Whats up?

Not much, today its just more of the same, so there is my re-gauged Owls sweater which I'm knitting as a cardigan, the last Spring Thaw sock grows, I've got fiber on both spinning wheels, and I have yet more sock yarn to add to the drawer.



After a bit of a slow start with 4 attempts at casting on, I had some more frogging as I knit the increases for the waist, yes increases. I took the body off to the park to knit while cubs played, and I was distracted by a under 5 year old girl, who seemed intent on drowning her toddler brother. I kid you not, she was sitting on him, he was face down in the whale pool (to clarify here that is a shallow pool with a large concrete whale that spouts water not a pool with whales in it), and with both her hands was forcing his face into the water. Now it wasn't deep water, less than 4" or 10 cm ... and they were both screaming. As I came closer, I wondered where her parent or caregiver was and why they were not doing anything. I'm shy, and I don't like to butt in, but this was just wrong - so as I came along side the pair of them, I said that wasn't a nice thing to do, and if she was my kid she would be in big trouble. That interrupted her and the toddler got out of her grip and ran away. I tried to watch him, but needed to watched her instead, so see what she would do, who else she would attack, she just stomped and splashed around so I walked where I could see her and sat down with my knitting. Then the cubs took off and I had to keep track of them as well. I looked over to see where the little girl and her baby brother (seriously, he was in nappies) were but they had gone. I was a bit upset at the whole thing, that no parent had noticed, that no one else had noticed, and that she really had tried to force his head under water ... I mean where does a kid under the age of 5 learn to do that? People tell me my kids are good kids, nice kids, and you know as a mum some times I focus on all the little niggles and intolerance's they have for each other, so it seems like those compliments are mostly people being polite - but I'm pretty sure neither has ever tried to drown the other in a public paddling pool at a park.

So I sat and knit to calm myself ... and looked down at the markers I had placed to indicate my waist shaping points ... unlike the original Owls I'm shaping at the side front and the side back ... you know, cause my body is shaped there - not just at the back. And I knit away, smiling at the cubs as they sailed past on biked, or swung on swings, popped out of the concrete tunnels, sliding down the huge dinosaur slide or climbing the various climbing things - and merrily increased away every 4th row. Yes increased, a fact I discovered an hour latter when all the shaping rows had been done. Drat, at home I frogged and knit the shaping again, this time decreasing, as I do go in at the waist not out ... only to find that instead of decreasing at my 4 marked points, I had also decreased at one side seam. I've left in plain markers for the side seam with the intention of running a EZ fake seam down the side once the body is knit . So I've frogged and reknit the shaping again, this time it looks good ... 4 decrease points, just as planed, and i've worked half the increases I need. I'm spacing these out a little more, 6 rows plain between shaping rounds, not 3. I'm planning the last 2 increase rounds will be increases on the front only, you know cause I got things that bump out a little more there. I have a deep suspicion that I will knit much of this cardigan 3 times, based on what I've done so far.


And in the background I've been ignoring CB's Spring Thaw Sock, number 2, but it grows a little between Owl knitting sessions. I'm pleased that the decorative leaf element has been reversed on the second sock, something I had planned to do if the pattern didn't allow for it. Look, I'm already up to the second leaf of six.


And then there is the distraction from knitting, spinning, and with two wheels in use I'm spinning on both. There is a reason, The cool-as J admitted to us Monday night spinners that her beautiful unused Mike Keeves wheel had gone rusty (she spins on an older Mike Keeves wheel), not the whole wheel mind, just the spindle. We all replied that you had to 'use it or loose it', which made me realise I needed to spin on both wheels not just the Wing. The Wing is my Monday night spinning wheel, as it has a neat carry handle and fits in the car, so its the wheel I use the most. The Pipy seems more delicate - and is lower - so I can spin sitting on the couch on that one, which seems decadent. So I thought I'll use my recently negleted Pipy, this is a carded batt from Doe, blues and greens, alpaca, silk, merino with a bit of tencil.



I've got another batt, slighlty greener, and a little lighter to spin as well, that one is Alpaca, merino, silk and bamboo, and I'll ply the two together, unless I don't .. and I'm thinking BSJ - 240g, should be enough, I might even get a hood.



and on the Wing I've got some one elses stash, yes really, a knitter and spindle spinner packed up all her things, into her beetle car and left town to be closer to family. She divested of her surplus things, how I part envy her, and brought her stash to knit night to see if we wanted to buy things from her. I picked up two older Shona Schofield packets of super fine merino, this 17.8 micron dyed in a mid grey green with orange - unusual but fun to spin, the other just super fine micron merino in white, 16 microns.


And Morag, from Vintage Purls, returned from a sock workshop near Wellington, with yarn. She was based at Joy of Yarn, and knew I had recently ordered Noro from James there, but tempted me before she went. How did she tempt me, well she asked all quiet and calm if I wanted her to bring back any cashmere sock yarn. I didn't even know such stuff existed, but now I have a skein of it, and also knowing how I like to knit on little teeny tiny needles, she also brought back a skein of Slim Sock Yarn, both by The Knittery, both contain nylon so are proper sock yarns, and are labeled cheerfully handpainted in Victoria, Australia. How can one resist cheerfully hand painted yarn as pretty as this? The lighter is the colour way Midnight, and the deeper is Passionfruit.

Whew - there seems a lot more going on that when I sat down to blog - a whole lot, but it has been relaxing, the last few days of leave, so I have taken advantage of the warm weather, and taken time to relax.
I might even be ready for work come tuesday .. although they owe me two days ... so that could be thursday. Except - students start back in 2 weeks ... and there is lots to do.

take care
na stella