Needles on the Move

Time's running out!

Aaaarrrgh only two days to finish the Holiday To Do List!!!!!!

I won't be writing a list next holidays - too much pressure ;-)

posted by dianemulholland @ 11:06 pm 0 comments

Wonderful evil socks

I have finally managed to beat these socks into submission. The yarn is divine and I love the colour. I thoroughly enjoyed knitting them all the way to the cuff which took me longer than the rest of the sock and was frogged about five times. That's what you get when you knit socks from a nebulous pattern in your head...



Detail of the notorious cuff.

posted by dianemulholland @ 12:53 am 6 comments

Australia Weeps

It was 3am. The traditional explanation of the offside rule using beer bottles had taken place (twice), the chips were but crumbs in the bottom of the bowl and the cat and dog were asleep on two laps. As the 0-0 match neared conclusion we discussed with gradually mounting excitement our chances of winning a penalty shootout.

"Italy has only won one of its last five shootouts"
"Excellent - that must mean they're bad at them!"

Italy is one man down and our confidence is up. Star striker Aloisi comes on and we are on the edge of our seats...

Too sad to write any more :-(

posted by dianemulholland @ 12:06 am 0 comments

New FOs!

Now what should I do next ...

posted by dianemulholland @ 4:50 am 1 comments

Great Otway National Park

We had a lovely trip away, our B&B had open fireplaces in the guest sitting room and in our bedroom - luxury! Photos to right, here's one of the best:

We tramped around the National Park in the freezing but sunny weather and visited the 12 Apostles before any more fall down!

I am up to the heel turn on my second falling leaves sock and finished Emma while sitting by the fire. One week to go on the to do list!

posted by dianemulholland @ 7:09 am 0 comments

My new friend

My new friend is accurate to 1g and tells me when it's time to start the second sock :-)

Proudly modelled by Dad

The holiday stash: Black Debbie Bliss Cashmerino for Neil's scarf, 3 pairs of socks and my aran hat, also in Debbie Bliss.

posted by dianemulholland @ 4:35 am 1 comments

Dear Robots,

I have now set my spam filter to 'humans only' after receiving a spam comment only minutes after I posted. Go pick on someone else please.

posted by dianemulholland @ 10:50 pm 0 comments

Brrrr!

As we approach the shortest day we are having some pretty chilly weather. Current temp is 3 degrees in Melb and there is ice on my car! Luckily I don't have to go anywhere until 11:30 :-)

Yeah I know, 3 degrees is nothing for you northerners, but remember, double glazing is practically unheard of in Melb and central heating is not the norm (although we do have it luckily)

posted by dianemulholland @ 10:17 pm 0 comments

This morning's work

posted by dianemulholland @ 2:46 am 2 comments

What do I do with the rest?

I have little feet and generally find I only need 50g for a pair of socks. I find it hard to justify buying 100g skeins but always end up falling in love with the colours so I started to make a list of things to do with the leftovers...

* knit matching wristwarmers
* knit socks for a friend
* knit baby hats
* find another sockknitter with small feet to swap with

Any other ideas???

Holiday progress so far (after 2 days not bad) :
Purple wws: 100%
Red scarf for me: 50%
Silk wws: 25%
Falling leaves socks: 1st toe done but need diff size circs - down to LYS in the morning

Have booked our B&B, fingers crossed that the mail order yarn will arrive before we leave :-)

posted by dianemulholland @ 1:13 pm 0 comments

Ahhhhhh sleeping in!

The Holidays have arrived! Here is my list of things to do:

*Finish purple wristwarmers (done!)
*Silk wristwarmers (see swatch)
*3 pairs of socks (yarn photos coming)
*2 Baby hats
*Dye all my white wool (seven skeins)
*Scarf for me (started)
*Scarf for Neil

I have another list of things to do which includes things like tidying the garden but it's nowhere near as exciting :-)

posted by dianemulholland @ 11:40 pm 0 comments

A progress photo

Not much else is happening at the moment, last week of school yay! Holidays next week - will be finding a nice B&B with a log fire to sit by and knit :-)

posted by dianemulholland @ 8:41 am 2 comments

Day of the Swatches

It's funny, I'd never knitted a swatch before this year and now I can't seem to start a project without one. I think it has something to with me making up a lot more of my patterns and needing to check needle size etc.

Here are the latest few...

Lace pattern using a lovely Debbie Bliss yarn, I think the 8ply is too heavy for the wrist warmers I want to make though.








The same swatch in handspun silk/merino blend. This is about a 5ply and I think I like it much better although I prefer the purple colour.







The beginnings of my aran hat. I couldn't find a pattern I liked so yep, I'm making one up. Will definitely have the plaited cable but don't know about in between, maybe blackberry stitch.

posted by dianemulholland @ 11:44 pm 1 comments

I can do it by myself!

Mum and I had planned to do some dyeing when she visits this week - I was looking forward to learning a new skill. Then I found some sample pots she gave me a while ago and thought "How hard could it be?" (famous last words)

I won't tell you what it was like to untangle an entire skein of 4ply which inexplicably dropped on the floor but you can check out my success story pics!


The initial mess















Home baked














Final product!!
I'll still let mum come and stay :-)

posted by dianemulholland @ 8:26 am 0 comments

Here is my latest finished article

I find them very toasty, and the pattern was dead easy. Have already started another pair for a friend and have plans for more for me. Yes, for some reason the left one is slightly bigger - I think I might have knitted them with different tension somehow. Or maybe too many people with big hands tried it on!

posted by dianemulholland @ 2:48 am 1 comments

Hello and welcome to Ourblogspot

I never thought I'd be doing this but it seems to be the latest thing and we like to stay in fashion. Besides, if I can talk out some of my talk on here, my poor husband might experience some quieter nights. Not that he ever complains about me talking too much. Really.

Anyway, this is an experiment - if I get hooked we'll stay around. If not, well you can't say I never tried :-)

posted by dianemulholland @ 2:29 am 1 comments