And then there was knitting!!

How behind am I? I truly thought I would get this post out a couple of days after the last one. Oops. The time does just get away from me!

So since we've been back we took a little time to decompress, Spyros got feeling like he needed to do some more creative painting in the office. He's beginning to love the geometric look!

I really like this wall!

We went to the beach for the first time this summer...yep - the first time! We went with the whole family and spent a day getting a bit of sun, a lot of sand, and a few of us got tossed around by the waves a bit too!

Beach time!

Since we've gotten back a Blue Tongue lizard has moved into the yard, now I've been told they have them all the time but hadn't seen one until now! I asked a friend about them and was told to give it a bit of banana now & then, and they like snails (but I haven't found any!). I have been trying to make friends, but the little guy is a bit shy so I don't have much for photos of him!

My buddy!

Also, we're back to work now! Back on the job and meeting new friends! One job had a cheeky little pup named Miss Smudge, and another job had SO MANY animals! Parrots (who I got to have sit on my shoulder), bearded dragons, a python, a pitbull, long necked turtles, and many other birds too! I think Spyros is happy to be back to work (he gets a little bored sometimes), but I could handle not having to work again! LOL

Gus! Love Gus!

Indie, isn't she sweet!

Thor! What a honey!

Miss Smudge "That Dog!"

Needles:
So when I went to New Zealand I brought my Sock Blanket, my Vesper, the yarn and needles for the Sweatshop of Love Slouchy Beret (which I didn't work on because I didn't get gauge) and my Skew socks that I started for the plane!

I finished up the Skew socks by Lana Holden shortly after we got back and there is one section on the heel shaping that is quite tight, but once they are on they fit great! I used YarnVsZombies in the Rain of Frogs colourway (because Kiki made me knit these!!) on my 2.25mm Knit Picks needles, two 24" needles, and I made them one at a time!

Cool Skews!

Since I got home I've knit the Sweatshop of Love Slouchy Beret by Allyson Dykhuizen, I used Rowan Felted Tweed Chunky (which is deep stash) and I ended up using 9mm & 10mm needles to get a fabric I liked. It was a super quick knit once I got started and I love it!

Chunky is good!

I took part in a KAL with a SWAP group I am in to knit a shawl this quarter and I pulled out some handspun that I made from Corgi Hill Farms it is Polwarth/Silk 85/15. I knit the Romney Kerchief by Jared Flood with it on 5.5mm needles, and I couldn't put it down, I knit it in two days! I am a bit obsessed with knitting with handspun!

This is how I usually wear my shawls!

Since we're back at work I needed something fairly simple for in the ute on the way to and from work so I chose the Seamless Saloma Slippers by Megan Williams and used up scraps from my Gnome Acres TMNT yarns on 4.5mm needles. I've made two so far, a medium pair and a large pair!

Donatello Salomas

Leonardo Salomas

In keeping with the spin for socks that I did last month, I started knitting handspun socks with that same yarn for February! Never Enough Thyme Yarns in the Cherry Blossom Tree colourway is what I spun into a 3ply. It seemed appropriate with all the pink, and a friend and I started a KAL together! We chose to knit the Love Bugs by Thayer Preece Parker I used my 2.25mm Knit Picks needles again and it was fun! They were a bit wider than I needed, so I made them a little shorter than I might have normally and they fit pretty great, they have no nylon and are a bit thicker so they will likely be just house socks. The pattern is not super obvious, but I love them anyway!

My first handspun socks!

I had let my  Vesper by Heidi Kirrmaier in Elsebeth Lavold - Hempathy sit for awhile while I pumped out some smaller projects, but as it's meant to be done by the end of March for the Sockbunny Knit and Fit KAL. I picked it up the last couple of days to make some progress on it!  I am using 4.5mm Chinese needles and making decent progress on it now - hope I have enough yarn!

I am starting to have a body!

As for the Sock Blanket by Shelly Kang I doubled my progress on the trip, I used up all the yarn that I was gifted by my pal mtlhdtrix and I am stoked. I even got another package from knittinwolf shortly after I arrived home with more mini skeins to work on the blanket some more!

You can almost tell it's meant to be a blanket!

I hopped on the wheel this month to spin up some more yarn! I put the merino that I got at Nundle Woolen Mills when we road tripped there in August on the wheel and tried for a thick and thin...I was hoping to try out folded long draw but was struggling so I ended up just doing the usual! I got about 152 yards of a Worsted/Aran weight in a 2ply...I am pretty sure I've already figured out what it's going to be - Stay Tuned!

Not my colours..definitely going to be a gift!

Fitness:
Well after a kinda terrible 6 months fitness-wise I am back on track dang it! I am still working up to tracking my food...but I joined in on a challenge to workout every single day this month! So the goal is either 30min of intentional exercise OR 10,000 steps (I got a FitBit !) and so far I am hitting that goal every day! Heck ya!

A lot of help from my pals - daily #friendspiration LOVE!