Five Hangers

 

I've added a couple of sections to the edge knitting and covered five granny hangers.  Now that is the last of the wooden hangers I have in the stash, so on to something else.

Lace & Hangers

 The lace edging is coming along, a couple more sections added.  I changed to a 1.5mm circular needle because the straight needles kept bending in my hands.  These ChiaoGoo needles are stainless steel and very strong, much nicer to knit with.  I also covered three granny hangers.  I have been crocheting a tube on the other ones I have made, but these are covered by crocheting a long rectangle and sewing it around the base.  A different look.

A Corner

 Feeling a bit pleased with myself for working out a mitred corner on the knitted lace edge.  The pattern is for a straight length of lace, no corners.  The pattern also goes up and down in stitch numbers over the 22 rows.  So while the pattern isn't perfect, and I'll probably tweak the next one, the overall effect isn't too bad and blocking will help too.

Knitting on the Edge

 Lately I have been starting, stopping and ripping out new projects.  I am finding this second lockdown more difficult because I can't find a project that keeps my attention.  In the first lockdown Arne & Carlos' Quarantine Knitting blocks did the trick.  I worked on a block first in the day, then when it was finished I would go on and find something else to work on until the next block the next day.  Time when by quite quickly.  So I started something last night that I hope will do the same.  A knitted edge.  The photo shows one repeat of the lace pattern, I will need approximately 40 repeats and 4 corners.  The pattern is from the book A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara G. Walker. The patten is 18 stitches and 22 rows in a repeat.  I will get faster at it, but I don't think I will be able to memorise it, so have to concentrate.  My plan is to work one or two repeats of the pattern each day and then go an work on something else.  I am hoping it will bring a sense of accomplishing something each day, just ask the Quarantine blocks did.

The Underdog

 

I have started making a dog.  I was wondering if I could use the same method when I made the ginger cat.  So this is the felt underbody and I will cover it in knitting.  I thinking it will be the features that change it from a cat to a dog.  We shall see.

Reindeer & Gnomes

 

I sorted all the little reindeer and gnomes I have left into little groups and put them into bags ready to either sell or gift, I haven't decided yet.  I also put hooks into the smallest gnomes as they don't stand up on their on, so they can go onto the tree.

Two Yarn Deliveries

 I was very happy to see two yarn deliveries this week.  One from Lovebird Lane Yarns, a South Australian hand dyer, and the parcel arrived in two days of ordering (first photo).  I have a plan for the lovely brown yarn and mohair.  The second parcel was from Fibresmith, also a hand dyer, and many other talents, from Yarraville, the suburb next to me, walking distance.  Because of covid, mailing is the choice, the parcel took a week to get here, that is because it went on a little trip to NSW.  I know AusPost are under a lot of pressure at the moment, but sending a parcel all that way to be delivered to the next suburb is a waste of resources.  Let's hope they are looking at better sorting methods in all this.   Loving all the yarn I received, has already been wrapped into balls.

And Another New Cast On

 

I cast on a new project that has 696 stitches in the beginning.  All the new cast ons lately have been stopped and ripped back.  Let's see how this one goes.

Wattle Tree

 

We have a very large wattle tree in our front yard that we planted when we moved in nearly 20 years ago.  We planted it because they are fast growing and would protect the other more slow growing plants, mainly the Japanese Maple.  The down side of wattle trees are that they only live around 9 years.  Ours keeps looking like it's on the way out, but then, like this year puts on a beautiful display of it's yellow pom pom flowers.  So I thought I would cut some branches and put them in a dye pot.  Wasn't sure what colour I would get, but this wasn't it.  There were some red tones in the pot after it had boiled and I put the lid on and left it to cool overnight.  

The two pieces of fabric on the left are from an outfit my Mother-in-law gave me.  Indian embroidery on silk (I think that is what the fabric is) which dyed up beautifully, loving how the embroidery thread did not take on much dye.  The next yarn was unlabelled, so not sure, but know it is a linen base.  And the yarn on the right is from the baby blanket I ripped back.

Baby Blanket

I started knitting this baby blanket in about 1989.  Something to work on at lunchtime when at work.  There wasn't a plan for who it was for, just keeping myself busy.  I didn't finish it at the time and have had no inclination to work on it since, even when I was pregnant with Mitchell.  I also couldn't throw it away, so it came on each move since then.  Yesterday I decided it was time it was frogged.  I have a dye pot going at the moment, so part was flung in there, the rest wound into balls.  It is bri-nylon baby yarn.  I didn't know how it would go in the dye pot, but it seems to be doing just fine.