Lamps, murders and knits

As I sit knitting this...

... I am continually reminded of another knitter who always seemed to be knitting something airy and fluffy. Whilst I may not possess her shrewdness when it comes to solving murders, we do have the knitting in common, therefore I have named the latest project in her honour. Everybody, meet Miss Marple (not to be confused with the Rowan doppelganger):

I'm knitting MM on 4mm needles using Phildar Aurore in Poudre (now discontinued). And the best bit? I'm knitting from stash! I've had this yarn lying around for far too long, so I'm rather chuffed that I saved it from it's cobwebby home, blew off the dust and got a-knitting. Although I have to admit that it's not really a night time yarn to knit with, unless you perch yourself right under the reading lamp. Aurore + poor light = blind Jorth and many dropped stitches. So that's one thing in common that I do not have with Miss Marple - she had excellent eyesight, all the better to see all the shenanigans and people acting dubiously with.

So we can conclude that Miss Marple was probably smart and didn't knit her light, fluffy knits during the evening when the light was poor. However, in my defence, I'd just like to point out that she didn't have a toddler to look after during the day who has lately become fascinated with knitting needles, requiring all knitting to be safely stowed away until she's tucked up safely in bed.

Speaking of, she's in bed now, so to the knitting I go. Hoo roo!

5 Tag

Woohoo! Another tagging, this time by the supremely talented Aunty Cookie. So, here goes...

Five minutes to yourself: how would you spend them, ideally?
Five whole minutes? Without any nappies to change, laundry to hang out, dishes to do? Probably in a daze, completely at a loss! Actually, if this were the idea magical world, I would wait until the Galumph got home, then I would teleport myself down to a snug little quiet bar playing soft jazz, order myself a glass of merlot and some nibblies and hunker down with a favourite magazine. Oh, and maybe I could freeze time like the witch from Sabrina, The Teenage Witch used to do, so I could actually have an hour or two!

Five bucks to spend right now; how would you spend it?
On a magazine, of course! I think I'm addicted to magazines. Sad, really.

Five items in your house you could part with, right now, that you hadn't thought of already?
Too easy! Ratty computer desk, dining table and chairs, stinky old spare bed mattress, sugar container and the grumpy mood currently swirling around my head.

Five items you absolutely, positively could never part with in your house?
Computer (as it has our life in photos on it and is also sadly my life line), my Phildar magazines, Grumble's first toys (Bert the butterfly and Trotter the horse, see pic), my bookcase (and all the books inside, yes, I know it's cheating but c'mon! I'm running out of ideas here) and the bath. Even though it's huge, and you always run out of hot water before it's filled decently, and I always feel super guilty about having a bath, I still love lying in all that blissfully hot water.

Five words you love?
Only five? Sheesh! Okey dokey: Superlative, refulgent, malheureusement, crapulent and Parthian.

I'm baaaack!

... and fitter than ever before! Rather than use Easter as an excuse to slob around, doing nothing but occasionally look surprised at how many chocolate dribble stains are accumulating on my t-shirt, this year we went Rail Trailing! We stayed at a very comfy place in Bruthen, and hit the trail for two days running, riding to Nowa Nowa the first day (great pub lunch at the end, and the people running the pub were so nice!) and on the second day heading to the Nicholson River winery. The tracks were well maintained, and apart from the very occasional hill, very easy to ride on (especially when one finally figures out how to use their gears. Ahem.) Highlights:

- Managing to be happily tucking into lunch at the pub, nicely under shelter, when the horrendous rains struck.

- Not falling off my bike (instead, I fell ON my bike and oh my goodness me you should see the horror bruise I have on my inner thigh, right near my privates - but at the least the bike and Grumbles remained upright).

- Popping in to see the gorgeous coastal town of Metung - how darn pretty is that place?!

- Enjoying a glass of sparkling shiraz in the sunshine at the winery, whilst Grumbles happily played in the sandpit (very thoughtful of the winery owners to put one there).

- Playing pig-in-the-middle frisbee on the winery lawn, and chuckling as Grumbles erupted with mirth every time it whizzed over her head.

I'll let the pics do the rest of the talking! All in all, we had a wonderful time. I'd highly recommend it to anybody.

Eeek! I made a mistake in the 'Ruffles' pattern

... for which I hope you'll all forgive me! It says to knit for 10 rows, but you should actually be doing stocking stitch. Hope this makes it all much clearer, and I've corrected the pattern so that it's now correct. Big thanks to Joanne for the heads up!

Off and racing!

We're off for a few days of Rail Trail biking, so I'll catch you all when we return. Wishing everybody an eggscellent Easter (so sorry, I couldn't resist!), after which I'll be back, hopefully with stories to tell - and equally hopefully none of those involve being run over. Hoo roo!

Ruffles pattern

Wheee! Back from some time away, down at the coast. And what a marvellous time we had, too: a lovely wedding in a country setting, a splendid walk along the wild and woolly coastline, and fish and chips down at the Geelong foreshore (how fancy are those bollards!). But enough gadding about - here's the pattern for Ruffles!

Materials:
1 ball Rowan Kidsilk Haze (this makes for a short 'neck' scarf, but feel free to use another ball for a longer version)
1 pair size 3mm needles
1 pair size 7mm needles

Stitches:
Stocking stitch (knit one row, purl next row)

Method:

Cast on 42 stitches using 7mm needles.

Knit stocking stitch for 10 rows, beginning with a knit row.

Row 11: Using the 3mm needles, K1, *k2 tog*, repeat * until one stitch remaining, knit last stitch. There should be 22 stitches.

Rows 12 - 16: Continue in stocking stitch, changing over to the 7mm needle on row 16.

Row 17: *K1, M1*, repeat until one stitch remaining, knit last stitch. There should be 42 stitches.

Row 18: Purl.

Repeat rows 1 - 18 until all the yarn is used, or the scarf is at your preferred length. Cast off loosely.

So there you have it. Now, I have one request - if anybody makes their own Ruffles, please please PLEASE send a pic so I can swoon in joy. Ta!

(Please note that this pattern is copyrighted to the author, and cannot be republished or distributed without prior consent.)