crazy december daze

My my, how these days and months are slipping by!
Already Christmas is just around the corner and like many families December is crazy hectic for us. We have the last few weeks of school, graduation ceremonies, carols to attend, various functions, work parties, Christmas!! and then my middle child has a birthday right after Christmas which must be celebrated with gusto. Add to that my working week and it seems I have little time left for anything else. Sound familiar?
In the true spirit of being a mum I love to take more than I can chew so add to my list baking gingerbread, mince pies, rum balls (the best ever!) planning a christmas lunch, presents for teachers and tonight I even got the hairbrained idea that perhaps I can sew myself a party frock before next weekend...!
Oh, and don't forget advent!
The biggest commitment by far each December when I plan out a month of festive activities, outings, crafts and treats for my kiddies to do in the lead up to Christmas. I first started this 4 years ago in a bid to make this time of year more about family and less about, well, presents. Sure presents are nice and all, but I really think kids these days have too. much. stuff!
So far I've been posting our daily advents to Instagram if you care to check it out. You can find me as restlessknitter.

Day three advent: Letters to Santa

So, things have been pretty slow on the knitting front. It seems as though work and life in general is getting in the way of my knitting time. I've been plodding away at my Elizabeth for a while now and I feel like I'm making no progress at all. I love this pattern and the lace is simple and intuitive but the yarn! The yarn has no memory or bounce and it's torture on my tired hands. If I knit this again I will definitely knit it wool, NOT bamboo.

I also have been taking part in the Anadiomena Mystery Knit along which was going great but I got to a stage of doubting how much yarn I had left and given that I've dodged the chicken twice recently, I doubt I will be a third time lucky. The KAL has now ended and after seeing the final pattern I'm in two minds about finishing it at all. I really like the boy version more than the girl version so I may ponder on that a while before I continue or rip out.

I have also been very slowly working on a test knit. Unfortunately I had some gauge issues and after knitting about a third of the garment, I had to rip it out and start again. Hopefully this time it will work out better.

I did recently manage to finish a cardi for my eldest daughter, just in time for a scorching hot Australian summer!

This is the Mini Waters Edge cardigan by Hannah Fettig. The minute I saw this pattern I knew it would suit my Bella. I made a few changes which I outlined on my project page. Go check it out!

And lastly, I pre-ordered a copy of Annie and the Swiss Cheese Scarf by Alana Dakos (hopefully) in time for Christmas. I can't wait to have a read and let you guys know what I think. In the meantime, the Knitmore girls  have a review on episode 206. If you don't already listen to this podcast, you should :-)

Nanna Chic back in style

Earlier this year I was quite anxious to participate in a Mystery Knit Along (MKAL). At the time they seemed really hard to find which only fueled my insane desire to get in on the action. When this one popped up on my radar by Kristen Kapur I was in the sign up queue quicker than you could say knit picks.

I really really like a number of Kristen's designs so I was sure this one would be a winner.

I made a really good start and kept up with the clues each week. Until the last clue that is.

I had also signed up to test knit Maura and obviously I had a deadline to stick to. My Mkal shawl found it's way into the UFO pile with only 10 rows to go and there it sat in neglect for several months.

I finally got bitten by the finishing bug last week and got stuck into it. I knew I would be cutting it close with the yardage so I emitted the final two rows of the last chart. Good thing I did, I had less than 1 metre of yarn to spare once I bound off!!

I wasn't convinced I would love this shawl. I don't think I would pick the pattern had I seen it before the mystery knit. I was contemplating gifting it. But after I blocked it on my shiny new blocking wires I was just a little bit smitten. In fact, I haven't taken it off all week. It's perfect for the cool rainy spring weather we are having at the moment.
Secretly, I just love the nanna look. ;-)