It can't be a mistake!

Remember this:

Well, I've turned it into this:
















I love it! I've spent hours on it and the colour transitions have shown up really well, the pattern is interesting and I have enjoyed the whole process.

What's wrong? you may well ask......

I've been merrily knitting along, my only thought being that it will be lovely and swirly. So having finished it....there is no more yarn....it doesn't work as a scarf. It isn't long enough to tie, or swirly enough, or, or, or

The only thing I've come up with is a cross between a wrap and a capelet. All it needs is a pin. I need reassurance. I am going to take it along this weekend to Harrietville. A weekend away with like-minded (well, some of them, I am a bit strange!) spinners and knitters. I will put it on the show and tell table and ask for opinions....

I am NOT pulling it out!

Esme Johnson Prize

I've finally sent off my fingerless mittens to Yarn magazine. It's way to hot to be thinking about mittens. (For all you who don't know, we're on the.....I think it's the fourth day of 40deg C with minimal relief (down to 35deg C on Saturday) (38deg C is 100deg F)) I haven't posted on Etsy for a couple of days, so it's a great effort to get these off.

I was very happy with the final result. They are beautiful and just what I wanted for this project.

They definitely needed blocking. The pictures really show you what a difference blocking can make.

One of the things I also did, for my own curiousity, was to time how long it took me to knit the second mitten. Having the pattern established, I thought it might be interesting.

It took around 5hours and 40minutes. (I used my mobile phone stopwatch to time me, so it's a bit too accurate!). This means that to knit these would take around 10 to 11 hours. Not taking into account the time it takes to block, then sew on buttons, this is a long time. I have done a rough costing, but I'll leave it to your imagination. How much do you earn an hour, or would like to earn an hour?

I know I've said it before, but the moral: if someone gives you something handmade, treasure it, it's a priceless gift of love.

Summer challenges

I've finally started both of the challenges for the summer.

The first and the hardest to start is the two balls of cotton for the Woolybutt challenge (http://www.woolybutt.com.au/) It took me ages to figure out what I wanted to do. As we're giving away the resulting articles, it did have to be something useful.

I've had i-cords running around my head....finally.....I'll knit a little top, starting from the top (underarm) with eyelets for an i-cord tie. I started from the top as it's a long time since I've knitted for small people and I don't know how far the yarn will go. I've also knit it flat, as this is a design in progress and I thought of buttons down the front. With a change of mind, I'm going to sew it up and embellish it with hearts!.....yes hearts....

I'll then finish off with i-cord straps that can be tied to fit the eventual owner and perhaps make room for growth.

The next competition is the Esme Johnson Prize, run by Yarn magazine. Lynne Johnson has donated the prize in honour of her mother who loved the knitting stitch, feather and fan. I've participated in a couple of Lynne's classes several years ago at the Wangaratta Stitched Up Festival and she is a wonderful teacher.

I've also had this beautiful very fine yarn sitting around since attending a Margaret Stove workshop. I thought I'd combine the two into my current obsession and make a pair of feather and fan fingerless mittens. I think I have enough small buttons and though it is extremely fine and I'm finding I can really only knit this during the day, I am enjoying this and am pleased with the result.

I just have to finish both in time!