Finished lace

The lovely Hemlock Ring blanket is finished. I received some sage advice in my first real attempts at lace knitting for the Long Lacy Summer. I tried a lace pattern with not-lace yarn and not-tiny needles. I used Bendigo Classic 8 ply in moss green colourway and 5mm knitpicks. I'm pretty happy with the result.

Here it is, blocking.

Here's some detail.

Here it is on the bed. It's not quite as big as I had hoped. I had been told that the Bendy would stretch a bit with wetting and blocking, but it didn't grow as much as I had hoped. Never mind, I still love it.

I've also done some xmas knitting. I finished a little item for a certain someone. It's the Airy Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, done in South West Trading Company Oasis 100% soy silk on 5mm knitpicks.

What's next? Still thinking.

Some knitting

Again, I remind myself that this is a knitting blog. So some knitting will be shown. While away on a dreary work trip that involved not one but two overnight stays, I managed to finish a couple of small UFOs. One's just a little cotton dishcloth that has been lingering around for a while. Very plain, but the cotton is lovely and soft and was purchased for practically nothing at a jumble sale (and I have plenty left).


The other small project can't really be talked about as it may or may not involve a xmas present for someone who may or may not be reading this blog. But it is made from lovely hand-dyed yarn from Happy Spider. Here's a hint.


One of the other advantages of travelling for work (and there aren't many as far as I'm concerned) is that, if you have some spare time, you can wander the streets of the township, hoping to come across a LYS. And I did! At Knits, Needles and Wool in Launceston I bought some lovely local 5ply alpaca in a natural grey. The label says that it was 'grown in Tasmania by Concongella Alpacas'. Just right for a lacy scarf, I think.

And the other knitting going on is this gorgeous, gorgeous Hemlock Ring blanket made in Bendigo Classic 8ply, moss green colourway. The photo does not show its true mossiness.

I had been hoping to have it blocked this weekend, but that final bind-off row is going to take me quite a few DVDs worth of knitting time.

Happiness

Some people have been blogging about happiness recently. Surely we all want to be happy, but sometimes it a bit hard, isn't it. We let the miseries grab hold and drag us down. Some time ago, somewhere in blogland, I read another post about writing down 25 things you love. Not just 'I love my dog', but more like 'I love my dog when he ...'. You know what I mean.

So, I wrote down my list. I have to admit, it was a bit difficult to come up with 25 things. Says something about me, non? Anyway, I have my list. I'm not sharing it. But it helps to read it sometimes. Maybe you want to write yourself a list, and refer to it when the miseries try to grab you.

Well, I might just share #2 on my list...I love ma minette's smiley face.

Who wouldn't?

Spindling, dyeing and presents

What better way to spend a rainy, windy Saturday than with other knitters, enjoying good food and good company, and learning some new skills? The talented Helen of Waratah Fibres fame opened her home in the Southern Highlands to us to teach us spindle spinning (very funny to watch - I can say that because I was pretty bloody hopeless at it myself) and dyeing (way more scientific than I had imagined).

Bells has a much better story and lovely pictures - go over and have a look. Suffice to say, a lovely time was had by all, and some of us are very excited about turning a hand to dyeing our own yarn.

And speaking of Bells, some time ago I played Pay It Forward with her. Yesterday, she presented me with a gorgeous Pay It Forward gift. Soft smoochy Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran fetchings. Thank you, Bells!!Now I just have to get cracking and Pay It Forward myself. Hashi, Rhonda, Becca and Tui have signed up to play with me. My promise to myself is to send off four little handmade gifts before xmas.