Author: Sonia Knits

Wednesday WIPS – Bingo continues

| 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:

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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:

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

And I thought about this:

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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.

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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?

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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

| 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?!

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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.

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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.

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

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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…

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

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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

| Sonia Knits

I’ve met my newest, latest, freshest niece!DSC_7236

And I’m already pretty in love with her.DSC_7241

I’m sure she’s going to love me too…
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One day, but maybe not today. IMG_1771

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…
IMG_1773That’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

| Sonia Knits

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

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It took quite some time…

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

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

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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.IMG_1759

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!

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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

| Sonia Knits

FEAR

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OF

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MISSING

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OUT

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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

| 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…

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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.

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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.

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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

| 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…

One more sleep!

| Sonia Knits

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One more sleep until it is  Craft Sessions weekend, boy am I excited! Sign-up was so long ago, but wow how time has flown!

I’ve crammed in my homework in the last week, as you do.

• I’ve knitted a 25cm (squarish, not really square) stocking stitch swatch for my Darning class with Jules a.k.a. Wollenflower; one guess what I’ll be doing with that swatch?! I’m also going to take along some socks that need darning, no moth holes here, just good-old fashioned wear and tear.

• I had to swatch for Georgie Hallam’s class The Beauty of Circular Yokes, I’ve selected my yarn and swatched on Monday night at the Richmond Knitter’s knit night.

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The class project is to knit a baby circular yoked cardigan, just the thing for a niece that is due to arrive at any minute.

• My 3rd class is with Jules, where I’ll learn how to knit for Speed and Comfort. Because we all need to know how to knit faster… I didn’t need to do any homework for this class!

Now I just need to pack and decide what projects to take with me outside class hours. Do I take my spinning wheel? Or is 4 WIPs enough?

Wednesday WIPs – Putting it together

| Sonia Knits

I started laying out my patches of hexagons on my living room floor on the weekend, I just wanted to have a ‘play’ I hadn’t put them all out in a while. Mind you I still had 4 balls of patches left to make….

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Or did I?

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As I was laying it out, I wondered whether my first plan was the correct one. That is 4 x 5 rosette patches rather than 5 x 5 rosette patches. My reassessment had nothing to do with the fact that there was still 4 balls of Noro staring me in the face. But the blanket was fairly square at 4 x 5, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

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I continued laying out all the patches with the single and half hexagons which filled in the gaps.

Sewing it up has been strenuous work, a real ‘work-out’ in my living room. Oh how I wished I had the foresight of inviting a few Richmond Knitters over to give me a hand! I was sewing all day long, until my body just said no more. There’s still plenty more seams to sew before I can get it off the floor.

I’m going to use the 4 remaining balls for the border… and huzzah! I won’t need to buy anymore yarn!

I’ve begun listening to Haruki Murakami’s ‘What I talk about when I talk about running’, I’m really liking it. I’m taking a little break from Anne Tyler’s ‘A spool of blue thread’, even though I’ve listened to most of it. I’m sure I’ll get back to it, but for the moment I’m finding the underlying theme of getting old and dying a little depressing.