Delights

I was lucky a few weeks ago, I am not often lucky but must have gotten some good karma from somewhere - treat people nicely, have some patience, be kind etc lol.
I managed to catch a Wollmeise update following the steps posted by RoseRed. Here's my first lot of Wollmeise:

L to R we have Fuschia, Aquarius, Hortensie, Rittersporn and 2 Ballerina.

Here they are close up the camera did not capture the colours quite correctly they seem to glow IRL, but it does show the difference in colours especially with Rittersporn.

Fuschia

Aquarius

Hortensie

Rittersporn

Ballerina

I can't get over how tightly twisted the skeins are they are very firm and stick out, not soft and floofy and falling over. I'll see how they go when it's time to wind them into balls.

The knitting goddess shined on me again and I now have some Poison Nr 5 ( along with a few others) on its way here, hopefully this week (it takes only 7 days from when it is marked 'dispatched' ...cool). I have wanted Poison Nr 5 since I saw it being knitted on someone's blog just 2 years ago, and my heart skipped a beat. Will post pictures when it gets here.

The Taming of the Yarn and Maybe I Need To Get Out More

The yarn has been surprisingly easy to tame, no tangles at all, such relief. lol. Here it is in my drying cabinet - looks like a fridge but it has a fan at the bottom and it will blow hot or warm air upwards. I think this is from the 1960s or 1970s, great for driyng yarn.

Here are the balls all dry and ready to knit:


And here it is reborn as a Viking Cable CPH. Loving the challenge of incorporating the cables into the CPH pattern. Not much of a challenge for some but for me it is.



Having issues with trying to work out what needles and what size to work in regarding jackets. Ms Koalajeans 2 below, is much better than before and I am so much more likely to actually wear it BUT maybe I went too small, now I ummed and ahhed over the sizes and calculated and thought and you know...thought it would be ok but it has turned out a bit on the small size. I like how it looks on, it is passable but not perfect, but no way can I do it up, it will have to stay an open jacket. (At least I don't have to go searching for a button) It could be and inch or so longer.


What do you think for the next one? Do I just go up a needle size, I know it will be more drapey and that would be ok or do I go up to the next sized needle or do I do both. How do you work out what size to knit?
I feel if I cannot make one that is just right - with all the agonising over sizing that I am doing and to have it not come out as expected according to my calculations - that I may just give up altogether. ( I hope I don't and don't want to but I cannot keep reknitting completed jackets lol) And gauge geez, I am so close to correct gauge if only possibly maybe a quarter of a stitch out and then I remeasure and it is bang on gauge. The only other things to change are needle size or pattern size.

There must be something wrong with me at the moment I was watching Casino Royale you know the James Bond movie with Daniel Craig and after the movie was finished I was so upset, for days people, for days. Here was James ready to give up his career for this woman and she ended up crossing him (to save his life it turns out later) and drowned herself and he tried to save her. I was so upset because he was in love with her and she was not just another lay to him etc and it ended badly. This has been on my mind for days now. I just feel so bad for him. I need to watch it again, but Miss A won't let me: "Gee Mum I'm getting worried about you". Weird huh?
Maybe after all the womanising we find out why he distances himself from his ladieez. Just as he begins to open himself up he shuts himself off again, perhaps it is because I can relate to that.

Maybe I am just in love with Daniel Craig's James Bond, no that couldn't be it, must be something else.
I will need to watch the next movie to find out ;P

The demise of a jacket

These school holidays I had three major goals -besides getting a good rest (four days in my pjs counts for that right?) and gosh how nice that was - wait I am still in my pjs now, guess there is a fine line between relaxing and slob I will let you know where that line is when I find it.

Anyway the goals were:
1. to finish Ms Koalajeans take 2
2. to frog my Cental Park Hoody Oh Nooooo!
3. Block the vest

Well it was easy reknitting Ms Koalajeans and here she is...




It was a little snug straight off the needles so I am hoping that a good blocking will stretch it out a little. It is still heaps better than how it was before.

I also had to block my Bracken Vest which I think I finished a few years ago and then stuck it in a bag in the top of a cupboard ready to block.
And now my CPH. I loved this hoody, it was one of the first jackets that I knitted (second actually) unfortunately I chose to knit it in a size that was about 2 sizes larger than I needed. (what was i thinking?!)

Oh and since then I have learnt the importance of recording size knitted and needles used etc. I have to reknit this but have no idea what size needles were used. I think I used 5mm not sure, and I have to go hunt for the pattern, I have a vague idea of where it could be but that's it. I will have to go to Ravelry and look at the cover of the magazine it was in.

Here is my lovely assistant assisting me wind the pieces into balls:

After about and hour ot two, this is how it looked:

Can anyone forsee any problems winding this back into balls? It was okay on the swift but off it, it puffed up and now it looks like fancy cushions!

Here it is soaking in some Soak Wash, mmm smells nice.
Still soaking at the moment so I will post more pictures of it later. I will weigh it down a little to get rid of the kinks. I knitted Ms Koalajeans 2 with kinky yarn and it was not nice, it was rough in places.

Now, off to do some R&D (research and development) on Ravelry, I will not be frogging and re-knitting anymore jackets!!