Fish Gotta Swim

I wish I could blame his shocking new haircut on a rogue sibling who went a bit scissor crazy but sadly it was all my doing. I honestly thought it would be easy to cut hair in a straight line. I guess the sound of the scissors along with pieces of your body falling off in front of your eyes would be rather alarming. Next time I will do it in front of a mirror so he can see all the action without looking around. It'll grow back mate!

Flynn is 18 months now and I'm loving this age so much. He's a very busy boy, running amok and doing what Toddlers do best. Fish Gotta Swim. He's beginning to string some words together and he's also starting to mimic the things we do and say. While I was following him around the yard taking some photographs he went about his business putting sticks on the old fire pit and telling me it was "hot hot hot". He enjoys pointing at everything and this afternoon when I asked him rhetorically where the day had gone, he put his hands up to his face and said "don't know", just like in the 3rd picture above. 

I'm late to the Milo Vest party but what a fantastic little knit it is. One of the things I love about blogging is that it can sometimes give me the push I need to start things that I've been wanting to do but just haven't got around to doing yet. I've been meaning to make this Vest for a year now but it was finally after seeing Kristie's Milos and then the subsequent call out on Instagram to participate in the "Milo in May" Knitalong that I finally got onto doing it. I have also been wanting to try some Fair Isle or Colourwork and it was Leigh's Post on all of her gorgeous Kate Davies knits that finally inspired me to experiment with some Fire Isle on this Vest. So thank you lovely, inspiring blogging friends near and far.

I loved knitting this Vest and I especially love seeing Flynn wearing it. I had an urge to see some Fish swimming across his torso so added them instead of the cable and am quite pleased with my first attempt at stranded knitting. The White Gum Wool, an ethical superfine merino from Tasmania was an absolute dream to work with too. My Ravelry Notes are here.

I'm now pondering what to make with this skein of local handspun Alpaca fleece and thinking perhaps this simple cowl would be nice. 

I've started reading The Tailor's Girl by Fiona McIntosh (thanks for the birthday present Dad & Diane!) and so far really enjoying it. Interestingly, it's the first book I've read in a long time that's written by a female - The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion, Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris and Lost Voices by Christopher Koch all written by men. It got me thinking whether I had a bias towards male authors over female authors. Do you have a preference?

I'm joining in with Ginny and the other lovely people sharing their latest books and knitting projects.

What are you knitting or reading at the moment?

Apologies too, if the song by the same name as the title of this Post keeps playing in your head for the rest of the day like it has mine :-)

Mel x

Follow Your Arrow Mystery Knit-Along

I was really keen to have a crack at lace knitting so I joined up to Ysolda Teague's "Follow Your Arrow" Mystery Knit-Along where I knew there would be plenty of support available to get through the project. 

It was my first Knit-Along and it was a really fun thing to do and I especially enjoyed the interaction with other knitters from all over the world. Every week for 5 weeks we were given a choice of 2 clues. Because I wanted to see how each clue turned out I decided to do 2 scarves. I was able to keep up each week with both scarves until the 5th week where I finished the final clue on my first scarf and then released we had reached a situation of Dire Straits on the home front. I'm not saying the Dire Straits was in any way related to the fact I had spent the previous 5 weeks knitting like a madwoman at every opportunity and may have neglected the household as a result but in hindsight the timing is rather interesting. I shelved the final clue on my second scarf and will pick it up again as soon as order has been restored, which I'm hoping will be in another few weeks.

It's not that I wanted to have a lace shawl to wear per se, I just really wanted to try knitting lace and if I could wear it at the end that would be a bonus. The fun was going to be purely in the making of it. The truth is, the making of it nearly did me in. It required every inch of patience and then some. It was not the relaxed knitting I'm used to where you can still carry on conversations or watch some TV while you're at it. I lost count of the number of times I had to recount stitches or rip back a row and I had to start over from scratch not once but twice. One little mistake in lace knitting can make the whole  thing look terrible. Despite this, or maybe because of it, I really started to bond with my scarf over the course of the Knit-Along and as I finished the clue each week I was looking forward to getting the next clue in my inbox. I am quite pleased with how it came out and will definitely enjoy wearing it. I love the way you can see the arrows within the design of the scarf.

After my last scarf, I decided to have a change from my usual neutral colour palette and opted for this gorgeous blue/green. I love the colour and any worries I had about it being a bit 'out there' for a scarf have disappeared now that Hemlock Green is one of the 2014 Pantone colours of the year and I am literally seeing the colour everywhere. 

I have no idea why I look pregnant in this shot.

I'm currently reading The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion and really loving it. There is a lot to be said about this book so I'll leave it for another time.

My ravelry notes can be found here and I'm joining up with Ginny this week, something I'm trying to do about once a month, which is a more realistic time frame for me to be able to have a book read and a bit of progress on a knitting project.

Hope you are all having a great week!

Mel xxx

I'm addicted, Shawly!

I started a shawl on New Years Eve and just 14 days later it came off the needles, an entire knitted project finished in 2 weeks! I don't think you will ever see such productivity from me again - amazing what can be done when the laptop is packed away and there are a couple of extra hands on deck to help out with the Kids. Needless to say the house in a shambles and the Kids ran out of socks! It's not the sort of thing I could get away with for the entire year but it's been a gentle and easy start to the New Year.

I'm sorry I didn't mention that things might be a little quiet around here. We've been enjoying the company of my Dad and Diane as well as Daniel's parents who left just yesterday. It's been almost a month of family staying with us. It's been lovely but I decided to pack away the laptop with all its anti-social potential and brought out the knitting needles instead where conversations can be carried on alongside the rhythmic clicking of the needles.

But back to the shawl, it's the beautiful Textured Shawl Recipe by Orlane and I absolutely love how it turned out. I adore it's simplicity in design and construction and it shows off the variations in the yarn beautifully. The yarn is a squishy Merino/Cashmere blend by an Australian Company Augustbird, and hand dyed in the Stonefall colourway. I bought the yarn months ago with a cardigan in mind but decided a more substantial shawl would be more suited to the Tassie climate where I am always grabbing an extra layer to throw on.  It's not so much a pattern but more of a 'recipe' where there is plenty of scope for variety. I have long admired Kate's beautiful knitted creations over on her blog and when I saw her Textured Shawl on Ravelry I looked no further and followed her notes almost exactly. My Ravelry notes are here.

Before Blocking

This was my very first shawl and there are definitely a few traps for new players, despite it essentially being a knitted triangle. Since you start with just a few stitches and increase from there, I assumed that I was starting at the tip of the triangle and working towards the long base of the triangle. For this reason I spent the first few rows pulling the shawl into a shape that resembled a tip (see where my toes are - oops!) whereas you actually start at the base and work out.  Thank goodness for blocking. I also used the Elizabeth Zimmerman sewn bind-off, which created a lovely finish but took an entire evening to get the 323 stitches off the needles so if anyone uses or knows of another quicker method which yields similar results please let me know!

After Blocking, that's a bit straighter!

Blocking is something I haven't attempted before either other than a little spritz with a water bottle on my finished pieces. This time I submerged the entire thing into a bath and didn't take my eyes off it for 20 to 30 minutes to ensure it didn't disintegrate before my eyes. I have felted many a woollen sweater in my youth by combining water with wool so it was a nerve-wracking experience. I didn't have any blocking rods either so just used string to produce some straight lines and then pinned it to the rug in my bedroom away from all the Kids and checked on it every 5 minutes like a newborn baby. 

I love the element of surprise with a shawl, the fact that all the stitches are bunched up on a circular needle, and you have no idea how it will look until you cast-off. I'm completely addicted. In fact I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning the other night just so I could finish it in time to start a new shawl - Ysolde's Mystery Knit Along, along with 2346 others from around the world. We will be given a new clue every Monday for 5 weeks. I started and finished the first clue last night so it's not too late to start! I think this is the beginning of a new obsession. How many shawls is too many, I wonder? I'm still reading Christopher Koch's "Lost Voices" which is a brilliant read if I could just steal myself away from the wool and the computer I might actually finish it sometime this year! What are you all reading and/or making at the moment? I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone is up to. Have a lovely end to the week!

Mel xxx

I'm joining in with Ginny's Yarn Along this week. 

Pumphouse Point

At the end of a Pier on the deepest Lake in Australia nestled within the pristine Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area sits the old Pumphouse. It has rarely been used since its construction in 1939 and was decommissioned in 1995. The Pumphouse and the main Substation at the edge of the Pier have remained derelict since then but are now about to be part of a very exciting Tourism Development. Building works have begun to turn these two buildings into a stunning boutique Hotel which will be sympathetic to their gorgeous Art Deco features as well as the surrounding natural beauty.

We have been very fortunate to have spent the last 4 days staying in the old Manager's cottage adjacent to the Substation before the site goes into full construction mode. The cottage will soon be the home of the new Hotel Manager. 

To have a piece of World Heritage Area completely to ourselves was pretty amazing. But to have all of that without any of the additional 'white noise' was sheer bliss. No telephones, televisions, computers, ipads, iPhones, xbox, and more importantly, there were no requests for any of these things because the Kids knew they were not available. Honestly, 4 days under these conditions felt like 4 weeks and it was the perfect way to end the two weeks of School Holidays which were otherwise spent at home. If you asked me what I needed right now in terms of a getaway destination, this would be it - no noise, no people, just the 7 of us together with no outside distractions. It was completely wonderful.

We relaxed and took in the serenity. We enjoyed a spot of fishing and some bushwalks. We awoke to the sound of birds, watched the wildlife creep in at dusk and fell asleep to the sound of rain hitting the tin roof. 

After some decent weather on our first day, the rain set in so activities turned indoors. There was a lot of tea and coffee drinking and board game playing. After dinner, I got a burst of inspiration being in a different kitchen and set the table for breakfast, something I have never done in 9 years of parenting. My Grandparents used to do this and my Grandpa still puts his bowl of porridge in the microwave the night before ready for the morning.  I think I might make it a regular thing. The Kids were most impressed with my new organisational skills. "What are you doing Mum?". "I'm being organised gorgeous one, just humour me!".

On the third day of rain we had to spice things up a bit. The Kids had played countless games of Monopoly, Scrabble, Chess and Checkers and amongst the six of us every single permutation and combination of teams and players had been exhausted. But then someone designed the great Jenga Tower competition and this bought a few more hours of fun.

We went to the local Pub for dinner one night to play more games and sit by an even bigger fire. It was very child friendly and the food was fabulous, which was great because it is the only place to eat in the entire area. Everyone had a game of Pool, with even baby Flynn not wanting to miss out!

And I made a hat! Capucine. A simple but super sweet pattern that I decided to make with the remaining Noro Kochoran skein I had leftover from the cushion. I'm sure I've mentioned before that I'm not a huge fan of striped clothing but this yarn is so luxurious and squishy with it's combination of Angora, Merino and Silk that I think I can make an exception for a hat. It is also so warm and came in very handy over the past few days. I'm a little bit in love with it actually!

Yes, I know it's just a hat but there has been very little action on the knitting front lately and it was such a joy to finally be able to sit down in the evenings by the fire and not only start something but also finish something in 2 nights. It has been an unusually busy School Term where the domestic stuff overwhelmed me and the majority of my days were spent chasing my tail but with the added frustration of the millions of interruption that go along with running a household of 7 people.  So it may only be a little hat but it is an accomplishment nevertheless. My Ravelry notes are here.

We arrived home late last night full of happy memories. The Kids went back to School today and I can't believe there is only another 10 weeks left until the end of the School year. This will be the final 10 weeks of Kindy before the Twins start full-time school next year. A few months ago I would have gasped at that thought, the thought of my little boys being ready for "Big School". However, these past few days more than anything I've realised just how much they have grown up. They are more than ready. But first, let's just enjoy the post-holiday glow and get through the rest of this year.

The Jest

I made a Jest. You know, a cross between a Jumper and a Vest. A Jest. 

It wasn't supposed to be a Jest or a Vest for that matter. It was meant to be a Jumper. But since it has been a Jest longer than it has been a Jumper, we have been calling it a Jest around here. For that reason, it is also a Jest. The other Jest. A big fat Jest. I know. It's confusing which Jest I'm referring to now but it doesn't matter because both "Jests" can be used interchangeably. 

The Jest was knitted up on the Road Trip during all those long hours in the car but has since sat on the very end of the Mantlepiece over there mocking me for over a month - how's that for irony? A Jest that mocks. 

I know I shouldn't base my self worth on my inability to complete the final rows of a sleeve, a task that would probably take less than an hour. But, I can't bring myself to do it. The love for the project has gone. Seriously, it's such a simple task to complete that I'm ashamed I even have to blog about it. 

It was doomed when I left the smaller circular needle for the ribbing on the kitchen bench when we left for the trip. We arrived in Alice Springs and after searching high and low the only 4mm circular needle I could find was at the Dollar Store on our final day. It seems that knitting in the middle of the desert is not a huge past time. But I finally found one at Mad Harry's for $1.00. Bingo, I thought! But no, it was a big mistake. Read these words very very carefully, never ever buy a dodgy circular needle from a Dollar Store. I spent the next 9 hours in the car muttering some very choice words under my breath as each and every stitch snagged on its way around the cord onto the other needle. It took the entire 9 hours from Alice Springs to Coober Pedy to do the ribbing on the neckline, bottom and the sleeve. I will never take my lovely wooden circular needle with its smooth and seamless transition from needle to cord for granted again.

It then came to my attention that the stitching at the top of the jumper looked significantly different to the rest of the jumper after I joined the yoke to continue knitting in the round. And that would be because I was wrapping the yarn the wrong way on my purl stitches for the yoke. It's normally not noticeable when you knit on straight needles but when you join to knit in the round you don't need to purl at all and that is why the stockinette stitch looked different. It looked much better. See below.

Top half is a 'variation' of stockinette stitch 'achieved' by wrapping the yarn the 'opposite' way.

There was no way I was going to rip it back and start the entire thing over. I never do that, preferring to keep my mistakes in full view to haunt me for the rest of my life. I actually didn't think it looked too bad until my Son tried the Jest on and there appeared to be some puckering at the bust which made the jumper look as if it may be more appropriate for a woman with an A-Cup bust rather than a 7 year old boy. ANother mistake, possibly the result of not picking up enough stitches at the V on the neckline. It was at that point my knitting Mojo flew completely out the window along with the dodgy circular needle.

I don't think I've ever abandoned a project completely. I like to finish things regardless of how painful they are. But what do you do when the knitting mojo has been lost?

The only way to kickstart my Mojo enough to finish the Jest was to do another quick project that promised both satisfaction in the making with a 100% likelihood of completion. So I bought some Zpagetti from my local yarn store and decided to make a simple rug for Flynn for when we move him into his own room. I used this pattern and my Ravelry notes can be found here. It was everything I hoped it would be. It crocheted up fast which was extremely satisfying. Zpagetti is recycled T-shirt material so the colours and texture vary and so it is hard to get the same colour again if you run out. So I chose a T-Shirt Grey and as soon as I saw the lovely Autumn-y orangey colour I grabbed the last 2 rolls of those off the shelf. The colour matches perfectly with the colours in the granny square blanket I made Flynn this time last year. 

Of course the Whippet thinks I set this shot up entirely for his own enjoyment and comfort. 

I haven't done any crochet since I made the little Owls back in January and I think I'm ready to launch into a bigger crochet project again. But first, I need to finish the Jest!

****************

Thank you very much for your very supportive comments on my last Post, especially since I didn't really provide very much detail on the development. It will come, regardless of the outcome. I just wanted to get my current thoughts off my chest as well as to jot down a background Post. It would have been weird down the track to start a Post along the lines of "So, some tractors have arrived today to start work....". 

Speaking of Mojo, sometimes it's important to remember why I blog, which is by and large to document bits and pieces of my life, both past, present and future plans too. Sometimes I write purely for the joy of writing while other times, like this, I like to document my crafty successes and failures. Although not the reason I started, I now love being a part of this wonderful community of  blogging which has now become a necessary and fun part of my life. For a very thought-provoking Post on blogging in general, I can highly recommend this wonderful Post which left me with a renewed zest for blogging when I was feeling a little dismayed at the number of bloggers ditching blogging in favour of other forms of social media. Are you one of the ones who has lost their blogging Mojo in favour of the more immediate forms of social media like Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook? Or do you dabble in a bit of everything? Some more than others? I would love to know your thoughts.

Weekend?

Something odd is happening to my weekends. I mentioned in my last Post that my weekdays were finally looking a bit more civilised with a good mix of activity and much needed down-time. The weekends, however, seem to be getting busier and busier. Instead of Friday night being a time to celebrate in preparation for a weekend of relaxation and restoration, it now consists of an early night so that I have the energy to get through the fun but busy weekend. Every week we hope for a quiet weekend but it just ends up being the opposite with sports, birthday parties, social events and farm chores. By Friday, both Saturday and Sunday as well as Saturday evenings are all booked up. All self-inflicted obviously as we could decline invitations every now and then. But then we'd miss out on fun things like dressing up as Kiss and Cyndi Lauper like we did on Saturday night. But seriously, I'm contemplating pencilling into the Calendar a weekend every 6 weeks or so where we do absolutely nothing and say no to everything. This would mean the kids would miss out on things like birthday parties and that doesn't seem fair at all. It's a bit extreme and goes against my normal 'go with the flow' attitude but I feel I need to keep the odd weekend sacred for quiet family time. Or do I just accept the new status of weekends and try to recover during the week? Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Anyway, while I ponder how to fix a likely unfixable situation, let's talk about more important things like Downton Abbey. Sunday evenings have become my "Friday Night"as I can look forward to a more relaxing week ahead by comparison to the hectic weekend. Sunday evenings are spent watching Downton Abbey while the Pianoman is playing with his Band up in the shed. It's just me, my glass of wine and the knitting needles. The Pianoman doesn't understand why I love the show when I can't get through an episode without bawling my eyes out. Sometimes he walks in after his Band rehearsals and I need to 'workshop' some of the issues with him. I'm still recovering from last night's episode by the way. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who may not have seen episode 4 of Series 3 but it was a tear-jerker - mothers giving up their babies just kills me! Anyway, it's fair to say I'm slightly obsessed with Downton, so much so I just had to knit myself a Downton-inspired Cloche hat. Knitted while watching the show no less.

I finished it last night. It is the gorgeous Nola Cloche by Hillary Smith Callis and I am completely in love with it. I wasn't sure whether I could manage it so I just used some wool from my stash but I am going to make it again in something a little more decadent. It was my first time doing a cable, provisional cast-on, grafting and working in the round with 4 double-pointed needles so there was a lot to learn for such a wee little hat. However, the pattern is so well written that is was a fun, quick, easy knit and I love the vintage-y look of it.  Details ravelled here. 

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and if anyone has any thoughts about how I can get my weekends back I'd love to hear.