Seven Skeins Club Week 1: Baffies

October 18, 2015 | Sonia Knits

The first pattern of Kate Davies Seven Skeins Club was released on Friday evening here in Melbourne. They are called Baffies and they are the loveliest slippers. Sadly, I was unable to start until Saturday and only after I cleaned the house (I bargained with myself).

First thing was first, we were instructed by Kate to weigh our skeins before we began. She’s quite bossy about it, but it’s probably for our own good.

I decided I didn’t want to do the prescribed colours, I wanted to choose my own. Kate has given us a nifty little yarn calculator, in order to give us the autonomy to do that.

A lot of people in the ravelry group were getting cold feet (pardon the pun) about starting until seeing all the patterns. I think it’s quite sad that people can get paralysed by colour and choices. If anything I’m quite prepared to mix up my colour choices from week to week (even though I think I’ve mapped out the first 4 weeks on the aforementioned yarn calculator). If I get it wrong and I run out of colour, so what? I’ll just add in another colour.

Kate has done an amazing job of nutting out all of the details to the club. It’s the best organised club I’ve ever been apart of. Not since ‘Owls’ have I knitted a Kate Davies pattern, but I have a couple of her designs ready to cast-on… they just got bumped up the queue. I’m amazed at how easy she made the Turkish cast-on seem. I’m sure I’ve followed other peoples directions to this technique and it’s not worked out half as well.

As I write, I don’t know where Sharon is up to knitting her Baffies. She’s been absent from social media, or at least ‘not letting on’ where she’s up to. I suspect she’s knitting at her usual speed and posting a FO photo or a blog post any minute now. Or maybe she’s giving me a head-start, a handicap. This is a race, didn’t you know?! I expect I’ll have finished my Baffies by Tuesday or Wednesday… at the latest. I’m half-expecting Sharon to show up to knitting tomorrow night with her completed pair and a second pair in stash yarn cast-on, because how great is this project?

So comfy to wear, I’m even tempted to knit the alternative pattern (without the stranding) this week, a pair for Damian… yeah.

I’m looking forward to seeing week 2’s pattern, I have a strong suspicion it’s going to be a hat. It’s been hailed as a ‘signature’ Kate pattern. Thoughts?

Wednesday WIPs – Stuff and stuff

October 14, 2015October 13, 2015 | Sonia Knits

I took my knitting on a mini break over the weekend.

It wasn’t far, but the change of scenery and no house chores, made it an excellent escape.

I took three WIPs but as per usual, I only worked on one.

As well as that, it’s been a pretty amazing mail week for me.

I got a skein of Fab Funky Fibres, and a couple of mini skeins. (My excuse for buying yarn this time around, was that it was a tiny bonus from work, so it was FREE money).

I also received my second last Cookie A sock club, someone at knit night described it as Latté. I’m not sure I love the colour, but the skein itself feels amazing.

And Kate Davies Seven Skeins club arrived! It is tremendously exciting, I’m not sure whether to cake up my yarn yet, or wait for the release of the first pattern on Friday. I think I’ll just look at it for now. The race is definitely on to keep up with Sharon.

My UIOLI Shingle project is finished! It needs a good bath before wearing it. I’m pretty contented with it. The only downside is that about half the yarn still remains…

My bingo game is a lot harder than it first seemed. For instance, I’ve totally screwed up with the square that say’s ‘NO NEW YARN’. I might need to revise my Bingo card next month…

Wednesday WIPS – Bingo continues

October 7, 2015October 4, 2015 | Sonia Knits

Whilst I was binge knitting my ‘Shingle’ cropped cardigan on the weekend, I couldn’t help but want to work out what to do with ‘the wedding blanket’ project.

This one:

It is another Use It Or Lose It project. 10 balls of Bendigo Woollen Mills (discontinued) Harmony yarn. It was always meant to be our wedding blanket. It kind of feels like a bad omen to just toss it out. It’s good yarn, it’s just all white, impractical white. Besides we have a new wedding blanket now, you know the crochet hexagon one, the one that’s almost finished. Bright and colourful and big. How much use am I really going to get out of a big white blanket anyway? How much pain is it going to cause me to knit it?

So whilst I was binge knitting my blingy cardigan, I pondered. Then I thought about things like this:

The Rainbow Dress by my favourite kids designer, Georgie Hallam.

And I thought about this:

And how I could dye my own.

I got out my Addi Express machine and cranked out a blank out of a ball of the BWM Harmony, in fact I ripped out the blanket I had begun and used that.

Now I just need some dyes. What shall a do? An Elsa (from Frozen) dress, A watermelon gradient or just a good old fashioned rainbow?

If this is a success, I can dye and knit more fun garments for ALL of my nieces… if not, it’s back to square one.

Bingo/Binge Knitting

October 4, 2015 | Sonia Knits

As an avid listener to the Stash and Burn podcast. I thought it was about time I participated in another one of their initiatives, if not ‘cold sheeping’ (ahahahahaha) then why not some Bingo?!

I’m having fun already!

It has been a long weekend here in Melbourne, which has given me the opportunity to take stock of where all my projects are at. At the start of this week I had 7 WIPs. And I kind of wanted to change that or at least for the WIPs to be evolving/finishing/new wips.

Laying them all out in full view helped form a strategy, (not pictured is the hexagon crochet blanket or Cookie A’s June socks), or at least helped form my Bingo card. I included aspects of these 7 WIPs in my Bingo card for the month, and then I included other things, fun things and things not yet started. The idea is that if I cross off a row of goals, there’s a reward for getting Bingo. But just achieving a row of these things for me is a reward in itself… besides I have yarn, fibre and more yarn flying towards me this month, so really…

My Cookie A socks for June are finished, and I love them. I loved knitting them. My favourite kind of Cookie A socks, cuff down, charted, no cables.

When I got these done, my other WIPs were staring me in the face.

Particularly this one. The Louisa Harding ‘Shingle’ project. It’s been on my Use It Or Lose It list for well over a year. It was time to find out what it was going to be.

I decided on the Safire cardigan by Hilary Smith Callis. It was either going to be this or nothing, was my decision. A little cropped cardigan, that I can wear over little summer dresses.

Then I Binged Knit it…

And now I’m up to the ribbing of the body…

It looks like it might be a keeper, I’m going to have to keep knitting to find out.

Meanwhile, I’m terrified about the other plans that are forming in my head. I think I’m going to be left with at least 3 balls when this is over. I’m afraid I might be considering making a matching ‘niece’ ballerina cardigan. The never-ending yarn! But how cute would niece M look in that?

Wednesday WIPs – Niece cuddles

September 30, 2015September 29, 2015 | Sonia Knits

I’ve met my newest, latest, freshest niece!

And I’m already pretty in love with her.

I’m sure she’s going to love me too…

One day, but maybe not today.

I’m playing catch-up with my Cookie A sock club socks, if I can just get these ones finished tonight…

Then I’ll just have these to do before my next parcel arrives in about 2 weeks…
That’s do-able right?

I’ve been listening to How to Kill a Mocking Bird read by Sissy Spacek. I’m enjoying it very much, no spoilers please, I don’t know how it ends… I hope it’s happy.

Wednesday WIPS and a Baby FO

September 23, 2015 | Sonia Knits

Today I was going to talk to you about the six pairs of socks I darned last weekend…

It took quite some time…

And I began to realise why I’m a knitter and not a sewer.

Because knitting is so much funner. (Can you see the knitting-in nylon holding it together?!)

But then after a day and a half of darning… it was like I made 6 pairs of hand knit socks, I guess that was time well spent.

But more excitingly I have to tell you my niece arrived today. I got to the point where I thought she was never going to arrive!

Just in time to sew on 2 teeny tiny buttons on to the Joey cardigan, then a wee visit and a cuddle with my 9th niece / nephew.

I’m pretty excited about that, and I didn’t even have to do anything!

FOMO

September 19, 2015 | Sonia Knits

FEAR

OF

MISSING

OUT

Are you in or are you out?

I have massive FOMO as many of you are aware, I was on the fence about joining up, (because I’m not actively buying yarn at the moment haha), then Sharon said she was in and then I had to. I hope Sharon doesn’t decide to jump off a roof or anything…

Wednesday WIPs – Joey

September 16, 2015September 16, 2015 | Sonia Knits

My new baby niece is still biding her time in her mother’s belly. Turns out, not all baby girls in my family arrive early…

I’m hoping to finish off Joey, which I cast-on in Georgie Hallam’s class at the weekend, over the next night or two. I’ll have my fingers-crossed I can get the underarm of the second sleeve just as perfect as the first using Georgie’s nifty techniques. She was a great teacher, so organised and generous and I happen to love her designs for kids and babies.

My Opal socks have had a few rows added to the leg of the second sock. As a mindless knit, it was the perfect project to take away on a weekend of chatting, where my lace projects barely made an appearance.

I managed to get enough seams together (with help from a few safety pins) to get the crochet blanket off the floor. It’s going to be manageable now to be able to sew the remaining seams from the comfort of my lounge chair.

I finished listening to Haruki Murakami’s What I talk about, when I talk about running, I really enjoyed it, it makes me want to run! I’ve also begun listening to To kill a Mocking Bird, I’ve never had the pleasure of reading it, so I’m looking forward to finding out what the fuss is all about.

The Craft Sessions 2015

September 14, 2015 | Sonia Knits

I’ve just arrived back from attending The Craft Sessions 2015. This is the third year the weekend has run, but it was my very first time to attend. I felt very lucky to have scored a spot, especially after finding out the event was a sell-out within 2 hours of the registration opening.

Whilst I couldn’t convince any of my friends to join me on the weekend, I need not have worried… everyone was super friendly. I met a whole lot of new crafters, boy did we have a lot to talk about!

I’m so inspired by the entire weekend, I feel like casting on EVERYTHING, and of course finishing everything. I can hardly wait to see what classes will be held next year…