SPOILER: Arrow: Clue 2B

January 25, 2014 | 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?

Shopping the Stash

January 5, 2014 | 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!

Peer Pressure

January 2, 2014January 1, 2014 | 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

January 1, 2014 | 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:

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:

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!

Little Monster

June 23, 2013 | Sonia Knits

It was Marilyn’s 1st birthday party today. I finally got to hand over her monster pants and they were a real hit! Sadly the matching cardigan I made was a little snug… I tried to adjust a 10ply pattern to suit the 8ply yarn I used in the pants. Sadly it’s a ‘slim’ fit.’ Oh well,’ I said. ‘Your next kid can wear it’. It was a bit disappointing to me and no doubt the parents. The pants only took a week to knit, the cardigan 2 weeks…

I’ll just have to make her another cardigan. But first, Still light, I can’t forget about you.

It was funny watching Marilyn crawling around with her little monster bottom. I can highly recommend this as a fun knit.

‘Winter is coming’

May 19, 2013 | Sonia Knits

This is what I keep hearing. Sadly there are no winter-sets to speak of, let alone finished objects, I’m looking at you Still Light, oh heavens how I’ve tried. So what do you blog about when there is nothing to show?

The Latte Baby coat got some handsome buttons last week…

Purl has been extra snuggly now that it’s cold and I’m taking full advantage of that.

I finally watched the last episode of Downton Abbey season 3 whilst finishing up some spinning. Oh my word and I thought Game of Thrones was tragic. Thankfully my real life isn’t as dramatic as that, touch wood.

These 2 bobbins are now ready to ply after they’ve rested for a day or so.

Very little spinning has taken place this year as keen observers will have noticed. I can’t blame the kitten for everything, it’s just a matter of time (in my defence Purl is currently sleeping on my hands as I type). This fibre comes from 2 Bendigos ago. They are EGMTK beastie blends with merino, bamboo and silk. I can’t wait to see them plied, as I imagined them 2 years ago.

As well as winter coming, so is Bendigo Show… and possibly a blip in the yarn diet. Whilst I still haven’t purchased any yarn since NY, this came into my possession this week, who says you can’t receive gifts outside your birthday month?

Thank you Teopea! It was a very sweet surprise.

Back to knitting, if I have the heart to wake Purl up…

A change of mindset

April 7, 2013April 7, 2013 | Sonia Knits

Now going on a yarn and fibre buying hiatus is not going to be a great hardship for me. In fact it’s going to be a pleasure. On the odd occasion that I swear off yarn buying, my mind switches over from needing/wanting all the beautiful things to seeing/playing/using delicious yarn. It’s a good feeling. It’s winter and this little squirrel is going to be feasting on the acorns she’s been collecting.

I’m pressing forward with my Still light, despite hearing the news of Louisa’s woes with hers. I’m fairly sure I won’t have the same issues. I haven’t made anything too large for myself for a long while, only things on the small side…

Here’s where I’m at with it, only 3/4 to go!

And because I love sharing photos of Purl, here she is in her tunnel. Yes, our house is a kitten wonderland.

A FO

March 31, 2013March 31, 2013 | Sonia Knits

It’s good to be home and back down to earth, the jet-lag got me this week and indeed is still kicking my butt.

The yarn shopping has been unpacked and packed into and around the yarn shelf. Yep, I can’t ignore it any longer, I need to go on a yarn diet, or as I prefer to say, shop the stash. I honestly believe my yarn stash is the best yarn store a girl can have. It only has awesome yarn in it.

I think Purl is happy to have us home as well. She was a few kilos heavier when we got back, but I think she’s already worked it off. As my MIL said, she’s not going to be a big cat. She must have force fed her?! Her whole bag of treats are gone…

I was so exhausted on the flight back, I didnt even pull out the knitting, not once on the 20 plus hour journey. Instead I watched a stack of movies, which was enjoyable and killed a lot of time.

My socks are finally finished and I’m very happy with them. I’ve just received a shipping notice for the next installment of the Cookie A club. Looks like I can manage to knit one pair of socks per package, and bake one batch of cookies, I’m ok with that!

Taking stock

January 27, 2013 | Sonia Knits

An unexpected benefit of being a kitten owner, is discovering yarn stash I forgot I had!

With each day Purl is getting craftier, but so am I. She is climbing higher, trickier obstacles, and this is without having her kitten play gym (it’s on order). This has called for at least the next level of stash shelf to be bagged up in zip locks. Whilst it makes me a bit sad as it likens my yarn shelf to a yarn store that is wrapped in plastic, I know it’s for the best. Amazingly, you can also get more onto a shelf if it’s bagged up, another plus.

I found some treasures from my time in San Francisco. Some Drops alpaca, purchased after taking a lace knitting class at Greenwich Yarn and some Mountain Colours Barefoot in a delicious red. It has also meant I’m ‘doing away’ with some more yarn. If it’s not ziplock worthy, then it’s not worth keeping.

The most important thing I learnt this week was, apparently the secret to getting cuddles from Purl, is to totally ignore her. Thanks for the tip Damian.

Sonia Knits

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