All better now!

I finally fixed that hideous mistake in the pattern on the back of the green vest. I feel a lot less stressed, now that blatant mistake is out of my life, forever! This is my first attempt at colour work, and even though I can see a few bits that aren't so good, overall, I'm pretty happy with how it it turning out. When I stretch the fabric out, a lot of the imperfections disappear, so hopefully wearing it will cause a sufficient amount of stretch to make it look imperfection free (or should that just be perfect? Perfect in relation to my knitting seems so alien and daunting)!

Last week, I received Rebecca Home from Jimmy Beans Wool. The main thing I bought it for was for a rug, but it seems it's a crocheted rug, crocheting being a skill I am yet to master. I have been wanting to turn my room into more of a study (it is currently a messy hell hole with uni books and yarn spread round in a haphazard fashion), and in my crazy way of thinking, a rug will help along the study atmosphere, so maybe it's just the project to get me into crochet. Getting back to the magazine now, a lot of the projects are quite nice, and so my list of future projects has grown a little yet again.

Today when wandering around the city, my darling boy bought me this:



Yep. A knitted dinosaur toy pattern book. We went and saw a dinosaur exhibition at the museum a week or so ago, and I'd been pining for a Nici dinosaur, but this is the next best thing, I guess. I think he bought it because he also thought the pictures were funny. My favourite so far is the brontosaurus (top left), so I'll add it to the list of projects (I should really post a list of my future projects). Once I become proficient in knitting toys, perhaps I'll design a Liger. Dah! I wish I could get Napoleon Dynamite out of my head!

*sigh*

I set myself a goal this week, to finish the back of the two tone green vest. By Friday, I had the back finished, and I was all very pleased with myself, until now...... I took photos of the piece, and uploaded it onto my computer, and found a huge glaring mistake.



If you look at the top of the piece, you'll notice that there are two rows of dark diamonds together - such a silly mistake! While it's not something I need to get done ASAP (being the middle of summer and all), every time I look at it, the mistake will be staring at me, saying 'Ha! You thought you could finish a goal on schedule!', so I'll have to frog it and fix it today. Lucky I've nothing planned!

In other knitting related news, I received Jo Sharp's book number 6 in the mail, from Ozeyarn. I bought it specifically for Cosmopolitan, a wrap around long sleeve jumper, as I bought the yarn for it (Jo Sharp Rare Comfort Kid Mohair) from Elann about a month or so ago. With the book, they kindly (and unexpectedly) sent me lots of Jo Sharp shade cards:



The yarns and colours are really lovely, but unfortunately generally out of my price range. Perhaps one day I won't feel squeamish about spending over $100 in yarn for a jumper, and I'll be able to regularly buy yarn from the likes of Jo Sharp, Rowan, Jaeger etc., but not while I'm still at uni!

...as my list of things to knit grows...

... my WIPs are stagnating. The project currently taking the longest is this one:



The pattern for this vest is from a 1945 knitting leaflet entitled Knitted Perennials by "Botany". I'm not sure why they have quotation marks around Botany, but who am I to question? The yarn I'm using is Bendigo Woollen Mills 3 Ply Classic, in Cranberry, a lightish red-maroon. It's my first attempt at cabling, and although the photo doesn't show it well (it's the best photo of the cables I've been able to get.. there's just something I'm not doing right to capture it well), it's all relatively even. After about 7 months of on and off work, I finally finished the back of it. I'm working on the ribbing for the front now, and to say knitting 2x2 rib with 3 Ply on 2.25mm needles is tedious, is an absolute understatement.

This project, by comparison, is speeding along at a tonne of knots:



Also a vest, the pattern comes from the 9th November 1974 edition of English Womens Weekly. The tasteful combinations that were suggested for this pattern were grey and blue, amber and rust, oatmeal and sage, and turquoise and grey. I opted for the more subdued olive and light green 5 Ply from Bendigo Woollen Mills. I think they're both from the Colonial range, but I'm not sure, as they were from the bargain room they have out the back of the shop, and they didn't have labels. The vest is my first attempt at colour work, however, I'm just carrying the colour not in use behind the rest of the work, so I think I might be cheating a bit. I've been worried about it puckering a bit, from pulling the thread across the back too tightly, so I'm hoping that the fabric will settle a bit after blocking.

The weather has been unseasonably cold, so hopefully the knitting productivity can increase! I am really going to have to stop looking on the net at patterns and yarn, as in the last week, I've purchased Rebecca Home (I think that's what it's called - it's a knitted homewares special anyway), and Jo Sharp book 6. I'd already bought the yarn for a pattern in the Jo Sharp book, so that's no so bad, but I fear reading Rebecca will spawn a desire to add scores more projects to my list, and a subscription. I'm hoping there is somewhere in Australia I can buy Rebecca, else a subscription will really sting financially - I paid about AUD$30 for the one magazine!!!