FO: Coraline and Joukahainen

Pattern: Coraline by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino (DK/8ply), Colourway Blackberry
Needle Size: 3.25mm/US3 & 3.5mm/US4
Alterations: The only alteration made was adding extra length to the sleeves and body (mainly because my gauge was out slightly...I didn't swatch!)

I really enjoyed this pattern for a few reasons, its nice and quick, relatively easy and I learnt a few new techniques, the provisional crochet cast on and the I-cord bind off. The knitted hem and the I-cord edgings around the sleeves and neck also give a nice finished look to the cardigan and is a nice change from the usual ribbed edges of cardigans/jumpers. The cardi fits perfectly and I love the shimmer of the silk and merino yarn, great colourway too (as is always the case with Malabrigo yarn). Its safe to say that with this cardigan now completed I'm looking forward to cooler autumn weather.

Now onto the next FO....

Last year my partner asked me if I would knit him a plain, no frills black jumper, which I of course jumped at the chance. So I found this pattern and decided to use Malabrigo worsted, which I ordered online from a store here in Australia. So I cast on around this time last year, knitted pretty much all of the jumper (its knit bottom up and all in one), up to the beginning of the neck decreases when I ran out of yarn only this time I couldn't find any black Malabrigo in Australia (I only needed one ball), so I had to order it from the USA. When it finally arrived I went to wind it, by hand (I didn't have a ball winder at this stage), only to find that the skein was in a massive tangle and the only way out of this mess was to cut the yarn and roll, cut the yarn and roll etc...so in the end I had about six small balls of this yarn. By this stage I just lost heart and the jumper was thrown, I mean placed nicely, in the cupboard until a month ago when Paul asked what had happened to his jumper. I reluctantly pulled the thing out of the cupboard entered it into the Ravelympics (good for motivation), and started knitting again, and after two nights worth of TV knitting I had finished it!

And after all that, here it is...

Pattern: Joukahainen by Kristel Nyberg (Ravelry link)
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted, Colourway Black
Needle Size: 5.5mm/US6

So after all the drama I'm happy with the FO, it fits well and is exactly what Paul asked for, a simple jumper, which unfortunately turned out to be far from simple to complete.

Ravelympics

The mass CO for the Ravelympics starts in a few hours from now, and even though I'm not CO anything new, its a good opportunity to finish a few projects. So here are my two competitors for the WIPS-Dancing event....

Pattern: Garden Gate Socks by Emily Johnson
This is about all I have managed to knit, even though I had great hopes of working on them during my holiday (yeah right!).

and...


Pattern: Joukahainen byKristel Nyberg

This project has been on the needles since this time last year. All I have to do is finish the neck and thats it! Not sure why I'm so averse to finishing this project but I have promised the recipient that I will have it done (otherwise he is going to be very cold this winter).

Let the games begin!

Coming Back Home

Well, I suppose holidays have to end at some stage and now its back to the real world. We had such a great time away, the South Pacific Islands are diverse and beautiful and the people are so friendly. Its amazing to think that here in Australia we are so close to these places, yet it felt like we were worlds away surrounded by different cultures, customs, languages and religions. Its a little bit of paradise right at our door step, one which I am sure we will be visiting again!

So what did we do?

We swam in clear blue seas...





...and in the freash water Blue Hole on the island of Santo Spirito, Vanuatu (Yes it really is that blue!)...

...thought we had gone to heaven when we arrive at Ile Des Pins in New Caledonia...



...spent numerous hours wandering around the various fresh food markets in Fiji and Vanuatu...





...and happily meandered around each place taking in the sights...

...and reluctanly said goodbye and returned home.

Goodbye 2009 and hello 2010!

Holiday time Yipeee!!! Im off to the South Pacific for three glorious weeks and before I go I just wanted to say...

Happy New Year everyone and all the best for 2010.

Merry Christmas

I eagerly CO the other day for the Coraline cardigan and have only just finished the hem. I'm finding the Malabrigo silky merino to split easily when knitting which is a bit of a pain, but otherwise I'm very happy with the softness, sheen and colour of this yarn.


Not much else to report except tomorrow is Christmas Eve (yay!) and my family will be arriving in the afternoon to spend a few nights with us. Looks like it may rain throughout most of the festive season, but as long as the weather is warm I don't mind. So, I wish you all a very merry and safe Christmas
xx

FO: Featherweight Cardigan

Pattern: Featherweight Cardigan by Hannah Fettig
Yarn: Malabrigo Lace (3 skeins in colourway Vaa-only used a small amount of the 3rd skein)
Needle Size: 4mm/US 6
Size: Small

Another great pattern from Hannah Fettig, easy to knit and the end result is a wonderfully light weight spring/summer cardigan that can be worn anywhere. I again loved knitting with the Malabrigo Lace and was very happy with this colourway. Its a very dark green with small areas of blue, not the easiest colour to photograph inside (was a stormy day today so unfortunately no outdoor shots), but I think it will be versatile enough to dress up or down. In any case its a colour which the recipient, my Mum, can wear well. Hope she likes it!


With nothing else on my sticks I am now dying to CO for the Coraline sweater which I was going to wait until the new year so I could add it to my projects list for a new Ravelry group called 10 in 2010 (basically commit to knitting 10 projects of your choosing in 2010), but alas I don't think I can wait. Doesn't matter because I'm also taking part in the NaKniSweMoDo group (AKA National Knit a Sweater a Month Dodecathon...complete 12 adult size sweaters in one year) so I can add it to that list instead. My last years quota was five, so if I can top that I will be more than happy. So yes I plan to have a very productive 2010....

What are your plans for 2010?

For some time now I have been searching for a day to day bag and I finally decided a few weeks ago that what I really wanted was a Namaste bag, which to my great delight arrived today...

After much deliberation I chose the Carli bag in eggplant, which is surprisingly bigger than I expected, a good thing considering the amount of stuff I tend to carry around with me. I am very impressed with the quality and design of this bag and I love the deep purple colour.

Today also marks the beginning of my holidays (2 months off work yay!!), so with time up my sleeve I decided to dye up some yarn to cast on for the Garden Gate Socks. I dyed up a skein of rust orange and another of bluish purple which I will cast on in a few days time (I wasn't happy with the original picture so I edited it out, hopefully I'll have a better picture of the yarn for the next post) . Otherwise I have nearly finished the Featherweight Cardigan (ravelry link) and am planning on posting finished pictures this time next week.