Month: January 2014

My new (to me) Ashford Traditional wheel

| Sonia Knits

I had some time, this lovely long weekend to tinker with my new Traddy wheel. You may recall I got this as a gift from my gorgeous little sister who thought I might need another wheel. I didn’t know it then, but I think she was right!

Not being an Ashford owner before, I downloaded the manual from the web and investigated what I needed to do and what goes where. I purchased a maintenance kit from Spun Out, have I told you how much I love this store? Quick as a flash it all arrived… some gourmet rolags may have also come along for the ride.

And ta da! I’m spinning! The maintenance kit covered EVERYTHING I needed that was missing from my wheel. It even had the orifice hook! First up, I’m spinning some Wendy Dennis Polwarth which I’ll ply with a darker natural Wendy Dennis Polwarth. Bendigo is coming…

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Purl loves my new wheel too. She sat down beside me, mesmerised as the wheel spun around and around. Sadly a pillow case will have to go over the top of this wheel too when it’s not being used. Ahh the pitfalls of cat ownership.

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SPOILER: Arrow: Clue 2B

| Sonia Knits

I didn’t get to sit down to knit on my next clue for Ysolda’s shawl until Thursday this week. It’s just been one of those weeks. Less time to knit on my other projects, but a public holiday on Monday should even things out a little, yippee!

This is the second time (of a possible 2 times) so far, I’ve cheated and looked at the spoiler thread to help me decide which clue I should knit. I don’t really regret doing that. I would regret knitting one direction and realising I’d much prefer to do the other; clearly I’m not embracing the ‘mystery’ fully.

I’m glad there was this ‘short row’ clue. It’s made the shawl less semi circular, which was beginning to be a slight concern. Oh the twists and the turns! 3 more clues to go…

How’s your shawl going?

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Inspired to Spin

| Sonia Knits

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I taught Lily how to spin on her Castella wheel today. It was exciting! She is the first youngster I’ve taught to spin on a wheel and she took to it very well. I hope I’ve inspired her as much as she has inspired me. I got home and all I could think about was spinning.

I’m finishing off the second bobbin of Gotland roving hand painted by the Thylacine. It’s a coarse fibre, I’m looking forward to getting it off my bobbins actually, but maybe when it’s plied it might make a good winter sock yarn?

If I keep up the enthusiasm maybe, perhaps, I’ll make a dent in my fibre stash. That would be a good thing with just 6 months to go before the Bendigo Show, just saying.

SPOILER: Follow your Arrow: Clue 1B

| Sonia Knits

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Hooray, I’ve just completed the knitting of my first clue in the mystery knit-along. I’m super happy with it so far. It does lead me to wonder just how the next 2 possible options will work in with the first 2 options seeing as though they are vastly different constructions.

Now for some ‘recreational’ knitting until the next clue is released…

Nephew Love

| Sonia Knits

I got to spend some quality time with my new nephew yesterday, just one week and one day old. At one point he opened his eyes wide and looked straight into mine and my heart melted.

Some photos to show off my nephew and my lovely husband’s photography (and the blanket):

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With the temperature rising outside, I’m finding it a real challenge to knit him a jumper right now. But some socks I think would come in handy, he gets cold feet just like his aunty.

If you haven’t heard, I’ve succumbed to joining the Follow Your Arrow mystery KAL by Ysolda. More on that after the first clue is released tomorrow or the next day (oz time).

Shopping the Stash

| Sonia Knits

You know it was inevitable. I don’t think any of you would be surprised. But it is the start of the year, where silly things like diets and such begin.

If you’ve looked at my stash over on Ravelry, you will know that this is not any great sacrifice. Yarn diet sounds a little too harsh and not quite as apt as ‘Shopping the Stash’. I think my problems issues with yarn stem from the high I get from whenever I buy the stuff and I can’t knit it fast enough. That is the only way I can explain it.

Of course, there will be provisions for the Bendigo Show, and if I don’t happen to have yarn that I need to buy for a project for nephew or a niece, well then I’m going to do it.

And I also joined Stranded in Oz’s yarn club this year (I’m so excited!), with 6 installments…

So you see, it really isn’t a yarn diet at all…

I’m going to stay away from online yarn updates and visit yarn stores without absolute requirement (I might need needles you know). I’m not giving myself a timeframe, I’m just starting now. But I’m expecting late Christmas yarn to be sitting on my desk when I get back to work.

Starting now!

Aunty Sonia

| Sonia Knits

You know how I was worried about not getting my sister’s baby crochet blanket finished in time for the arrival of her first baby?

Well, I need not have worried. He arrived yesterday, 1 week and 1 day late.

I’ve held off knitting him any other garments and things, I’m inspired to knit for babies by spending time with them (hello Marilyn) rather than the concept of just knitting for a baby, if that makes sense. It is also Summer you know.

I’m thinking Baby Sophisticate, Milo, Baby Vertebrae, Latte Hoody…

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Pretty cute huh? Gratuitous crochet blanket/baby photos next weekend 🙂

Peer Pressure

| Sonia Knits

I do try to start New Years off on the right foot. But I fail miserably at resolutions, so I like to give myself ‘guidelines’ at the beginning of every year instead.

Last year I discovered I’m terribly bad at playing along with KALs or Knit-alongs… Cookie A Sock club… Still Light…. Call it weak, but I just hate feeling left behind in a challenge. So I said to myself, NO MORE KALs, I’m staying strong despite the fact that EVERY Knitter I know is participating in the yet to begin Ysolda Arrow KAL.

There’s also an element of risk involved in the challenge, what if I just don’t like the shawl? I guess that’s supposed to be the fun of it. That and you get to make choices and decisions along the way, so much so there’s 32 different shawl combinations possible at the end of the clues. It’s like a ‘choose your own adventure’ story that I once loved to read as a kid. I’m afraid I’ll end up with a shawl called Frankenstein… If Ysolda can pull it off, I’ll be in awe.

But I’m still not giving in… or am I?

No, definitely not. It’s going to be fun to watch from the sidelines for once. And… if I change my mind later… I can still knit the shawl in one of it’s 32 possibilities.

15 things in 2013

| Sonia Knits

I knit 15 things in 2013… that’s 2 projects down from last year (this is competitive Sonia coming out). I attribute my downturn to particularly intense projects like Still Light and Plain and Simple. I think if I counted the yardage I’ve knit, I would have knit more in 2013 than 2012, but that’s just a guesstimate!

Here’s a snapshot of all the things:

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That’s:

6 pairs of socks

2 jumpers

2 pairs of monster pants

3 other baby garments

1 cowl

and 1 crochet baby blanket

I think I can improve on this tally in 2014. Looky here, my first FO for the year:

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A Jayne Hat for Damian, based on a piece of knitwear from his beloved Firefly series. He says he’s going to wear it to the football. We’ll see.

I cast this one on, no less than 5 times due to underestimation of stitches. It seems it’s been a while since I knit for Damian, a bit of niece infatuation happened last year.

Wishing you all a productive knitting year!