Renshaw - In Cavendish Blue

I promise to take some more photos of this once it's finished blocking but I really quite like it so I couldn't wait.

The pattern is from Crochet!Magazine and is the Web Bonus for September and is called the Copper Shoulder Wrap.
I knew as soon as I saw it I really wanted to make one. I have no idea why. I also knew immediately that I wanted it in a semi-solid blue.
Once I'd hunted down enough yarn I dyed it straight away and loved the colour.

The pattern worked up quite quick and easily although I struggled over how to join the trim and in the end I sewed it on, which works really well with this yarn.
I'm lightly blocking at the moment, to sort out the trim.
I have lots of left over yarn. I still love the colour, I still love the pattern.

Oh and I named it in honour of my favourite Tour rider - even with his early departure, and the name of the colour just seemed to fit too.

Le Maillot Rouge

In my crafting side trip I had to take a side trip. I was off at the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show for a couple of weeks in July - ok I wasn't at the show for a couple of weeks, just 3 days, but the couple of weeks leading up to it I was down visiting with Mum and there was just no time to knit.

An-nee-way I'm back on track and the vest is whizzing along. I needed another ball of red and picked that up while I was away too.

So here it is... I've got the bands to do - my favourite part... NOT! And then I think I'm foolishly attempting the impossible, I'm going to try and embroider Thomas the Tank Engine on the front.
The Little Man has asked for a blue vest too. Unless the embroider goes like a dream I hope he's happy with just a blue one.

Vive la France!

I haven't caught up on all my crafty activities for June (or the end of May even) but I wanted to side track.

I'm... ummm, how do I put it? knitting for France? Well not really, I'm knitting along with the Tour de France I guess is the way to describe it.

This is my second year of watching the Tour de France and by watching I mean getting really involved - understanding what's going on, supporting teams and riders, oh and taking note of the scenery of course. (In fact the scenery last night was upsetting my knitting!)

Last year I supported Cadel Evans and his team - but this year I am supporting Team HTC Columbia. Why? Well they have a few Aussies riding and of course they have the very large ego-ed Mark Cavendish, but mostly I am watching to support Mark Renshaw.

Apart from the fact I actually went to primary school with a Mark Renshaw (not the same one) I think he is one incredibly devoted team player. He rides his heart out through the race, supporting his team members (this was in evidence last night) and then tows Cav to the front of the peloton, rides his heart out and Cav screams past him to (hopefully) take the sprint finish. I seriously hope he's paid a lot of money and really appreciated.

Anyway, riding aside, I have too much on my plate for TdF this year - I decided I'd make DS a vest with Thomas the Tank Engine on the front (he seems to like wearing vests), I'm also half way through a gorgeous crocheted shoulder wrap that I thought I'd do to wear to Bendigo and I have my tea cosy to finish for the competition.

To top all that off I am having a stall at Bendigo and I need to be ready for that.
Oh, and the kids are on school holidays so I need to keep them amused during the day.

This is all fine but the TdF starts at 10pm here in the Eastern States of Aus. So I'll pretty much be bleary eyed for the next 3 weeks. It's all in a good cause and by the end of the race I'm so much into it that I feel withdrawal when it's all over. :o(

This year I decided I might do some progress shots, just so you and I can both see I'm getting something done.



Last night I cast on (twice) for the vest. I've been tossing up for the last week about colours, but the little man has said he wants a red vest and I was trying to put green around it, but not sure I have enough. When I found the navy I thought it might work.
Originally I was going to knit it flat and try and do some intarsia, but I have since decided I'd knit it in the round and sew the picture on the front. As I haven't yet knit intarsia I figured this might be a less stressful option and actually mean the top gets finished.
I'm planning on making on Thomas one and one James one - so maybe I'll intarsia the next one.

See you tomorrow.

Up on blocks

Here is Ishbel again. Being blocked.
And yes, this is the reverse side. Once I pinned out once side I folded the other side over as I couldn't seem to get them symmetrical as I was pinning it out.I blocked it outside on my back verandah. It was extremely warm and by the time I'd finished pinning the whole thing only needed about 15 minutes before it was totally dry - there was a lot of the heat coming through the bricks and towel.


Still the reverse side.
It's all finished now and I must admit I've tucked it away until to become part of an outfit I'll wear at a friends wedding in September.
I have got a couple of photos of me wearing it, all finished that I'll fish round for later.

I'm all rainbowed out..

"The vest" is finished.
I managed to knit, finish and block it all in the time the Tour de France was on.
OK, so it was drying as they were riding up and down the Champs Elysee, but that's splitting hairs.



The good news is that it fits, and the bad news, she's worn it twice (at my insistence) and just doesn't seem keen on wearing it (however she got upset when she found out I was knitting something for me, it wasn't fair I had two things, she had one!!!!). She complained that it was scratchy on her neck... it's baby wool! I did that on purpose because that is always her complaint.
It literally leads me to one conclusion, I will have to make her things out of synthetic yarn, take any scratchiness factor out of it.

Needless to say knitting her anything new at the moment is waaaay down on my list of things to do.

Ishbel Mark 2

Ah Ishbel.
Well I did start one. And it was fraught with danger. The first part is a simple stockinette stitch and I was fair flying along until I thought I'd done something wrong. It all went down hill from there. (Note - don't knit with a migraine)
I undid the work I did when I had a migraine and then my brain seemed to turn to mush and I kept miscounting so kept undoing (I only figured out later that I was counting the wrong way). In the end I frogged the whole thing (knitters term for undoing everything - you take out the knitting needles and rip the yarn - rippit = frog)

I wasn't happy with the yarn colours either. So....

I had some 4ply 100% wool that I had dyed and was saving for my second Ishbel (or some other exciting project). Maybe I'd try it and see if different yarn made a difference.

Hard to get a good shot of the colour. It goes from deep red through to hot pink.
I like knitting the Ishbel in a lighter weight yarn. The edge pulls a lot more in the fingering weight.
It's coming along. I can't decide what size to knit. I'll see when I get there I guess.

Maybe the lace bit will be easier than the plain bit!This one is forming part of my knit-a-long for the Tour de France, must keep working on it.