pardon the sound track

Just sat down to blog and had a total brain-fart... have no clue what I last said. Excuse me for a moment while I re-read my own drivel...

*insert elevator music type rendition of the girl from ipanema*

Ah-ha! You'd think I'd remember something crucial like finding out why I'm sick all the time but apparently amnesia is one of my symptoms. ba-boom-ch

So, I've had a week of D3 and Iron supplements and one of my B12 shots. I'm probably feeling heaps better but have wicked PMS at the moment so I can't actually be objective about that. Also we are going to avoid talking about that stuff because I might get cranky and say something I will regret later.
So instead of the pity party, I'm going to show you some knitting ("really? Knitting? on a knitting blog?") I know, I know. It's not like I ever stop.. it just becomes sort of subconscious when it's my main coping strategy and i forget to show it off. But seriously, it's a bad sign when you're consistently boring even yourself.

*elevator music again while i look at ravelry and try to remember what I've been knitting*

Ok, so a little while ago I started Sayuri from Sensual Knits (Rav link, pardonez-moi). I am using Naturally Yarns Merino et Soie 8 ply (Rav again, sorry) in colour... 212, which is a really sensational deep blue with paler silk running through it. Smooth, lush and silky (dur). After a marathon effort this week I managed to finish the top half and sleeves and am now knitting the body. This is a nifty pattern in that you cast on the back at just below bust height (no, not that you have boob-olahs on your back but you know what I mean), increase a bit and then cast on a gazillion or so stitches on either side for the sleeves. You knit until the sleeves are a gazillion inches long and then cast off the middle bits for the back of the neck. You see where we are going? You then knit each front piece including conjoined sleeve seperately and increase to create a deep v neck. Then you join the pieces again and do a nifty bit of linen stitch at the waist and continue down with shaping. There may be some mention of an I-cord type attachment around neckline, but I'll hyperventilate over that when I come to it.
Of course, once the top bit is done it seems ingenious. While you're knitting those gazillion stitches for a gazillion inches it seems bloody stupid.
Happy with the results though :) gorgeous drape on the sleeves.

I finished Monkey's birthday socks today. His birthday is Sept 19th (talk like a pirate day, appropriately) but I'm not laying any bets that I'll hold out til then. He really does have the puppy-dog eyes down pat. (And apparently the socks are haunted... nice aura!)
Oh, yeah, it's Opal Rainforest 6-ply in the Owl colourway. And it is MANLY. Not pretty. Thank you.

I also had a mental blip and forgot my bias against toe-up socks, and am now knitting these from 101 designer one-skein-wonders (seriously cute book if you find yourself doing a lot of gift knits). The pic on rav is useless because it doesnt show the best bit - frilly cuff! (apparently I am seven at heart). Mock at will, it has been done already and I am (relatively) immune. Perhaps those in Jazz Santa Suits should not throw stones? ;)

Also, the bunnies have been immensely good company in my time of need (except they keep hijacking me for my biscotti! fiends!). I shall leave you with a suitably nauseating tableau. (He who shall cast the first stone something something... we're all gross with our pets, right?)(We like to rub noses... do I need to explain that?)(Oh, and excuse standard 'i am at home' uniform, I had just woken up from a nap on the couch... and that's biscotti he is taking out of my mouth, not sputem or anything, ok? Monkey says it's almost a very romantic sequence except Monty is a rabbit)(and just because Winnie was feeling a bit left out, isn't she lovely? Though she is not a fan of the paparazzi)

Tomorrow is TOM so I need my not-so-fugly sleep. I''ll be the one in the all-cheering section knitting frilly socks!

Peace out
Ms Spider xo