Early Christmas Present

I had such a wonderful surprise delivery today.  I wasn't expecting to receive this until after Christmas.

My Doctor Who Project bag order from Slipped Stitch Studios.

Should I open the blue parcel or wait for tomorrow?

Ok I opened the parcel and here are the goodies plus a larger project bag like the others.

Little tin for stitch markers etc

Zippered bag

Doctor Who stitch markers 

Travel scissors

Patch and pattern markers/book marks

Doctor book mark

Little Tardis badge. And there was also a sample of hand dyed yarn by Pandias Jewels.

Love it all.

Blocking Time

Now that my Red Wilshire Shawl is finished its time to block.  Blocking for most knitted items is definitely worth doing.  A while ago I decided to invest in some foam matts from the hardware store 

And a blocking rod set with lots of pins.

Now it's time to put them to use.  

So I soaked the shawl in warm water with some wool mix for 20 minutes, rinsed and then gently squeezed the water out before rolling it up in a towel and stepping on it.  Yes you step on the towel to help soak up the water.

Blocking is basically pulling the item into the shape that you want and holding it in place with pins and the thin metal rods, then letting the item dry.

I set the foam matts up on the dinning table with an old sheet on top and started my blocking. It didn't take long to realize that this shawl was going to block out bigger than the table.   Time to relocate to the lounge room floor.

The top measures 75 inches across and 44 inches down the middle.  The biggest challenge will be keeping the cats off it tonight - maybe I need to put another sheet over the top of it tonight as cat protection.

It will be interesting to see how the little peaks on the edge hold their shape.  I think that if I make this shawl again I might try adding some little beads on the ends to give some extra weight that should help hold the shape.

My next lace project is going to be the Evenstar Shawl - it's a circular lace shawl that seems to be a popular one on Ravelry but it will take me a while to do so I think I'll start this after Christmas.  But in the mean time I have Christmas stuff to sort out and preparing for our trip to the South Island of New Zealand in December.  Can't wait to see what yarn shops we come across.

Red Lace Shawl

Had a shocker of a night knitting on my red shawl - soon to be nic named the shawl from hell.  I was on the last pattern section 4 rows from finishing only to discover I had dropped a couple of stitches in a critical pattern area and no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't pick up the stitches to get the pattern correct.

My only salvation was the life line that I put in before I started the last section.  So 12 rows (400 odd stitches) ripped out and all stitches successfully picked up at about 1.30am this morning.  So much for showing my finished item at knit group today.

My shawl, and what it should look like finished.  Starting the last pattern section again 16 rows to go and my first problem with this project, when the cable broke.

Hopefully no more issues will happen and looking forward to finishing it.

Knitting Project Bags

For a while now I've been eyeing off knitting project bags on Etzy.  I became interested in them after I started watching American knitting video podcasts.  So the other week I made my first purchase from www.etsy.com/au/shop/goodtobegirl  and they arrived today along with a free gift of little needle protectors.

Two medium size (bag measures 11"x 13 1/2") and one sock size (bag measures 8" x 9 1/2").  When I did the initial measuring I thought that they didn't seem that big, but now I have them they are just the right size for what I want.  They even have a yarn feeder inside the bag and a silver clasp to attach bags to other bags or belt loops.

Now I also have a reasonably large material stash and I'm wondering just how hard it would be to make them myself.  So I think I might drag out the sewing machine sometime in the future and do some experimenting.  But until then I'm going to love using these beautiful bags.

Knitters' Guild NSW Camp 2013

I went to my first ever knitting camp last weekend.  I attended as a day visitor for both Saturday and Sunday as I wasn't sure how people would handle my snoring in dormitory style accommodation.   I shouldn't have worried though, as when I received my show bag, inside were ear plugs for people to deal with the snoring.  So next time I will defiantly sleep over.  I think you miss a lot of the socializing by not staying overnight.

The camp was held at The Tops Conference Centre, Stanwell Tops NSW.  This centre is surrounded by bush and the buildings looked new, lots of space and the weather was beautiful.  There was a lot of knitting and even spinning done outside.  All meals were provided with plenty of healthy and not so healthy snacks, tea and coffee available whenever you needed it and even Knitters Guild lollies and little cup cakes. (Sorry I didn't get a pic of these but they looked yummy)

You had different classes to choose from for both days, so on Saturday I attended Lace Knitting, Sherman Heels & Toes for socks and Beaded Knitting.  And on Sunday I attended the Intarsia class and Turning Your Knitting into a Business.  I came away learning something new from all of these classes and handy little tips for knitting in general like cutting plastic straws into thin rings for using as stitch markers.

I tend to use the same cast on all the time but at the camp I learnt how to do the provisional cast on using a crochet hook and also Judy's Magic Cast-on, which is very handy for socks.  As for socks I've always knitted them cuff down not toe up so now I think I'm on my way to mastering the toe up way from the techniques that I learnt at camp.

I loved learning how to knit with the beads but the beads were so tiny it took me ages to finish this little purse brooch by www.pollysbeads.com.au

               

So when you were done with the classes and wanted a break you could stroll over to the Retail Marketplace for some retail yarn and fiber therapy.   And yes I couldn't resist and did add to my stash but I tried to stick to colours that I don't normally get and different types of yarn and fiber like this 100% Linen from the Dairing company at www.dairing.com.au

Now for an appropriate pattern.  A nice big shawl possibly.  Yes I buy the yarn first and then decide what to knit.

And to add to my new fiber stash from www.glenoraweaving.com.au:

And

All in all I had a fantastic week end and can't wait for the next camp.  Shame they only have them every two years.  Now my mission is to find a knitters and spinning group that I can attend that fits in with my work commitments.

Now enough typing - onto some knitting!!!!!!  

 

PS as spelling and grammar are not my strongest points I apologize for any errors.

Halloween Preparation

Yesterday I started my Halloween prep.  Even though its an American tradition it is becoming more popular here.  Last year I decorated the front yard and had goodie bags for the local kids when they came knocking.  Our neighbour went really over the top and turned their garage into a creepy, spooky  room to wonder through.

I found this cute knitting pattern for little pumpkins at www.thesittingtree.net so I just had to make one yesterday.

I used some old acrylic 8ply wool that I had lying around and size 4 circular needle and slightly smaller size double point needles to do the stork bit.