Yarnivorous

G'day all!  Well sorta g'day.  22 years have passed. It is too warm to grow good peonies in Melbourne. 22 years since Mum passed, but I prefer to say died.  Passed is too gentle a word, it sounds nothing like what she suffered through or we experienced secondhand. Oh dear, red/orange with purple. Shocking, totally shocking. And what a clashing colour combo! Mum would've liked the campanula and the rhodo planted in separate garden beds. Bit of a wussy colour but smelled ok. This rose would've gone down well. I think she would've liked these flowers, especially any she could cut and bring inside.  I've chosen ones that I know she liked to grow or would've liked. Viburnum, snowball tree. This was the closest we got to snowballs in Melbourne. Mollis azalea, like one of the three different colours we had. A stinky rose with stripes. It's weird - I still dream of her, we still go shopping and occasionally...

G'day all! I am sure you are all familiar with the idea of a pub crawl, but they are not my scene.  Nope, I am much happier with a yarn crawl, or a fibre crawl or even a fabric crawl. Skagit River, Mt Vernon And today I went on a yarn crawl.  A bunch of the "local" shops put on what is called shop hop.  One of the shops was very easy to get to - I just cross four roads in total and I am there.  It is quicker for me to walk than drive and try to find parking.  Also, who drives about 400 yards to get somewhere unless there really is no way to walk there?  I wandered in there on Friday. I popped by another local shop and scavenged some of their $1 patterns yesterday. But today I took off for pastures new.  I stopped in at my LYS for Wednesday night knitting (Bad Woman Yarn), then started the fun of navigating. Whoever laid out the north east quadrant of Seattle was on crack at the time.  I understand that roads cannot go over the edge o...

G'day all! A monster has been eating pretty much all my crafting time over the last month.  I've had very little time off from it, knitting it on the ferry to the island, taking it to knit night, working late on it... But at last it is done!  And it was done in time for Syttende Mai, Norwegian Constitution Day, or their national day. I wore it to the big parade in Ballard, the parade that passes along the "end" of my street. Not a very good shot and you can't even see the Norwegian flag but behind me is a Setesdal pullover and some folk costumes. This was the most complicated thing I've knitted I reckon. Take one tube, mostly knitted in the round, with two sleeves also knitted in the round.  Knitting in the round means no purling.  This makes it quicker. Body and two sleeves Stick the tube under the sewing machine and sew along the four stitches with no pattern down the front of the tube.   Sewing knitting.  How odd. Note ...

G'day all! A rather early summer hit and I've been a little busy enjoying it, in between getting work done and frantically knitting my cardigan for Syttende Mai .  Last year I decided that there were not enough handknits at the parade, so I am adding one more.  Of course I've had a whole year to do it but you know me.  I gave myself a month instead and I've been pretty much loyal to this one project.  I am yet to do the tops of the sleeves, then do the steeks (yes, I have to cut my knitting!  Cut it!  Eeek, steeks!),  the neckband and the button bands.  The button bands will be interesting - I have to sew them on to the steeked front of the cardigan and use an extra knitted bit as a placket to cover the steeks.  The cardigan will be stunning if I do say so myself - it is Fana style in Norwegian Blue (Heilo, a Norwegian yarn) and natural coloured (from sheep on Lopez Island, an hour or so north of here) yarns.  But I have to get it do...