Brangian shawl

I really wanted to knit up the silk/cotton 4ply ColourMart yarn I bought quite some time ago but couldn't find quite the right pattern. I started to knit the Butterfly Forest shawl with this yarn but soon discovered that it wasn't working and frogged. While I was trawling through my endless queue I saw the Brangian shawl pattern and realised that this was the right one. I wanted the right combination of yarn and pattern because this shawl is also part of a swap for more gradient dyed yarn.

I knitted the shawl on 4.5 mm needles and it knitted up really quickly. It has turned into a good sized shawl.

Once blocked the yarn softened and became nice and drapey.

Here is a close up to show the subtle shift in the pattern.

$10 Swap

I received my parcel from abcdee80 in the $10 swap and I am just so impressed. My partner has excelled in the bargain hunting stakes. Just look at the amazing things I got!





- Six skeins of lace weight yarn!
- A jar of buttons
- A zip
- A pattern for a bag
- Two garden catalogues
- Chocolate
- And a set of gorgeous stitch markers

Thank you again abcdee80 you made my day!

Bags and things

I have been beavering away on yet another Ravelry swap. This time its a $10 swap. The intention is to put together a parcel of goodies for your partner without exceeding a $10 limit. So for my partner I made these Always and Forever Fingerless Mitts from some leftover Tofutsie yarn.




And this Take Everywhere Bag from Knitted Favourites (this is the only link I could find!), which I knitted with some Cleckheaton Country Naturals 12 ply I picked up for a song at a country market.




I have filled the bag with some yarn I got at the Australian Country Spinners Millshop, handmade soap from my local Sunday market and a sweet smelling sachet to ward off nasties made by a friend of mine.

I hope my partner likes her bag of goodies.

I have been knitting

I did do a bit of knitting while I was on holiday. I seemed to have started quite a number of projects the last few weeks but I have managed to complete a few. And here they are.

First I made a vintage hand towel. I first saw this towel on Bells' blog and just knew I had to knit it. I knitted this one for a lovely friend in Perth.


And then I knitted a second one for myself.



I also knitted a pair of Mountain Form Slippers for my mother.



These were all really easy knits and very suitable holiday knitting.

Since returning home I have also knitted a Keyhole scarf for a gift. I couldn't make up my mind what I was going to knit for this gift except that I wanted it to be appropriate for the recipient. After much stalking and searching I settled on this pattern and decided that it would be a perfect match for a skein of Ridgy Didge Handnspun Yarn.



And I think the two have worked well together.



I have also cast on another couple of projects but they are being neglected at the moment while I focus my attention on my Snow Queen.

November lace

I have finished the first lace project for this summer. I knitted the Shetland Shimmer Scarf for my Christmas swap partner. (I figured I could post it on my blog becuase she doesn't know who I am). I knitted this in Touch Yarns 2 ply Merino.





And as an added bonus I also made her a little dog because who wouldn't like a well behaved puppy for Christmas?

A birthday season

My birthday season started on Monday morning when I opened my parcel from lyonesset and found that she had sent me an elegant teapot with a gorgeous custom made cosy and excellent tea.



But then my birthday celebrations were put on hold until the evening when friends took us out to the Bamboo House for Peking Duck. It was a taste sensation!

On Tuesday my season continued when I went to the post office to pick up three more parcels from my birthday swap partners.

Trishca sent me a beautiful reversible project bag, a bag of wool tops in Ice Pink (must get that spinningwheel going again), tea and a beautiful tea wallet and stationary (I can't get enough of it).



From shanbliss I received a beautiful lace caplet, more lusciouss tea and stationary and a skein of malabrigo (I've been wanting to get my hands on some of that for ages and now I have my own to pet!).



And finally fitknit spoiled me with Tofutsies, a cute mug, a lovely knitted lace bookmark, a book of Sudoku (my secret addiction) and darling little sheep stitchmarkers.



Aren't knitters just the greatest? I'm off to have another play with all my fabulous gifts.

Anticipation!

At the beginning of the year I signed up for a Birthday Swap on Ravelry. We were divided up into groups of 5 and throughout the year I have been sending birthday gifts to my four swap partners. Tomorrow it is my turn to receive gifts!

One parcel has already arrived and I have been showing great restraint in not opening it before my birthday.



I know there is already another parcel at the post office but because they do not open on Saturdays I was unable to pick it up. And I won't be able to do so tomorrow either - talk about deferred gratification. I have to go to the city all day tomorrow for boring business reasons. But in the evening friends are taking us out to a surprise venue for dinner to celebrate my birthday. I am really looking forward to that. And on Tuesday I will be able to pick up my parcel and extend my birthday. I rather like the idea.

I'm also involved with a Christmas swap on Ravelry and I have started knitting my partners gift.



It's taking a tad longer than I had anticipated so I'm going to have to work at it in order to get it done on time.

Stocking up for Christmas Swap

On Friday I received my fabulous stocking from fitknit. I've been waiting for the weather to clear to take some pictures. (I loved the rain we had over the last 3 days - 114.5mm). She did a great job stalking me and put together a terrific parcel.

To begin with a lovely felted stocking:



And then a seemingly endless procession of little individually wrapped parcels were pulled out of the stocking.



Holiday reading matter (I love reading), stitch makers from Moggy and Me (they are always on the top of my list of things I would like), a great dishcloth (I've had this pattern in my queue to do someday), a bookmark (of course!), a tape measure (you always need one and now I have one for my keychain), a cute pen, egg cosies, a cross stitch for Bruce (how thoughtful is that!) and muppet remains (as a result of a discussion which took place on Ravelry).

Don't you think it's just the best stocking ever? Thank you fitknit - you done well!

Stockings, mice and elves

I usually don't get involved in Christmas knitting, mainly because we don't bother to celebrate Christmas but this year I got sucked in. How did this happen? Well I signed up for the Stocking up for Christmas swap on Ravelry. Spiraling organised this and provided us with this cute little pattern. Well once I did one for the swap I then decided to knit up a few more for the kids in the neighbourhood.

And here they are:



Then I needed a few fillers. Most of the little boys are getting little cars but the girls are getting mice and elves. These are Alan Dart patterns in the latest Simply Knitting.






Almost all the Christmas stockings, elves and mice are done. I'm still short a stocking and an elf but that will be done in time.

SOTSIII Hint 8

We are now fast approaching the end. Only one more clue to go. This stole has become a part of life and once its done and blocked I'm going to miss it! The photos aren't too good. I became impatient waiting for the sun to shine and just took them any way. (And yes, we have had a bit of rain, not much considering how dull and gloomy it has been the last three days).





I've also finished my No Sheep for You swap projects. I used alpaca and made a pair of Cabled Fingerless gloves for my pal. I made the gloves a little too big for my hands because I know my pal has larger hands. I hope they fit her!



And with the yarn left over I managed to squeeze in a Crofter's cowl for my pal. The alpaca is lovely and soft against the skin and I'm sure will be warm as well.

SOTSIII Hint 6

I think we are now on the downward slope of this stole. I still puzzle about the theme and I'm none the wiser. Snowflakes, flowers, posies and insects drift through my mind. I love working on the stole with the sun on me. The beads glint and glisten as I move through the rows and bring me enormous pleasure.



I signed up for the Australian No Sheep for you swap on Ravelry. Since I found out who my secret pal is I've been agonizing over what to make for her. After changing my mind umpteen times I finally settled on a couple of items. Number one is done and only requires blocking.



And I've started on number two. So far so good. I want to do a third but I haven't yet finalised that decision.

Its also been some weeks since I knitted a pair of socks and I feel the need to cast on. But which pattern?

Surprises

I've been ROAKed! I had a lovely surprise waiting for me when I got home yesterday. Robbie (aka buttonbrite) sent me this great package of Kool-Aid for dyeing.



I've been wanting to try my hand at a spot of dyeing for ages. I'm hoping that I will have the opportunity to do so this weekend.

The packages for the Australian Bag Lady swap went out last week. The pictures for parcels received started appearing this week and there are so many stunning bags on view. My secret pal received my parcel today. I hope she likes it because after seeing all those works of art I was feeling very inadequate. I made her a knitting tote,



a French market bag



and a string bag.



They didn't turn out quite as well as I had hoped but I think they will at least be useful.

I think my parcel is currently awaiting me at the post office. Because we live so far from the PO it will probably be a few days before I can go and pick it up. The anticipation is driving me nuts.

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.