Gimme an F, gimme and L, gimme and S.......

What does it spell? February Lady Sweater of course!

Yes I too have jumped on the FLS bandwagon! 4000 plus knitters can not be wrong! How could I resist when the it just seems to look so good on everyone. I had to have one for myself.

So I suggested to the Amiras (our Abu Dhabi knitting group) back in November last year that we make it as a KAL in Februaury. February Lady Sweater KAL in FEBRUARY, get it? The word got around, some girls in Dubai decided to jump on with us and now I think there are about ten of us in three different cities in the UAE knitting along together! There is quite a lively discussion taking place here, if you are interested.

On the 30th of January a few of us Abu Dhabians (is that the correct expresion?) headed to Dubai to meet up with a few of the Dubai girls for an afternoon of coffee, carrot cake and of course knitting! There were needles, cake forks and ball winders flying everywhere. Over the course of the afternoon I think we had about 20 knitters all up. It was just amazing. Anyway, at the end of the afternoon after we tore ourselves away from pouring over each others yarn and books, we had a bit if a group cast on. I finally feel like I am part of a community again!

Here's my swatch that I completed that day.


The yarn is Malabrigo Worsted in Emerald. This is the first time that I have used Mally (we've nicknamed it for convenience and in true Aussie style!) and I am completely in love. It really is perfect for this project and I just can not get over how good the garter stitch looks and feels in this yarn. I want to buy up the stuff!

The other great thing about this project is the speed with which it is working up! The photo below was taken on the weekend, a week after the cast on and now I am past my waist! I'll be on to the sleeves before I know it.


Okay, modifications. I used an M1 increase instead of a yo on the "eyelet" row. On the sleeves I am intending to decrease the additional stitches to reduce the bulk of the sleeves. I am considering doing a longer sleeve and if I do I may look at decreasing needle size as I go down the sleeve to reduce the "bell effect". I'll let you know what I decide on that one.

For the buttonholes I just went with the method suggesed in the pattern. They looked okay so I stuck with it. They might need a bit of reinforcement at the corners, we'll see.


The loopy lace scarf is finished! I sewed the ends in on the way to work this morning. Pics coming soon.

On a more sombre note, please spare a though for the families that are living the horror of the Victorian Bush fires at the moment. Whole towns have been wiped out, and whole families lost. If you have a spare dollar or two you can donate to the Australian Red Cross Bush Fire Appeal.

Son of SnB - A Review

I have decided to do a review of all of the books in my "Year of the Book" list as I knit something from them. Here goes......

"Son of Stitch'n'Bitch" is the latest offering by the now famous (in knitting circles) Debbie Stoller of the "Stitch'n'Bitch" series of books. The original title in the series was my first ever knitting book purchase, back when I was first wanting to learn about five years ago. The style of the book really appealed to me at the time. It said to me that knitting was for funky young things like I knew myself to be (ha ha!). I wanted to make everything in the book! I think I have made about three things.

Since then I have purchased all of the other books in the series and have loved them all. So what about this one?

"Son of Stitch'n'Bitch" is a book of patterns for men, written by various designers, some of them also men. The blurb has this to say....

Son of Stitch 'n Bitch is the latest book in the SNB series, featuring 45 projects to knit & crochet for men. Whether you're knitting for a boyfriend or husband, or, if you're a male knitter yourself, Son of Stitch 'n Bitch has the boy-tested, boy-approved projects you've been looking for, plus plenty of tips to help you avoid the "curse of the boyfriend sweater."

The book begins with a section on how to make sure you knit the right thing for your man. A lot of it is common sense really, like don't knit him something pink, and a sweater with a ice cream cone on the front is probably not a good idea, but it does have some useful tips as well on fit and fibre selection. This section is presented in an interesting way with anecdotes from knitters.

Then the book gets straight into the patterns, there is no how to knit section. This I like a lot! I get so sick of pattern books (Debbie Bliss, cough, cough) that repeat the same old basic how to knit section in the front of every book. It always makes me feel like I'm paying for the same book twice!

Anyway, to the patterns. These vary from the fabulous (Uncle Argyle Scarves), to funky (Hacky Sack Hoodie, DJ Bag), to the silly (Hangover Helpers, Deady Bear) and the downright hideous (Checks and Balances). They are very similar in style to the previous books for men and there is something for everyone, I guess you would say.

The thing I like about this book is that for those of us who like to knit for the men in our lives, the selection is pretty slim. This book tries to fill that gap. The other great thing about this book is the cute boys modelling the knits!

Three and a half stars from me!

Book 1 down!

Seven to go!

If you didn't see, I have committed myself to knit/crochet something from all eight of my as yet unused knitting/crocheting books in my Abu Dhabi library.

The first Year of the Book project is finished!

Here is Chi Wai sporting the Uncle Argyle Scarf!


Isn't he handsome! The project details are here.

After my singing of the blues, I seemed to get a second wind and this was finished a few days afterwards. It must have been a cathartic process!

I'm really happy with the finished product and I really hope that my brother Marc will love it (he better!). I don't like to say never but I think it will be a long time before I make another one of these.

That said, I have just started another scarf! "Are you mad woman?" I hear you ask. Well there is a very good reason for this. In about four weeks time, Chi Wai and I will be heading off to London (with a few days in Paris too) to hand deliver the scarf to Marc. I can't wait!

From these photos that Marc sent me this week, you can see that I am going to need something a bit warm!

Here's what I am making (and no the pattern does not come from one of the before mentioned books, I like to live life on the edge!).


Pattern: Loopy Lace Scarf by Katie Harris
Yarn: It's some luscious Misti Alpaca that I bought from San Francisco a few years back that I have been dying to use ever since.

I've also jumped on the FLS bandwagon but I will tell you more about that later.

Scarf Knittin' Blues

Hear in you mind, if you will, a twelve bar blues, you pick the key......

I got the scarf knittin' blues, the scarf knittin' blues, yes I do.
I got the scarf knittin' blues, the scarf knittin' blues, yes I do.
I been knittin' this scarf so long now, will it ever be though?

It's gonna take forever, knitting this scarf, what can I do?
It's gonna take forever, knitting this scarf, what can I do?
I gotta finish knitting this scarf, before I can start something new!

I got the scarf knittin' blues, the scarf knittin' blues, soooo bad.
I got the scarf knittin' blues, the scarf knittin' blues, soooo bad.
You know when it comes time for knitting something else, I'm gonna be so glad.

So there you go.

Year of the Book Has Started!

I have officially started on my goal for the year of knitting or crocheting something from all of my as yet unused knitting and crochet books.

So with out further ado, I would like to present Book Project no. 1!


Book: Son of Stitch'n'Bitch by Debbie Stoller
Pattern: Uncle Argyle Scarves by Lindsay Henricks
Yarn: Patons Merino Deluxe in Black (10) and Grey (3) purchased on our recent trip to Australia from CR & K Daisy Designs.

I bought this book for this pattern alone (it's a thing I do!). I've had a real thing about any sort of argyle since my mid-teens. There are however quite a few other good boy's (read men's, they will always be boys to me!) patterns in it, such as the Mixology sweater and the Skull Isle Hat.

This scarf uses the double knitting technique and I swear that it may be the death of me! For those who have never used double knitting before (this is my first time), you have to knit the front and back of the project at the same time which means you knit then you purl, then you knit and then you purl etc. across the row with two strands of yarn and moving the yarn from the front to the back or the back to the front between every stitch. Kind of like knitting a 1 x 1 rib only much worse. Aaaargh! The only thing that is going to keep me going on this (I hope) is that I am loving how it looks. I'm making this for my brother Marc who lives in London and is in need of warm wooly scarves for most of the year. I hope he likes it. It's taken me a week to get this far. Ugh!

Here's the other side of the scarf.


In other colour knitting glutton for punishmentness (I know it's not a real word!), I started (before Christmas) working on the Imprint Tote.


It's looking a little crumpled from be neglected at the bottom of my knitting bag while I have been working on the Argyle scarf.

I am using the pattern for the Imprint Tank from Interweave Knitts, Summer 2008. When I saw this pattern, I really liked the motif but I decided that it would look better on a tote bag. I'm using the recommended yarn, Mission Falls 1824 Cotton but in the colours Merlot, Peony and Pebble. I love the look of this yarn knitted up but it is a real b!tch to knit with (pardon my language). A contributing factor may be that I have been using a bamboo circular needle as I was knitting it on the plane. I'm thinking that the combination of the nubbly cotton yarn and the not so smooth tips of the bamboo needle may be making the process worse than it needs to be. I've put this down for the time being to work on the Uncle Argyle Scarf, but when I pick it up again I plan to change over to my Knit Picks Options. Let's hope that improves things!

Year of the Book

This time last year, I set myself some knitting goals. Let's see how I went....

1. Knit at least one more pair of socks, preferably two at a time on circular needles,

Well I did knit one pair of socks last year but they were top down and knitted one at a time. I have a definite thing for sock yarn but it doesn't actually seem to extend to the actual knitting of socks. Although, there has been some definite drooling over sock patterns on Ravelry such as these, these, these and these. I'm not making any promises (or goals this time) but I would still like to knit more socks.

2. Tackle at least one new technique such as fair isle or steeking (or both together!),

I can give this one a tick although I think it was completed rather timidly. But that's okay, that's they way I do things. Small steps. So I had a go at Fair Isle. It was cheats Fair Isle (only two colours) but I was very happy with the finished result. Maybe some day soon I might actually get a chance to wear it.

3. Knit some proper lace work (with lace weight yarn),

I'm happy to tick this one off with the Seascape that I made for my Aunt. Again it wasn't a particularly complicated knit but I think it still qualifies as lace!

4. Try my hand at crochet.

Yay, I passed this with flying colours I think with these efforts! I definitely want to have a go at some more crochet in 2009!

5. Try to more of a process knitter (without completely denying my project knitting urges!)

Okay, there are some things in your personality that you just can't fight. For me it is all about the finished project and it's time that I embrace that. If there is an interesting process along the way to achieve the project that I am after, then all the better.

So all in all I think I did okay on my goals for 2008. So, am I going to set any goals for 2009? Of course I am!

In 2008 my thing for knitting books spiralled out of control. I am a knitting book hussy! I bought 12 new knitting books (including two "booklets"), and out of the 20 or so finished objects I completed during the year, only 6 of them were patterns from books I own! I have worked out, that of the books that I own that are here with me in Abu Dhabi (I have more books back in Australia too!) there are eight that I have never knitted anything from. Here's the list.

1. Son of Stitch'n'Bitch by Debbie Stoller, a book of patterns for men,
2. Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller, crochet patterns (I have used this for crochet instruction, but I have not used any of the patterns),
3. Knitting Workshop by Elizabeth Zimmerman,
4. The Best of Interweave Knits edited by Ann Budd,
5. DomiKNITrix Whip Your Knitting Into Shape by Jennifer Stafford,
6. Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles by Cat Bordhi,
7. Norah Gaughan Collection Vol. 1 by Norah Gaughan (booklet),
8. Norah Gaughan Collection Vol. 2 by Norah Gaughan (booklet),

So that's my goal, to knit/crochet something from each of these books in 2009. If anyone has a favourite pattern from any of these books I would love to hear what you think.

Wish me luck. Happy New Year to everyone! Here's to a great 2009.

Crochet Delight!

Back in September, I started to make an attempt at some crochet. Remember this?

I was crocheting some toys. The crocheting part all went fine, but then something happened, something that often happens when I try to make toys. The pieces sat in a bag waiting to be sewn up until December. The only motivation then was that we were heading to Australia and the toys in question were meant to be belated 1st birthday presents for my best friend Zena's Twins. (Here they are a year ago!)

So anyway, in the mad rush of the few days before we left, I was sewing up toys! So now I can finally post about them!

Firstly there was Freddy Froggy.


He's made out of leftovers from the Tetris Blanket which was knitted in Knit Picks Swish Worsted. The pattern is Frogs on Holiday from "Kyuuto" by Tomoko Takamori, which is a book of Amigurumi patterns that I bought back in my birthday buy up. He's kinda cute don't you think?

And next was Phelephant, or Phellie for short!


The pattern is Henri Elephant from Lucinda Guy's Crochet Designs for Kids, another book from the buy up. The green yarn is Knit Pick's Swish DK in Asparagus and the other colours are more leftovers from the Tetris Blanket in Swish Worsted.

After all of the drama and procrastination, I am quite happy with how these turned out. Here they are snuggling up together.



And here is Sam doing his favourite thing with Phellie!


Finally here is one last bit of crochet that has been going on. When we went for our little holiday in India I mentioned that I was crocheting on the verander of our treehouse. Well this is what I made!


Pattern: So-Simple Baby Bibs (So simple it was too!)
Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Sport in Willow and Terracotta from my stash.

I made it for Kate's new bub Jude (hence the "J"). It's quite a big bib so I think it will be good for when Jude get to the solid foods stage. I'm also making a little vest for Jude, which should have been finished while we were away but never quite made it. Alas, it will have to go in the post. More on that later.

So, what is my verdict on the whole crochet thing? I'm ready for more!