Fish hat

So, here it is. the fish hat.  After much deliberation i kept knitting it in the 8ply, and it has turned out just fine.  Evidently worsted weight can refer to either 8 or 10 ply wool, depends on the country.  So while I am still unsure of which she used ( I do suspect it was an 8ply), this has turned out really well.
My son likes it so that is good.

And this is what it looks like on...

Pretty cool huh???  I am now knitting on for the shop, in shades of greens with orange.  my boss has made one for her husband in more muted tones of olive greens and browns.  I am assured he will happily wear it (wouldn't happen in this house!!LOL!).

I have not started my other fingerless glove but will do it when I have finished this other fishy hat, hopefully later today.  I will have to sit and wait for however long tomorrow while my car gets serviced so that will give me a good opportunity to make a start on it.  I had to take my son to basketball last night and sit in the cold cold stadium and all i could think about was having my lovely rainbow gloves on.  I better make a move on it!

P.S. a little word about the eyes: the original had a felt circle with crosses sewn onto them; i wanted my fish to be alive, not dead, and so, instead of felt, I used two buttons, a large white one, and a smaller black one.  Overlaying two buttons is not unusual in our shop; it can give a wonderful lift to a garment when done with nice buttons; try it; the combinations are endless. And the results can be quite stunning.

some starts, a finish and much undoing

It has been a funny week in my house for achieving anything.  I finished hubby's socks, have finished my first fingerless glove, have started knitting a tea cosy, which I promptly undid with only a few rows done, and have begun knitting a beanie for my youngest child which is also about to be undone.

So, first things first,
my first glove looks like this:

I have to say I really really really love it!! How bright and happy are these (and i am pretty much guaranteed no-one else I come across will have a pair!). I cannot wear wool as a general rule and as these are 60% merino I fugured it was a gamble but it seems to have paid off; it feels lovely and soft and not scratchy at all. Although, as I have only got one done, I have hardly worn it for any decent amount of time.
And the second glove will be started in a different spot, colourwise.  there was wool left on the ball but not a lot and I dont want to muck around starting a fair way into the new ball and have it run out near the end and be left having to join it and have the colours not line up. So they will both be different and I am happy with that, unlike the socks that i sweated over trying to start them in the same place.

As for the tea cosy, I was making a sheep; it is in a book I love so was keen to have a go but it didn't look like I thought it should so pulled it out. I really should have persisted but the fun had gone out of it; and after planning it for ages i was disappointed. So it can sit for another day.

The beanie looks like this:

And here is where i found it:
knitty fish hat

It is so much fun I had to make it. After much discussion at work about what ply wool she had used (worsted evidently does not always mean the same thing in different places), my son chose some shades of blue and purple, very funky.  But after spending a lot of time yesterday knitting the beginning of it, it has become apparant that I am using the wrong wool and it is too small. My choices are to finish it and give it away or undo it, keep the wool for something else and start again with other wool.  I am leaning on the side of undoing it, eventhough it is a good chunk of my Saturday's work.
I am sitting here pondering though; as a smocker, we have a great term for undoing our smocking, it is called reverse smocking. I wonder if the term can be used for knitting as well, instead of undoing, can I be reverse knitting?  Sounds somewhat better!!

Speaking of smocking, I am desperate to be doing some sewing again. Nothing is stopping me except seeing all the nice wools and patterns at work and and finding more excuses to knit than to sew. 
i will be spending tuesday whipping up the vintage dress now that I finally have feedback on how the trial bodice fitted ("like it was made for her" I was told this morning).  And I do have a smocked dress in mind I want to have a play with so maybe I can cut that out at the same time as the dress. We will see.
  I am not sure how I changed from a sewer who knits to be just a knitter??  But I ache to do some sewing.
Whatever craft you are doing at the minute, I hope it is fun.

socks

So here are the socks I have been knitting.

i finished them yesterday morning for hubby's birthday yesterday.
What a shame after all that work that he doesn't actually like them.  Grrrr.  Was only happy when i told him he could wear them around the house and didn't have to wear them out where, God forbid, anyone might see them.
So that is the sad end to the very long sock knitting episode.

To the next things now I guess. i am knitting this sock wool, which is so soft and gorgeous:

...into fingerless gloves for me. I can't wait to have them done.  The wool isn't quite as bright as it is here. it is bright, just not this glarey bright.  They shouldn't take long to do as I only started these last night.
The question with the gloves is this (and I think i know the answer): do i need to start them in the same place, colourwise, or will it be okay if both gloves start the colours in different spots. Any ideas???

I am also going to knit a beanie for the youngest child, i will show you the pattern later, but it is a fish.  Very cool!  The child has seen the pattern, and chosen the wool so I expect this to be better recieved than the socks were.
off to the knitting needles...


P.S. On second thoughts, after having looked at my completed blog post, the rainbow wool really is that bright!!!  Awesome!!!!!

early Mother's Day

My kids, on the days that i work, walk to work after school and then we drive home together.  Much nicer than taking the school bus.
Yesterday they were taking longer than usual and I was starting to wonder where they were when in they walk holding a beautiful bunch of flowers.  I was so touched. My eldest had paid for them with his own money and had even (I found out later) emailed the florist the day before just to ask about getting some flowers, so he had put some degree of thought into it. 

Isn't he a sweetie? 
So it will be a lovely Mother's Day in my house, and in yours too I hope.

Just for me

While my family was out on Saturday having fun without me, this is what I got up to:

It is a raggy edge quilt, usually just two layers of flannel back to back, sewn together in squares with the edges left exposed.  i have wanted to do one for ages and yet, even with 300 bolts of flannel in the shop I couldn't find anything I like.  Amazingly, I found a tutorial for this quilt here, and got an inspiration happening. I like this one as it has batting in the middle so it is thicker and warmer. And I must have walked into work with fresh eyes as i had no trouble finding exactly what i wanted, and it had all been there the whole time!!
 Because I then had to quilt each block before putting it together, it took more time than the traditional one but i do like the results.
The edges look like this:

I told my children in no uncertain terms that it was MY quilt, and they were NOT to use it, and so, it came as no surprise whatsoever an hour after it was finished and i was happily snuggled under it in my armchair that my youngest (13yr old) climbed in under it, on my knee.  He is quite small and hasn't hit his growth yet, so i treasure these cuddles knowing they cannot possibly go on for much longer. 
i never for even a minute thought they would obey my command (they knew it wasn't for real), but I did think i might get it to myself for longet than an hour.  LOL!!!
I took it in to a very cold basketball stadium, against my eldest son's wishes last night.  He might have been mortified, but I was warm, and the other mothers thought it was a very good idea!!!

So, now to what I need to be doing!  Hubby's sock is not done, at this stage, after his birthday next week he is either going to have to cut a foot off, or hop everywhere!!  I do need to get a move on with it but it wont be done on time.
And now i have also been asked to make a dress for the school musical. They want this made:

After looking at it I dont think it will be terribly difficult, but the instructions are just typed, no pictures. I do think I have it worked out for the most part, it really is quite simple once the pieces are assembled.  I have been put on notice by the Other Half though; I am not to grumble if i get halfway through it and have difficulty; he says I should say no more often (and I should) but then who would do these things?  I always feel bad that they would be left in the lurch.

Okay, housework beckons. Must go and make hay while the sun shines, as they say.  This looks like being a lovely day, the first for quite a while, so i will be making use of it and doing washing.  (What exciting lives we lead!!)

P.S. i was going to crop the first photo but it shows our old dog coming to have a sticky nose at what I was doing so I have left her in it. 

Hibernating

I have been thinking about hibernating ever since Dianne's comment on my 'new beds' post.  Thinking about how nice and soft my bed is and how I do not want to get  up in the morning.  It makes me think of something I have on my fridge and which I look at often. it seems to strike a cord with me on many levels, so here it is for you all to share:

Gonna be a bear

In this life I am a woman. In the next life I'd like to come back as a bear.  When you're a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months.

I COULD DEAL WITH THAT!

before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself stupid.

I COULD DEAL WITH THAT!

When you're a girl bear you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you are sleeping and wake up to partially grown, cute, cuddly cubs.

I COULD DEFINATELY DEAL WITH THAT!

If you're a mamma bear, everyone knows you mean business.  You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them too.

I COULD DEAL WITH THAT!

If you're a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.

YUP - GONNA BE A BEAR!!!!


I really think there is some wonderful truths to this! Wouldn't it be great??  Although, yesterday was spent mostly in bed with a migraine (Don't worry, I am fine today!), I think if I were to hibernate, a working tv in the bedroom might not be a bad thing!!
Just thinking........


P.S. I would love to credit the author who wrote this particular piece of what i think is pure genius, but I don't know who it is. Sorry.