Older and Wiser?

On Sunday I joined the "Oh my god, it's only two years until I turn 30" club. I had a great day, although Brad wouldn't even let me win mini-golf (and he didn't just win, he killed me by about 10 shots). For dinner, we went to P.F. Changs our favourite Chinese restaurant (almost as good as Master Wok back in Werribee). I also got some great presents and I want to thank everyone who sent stuff from back home - I know that postage isn't cheap!

From Brad I got perfume (Beyond Paradise) and a couple of books. I've started reading one of the books "1000 Places to See Before You Die" and I love it. The only problem is.... I want see it all! Actually, I've only read about 10 entries so far (it starts in England) and they all sound so good. I mean, they're places I've never even heard of but now I want to go (as well as all the other places on my list). Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to get this book!

Some of the other gifts I got included clothes, book & bookmark, body products, dvds, locket and knitting bag. Thank you to everyone!

In knitting news, I finished the watermelon hat for Charlotte (I'll post some photos before I send it). I also ripped back my icarus shawl AGAIN but this time I'm back on track (yes, I'm sure). This year we've decided to send back our Christmas presents economy parcel post which takes about 4-6 weeks (I think you can see where I'm heading with this). That's right, we have to have our Christmas presents organised by the end of October (only about 9 weeks). That means that I need to do some serious Christmas knitting between now and then. I finished a small knitted gift for Jo and have ordered some yarn to make a cardigan for Charlotte. There are a few other gifts on my list but I guess they are going to remain secret until Christmas.

Finally, we bought tickets to see the Rolling Stones in October! I can't wait. The funny thing is dad told me he saw the Rolling Stones when they came to Australia before he and mum were married. Almost 40 years ago!

Keeping Busy

So Brad arrived home from Colorado on Thursday and needless to say much knitting was done while he was gone. This is a photo of the projects I'm currently working on:

On the left is the Icarus Shawl from the summer edition of Interweave Knits. It was going along really well until yesterday when I screwed up two consecutive rows. Rather than try and figure out what I'd done wrong I ripped back (very carefully today). I think I'm back on track now..... I think!

In the middle is a modified version of "Kate" from Knitty. As you can see, mine is more of a green blob with pink arms and legs. I've left the face until last because I think that's going to be the hardest part. I don't want it to look more weird than it already is!

And lastly, on the right is the watermelon hat I'm knitting for Charlotte. The hat is finished except for the seeds, I only hope that it fits!

In other news, my dyeing experiment last weekend was quite successful. The best part was when Brad came home and said "Wow, that's one of the nicest color yarns you've bought". I took great pleasure in telling him that I hadn't actually bought it, I'd dyed it myself! Here it is:

I bought the "Dye Your Own" sock yarn from KnitPicks which I think is great value for $3.99 (I also bought the "Shine Sport" cotton blend for Charlotte's watermelon hat). I'm thinking about knitting a pair of the Hedera socks from the pink/purple skein of yarn first. Oops, before I start I think I should probably finish my watermelon hat and toy first!