Today I handed over the following birthday gift to Andy. He is one of those guys who never really gets cold and doesn’t wear a coat or jacket but loved the idea of a scarf. I thought he would look rather dashing in a college style scarf. I chose Johanna Sarten’s A’s Manly Scarf (a free download on Ravelry) in a blokey but colourful Filatura di Crosa 127 Print Colour #40. I knew he liked his browns but wanted a bit of colour to brighten him up. We need to teach the boys about colour eh?

What else is happening knitwise? I have cast on Alhambra by Anne Hanson in Knitabulous Mumbai Nights…a delicious blue from Knitabulous’ Indian Summer Yarn Club. Blue is not generally a colour I wear but hey get crazy with the different colours! I have cast on 10 repeats and being a lace-weight, this is going to take me a million years to finish but it is my sanity brain clearer in between work and school! Thank f*** for knitting!

Umm…yeah my blogging every day in November went a bit NQR and now it’s almost mid December. Oh well…

I find some days I want something complex and challenging to occupy my mind and some days something mind numbing to occupy my hands while I talk or watch tv.

I usually have at least 2 WIPs on the go for this purpose. Lace for the ambitious days and at the moment, sock yarn blanket squares for the mellow-out knitting. Hats are good or top down jumpers with acres of knitting in the round. Easy knitting is also good for watching SBS, (subtitles) and probably my most watched tv station.

And then there are projects which start off requiring your full attention and then turn easy, like Liesl. For my first Liesl, I struggled with the first section but once I had moved into the main body, it was plain sailing, easy-peasy knitting, perfect for a subtitled film or knitting at a BBQ while keeping up with the conversation and with a bit of booze in me.

I am currently knitting That Little Scarf as my complex lace (thanks Lynne for letting me know that no rest rows = knitted lace). The ‘no rest rows’ makes it ever more brain straining.
Here is a pic from a week or two ago. I am further advanced now.

The photo is a bit blurry but it shines like silver and looks quite sophisticated. I don’t know when I would wear something so classy! I am sure I will find an occasion.

But of course, I am no saint and there are probably another 3-4 WIPs hiding in my knitting basket, ignored and unappreciated for months now. Sometimes you start knitting and the project does turn out like you expected or you get distracted by something new and shiny. Are neglected WIPs like spurned lovers? The boy who seemed like a good idea at the time but it wasn’t as fun as you imagined, so you’ve stopped returning his calls?

How cute is this old bloke knitting?

Some gifts to knit?
Anyone a perve in your family? How about knitting fetish wear?

Bruno’s all over it too

Actually this might be crochet…vagina tissue box anyone? Maybe for the back window of the car?

For the fashionista in your life…a hamburger dress

Any murderers at work? A selection of killing devices

Or a happy little knitted turd

I hope this has inspired your knitting today….

Knitspot is one of my favourite sites to visit. As you would know, I am a bit of a sucker for lace and Anne Hanson has a lovely variety of lace shawls, scarfs and modestly titled ‘little nothings‘. Her patterns are pretty and nature inspired (Hillflowers, Honey Baby and Poinsettia) with the occasional exotic (Alhambra and Hamsa ) or geometric themes (Hypoteneuse Shawl) thrown in.

Her husband rocks the shawls too, showing that a knitted wrap can be manly. Although he is pretty stylish and I can’t imagine many other men pulling this look off. And Anne is pretty damn styling herself! The colours she chooses for her knits are autumnal and soothing, yet pretty and classic.

Oh and she has socks too. She was only a guest at Sock Summit!

Her blog is delightful to read, as she grow vegies and creates patterns. As someone who pines for a garden of their own, she makes me quite jealous!

The AUD to US$ exchange rate is 93c, so get out there and buy some patterns!

I am also quite taken with the Tilted Slouch hat. There are also a bunch of blokey jumpers but not to my blokes tastes.

There is also a few Christmas decorations, but I will talk about knitted Xmas decorations next time….

Why I like Knit Scene better than Interweave Knits.
I recently purchased both Fall 2009 copies and I have to say that Knit Scene is much more to my taste than IK. Whilst Knit Scene seems to have no real articles and many readers of IK say they only read it for the articles, the patterns in Knit Scene are clothes I would buy in shops. It is obviously targeted for a younger crowd and for the lazier knitter, as apparently these knits are supposed to be easier than IK.
Check out the Carnaby Pullover, super cute as the girls from Stash & Burn would say. Perfect in the olive colourway. And the Hollywood Herringbone Pullover, just right if you are feeling a bit Mad Men and curvacious 50s. Gratutious Mad Men picture.

Image from duckydoestv.com
Compared to IK, where the only good patterns are the Freyja Sweater (which is not really going to turn heads for knitting fanciness, but I have had a recent hankering for a top down jumper like this.) and Rosamund’s Cardigan…but with those side-buns, maybe I am more attracted to the Princess Leia/sci-fi-esque qualities of the jumper.
Another complaint about Knit Scene is its distribution. Knit Scene is not easy to come by here in Australia. I think I have seen it once in a shop and yet you can’t subscribe through Interweave Press. Why not?! I have discontinued my IK subscription but would love a Knit Scene arriving in my mail box every now and then. Are you listening Interweave Press? Prob not….

It’s been stupid hot all week here in Melbourne and its only early November (take that you climate change skeptics Liberal party nuff-nuffs). It’s the time of year when I look at my Ravelry queue and my patterns and think “what should I knit now?”
I always find Interweave Knits Spring and Summer to be a bit lightweight, I don’t like short sleeved jumpers or knitted singlet tops and don’t get me started on knitted skirts. The real deal comes along in Autumn and Winter which is of course my spring and summer! At 35 degrees, whilst a fair isle jumper looks awfully nice in a picture, it would turn into a big sweaty felted lump in my lap.
So what should I knit in summer? I already have produced a couple of Liesls but even they won’t see the light of day in these temperatures. Socks are out. Shawls are out. Looks like I will be making a bunch of wash cloths and stubby holders! Any suggestions?….

I am currently reading The Night Watch by Sarah Waters, another one of Waters’ lovely lesbo-tales, this time set in WW2 London. There is a bit of knitting going on the story too and I have just come across some free 1940s patterns on the Victoria & Albert Museum website. Maybe I should knit myself some saucy fishnets…