More Ballatrina in the web world!

Just thought i'd pop in with a quick heads up - I've been talking with Liz at Knitting for Profit about how much to charge for my recent contract knitting job, and she's put my question and her answer up on her blog! Check it out here - some helpful advice, very handy if you're thinking of contracting yourself out as a knitter.

~~~

I'm still knitting crazily along with the present for work-baby at the moment - I only have two and a half knitting days until I have to hand it in! Suffice it to say that i've had a few late nights lately; its coming along well - i'm kinda making it up as I go along, so ideas keep popping into my head, but I think it should look alright at the end. Then I can get back to the stuff for the roadtrip, and the other commission job which is half finished, and then things can slow down a little!

~Happy knitting!~

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Squeeze me!

I was commissioned by a friend to make a pair of baby booties for another mutual friend of ours, for a special present, to be given in a couple of months. I then found out that our finance manager at work's wife is having a baby in early July, and all staff were invited to put together presents for them. I've also been commissioned by Aunty Ali to make a cardigan for baby Emily out of lovely bamboo yarn (she's supplying the yarn and the pattern, but I haven't seen it yet). On top of that is all the things i'm supposed to be making for my other friend to sell on her craft road-trip in mid-July. And then, Mum found some old knitting in her knitting bag - a toddler's jersey that just needs the finishing, and she's suggested I give it to the hospital, or to Orphan's Aid International - its so old she can't remember who did the knitting! Oh, and Buttony hasn't seen the light of day since I moved back home.

What was I thinking, when yesterday morning sitting in bed, I picked up some spare needles and some new mohair yarn I was given, and started on this:

This is a triangle shawl in Squeeze Me! mohair. I must be crazy! I think to get the best of both worlds, I'll leave this project at work to carry on with in my lunch hours. Sorry about the terrible phone-photo - the colours are far more stunning in real life, and so far the colour pooling is working out ok. I was given two balls of this, so if this shawl works out ok i'll make another one and sell them both! Its a very simple pattern, here on my Ravelry page, but the colour changing is enough to keep it interesting :)

So, here's the timeline for my other projects:

1. Finance manager's baby stuff - a pair of purple/white converse booties (i'm addicted to this pattern!!), and a little vest if I, by some miracle, still have time!
2. Items to sell - sewing together the bag, maybe another couple of neck cozies or some embroidered bags
3. Booties for mutual friend
4. Emily's cardigan (there's no rush for this one, i've been told)
5. Finish Buttony!
6. Finishing for toddler jersey (neckline & seaming)

Maybe then we can return to our normal broadcasting! Unpacking some more stuff yesterday I came across a large black plastic bag of all my project bags - patterns that have been matched with yarn, just waiting for me to come along with the needles... Another reminder that I won't be buying more yarn again in a hurry.

~Happy knitting!~

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Motivation

Progress on Buttony is coming along slowly... i've been busy the last couple of lunchtimes so I haven't worked on it that much (and nights have been busy sewing ribbons onto a dress for B!), and to be honest, i'm at that point in the project where is SO slow that i'm close to giving up! What a waste of effort that would be, especially as i'm not far off finishing the body!

So, for motivation, I was looking at my Ravelry queue to see what i've got coming up:

(Click on the link above to get to the patterns)

This queue has changed alot recently - I was hit by the reality that i'm REALLY never going to get around to knitting everything, so i've been adding to my favourites more than my queue. The order changes often as well, as I come across new project to knit as presents! At least there are some projects on there that I can work on simultaneously - the hat at the same time as the B.O.B jersey, and Clapotis at the same time as CPH - to keep up the interest! I'm also likely to work on Thermal at the same time as Wicked, in hopes that the boring stockinette of Wicked will balance the intense pattern of Thermal.

Just need to get through Buttony now... Wish me luck!

~Happy knitting!~

Where to from here?

Looking back on some of my last posts, I seem to have mentioned a few things i'm working on and what i'd like to do coming up. I thought i'd give you a proper update, as I think I have things cleared up a bit now - the wonders of a stash tidy up!
Earlier I mentioned i'd been working on this Fern Glade beret. I'd only done the first couple of rounds of ribbing, but as I needed the cable for my blue tam, I ripped out that project. I do plan on starting it again soon though.

I also mentioned that I seperated pre-determined yarn and matched it with their projects so they are ready to pick up and go. There are two in particular that i'm dying to start - the Buttony Sweater in red Gedifra (left), and the Wicked sweater by Zephyr in light blue Patons Soft Haze (below).

Also prepared in my Ravelry queue are the Coffee tunic in Taeri Plains 8ply, a Clapotis in Patons Smoothie DK, Thermal in Elle Pure Gold, as well as the obligitory Central Park Hoodie in London Tweed. Too many to choose from!

Also sitting in the back of my head is more charity work - the preemie baby stuff for the Wellington Hospital, more puppy jumpers, and squares for Casa Kiwi blankets. I also promised my sister that I would make her a little Fireman Sam toy (yes, she's 22, but it brings back good memories!) and she leaves for her big trip soon and i'd like to get that done before she goes.

In the meantime, the ribbon x-back top is staring at me from my WIP pile... I'm not sure that i'm so keen on it any more, but i'm determined to finish it anyway. That will be my next project out of the way! (Just in the interest of updating, i'm choosing to forget about Talia for the moment, but I know its still there!)

Common sense and practical thinking tell me that since the Thermal pattern has been in my queue the longest, that's the next big project I should start on. The other part of my head says that Buttony has been on there almost as long, and that's in chunky so it will go faster! So that's what i'll do - Buttony then Thermal.

Don't hold me to that though, the mind is a crazy thing that changes more than this weird Wellington weather...

~Happy knitting!~

Hit the JACKPOT!

I never get mail... well, according to my flatmates I get more than they do, but its usually just boring circulars that I end up throwing out, so that doesn't count. Anyway, I hit the mail jackpot last night - I was the first home last night, and got super excited to see that all the mail was for me - nothing for anyone else, and the excitment grew when I opened up all my mail and found this:

JACKPOT!

Enclosed....

1. Mingus Big Band tickets! I only booked these two or three days ago, I can't believe they arrived so fast! They are performing as part of the Wellington Jazz Festival, first weekend of March. I've never been to the festival before, so i'm really looking forward to going - my jazz-guru-friend Al is coming with me :)

2. FastTrack bass guitar book! More on this in the future as my plans for next year are slowly revealed, but lets just say i'm hoping to get more serious about my bass guitar adventures, and I figured this was a good place to start - it starts out quite basic, which I guess is what I need.

3. Interweave Knits magazine, Spring 2009! I've subscribed to this from USA, and i've been reading about it on other people's blogs for a while now, expecting it to turn up any day... and it finally has! I'm keen to add the Soap Bubble Wrap and the Zickzack tunic to my ever-growing queue.

Knitting update

I'm still working on the puppy jumpers, although sorry to say I haven't had a chance to do much more work on them since I last blogged about it. That's my plan for tomorrow - I hope to get the first girl one finished, and the boy one started.

Also, if you're in Wellington, the Cuba St Carnival starts tomorrow. This was going on just down the road from my office the other day:

Setting up the street with flags

If you're a knitter, there's stuff for us too - come along to the Bristol on Cuba Street and knit tree cozies! There is more information on this blog or in this Ravelry thread. They also have a Facebook group with some cool photos. Hope to see you there!

~Happy Knitting!~