I think I've got it bad.

The knitting bug I mean. You may all be shaking your heads wondering how on earth I'd missed such a revelation when you all knew it from the start, and I did know I was a wee bit obsessed ok a lot obsessed with knitting and yarny things. However whilst watching the latest episode of Desperate Housewives, my other not so secret vice I couldn't help exclaiming rather loudly and much to the disgust of the cat who was quite comfortable if you don't mind, and to the detriment of CP who almost had a heart attack that Paul's wife was knitting beside him in hospital. Woohoo. Who says knitting isn't modern and trendy. Ha in your eye critics. Sorry. Of course there was knitting in Desperate Housewives before but I missed that series due to military training. I know because I googled it. That's when I slowly realised how bad I had it, because I couldn't stop there. I had to discover more. Which I did. Monica knits in Friends, there's knitting in Wallace and Gromit, The Gilmore Girls The Virgin Suicides, The films Meek's Cutoff, Breakfast at Tiffanys and Audrey Hepburn in an old film called Quality Street.



I think it's great to see knitting out there in the public domain. I also heard that Katherine Heigl was going to make the film the Knitting Circle.

Happy Easter

Just to wish everyone a very happy Easter. Enjoy the chocolate and other treats and be safe where ever you are.

Rugged Jumper

Finished.
One Rugged Jumper.
For CNG (Cute Neighbour Guy)or more correctly CP (Cute Partner).
Wool, Paton's Wilderness although the pattern called for Rowan cocoon.
Pattern from Simply Knitting UK knitting magazine.
I love this jumper, I wasn't sure when I began but when you're asked to knit 'a rugged jumper' and you just happen to turn up a pattern saying it's a rugged jumper what can a knitter do but cast on. Even if it looks a wee bit odd. Of course I had to find a substitute mainly because I like both my arms and legs and didn't want to have to part with them to pay for Rowan's Cocoon; which though delightful at $20.99 a ball is too much.
So I hunted and researched and found Wilderness by Paton's which is similar enough to do a good job, brilliant job in fact.
It's knitted on big needles and just looks and feels like the snuggliest thing on the planet unless you knit it during the hottest part of the summer. Which I did. which is why I'm glad it's finished. Next project please!!

New Opportunities

I am again at a crossroads in my life, but this one is a good one. The chances are that I am going to be surplus to the Navy in a few months due to defence cuts. That's fine, I always knew it wasn't going to be a forever thing. The crossroads is really about what to do next. I have the opportunity to buy a wool shop and we all know how much I love wool and knitting. I don't know if I can actually raise all of the finance needed but I know I can make this work. I can see the future, Internet sales, classes, knitwear fashion shows in the local school, spreadsheets to predict trends. So do I bust a gut to raise the money or do I tread the middle path and stay with something safer.

Happy Mother's day

M-O-T-H-E-R

"M" is for the million things she gave me,
"O" means only that she's growing old,
"T" is for the tears she shed to save me,
"H" is for her heart of purest gold;
"E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
"R" means right, and right she'll always be,
Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER,"
A word that means the world to me.

- Howard Johnson.

A very happy day to very special people. NZ gets to celebrate this day next month.

Principles of knitting

1. Yarn. Lots and lots and lots of yarn. Not just wool, but bamboo, cotton, soya.

2. Storage for number 1. Clean dry and moth proof. Also child proof and invisible to non knitters who cannot possible understand the need to have so much surplus yarn.

3. Courage to frog if necessary and to try new things.

4. Patience to know that every thing can be undone and that even mistakes teach us something about ourselves or our knitting. Throwing knitting while momentarily satisfying is bound to result in tears.

5. Time awareness. Always remember that time goes twice as fast as soon as you set a deadline so if possible avoid saying when you'll be finished with a project. or knit twice as fast. Giving up eating and sleeping could buy you some extra hours but may have other side effects.

6. Acceptance. If you don't want to spend time swatching then accept that at least some of the time you're going to end up with a garment the wrong size or shape. If you can love the process and accept the result all good.

7. Have fun. Sometimes we forget that we love knitting, especially when the pattern's wrong and we rip it out three times.

8. Gift your knitting to those who will love it. Anyone who is likely to boil your garment might be better off with a good book. One that tells them how to care for woollen garments.

9. Let go of your knitting. Once you have gifted your knitting to someone worthy you are no longer in control of what happens to it. Even if they boil it. See 8 and learn.

10. Be proud of your skill and the result. Wear garments with pride and knit in public because it's not illegal or anti-social. Unless you use your knitting needles to stab the next person who comments 'OH you're knitting" inthe same tone of voice that implies they've just trodden in something unmentionalbe. See 4.

I have been finishing off a few pieces as well as casting on for several new items. What's new there? I think my seasonal clear out, or rather move about of clothing items always unearths one or two items that inspires me to search through my not inconsiderable mountain of stash to recover that vital yarn I just had to have for a so pressing project that somehow didn't seem so pressing once home again.
It was as I was sorting through summer and winter clothes that I noticed I had quite a collection of neutral trousers and skirts, from stone to beige and a variety in between, and my mind began to see sweaters and cardigans that would so complement these existing items. In fact I spent quite some time merrily distracted from sorting looking through patterns.
My first thought was to grab my purse and head out to the local yarn store looking for even more yarn but something niggled away in the back of my mind and I began a full on rummage. I found this.




Well no actually I didn't find that because I had only done the back, and technically I found the yarn first and had put it away again because I knew there wasn't enough for an entire sweater or top. Then several happy hunting hours later I found the back. Then I had to remember where I'd just seen the yarn and then where oh where was the pattern. Luckily for me I did remember the pattern and the magazine it was in. The magazine the pattern was from was bought in 2009 and I am fairly sure I cast on soon after buying the magazine but then lost interest. I have to say there's nothing like an almost done item to make you want to get knitting.



I am very happy with the way it turned out despite me knitting the back and the front on totally different sized needles. It means the front is much tighter and more defined but you can't tell unless you stare at the back and the front simultaneously and there aren't many people capable of that feat so I'm happy.
It was made from soya yarn and has a really delicate drape.

Then I finally got round to putting buttons on my crofter shawl collared waistcoat. I love the striped effect created by crofter and am very happy that even without trying I managed to get the colours to match up on the two side pieces. It's a great fit and I know it will be worn often this autumn and winter, not just because lilacs and purples are my favourite colours but because it looks so smart on.



There are many other pieces on the needles, a baby blanket in white for a work colleague, another two beanies, a skirt, a dress, a rugged jumper for cute neighbour guy who is of course so much more than a neighbour now, a jumper for one of the girls and the last bit of a sock. I only have to turn the heel and then I'll be on the home straight, but it doesn't match any of my clothes so the motivation isn't quite there.
All of this is to be knitted out of stash. My knitting group and I are on a self imposed yarn diet. We have to shed at least 10kg from our stash before buying anymore yarn. We are determined to make a considerable dent in what will still amount to SABLE (Yarn Harlot)Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy. We're doing this selfless act out of consideration for those who will be the executors of our wool wills. We don't want them to die of shock at having the equivalent of two life sentences of knitting passed onto them.
Like all diets it sucks.