New Blog

I'm not posting here anymore, but I'll keep it for a while.

My new blog is Genki Knits, which is not only about knitting, it includes my new craft hobby - sewing!

And...I'm back!

After a long absence from blogging, and the internet in general, I'm back. We had an absolutely fantastic trip, which stretched to almost 4 months instead of the 3 we originally estimated. The trip also changed as we went along, we ended up going to Moscow through Western Europe by train, the Trans-Mongolian through Russia, Mongolia, and China, a boat to Japan and back again to China, down to Vietnam, crossing to Laos, then Thailand, a detour to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat, back to Thailand, train through the south to Malaysia, and final stop was Singapore, where we took a flight home to Sydney. So we managed to get all the way from Sheffield, England, to Singapore without any flying, which was pretty good. Of course we stopped at many amazing and beautiful places, but I'll leave all that to our travel blog, which I'll link when it's completed.

I did manage to get some knitting done, I brought a couple of skeins of sock yarn and some patterns, and did a bit on trains. I also really liked looking at the textiles in each country, especially the Hmong peoples' in Laos and Thailand. I also really enjoyed the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore, which had some beautiful examples of Asian art and textiles.

Since coming back, I've started a pair of thick socks, and mum bought me the new Vogue Knitting. I also attended my first knitting event in Australia - on Friday, I went to Tapestry Crafts in Sydney to see Nicky Epstein! She did a demonstration and a book signing, it was great. I bought Knitted Flowers, and she signed that for me, it was very exciting. She seemed like a lovely person, and shared a lot of techniques with us.

On the road...

We are now in Japan, after travelling through Russia, Mongolia and China by train and boat.

I've been doing some knitting, working on socks, but will not really update this blog till we are settled in Australia.

To keep up with our travels, you can read our blog:

Sheffield to Sydney

Rosedale - so close

I've finished knitting Rosedale! It's even been blocked, but no photos because my camera's batteries ran out. I also need to put in a zipper anyway, so once I do that and it is completely finished, I can post some pictures. I'm really pleased with it - when I was knitting it I didn't really like the orange and yellow, but when it was all done, they looked nice with the other colours. And I asked The Boy which colours he liked the best, and of course he said the orange and yellow.

In other knitting news, I've been doing some more of The Boy's trekking socks, and started a hat for the Dulaan project, which should be a quick knit when I'm procrastinating.

I went to my last Bristol Knitting group on Wednesday, which was sad, as I really enjoy those nights. I don't have a huge stash (though I have a bit of sock yarn), but I took any non sock yarn that wasn't designated for a particular project, and managed to get rid of it all! I also took all my magazines (except for my Interweave!) which was quite difficult, and they all went too. But I'm much happier for it to all go to people who might use it, rather than me cart it across the world. Some of this stuff had come from Japan to the UK and not been used, so I was ruthless.

Otherwise, it's been pretty busy. I've finished work, and am at home packing and sorting things out. We move out of our flat next weekend! Then it's one month in Sheffield before we leave for our trip.

The Cursed Hat Returns

It wasn't at the gym. I looked everywhere in our flat. And then, just before we went to London, I crawled under my desk to grab my shoes, and there it was, happily waiting for me to discover it. I was very careful in London with it, and it' s come back home!

I've been busy with Rosedale, have finished with the waist decreases and am now in the endless stockinette. I'm slightly concerned about the corrugated ribbing, it seems to be rolling quite a bit. The Boy suggested it may come out in the blocking - and with that one comment showing how much he knows about knitting, and how much there is still to be learnt...

I think I'm going to have a 'thing' on my blog. Not sure what to call it, it won't be a competition, but it will be fun. I'll announce the details later, but it will involve postcards sent from exotic places to you if you sign up!

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The Cursed Knitted Hat

The le slouch that I was knitting WAS way too big. So I frogged it. And I started again, just doing a simple hat pattern with ribbing and then moss stitch. And it looked too small. So I started again. With a similar pattern. I finished it, it didn't look exactly how I had thought it might. But it was done, and felt so nice and warm. Cashmerino... so, so soft. I hadn't taken a photo, cos I finished it on Monday night, and during the week I do not really see daylight. And now I think I've lost it. It might be at the gym, so I'll try there. It really is a cursed hat.

Rosedale is going well, am doing the corrugated knitting for the body, which is taking a while, because there are a lot of stitches. But it's still fun, so hopefully I'll actually finish this sweater!

My big news for 2007 is... we are moving to Australia. We've both put our notice in at work, so it is now definately happening. In order to get over there, we are planning a big trip. At the moment, we are hoping to take the Trans-mongolian railway through Russia, Mongolia and China, a boat to Japan and back again, trains to South East Asia, where we would like to spend some time in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Indonesia. And then we will probably have to fly into Sydney. I'm so excited about our trip, and really looking forward to going 'home', by the time we get there, it will have been 5 years since I first left Australia for Japan. It will be sad to leave my job and our home here, though not having any close friends makes it a lot easier.

Knitting-wise this means my goal is to finish Rosedale, and do a lot more of Bobble Blue before we leave at the end of April. I also will complete the Dulaan projects. For my travel knitting, I will take sock yarn and sock patterns for all our train journeys!

On Saturday was the day I've been waiting for awhile - Get Knitted's Grand Opening of their new shop. As you may know, they are a great UK online shop, that had an open day once a month.

Their new shop is fantastic - huge with a large range of yarns. The yarn is displayed by manufacturer's, so all Rowan is together, all Noro, etc. which I think is a great way of doing it. The shop had a couple of sofas, a workshop area, and kids' play area.

I saw Trekking sock yarn for the first time, after reading about it on blogs, and hearing about it on podcasts, and the new Collinette Jitterbug. The Jitterbug had such beautiful, vibrant colours, but I managed to resist it! I think I will treat myself to a skin before I leave though. I might give myself a goal - like finish two pairs of socks - before I buy it.

But I did end up buying a few things. I had intended to buy Lucy Neatby's Cool Socks, Warm Feet and a skein of sock yarn with money from my birthday. I bought 3 skeins of yarn - 2 skeins of trekking in colours 28( mostly dark colours, with random bright reds, oranges, pinks and purples in very short repeats) and 184 (lovely blues and greens in longer repeats) and 1 Opal in happy colours (yellow, fuscia, orange and turquoise).
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Lastly, I got another pair of Addi Turbo circulars in 2.5mm so I can have two socks on Turbos at a time!

The Trekking 184 is for The Boy, he picked it out himself (he was a very good boy, and behaved himself while I was looking at yarn). I've already cast on the Timberline Toes, it is a simple pattern, but with new ways of doing the heel and toe, so it should be fun.


The Rosedale is going well - have almost finished both sleeves, and can then start the body. It is going pretty fast, especially since I have also started knitting Le slouch in Debbie Bliss cashmerino. It feel so nice, but I think it is looking a little too big. I know that's kinda the point... I'll finish it off and see how it looks.