it does have a little bit of an army camoflague vibe to it, but I'm going to staunchly ignore that and call it 'woodsy' or 'elven' instead in that pretentious way that I have!



Exam time also means exam soup. Seriously, I live off this in exams - I just make a huge vat of it and then eat it for the rest of the week, usually accompanied by toast, or cheese on toast and a glass of wine if my statute-tortured soul needs soothing. I figure I could do worse, right? Vegetables and barley and tomato and fresh herbs... Mmmm...

Proof that I'm still here!

Wow - that was a comparatively long break! I have been doing things, I swear. It's just that things have been taking a bit longer than usual. There have been a few social woes (who doesn't love an ex-husband spamming their phone 14 times a day? And at 2am no less, but this isn't the time and place to complain about that), and I'm working nearly full-time at my job at the moment, and that has meant cutting back on knitting/blogging time. And I wasn't always in the mood either. While I wasn't directly affected by the bush-fires that have been doing their best to demolish my state over the last week, I know people who lost homes, friends, and family members, and it's hard to sit still and knit when you're worrying/reading the headlines in disbelief...

But, all that said, I have been knitting away. Behold, I have two finished objects to prove it!




Number One: Terra by Jacquelyn Landry, in Bendigo Woollen Mills Rustic 12ply (Green Tweed), knitted on 6mm needles.

There aren't really any halfway decent photos of this one, due to a number of factors (specially a 5am bedtime, followed by a 9am call summoning me unexpectedly into work, followed by a work day that lasted until 9pm). So you'll have to live with this one! At least you get a taste of why my blog is titled as it is - and that's only half of one wall!

This was a fantastically quick jumper, and I was happy with how it turned out. If I did it over again I'd probably make the body just a little less baggy, and the sleeves quite a bit less baggy, but that's not to say that I'm unhappy with how it turned out. It'll be fantastic for when winter rolls around. I love the colour - it's somewhere in between dark green and teal, and the yarn was lovely and quite inexpensive. The pattern was good too - there were a few ambiguities around the hood/shoulder grafting, but applying common sense I managed to puzzle my way through and I'm sure that most others could too. I love the moss stitch and the large, pointy hood.



I'm almost tempted to make another one of these, actually.
(my, my Blogger - why are you being so cranky tonight when I try to post pictures!?!)



Number Two: The Cream of Spinach Scarf (Ravelry link here), in Noro Silk Garden (Colour 244), knitted on 5.5mm needles.

Not that much to say about this one really. I love it of course, but things knitted in Noro tend to look good because they're knitted in Noro, not because of anything that you did! That said, the pattern was great - it's a two row repeat, and one of those rows is just purling, so I didn't need to concentrate on it at all (indeed, I managed to watch a great many episodes of Skins while knitting it), but it looks lovely when blocked out. I think a version in a plain yarn would look beautiful too.

This yarn had been kicking around my room for ages. I bought it because I simply couldn't walk past the colours, but I wasn't really sure what to do with it, because I idealised it so much that no project seemed good enough. Then I had a reality check and decided to make a scarf, since at least that way I'd get to actually see the colours, and it's something that I'll get plenty of wear out of.

I was a little worried about the length - I hate stingily short scarves and I only had three balls of yarn. But I knitted at a fairly loose gauge, so this came out plenty long enough. I didn't measure it (my sewing tape measure wasn't even long enough), but if I hold one end in my upstretched arm, the other end still pools on the floor, and I'm not too far shy of six feet tall. So not a stingy scarf at all ;)

And now it's back to project limbo. I hate limbo. I'm currently swatching for some potential projects I have in mind, but I think I really need to raid my Ravelry queue as well. What a horrible problem to have...

That time again...

Whew. Well, I survived binge knitting those hats for my two friends, but only just! I swear - one more hour of beavering away at fair isle on tiny yarn and my eyeballs would have started to bleed... It nearly killed me. Never again will I attempt something like that in such a small amount of time. Actually, who am I kidding; I'll always be a terminal procrastinator, until the day I die. Or the day that I intend to die, but don't quite get around to it.

There's the culprit behind my eyestrain, at any rate (being modelled by yours truly and her scraggly hair). Also, you can see the reason why I don't wear berets - I think that they look stupid, or they do on my head anyway (how are you supposed to keep the things on?). Thankfully they look very cute on my dear friend Zia. I was tearing my hair out on this one, trying to find a style and colour that she would like, because her tastes and mine are pretty much mutually exclusive. It's not that I think she has bad taste, it's just that we don't like any of the same things. So blue and purple-ish pink (shudder) is not normally in my repertoire. Still, despite all of the angst, she seemed happy enough with it. Which is good. Oh, and since this is my knitting blog and all, here are details: this is the Selbu Modern hat (free pdf on Ravelry), made with Grignasco Bambi (a 4ply merino wool), on a 2.75mm circular needle (did I tell you all that I discovered the wonders of magic loop while I was in Europe?).

I actually finished Nick's hat (a Jacques Cousteau hat - great easy pattern, by the way - made with Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed) while I was sitting and drinking wine with them on the verandah (and apparently getting mauled by mosquitos too, the bathroom mirror informed me this morning). Had planned to get it done earlier of course, but I hadn't counted on the other one taking quite so long. It turned out well too, at any rate. I was warned by everyone that Nick had an enormous head (or more to the point, somewhat indominatable hair), so I made the large size, and was freaking out at how big it was. Though all was well in the end: it came off the needles fitting fine (and I should know, because I rammed it on his head to check before I'd even woven the ends in). Poor long suffering friends. At least they're long suffering friends with handknitted hats...

Anyway, it's New Years Day, so I should probably say something pretentiously reflective about that. 2008 was, well, frankly the worst and most difficult year I've had the pleasure of living through. For the obvious reasons (you know, the sleep deprivation and the anxiety attacks and the living below the poverty line and the my-counsellor-tells-me-not-as-borderline-as-I-think abusive relationship and its subsequent breakdown, and all of those other fun things...). Frankly, the less said about these things the better. 2008: well, I'll remember what I learned from it, because that's all I can do. It's all anyone can ever really do.

That said, the last third of 2008, when I finally began to leave these things behind, was awesome in about a million different kinds of ways. Incredibly hard at times, yes, but awesome nonetheless. And even the really rotten parts showed me that I can be as tough as I need to be, when push comes to shove, and that is reassuring indeed. Anyway, I have a good feeling about 2009. So bring it on! (and yes, I remain, despite everything, the most relentlessly optimistic cynical person in the universe)

Fair Denizens of the Internet: Happy New Year from Anna and her immense pile of yarn!!!

Taking leave for a while...

Okay, this'll be short and sweet (and free of blurry photos for a change), for I have a 6am plane to catch!

Am heading off to gallivant merrily (i.e. freeze my joyful behind off) around the northern hemisphere, so things will be a bit quiet on the blog front over the next month (though you never do know - there might be the odd people out of me - it remains to be seen). Though I'll definitely have the knitting and the writing with me (as well as a truly impractical amount of books, and a large handful of sudoku puzzles), so things will still be carrying on as normal...

Heaven knows it'll be nice to get away for a bit - for anyone who hasn't noticed, it's been kind of a crazy year for me to say the least, and without a doubt the hardest I've ever had to wrangle in my admittedly not particularly long life. What with wrangling a law degree while working 35+ hours a week, helping run a business, being too broke to buy food on a regular basis, trying (and subsequently succeeding) to work up the courage to leave a relationship that, well, wasn't treating me well to say the least, starting a new job, screwing my head back on after moving back home for some much needed recuperation, etc, etc. Even the last few weeks have been crazy - what with exams and planning the holiday, as well as the somewhat recent appearance on the scene of a poor impressionable young man who is attempting to win my easily distracted favour by reading Baudelaire to me in the park...

What a bloody year... What was I just saying about it being nice to get away for a bit?

Anyway, Happy Christmas all, and take care of yourselves!

Oh no, she's attempting to wrangle technology!

Yeah, so I got bored of the blog looking the way it was looking. But the problem here is that changing the blog's appearance means attempting to wrestle with the computer - not something I'm particularly adept at. Yes, I know I could just use the plain old template, like the rest of my technologically impaired ilk. But the problem is that I'm one of those tiresome people who always has to be different. In short, my computer skills fall far short of my aesthetics preferences. So, I attempted to compromise. I'm more or less happy with the change in scenery...

Decided it was a good opportunity to change the name while I was at it... randomness is so last year! Anyway, as I've mentioned previously, I'm living back with my family again at the moment (while attempting to get head back on straight again post separation, get back on the studying horse, and replenish my poor battered bank account). When I moved out a few years ago, my younger brother took over my old bedroom. Not wanting to evict him simply because the universe decided to thwart my attempts at independent domesticity, I'm now living in what was the study. This basically meant taking out the desk, putting in a bed, and adding several more bookshelves. To the five already in residence. So in summary, I now reside in a cosy little room filled with yarn and probably well over a thousand books. Hence, the new title of the blog - I started squealing gleefully to friends about how I had my own little stronghold of books in which to hide from the real world. Stronghold is only a slight exaggeration - bookshelves cover three out of four walls, floor to ceiling. Bibliophiles paradise to say the least.

Hmmm, I should probably say something about knitting, shouldn't I? Well, too bad! I did do some knitting today (working on a new top-down raglan - purple and black stripes this time), but I was too tired to tackle anything elaborate (a long day of aquarium maintenance and customer wrangling already under the belt), and stockingette in the round does not make for interesting reading. So there ;)

But, because it feels odd to do a post without a picture, I hereby present Mr Blog with a photo of the cranky old man who frequently joins me in my aforementioned fortress.

Here internets: have a totally gratuitous (and more than a little cross-eyed) cat!

As promised...

Once again, the might of the Internet coerces me into actually doing the stuff I've been meaning to.

Exhibit A:

Finished the Luna Moth shawl (used total of 5.5 balls of Naturally Merino et Soie yarn). I was pretty chuffed with how this one came out, and it was pleasantly straightforward as well - not a single bit of weirdness in the pattern. Nice and easy to knit too, and the only markers I ended up using were to mark the centre stitch. I think that I'm now definitely quite firmly ensconced in the lace-with-thicker-yarn camp - I love the look of it. I've gushed about this a little on the Ravelry page for this project, but the thicker yarn gives this project a more substantial, more organic look that I think works really well. So in summary, still love the yarn, and highly recommend the pattern, especially if you're like me and haven't had very much experience with larger lace projects.

Exhibit B:

Please excuse the armpit weirdness - for all that it did end up fitting, and I'm happy enough with the way I look in it, it was disproportionately difficult to get a flattering photo of myself in this top. I think it might just be one of those garments that looks better in motion..

Anyway, this is the finished Askew tank (used about 2.7 balls of Noro Silk Garden - yes, you heard that quantity correctly). And yeah, it fits, but it was a bloody close run thing. I'm just glad I didn't end up making my usual size for this one - there's no way it would have fitted me. As it was, I eyed the ease recommended for the pattern, eyed the number of cast on stitches, and promptly made it bigger than I would have normally. I'm not sure why the fit issues were there - and Ravelry informs me that I'm not the only one to have them. If my gauge was off, it definitely wasn't that off... Might just come down to body shape, as well as size... Oh well, I'll take it on board for next time.

I ended up making it a halter style top instead of a tank - mainly for practicality reasons, and yes, for a few superficial ones as well. For a start, I think it might have been a struggle to sew the straps to the back and actually have them stay on. For some reason this batch of Silk Garden was breaking more than I'd experienced with any other batch (I really was at my wits end with this - and I don't even want to remember how many ends I had to weave in because of this), and I didn't want to put as much strain on the yarn as it would have taken for those straps to work as a tank. So, I'm didn't sew them at all (Anna = lazy bum). Instead I'm just tying them behind my neck.

Normally this wouldn't work of course, or at least not if you like your clothing to actually stay on, but the tightness of the top actually works in my favour for this. It's so tight that there is no danger whatsoever of this falling down by itself - I need to peel the thing off like a banana skin. So I think halter was definitely the way to go. And on superficial grounds, well... frankly the tightness of this top does my comparatively limited, erm, endowments no favours at all. It's simply not flattering. So the halter's emphasis on the shoulders takes the attention away from the fact that it squashes my chest into Silk Gardened oblivion...

All in all, I was happy enough with the way this one turned out - not ecstatic, but happy enough. I think next time (and there definitely will be a next time because my fit issues aside, this pattern has heaps going for it - insanely quick, easy, and a really interesting shape/design) I'll make a size with a lot more ease.

And, while this isn't part of the WIP purge, I love it anyway, so here's a picture...

That's my new hat! I made it to kill time while I waited for nice men to deliver my new bed. They didn't end up coming, which makes it all the better that I had a hat to console me! The pattern is Foliage (chunky version), which every man and his dog seems to have made, and I used a little over half of a skein of Noro Iro (yes, I'm very much feeling the Noro love lately now that I can afford to do so). This is a great pattern - though I had a bastard of a time knitting it, due mainly to needle woes. I had to start over three times because I just couldn't wrangle eight stitches over five needles. In the end I resorted to numbering the needles (embarrassing...). This was a bit dopey really - as was pointed out to me at SnB last night, I could have just started with fewer needles and then added them in. But you see, I have no common sense, and sensible things like that just don't occur to me (Anna = all kinds of dill).

I deliberately knitted the brim very loose. As you can see in the above picture, I have a lot of somewhat exuberant hair, and when I wear tight hats it, well... becomes very clear why I had the nickname of "lampshade" in the first few years of high school (kids can be so hilariously cruel). I was concerned that this would come out too tight, but thankfully there were no issues on that front. I love how this turned out. The pattern is a little lost in the thick yarn and colour changes, but who cares - look at those colours! I've been wearing it every chance I get.

I also frogged a bunch of stuff as part of aforementioned WIP purge. Among the casualties were a bamboo tank I'd abandoned a while ago, and the Honeymoon cardigan - both self designed things. I was a little bummed about the cardigan - it was actually finished bar sewing the zip in, but gauge issues and weight loss conspired against me, and the thing just ended up too big, and not in a good way. Also, I had to tackle the ridiculous irony of the fact that even though the Honeymoon cardigan didn't last, it lasted longer than the marriage that the honeymoon in question was following did...

Yep. The reason for the sudden total change in FO photo locations becomes clear. In a nutshell - stuff kind of went to hell in a handbasket: I wasn't being treated well at all, and as a result of this I stopped being able to handle even basic things like work and uni, and generally crashed and burned a lot. Attempts to rectify these things were not met constructively. So, I left. The last few months have NOT been fun to say the least - there were some very, very bad patches. But I believe I made the right choice (as do my friends, family, and the counsellor I've been seeing to try and get my head on straight again), and even though it's still incredibly difficult and ugly at times, I don't regret leaving.

Oh - this possibly helps to explain why I've suddenly turned into a one-woman knitwear factory (escapism anyone?). Anyway, that's all there'll be on that particular topic on this blog - I have other places to rant. But yeah, I'm just trying to get it all clear in all areas of my life, and since I had made reference to my marriage/husband here, I thought it was worth a mention. And here's the part where I am inappropriately flippant to dispel the melancholy of the last paragraph or so: Now I can knit more - he never liked the knitting, got annoyed when I tried to talk to him about it, and usually complained whenever I knitted when he was around. So, there shall be no more of that...

Anyway, I've blathered on for long enough. In conclusion, my Yarn and Fibre Company package came, so now I have more Noro than you can poke a stick at. This pleases me greatly. But I have to finish my bag before I can start knitting with it. Those are the rules...

A random cat... and some shawl...

Well, the last few days have been a little, um, interesting... I may or may or may not provide an elaboration in the near future. It remains to be seen.

There has been knitting done though, and I'm currently looking for stuff to distract myself with, so here is knitting, with a bonus cat!

It's the ugly mohair shawl, which is still kind of ugly, being modelled by my senile old man cat, Alex. He's 18, which means that he gets cranky a bit, but it also means that he doesn't have the energy to protest too vigorously when I drape him in partially completed knitwear...

I've also been knitting a Bevin tank top in some shiny nice dark red Katia Firenze yarn that I got half price. I think it's pretty shiny and nice, with one exception; the armholes are far too big.

You can't see the problem that much in this photo (though you can see the part where I was too lazy to weave in my ends before trying it on). Basically, the armholes are large enough to make the fit just a little funny, and also show parts of the side of one's bra off to the general public. Still, I'm going to try and fix it by picking up some stitches around the bottom of the armhole and knitting a little more. I'd like to be able to fix this; I think it's pretty cool, and it fits me quite well (if being not exactly the kind of top you'd want to wear to visit the in-laws...).

I like this photo too... it doesn't show the giant shoulder pimple I had on the day it was taken - because it was on my back, mwa ha ha...

(sorry, that was kind of an overshare... but oh well - it's my blog and I can be as gross as I want!)