And she shall be called ... Lulu!

Introducing (drum roll please....) LULU!

After much brainstorming, friend K came up with this wonderful name for my stash sheep. Pilve was her name in the magazine, but she is a new puppet, and a naughty one at that, who needed a new name. I'm sure the original Pilve wouldn't want to be associated with this cheeky Aussie lamb in any case.



Mere minutes after leaping fully-formed from the embroidery needle, she is already casting a mischievous eye over my dotter's freshly-dyed sock yarn! I predict trouble ahead...

The creature from the wool lagoon

This is the back view... The creature emerges...Pilve now has a head and one ear. The last ear is being cast on tonight, and given how enormous (not) it is, probably finished tonight as well.

The next step is embroidering on the face (probably the most important part of all), and then stuffing the head. But at least once I've finished the ear tonight I can have my 2.25mm flexible DPNs back, and I FINALLY cast on the next pair of socks for ME. I've got some lovely blue Patonyle sitting in my knitting basket, whimpering at night, and waking the mice, wanting to be knit.



And this is the front view - I'm not sure if I did the head decreases correctly, but, meh, who cares :)

Pilve Progress

Hurrah, Pilve has paws! Well, front legs. And a neck, and -until I was rudely stopped mid-row last night by a power blackout - the better part of a head.



As Othlon said, this fair isle pattern would make the most wonderful gloves...

I'm pushing to finish Pilve soon, as I want to make some more socks, and I only have one set of 2.25 mm flexible DPNs.

And my brother came over yesterday, and he was delighted with his possum hat - the day was unseasonably cold, and he wore it immediately! He didn't have anything similar at home, either, so I think he'll get a lot of wear from it.

Finishing off

My new book has finally arrived! "The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques" by Nancie Wiseman is wonderful - if nothing else, it's spiral bound, so opens easily and lies flat. There are 7 Cast Ons, a variety of Increases and Decreases, 3 Selvages, 5 Bind Offs, a ton of seam techniques, plus picking up stitches, borders, bands, finishes, buttonholes, and odds and ends, like how to knit shoulder pads, weaving in ends neatly, blocking, and how to store yarn. The diagrams are clear and as far as I can tell from a quick glance through it it seems to be well written. I'll bring it along to SnB for show & tell! (I can't make it to next Sunday's SnB, so it'll be next month).



I've also finished darning in the ends for hubby's Jet Scarf, and have finished my brother's possum hat (pictured here, modelled by my very own scruffy teenage rock musician son). It's a bit funny having all these seams at the crown, but it looks fine when worn. And I didn't run out of the possum/merino (although it was a little close for comfort)!

More nice things!

Lots of things to report tonight!

First of all - I've been found out. I managed a few days of knitting in secret on hubby's jumper extensions, but he caught me at it... ah well, it's a hell of a lot easier to knit without trying to hide it. The second extension is nearly done, I'm up to grafting the ribbed band back on!



I've also nearly finished my White Lies Alene Camisole. It's been sitting in a bag for months, waiting for the final rows of knitted lace, and then all the fiddly bits to finish it off... In the past few weeks I've finished the camisole lace and knitted the neck / armhole egding (lots of picking up stitches!). The 1" shoulder straps have been knitted, but they're supposed to be sewn onto adjustable bra-type straps - which our local sewing shop doesn't stock any more! I'll probably buy a cheapy pink bra or slip from St Vinnie's and chop its straps off. Then I need to sew a casing for some elastic under the bustal region, and insert said elastic. And then I need to either knit or crochet a thin cord for the front lacing, but I'm leaning towards some shiny pretty ribbon instead. And there are, of course, roughly a squintillion ends to darn in.



This is the beginning stages of a hat for my brother's 40th birthday - he's a very environmentally conscious guy, so I hope he'll appreciate this possum / merino blend. I'm past the ribbed brim, and well into the hat itself now - it's a nice slipped stitch pattern. Funny to be knitting a hat flat, though - I'm used to hats in the round.



Taph dropped past on the weekend with my birthday pressie - I'm having such a nice extended birthday this year (I still have a few birthday treats pending from family members!). She even knitted me a lace washcloth... such devotion is truly stunning - **hugs** - the soap is yummy, Body Shop deliciousness - thanks Taph :D



Taph also gave me the lovely mezzaluna knife and board, and my hubby (via my FIL) gave me the Stephanie Alexander book which I've wanted for so many years that it's now in its second edition... and it was worth the wait - really brilliant book. My kids gave me the Cuisipro beautifully designed mixing spoon and spaghetti spoon (which match my new ladle).