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It’s been a long time since I last posted! It’s been a hideously busy time for me. Within the past month I’ve spent:

• three days on the Gold Coast
• four days in the Northern territory (well, five if you count the overnight flight back which makes the next day pretty much a write-off)
• three separate day trips to Sydney
• several functions in Melbourne

And each of those trips required some kind of public speaking, speech or giving of workshops – especially the NT which involved three four-hour workshops in three days). But it’s over for the year now! No more public speaking and no more travel! I’m back, baby!

Given all of that, I haven’t had much time to get any decent knitting in. The Gold Coast and Darwin were both too hot and muggy to think about knitting, and the Sydney trips were all day trips meaning I had carry-on luggage only and couldn’t take needles. Since I do most of my sock knitting on the train or whilst otherwise travelling, this prety much knocked out most of my sock knitting for the month.

The other hassle has been that I’ve been going through a kind of sock-related ennui. I haven’t really found any satisfying patterns that work well with my huge and ever-growing sock yarn stash. That sounds ridiculous, but I think it’s partly through too much choice. I have also had some discouraging moments. I was working on the Embossed Leaf Socks from ‘Favorite Socks’ in Fleece Artist Sea Wool. I was very happy to have found a pattern that worked with this yarn, which I have had a lot of problems with; either my tension is too tight, or it’s too loose. I think the kind of ropey/stringy texture (albeit a silken rope!) has something to do with it, Anyway, once I got down onto the foot, I tried the sock on. It’s too small. Too bloody small. I can’t get it over my instep. I am torn between keeping going and making the socks for someone else, or just ditching it altogether, or frogging and redoing the pattern with a few more purl stitches between repeats. Trouble is, this yarn’s been frogged so many times already that it is looking seriously ratty.

I’m also making the ‘Gentleman’s fancy sock’ from ‘Knitting Vintage Socks’, and while it’s not going to be impossible to get that over my instep, it will be discouragingly tight.

So I’ve made a decision: If it’s not toe-up, and I can’t modify it to be toe-up, I don’t make it.

I feel much better now

In the meantime, I’ve been knitting non-socky things. I’m partway through a top from a back issue of Knitter’s, which I’m making from Lincraft Bamboozle; and I’ve also begun on ChicKnits’ ‘CeCe’ using Cleckheaton Bamboo. The Bamboozle is quite splitty, and I suspect it will look a bit crap after a few washings. The Cleckheaton, though, is beautiful to knit with; silky and shimmery and soft. I’m really enjoying it and only wish the yarn came in some better colours (what is with that pastel mix? It looks like baby yarn!)

On the bright side, I am typing this on the train, using my latest toy – the Eee PC. If you don’t know the Eee, let me just say that it’s a laptop which is small, has built-in wireless and heaps of open source software and comes ready to use right out of the box, costs $499 AUD and weighs less than a kilo. I love it madly and am going to find it an incredible boon to take on business trips with me. There’s apparently a waiting list of thousands, but for some reason I managed to just walk into Myer in the city and walk out with my own Eee

And it’s nearly christmas/generic December holiday! Yay! This means that the Riverkids Shop is open again and this time they have some stuff that will be utterly fabulous for knitting. I’m already using the silk pouches I bought from them last year to organise my knitting bag, but this year it’s even better. The pencilcases (made from recycled mosquito netting) are perfect for crochet hooks and DPNs, and tough as boots. The Pretty Packs are just the right size for small knitting projects (I can fit sock, needles, 100gm ball of yarn and folded up pattern quite nicely) and I reckon the Mary Poppins bag would be the perfect knitting bag. And they’re recycled, and $5 US flat shipping to anywhere. What’s not to like?

It’s hot here today. The laundry smells like wet wool, because I have many pairs of handknitted socks hanging up to dry

I am stressed out of my mind at work, a situation not helped by the resignation of one of my most valued co-workers. I have a brand-new workshop to give this week and I haven’t finished writing the content yet - it’s all in my head but not yet down on paper to prompt me in case I dry up while I’m doing it. So I am stressed and a wee bit grumpy. And I’ve got a bruise on my left index finger from “helping” the needle through tight loops when doing SS2Ks. Dammit!

Anyway, here’s my latest for the Southern Summer of Socks challenge: Shaka Banga.

Pattern is Garter Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks; the yarn is Stone Barn Fibers in ‘Poison Ivy’ colourway purchased from The Loopy Ewe. Needles were 2.5mm KnitPicks circulars. I knitted these on the train and part of one of them under the table at a work lunch They’re on 60 stitches (I fudged the pattern a bit), toe-up with the usual gusset heel.
Why Shaka Banga? That’s my favourite pizza, from Shagy’s in Elwood. It’s a spiced lamb pizza with red onion, jalapeno peppers, yoghurt and HEAPS of fresh spinach. The edges of the spinach sometimes get a little black, and the result looks a little like these socks

It was a busy weekend. I headed off to the Bendigo Sheep & Wool Show with Lou on Saturday morning. After a brief stop at the Beechworth Bakery for breakfast, we found the showgrounds and entered the show, and were immediately swept into the throng of farmers, crafters and people out for a cheery morning. The sun shone brightly in the cool winter air; it was a beautiful day and I wish I’d taken photos.

Highlights for me were finally meeting Sarah Durrant, and hearing her enthusiasm about knitting, and (as always) the visit to the alpacas. With their bright eyes and cute faces, they’re so appealing, even if their plaintive cries do sound a little like stoned sheep

After the Show, we headed off to the Bendigo Woollen Mills factory shop. and especially to the famous bargain room. I picked up a couple of cones of 3-ply Classic in ‘Claret’ and ‘Sweet Pea’ - they’ll make great socks, and I should manage to squeeze two pairs from each cone. I also picked up some scraps in bright red and pumpkin orange 12-ply to incorporate into my latest no-brainer project - a Babette Blanket. Yes, it’s crochet - eeek!

I’m making my Babette Blanket from the scraps left over from Ben’s Magic Blanket. This is Ben’s Magic Blanket:

This was my major knitting project of last year, a special gift for a dear friend. The yarn is all 12-ply, most of it from Bendigo Woollen Mills but some from Nundle Woollen Mill and there are even a few scraps of Noro Kureyon in there. Ben wanted bright colours, and some of this is natural yarn dyed with Kool-Aid to achieve the requisite brightness. Every square is different. However, I have a lot of yarn left over, some in quite small scraps, and plenty from previous projects as well. Hence, the Babette! I’m actually making two of them - one in the 12-ply, and one in all my scraps of 8-ply. I’m hoping the 12-ply one will end up big enough to use as a spare blanket. I was going to do a sock yarn one as well, but given that the size of the blanket would be tiny, I’m debating that. I think I might make wee mini socks from my sock leftovers, as Christmas decorations for all my friends and colleagues, and incorporate any leftovers after that into yet more socks.

I also picked up some 10-ply in blue, to make one of those worsted weight American patterns I’m always wanting to make From the Bendy Show I got ‘Socks, Socks, Socks’ book and a couple of skeins of Colinette Jitterbug to try. It was so pretty! So I was fairly restrained

On our way back from the show we picked up Harry Potter 7, which I spent much of Sunday reading. Nope, no spoilers here. I feel a wee bit flat now it’s over

I have begun my first Bust Out of the Box sock - it’s in the Milanese Lace pattern from ‘More Sensational Knitted Socks’ and I’m doing it in the Brombeere Sockenwolle from Wollmeise. Pictures to come, when I’ve got a bit further along.

What a weekend! After getting various doctor’s tests done on Friday, I was so knackered I got virtually no knitting done. I did, however, score 16 balls of the now-discontinued Cleckheaton Angora Supreme from Clegs for $1.95 a ball. Bargain - and it’s aran weight, or close enough, so I’ll be able to make one of those lovely American patterns from it. I’m thinking Ariann from Chicknits. I’m also thinking that it’s about time I used up some of my garment-quantities of yarn and actually made some garments!

I also did some stash re-organising on Friday. You don’t want to know how much stash I have. Put it this way… I bought a unit from Ikea, which is six foot by six foot, just to house it… and it doesn’t all fit.

Yesterday was a winery trip for my dear friend Ben’s birthday - we were driven an hour and a half into the Yarra Valley and visited four wineries, beginning with Domaine Chandon. I did take some sock knitting, but needless to say not much got done! We rolled home yesterday evening, very merry and laden with bottles, and again I felt too tired to knit. Also… what do you do when knitting hurts? I have a tendency to occasionally “help” the retreating R-H needle back out of the loop with my left index finger; well, I’ve done this with sharp little sock needles a bit too often lately (especially when alcohol has been involved) and now I have a sore patch with split skin on my finger. I’ve got a band-aid on it, but that doesn’t help, and makes knitting awkward! I guess I must just learn to knit more carefully. And I’ve misplaced my 4.0 crochet hook so I can’t even work on my scrap Babette blanket! Bah humbug!

Next weekend I’m planning a trip to the Sheep and Wool Show in Bendigo with my dear friend Lou. We’re going to stop in at the Woollen Mills as well, of course; Lou hasn’t ever been there. I am looking forward to seeing her face when she gets in there We’ve done the show before, but it’s always good fun, and I love seeing the critters - especially the alpacas, and the baby sheepdog puppies rounding up ducks! They don’t just have fleece and wool - they have a variety of other stalls selling food and drink, spinning wheels and accessories, hand-turned woodcraft, etc. It should be a good day out!

OK, not quite… but close

I haven’t posted much lately because I’ve been busybusybusy, and as a result there hasn’t been much knitting going on. Also I think I’ve hit knitter’s block; I keep half-finishing things and frogging them. However, I have finished sewing up the red cashmere cardigan and have knitted on the bands; all it needs is some ends weaving in, and the perfect buttons. And just in time, as it is getting really cold now, just in time for the official start of winter.

One thing I did lately was to buy some KnitPicks circular needles from Yarns Online - two 2mm and two 2.5mm, since I do all my sock knitting on two circulars. I LOVE these needles. The cables are wonderfully flexible and strong and don’t twist and curl up - they uncurled the instant they came out of the packet! The tips are sharp enough to get into the fine sock stitches and the needle surface is smooth and shiny, very Addi Turbo-like. I only wish they had 2.25mm, which is my preferred size for sock knitting. They are surprisingly difficult to find. Addi don’t make them that size, so I ordered some  expensive bamboo circulars, but they’re virtually unusable because the join of needle to cable is done with a ball-and-socket type arrangement which the stitches catch on. I’m left to my cheap and nasty Lincraft aluminium 2.25s instead.

I’m currently going on some more Trekking socks, but since it’s so cold I’m going to begin on hats and cashmere scarves any time now. Perhaps a woolly headband. The doctor has ordered me to begin exercise for the good of my blood pressure, so I’m walking home from the station at nights, but my poor ears freeze!

Oh, and I’ve discovered a new knitting podcast; Stash and Burn. Two knitters, Nicole and Jenny, with a focus on stash and getting rid of it. They’re lovely podcasters, with a great mix of information and fun, and I adore Jenny’s voice and her laugh.

… you can’t do it. No plane knitting. For me this has also led to no train knitting today; I’m off to Sydney tonight, and since it’s only overnight I’m not checking my luggage but taking a small carry-on. Normally I knit on the train every day, and if I’m flying I just whack the needles in my checked luggage; but not today. I feel positively naked on the train without my knitting.

I’ve recently discovered Trekking XXL. I’ve often lusted over the beautiful subtle colour striping in the ombre tones, but now I’ve discovered the place to purchase it: Astrid’s Dutch Obsessions. Lots of lovely sock yarn, lots of colourways; no handpainted, but the good basic workaday sock yarns. Yummy. I ordered three Trekkings and an Opal Handpaint, and they came within a week, for about what I’d pay for two balls of Opal plus shipping from most Australian online retailers. Don’t get me wrong; I prefer to support Aussie and NZ vendors when I can, and indeed have done in the past. But when I can get twice the yarn, just as quick, and more variety, from an overseas vendor… it’s a hard decision to make.

Speaking of overseas vendors, I’ve just discovered that Scout’s Swag has a colourway called Rosalie. Here is a larger version. It’s absolutely beautiful. Those are all my colours. And it’s even more appropriate because my grandmother, who taught me to knit, was called Rosalie. My grandmother was one of the people who made me what I am. She was a survivor, and she had a hard life. Here she is as a teenager, working as a housemaid in London:

She was working as a maid at the age of thirteen, at which stage both her parents were deceased. She looked after me when my mum worked, when I was little. She was of her generation; she and I didn’t always see eye to eye, but we had a deep affection for one another and she was my introduction to the world of knitting. My big regret is that in the couple of years before her death, I was somewhat estranged from my mother (her daughter) and therefore didn’t speak to her as often as I should have; family politics was in the way.

I’m going to get some Rosalie. It’ll have to wait a while, because I have one Etsy parcel coming and another one from Astrid - and even though we all know that sock yarn doesn’t count as stash, the rest of my stash is still big enough to fill a couple of wardrobes And I have to decide what I want; do I want to make socks, or do I want a special scarf or shawl, named after my Nanna (in my head, anyway!) and wrapping me up so that I can think of her when I wear it?

This has been a busy week for me; I had to go interstate to give some workshops. It left me with aching legs and sore feet, but on the bright side I got some train knitting in, and I also got to catch up with Pamela, who I haven’t seen in quite a while. She very kindly brought along her Candle Flame Shawl, and it is truly incredible. Photos do not do it justice - the beauty of the pattern, the soft lustrous fabric, the smooth and weighty feel of the silk, and Pamela’s incredibly neat and patient work. It’s already a good size, but it’s going to be even larger. Do head over to her blog and check the shawl out if you haven’t seen it already.

I myself had a couple of very pleasant train journeys - up to Gosford on the central NSW coast, then the next day down to Wollongong, south of Sydney. Both were beautiful journeys along magnificent coastlines and through gorgeous mountain ranges and I wish I’d taken my camera. I listened to Sticks and String on the way to Wollongong, and discovered that the Wollongong Stitch and Bitch are having an exhibition this weekend, which unfortunately wouldn’t have been ready on Thursday afternoon in time for me to go and peek at. Not that I really had the time, sadly - it was into Wollongong, do my stuff, back to Sydney and on the plane. Shame, because it looks as if there is some great stuff there. Next time

As for myself, I am finding my obsessions somewhat disturbing. What obsessions?

Well, here’s something that needs fixing up:

This is a pile of cardigan pieces - back, two arms and two sides - which merely needs sewing up, front bands and neckband knitting, and ends darned in. It’s made from pure cashmere from Colourmart and it’s soft and smells wonderful. It’s been in this state for over a week. Why has it not yet become a cardigan? Well you might ask. One reason is my utter dislike of sewing and of finishing. The other is my current terrifying obsession with SOCK KNITTING. After several years of avoiding it, I’ve succumbed to the addiction and it’s truly frightening.

On the train to Gosford, I worked on this:

This is merino cashmere sock yarn from The Knittery in colourway ‘Exotic’. I call it the Starfleet Sock, because the black and red remind me of the uniform worn by The Picard, and also because I plan to work some more on it while watching ‘First Contact’ tonight.

This is my second attempt with this yarn. I first began a simple Garter Rib on 64 stitches, and it pooled horribly; all the lighter shades would have been at the back of the sock and all the darker ones at the front. It just looked wrong. SO I frogged it and began on RPM from Knitty. Much, much better. The purl band spirals down the leg one way and the shading has a very slight tilt the other way; I like the contrast and it’s knitting up beautifully. Amazing how distinct the difference is; the gauge and needle size are exactly the same as the first attempt, but there is one less stitch on the needles. How that can make so much difference, I don’t know!
On the Wollongong trip, I cast on and knitted this:

This is another Baby Cable Rib sock (fast becoming my utter favourite pattern) on 2mm needles, 72 stitches, in Lorna’s Laces ‘Black Purl’ colourway. I pretty much ordered this just to see what all the fuss is about The yarn is nice, but the colourway is wonderful; I especially like the way it refuses to pool. Don’t get me wrong, I like pooling in some cases, but this looks nicer unpooled.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes… obsessions. I have completely fallen off the Knit From Your Stash bandwagon. Over the past week or so I have ordered some Trekking XXL from Astrid’s Dutch Obsessions (and by “some”, I mean “three balls, and goodness, how did that handpainted Opal get in there?”) and have made my first ever Etsy order, which was, of course, sock yarn.

What’s happening to me? Help!

Any other Aussie knitters know of great Etsy sellers of handpainted/hand-dyed sock yarn who definitely ship to Australia? I am on the lookout now.

I may well have to get rid of some excess stash through Good Yarn Karma.

Hellooooo! I am home! I need a shower so this will be brief, but we are all still alive, all in wonderful spirits and all had a fantastic time. There are many great stories, fab coincidences and wonderful photos to share and I will be sharing them all over the next week or so. I LOVED Britain. I loved almost every place we went, wanted to stay longer everywhere, met some lovely people, and am already planning the next trip!
I must apologise for the lack of updates. There are no internet cafes in the UK - or at least there don’t appear to be any in the smaller towns. The few we found were all closed by the time we found them Also, I did end up getting quite sick - in fact, the day after my last post my cold got bad enough that I completely lost my voice for a week. I missed out on seeing Bath because I was so sick I had to stay in bed We all got sick, actually, and dubbed ourselves Team Cough’n'Snot. We’re all better now although there is still plenty of coughing going on.

What I’ll do over the next week or so is post up a detailed diary of our adventures, including photos. I will have that shower now, but will leave you with a few lists.

My favourite parts of the UK: Derbyshire, North Wales, the Lake District and Scotland.

My favourite town (apart from London): York

Critters we saw: SQUIRRELS! Highland Coos! Lots of dogs! A fat pussycat at the Tower of London! Robins! Blue tits! Devil goats! Really cool sheep in many colours and styles!
Favourite pub names: The Three Ferrets; The Royal Goat; The Cross Foxes; The Headless Woman; The Three Legged Mare; The Cat’s Whiskers; Hole in t’Wall.

New foods tried: Black pudding (much dreaded, only eaten after being plied with booze, but actually not bad); haggis (yummy with tatties and neeps!); clotted cream (OH MY GOD, words cannot describe it)

Favourite placenames we saw: Labour in Vain Hill, Wheat Honey, Wrynose, Withered Lane, North Piddle.

Shower now.

I have loaded up on podcasts for the long plane flight. Here are my favourites.

BBC World Service Documentary Archive have some absolutely fantastic stuff. In particular, their series on the New Arab World was fantastic, but I’ve also been enjoying Making Cities Work, By Their Own Hand and Communications Revolution.

Fly With Me and Betty in the Sky with a Suitcase - Joe Deon is a pilot for a major US airline, and Betty is a flight attendant with a major US airline. They both have pleasant voices and lots of amusing (or astounding) tales, stories from other pilots and flight attendants as well as their own. Ranges from the hilarious to the touching. I have laughed out loud on the train listening to some of these.

Hometown Tales - “featuring your town’s local legends, ghost stories, folklore and much more”. This is the one to listen to in a lighter mood

Cast On - this is the best of the knitting podcasts, in my opinion, and mainly because Brenda has a sly sense of humour and a lovely speaking voice.

I’m loading up on past episodes of all these to take on the plane with me.

Two sleeps to go. Two sleeps! This last week is going by so fast. I am hoping to get Ben’s mum’s scarf finished in time; I have about 25 repeats and I need 40. If I can get a lot done tomorrow on the train and in the evening, then I can wash it and block it overnight and it can be wrapped and made ready!

I feel woefully unprepared, even though I know I’m not. We’ve spent so long leading up to this week, and now it’s just shooting by… and we are leaving Australia just as spring is in the air. Still, it’ll still be there when we get back… mostly. It strikes me that in a few days I will be on the other side of the planet. The Other Side Of The Planet. It doesn’t seem real.
Oliver has laryngitis and is on antibiotics; fortunately the guy at the cattery doesn’t sound too fussed about having to give him pills. I guess they’re used to it.

At the moment Andrew (our housesitting friend) is round learning the intricacies of the home entertainment system, the ducted heating, the microwave and the odd arrangement of the light switches in this house. Oh, and picking up the key. Rohan’s just taken about twenty minutes to type out a document detailing how to change the region code on the DVD player. Ahahahaha.

I picked up some pounds today! Large notes, and papery, not like our plastic fantastic money. Rohan’s co-worker, the one who recommended the Edinburgh B&B we’re staying in, gave him nine pounds in change from their last trip. One of my co-workers gave me twenty-seven pee and some stamps

Still to do: print out all the booking confirmations; buy flash cards for the camera; pack; get Oliver and his vaccination certificate to the cattery; work out the complicated dance of meeting up with Robin and Kenneally and Alys and possibly Diana in London; work out with Adam and Lou when and where we’re meeting up at the airport on Friday night; work out what book(s) to take on the plane. Darling Ben sent me a brand spanking new true crime book - a classic old mystery dating back to the 1940s - but knowing the way I suck up true crime voraciously, it wouldn’t last more than a couple of hours. In fact, I would probably finish it at the airport! I am thinking of taking along something dense and English-themed, like a history.

AHAHAHAHA! Rohan is now showing off his knowledge of London on Google Earth! “That’s the Royal Albert Hall… and the London Eye, we’ve got tickets to that on Sunday…  and that’s the Gherkin, that blows up in ‘The Christmas Invasion’… ” Rohan LOVES the Gherkin.  I predict many Gherkin photos.