I'm stronger than my willpower

Yep, I am because I have managed to cast on two more projects despite not having finished any others. I first cast on the Stockholm Scarf.

I am knitting this in the round with BWM Moorland in Dark Grape. Its been a long time since I have knitted with such thick yarn - 8ply! It feels very heavy and hard on the wrists.

The second project I cast on is the Pea Vines shawl. I am knitting this with a friend on Ravelry. I am using a yarn dyed by EmilyTheEnabler. I think its about a 3ply yarn and thus I have opted to knit the medium size version of the shawl. Photos later when I have more to show because its taken me three tries to get this shawl started and I have only completed two very long rows.

I am continuing on the Susanna IC January KAL and I have now completed clue 4.

Now am I going to manage to complete something before the next post or succumb yet again and cast on for that Dahlia cardigan which is clamouring for my attention?

In progress

I am working on three projects at the moment and I am trying desperately not to cast on any more. But... yes there is always a but, there are several projects clamouring for my attention. I even have the yarn waiting so how am I going to resist. The two projects screaming loudest is the Sugar Plum Fairy KAL and the Dahlia cardigan.  See what I mean? How am I suppose to resist

As for the progress I have made so far. I have finished clue one of the SusannaIC January KAL and I am about to start on clue 2. I'm using some handdyed yarn I swapped on Ravelry.

Not much to show yet but considering that this was yet another shawl that started with a 409 stitch cast on and it has 7 stitch nupps, a fair bit of knitting has already taken place.

I have completed clue 3 for the Shui Kuen Kozinski Mystery KAL and now have only one more clue to go.

This shawl started with a provisional cast on. I used an easy cast on and left the live stitches on a cable. So now I just have to add my needle tips to the cable and I am ready to knit the short rows for the last part of the shawl.

I have not neglected that blanket and I have finished another 2 and a half squares.

Now how long am I going to last before casting on something else?

I've made a start...

.... finishing wips and starting new  projects!

I finally got round to finishing the Birgit Freyer Mon Bijou shawl. As I have said before, I really love her patterns and this shawl was no exception. I always find her patterns very relaxing to knit. The stitches seem to fly off the needles. This shawl would have been finished ages ago had I not put it down because of other commitments.

The yarn is KnitPicks Gloss Lace in Mermaid. I was fortunate to get this yarn in a karma swap seeing as KnitPicks doesn't mail to Australia. Needle size is 4.00mm and  the shawl measures 97cm from the centre neck down and 140cm in width. I used Matsuno beads 8/0.

I have also got back to that blanket and I have knitted another two squares. I am going to do my best to finish this blanket before the end of summer (I have to keep telling myself that).

And then of course I have started two new projects, both of them are mystery KAL's, The first is a mystery KAL by Shui Kuen Kozinski and the second is the SusannaIC's January Mystery KAL. A third KAL, the Sugar Plum Fairy KAL which has recently started still awaits me. More about the KAL's in the next posting.

A digression

Yesterday a friend came to visit and she taught me to spin with a spindle. And look here is proof.



I have made yarn! I like the challenge and the enjoyment of learning something new but I don't think I'm ready to go over to the dark side just yet. My pointy sticks are still my favourites.

And speaking of which, my socks and shawl are still progressing but another delightful distraction has appeared. I've been tempted by yet another lace KAL. This one is another of BadCatDesigns and is called the Snow Queen Pi Shawl. This one looks like it will offer quite a knitting challenge. Care to join me? Can you resist Annie?

On the needles

Only two projects on the needles at the moment. On Christmas day I cast on for the Panama Shawl KAL. I zoomed through the first two clues and then a few rows into the the third clue I realised I had made a major boo-boo. I had only knitted half the shawl! That's what happens when you get over confident and think that you don't need to read the instructions closely but can just go straight to the charts and start knitting. So I had to frog the lot and start again. Now I'm back on clue 3.



The yarn is Bendigo Woollen Mills 3 ply and the needles are 3.5mm.

I also opened my first project in my personal sock club. The yarn is Opal solid and the pattern was CookieA's Vilai from Sock Innovation but when I sat down to cast on I realised that I would have to use TWO cable needles while knitting these socks. I was in no mood for such a fiddly pattern so I paged to the next pattern in the book and settled for Angee.



Ah this is much better. Enough of a challenge to maintain interest but not too much to become taxing.

I've been seeing quite a few Traveling Women around lately and I'm tempted to cast on. But then again I also have my eye on an Aestlight shawl and I really must try a Swallowtail........

Socks and lace

I have finished the Kai-Mei socks. Unfortunately they are not for me. The yarn is Tofutsies and I have to say its a lovely yarn to work with. It also feels good on the feet. I've made a couple of pairs of socks out of this yarn and I find they are ideal for those slightly cool days.



Its rather difficult to bring out the lovely sweeping design without a pair of feet in them!



I've succumbed to my KAL addiction yet again. This time it is another KAL from Knit & Knag designs called Silvester.



I've already completed 2 pattern repeats and I started on the third repeat last night. Talk about instant gratification - this is a really fast knit. The yarn is Bendigo Woollen Mills 2 ply lace. No idea of the colourway because I found this yarn in the magical backroom at the Mill itself. I suspect it is one of their colour experiments. Its a marled yarn made up of a deep red and a gorgeous blue.

Progress

Lots of knitting has been happening but I just haven't got round to taking photos. So this is just an update on a number of projects.

First and foremost the Cozy. It's finally done and blocking as I write this. Here's proof:



I had enough yarn to make it longer but I have to confess that I got fed up knitting the thing. I do like the colour though. I knitted this in Bendigo Woollen Mills Rustic 8ply - Midnight Tweed. Once its dry I'll probably take a few more photos so that I can gloat over the completed product.

I've completed clue 2 of the Mystic Lights shawl:



And I've completed clue 3 of the Secret of Bad Nauheim shawl:



And finally I've done a swatch for the Mystery Lace shawl which will start towards the end of the month.



I'm going to knit this shawl with Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 2 ply in Almond using 3.5mm circular needles.

So many KALs

I just love all the lace KALs springing up everywhere and I find the mystery ones irresistible. So at the moment I am working on the Spring Shawl Surprise and I completed clue 9 on Friday.



This was a very easy clue. I still can't guess the theme.

I've joined two other KALs this week. The Mystic Lights KAL and the Secret of Bad Nauheim KAL. For the Mystic Lights I think I will be using Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 5 ply in Iris.

I've done my Secret of Bad Nauheim swatch in Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic cone 2ply in Peony and 3.5 mm needles.



My Cozy has come to a stand still again but I'm really not hapy with the 3 ply yarn I'm using. It's far too thin. I want to start over using an 8 ply instead. I don't have any 8 ply in my stash at the moment so I will probably have to do a spot of shopping.

I'm on track with my Australian Bag Lady swap. I've got one completed item, one that only needs 2 more finishing touches and one that still has to be felted. By the end of the weekend it should all be done. Photos will have to wait until it is all mailed later in the month.

Lace and more lace

I can't resist lace and when its combined with a mystery, well then I'm a push over. On 1 January I joined to lace KALs. The first is the Spring Shawl Surprise and yesterday I managed to complete Clue 1.



This is the first of 12 clues and is promising to be a real challenge. I'm knitting with 2/20 merino in silver using 3.5 mm Knit Picks Options.

The second KAL is the Victorian Lace Today KAL. Here we had 4 options to choose from. I've decided to do the Spider's Web shawl. I've opted for the half hexagon and I'm knitting it in hand dyed Fibreworks 2 ply using 4.5 mm Knit Picks Options.