Well I didn’t get back to my blog before heading to BrisVegas… but really who’s surprised about that?
The trip up was good but really really busy, filled with trips to see family and friends and lots of running all over the place.

I think I actually managed to cover the four corners that outline the outer regions of Brisbane. In ten days I was in Logan Reserve / Beaudesert, Boonah out past Ipswich, Caboolture and Cleaveland with a brief stay in the centre of the city as well. Phew it makes me tired just thinking about it all over again.

I got the cake made before I left as well as decorations and an overall plan which had me less nervous about getting it all together in time. I didn’t manage to make costumes but did track down props and bits and pieces to throw together a little red riding hood and woodsman costume… complete with wolfs head with grannys night cap

The party was a great success filled with over 40 people there to celebrate with dear friends. Even though I wasn’t happy with the overall finish of the cake (there being too much un-eveness on the top) Lesley and Colin loved it and everyone was more than happy to tuck in to the mud cake and the cupcakes.

I ended up with a white chocolate mud cake filled and coated in a rich raspberry butter cream then coated with a white chocolate fondant. The decorations were sugar paste roses and hearts made in house by Mr B and myself. Not too bad for our first ever attempts at sugar roses if I do say so myself. I also made 5 dozen cupcakes – there were chocolate with raspberry butter cream and decorated with a two layer red and white sugar heart and then white chocolate and macadamia cupcakes with a white chocolate and vanilla bean butter cream. Surprisingly a lot of the cakes were eaten on the night.

It was a busy few days helping set up for the party , the the party shenanigans an the clean up but it was a fantastic time and I am so glad we were able to be a part of it.
I even managed to get a couple of pictures of the completed Lesley and Colin name trees I finished last year and forgot to take photos of (picture of the Lesley tree can be seen at my flickr account). Lesley is rather enamoured with them and they were still out hanging on the handles of one of their display cabinets. I only grabbed a couple of quick shots but at least now I have a record of how they ended up after finishing.

While away I started and finished a knitting project, just another infinity scarf, this time for myself. No photos yet though as I still need to block it and take pictures. I have progress on my restart of the woodland lace scarf too so I will leave that for a knitting focused post later in the week.

Tomorrow is the last day of my holidays… surprising how fast it has gone. All in all I don’t think I managed to do a fraction of what I had planned but that’s ok. What I did manage was to spend time catching up with some great friends both here in Melbourne and in Brisbane… and I even got skype working on my phone so I can call friend farther afield a little more often too which will be nice. The best thing about tomorrow though… I’m off to Bendigo again! we’re filling a car and heading off on a road trip again, 4 yarn mad women and a date with the Bendigo Australian wool and sheep show.

Do I need more wool?.. hell no! but I am sure I will come back with quite a bit.

To those that have known me for any length of time it is somewhat understood that I tend to keep myself busy.

Busy to the extent of often over extending myself… o_O
So it isn’t really that much of a surprise that a week out from finishing my first teaching placement I decided that hand made gifts would be a good idea for each of y supervising teachers.
Of course this also coincided with having to prep and teach many lesson before then heading back to uni for the final assessment push (can you say 6 pieces of assessment in one week and 5 done in two day… woops). Add to that the fact that a simple enough cowl bought on impulse form Morris and Sons seemed me to want to knit it 5 times just to finish it once. I swear I ripped back that thing SO many times. I had no idea what to knit for the second gift but with how long it was taking to do the first my initial thoughts of doing the same project in a different colour was certainly not going to happen. I eventually settled on an infinity scarf and as I neared the final stretch on the cowl I cast it on.

The cowl…. well the buttonholes defeated me for a bit but then I got help from the lovely ladies at the Melbourne Morris and Sons S&B. So feeling all confident I set to finishing my buttonhole band on the train home. I knitted away whilst chatting to Tracy, got to the end of the pattern and joyously cast off.

Joyously that was until I went to take photos of it for Rav and there was a giant mistake staring me in the face! The rib pattern had gotten messed up around the button holes.

I let the mistake stare at me a while as I dutifully kept working on my infinity scarf but it kept nagging at me. It was a gift! I couldn’t leave it with a mistake that bad. Sharon agreed Mr B disagreed and I was well confused… so little time but such an obvious scar on my knitting.

I finished the infinity scarf and it was obvious it needed blocking. Ok block the scarf and try ripping back the cowl.
Ugh.

I had woven in all the ends and it was not going to go back easily. I eventually managed it and got it back on the needles but getting it started again wasn’t so easy… more ripping back, almot an entire ball of yarn adn I was concerned I wouldn’t have enough left to finish t again.
I persevered and finally got it ripped back, the stitches all back on the needles and the pattern going well. Phew.

Then those buttonholes again, this time I was very careful and success!

It really was worth it, even if it means I missed out on a visit to a friend in order to rush the now completed gifts up to the school before the last day of the semester was over.

Unfortunately the recipients were available when I dropped them off so I don’t know if they liked them or not *fingers crossed they did*
I really need to learn to give myself more time for my crazy schemes. (She says with a cake to make decorations for and costumes to organise before a trip to Brisbane on Thursday… woops)

Maybe one day I’ll learn, but I doubt it

It seems the project I chose to keep me occupied until the wool for the Dr Who scarf arrived may be over sooner than I thought. I did a little knitting during lunch today which is unusual but the picture show where I am at… 14 rows in on a 30 row pattern (not including the 5cm of rib).

At this rate I will have finished the pair before the week is out and there is no way my yarn will be here by then… Woops
Maybe I will include a rib scarf and make a set.

** Apologies for the crappy iphone photo but I was amused enough after lunch to want to share my discovery straight away… besides after the train ride home tonight I could be another 5 rows or more along in the pattern.

Okay so maybe tonight I am in a little bit of an odd mood (or I could just be procrastinating about getting back to that work I don’t want to do).

Sorting out my golas this month has proven to be harder than normal but I think I may have managed to set myself a few little tasks to keep me busy over the next 28 days… But first lets see how I managed in January.

January Goals

1. Finish the left hand side border for the PINN stitch design- I sure did… but then I realised I have to restart because of that silly fabric miscalculation.. Still counting this as goal achieved though
   
2. Start Melita (HAED) and get in at least 500 stitches) YEP! (between 700-800 thanks to more productive than average stitchy day)
3. 5 hours into Rose of Sharon - Yep, although the progress on this seems so slow
4. Start on the HAED SK SAL – Dragon Luck A little late (read that as didn’t participate on the SAL weekend but I did start in January)
5. Start page 4 of St Nick – Can you believe this?? It is another yes! (only about 300 stitches though but still it is a start)

Knitting

1. Try and get a scarf knitted for Adam before he heads back to the US. that gives me less than two weeks o_O - Amazingly I got this done, blocked and the ends woven in as well as finishing an additional knitting project before the end of January
2. Block Sharon’s shawl and  do the finishing for my shrug. Another Yes!! I am seriously on a roll (shh don’t mention the shrug and I won’t)

Can you believe I actually managed pretty much everything I set out to do .. Shh no bursting my bubble by mentioning the pesky sewing up of that shrug… it will happen, just not yet)

Phew no wonder I am tired, that was one seriously productive month. So can we replicate that level of success in February?

February Goals

Stitching

1. 600 stitches into Melita
2. Minimum 5 hours into Rose of Sharon
3. Restart the PINN stitch design and get back to where I was before having to restart.
4. Work on Dragon luck for the SAL
5. 500 stitches into Lost
6. 300 Stitches into St Nick

Knitting:

1. Finish one of my fingerless mitts (both if my scarf yarn is delayed)
2. Start the scarf (given that the yarn arrives before the end of the month)

A little more ambitious this month, especially with it being a smaller month. But I finish up at work in two weeks and I am hoping that will mean a some time for hobbies etc in the evenings after work or at least on the weekends occasionally.

Woops almost forgot my monthly Tallies.

This is 6 months since I started and funnily enough eventhough there have been a number of finishes I am ending with as many wips as I started with o_O.

WIPs: 28
Finishes This Month: 0 (2 knitting)
Finishes since project start: 3 (+4 knitting)
Items for finishing : 6
New Starts: 1
Planned Starts: 2 (+ 1 knitting)

I am going to keep going with this for at least anohter 6 months and see if I can actually get that 28 to something a little more reasonable.

For some reason today I am just a little scatterbrained and lost.
You know that feeling when you’re just generally unsettled? I have been trying to post this update for most of the day, even managed to get most of the images uploaded to Flickr hours ago… I just didn’t know what to write.
I tried working out my goals for this month and even they are refusing to be clear (I will add them in the next post).
So here I am in my scatterbrained way updating what I have managed to get done in the last part of this month.
Shall we look at my stitching achievements first?
Okay here we go…
Since we last chatted (if rambling to myself and throwing it out into cyber space can be considered chatting) I have actually been quite productive. There’s the blast from the past that I am hoping to finish this year, the very pink and girly Rose of Sharon.

Rather than straining the grey matter to try and remember the details of this little lady lets recap…

Designed by Mirabilia Designs and Stitch 2×2 on the gorgeous 32ct Sudden Storm Jobelan from Silkweavers Fabrics. I have been working on this for more years than I care to admit. Still no head but there was a lot of progress up through that never ending arch and garland of roses.

So from something old to something new. You may remember I allowed myself a Januaray 1st start this year. Well that start was of course Melita (Artwork by Myka Jelina, Chart by HAED). She hasn’t progressed far but this is about 700-800 stitches (no accurate count at this point- because I’m slack and tonight counting is just too hard ).

I love the colours in this artwork, but at this stage of the design I am already getting the feeling that lovely jewel tone green is not one I will be seeing a lot of. It seems that I have yet another wip that will be predominantly 939 in a bulk of areas. Surprising the area of border I am stitching here is about to turn in to all 823 and 939. We will see how this goes. It is a design that is a bit on the large side so itis something I want to be happy with the colours if I am going to see it through to the end. (I am still avoiding Sea Beacon for fear of one area being a long way from what I had hoped it would be… I will conquer my fear on that one eventually and take the plunge on that area soon)

You might think that was all I had to share but you would be mistaken. I managed a second finish this month
Lost of time in waiting rooms and a quick knit pattern means that the caplet I was knitting is now done. The purple yarn I used for this is notoriously hard to get a good colour representation of in pictures. But I have tried yet again and this time think it is closer to the deep purple of the yarn. Oh did I mention too that the camera had a nightmare of a time focusing on that stitch pattern? No idea why but it was seriously not cooperating today.

I finished this in around two weeks which has left me a bit lost without a knitting project again… Well that is until the 24 balls of yarn I picked up on ebay arrived. I managed to source all the yarn I need to get started (and finish) the Dr Who scarf (Season 18). There is a counter set up on the wup page for once I get started on the 1274 rows of garter stitch… 1274!!!

In the mean time though I have picked up an older project which is also one of my yearly goals , seeing as Sharon is being very good at keeping me on task lol. I dug out my start on my swirling gauntlets, hopefully I can manage the cables while on the train and still half asleep in the mornings :p

Yes.. more purple. I swar ONE day I will knit something that is not a variation on purple or black… really I will… you can stop scoffing now. hehe

Oh and just on a side note… I am not inclined to fight with worpress tonight to format my image spacing so apologies for the lack of formatting (and the typos I am bound to haev missed too)

So I was motoring along over the weekend stitching on the PINN stitch kit trying to get the left hand side border done. Well I did it, border finished and even started to move up and start working across the top…then…

I looked at my fabric and my brain just wouldn’t let the idea go that something was wrong, I checked where I was up to and then it clicked I was almost halfway down the fabric and no where near halfway down the pattern.

I had cut my fabric too small!

There was measuring and checking and counting and trying to see if I could still squeeze the design onto the fabric I had but there is no denying it… It is way too short and a restart is the only solution. So it has been put aside for a while again until I drag out the remaining Queen Anne’s lace fabric I have to see if I still have something that will actually fit the design… woops.

After my realisation though I decided to move on to something else, of course triple checking that the fabric would fit the design.  Yes it’s a new start but it is one of the starts I said I would be having this year. I finally got around to starting the storykeep for the HAED BB SAL. A few weeks late but at least it was still in the same month
I ended up signing up for the Dragon Luck storykeep, I do love Lisa Victoria’s little dragons. I am stitching it 2×2 on 36 count opalescent since I wanted him to have a little size to him once finished. Something like this I would never of used as a bookmark anyway… perhaps he will end up as a gift for someone. I only worked on him for a few hours over two nights so all in all I am pretty happy with my progress.

Do you remember I mentioned I would probably cave in and start a new knitting project for the train.. well I did.
Nic should recognise it.. I bought the pattern and the yarn while she was over. It is the Collette capelet from Morris and Sons. If you have been to their store in Melbourne you may recognise the stitch pattern from the capelet in red that is in one of their windows. It is a strange pattern but once you get the hang of it it is easy to remember and simple to execute.. perfect for commuter knitting. I should finish this up in a couple more weeks I expect which means the yarn for my next project will have time to arrive.

Well it took knitting every chance I had between social engagements, and I am sure the people on the wine tour thought I was odd knitting on the bus. (good thing it was 3 of the usual suspects that already know I’m mad) and only two strangers. I will blog more about the Yarra Valley trip once I get a chance to load up the pictures. There are new travel plans afoot as a result of the other people on the tour so the end of this year is shaping up to be one big adventure *squee*

But really what I came here to say is…..The scarf is done!

I started this after finishing cirques on Christmas night, although I only did one set of the 12 row repeat to check the pattern and yarn combination. I started working on it again New years weekend between visits to the zoo and movies etc. The pattern is simple and easy to get into a rhythm with.
The majority of the knitting was done on my joyous commute to work and aided by the rather regular delays on Melbourne trains of late.

Adma heads back to the USA today so now at least he will have a warm and toasty scarf for that freezing weather, I think it will be required to soften the temperature shock after the latest 40+°C days we’ve had here in Melbourne this week. It has left me with a lack of something to work on during the commute though.
Now this is done I will probably pick up bramble for my work project for a while but will probably find another knitting project for the train before too long.

Strangely just about everyone that has seen this prefer the wrong side patter to the right side. The wrong side is actually visible on the outer of the roll in the picture with the right side being the side with the slip stitch loops.  Having a scarf with a good pattern on both sides though is never a bad thing.

This is my first finish for 2010… not even halfway through January and I have managed to finish a project.. maybe there is hope for all those finishes I planned for 2010 after all.
Scarf details are as follows:

Pattern: Prismatic scarf, ravelry link, blog link
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in Black <—– this is a really scrummy yarn and I have every intention of knitting myself a scarf / hat / cloves set using this yarn at soem point.
Started: 25th Dec 2009 Finished: 10th Jan 2010

Overall it ended up with a blocked length of about 70″ so if can be wrapped double for those really cold mornings.

Well it is the SWIP SAL over on the HAED bulletin board this weekend / week (the SALs are week long affairs now, though I suspect I will only play along for the weekend). I have decided to pick up my little lost dragon for a bit of love and attention. I’m never going to get him finished if I don’t start getting in a few more of those little crosses.
I’ll be sure to update again with my progress once I put him away again.
Mostly I have been madly beavering away on Mr Admas scarf for him to take back on Tuesday… at this point I think I might just make it. I am two balls in so far with a chance to get hopefully a third done before my time is run out, I may end up having to make it a little shorter than intended.

Today though I am off with friends to tour around some wineries and just generally have a good time so I will catch up with all my photo uploads and general shenanigans when I get home.

So after crashing and burning on my 2009 goals.. oh yeah I haven’t summarised those yet have I…
Lets see I said I would :

• Finish QS Lost
• Finish Rose of Sharon
• Top row of pages on St Nick (page 1-7)
• Complete the current page in progress for:
  Bella, Snow princess and Metamorphosis

I also said I would

• Stitch page 3 of Sea Beacon as well as page 3 of Violet Sometimes
• Work on Aredhel every 5th weekend.

I did NONE of this NONE!!! I managed to get page 3 of St nick done… 4 pages less than I intended and as for the rest well that basically went the same way.

I did however finish Cirques which I am sure was on a list somewhere, I just can’t find it. Oh and there was that small achievement of finishing that whole PhD thesis and finding a job… didn’t manage the three month holiday I was intending on taking though.
So given my grand failure of 2009 what silly schemes am I conjuring up for 2010 you may ask??
Of course there is a return of a few firm friends that have been with me now for many a year and the addition of a new soul or two. Lets get to spelling out the details shall we.

2010 Yearly Goals (stitching)

1. Select fabric and thread combination for name trees set 1 and stitch at least two trees of the 5 required for this set.
2. Stitch pages 4 and 5 of St Nick (I am trying to be more realistic here)
3. Complete Rose of Sharon (preferably before May but we shall see.. November would also be acceptable)
4. Finish QS Lost
5. Start and complete the HAED SK SAL – Dragon Luck
6. Start Melita from HAED (New years day start) and complete page 1
7. Work on a minimum of 3 old HAED wips from any of the multitude I have started (preference to be given to those close to having page 1 complete)
8. Finish the Bangkok Lady PINN stitch kit
9. Start and finish Letters from Nora ‘A’
10. Start and finish Letters from Nora ‘L’
11. Finish Bramble and the rose (continue trying to work on it daily during my commute)

I have some less formal knitting goals too that  I might as well add here for giggles come December 2010.

2010 Goals : Knitting

1. Knit a scarf for Adma
2. Knit scarf for Mr B
3. Start Dr Who Scarf for a friend
4. Knit a shawl
5. knit some fingerless mitts for winter
6. Finish the back and at least one sleeve of my coat

Yep I will say it again… I’m nuts!

The ride will be fun though… so who wants to tag along and watch the mess??
Add to this cooking, more cakes and a desire to do more with photography and I am sure 2010 will be a mad and crazy ride.

Okay first things first, lets see how I did for the end of 2009.

December Goals:

Stitching

• Finishing on the Lesley and Colin trees before Dec 18th so they can be given to the recipients when next I am in Brisbane Yep, but I completely forgot to get photos of them finished.
  
• Finish page 3 of St Nick YES!!! finally it took way more hours than I am prepared to admit but it is done done done done done!
• Finish Cirques Another YES! my last finish for 2009 and my first decent sized finish in I don’t know how long.
• 3 lengths into the PINN stitch kit Yep but I will admit to the lengths provided in the it being rather short (especially when loop starting)

Knitting

Make some progress on the shawl (hopefully at least three pattern repeats) - nope didn’t even pick it up

Wow I am actually quite impressed that I managed to get so many of the things done that I wanted to. I did keep things deliberately simple but still add to that a full Christmas lunch, holiday baking and a trip to Brisbane I think December was rather successful.

So the wip project tallies as of the end of 2009 are:
WIPs: 27
Finishes This Month: 1
Finishes since project start: 3 (+2 knitting)
Items for finishing : 5
New Starts: 0
Planned Starts: 2

The wip project will definitely be back for 2010 as will a few old wip I would like to see the back of… maybe 2010 will be the year for my first HAED finish.

So …

January Goals

1. Finish the left hand side border for the PINN stitch design
2. Start Melita (HAED) and get in at least 500 stitches)
3. 5 hours into Rose of Sharon
4. Start on the HAED SK SAL – Dragon Luck
5. Start page 4 of St Nick

Knitting

1. Try and get a scarf knitted for Adam before he heads back to the US. that gives me less than two weeks o_O
2. Block Sharon’s shawl and  do the finishing for my shrug.