January!

Knitting has been happening, mostly at night due to the extremely hot weather we have been having around here lately! Bring on autumn or reduce the temps to 25 and I will be very happy. Up above is the back of the second Sporty Car Coat I am knitting. I like the different mixes of all the greens. I think this one may be going to a little baby boy Alex who I got to have a cuddle of on Saturday, just totally adorable he is.

Up above is a WIP pic of Isabelle's leafy shrug which is a pattern on ravelry. Black was selected for it this time as I dont normally knit with black or white for that matter very much at all. This one has been put aside for a few days so I can knit on it during the day when the weather is cooler. Evaporative cooling does not work well in such high humidity, it just blows out hot air so the knitting has been put away during the day.

Other News-

Two days ago I blew up our steam mop! Dont know how it happened, but it did scare me. Sparks flew out of the middle of the cord like I was welding something and then a patch of the carpet in my lovely front room caught on fire. Thankfully I could quickly put it out and there is a tiny black mark there now which Paul is going to see if he can remove it all. I now own a new handmop which I guess is better for the arm muscles too as I been put off using a steam mop ever again in case it happens. The middle of the cord has a big hole burnt through it too!

I also have an interview on Thursday so I am keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well. I wont mention it again unless I am successful.

I also went to the doctors and discovered why I am so tired. More tests need to be done for other things, nothing too serious so far - but my iron count was down to 7 which is extremely low so now I have to have iron tablets and Vitamin D tablets too - that was also low but because my skin burns when it is like 18 degrees outside it is best to avoid the sun most of the time anyway so those tablets will be one I will probably take for the rest of my life she said. I guess now Paul and Lachlan will be happy that we have to eat more beef now to get my iron levels back up. We shall see how that goes!

Isabelle returns to school on Friday so that should be nice for her to see all her school friends again. We picked up all her school books today and got everything sorted out. I am feeling more organised. Lachlan is waiting on a 5 day course to start - I really hope he goes back to school to finish Year 12. We will see how he feels after the course as they explain how things work in the workplace and other things which should be very helpful. I still cannot believe that it is the last day of January, this month feels long but in reality it has really flown by. I do hope the rest of the year doesnt do that like the last one.

Okay I am off to actually watch some tv tonight and Brothers and Sisters is returning which I really like and hopefully it cools down enough so I can knit some more.

The List Is Getting Longer

First up I would like to thank Amanda J, Kate and Karin for presenting me with the You Make My Day award. I cant believe how many people have nominated me and you cant imagine how honoured I feel too, so thank you so much girls!
So first up some knitting books that I have received recently and I really like too.
The Pleasures of Knitting has some really lovely patterns in it, two of which I would love to knit up.
The Little Box of Knitted Gifts has some cute things in it although nothing out of the ordinary. I do like it though and plan to knit up a few things later on!
The last book is Soft and Simple Knits for Little Ones and it has some cute things in it too, but I will show some favourites from it another day.

Now onto the knitting, as I have been promising a few WIP shots.

1. The Pink Flower Cardigan which is a little bit hard to photograph. This is one repeat so far (why did I choose bobbles). It will be a bit of time before it is finished.

2. The DB Baby Cabled Hoodie which I cast on for last year and still have not finished. I really love all the little cables in it but it is time consuming. The color is actually a darker red, but you know my camera it always changes colors on reds and blues for some reason.

3. The Fog Sweater - this is coming along nicely and I have already finished the back and cast on for the front. Yes, I am not knitting in the round and I dont mind seaming so I cant wait to finish this one.

4. Trellis - yes well I started this last year too and only have half the back finished so far. Whilst photographing my stash I found the rest of the cotton for it so I do plan on finishing this one too.

5. Vintage Car Coat - I started this one last week and it is so fun to knit. More on that later.

6. Pink Socks - nothing fancy, just plain 64 sts socks in one of Katt's yarns but I will have to look up the color since the label is now missing. I have completed half a sock so I should take some time to finish it up.

7. Buzy Lizzie - I looove this pattern! It is so cute. I have started the left front, and finished the back last year some time. This will have to be completed soon too so I can cross it off the list.

8. Jethro Jacket - Yes this is still sitting in the UFO basket but recently I found it again and felt like knitting some of it. I will need to get motivated to knit this in the cooler weather though as it is quite warm and the weather has been hot and humid here.

9. Duffle Coat - yes after ripping out the first version because I had 2 different dye lots, I cast on for another color and that is all that has been completed so far.

10. Blue Baby Cardigan - I love this little baby jacket and have knit it twice before for cousin's babies, but will need to finish the front and sleeves so I can pop it into the gift basket.

11. Twist - I love this pattern and Bonne Marie is so clever with the garments that she designs. I have knit a little bit of the back and will try and knit some more on it after I have finished a few others.

12. Cobblestone sweater - This is nearly halfway and I havent photographed it yet either. I really need to get back to it instead of having it sit in the bag waiting for me to pay attention to it.

13. Midwest Moonlight Scarf - Another winter knit which is still not finished yet. It is halfway done so I really should finish this one too. I had to keep repeating the last repeat when I was doing it as I kept making silly mistakes, so after I had fixed them I put it in a bag to marinate for a while until I was ready to start it again. It really is a lovely pattern so when I have some quiet time I will try and finish it.

Well that is the list so far of WIP's and I should try and finish some of them off soon. I know there is more sitting there waiting to be finished too but I dont want to feel too guilty, this list is bad enough. How many WIP's do you have waiting to be finished!

Oh and tomorrow I should be able to knit some more as BOTH children will be back at school tomorrow, so hooray for me. I did most of my ironing yesterday so that is off the to do list. Isabelle and I also got a long awaited haircut. Isabelle's hair kept getting knotty and driving me crazy trying to brush it, so now it has a good 2 inches snipped off the back and looks much neater too. I would have preferred it in a bob but she would have been upset if we cut that much off it. I also got quite a bit cut off mine. I was a bit annoyed last time as my hairdresser decided to leave it a bit longer, but my hair grows like a weed so 3 weeks later it was looking quite terrible. I dont think she will leave it like that again as I told her I wasnt happy last time with the extra length. Now it is nice and short and very manageable. Just what I need when having to run around after the kids. Now I am off to serve homemade lasagna for dinner which I whipped up yesterday afternoon so I didnt have to cook tonight!