Snow day !

Thursday morning we had snow warnings, forcasts of snow down to 300 metres (we live around 95 metres above sea level), which just means bitterly cold winds and sleet or rain. Friday morning the forcast changed to snow to sea level and Queenstown and Wanaka in central Otago a few hours up the road were land locked by icy snow roads. Last night before bed we peeked out of the window and saw a light dusting of snow - so we we banked up the fire, checked the kids, made sure the car was down the side of the house not on the street, finished our wine and toddled off to bed.

Today, Saturday, we woke to 7-8 cm of powder snow, a thick white blanket over everything. Now for some of you this is part of winter, but for us here - we get a dusting of snow once or twice a year on the hills, and slush on the flat of dunedin. We get a decent snow fall that lasts once every 2-3 years, and today was it.



It has been snowing and sunning off an on today, but is not warm - so we have a good fire going. I think one or more of us might just need something like the hats Jussi knits. I've only just discovered Jussi's blog where she hand and machine knits, but those hats ...with the ears, I know they have been done before, but those are cute with a save the forests take out the possums good feeling really soft eco yarn cuteness. I've got little ones that would look so cute and warm in those.


This morning we unilaterally decided not to take the kids to swimming lessons, after all the Police had a request out on the local radio for all dunedin travel to be limited to essential only.


Poppy was amazed to find her swing thickly coated by snow, Toby couldn't wait to play in the snow - so much so, I almost thought he would run out there in his boxers and a tee shirt and naked feet had I not stopped him.


I could not believe the cat spent so much time outside in the cold.









and because this is in fact a knit blog - here is some of today's effort, Pomotomos, just starting the 3rd lace repeat before the heel flap. I am liking this Trekking bamboo mix very much, very very much.


I've also knitted one more repeat on the fair isle baby blanket. One repeat is about 10.2 cm, so I'm thinking it will be around about 6 repeats long. With a 5 cm border all around - the blanket will near 70 cm long, and fit nicely on a 90 cm long baby bed. That plan may change depending on how much yarn the blanket eats up. I am using up the pale blue faster than the other yarn colours - so will need to get more of that on monday, and will also pick up my much awaited copy of interweave knits. That was todays treat - but with the snow, no go. Don't get exited, its just the issue you all have had for months (or is that four months?). Thats international surface shipping for you. Really I should just take out a subscription. And I've got a copy of the adult fibre trends felted clog pattern to pick up, it was strangely cheaper at my LYS than on line - odd. I have been thinking of knitting some of those - for me, for family - just how many projects do I dare start when I have work and conferences and a baby blanket to finish before a baby arrives?

I'm knitting, I'm knitting, I'm knitting

well, after that four days of not knitting, I'm knitting again and really enjoying it so am making fine progress on the Fair isle baby blanket. Today I'll show you just how much progress, and report on how a new sock begins with the almost mandatory 'new project frog report' and lastly I've been shopping again, and in my defence I have so little stash. We are still in the depths of winter, so little natural light to photograph with outside work hours - and Bear was off work today, so made the majority of the photos in this post - Thank you very much Bear.

First up, this is where the blanket was on the 17th of June (12 cm), and then again today (23 cm). So 11 cm in 3 days, I say 3 as the photo made on the 17th would have been early in the day, and I would have knit that night, but I have not yet knit today - the 20th. And just so you know - the blanket is not narrowing, its just the photo angle and that the lower portion was steam blocked which relaxed it. At least that's what I am hoping .... otherwise ... no don't even think about tension changes.

I was so pleased with the speed at which the blanket is growing, that I have started a new sock. Which sock to do was a difficult decision, something by Cookie, or Diamante? Cookies socks are so clever with their use of lace in an intelligent way, I like stylised formal patterning so these appeal. And there are several free cookie socks to knit first at Knitty, to warm up on so to speak. Diamante - on the other hand this is a serious toe up gusset heel sock, suggested by Suzzane as an alternative worth considering and having improvements in fit over Widdershins. Widdershins is my current standard sock. So what did I choose?
Cookie A's Pomatomus! But Diamante is next, and then another cookie, and then ...

The yarn is Pronatura Trekking 75% superwash and 25% bamboo, which is marketed as a non synthetic viable alternative to the polymid and nylon reinforcing used in other sock yarns. And I bought it online, I try not to think about the cost of shipping internationally - its just part of the cost of this hobby. Its lovely to work with, not super soft, but has little memory when frogged as I have discovered. Its a little more variegated than I had hoped but not really stripy.

There was a small moment of confusion when I went and looked out 2mm and 2.75 mm and then couldn't work out when each was used. I'm not even going to let on how long it took for me to realise that the 2 was for size US 2 and the 2.75 was the metric equivalent. Not that I needed both US 2 and US 2.75! Duh!
I used the channel island cast on from Monste Stanley's knitting hand book, a sort of a combination of the thumb method and yarn overs. It produces a lovely twisted knot or small picot along the edge. This is one full repeat of the lace pattern, which is take 4 or so. Half way through the first repeat when the increases turn to decreases - I discovered I had mis-read the directions, so frogged the pattern section. Knitting it again a 2nd and 3rd time - simple errors in patterning occurred, I kind of lost the repeat - despite it being a very simple to remember repeat to knit. And somewhere I got confused between K2 tog and K2tbl and even introduced from who knows where ssk. So I frogged the 2nd and 3rd time. Just frogged back to the ribbing, not further. And the 4th try, I finally grew up and used silver jump rings to mark the repeats, and remind me to increase and decrease and sorted that I would use ssk.
So whats the genius of this pattern? What do I like appart from it is simple to remember and predict after a few lines are knitted. Well what the others don't seem to tell you is it is knitted ribbed lace, so super super stretchy! How cool is that? I am still a newbie to lace, so probably you have all already discovered the magic of lace which uses ribbing, but for me that is a revelation.


So there was some shopping, and as I am one without a large stash, please those of you on yarn diets and those knitting from just the stash - please ignore that I am buying yarn and you are not. On my last visit I noticed a new brand in my LYS, Sunbean St Ives, from West Yorkshire, reasonable yarn, and thinking of cables and lace rib which do seem to eat yarn, I got three 50g balls in this dark forest green tinged with brown shade. And the other yarn, well I've had my eye on this yarn for a while, it been in a large basket in the center of the shop for the last few months, but on my last visit it had moved. Named Rare Endare and made from Aplaca and superfine merino, this is one of the few yarns available locally made from luxury fibres. I had planned to acquire some so when it wasn't on show I did a mild panic. Luckily I asked and was pointed in the direction of the newly shelved stock, so selected off white or bone white and a pale blue to knit a hat based on this for Toby, black or dark grey would be better - but there was none. After I left I realized I could dye it darker. Toby is 7 going on 8, but like all kids exposed to media is also going on a kind of teenage awareness, and the idea of a hat with pirate bones appeals, I can knit that, and in bone white and pale blue it will be less punk.

Tagged, me ? why I'm flattered

Today I do have some knitting progress to show you, on the fair isle baby blankie, and a new video, plus i've been tagged.
So the new video is in response to a request, gosh I'm feeling popular this week, video requests and tagged! Its enough to go to a gals head. Spinalpaca asked at utube if I would do a video of just the 'winding the yarn around my fingers' as the video clips of that bit were a tad fast to see what was happening. So here is it.



So the blanket is at 9cm, out of a possible 90 cm, but that was the bed size, and I need to check if Gill wants the blanket bed sized or shorter to allow 'breathing space'. Here is the outside and the inside, the floats are all flat and fairly short - but we will probably still line the blanket. Baby fingers are little and they have sharp nails to snag things with.




Tanya tagged me with 8 random things, which is is either the up side or down side of blogging. I love to read the answers to being tagged, so I guess I have to provide some.

The Rules:
1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names.
4. Don't forget to leave them a comment and tell them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

Ok - here goes, stuff you never needed to know.
1, I began my work life as a civil engineering cadet in a govt organisation called the Ministry of Works, I was young, I took the first job they offered me, I was naive, I didn't realise that if you liked technical drawing at school it could get you 40 years of drawing cross sections of roads, I expected to draw cool houses. Naive or dumb - you decide.

2, I loath bananas, my Dad loves to point out I ate them with gusto (whatever that is!) as a baby, but not now. I used to nearly puke when my kids ate them mashed up, what does everyone else see in that slimey fruit?

3, I love my job, looove it, looooooove it except the very few days it drives me wild, and there are not many of them. I couldn't imagine doing anything quite so satisfying - and I never set out to have this kind of job. I studied what I enjoyed and here I am. This week was especially good, I got to visit and review another degree in fashion, My teaching team mate won an incredibly teaching award, and 2 of our final year degree students did well in international competions!

4, At 17 I took apart a 2-stroke engine, to draw for a technical drawing class, I drew all the components up to scale and with plans and elevations. We had to draw something and my dad is a mechanic so the engine it was. I'm not sure what I learned other than being careful, engines that have been used are full of black greasy oily stuff, and to measure things carefully. I never put it back together. The boys in the class were all in awe, I was the quite bookmouse type and they didn't expect that. I remember the boys drew stuff like a frisbee, a padlock, and a door handle (the outsides only), for some reason I always took the more complicated path.

5, My Nana's maiden name was Ricketts, and her first baby was still born shortly after the war, following a 2 day labour, she went on to have 5 more children. I can not imagine how strong a women she must have been to face labour again after that, way back then. She is now very frail, but still here, and a great nana to 8 great grand kids. She is at the other end of the country.

6, I spent the first 2 years of my life as a nomad around England, Scotland, Spain, Italy and the dirt bike motor circuit. A baby petrol head, in a tent, and a combi van, I've seen the photos and the ones taken of me and my little sister on the ship 'home' to new zealand, and my early memories seem to be of those photos.

7, I went to 2 primary schools, 3 intermediates, and 3 secondary schools between 5 and 17 as my dad moved around getting new jobs all the time, You are only at intermediate for 2 years in New Zealand. I even was bought a school uniform for one school and didn't even go, we were off before the year started. Down side, I have lots of quick friends but don't seem to develop the lasting ones .... guess I didn't get the practice in, or got wary of making and loosing them so often.

8, I loath wet paper, so no paper towels at my place. Wet paper makes my skin crawl. yuck.

and Tagging, with mass aplogies to anyone who has already been tagged and any one who feels I have invaded their space, Sorry ...
Well, all my fellow nz knit bloggers, Beverley, KathyR, Knitonlybutalso, Sharon, and I was going to include Bessie but sadly I can't. And a fellow fish blogger, Crankygirl, and Jane.

Baby blankie begins

So I'm back in town, but not yet knitting, thats for latter tonight. But here are the initial photos of the fair isle baby blankie, all 5cm or 2 inches of it. I've had to pin the edge flat to stop the stocking stitch curl. Remember the edge will be finished with a knitted two layer facing, so once thats in place it will stay flat.
... and the match between the kniting and the graph made in photoshop is pretty good. I'm going to have to adjust the proportions, I think the graph is a bit taller than the knitting. But overall I'm very happy with it. well worth the development time. And I do have to say my friend, Gill, who is my knit sponsor on this project, lives half the country away, so it was great to blog and show her how the colours were panning out and to get some email comments back from her. The internet, surely one of our modern wonders , makes this a very very small world.



so now I'm off to do some essay marking and then KNITTING ! I have not knit since saturday, this is the 4th knit free day and I don't like it one bit.