It seemed extraneous at the time...

Box of Socks

Box of Socks, originally uploaded by marmys.

Another instalment in the 'more photos less knitting' blog. The front row of this sock holder are all happily partnered. Alas the remaining 15 socks are all alone in their little cubbies (and I am not even going to mention the First Socks currently on the needles). Clearly I have a problem.

In this past week I have started knitting a new sock. now, in my defense I had to start a new one because all of my current WIPs are fingering weight and I'm not ready to hold the tiny needles just yet. So I wound up some Socks That Rock mediumweight in Rainforest Jasper and cast on a 48 stitch Thuja on 2.75mm needles - much more user friendly. Normally I would have finished the first sock and have cast on and knit some of the second by now. But this is not normally. I have about 3.5" toe-up to show for my labours *sigh*. At least it's knitting.

Sock stash

sock stash, originally uploaded by marmys.

This is the torturous sight that greats me in my crafty room at the moment. I love to just steal a few minutes to sit and look at my stash - it makes me feel very happy!

I cut away a bit of my cast (between the thumb and first finger) because it was annoying the crap out of me, and now i can do some knitting. It is very slow, somewhat painful knitting but at least it's knitting! I decided to knit a Thuja in Socks That Rock mediumweight because 2.75mm needles are more 'comfortable' than 2mm ones at the moment. It took about three hours of on and off knitting (not all on the same day) to get this toe-up sock to 56 stitches! The worst part is that while I am (literally) painstakingly knitting this very basic sock I can remember the feeling of meditative calm and mental freedom I used to experience while knitting and it is very frustrating (can you tell I'm not the most patient person in the world? lol). I will get over myself eventually - it's not like it's a permanent affliction for goodness skaes!

Rubylicious

Rubylicious, originally uploaded by marmys.

Photo courtesy of the 2 and 3/4 year old. Don't ya just love that delicious muzzle! Not much happening on the knitting front thanks to my broken wrist so i shall have to entertain with pictures instead.

Ruby-7wks

Ruby-7wks, originally uploaded by marmys.

How could this gorgeous little creature (a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier to be precise) be the cause of my current incapacitation?

Well, because she is now this big;

and i was stupid enough to trip over her, resulting in this;

Yes Debbie, that is a broken wrist. Clearly the fates thought it had been too long since my last major medical incident, et voila! No knitting for me for a while.  And considering I knit so I don't kill people, I may be in a spot of bother.

Blank Canvas Child's Vest

Blank Canvas Child's Vest, originally uploaded by marmys.

Wow, thought I better make a start on blogging July or it will be August and there will be a big pile of nothing in my archives!

This is Cari Luna's fab Blank Canvas Child's Vest pattern (www.dogsstealyarn.com), knit in Jaeger Baby Merino (contrast colour) and Miss Bab's Superwash Merino Worsted Weight (colour Saturn) for main colour (www.woolgirl.com). Size 3 years (with extra 2" added to bottom) My little guy is 26 months old and tall with a long torso! Not to mention heartbreakingly cute ;o)
I'll definitely be making more of these!

Bad blogger...

It's been a mad house around here. All I can say is do not attempt to sell and buy houses at the same time as your workplace is being restructured. I have still been crafting, otherwise I would have gone completely bonkers by now! On the knitting front I now have 5 socks requiring a friend. I have a partially completed sock project patchwork bag on the machine and today I made a slip cover for our ottoman - here is the photo especially for Carol;

and just to prove I still knit, here is one of the 5 mateless socks (although I am just about to turn the heel on number 2). Also for Carol, in Trekking XXL;

And now it is late and our 2 year old is still resisting bed (while we, his poor parents, are`ready to drop!). Fortunately this is not a common occurence. Would definitely be bonkers if it was. Sigh.

All done Deb...

And without further ado here are your completed socks (apologies for the crap photo);

Now you have to catch up with me to pick them up, hehehe!

And in things not to be doing when a friend comes round for a coffee #346; don't be knitting yourself a pair of scrummy new socks in totally gorgeous Trekking XXL 169 that your friend will covet and decide look much better with her new olive green Crocs than they will on your own feet. Sigh. Here is the start of what will now be Carol's socks;

And I have a new yarn love - Miss Babs from Woolgirl. This is my current fave of the, ahem, several that have made their way to my yarn basket. This is Terracotta Tile - totally gorgeous! It's all I can do not to cast on, but I must finish up a couple in progress first. I'm practising restraint ;o)

You win some, you lose some...

A couple of weeks ago we decided that it was the right time to sell our house. And we decided that we would rent for a while and not make any rash decisions about what we did next. Take time to decide if we wanted to buy again (hopefully when the property market slumps a bit, lol) or look for land and build (I married an architect, I may as well get free house plans out of him, lol). We were not going to go to any Open Homes and fall madly in love with unsuitable properties, hell no! So I won't mention the superbly renovated character bungalow we saw today that is quite possibly my Dream House. Nope, not gonna go there. Going to weep quietly into my pillow tonight instead about crap timing and stupid emotional responses to bits of wood and paint and wake up with no memory of said Dream House. Sigh.

On the win side however, we have finally booked the flights for our trip to Melbourne in September - woohoo! And we got a total bargain as Jet Star were having a 3rd birthday sale - buy one flight and get the second for $3. Yep, three bucks! I love me a bargain. I am already hunting down quilting and knitting stores so any recommendations gratefully received.

And now, in order to restore Nora's equilibrium after sending a small ripple through her monochromatic world with the Fleece Artist 'Paris' pic, here is my 3 skein haul of Sundara Yarn; these are so gorgeous I don't know which one to start with!

In praise of tools - Part 1:

I may have said this in another post but it bears repeating. For me, crafting is not just about the finished objects but about the process. Perhaps the process more than anything else. And because the process is so important so are the raw materials and tools that are used during the process. The exponential growth of my yarn stash since February of this year is testament to my lust  passion for gorgeous raw materials. But I have also been aquiring some pretty fabulous tools as well.

My favourite needles for general knitting are Addi Turbo Circulars and when I decided to try knitting socks with two circs I started the quest for small size Addi's immediately. And I have greatly enhanced my needle options for both socks and general knitting thanks to this awesome Ebayer. 6 pairs for US$36!

Once I had all those circs and my existing stash of dpns I needed some way to store them and my pink Elmer pencil tin just wasn't cutting the mustard. And then I found the fabulous Jen from Honeycake Designs and my search was over. I chose this fabulous Japanese print with brown piping and lining. I love it! Jen makes cases for regular needles, dpns, circs, crochet hooks, and combinations of all the above. Her sewing is exquisite, with perfect finishing. I expect to be usig this beautiful case for a very long time.

Conquering technology...

paris cake, originally uploaded by marmys.

or trying to anyway! just seeing if I can blog a photo straight from flickr to the blog.

Carol, this is the Fleece Artist 'Paris' for your socks - hope you likey!