Starstuff revisited

I finished my stranded mitts! Twinkle, twinkle, little possums...

'Starstuff' mitts in Zealana Kauri (Kea + Blue Pania)

Blocking really worked wonders for my tension - the stitches are so much more even and tidy, and the star pattern shows up clearly. My beloved possum-blend yarn 'bloomed' a little too, so they're even softer after blocking, with a lovely halo of possum fur.

The pattern, Starstuff, is now fully revised and available for download from Ravelry. While the design remains essentially the same, I edited the instructions for clarity, re-drew the charts to make them more straightforward, and made a few small design tweaks to the ribbing sections. I've learned a lot about colourwork (and knitting in general) since I first released my Starstuff pattern in 2010, so the revision was well worth doing.

I used a little more than half a ball of the blue yarn, and a little less than half of the green. I plan to make a coordinating hat, once I've made some progress on my other projects. I'm thinking stars around the brim, and a solid centre.



Excavation: Part II

More finds from the land of packing...
  • A handwritten uni essay draft! It appears to be from my big honours-year Research Essay, on music and science in 17thC England. Also, an actual floppy disc!
  • An alpaca scarf composed of forty crocheted flowers, which I made last year after performing in Tallis' 40-part motet Spem in alium. It was a Really Big Deal for me, and I wanted to commemorate it somehow. Being a bit of a weirdo, I chose crochet. :p
  • Costumes from various events I've attended and/or organised over the years. Highlights are my attempt at a 14thC outfit for the Feast of Fools, my Blackadder-esque creation for The Queen's Revels (and Willie's outfit!), and my Mrs Bennett costume for Yvonne's Time Travellers' Ball. We have a such kick-ass dress-up box.

Singing some Hildegard, with psaltery (Feast of Fools, 2009)
Dancing the Tedesca (Feast of Fools, 2009)
 
 
Two 'gentlemen' dancing (The Queen's Revels, 2009)
Galliards are fun!

The Doctor and Mrs Bennett (Time Travellers' Ball, 2010)

Excavation

Items unearthed while packing for The Big Move:
  • A little black-and-white photo of my family's much-missed cat, officially named Mischief but universally known as Meece. The photo was inside a book I was putting in the 'to donate' box. Glad I flipped through it first! In the photo, Meece is jumping down from the window box which was my first gardening playground. I grew freesias, alpine strawberries, a miniature rose, and all sorts of things...

 

  • Handwritten recipes from my Form 1 'Manual' cooking class, and earlier. Cheese scones and other classics! One recipe was earnestly typed up on an old-school typewriter. :)
    No photos sorry, because they are packed for storage (unpacking a box again would be Not Helpful at this point).
  • Mum's renowned tomato chutney recipe. I hope I can get cheap tomatoes in Melbourne!
  • My MA thesis (eek) on rhetoric in Baroque-period instrumental music.
  • A test-swatch for the amazing mohair stars-and-planets jersey that Mum made for me in the 80s. The jersey itself still fits (yay for oversized 80s styles), but is awaiting repairs after a run-in with dastardly moths at my old house.


No doubt there will be more treasures to come as we make more progress!

My First Knitting

Last year Mum & Dad framed my very first dodgy knitting attempt for my birthday present. It's a classic - full of accidental increases and general weirdness! In my defense, I wasn't very old at the time. I think I had intended to make a doll's scarf.

Here it is in all its glory...