What a night!! Saturday we saw Crowded House and it was the most awesome night ever. I was wishing it was never over - I cried a number of times because the music was so beautiful and the memories of listening to the songs were so lovely. What you can see here is a very crap photo that in no way represents anything that we saw or heard, but it’s the best I can do. I really need a camera!! If you squint, you can see Neil.

Highlights:

1. Getting away from it all with the Spunk, shopping at Salamanca Market, listening to some fantastic Celtic music at the New Sydney pub whilst sipping a beer and making our way to the concert.
2. Seeing my all time favourite band live, even though they haven’t really existed for a long time. I never thought that would happen.
3. The weather held out. It was crisp but not freezing and I was quite comfy in jeans and three layers on top, with a beanie and boots.
4. Knitwear everywhere. I will share examples below.
5. Great atmosphere. Not a lot of scope for bogan-like behaviour at an event like this.

Lowlights:

1. Portaloos. Say no more. (Although I had a Kenny experience at one point and a nice man cleaned the toilet just before I went in! Hilarious!! And remembering how I fell out of a Portaloo in my wedding dress. But that’s another story.)
2. Lining up for drink tokens to then line up for drinks. Thankfully I didn’t have to do this because I am spoiled rotten, but I did have to wait a long time!
3. Flipping idiots in front of me who may or may not have escaped from some kind of facility for the mentally challenged who were THROWING PEANUTS and people and at one point STOOD IN FRONT OF ME SO I COULDN’T SEE until the Spunk asked them to kindly sit. He figured we could have taken them in a fight.
4. Walking for nearly an hour afterwards before we could get a cab.
5. Crazy taxi driver on the way who told my friend to stop playing with the window uppy downy button and to STOP ASKING STUPID QUESTIONS and BE QUIET WOULD YOU. I thought we might get put out. He was a very grumpy man.

Knitwear spied. Sorry if by some strange and unfathomable coincidence you see yourself. Please know that I stalked you with the greatest appreciation and not a bit of creepiness.

I have finished a part of my Secret Santa for our Saturday group, but don’t know what else to do - I need to add something. The silly season is just beginning. It’s a slippery slide of get togethers, break ups, shopping, baby showers, school picnics, graduations, barbecues, prodigal brothers returning and Christmasses (yes, plural. Bloody divorced parents) from here until January. I figure I will just go along for the ride and let it all happen. Somewhere among all that I will turn 34. I don’t remember ever imagining being 34. However, I have a feeling it will be a good year.

PS Check out Summer Sue.

We are being overtaken by dolls around here. And I have taken the plunge and opened an etsy store! Eeek. I don’t know whether I will ever sell anything or not - nothing ventured, nothing gained. So at the moment there is one doll there. She is very lonely, but not for long because there are more cut out and ready to sew!

Don’t panic though knitters, I am still clicking those sticks and knitting away. I have nearly finished my secret Christmas knitting and a sock for the Spunk and there is still a sock for me and plenty of plans for summer holiday knitting. Last year I made the CPH in my summer holidays. This year might bring another large project for me. Perhaps Rogue?

Because this blog is called i heart knitting, I will desist from talking too much about my sewing here. Instead I have started a new blog - because I have nothing better to do - called Lil Peeples. Come on over and check it out! It’s a bit bare at the moment, but it’s a work in progress.

And the title of this post? It is also a reference to the adventure we are having this weekend - WE ARE GOING TO SEE CROWDED HOUSE AND I AM SO EXCITED BECAUSE THEY ARE LIKE MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE BAND!!! Yay!!!

to the family.

First of all . . .

and then there are these guys.

This is such a good little pattern and I have been recycling some fabrics around the house. The guy in the front is meant to be Kurt Cobain. He is awaiting a face. He was a request from Purl. The two redheads were made on Friday and the others last night and today

And, I made a sock tote! And a monster but I am not going to share that because I completely ripped it off and I don’t want to upset anyone. Darn copyright.

Next in the sewing stakes is a robot that I designed myself, with some help from Tiny Madam and Number One Son! What a hoot! As soon as he is done I will show you. He is going to be a Christmas gift for my friend’s little boy.

Tiny Madam turns six in 10 days and the kitten is hers. At the moment we are aclimatising our other cat. Things are a bit shaky between the two of them right now, but getting better. Our old cat was a hissing furball mess yesterday. Now she’s just hissing. The kitten on the other hand is as happy as Larry.

Thank you for your kind thoughts regarding Auntie. She is still hanging in there! I haven’t been able to see here this week because I managed to pick up some kind of lurgy and have been coughing and spluttering left, right and centre.

I had better go and do some knitting. The Spunk has been instructed to ping something at my forehead if I go near any fabric this evening. I have deadline knitting to finish! Oh yeah, and a week at school to plan for!

Hi! Gosh it’s been a while. I have to apologise for my absence, if anyone cares any more! What a neglected little blog this has become.

I survived camp, the knitted items were very much appreciated - it actually snowed. It was great. The kids were fantastic and we had lots of fun. Here I am on camp. Don’t mistake the ‘bunny ears’ on top of my head as a disrespectful gesture. I am sure it was done in jest. PFT. As well, you can see why I did not want to eat very much meat when I came home. I have never in my life handled so much meat! I had to cook for everyone. No one told me I was signing up for that when I finished my teaching degree!!

I have been on a sewing binge. My darling mother bought me a sewing machine for my birthday, which isn’t until December. So far with my first own machine, I have made:

1. Two giant frog bean bags for the children
2. A dress that has since become a skirt
3. Two pairs of shorts and two skirts for Tiny Madam
4. Two pairs of shorts for Number One Son
5. One pair of pyjama trousers for Purl
6. Another skirt for me

Tonight I am going to attempt to make a sock tote a la the instructions from 2paw. Unfortunately I can’t show you any pictures because I haven’t taken any and Purl has the camera. She is off to Canberra tomorrow to the Australian War Memorial. Just for the day! She really is the little traveller!

Oh yes. Knitting. Well, I seem to have found my sock mojo again. I finished the stripy socks from my last post, and the other socks from that post. These were handed to their recipient. I am knitting an orange sock from the Ultimate Sock Book for me with the yarn I won from Live2Knit. I am knitting a sock for the Spunk with some Spotties yarn and a secret little something for our Launceston Tassie Knitters Rav group Secret Santa. Shh. As well, I am slowly working on another Button Me Up for Purl.

These last few days have been reflective for me. I learned to knit at a very young age and teaching me was a bit of a group effort. Mum and Dad both had a hand in it - I seem to remember Dad teaching me to cast off. Most instrumental in my early knitting days was my Auntie - Dad’s aunt. I used to spend a lot of time with Auntie and Uncle growing up, and any time sitting with Auntie was spent knitting. I would spend hours untangling yarn, winding skeins by hand, sorting colours and looking for just the right colour. I used to knit a lot of toys when I was little, some of them for me and some to put in the toy box at Auntie’s house for the younger kids coming along. She knitted for me and my brother, and more recently for Purl when she was a baby - often acrylic and quite often unwearable, but knitted with love. Auntie never made a sock, nor a clapotis. As far as I know she never made a top down raglan jumper or a bottom up vest - her knitting was fairly sedate and patterns were followed to the letter. No Malabrigo, no laceweight creations, no internet. Functional and practical knitting.

Auntie has been in a nursing home for six years and is now very unwell. Dad called me last week to tell me she might not make it through the night. I carry quite a bit of guilt - I have not visited as much as I should have. When Purl was a baby I used to travel to see Auntie and Uncle at least once a week and found their companionship comforting and supportive. Then we got married, had more children, started careers, bought a house and my routines changed completely. Life, again, got in the way of what’s important. Now it’s almost too late. We should all make time to do what is really important. You see, I could have visited more often and spent some time sitting and knitting, like we used to do.

Where do weeks go? It has been three weeks or so since I blogged! I just checked my google reader list and there are 165 unread posts! Eeek!

Of course there has been knitting. I have finished one sock, and have two more socks on the go. I would like to finish the stripy pair before Monday because I am going on camp and need warm socks.

I also finished Button Me Up and found it slightly too small - wearable definitely, but I would have felt uncomfortable. And so, Purl scored a jumper. She has worn it twice and has actually ordered another one exactly the same but the smaller size. I ordered some more Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Ranch Red to make her another. It is really nice to see her in one of my knits! Fifteen year olds can be difficult to please! We are planning on some interesting buttons for the red one. This was a fantastic pattern that went very quickly. I will make myself one too I think. One day.

Speaking of camp, I decided I needed a hat and made one. I like it, but I think the Spunk and Purl think I look a bit odd. What do you think? Excuse the photo, I took it myself!

This week I also ordered some Cascade Heritage sock yarn from Yarns Online. $12.50 per 100g skein, and the colours are really lovely. Now I am wondering which socks to knit. I also bought some KnitPicks Harmony needles - 2.25mm. They are very pretty and feel quite nice. I am a bit worried that I will break them so I am knitting slightly slower than usual.

I am also making a shawl that will probably never be worn . . . hey, it keeps me off the streets!

We have been busily buying books here and there from the Book Depository. I have bought Knitting Without Tears and The Knitter’s Almanac, as well as some books for the kids and some surprises for the Spunk who is having a birthday next week. I might have just scraped through - the gap between the AUD and the GBP seems to be widening. Sigh.  

As I mentioned, I am camping next week for two nights, and then again the week after. School camp is a funny thing. I quite enjoy seeing the kids outside of school and usually find it really rewarding. However, it is so darn tiring and I am dreading being chief decision maker 24 hours a day. I can usually manage a work day where I am expected to make decisions time and time again, but it’s nice to come home and let someone else decide what to eat or watch on television! Not only that, but I don’t think I will get much knitting done! I will take it just in case it rains (God forbid!).

We are still waiting for the Spunk’s cardigan to be zipped. Hopefully he will have it before his birthday! Next time I think I will try it myself WITH MY NEW SEWING MACHINE. Mum and her husband have given me my birthday present two months early! I haven’t sewed a stitch with it yet - I am certainly not the world’s greatest seamstress, but I am looking forward to making something. Perhaps some simple skirts for the Tiny Madam for summer?

The Spunk has been a teacher for nearly three weeks and is travelling well. The kids have responded well to him and he is enjoying himself!

Us Launcestonian Ravelers met up last weekend and sorted our Secret Santa knitting out. I have lots of ideas for my recipient! I want to talk about it but I can’t!!

I finished the Cotton-Ease blanket, and if anyone is interested I wrote a chart and pattern which is available for download. It is very very easy and I could read whilst knitting, so it went fairly quickly.

My yarn arrived from Live2Knit, and it is deliciously gorgeous. I don’t quite know what to do with it yet. I am not sure it will become socks.

Blaze

I cast on some socks last night - a gift for my Dad’s wife. I have only ever made her one pair and she is continually rinsing them out and drying them quickly to wear again. I am using some Patonyle I dyed ages ago. It has been such a long time since I made socks; my hands had almost forgotten how to hold the tiny needles.

Here are some of my muffins. One lot, chocolate chip. The other, cheese and bacon! Yum!

On Sunday the Spunk and I found ourselves sans children, and decided to go to the pictures! We hadn’t been for so long, I can’t even remember what we saw last when it was just the two of us. We saw Hellboy 2 which I thought was really good. I liked Hellboy after watching it despite some misgivings about his appearance and whatnot. Anyway, I would recommend Hellboy 2 if you are into comic book adaptions. IMHO it is one of the best!

Tomorrow we are seeing Wall-E which the kids are very excited about. I am more excited about the popcorn, but never mind! Two trips to the cinema in one week! It must be holidays.

Speaking of which, we are very much on the slippery slopes back to work. The good news is that the Spunk is all legal and will be starting teaching with me on Monday! It will be interesting working together!

I finished the Spunk’s cardigan and dropped it off at Knits Needles and Wool to have a zip inserted. My first anxious thought was about the colour of the zip. I bought a black one, and now I think it should be grey. The second anxious thought was about leaving something that took me so long to make with someone I don’t know and trusting them not to bugger it up! My third anxious thought was about it being away for so long (up to two weeks!) and then the Spunk having no opportunity to wear it!

However, it fits. I don’t have a photo because the camera is still in Queensland. But it really does fit very well and he is thrilled.

I made the back and one front of Hey Teach! and then ripped it out because it just wasn’t doing it for me. Then I cast on for a cotton Wicked cardigan and that wasn’t cutting it either, so now I am making a baby blanket with Cotton-Ease. I love the colour and the yarn is very soft, but I think I need to learn I don’t like knitting cotton into garments! There are a couple of babies in the making around me at the moment, so I am sure one of them will appreciate a machine wash/dry blanket. Pattern is my own - I will share as soon as I can.

Next on the needles - Button Me Up! Pullover by Laura Chau. The numbers are fairly close to Wicked, so it should work out well. In fact, the pullover itself is quite similar to Wicked, but it is knit from the bottom up. I should be able to finish this before going back to school.

I am awaiting delivery of a couple of books - Knitting Without Tears and The Knitter’s Almanac from The Book Depository. I have fallen in love with Elizabeth Zimmermann like thousands of knitters before me. I can’t wait to get them. The Spunk has ordered another jumper - I am going to make him a Seamless Hybrid (Rav link) - we just have to agree on a yarn choice.

We have been spring cleaning with a vengeance this week and finally tackled the kids’ room. Tiny Madam and Number One Son share a room at the moment - our family outgrew our house with the suprise arrival of TM! Oh boy, it was a disgrace. Now, a place for everything and everything in its place. One tub of toys each in the open, everything else is shelved or tubbed and hidden away. It feels very good! However, I wish I could buy them a space saving bed each - we saw a fabulous example at Harvey Norman yesterday. We went to buy a printer and ended up bouncing on beds, fondling carpet and rocking in chairs. What good clean fun!

I have been bitten by the muffin bug. I have never before this week cooked muffins, but have made up for that since Thursday! Yum!

Now to brighten what is a very grey day here - a very bizarre pairing - REM and some Muppets.

Yesterday I went to the shopping centre, which to most of you might not seem like any special occasion. However I am fairly anti-leavethehouse most of the time, so it is often not me who does the shopping. As I was leaving an elderly man dropped his coins and I crouched down to pick them up (bones creaking!). When I handed him his coins I noticed that he was a man of the cloth. Which denomination of cloth I have absolutely no idea! He blessed my heart! I left the centre feeling somewhat uplifted!

And how am I blessed? Well, we had a lovely Father’s Day despite both our fathers being away. Mine is in Queensland (with Little Purl - lucky beggars!) and the Spunk’s Dad is in Munich. It is telling that our two youngest kids were so excited to be giving their Dad some presents that they were up at about 6am! He was very pleased with his spoils.

I am feeling particularly lucky today because I won a prize in the random draw of the Ravelympics, which is really exciting! A skein of sock yarn from Live2Knit. I have never used any of her yarn, but have often wanted to because it is so pretty. I think it might be just the thing to kick off some sock knitting again. It has been so very long since I have knitted socks. I have been on such a cardigan spree.

Speaking of cardigans, I am just casting on for the collar of the cardigan for the Spunk. Then all I have to do is sew it up(!). I will do that tomorrow in the daylight. Nothing better to do because I AM ON HOLIDAYS!!! Then, off to Knits Needles and Wool to get a zip put in and he will be able to wear it. We are holding our breath at the moment because he is this close to finishing his degree and then he will be teaching - and it looks like he will be with me at my school in the classroom next door! I dare not even think about it at this stage. It has been a long time coming, let me tell you. I have been chief breadwinner for nearly six years and I am very much looking forward to us both working for a decent wage. He has been an absolute trouper through this time, working at the pub up the road putting up with all sorts of rubbish and people asking for cups of chino and chicken in pyjamas, but that will all soon come to an end. Instead he will be putting up with all sorts of rubbish from teenagers! But at least he will be getting paid decent money for it and will be home at night! Hooray! Another blessing!!

We had another northern Ravelry meeting on Saturday, which was absolutely lovely. Before that Mother and I went into town and did a tiny spot of shopping. For some reason that I have forgotten, according to Mother it is my year to get presents, and she bought me a new handbag! Thanks Mum!

And earlier in the week we went to Hobart for Little Purl’s official presentation with the Premier regarding her prize. It was a lovely day; the Spunk drove us there and almost all the way back, we did another spot of (window) shopping, caught up with my uncle and watched a presentation by last year’s winners. We had a cup of coffee and a bite to eat and came home again. Lovely. What a proud mother I am! Any locals may have seen Purl in The Examiner or The Mercury.

While I am feeling blessed, I am sorry to say there are no photos of knitting this time around, because Purl has the camera. However, here are my two girls with their little cousin in pink the background and their brother most of the way down the hill playing together after their Grandad’s 70th birthday lunch out in the country. They spent ages rolling down a hill and walking back up it, then rolling down the hill and walking back up it, and . . . so on. To our horror, even Grandad had a turn! To see my fifteen year old giggling and laughing with her five year old sister warmed the cockles of my heart. So I guess I have a blessed heart with warm cockles.

You might like to check out a couple of new blogs . . .

Little Knitter and Blue Speed!

Where does time go? I have been a very slack blogger! About time for a quick catch up I think! And, only 90 comments to go until someone gets something!! How very exciting.

I finished Juliet. Here is some detail:

I am really happy with it - it was a very quick and easy pattern to memorise and it knitted up so quickly in Bendigo Rustic 12 ply (Green Tweed). I highly recommend both the pattern and the yarn. I found some buttons for it and made the loops and WA LA, done.

I mentioned the Ravelympics in my last post. I made Liesl with Jet. Here is some detail:

I am yet to wear this one. I really like it but it has been really really cold and I will need to wait for the weather to be a bit warmer for another outing of the short sleeved pop-over knitting.

The Sassymetrical top is coming along quite nicely, although it has been put on the backburner for the time being. Here it is with the pin that will hold it closed:

I ventured into the LYS last Saturday, as I am wont to do every now and again. I have been looking for the perfect yarn for the perfect cardigan for the perfect man (The Spunk) and I finally found it! Yay! I paid for about half of the yarn and put the rest away. Then I came home and cast on for a swatch. I can barely ever never get gauge with 8 ply (DK) yarn. I don’t know what it is with me. It’s not like I am the most relaxed person ever or anything - but my knitting on 4mm needles is always too big. I average about 17sts per 10cm, when I am supposed to have 22sts! I seem to be able to manage to get perfect gauge with worsted/aran weight yarn. Strange. Anyway, I thought I could fudge it but no. I knitted about 15cm up the back with 3.75mm needles and realised it was too huge. So, I ripped back and started with 3.5mm needles and I am between a half and one stitch off over 10cm still. This will not be enough to matter (I decided). But, I only had straights in 3.5mm so I had to find a circular needle, because apparently my stupid hands and wrists can’t deal with the straights any more. I headed off to the BSODL(tm) and OF COURSE they did not have 3.5mm circular needles. I ended up ordering an Addi from The Knittery and paying express postage to get the needle to me quick sticks! It arrived, and off I went. Zoom zoom zoom. I am almost up to the shaping of the raglan sleeve. Yay! Here it is at the inception.

Last post I mentioned an important interview that Little Purl had attended. Well, even though it has not been announced by the Premier yet, and is all very secret squirrel, I feel that I can share it here . . . SHE FLIPPING WON! She will be going the dawn service at Gallipoli next ANZAC day, and also visiting Belgium and France, all expenses paid! We are very excited and incredibly proud. But don’t tell anyone, because the Premier hasn’t announced it yet!

And to finish, here is a picture of my cat, who has a learning disability. After three years she is still trying to get through the kitchen window with her head.

I finished my Assymetrical Cardi! I am very happy with it. Here I am after a day at work on Monday:

On the weekend the kids amused themselves by drawing TV stations to put in an empty box. The Tiny Madam made me a knitting show! If you look closely, you can see that she has written nitik and that you need too needles! That’s me in the picture by the way!

I have started knitting Juliet, and it seems to be turning out okay. I am about to have to decide whether I am making the smallest size or not. I think it would be prudent to measure!

I had a very odd day at work today. I was the phantom teacher! Little Purl had an incredibly important interview in our State’s capital today, and I organised for Mother to take her. I had hinted at being allowed to go, but it was never discussed that I could miss a day of work, so I assumed I was to appear as per usual. When I got to work, lo and behold, there was my name on the board! I was supposed to be absent, but no one told me anything about it! A relief teacher had been organised. I had no classes for the day! It was too late to go to Hobart! I had no one to pick up the smaller offshoots! So instead I spent the day proofreading reports and suspending people. Lovely. Aaaanyway, Little Purl did very well in her interview and I dare not speak about what it was for until we know the outcome. Suffice to say IT IS A HUGE DEAL INVOLVING INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL. Eeek!

I did not knit one darn stitch yesterday, so I am about to go and rectify that. Not long until the Olympics and whilst I have joined Team Oz on Ravelry for the Ravelympics I have kind of changed my mind about what I want to knit! Of course I have. Mary Mary always contrary, that’s me!

By the way, I have just clicked over 900 comments on this blog. Should I offer a prize for number 1000? Would that encourage lurkers to delurk? Are you lurking? Let me know!!