Tramontane

Some time last year, I had this idea for a hat. I wanted something slouchy and slightly lacy. Something out of thin yarn I could wear for the in-between months of the year.
Something more cute than functional, but still useful.

Thus, Tramontane was born. You can get it on Ravelry here! And until the end of May, you can get it for free with coupon code "first-free".
Tramontane combines an asymmetrical brim with playful lace and smooth crown decreases. You can make it more or less slouchy, depending on your needs and wants.
I love this hat and wear it all the time! In summer, I scoot it back for more of a face-framing accessory, while in spring and autumn, I pull it forward for a loose-fitting beanie-beret cross.

What's your favourite hat of the moment?

#socks365

I’ve started a new project to help me practice my photography. 
I’m sure a lot of you have heard about Project 365. Well, I’m putting my own twist on it and calling it Socks 365. 
But it’s no fun to play alone, is it? 
So I’m challenging all of you to play along, too!

Take a picture of your socks (on you, or get creative!) every day and share them in the Ravelry group, or on Twitter (#socks365), on your blog, on the project365 website…

And who knows? There may even be prizes for those who play along… ^_^

You can follow my project on the Project365 website, on Google+ or on Twitter.

Sock o'Clock!

I finished a pair of socks!
These are for my International Sock Swap partner, but I'm finding it hard to part with them!
These are truly international socks. I got the yarn as a present from my mum from Europe, they were knit here in Australia, and they're going to a different continent again. World Socks!
I wasn't madly in love with the colours in the skein. They looked a little dull. But just like the colours of Australia, you need to let them play with each other and they create something quite interesting and beautiful.

I picked the pattern, Pomatomus by Cookie A, deliberately to break up any unruly pooling, but the yarn spiral-pooled in a very consistent way. Look at how well the socks match! Love it.

Now I just have to gather some more goodies to go with the theme of my swap package, and then it will be off on its hopefully not-too-long trip.

Shop Update 18th September

This week's shop update sees the return of our lovely Aussie merino top. It's such a squishy fibre. And it now comes in a larger put-up for your spinning enjoyment.
Prefer something with a bit more grip? Try the Corriedale!

There are also some lovely stripies and variegated yarns.

RIP Watercress

Watercress were my first mystery socks. My first lace socks. My first green socks. Eleven months ago, I struggled with them, ripped out the cuff and redid it.
I loved these socks and wore them pretty often.
Now there's a hole in the sole and the pretty lace pattern has felted over.
It's time to let go.
They were nice socks. But they wouldn't survive the zombie apocalypse.

The Rockefeller saga

Casting On

Did you knit along with the Summer Mystery Shawl by Stephen West this year?
I missed last year's Earth & Sky craze (and conveniently ignored the mixed response), and this year, I was in.
It was fun to play along. A lot of us posted potential yarns and colour combos, and many of us got a response from the designer himself, giving us hints on what might or might not work in his design.

I got a response, too. I'd been looking for an excuse to use up my parrot-bright Zauberball Crazy, and I paired it up with one of my all-time favourite yarn/colour combos, Wollmeise 100% in Maus Jung, a gorgeous light grey.

Clue 1

I adored clue 1 when it came out. It's very Spectra-esque, which of course meant Spectra jumped into my queue, too.
Then things got a bit meh. Clue 2 really didn't work for me in the yarn I chose. The change of colour flow direction bothered me. it looked a bit clown ruffle.

Clue 2

But part of the mystery is the joy of knitting, so I kept going on while being slightly envious of the gorgeously elegant solid-coloured options that kept popping up in the spoiler thread.

Clue 3

I loved knitting clue 3, and it brought my colours in again. It didn't balance clue 2 (I don't think a whole circus tent could have balanced that!), but it was pretty. You know. Once you got past picking up a million, jillion stitches.
This shawl was sure shaping up to be a great exercise in basic knitting-related skills I always needed.

Then came clue 4. Stripes. I love stripes! Never mind that my yarn balls were getting teeny-weeny (that's technical for less than 10g remaining). I was adding wings to the design, just as I'd hoped.
Excdept, tehse wings were loooooooooooooong. really long. And my yarn was getting short.
No problem. I've got some Araucania Solid floating around, ina  red and a green that kind of match the ends of the Zauberball spectrum. I'll just use those for the tips and I'll be fine.

Clue 4

Yeah. Fine.
Except, once I started the second wing (you think second SOCK syndrome is bad? Try second ginormous wing.), it was clear I was going to run out of the Wollmeise, too. How do you run out of a Wollmeise skein?? These things are huge!

Fun fact about my shawl knitting, I roll them up and tie them down as I knit them so the turning each row isn't sucha  tangled mess. I knew the blob was heavy, but running out of two skeins of yarn made me realise how huge this shawl was going to be.

Fortunately, I had some more Maus Jung in Twin, and while it pained me to break into a skein I had (vague, very vague) plans for, it couldn't be helped. All for a good cause, right?

It's a bike cosy!

And then I finished the shawl. And unwrapped it. And held it up.
I had knit a circus entrance way! This thing measures almost 3 metres tip to tip. And that's before blocking!
Holy mother of shawls, Batman.

I gave the thing a light soak and patted it down. no way was I going to block it. For starters, I don't own enough floor to lay this thing out. Also, it's already rather large.
In fact, it may not be a shawl at all!

I wasn't sure I love it. I mean sure, it's big and it's colourful and it's certainly unique.
But I'm just not sure how much wear I'll get out of it.
I might be looking at it the wrong way though. It's getting to spring here, and it's certainly rarely shawl weather in balmy Melbourne.
But maybe this is the perfect shawl for travelling to Northern winter. It'd probably be an awesome shawl-slash-blanket on a plane.
What do you think?

Shop Update 28/8

That's What She Said

Zombie Unicorn

It's heading towards autumn in the northern hemisphere and Halloween is only 2 months away.
With that in mind, some new colourways inspired by the goodness of autumn and some gruesome monsters.

Apple Season

Ghoulish

Shop Update 21st August 2012

 The shop is back!
There are some old favourites as well as some new things today. We've got some self-striping balls in several bases, a new-to-me Corriedale fibre and some brand-new colourways, both semi-solid and variegated.
And I've been playing with some luscious silk-merino blends for some stunning one-of-a-kind colourways.
What's your favourite today?

Poke-Mitts

 It's no secret that I adore Another Crafty Girl's yarns. A lot. Especially her Poke-colours. In fact, I may need all of them...
I've had some leftover Bulbasaur from that awesome beret I knit a while back.
And I've had the Dustland Mitts pattern by Stephen West in my queue.
Perfect combo!
A quick and squishy knit, I managed to get all the way to the end before running out of yarn.
And while the generous Sarah of ACG offered to help me out, I needed the mitts done *right nao*, so I finished them off with some Malabrigo in Solis.
I love how they look, and I wear the mitts all the time.

Feelin' Blue Socks

 I finished another pair of socks! They're not for me though, they're for the Boy, when he travels to the cold (and lonely) capital.
They even come with extra cat love!

The colourway was an experimental one I did on one of my yarns. now I just need to figure out how to recreate it, of course...

Norwegian Rose saga

They're done! The Norwegian Rose socks that took forever are done!
Remind me never to attempt an 800-yard colorwork sock project in a month again.

They're glorious and a pain to get on, but once they're on, they're warm and cushy.
I'll have to redo the ribbing though. Size 0 after size 0 colorwork made it too sloppy for my liking.

The knitting itself was reasonably straight forward, all things considered.
Wendy Johnson is known for her great toe-up sock instructions, so following them was easy as sock knitting can be.
The charts were great and clear.
I'd heard the heel was a bit of an issue for some, so I changed mine to the heel I did for my Bob & Weave socks, and that worked out excellently.

To get all the yardage into the sock, I extended it by one repeat vertically and one horizontally, meaning I did some calf shaping. And good thing, too!

I love how they came out.
They're the perfect height to fit in snowboarding boots, and I intend to try them for this very purpose.
Let's see how the fabled Solemate stands up to some hardcore shredding, eh?

Speaking of Solemate.
The colorway, Bigger on the Inside, I got looked dark in the skein. I was a little sad about that, because it meant the contrast wasn't quite what I envisioned.
Then it got worse.
When I soaked the finished socks, the dark blue dye bled. A lot.
As in, even after a vinegar bath and dye fixing and many, many rinses, there was still dye coming off.
My pretty brown variegated? Blue tinted.
Sad face.

I know this can happen. I dye yarn. No one deliberately ruins your colorwork. If I had thought about this, I would have pre-washed the skein just to be sure. It's dark blue. Dark blues and reds bleed.
But this felt a bit excessive.
So I let Lorna's Laces know that I had a problem. I wasn't trolling, or trying to be rude. Just feedback.
They got back to me within a day. They were apologetic, they were nice, and they offered me a skein of yarn as a gesture of goodwill.
How nice of them! But I'm in Australia, and I know international shipping is a pain. I gave them my address anyway. Their response? "A happy customer is NEVER a problem". Don't you just love that?

Mistakes happen. Things don't always come out perfectly. it's what you do afterwards that really counts.
And Lorna's Laces' response? Perfect.
You know I already love their yarn. But now I also love the company behind the yarn.
Fantastic.

Shop Update 10/7

Possum yarn!

Lavender Dreams

Today's shop update is live!
It's a small one, but I'm introducing a new base, made with 10% New Zealand possum!
it’s like angora’s tougher cousin. 
Once you wash and dry your finished item, it blooms and softens with a lovely halo.
I made mittens out of possum yarn and alpaca, and they are the softest, most hand-hugging thing ever!



Of course, there's also some lovely new self-striping colors (I especially love the lavender colorway) and a one of a kind blue variegated skein that I'm tempted to keep for myself because I love the interplay of colors so much.

Pink Parasol

Feeling Blue OOAK

Shop Update 26/6

 This week's shop update is live! Inspiration came from my travels, both past and future, as well as nature itself.

Come take a look!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/yarnvszombies

Hole In The Wall (But Not The Sole)

 I had some greyish-blueish sock yarn my mum sent me. I wasn't sure if it was variegated or self-striping, so I wanted to do something straight-forward with it.
I was just going to vanilla my way through.
Instead, I went for Anne Campbell's Circle socks, a fun pattern that's just entertaining enough to make vanilla into more-ish knitting. At least for me.
These are slightly larger than my usual socks, but the structure of the holes makes the cuffs stack and stay up by themselves.

I think this pattern would be fabulous in the right kind of striping, or a loud variegated, too.