Crossed in Translation KAL blog up

Check it out!!




I have another 2 swatches to go before I finally decide what to use.

Final FO for the year

Finally I got the ends weaved in and blocked the Phildar Cotton-ease top.



Cotton T- from Phildar Ete 2005
Cotton Ease - Lollipop Blue x 3 skeins

Forgive the bad shots - can you believe that I don't have a full length mirror at home?? I've been surviving on this little dressing table mirror and standing far, far away.

If I were to do this top again (and I might cos it's really fast and easy), I will add a little more ribbing at the neckline. It is supposed to be wide - from shoulder to shoulder so a bit more ribbing would help to stop the neckline from gaping.

I'd make it a couple of inches longer and would probably include either waist shaping or bust shaping.

But all in all, I'm pretty pleased with a simple t shirt knit I can wear with ease.

I've also finished the Samus body leaving only the sleeves and the edging to do.




Because I wanted to have a little shaping instead of a straight body, I followed the decreases from Rosedale, another Knitty pattern with similar measurements.

Should get the sleeves done soon. I love working with worsted weight - it's just soo sooo fast!

Christmas Secret Pal

Just before Christmas, my secret pal sent me my one big package..





Patons Kroy sock yarn and Patons Grace. I've been wanting to try Paton's Kroy for a long long time, Yay!





"Knitting Heaven and Earth" by Susan Gordon Lydon, note cards with a knitting motif and a nice Toronto shape fridge magnet.




The square painted object on the top left corner is a tape measure-- yeap the "nose" the knob you pull for the tape measure to unwind - totally cool!! There's two different types of stitch and row counters and a clover pendant cutter. I use to have one but it got lost in the move so thanks for the new one. And some lip balm in a pretty tin.




A canadian t shirt for my boy! There were some jelly beans too but err.. they're long gone by the time I took the photo.

Thanks Leanne for a great package. I appreciate and love each and every item!

Finally a meme for Mimi

I was tagged for this months ago but really didn't have the time to answer so i thought I'd better get a move on before the year passes.

1.What is your all-time favourite yarn to knit with ?
I like cotton yarns with a but of acrylic in it - like All Seasons Cotton, Sirdar Breeze, Cotton Ease. I don't quite like mercerised cotton so the acylic cotton makes it spongier and easier to knit with plus the definition is great.

For wool- merino always.

2. Your favourite needles ?
Addies for normal knitting and for lace, anything with pointy tips. I've been using a pair of Inox express needles for socks and I like them. No bambos and no DPNS please.

3. The worst thing you ever knit
hah ! here's the fun part. I came across this photo while I was cleaning out my desk at my mum's



The things we do in the 80s!! I sold this knit actually - someone actually paid about $75 NZ for it.

4. Your favourite pattern
I had a major lace kick and I have to say that Fiddlesticks Lotus Blossom has been my favourite lace pattern to date.




5. Most valuable knitting technique
Magic loop - without it I would never have finished a pair of socks.




6. Best knit book or magazine
Too many to mention. I like a lot of japanese magazines and some of the older rowan mags. I took a long time tracing down Rowan No 33 that had a lot of summery knits I like and oh yes, I have to say I like almost all of the knits in Phildar Ete 2005.

7. Your favourite knit-along

Here's the thing about knitalongs. It's becoming apparent to me that there's a fine line drawn between knitalong and copycat. Millions of patterns out there and yet some blogs look almost identical. When I join a knitalong - it's more for the comments,mod suggestions, yarn choices, and I never seem to start or finish within the deadlines. However I enjoyed designer knitalongs like the Fiddlesticks one.

8. Your favourite knit blogs
Well look at my side bar - these are the ones I check everyday.

9. My favourite knitwear designer
Kim Hargreaves, Annie Modesitt, Knit n Tonic's Wendy, some unknown japanese designer from the let's knit / elegant knit series....

10. The knit item you wear the most.
I waer this in the office quite a bit. (psss that's not me, that's a passing colleague I snagged to model for me.)




11.Who to tag?

Ok no more - it's going to be 2006 - time for new memes.

Christmas in Malaysia

I have been listening to DoubleTake's latest album 1 voice 6 strings 12 days of Christmas. I can't explain how excited I am about this duo. I was at the Feast of St Francis Xavier dinner two weekends ago (that's another story I may or may not blog about) and was just telling my husband that I didn't feel christmassy this year. I hadn't finished my shopping, the tree wasn't up, I had been rushing around at work getting two events organised and feeling generally too washed out for feeling anything.

Then these two got on stage and she opens her mouth .... By the time she finished her first song (Deck the halls), my eyes were glistening with christmas tree lights I hadn't yet put up. You know the feeling.

Please take a listen to a sample
Deck the Halls
The Christmas I know
And check out the review on The Star (the paper I work for).



The Christmas I Know is a Malaysian Christmas song. Being born a christian in Malaysia, we used to celebrate christmas in a very personal, non commercial way. It's a time for carolling in the hot tropical nights, singing about white stuff we had never seen. It's about midnight mass and christmas cantatas. And at the end of the day, we sit in the table at the outdoor kitchen and smell the curry or whatever food being cooked for the feast we'll be eating.


The Christmas I Know

Rise in the morning
Look out the window
Towering buildings
Standing on Tiptoe
There's no trace of reindeer
There's no mistletoe
It's Christmas in Malaysia
The kind that I know

Walk through the city
Met smiling faces
All different accents
All different races
It's warm here and sunny
There's no ice and snow
It's Christmas in Malaysia
The kind that I know

We'll fix up the tree
And turn on the lights
The moon will smile at us
On this warm, sunny night

So step in the kitchen
Sit at the table
Take in the good smells
Take in the people
We'll sing Christmas carols
The ones that we know

It's Christmas in Malaysia
The kind that we know
So Merry Christmas in Malaysia
I'm glad to be home.


Knitting content will resume next post

Crossed Again

First of all I must thank Laura for giving me the heads up on Rowanspun. Thank goodness, I read your comment before I went off and bought it so I am back to the drawing board to see if I have other alternatives.

I did a swatch with Jaeger Trinity last night. Imagine me - swatching !!





I am about 2 stitches away from the horizontal gauge and 2 rows away from the vertical gauge and this done with 3.75mm needles. I hesitate to swatch with 4 mm because the fabric is already a bit loose but look - no blocking required. Trinity knits up to a fairly thin fabric and that would be suitable for our weather. but .... I still want to try out some other posibilities before I make up my mind.

I am swatching Sirdar Breeze currently but the LYS I got it from only has mostly pastels I am hoping for a more natural, beige, grey or charcoal type colour.

Here's what I am doing with Picovoli. I have two 100gm skeins of Butterfly Cotton 8 in a lilac and I am sure that's not going to be enough for the whole project. After some serious digging around I found my stash of Di've Cotton Egitto I got from Elann last year and thought that it would be cool to have a lilac edging on a charcoal top.




I thought it worked out well. What do you think?

Crossed in Translation

Welcome to my latest obsession! Yes I have done it again. I'm in love with a most impractical cardigan and am actually considering joining in the KAL in January .

Have a look at the Cardigan here .
I picked up the book on Saturday and now I'm scouting around for some suitable yarn. I'm trying to steer away from wool for obvious reasons but I'm not sure what type of other blends would be suitable. I'm torn between Jaeger Trinity in Hibiscus or Violet which I have in my stash and this really good deal on eBay.

What do you think?

I have actually finished the Cotton ease T shirt but I haven't weaved in the ends and blocked it yet. I am hoping for it to grow another couple of inches lengthwise during blocking. It's a bit short for my liking.

Meanwhile I've been plugging away at my Samus and the Picovoli. I'll have to take a pic of the Picovoli as I'm doing something a little different with it. And it's looking real good.

Until then, here's what arrived in my mailbox on Friday after a very long wait.

Zephyr!!



From bottom - Charcoal, elderberry and lilac. The one on the right is Martian -handpainted colourway from Furryarns.

More pics tomorrow.

Almost FO

I decided to chuck the corset into the bin of "I hate this and I don't want to know about it". The idea of a gleamy shiny little red number themed with a black skirt for New Year's Eve dinner was very appealing but tha yarn does not cooperate.

The ribbing is awful - the knit stitches are flared out and the purls are sunken. The lace pattern is not defined. The last straw was when I started the criss cross motif on the body, I could hardly see it from being blinded by all that reflection from the viscose.





So last Friday after a heart to heart with Lyn, I decided to either (a)restart with Jaeger Trinity or (b) start on Picovoli .

I did neither. My stash of Trinity was at my mom's and I didn't have anythign suitable with me to start Picovoli. Can you believe that I have no Dk weight Yarn handy??

So I started on this instead .

Here's my progress



I shortened the sleeves because I wanted a simple top I could wear with my jeans.

Thank goodness for Cotton Ease. I really like this yarn. It's soft without being too soft and I can see it standing up to many cables. The pattern has these armhole ribbed inserts which are quite interesting. You could actually leave out the sleeves and make a tank. That's an idea for another project and another day.

Phantom smells!

Something is firing the wrong synapses in my brain. I keep smelling perfume and it doesn't smell like the one I sprayed on. What's worst, it's making me feel quite sick. Maybe I've stretched my tolerance to my favourite perfume (Diorissimo) to the limits.

Now that I've bored you with the trivialities of my life, on to the knitting news. Lyn and I have discovered another knitter in our neighbourhood. She doesn't have a blog but she introduced us to another knitting shop just opened in a shopping mall near my house. It's a tiny place called Knit Knit Lane filled with mostly Katia yarn, some Online and a smattering of Japanese yarns as well. Interesting place, but I have to think hard about what I really want to get. Something new for me huh! I did get a couple of Addi Turbos at a good price, one for me and one to send to my Secret Pal.

Meanwhile I've been revisiting old projects.

My languishing Corset





I am using GarnStudio Cotton Viscose which has been my stash for the longest time. It looks a little small but I am hoping it will stretch a little after blocking. There's a seriously wonky line where you can see I have left it on the needles for some time. Why does yarn do that I wonder?

The yarn gleams but is very slippery and stitch definition is not the best. I hope blocking will repair the wonky stitches and the uneven rib. I'm just about halfway through the bust decrease so am about a third of the way through.

I just realise after working on this project, that I really do not like mercerised cotton. Give me a loftier yarn with a bit of "sproing" next time. Like ASC.

Which brings me to Samus -




The photo was taken last week and I have finished 3 repeats so far during my lunchtime. I could do one repeat a day but I was much distracted by Civilisation 4. When you're really sick of the politics and back biting at work, spending a bit of time at lunch playing at being God helps one's sanity.

Anyway I do love the Saxon braid although I have made a couple of mistakes - can you spot them?

Mimi tagged for a meme but I haven't gotten round to taking pictures yet. It's hard to get natural daylight. In the morning I have a habit of rushing and it's dark by the time I get home. I really will get cracking in the next few days.

Hell hath no fury ...

All hell has broken loose in the office. I have two events to organise in a space of one week apart and down to 2 support staff with one new one coming in on Monday to train. If that's not enough, the management keeps changing their mind on the minor details.

I actually have a paper bag on my desk in case I have a panic attack.

Thank God I started belly dancing classes last Saturday. And what an ...umm.. interesting class it was. Fist of all it seems completely illogical how a seemingly repressive culture like Islam is perceived to be now can produce such seductive dancing. Obviously there's a whole lot more going on under the surface. The whole point of belly dancing to most my fellow class mates is to love your own body, to show off all its curves and to enjoy the expression of your sexiness.

I got in a little late during the warm up session which is pretty basic, then the teacher reached into her bag and pulled out her beautiful swishy clinky belly dancing belt. And those little silver clappers . And proceed to take us through a simple routine of hip rolls. I have to say it is a dance form that loves curves and many of the skinny girls in the room did fare so well against us more substantial women. Hooray for belly dancing! Must get me one of those belts. Wonder if I can knit one?

I also did a bit of retail therapy and got a couple of the latest Japanese knitting magazines.

PS please forgive the quality of the photoes.

Take a look at some of the offerings. I find japanese patterns, albeit a little diffidcult to decipher, are extermely feminine and full of little unusual details. Having said that it seems I can complete a project to save my life.

I have been looking for something like this every since I saw Penryn from the Jaeger Natural Fleece book. Of course the Jaeger one is too thick (I mean Fleece in 35 degrees??) but this one has a similar design in aran weight. The construction is different though. One has to knit the band separately and then twist is while sewing on to the front.

Don't be deceived. That isn't rib but a lace pattern. But don't you think the ribbed cap sleeves are so cute?

Perfect for my 5 balls of RYC cashsoft I bought from Vanessa.

I'm not sure about the collar but the lace is absolutely Fab.

Last but not least, here's my current stash obsession.



Pistachio Cotton Ease I swapped for on the Knitty board.

Shaking my legs

I'm in a rut again. I have so many projects I'd like to start but really want to finish the ones I have on the needles. But procrastination is my middle name. My sister's Plaza cardigan still languishes with only one left front to do and a shawl collar.

I have however chosen to start one lunchtime project - Samus. I'd like to incorporate some waist shaping to it but since there are no side seams to this knit, it's going to take some doing.

I know Lyn and Vanessa will be annoyed because they want so much to see the KH Glimmer turns out.

But I really want to lose weight before I start on Glimmer - it's such a beautiful knit, I want to look my best in it. So with that in mind, I've joined a gym and am starting yoga and bellydancing this week.

Seems like a lot of work for one knit eh? Hey I'm not complaining - I need all the motivation I can get. My DH says I'd rather lose weight for a knit project than for him. Well Honey, it's about time you knew where my priorities lie.

I just need to show you what I've been spinning -



Hand-dyed Romney from Kendig Cottage

Althought I am pretty please with the colours, I'm not enjoying the roving. It's so different from the merino silk or the corriedale being more of a rough crimpy type wool. I'm planning this to be my first felted bag project since I don't think I'd be able to wear it next to my skin.

P.S. To my Secret Pal - Thanks for the advice on the Screamypants problem. And no problem with a big package, I know how it is.

What a week!!

I had so many things planned for the last week. Because of the Muslim holiday of Aidil Fitri (or Eidh) and the Hindu festival of lights Deepavali, I basically had the Tuesday, Thursday and Friday off. Oh the joys of living in a multi cultural and multi religious country.

BUT (and there's always a "but", isn't there)My in laws - who were visiting the weekend before, both went down with food poisoning on Tuesday and was virtual immobile for at least 5 days. They've only just started walking around the house yesterday. Needless to say DH and I were doing most of the nursing. Plus my little boy has just learnt the art of throwing a tantrum.

He screamed when he didn't want to get in his carseat and then he screamed when he didn't want to get out. while taking a bath, he screamed because I turned on the tap and then he screamed when I turned it off. The next day he screamed because he wanted to have a bath in the upstairs bathroom, and another day, he wanted a bath in the downstairs bathroom. He screamed when I took off his clothes and then he screamed when I put them on. Once he screamed into my ear and they ran for hours.

I swear I don't know how I'll get through this tantrum stage.

So no knitting, no spinning no nothing whatsoever was done in the last week, I just had enough brain power to stare uncomprehendingly at the idiot box before collapsing on the bed at night.

And I really had such big plans for finishing Plaza, finishing Madli and starting Glimmer.

Flowerpinnies

No not the wearable type.

One of my stitching friends sent some instructions on how to make a pumpkin pincushion and I did a little mistake (didn't put enough stuffing) and it became a flowerpinny.






They need a bit of work like getting the binding thread more centered but overall I think they're ok. I will be putting up some for sale soon - would anyone be interested?

They're handy for keeping your pins safe when blocking. I'm working on a version with magnet at he bottom so you can pick up pins with it as well.

On the knitting front. I have finished one left front of the Plaza. One more front piece and then the button band and collar to go. Phew!! The seams are curling terribly but I don't want to block until I have finished the fronts so no photo yet.

I know LYN has tagged me for Flah my Stash but I'm going to pass at this time because
1. I am still in denial about half my stash
2. My in-laws will be around this weekend and I don't want them to get alarmed.

But I may do take some time to do it over the long holidays next week. Don't hold your breath though.

Missing Her

I haven't been in the mood to blog lately - partly because I haven't been doing that much knitting, partly I had my nose in some more books and mostly because the wife of our Prime Minister, Datin Seri Endon Haji Mahmood passed away last Thursday after a 4 year fight against cancer.

Many many years ago, when Pak Lah (as our Prime minister is fondly nicknamed) was just a Parliamentary Secretary, our families were friends. Nori (daughter) was just a baby and Kamal (son) was my age. We would meet up at least once every two months or so for dinner or tea. Most of the time it was for Sunday tea which lazily lingered into dinner and then on to the late night supper. We had at least 2 holidays trips together.

Auntie Endon had a sharp, no-nonsense tongue, but underneath all her withering comments was a sincere soul with no hidden agenda. I appreciated her straight talking more than all that crap written about her graciousness and charm. To me, her "jeling" (it's a kind of contemptious rolling of the eyes showing irateness and fondness at the same time, no straight English translation) was worth more than a million of those politicians' wives who cry convincingly and conveniently in front of press cameras.

When my dad had a stroke, she was one of the first to advocate a tough love approach, "Make him exercise," she said, "Don't make it easy for him. Or else he will rely on you forever". Yet she was also the first let the security in the Residence know that Mr Larry was to be transfered directly to her whenever he called. I can't tell how many phonecalls she took from a depressed old friend who was frustrated by his health. She couldn't visit much but she took my dad's calls.

Every year I came back from studies in NZ, she'd insist I visit at least once before I went back. She would trade hair raising tales with my Mum about our university exploits (I spent too much money on clothes and Kamal spent too much money being president of the college gourmet club).

I remember her telling me that Muslim women don't get an inheritance from their husband's estate but they get to keep everything they received during the marriage. I took a look around her elegantly furnished house, full of knick knacks from every part of the globe and said " You're doing well for yourself, Auntie!" and she laughed.

Last time I bumped into her some 4 plus years ago, she asked me how many kids I had. "None?" she said, when she heard my answer. "Hrumpph!"
*jeling*
"Kamal has three and another one on the way, you know! You better catch up, no need to wait."

When I said goodbye, I told she looked really wonderful and kissed her hands.
*jeling*
"You should come and visit, don't be a stranger. Make sure you have a baby next time."

I never got the chance to show her my boy.

Goodbye Auntie Endon, you look wonderful as ever. You never took the easy way out and you never gave up.

Musings

I took a break from knitting and caught up with my reading these past few days. I finally manage to finish 2 books that I was reading at bedtime. I hate to have bedtime reading cos I always lose my place and most times, too tired to make sense of the page. It takes away the joy of the story but it's a habit I can't seem to break.

In those two days I actually missed my spinning. I've been googling hand spun novelty yarn and keep seeing all this cool textured lumpy bumpy yarn on Etsy . And I've been reading up on some cool techniques on plying to get little slubs or buttons. I've got to do some spinning tonight.

As for the KH kit, I'm not going to start it until December. Yes, it's an exercise in self contro. I want to finish my sister's Plaza Cardigan, Kerry Blue Baby Blanket and Madli's Roses first.

In the meantime, I'm searching around for what to do with my Handspun yarn. Any suggestions on what to do with 200 yds of super bulky yarn?

KH Angel Glimmer, I'm in Heaven

With almost lightning speed, the Kim Hargreaves kit arrived on my doorstep within 2 weeks.

Check out the goodies.




The kit was well-presented , with a lovely ribbon and a nice card.

And inside , the goods





Pretty pretty shell buttons and Kim Hargreaves clothes tag.

I just hope I can do justice to such a pretty kit.

Isn't this so much better?

New and improved Madli's Shawl in Malabrigo's laceweight Damask Rose





Think I'll christen this Madli's roses cos lookie here, see the cute little nupps - don't they look like rosebuds?





How do you like the new look?

I've been wanting to change since the blog birthday in September. I was pretty quiet about it cos I was swamped with work and didn't have time to do anything.

It's about time for a little housekeeping.

Lyn, Vannessa and I went for very long shopping, destressing outing on Tuesday. You can read about Lyn's stash enhancing on her blog. I scored some laceweight cotton and crochet silk yarn but I need to get them out of the car (where they are hiding from my spouse) and take a good picture.

Stay tuned!

Shimmer and Glimmer

I am upset with KnitPick's Shimmer yarn.

I made a start with Madli's Shawl from Interweaves Knits Summer 2004 with the Turquise Splendour and I am annoyed at how the light green blotches just appear out nowhere. I mean it would have been better if there was some graduation of colour.
See!




And what I have knitted so far is floppy! I can see that the yarn would be good for a simple lace pattern to make a really nice scarf that you can wear right next to your neck but not a full scale stole.

BUT I can say that I have actually conquered the nupperaphobia



Not the neatest but I think I can do much better with a "crispier" yarn. (is there such a word?). Pagoda here i come

Want to see what the fuss is all about? Here are some links to a spate of finished Madli's shawls.

Keeping me in Stitches
FluffyKnitterDeb
Plastic Soul

Anyway I had to put it aside and worked on my top down cardie - which will be unveiled on Monday hopefully..

My brother decided ( after much persuasion) to give me a treat, since he didn't get any Christmas and birthday presents for me for 2 years.

Guess what's visiting my mailbox in a couple of weeks.





I.... *hyperventilate* ..can.... *hyperventilate* ..hardly... *hyperventilate* ..wait...

Two FO

First to answer some of the comments

Felicia - the Concord mernio silk was from another eBay seller Mountain Shadow Ranch. Great service. I've finished spinning and plying this yarn and it's sitting on the bobbins relaxing for a day or two. I'd be skeining and measuring next week and then decide what I want to do with it- probably a Lacy Scarf.

Speaking of scarfs - I've finished my scarf for Celia's scarf exchange



It's a long skinny number with a little of Paton's Boa in it - just a hint - not too much so it won't be classified as a fugly scarf, I hope.


To Secret Pal - The Pagoda is like Deep red with warm undertones - it's not a burgundy, more like a deep chilli red. Not much variegation in any of the colours I received, more of a dappling. I'm tempted to use this yarn for Madli's shawl instead of the Knit Picks Shimmer in Turquoise Splendour.

And speaking of Madli's Shawl, here's the just finished, unblocked, ends not weaved in Lacy Lattice shawl modeled by a passing colleague.

Home Run

It's exciting when a project is near the finishing line. I don't feel like sleeping or working. In fact I worked on Lacy Lattice last night until I nearly nodded off and poked myself in the eye with my needles.

The best part is the the end of the project is a technique that I have not done before ie - knitting an edging sideways AND not having to graft or sew it back on to the main body of the stole.



Basically when you get to the end of the body, you cast on more stitches for the edging and then knit the last stitch of every other row with the first live stitch of the main body. And magically you get a nice knitted edging with no seam lines :).



Although I have to do something about casting-on part. See that funny top left corner? I really hope it can be fixed by blocking. I think I need to cast on a little tighter there.


Stay tuned for an F.O.

But first a rant....

You know I had a great morning today - got in to work fairly early and settling in when I got a message for a family member asking if I could ... .wait for it... patch some rotten old towels for her dogs.

I'm Like WTF!!!

When I was less than enthusiastic ( but of course can't really say no since it's family), she had the nerve to say " Oh but I thought you like sewing??"

Again WTF!

There's only so many hours in a day and with piles of piles of things to do around the house, husband away this weekend and one rambunctious 2 and half year old, you think I'd be jumping for joy to patch some old rags for your dogs!

When I, um, expressed the above in the best possible way, she said she'd take it to a seamstress to do. Well good luck to her!

The worst thing is, she succeeded in making me feel guilty about it.

Life's the pits, aint it?

And I was all cheered up by the arrival of my long awaited Malabrigo laceweight.

You'd think this would make a serious dent into my current lace kick, right? Riiiigggght.

After the incident above, I think I'm going on a serious lace buying frenzy.

From the top :- Flirtation, Pagoda and Damask Rose.

The Stole Story

I need to finish this stole. Well I need to finish a lot of things but I need to finish this stole because I shouldn't start another stole project (Madli's) until I'm done with this one.

It's not that I hate it or anything. I love its airy softness. I adore the seweet blue. The mohair gets in my eyes a bit but I like the lovely lacy halo effect.



THIS STOLE IS MADE FOR BLOCKING - Lacy Lattice Stole from Fiddlesticks Designs

It's that repeating middle section that kills me. I was supposed to do 18 repeats but I caved in and did 10. It's almost fingertip to fingertip for me anyway. With the border section and the edging to do, another 8 repeats would probably make it a sarong.



It drapes nicely over my office chair

The Almost Ab Fab Throw

Sometime at the beginning of the year I was quiet obsessed over the Colinette Ab Fab Throw Kit. I didn't think I could afford the kit but I patiently but slowly collected single skeins of what I thought would be a great individual colourway. I have but two more to go and then I just lost the passion. Killed cold or hot as the case may be.
It's just toooo hot here to have a wooly and snuggly throw like the Ab Fab throw.

Maybe it's because of the horrible heat wave we've been having lately, or because I did some housekeeping with my stash and was horrified. I'm in the process of getting some shelving for the craft room ( which is currently a room with a pile of boxes on the floor) and I am ruthlessly throwing out stuff that really needed to go, recycled or sold.

So my loss is your gain. Have a look at my destash page for a good deal on an almost Colinette Ab Fab throw. You need only two more skeins.

Secret Pal Six

Ooohooh I have a secret pal :). Heeeelllooooo Secret Pal.

So before I go off this weekend, here's my updated Q&A.

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer high- a nd/natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?

Not really fussed - yarn selection here is so dismal that I am sure anything from US/UK/Canada is wonderful.


2. Do you spin? Crochet?

As you can see from the previous posts, I am kind of obsessed with spinning lately. I crochet but not lately though I do some Granny Squares once in a while.


3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)

Not that I know of.



4. How long have you been knitting?

ohh maybe 20 years or so but I took a break for about 12 years and started again last August.


5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

My Amazon wishlist


6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)

Lavender and violets


7. Do you have a sweet tooth?

prefer savoury


8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?

Rubber stamping, cross stitch , hardanger, tatting ( also learning)


9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

I like quite a variety ranging from Swing, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Maroon 5, Linkin Park ( no kidding) and the soundtrack to all the Lord of the Rings movies.


10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer?

I like anything except the blues and green. Have too much of them already.


11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

Married, one 2 and half year old son and no pets


12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)

More time to knit. I know I can never have my own craft store but would like to do some teaching.


13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?

Ohhh - I love handpainted yarn - because I live in a tropical country, the yarns I use and mostly lightweight - cotton or cotton blends. I'd like to get my hands on some Rowan Calmer.


14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

I had some mohair in my stash but have decided that it is too too hot . Although this doesn't include any of the laceweight mohair like Kid Silk Haze or Kid Seta.


15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?

Gathering of Lace shawls, designing my own pattern


16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

Lace and more lace


17. What are you knitting right now?

err - Plain Opal Socks, Bad Penny Cardigan, Kerry Blue Shawl


18. What do you think about ponchos?

don't think I'll ever wear them


19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? I can do both


20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

no bamboos - for some reason I can handle the squeeking as they rub together


21. Are you a sock knitter?

I'm a beginner. I have done one and a half pairs of socks.


22. How did you learn to knit?

A teacher in boarding school taught me how to contruct a sweater - before that I just knew the basic rib- purl straight rectangular type of knitting.


23. How old is your oldest UFO?

Must I tell?? maybe about 1 year or so?


24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?

Boo - from Monsters Inc and I like cats


25. What is your favorite holiday?

Christmas


26. Is there anything that you collect?

Koigu. Any type of Lace weight yarn


27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

None, but I occasionally get Interweave and Vogue knitting - especially the spring and summer issues.


28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?

Books on spinning techniques, knitting on the edge and beyong the edge, Barbara walkers books, german lace magazines


29. Any patterns you have been coveting, but haven't bought for one reason or another??

Tina shawl from Fiddlesticks - juts haven't finished with my current bunch of fiddlesticks patterns so I haven't got around with another order.


30. What are your foot measurements, and what kind of socks do you like?

European 37 US 5 UK 4.5 - any type of socks.

Ply Please

Ok here's another ongoing post on my plying experiments. I got more pics with a little better detail although they are a little dark.

First up - Plying from two bobbins without regard to colourways



I decided to go random on this one and there were some stunning duotone results.


Navajo Ply - The Cool Cabled Composition



This keeps the colourway intact but oh what a bitch to do. It already takes enough of my attention to keep the wheel going without having to make chains as well. The number of times I got my hand stuck in a ever enclosing loop of yarn, resulting in panicked attempts to ensure blood circulation is not cut off - Countless!



But look at how the yarn is all snugly plied against each other. Sweet!

Lastly the Shimmering Madness



My favourite - I got to get more metallic thread.



I repeat, I have to get more metallic thread :)

So I have about 250 yds of roughly worsted weight yarn and I've already ordered a contrasting colour - grape- from Vicky at Kendig Cottage. I think I might attempt a shrug when I finish spinning the grape up.

What's on the bobbin now.




This luscious merino silk in Concord colourway, it's mostly black but the flash brings out the blue purple tone in it. I'm spinning it fine - almost fingering weight. This is like the roving that never ends. I haven't even used half and look how much I have on the bobbin.

How will I ply this? Not sure. Maybe I need to get more metallic thread :)!!