February 2013 – polka-dots & sparkles

Favorite things.

Posted on February 26, 2013March 12, 2013 by bekswhoknits

I’ve been making some progress on my Mini Mania scarf which I started just before Christmas.

This is the reason that I blog. I always forget how much progress I make, particularly on these long projects.

This scarf is taking ages. Mostly because I keep looking at how pretty it is rather than knitting it. That and getting into a rhythm of knit one slip one takes a bit of doing.

But this week I’ve needed something distracting but simple whilst I’m at home with uterus trouble.

Here are some of the other things keeping me sane this week.

There’s no milk in the house, so fruit tea is brilliant. This is one of my favourites. (Plus polkadot cup!!!)

Tim Tam mini packs are fab. My sweet tooth comes and goes depending on the time of the month. It’s also a great way to try out new flavours. Turkish delight is my favourite chocolate. Can’t wait to try them.
Plus a heat pack is essential.

Harry Potter is all I feel like watching, so I’m watching them all!!!

And of course knitting. It’s a great distraction.

Tim Rogers and The Bamboos

Posted on February 25, 2013March 12, 2013 by bekswhoknits

The last few weeks my city has become alive. Perth Festival and Fringe World transform my city from dullsville (which is a popular name), into a hive of activity with three new bars in the city, outside entertainment, and mermaids!

Every year I say that I should get out and explore Perth Festival more, and this year I actually did.

Of course I forgot my camera for the first 4 shows I went to.
In all fairness, one of them was Laneway and I wasn’t really keen on taking my camera, and I haven’t got the photos off my Blokes camera yet.

So I only have crappy iPhone photos of Laneway Festival, Stars, Father John Misty, and Sleepy Suns.
But I do have some awesome pics from Tim Rogers to show you.

Tim Rogers is an Australian rock and roll icon. His band You Am I shaped the lives of countless Aussie teenagers with break-up songs, party songs, drinking songs, and everything in between. Being one of these Aussie teens it’s surprising that it was my first time seeing Tim Rogers. So I was pretty chuffed when he put on a good show.
He’s the quintessential showman although, some nights it’s ‘I’ve just drunk a bottle of red wine- lets do this!’, others it’s ‘I’ve just drunk a bottle of red wine- do I really have to go on stage??’.
We got him on a good night, and boy did he put on a show.

As my best friend said “cool is an overused word, but in every sense of the word Tim Rogers is cool”.
Maybe that quote is better when you actually hear it.
Tim Rogers does exude coolness, except when he took off his shirt. That was hot!

listen to the album

Posted on February 22, 2013 by bekswhoknits

It has been energy sappingly warm in my neck of the woods this week so I have no updates.

All She Wants To Do Is Knit

The following is a true story. It was told to me at knit night on Wednesday. I will do my best to recount the story as it was told to me. Names have been changed.

* * *

It was a February evening in southern Minnesota. A monthly hand-spinners get-together was just breaking up, spilling its chattering crowd, like a tumbled basket of yarn, into the snowy streets.

Anne clutched her nearly finished blue cardigan to her chest as she strode toward her car, fumbling for her keys. “Almost done,” she thought. “If I’d just had a another hour I could have bound off the second sleeve and woven in the ends. Oh well, no matter. I’ll finish it tomorrow.” She trudged to the passenger side of her white sedan and plopped the project and the remains of her last ball of…

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FO#4 Dangerous Turns

Posted on February 18, 2013February 22, 2013 by bekswhoknits

I had a non-monogamous weekend.
Friday night kicked off with a show at Festival Gardens, and knitted some rows on Parcel.
I learnt how to turn a back cable into a front cable one row after discovering it. Disaster averted.

Saturday night was spent watching Castle, before having a girly night and spending some time with my 10 Stitch Blanket (which is slowly getting bigger after being ignored for some time).

Then Sunday was all about the next step sockalong socksDangerous Turns. These socks fit like a glove.
The only thing I’m not happy about is the cuff. But I’m never happy with my cuffs, they hang of my ankle rather than hugging it.
Somewhere along the line I missed a cable repeat and I’m still deciding how annoyed I am about it.

So I’m not over the moon with these socks. And I haven’t weaved in the ends as there is still the possibility that I will frog them.

I don’t mind them, but I know how they should look.

I’ll look at them in a couple of days and see whether I can live with the mistakes.

Stuck in my head – Stars

Posted on February 13, 2013February 13, 2013 by bekswhoknits

Mostly because I’m seeing them tonight!

This is the song that first drew me to them.

And this is their latest single.

listen to Theory Of Relativity on spotify

stuck in my head 2013

Next Step Sock Sockalong

Posted on February 12, 2013 by bekswhoknits

I’ve gone a little cable crazy. I’ve cast on two cable projects in the last week, one of which is dangerous turns.

These are a good candidate for the Next Step Sock Sockalong (hosted by crafts form the cwtch and is about stepping out of the sock comfort zone and trying something new).

Firstly I’m knitting these out of cotton. Which I haven’t knitted with before. I have no idea if they’ll make nice socks but I wanted to give it a go. I’m a bit tired of using Noir all the time and I’ve promised myself not to buy it again, but I was in Spotlight and wanted instant gratification yarn, so I bought Panda Regal 4ply Cotton.

Secondly I’m knitting cables without a cable needle. I’m a cable beginner, who naively assumed that there was only 2 types of cables.
Well there aren’t. And last week they had me beat. The tutorial I used didn’t cover what to do when there was purling involved. And stubborn old me wasn’t about to use a cable needle.

Fortunately the answer came to me in a dream.
After nearly throwing them across the room, frogging them, and sobbing into my cotton, I wisely decided that I would sleep on it.
After dreaming about knitting (is this common?) I had the answer.

All of a sudden the cables fell into place and I knew what to do.
So I manually transposed the stitches. Once I had done that I could knit and purl as I pleased.

And then last night I figured out how to do it in one clean swoop, the grumperina way. And it seems so simple I don’t know why I didn’t get it before.

So these are my next step socks.
I’m hoping now that I’ve got the cables figured out for good and the early cables don’t look too rubbish in comparison.
Or that I forget it all and can’t figure it back our.
Or that I have actually ‘got it’ and haven’t just made something up which doesn’t work.

Eep, maybe I’m not as confident about cables as I thought I was!!

FO#3 socks like a waltz

Posted on February 8, 2013February 8, 2013 by bekswhoknits

1, 2, 3.
1, 2, 3.

Knit knit knit, purl purl purl.

And so it goes.

Knit knit knit, purl purl purl.

Until you shift it one stitch to the left and then start waltzing again.

Knitting heel-less socks felt like dancing.

The pattern is really easy. So easy I didn’t think it would work.

But it did. And just in time to.

I did manage to finish these last Friday. And I wore them last Friday as my gorgeous polkadot cons were hurting my feet.

I still need to weave in the ends but I have cast on new projects since so that’s just not a priority right now.

So the pattern I made is as follows. Cast on 60 stiches. (Next time cast on more but make it divisible by 6 – not 3 as the pattern says. That doesn’t work)

Work in rib for a while. I went the twisted rib route which goes like
Row 1) knit 1, purl 1 through the back loop
Row 2) knit 1 through the back loop, purl 1

Once there’s enough rib, start to waltz.
K3, P3.
Do that for 4 rows.
Then
P1,K3, P3 (keep repeating the waltz, you’ve just shifted it over).

After 4 rows shift it over again.
P2, K3, P3

And then you’ll have swapped over and you’ll be starting with P3 K3

Just keep on going, shifting it one stitch along every 4 rows.

Try it on and when you’re ready, make a toe.

I did a standard decrease every second row, toe.

Once you get to the end, say you have 16 stitches on the needles, panic because you don’t have a needle to do Kitchener stitch or a decent enough Internet connection to google it.

Instead decide to so a 3 needle bind off, with a bobby pin.

Later regret this decision because it was so freakin fiddly, but be grateful that you finished them and they could soothe your feet.