Pretty things

This is the pretty new laptop bag I got from TrackandFieldDesigns.



It's customised to fit my netbook, a thick A4 notepad and a book or small knitting project.



I've been wanting a stylish, easy-carry padded laptop bag for ages. I got it with some Christmas money. Will be carrying it into the city for a conference this week :D

It is not to be confused with this gorgeous carry-all I got from the MIL for Christmas.



I use this every day when I go to work (I don't usually need my netbook for work).



I spun this! Merino, 2 ply. I think it will knit to 8ply/aran weight although I need to do the wpi test on it.



It's going to be a shawl I think. I need to spin up some more first! I hope I can keep the weight relatively even.

And a quick knitting update...



I am almost finished this Hap Blanket (pattern by the amazing Ysolda Teague). It is for Geoff and Sophie's gorgeous new boy Rafael Zephaniah. It's Bendigo Woollen Mills 4ply cotton held double. I threaded a lifeline in red and suddenly wished I used red as the highlight instead of green. But it was way too late by then!



That's ok, it's still pretty and funky. Even if DH does complain it's Deceptacon colours.

In which I update my sadly neglected blog (Warning - picture heavy!)

Almost three months since I last updated my blog. Disgraceful. And vaguely terrifying. Where did the time go?

Well here's where it went in knitting projects anyway.

I knitted this shawl to go with the dress for my cousin's wedding in Melbourne. My deathly pallor in the photo is thanks to the dreadful flu/virus I had for the ENTIRE weekend, which was spent in the hotel room with a raging fever. I made it to the wedding ceremony but missed the reception.



A few weeks after that was the Quilting and Craft fair at Darling Harbour. There was some gorgeous gorgeous stuff for sale. And walls of wool!



It's possible I went a leetle bit nuts - but not too dreadfully over budget. Here's my haul.


And here's my OTHER haul.



Yes folks, I took out the guessing competition at the World Wide Knit in Public day event for Sydney. Thanks again to Sally (Pompom on Ravelry) for organising it and to Mosman Needlecraft for the delicious basket of yarny goodness!

What else...I finished the boss's scarf (only took a year), knitted some baby booties for a friend's baby shower, started a cardigan for the baby once it's born, and squeezed in most of a pair of fingerless gloves for myself. Sadly I did not do a good job of matching yarn to pattern; the yarn is beautiful but the semi-solid variegation hides the "dragon scales" of the pattern. Oh well, they're still yummy and warm.



And that's about it folks. Next on the needles are some legwarmers (started but I discovered knitting with plastic needles = very sore thumb so waiting for a new set), a hat for a friend and the return of the woodland shawl.

Yarn Raffle for a great cause

Just found an amazing yarn raffle for a very good cause. Ravelry member PeaceSoup recently lost her sister, who left behind a young boy to be raised by his father and grandparents. PeaceSoup wants to give him an amazing birthday present so she is raffling off a chunk of her stash and some beautiful donated yarn for $5 a ticket. And this woman has some serious stash!

The details are here. I’m hankering for the Elizabeth Bennett Apple Blossom - and even if I don’t win, it’s a fantastic cause.

Save me from the Boxing Day sales

No, not masses of shoes from Myer or even stacks of half-price towels and sheets (although I did get one set).

Yarn.

All of the Aussie online shops are announcing their sales, and it was just too hard to resist. Wired for Fibre won me over (poor Yarn and Kisses experienced a server move at the worst possible time). So I picked up some 4ply alpaca to make mum the socks she requested. And you may as well fill up the satchel, right? So I bought some merino 4ply as well. I talked myself out of some merino/silk laceweight, so there is some hope for me yet.

Better get back to knitting to justify my latest purchases!