End of the Week Randomness

Is it Friday already? This week went really fast! Lots of my time has been spent helping my mom with my step-dad--taking him to doctors' appointments and sitting with him while she goes out. He has Lewy Body Dementia and has been having problems with bladder infections. When he gets sick, his dementia takes over and he has trouble walking and is very confused. I'm so lucky they live close by and I can help out.

I've been faithful to my Cedar Creek socks this week and they're almost finished. And a good thing, too, because I got my first Rockin' Sock Club shipment yesterday and its siren song is very powerful. Look for spoiler pictures here if you want to see some amazingly gorgeous yarn and beads. We got the info about Camp Knitty HaHa in our club shipment, and I am super excited! I immediately called and signed up, bought my plane ticket, and booked my room. I corrupted my friend Tece who is going to join me this year to share in the madness. Speaking of Tece, I forgot to show you what she gave me for Christmas--it's my favorite new knitting toy.

It's a Knitzi to protect my dpn's in my knitting bag. Not only practical, it's a handcrafted work of art. I love it.

Remember this yarn? My friend Rosemary made some lovely socks with it and brought them with her to our knit day. I hardly ever get to see what my yarn grows up to be, so I was really excited to see these and wanted you to see them too.

The free pattern she used is Maizy Lace, from Crystal Palace Yarns (they have lots of free sock patterns...I got distracted over there while I was finding the link for you).

I sent out my first custom order last week! Cheryl wanted some yarn to knit socks for her husband. He requested semi-solids in navy and light-brown-to-go-with-khaki. Here's what I sent her.

You can find more manly colors in the shop. Now, back to finish up those Cedar Creeks so I can wind my Blue Heaven (Tina is a color genius!)

Finish or Frog It

Lately, I've been thinking about my stash. When I started knitting I told myself I wouldn't amass a stash. My fabric stash was ginormous, and was making me feel guilty. Well, myself didn't listen. My yarn stash doesn't come close to my fabric stash, but it's getting pretty big. And the pile of WIP's is out of control. Then I read the latest Knitter's Review where Clara wrote about slow stashing (go ahead, read it, I'll wait). I loved her idea about the "Happy Pile" and the "Unhappy Pile". It sounded like something I could do. Shortly after reading Clara's article I read this, and found the Finish or Frog It Group on Ravelry. I know it's Saturday, but I decided on this Friday, so I think it still counts. I looked through my WIP's and decided to finish these ASAP.

I decided to frog this.

This sock was from a BMFA club kit. I love the yarn, but really didn’t love the pattern. It just didn’t flow for me. It’s been half finished for almost a year, and I felt like I should finish, but never wanted to work on it. Deciding it should be in the "Unhappy Pile" and frogged was liberating!

Now the newly wound yarn looks like a happy cake full of posibility!

First FO 2009

I'm happy to share my first FO for 2009!

Serendipity by Adrienne Fong, in Socks that Rock Lightweight, Dragon Dance. In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to admit it's the only pair I finished from the 2008 Rockin' Sock Club. I don't know why. And of course, I joined the club again for 2009 (yes, I need professional help). I have another pair of socks half-finished that I'm trying to finish before the first sock club shipment arrives next week.


They are the Cedar Creek socks I cast on for the Ravelympics (and I don't know why I didn't finish more?). If I can finish them by this weekend, I'll be ready to start the new kit as soon as I get it. It sounds like a good plan--now to just stay focused...I'll have to hide the new Knit 1 that just came in the mail. It can only lead to trouble!

The last half of my trip was the most fun. From Sydney we flew to Hamilton Island which is at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef.

1. reef view hotel, 2. hi welcome, 3. reefworld, 4. stinger suits ,

5. giant clam, 6. scuba, 7. Hamilton_Island, 8. hi koala, 9. Hamilton_Island

I snorkeled out on the reef three days, and tried scuba diving for the first time. The super-hero suits we are wearing are stinger suits for snorkeling. This time of year Irukandji Jellyfish are found on the reef, and since their sting is potentially deadly, I was OK with wearing the silly looking suit. I found Nemo! I saw GIANT clams. At our hotel we got to have breakfast with some koalas, and I got to hold one for a picture. He smelled lovely, like eucalyptus. I never wanted to leave.

After discovering the treasures of the reef, we flew to Brisbane and then went inland to stay at a fabulous B & B called Cougal Park in the Border Ranges National park.

1. st andrews cross spider, 2. red necked wallaby cougal, 3. Rainbow_Lorikeets, 4. Cougal_Park

The setting was magical. Hugh and Elizabeth's lovely home is surrounded by 400 acres of rainforest filled with hundreds of exotic birds, wallabys, koalas and more. The spider I photographed was a kindred spirit. She had decorated her web with some fancy zig-zag stitching. I was in heaven! I never wanted to leave.

I took lots of knitting projects with me (most of them Christmas gifts) but hardly spent any time knitting. I ended up staying up 'til 1:30 am Christmas morning finishing my gifts. They were well received and I had a lovely Christmas with my family.

I wish you all a healthy, prosperous 2009 filled with love, laughter and lots of knitting!

Oz

Yes, I made it back from Australia. I've been hibernating since Christmas. I'll try to catch you up on my adventure...

After our one day in Melbourne, we flew to Sydney. I quickly found out that the Aussies have different airline security rules than we do in the U.S. After being searched twice, I was allowed to carry my knitting bag onto the plane. Onboard it was a different story. Knitting is viewed as a dangerous threat on Australian domestic flights (international flights are OK?!?), so my knitting project was confiscated by a flight attendant until we landed. This put a crimp in my Christmas gift knitting plans! We arrived safely in Sydney and had a few hours to walk around.

We checked out the usual tourist sites (this woman was polite enough to join us as soon as we sat down to have our picture taken).

The street performers look a bit different there.

We strolled through the Royal Botanical Gardens and found these gigantic fruit bats. They're called Grey Headed Flying Foxes. They are HUGE! We saw thousands of them fly out of the Gardens at dusk and they look just like the Batman symbol.

While Larry was working I walked and shopped and searched for a Starbucks (yes, I'm obsessed with coffee!) Two interesting things about coffee houses in Oz:

1. It is nearly impossible to find a cup of brewed coffee. The Aussies love their coffee, there were coffee houses and kiosks on every block, but they only serve espresso drinks such as a Flat White (a no-foam latte) or a Short Black (one shot of espresso with a bit of water).

2. The Aussies seem to have an obsession with toast--every sign in front of a coffee house or cafe advertises Toast. Even Starbucks serves toast!

I found a great bookstore and bought some Japanese stitch dictionaries.

I found a lovely knit shop just a few blocks from our hotel. I went to a stitch 'n bitch there one evening while Larry was at a customer dinner. It was fun meeting some local knitters and talking knitting, Ravelry, and recipes (it's Rice Bubbles not Rice Krispies). I bought a few skeins of a locally produced organic yarn, and also bought some undyed yarn to play with.

One afternoon we took a ferry ride to Manly Beach, and came back to Sydney at dark to see the Opera House and bridge all lit up. It was magical!

Next, our stay in the Whitsunday Islands.