The end of June

So this month I used:
20g for Zara's Mousie hammock
50g for Kylie's wheatbag covers
324g for Jasmine's jumper
70g for Nathan's two glasses bags
23g for Mum's phone cover
86g for Zach's milo vest
=
573g.
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I am going to subtract Point Five from the stash total of 18.4, bringing my official stash total down to 17.9kg. Woo hoo! (Because now I can buy at least 5 guilt-free skeins at Bendi... hehehe) And I'll add the leftover 73g to next month's total.
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It's been fun keeping track, but it occurs to me that I don't knit a lot for myself. I have a jumper in the works that I know isn't going to fit well (until I lose some of the kilos I'm blaming Zacky for), so I don't work on it much. Then there is... the occasional hat? I have a few hats. Some scarves. Worn socks.
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Next month, in addition to the jelly socks that are almost done, I'm going to knit myself something with a bit of weight! I'm thinking a vest to keep my heart from freezing in the Ballarat Wind ;). Time to go trawling 'Ravelry...

Milo

I swear sometimes clouds look so heavy you wonder how they float up there. Here's a shot with sun and rain and blue sky and sunset and clouds.
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And a slightly less impressive little number called milo, which I made for Zach. Love the xoxo cable Ü


It fits, thank goodness. I made the 9month size with 4.5mm needles (instead of 4mm) and it fits well, though not with a great deal of room. Of course it would have helped if I'd read the line that mentioned increasing 10 stitches... Love that black Cleckheaton Country naturals. I have a few more balls that I got for $2 each (back when Kmart sold wool). Might do Milos for all three kids...
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Also did a quick camera cover for Mum. Used up a teeny bit of handspun. It was nice and soft to knit with, I must say. It'd probably die in the wash, but it'll be nice and squishy until then...

Well, I've still managed to not buy yarn, so I'll add up the total for June in a few days (see if I can finish some socks first). I've been buying stuff instead of yarn, though, so I've not saved a lot. Beads, tiny crochet hooks, patterns, bags.

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I've also been distracted from knitting by the good old Sims! My great dad (HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR TODAY!) gave me his old laptop, and it's so much faster than this one that I can play the sims. I have been building up my own town called Yarnotopia. lol. Pity they can't knit, but they can have knittery names and wear woollies :)

Jasmine

I threw on the slightly-wet jumper and chased her around with the camera. This is the best I could do! Sigh. She's nearly two, I suppose.
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Gotta love pigtails on little curly girls...

Clearly I would have had plenty of yarn if I didn't make it twice as wide as necessary.

In the bowl: biscuits and apricot squares, to try and keep her still.

The sleeves are a bit long, but fingertip-length sleeves aren't a bad thing in Winter.

Then I whipped it off and hung it almost on top of the heater. I think it's dry now!!

Ah, stripes

The perfect cover-up. Yep, my 100g of dark pink and 200g of pale pink wasn't enough, and I ended up with some white stripes before the white ribbed cuff. lol.

And now it's done.

It looks short, I know, but it grew a bit just by wetting it and laying it out (from 30cm up to about 36). Jasmine hasn't worn it yet (because it's STILL wet, stupid Winter) but it seemed a good length before wet-blocking. Perhaps the sleeves are a bit long... we'll see, one day when it dries...

That's what I did to the inside of the hem. The last few rows of moss stitch weren't enough to stop the silly stocking stitch curl, but pulling in on the back like this did the trick.

Something about the picture above makes me feel sea sick. hehehe.

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And another little WIP, some 10ply merino sock yarn handpainted with jelly. It's purple, blue, yellow and green with bits of white. It changes color almost every stitch, but I'm getting sick of the pastelly nature of these, I must say, in spite of the appeal of the butterfly blocks.

Note the project bag by Kelgell which I love. I bought this silvery one to be fairly neutral, and a bright pink one "For Jasmine", but I'm starting to change my mind about giving it to her, to be honest... you can't have too many project bags Ü

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I've also cast on my first Milo because a little girl at the knitting group looked so cute in it! I'm sure I'll make a few of these. This first one is in a black tweedy yarn, size 9 months, for Zachary, who will be 5 months in about 20 minutes. (Hope it's not too small! lol). I knit a fair bit watching the World Cup, where we tied with Ghana to give ourselves the most unlikely place from which to rise up and win the whole thing... hehe. One more game to watch, and hopefully they will thrash Serbia and give us a few more games.

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I'm in the Australian team on the WorldCup2010 ravelry group. Go Knitaroos! hehe.

My socks

Just for the fun of linking my plain socks to my own pattern:

Yarn: DK or worsted

Needles: two 4mm circulars

toe: Cast on 8 with circular cast-on. Join in round by doing one round like icord. Increase into every stitch and divide onto two needles. (16)
1. k1, kf&b, k to last 3, kf&b, k2 for each needle
2. knit round

repeat 1 and 2 until 44st, ending with row 1.

foot:

Start striping or doing "the pattern" on the top-of-the-foot needle.

When it is long enough to touch the front of your ankle (on the top of the foot) start doing the gusset of a Fleegle Heel.

(Increase one stitch on each side of the sole, every second round.
When you have the same number on the sole needle as you used to have on the whole foot, start the heel turn:
Knit to just past the center, K2tog, K1, turn.
Slip 1, purl to just past the center, p2tog, p1, turn
1. slip 1, knit to a stitch before the gap, k2tog over the gap, k1, turn.
2. slip 1, purl to a stitch before the gap, p2tog over the gap, p1, turn.
repeat 1 and 2 until you are at the sides. Continue doing rounds. Decrease out any necessary sole-needle stitches the next few rounds. )


leg: Make it as long as the foot (folded at the heel). Then do 10 rows of 2x2 rib and cast-off with a sewn bind-off or Jeny's super stretchy bindoff.





Da da.

Mods for fingering weight. I use 2.5mm needles and 60st around.

No new yarn!

I know! I have resisted, since weighing the stash, though I have been looking through the yarn shops. The fact is, though, that I'm planning on taking all my savings to Bendigo next month, and buying some nice stuff, and my only goal there is quality instead of quantity.
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But I have knitted a bit of stash. This one doesn't count, as it was half-done (and thus, not weighed). Little hat for Zach out of the Jet I dyed a while ago, with earflaps and a knitted toggle.


This is one of two wheat bag covers for my (soon-to-be) sister-in-law, who walks to work with cold hands. You microwave the wheat bags and hold them in your pockets. :D
50g of Cameo (which is the leftovers from her mittens).
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This is what happens when you're in a hurry, and you just grab a needle and some leftover yarn as you run off. I had no project in mind, so I started making Jasmine a Calorimetry. As it was too small, it turned into a hammock for Zara's blue mousie instead. 20g.
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This one will add some weight, though. It's the start of "Jasmine 2", a pattern called Neighborly that I'm adding sleeves to, if I have enough yarn. If not, it's a cute warm vest. I'm using BWM Luxury 10ply (the dark pink I dyed) and some Cleckheaton Country 12ply I picked up for $1 a ball. If I use all the yarn (300g) it will have cost less than $10.
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Also, I won a blog prize :D Thankyou, Knitabulous! She's sending me a little Japanese box for calling her yarn funny names. Nice!