VIVA LE TOUR! WITH HANSA MITTENS

It's been almost  two months without blogging, here's just a sample of the hectic last month.  Family member in intensive care after operation then goes home then back in hospital again,  phone line down for over a week! can you believe it, all calls redirected to mobile then internet connection down, that was fixed pretty quickly thanks to netspace. This month I decided to join the ravelry  Tour de France 2011  knitting kal, my project would be one pair of mittens using two colours Scandinavian style.  Colour selection was tricky the fingering balls I liked were just too expensive for a first project as there was going to be some frogging going on. On the second trip to my yarn shop and armed with at least ten different patterns all I came away with was another set of needles and several balls of black. I had some green DK that had four strands of yarn so I spent the evening unplying and rewinding to make a ball of fingering in a nice easy to see green.  All of my procrastination took up the first week of the tour, mitten on needles actually being knitted was on the first of the mountain stages. I chose the Hansa Mittens by Tuulia Salmela because of the nice pointy top and the gusset thumb, the colour pattern isn't  too  hard for a beginner. The bottom photo shows the gusset, Tuulia Salmela can be found on ravelry as Tuulia and her blog is   Knitlob's Lair-Louhittaren Luola . Will I get both mittens done by the end of the tour?  I don't think so but I'm sure I'll have one done. We had to take Furgus to the vet today he's having his teeth cleaned it's the first time I've had to leave him there. His meowing was so sad but the nice vet after hearing his cat home story let me leave my mohair scarf in his cage. There's always a risk with anesthetic so I'm waiting for the O.K. call.

FELTED BOOTIES

The slipper booties are finished and they're warm and toasty. I gave them one hot wash but I think they could do with more felting.  There's still quite a bit of fluffiness and I would like them to be a little denser. The next item on my Winter list is a gnomey hat,  I'm still working out yarn combinations (from stash) to make the correct gauge.  I wonder how many sets of needles you need to have in your knitting kit so when you want to start a new project you don't need to go and buy more. The pattern has a gauge of 13 stitches  = 10cm  I'm knitting 16 stitches so it's either new needles or thicker yarn.  I thought one strand of Lopi plus two of mohair should  be about right and be super warm and soft.  I'm not sure if a black gnome hat would look like a gnome or a witch? red would be nice and is a traditional colour but it has to be from my ever growing stash.  So more digging around in plastic boxes and trying to remember what I actually have squirreled away.
Pattern link   Felted Slipper

KNITTED SLIPPER BOOTS

The weather has been cold and wet, time to start wearing my ugg like boots (Skecher's). It seems I still have trouble with the top of my foot aching whenever I wear a firm shoe. I've tried to knit slipper boots before but the result was not very successful. They were to big and the wool did not felt well, I did several test squares and they felted fine so it must be something  about  the whole kitted object versus a flat test square. I even tried boiling them for an hour or so but that just made the house smell like wet sheep. After a pattern search  I found the perfect pair. The photo shows the boot before the added top band.

Felted Slipper Boots by Biscotte

I've used two strands of Lopi so they are extra thick and firm, I've also closed the front slit, picked up stitches, joined and knitted around the top to make them longer. All I have left to do is the top on number two, Furgus loves to help by killing the wool balls and any hand he can reach. On Sunday I cooked a very simple and totally satisfying dinner, sausages with potatoes and last of the summer vegetables from my garden. The cold weather has almost completely stopped the zucchinis and I only managed to freeze a small bag of peas, the rest were enjoyed raw.  Flatmate brought home a CPR practice kit with a very creepy plastic man, I wonder who designs these sort of things. To top off another week of live micecapades Furgus gave me an extra special gift one young live rat. The one thing I have a phobia about, stand on the table screeching kind of phobia. You know when Furgus has something alive by his meow so I went into the kitchen ready to deal with a mouse instead there was a panicked rat. I jumped onto the kitchen table while Furgus played with it, I was screeching and pointing , the rat was screeching and that made me screech even more finely he took it outside. Three hours later I found the rat in the kitchen again this time almost dead but not quite so the poor thing had three hours of Furgus torture. I wrapped it in a tea towel and it had pleading grateful eyes all I could do was ask flatmate to deal with it when he got home from work.

 

ZIGS AND ZAGS

On Thursday we went on  a drive to Mount Field and on the way flatmate was pointing out landmarks it's sort of a game, animals are included we have to see at least one native animal a trip, anyway he called Mount Direction and I thought what a good name for my mittens. I think crazy zigzag for the top, something like a mix of zigzags from the photo above and stripes on the palm and a gusset thumb with stripes. On the walk to the waterfall we spotted a pottaroo  but all I managed to photograph were little glowing eyes and native fish. The little mouse is one of the many Furgus has been playing with inside, it's a native mouse and they make a whistling sound to communicate. They don't seem to eat meat and they're not garbage mice so saving one or two doesn't seem so bad.

BEWARE KILLER CAT

It's been a long time since my last post, I fell over and cracked two bones in my foot. How I managed to do this is still a mystery but it involved an orange cat, a brick holding open a door, stairs, and an arm full of wood (in no particular order). All in all I've been feeling a little down as well as rather silly, Furges was of course completely unharmed. Small projects are all I can manage at the moment so I'm knitting hexagons for a throw. I'm using a two colour cast on ready for joining them together so the back looks as neat as the front, the first swatch looks a bit to messy.

                                                                                                                                                               

SEAMLESS CARDIGAN

Instead of glandular fever the extreme pain and swelling of my face, neck and glands has turned out to be a troubled tooth. My glands have been going up and down for about three months, there have been Dr's visits, blood tests all to no avail. So I did some research and came up with teeth! the dentist took one look found the culprit straight away. Poor tooth was in death throws and had to be removed, 24 hours later nearly all the swelling has gone there's no pain and I can drink warm tea and coffee. NEW KNITTING, I've started a seamless cardigan in a light charcoal fleck. The pattern is a mishmash of three patterns, I'm using the edging of the Debbie Bliss Cardi. (above), Elizabeth Zimmerman seamless sweater from Knitting Without Tears, I love the look of round yoke sweaters and cardigans, and a Drops A-line for the decreases. Just look at this gorgeous bunch of kale it's a most beautiful purple black almost to nice to eat.

MOHAIR UPDATE

The wrap is now over halfway done and kindly held up by Dan my flatmate. It's raining today so I'm going to make bread rolls to have with dinner tonight, the lounge room is toasty perfect for rising dough and the smell of baking bread is so delicious. Pushing Daisies has become a total addiction and I want to bake pies of every kind. I now have three pie funnels all I need now is the perfect pie dish, my heart's set on this one, Emile Henry in plain white it's just right for a single crust pie. Maybe chicken/leek or beef/mushroom, or spicy apple.

MORE MOHAIR

I'm now at the halfway mark with Mrs DEagle's wrap, It's been a fast knit thanks to the Tour De France, so hopefully she'll get it this winter rather than next years. First we had gastro now we have flu all thanks to D's work, I've been so cold, sore and achy all I've managed to do is a quick visit to wool shop, knit a little and plant some kale. kale's the most fantastic veg, I add it to everything! usually just wilted.

GRAVEL MOHAIR THROW

This colour way's called GRAVEL (TeAwaWools Soft Spun Mohair/col-1233/12PLY/100gm), it's a lovely mix of black-grey-off white and a touch of midnight blue. So this is going to be another throw this time for my flatmate's Mum. I'll use 2x hanks, 10mm needles, cast on 90 stitches and the pattern will be blocks of knit x10 st./purl x10 st.

There's been two confirmed cases of Swine Flu at Mr. D's work ( my flat mate) he works in a hotel so it's not surprising. There were lots of protocols everyone had to follow while they were waiting for the test results and special gloves/masks/cleaning products to use. Mr. D said pigs around the world would be breathing a sigh of relief as they're not a favorite menu item at the moment.

SLIPPER BOOT UPDATE

The Aunt Alm Dorm Boots originally had two rows of purl in between the shaping rows of knit (k-p-p-k) if that makes sense, the outer (k) rows are the decreasing rows. I changed the purl to knit, it looks much neater. There was also a rib cuff that I've deleted, I'm sewing the two layers together and I'd like them to come just over the ankle so there's no need for it . I've struck a bit of a problem with the inner boots. The wool I'm using for them isn't as stiff as the carpet wool they're the same size and shape as the outer boots but when I joined the sole seam the shape changed and the seam doesn't fit well. So they've been frogged! and I'll try knitting them using a Turkish cast on.

SLIPPER BOOTS

I've decided to knit a pair of booties instead of buying a new pair of Ugg's, the basic pattern is Aunt Alma's dorm boots with some changes. I'll felt together two separate boots the outside layer is made from carpet wool with the sole knitted with two strands (sole left open) and the inside layer is a soft pure wool knitted with two strands (sole closed) . The idea is to knit or use Kitchener stitch to join the boots together at the top cuff, sew the two layers together, sew outer sole closed then felt. I love buttons! here are the latest ones added to my stash.

FINISHED HEXAGAUGHAN BLANKET

Well here's the finished hexagaughan blanket, all the organizing and sewing up was done by cadbury's keeper I don't know how she managed to work and move house as well. This is the first knit-a-long where I've sent something overseas I didn't think my knitting was good enough before. I've just finished a set of organic cotton face cloths including a mitt for Mum's birthday now I have to start another mohair throw this one is for Dan's Mum in a lovely charcoal colour. On a sad note, my brother's dog Junior was hit by a car last week. How he managed to sneak out I don't know, he died very quickly and without any pain, the driver didn't stop but we think they just didn't know it was a dog not a pothole.

MORE HEXAGAUGHAN"S

Here are the last of my HEXAGAUGHAN'S the colours are softer than in the photo's. I'm not happy with the way the SSK PSSO turned out if I make any more I'll try knitting the stitches together. It's been so HOT, to hot to knit or cook at least we have cool nights with a sea breeze. When I lived in Melbourne my flat was like an oven and the cicadas would keep me awake for most of the night if I had the windows open.

HEXAGAUGHAN KNIT-A-LONG

The Great Hexagaughan Knit-A-Long is on! the Norah Gaughan lovers at Ravelry have started a KAL where everyone knits and sends their work to a nomminated address where they will be sewn into a very large blanket for Norah Gaughan. The extra hexes will be made into more blankets for charity. I like the idea that there will be hexagons from all over the world in one piece of work. I've made one so far and I'm hoping to make another two or three by Monday when they will be posted to America, the deadline is the 01-02-08 so they should get there in plenty of time.

COMPLETED MOHAIR THROW

Here it is! the taller than my Mother mohair throw, it's wider than it looks and very stretchy. I tried to do a swatch using the fir cone pattern but it's to tricky for me, the dark wool didn't help either. The scallop pattern is easy but hard to see using the brown wool so I thought a chevron pattern might work, time to try another swatch.

BROWN FIR CONE THROW

I've decided to knit a wrap\throw using brown wool and the fir cone pattern from the Harmony Guides volume 2 page 59. The pattern does not seem to complicated so I'll start the swatch tonight and see if I'm able to manage it. I think the pattern looks more like peacock feather eyes, there's a scallop pattern that would look good if fir cone's to hard. You know your getting old when there's a LOUD doof doof party in your street and you can't be bothered getting out of bed at 4.00 am to call the police even when you can smell the rubber from the wheelies. I told myself never mind you can have a nice afternoon lay down with a good book. Happy New Year!

CHRISTMAS BALLS

I found the Christmas Bauble pattern on a site called canadianliving.com the pattern is actually from the book Handknit Holidays by Leigh Radford, and the pattern is Christmas Ornament. This is the larger size with an attempt at embroidery I think more practice is needed before I can give one as a gift. The knitting's fine but my stitching is a little 1.00 am crazy. I used red wool first but it looked dull and flat so the idea was to find some red sparkle beads in my stash of shiny things. No red shiny beads but I found some glossy embroidery thread! how I have this I have know idea as I'm not a hand stitching person. So the effect is a raised shiny snowflake? just don't look to close.

MOHAIR WRAP FOR MUM

This is the wrap/throw I'm knitting for my Mother and the Ravelry Olympics. I'm in gift giving pentathlon! Go Team Oz !!!! the needle size is 10 cm and it's 2x rib. The ribs are soft and flowing but I think I'll need to get some more mohair as I want it to be bigger than a scarf and smaller than a blanket.

MOHAIR FOR MUM

This is Te Awa Wools Soft Spun Mohair in Scotch Thistle, 100gm the colour's actually a little warmer than this. I'm going to knit a throw/shawl for my Mum, she likes my big grey scarf so I'll use the same size needles for her. The yarn came from Tasmanian Wool Suppliers, http://www.woolsuppliers.com.au/

GREY MOHAIR SCARF

Here's the finished grey mohair scarf, I used size 15 mm needles and plain knit stitch. I wanted a loopy puffy look rather than a flat thick look. We now have broadband!!! yay!!! I can visit Ravelry without freezing my computer. My favorite yarn store is now on line www.woolsupppliers.com.au my latest purchase was The Harmony Guide number two and 100gm=200mt ($17.00) hank of soft spun mohair in scotch thistle by TeAwa Wools it's a lovely soft mix of pinks, blues and lilac perfect for a shawl for my mum.