Hanami, finally

Finally, almost a year to the day of casting on, I have finished the Hanami Stole. I started it a few days before Mr Wriggly was born, thinking that I'd have a shot at finishing it because he was never ever going to come out. Ha. Boy, did he show me.

It was only two weeks ago that I felt mentally able to cope with the basket weave pattern again, which was a complete grind. The cherry blossom pattern just flew by though. I'm so pleased with how it turned out. The Sea Silk Handmaiden yarn is wonderful to knit with and the stitch definition is superb.


Here are the specs: two skeins of Sea Silk Handmaiden in Ebony. The idea for a Hanami in this yarn in this colour is totally ripped off from Splityarn. The skein used for the basket weave end was darker than the cherry blossom end. The cherry blossom skein had more copper highlights, and dare I say it, the odd undyed fleck. I beaded the ends with tiny, pinkish, glass beads, that are almost impossible to photograph. If I knew then what I know now, I'd have used larger beads as they have been mostly swallowed by the yarn. Of course, in searching for the link to Splityarn's Hanami, I just found her tutorial about how to do a beaded cast off. Hey ho.


Its destined to be the divine Ms N's birthday present. I'll try and get a shot of her modeling it.

I'm starting back at work on Monday, four days a week. The Knit Widower is going to be Mr Wriggly's primary parent. Its all a bit daunting really. I ran into Six and a Half Stitches in the newsagents this morning and she gave me some comforting words about managing the work-family-knitting-life balance. Thank you SaaHS! I'm sure once its all happening, it will all be ok.

We're back!

Hurrah for informed camera advice from you all (both blog comments and other advice), hurrah for ebay and a lovely man who actually delivered the camera to my home, hurrah for photogenic children, hurrah for knitting and an even bigger hurrah for a fab camera.

It can do this:


And this:



And it even shows that scientists are wrong. Dinosaurs did not evolve, they were knitted....

Its a Cannon G10 Powershot, and despite having a name like a drink an underage girl would overindulge in, it is fantastic.

(Photos top to bottom: Hanami, Rockin' Hot Flush, Prehistoric Pals Braciosaurus and Triceratops)

A survey of ufos

I have a number of ufos on the needles at the moment. Here they are:


From left to right: Hanami in Ebony Handmaiden Sea Silk; Spiral Boot Socks in Foxy Lady Cherry Tree Hill; Stacked Eyelet Cowl in Shrinking Violet Socks that Rock; Evie in Deep Rowan Soft 4 ply.

Dont the yarns look pretty? Shouldnt that, plus the fact that all of these projects are ridiculously close to being finished, inspire me?



Apart from an inspiration deficit, I'm also being delayed by having to take it easy on knitting at the moment. My elbows, wrists and hands are sore from the joint softening hormones that are still floating around in my body. This is exacerabted by lugging around the 6.5 kilo Mr Wriggly. So, its very limited knitting for me for a while. Its killing me!

Before and after

Its no exageration to say that Little L has turned our world upside down. 8:30pm is now a late night, while 1am seems like a dark version of midday. This can also be visually represented through my current wips. Behold:

Pre L: I was racing through the basketweaves section of the Hamani stole (Haidmaiden Sea Silk in Ebony).


Post L: Have cast on for a sock for the Squeeze (Sour Apple Sundara sock yarn). This has taken the best part of a week - however to be fair it has returned from the frog pond twice.



I also got a couple of treats that I'd ordered a couple of weeks ago. The arrival of the swift and ball winder has made casting on for new projects temptingly easy as it no longer involves winding things on by hand.


And I couldnt resist this tree broach by Elk. Jewellry is an excellent treat when almost none of your clothes fit!

Kittens and flowers and yarn

And some pretty pictures to look at to recover from the zombie shots below. First up is Squeak inspecting some beautiful silk and merino 2 ply that Daphne from The Knittery dyed specially. Its called Lime Delight and I'm planning on making my Mum this stole.


And heres a variation on theme. Its two skeins of Sea Silk in Ebony from Purl Yarns nestled up with the Lime Delight. This is destined to become a hamani stole inspired by the beautiful one made by Split Yarn.