The Gourmet Goddess Knits

Christams Crafts

2012-01-30T11:22:00.001-04:00

I have some pics from this years Christmas Crafts I thought I'd share. Mom and I did some painting. I like to include an ornament with gifts for my family. I have a tree full of homemade and collectible ornaments that I enjoy unpacking every year so I try to spread that joy around.

This one was for my nephew

This one was for my niece

This one was for my brother and his wife (my fav this year!)

Mom did all of these except the cat in the sock. The angel ended up an African angel after mom's attempt to make the hair black ended up smudged on the face. I put that ornament on my Angels and Light tree. I think it's so cute!

This one was for my step sister in honour of her cat, DJ

I did this one for my friend who goes with a snowman theme. I put white glitter inside the ball like snow.

I did a set of 4 of these for my step brother and his wife. Just in time too as they had a big tree and needed more ornaments.

Did I get pics of anything I knit?! Nope, not a one. I need to work on that....

Mom's Birthday Vest

2011-11-29T13:45:00.000-04:00

I finally finished Mom's birthday vest. I'm pleased with the finished result. I used some washable knitpicks yarn, Swish wool in a colourway that's no longer available but it's a nice greyish green. It knit up quite nicely!

It's a Drops Design pattern. and took a lot of yarn for a vest. I knit it in wool because our springs are quite chilly around these parts. With the colour and the wool it becomes a 3 season vest!

On to Christmas knitting!!

Dennis' Kilt Socks

2011-07-22T11:59:00.000-04:00

My mom's husband is a Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Scotsman. He is the provincial commissionaire of Clan Donald. He wears a kilt of the proper Clan Donald tartan (what I like to call 'his skirt'). For Christmas last year I gave him kilt socks. Well let me clarify that... I gave him yarn and a pattern and a promise to knit him some kilt socks because somehow I didn't manage my pre-Christmas knitting time very well and hadn't even started them. Then on Dec 28th I broke my wrist. I was very lucky in that my break was what can best be described as minor compared to other broken wrist stories my cousins felt compelled to share with me a couple of weeks into my cast time. I spent only 6 weeks in a cast. However after the cast I spent another couple of months with numbness whenever I knit for a bit. My doctor figured it would resolve itself.

I think the start of gardening season did wonders for my hands (both were showing a bit of numbness at night but the broken one was bad when I knit) Either way, I'm numb free at this point, when I knit, at night and in both hands!! Wonder what I can do all winter long to keep this sort of healthiness for my hand? Knitting is good but diverse actions, lifting, pulling, twisting, etc, seem to be imperative to address potential carpal tunnel syndrome. Oops, I've gone a bit off topic haven't I?

Back to the kilt socks. I followed John Anderson's Kilt Hose toe up pattern. Using Lion's Brand Fisherman's Wool.

They fit perfect. And now I'm throwing out the pattern. This is the one and only pair of kilt socks I'll ever do. Ever get second sock syndrome?! Well image facing a second sock with a leg this long and a turn over flap that's so labour intensive! Yup, never again....

Ms Sophia's First Birthday Present

2011-05-15T16:18:00.004-04:00

I finally remembered to take a picture of a FO. It's not that I haven't been knitting, I just don't think to blog about it.

My step-neice Ms. Sophia just turned one! I've loved this pattern ever since I saw a version of it knit at Tangled Skein (a now-defunct LYS). That was about 3 years ago! Don't laugh, I have a sock monkey kit to knit for Ms. Sophia's birthday next year.... You have to wait until they're just the right age to give them just the right gift.

In the end I added another little pocket with just the flower (no stem) to the middle of the top. It just gave it a little more colour.

This is Anouk by Kate Gilbert from Knitty.com. I used Bernat Cotton Tops for the pinks and beige and a discountinued organic cotton for the green. I also knit this in the round to make it a dress instead of a pinafore.

Cheers!

2010-12-04T13:03:00.004-04:00

I can not believe how slack I've been (with the blogging, not with the knitting - I've been knitting up a storm...)! I've got some stuff to share in the coming weeks as I gear up for Christmas but to start I thought I'd show ya'll this cute little wine warmer set. Tonight it's off to be gifted as I attend my first party of the season. Let the games begin!

Makes me giggle... hehehehe

Seriously...

2010-05-28T19:48:00.001-04:00

Could these be any cuter?!

Delivered to Miss Sophia today! More baby projects on the way!

BABY SOPHIA

2010-05-21T12:29:00.005-04:00

On May 10th my step brother and his wife had a baby girl. Like a true goof, I have no pictures yet but trust me, she's beautiful and I don't even like babies. They all usually look like plucked chickens to me but not miss Sophia, she really is the most lovely little girl.

I had knit her 2 hats before she was born in green so she'd have something to wear home. That was before we knew whether she was a boy or a girl. Once we got the news I checked out my stash for pink. Oddly enough I have quite a bit of pink (anyone who knows me just chuckled a bit). I started with the petal bib but quickly realized it is a bit big for a newborn so I'll make more for later. Right now I want newborn stuff!

Meet the baby bolero! Yes, once again the pic is sideways, turn your head. I haven't blocked it yet but I will.

Now I'm starting on the Debbie Bliss Teddy Bear in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece.

I've also got a pair of sheep booties on the go. Stay tuned for many more baby knits!!!!! And maybe even a pic of the baby!

Mom's Birthday Sweater

2010-04-18T10:32:00.004-04:00

Mom's birthday was coming up and I wanted to do a sweater for mom that she could wear now. See it's hard for me to do sweaters for Christmas because there is just too much knitting to do to take on such a large project. So the only way anyone will get a sweater for me is for their birthday. But Mom's birthday is in April and it kinda sucks to get a nice heavy sweater when you can't wear it! Hence the spring sweater I did this year.

It's called Lace for All Seasons Cardigan from Knit 'N Style Magazine, Feb 2010
The pic of the one in the magazine is done with a recycled acrylic poly blend. No way was I using that (I detest synthetics!)
So I ordered Knitpicks Comfy Worsted in Honey Dew I liked it as I knit it up but once I washed it I was shocked at how it pilled. I have lots of good quality store bought 100% cotton sweaters that don't pill at all. I guess this price really was too good to be true. It's okay but I'd think twice before using this yarn again.

Overall I'm pleased with how the sweater turned out. Sewing it up was a torture but once I stopped treating it like sewing up fabric and got out the old Stitch 'n Bitch Knitters Handbook and found out how to sew it up properly it went much better.

I'd like to do one for myself in a fall colour since our fall tends to be warm.

Reversable Cable Scarf

2010-03-11T12:43:00.003-04:00

I started this to be my Olympic project but it took longer. I'm very happy with it. It's the Reversible Cable and Eyelet Scarf from Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders. The top pic is the right colour.

It's just right for this time of year around here!

We interrupt your normally scheduled knitting for some baby bits!

2010-03-09T20:47:00.003-04:00

My friend Alyson gave birth to a baby boy just over a week ago so I stopped what I was working on to knit him up a couple of things.

Merino-Silk Cable hat from Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino.
(why yes it's sitting on a wine glass! aren't all baby's heads just that size?!)

And Ruth's Perfect Baby Booties from Ravelry in Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton.

I'm going to see him tomorrow to give him his gifts but I'm kinda more excited about seeing Alyson who I haven't seen since she got pregnant (and now she's given birth!). I can't wait!!

Olympic Hat

2010-02-16T12:57:00.002-04:00

I whipped up a red hat to match my red olympic mitts.

That's it, no more red!! Canada and Norway tonight for hockey! Go Canada Go!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T11:28:00.003-04:00

I think it's safe to post this today. I finished a pair of cottage socks for both my mom and her husband. The pattern is a freebie on Lion Brand's website. I did use a smaller needles size for mom's. I had made a pair for myself using the needles the pattern called for but they are a bit loose. I really like how mom's turned out.

I did the "New Cottage Socks" pattern for Dennis. I just felt they were a little more masculine.

I put a little puffy paint on the bottom of mom's

And Dennis'

The colour is Cranberry. It's a beautiful shade of red. Happy Valentine's day!

Knitting for and During the Olympics!

2010-02-13T13:26:00.002-04:00

I'm allergic to the fleece lining the official Canadian Olympic mittens so I knit myself some I could wear. They are deadly cute. I'm hoping I'll have enough to knit a matching hat. The yarn is Lion's Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick and the pattern is Wool-Ease Mittens that's linked on Ravelry.
During the Olympics I'll be working on the Reversible Cable and Eyelet Scarf from Luxury Yarn One Skein Wonders which I got for Christmas. I love these one skein books because I so often see a beautiful skein of yarn and buy it but then it's often a challenge to find a pattern to really show it off. I know have 4 one skein books!

Granny Tan gave me 3 balls of this Cashmerino Aran. It's so beautiful and this pattern is really highlighting its beauty. And it matches other accessories I have, a neck gaiter, a hat, fingerless mitts, and 2 headbands so I'm all set to mix and match! The colour of this is so pretty and it's not fuzzy so I'll be able to wear it into the spring!

For those of you on Ravelry, I updated and added a bunch of projects on there.

Let the Games begin!!

Cottage Socks

2010-02-03T13:14:00.002-04:00

I just finished these and they rock!!!

It's Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick. The pattern is a freebie on their site. I'm making more of these for all the peeps in my life. I slip mine on, curl up with a hot chocolate and feel very cozy.

More Christmas Gifts

2010-01-04T13:34:00.002-04:00

Quick Christmas gift update. I finished a beautiful 2 ball, 1X1 rib scarf for my step-brother. It's made from Paton's SWS but the light blue ball was short so overall the scarf is short. Luckily it's so beautiful that he'll still wear it. I hope. We haven't been able to find SWS from the usual places lately and I'm suspecting the Paton's was having supplier issues. Many balls were split and rejoined at various points in the ball and I'm guessing that the short yardage in the light blue ball I had was not the first ball that was short. I hope they get it all sorted out. It's a nice yarn and the colourways are lovely.

I made these Maine Morning Mitts (pattern on Ravelry) for my step sister. This is a lovely pattern and it takes less than 100 yards. They were a little tight so I might add an extra rib when i make this pattern again. Luckily my step sister has tiny hands!

This is one of mom's socks. I still have one more sock to do for her, one more for her husband, to finish her hat, neck gaiter, fingerless mitts combo... then Christmas will be done!

Christmas Crafts!!

2009-12-09T16:59:00.003-04:00

I've been a busy little elf! Here's a family of hats.
Man's Cable Hat from Ravelry

Slouchy hat, also from Ravelry

And a slouchy beret (perfect for going over big hair!)

All of those were knit with Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick.

Next up is a shawl based on the first part of an icelandic shawl pattern. Knit out of knitpicks palette

I started painting some balls yesterday. My bells are a little off but it definatly looks homemade! (I've just started some more balls, stay tuned for the final batch, they are turning out really nice!)

Mom painted some penquins. Aren't they stinkin' cute?! I'm going to glaze them and sparkle them up for her.

I did up some bookmarks and wine charms. Overall I'm pleased with the results.

And I'm still knitting, painting and I haven't even yet started to sew. Yikes!

Lots on the go!

2009-11-12T13:52:00.002-04:00

First I finished a matching hat before the 9th Annual Maritime Spinning Retreat but it was too warm to wear it.

I had a great time at this year's retreat in Fredericton, New Brunswick. When I came home I slept 12 hours Sunday night! I bought some alpaca from Last Resort Farms. Her name is Maya. She is the brown spun here. The white is kid mohair that we got in our gift bags. I'm going to make this into a falling leaves scarf after Christmas for me. I'm really hoping I have enough for a scarf and hat.

While I was at the retreat I started a pair of Maine Morning Mitts in Patons SWS. They knit up super quick and I like how the thumb gets incorporated. These will be a Christmas gift.

I was going to make a shawl out of the fingering yarn I won at last years retreat but after a couple of attempts I've decided these will be socks. Colourful yarn, eh? It's from French Hill Farm in Maine. It's wool, mohair and nylon.

I'm going to do an Icelandic Shawl for my grandmother out of some Knitpicks palette for Christmas.Mom and I went to the Christmas at the Forum Craft show last weekend and she picked up a ball of alpaca that matched an alpaca scarf Granny Tan gave her. So I knit her a hat to match her scarf.

I also have a red beret on the needles for mom that I'm hoping to finish by the weekend so she can take it to Cape Breton for a music festival. I have to stop giving her stuff now and start saving them for Christmas.

I'm also working on a pair of cabled booties for my great aunt that need to be done soon in case my mom goes to Newfoundland in early december.

I also bought 2 bags of %60 bamboo/40% merino, each 1/2 lb, one grey and one pink. I'm working on the grey now. I hope to have enough on to do a shawl from each. My Christmas list seems reasonable until I realized today that it is just 43 days until Christmas. Oh crap.

All for me!

2009-10-23T10:46:00.005-04:00

I know Christmas is just over 2 months away but I've been on a kick of doing things for myself and I must say, it's been kinda nice! I finished the alpaca cowl I started. The pic is turned on its side for some reason. You can't see the colours well but it's brown and white and goes perfectly with my camel hair coat! The pattern is Lion Brand Lace Luxe Cowl

I have started a scarf out of bamboo and a novelty yarn. You can't see the colours well. The bamboo is grey and the novelty yarn is blue/grey/beige. I'll try to get a better pic when it's done.

2009-10-19T13:56:00.002-04:00

So I finished the cowl for Nocturne at Night. I was warm and toasty! Oh, that may have been the wine...

I also finished the baby sweater I was working on. I just need buttons and it will be on it's way! It's Elizabeth Zimmer's baby sweater on two needles (but done like the adult version) with Debbie Bliss' Rialto Aran.

And now I'm working on a lacy cowl for me out of 100% Alpaca. 12 sleeps to the spinning retreat! Can't wait to see the Moncton crew!!

Wrist Warmers

2009-10-14T14:17:00.004-04:00

This weekend I'm heading out to Nocturne at Night, which is an art exhibition spread all over the city of Halifax. Last year I missed the event so I'm really looking forward to hanging with some friends, seeing some art and maybe having a drink or two. Since the event is all over the city there will be a lot of outdoor time. It's getting pretty chilly here with the forecast for Sat. night Clear and +4 (that's about 40 degrees F). So I needed knitwear! Something with a little pizazz for a night out. I was planning on doing some wrist warmers for my step-sister in law to match a cowl I did for her last Christmas. I got one done and was going to do a set for myself but it didn't go as well with my coat.

Nice though, eh? Moonlight Mohair. Cast on 31 stitches, knit for 8 inches and sewed up with a 1 inch opening for the thumb

So I used some different yarn to do another pair for myself. I used moonlight mohair and paton's bling, bling (discontinued). It goes with my coat and I'm working on a cowl/neck gaiter to match. I'll get a pic with my coat when I'm done.

Dennis' Birthday Vest

2009-09-29T10:19:00.002-04:00

Finally done! And I'm not yet 2 months late with it. Luckily it has just started to get cool enough to wear it so it's not like Dennis was looking for it before now. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

I got the pattern from Granny Tan. It's from Knitter's Magazine 92, Fall 2008 and it's called Double Identity. I used Nature Spun by Brown Sheep Company in Blueberry. It's a little darker in person.

Memorial Socks

2009-09-05T11:42:00.003-04:00

They are finally done! And it only took about 2 years.... These were the socks I was working on when my Nana was in the hospital, around the time of her funeral, when I went to Sweden to say goodbye to Harry and when Grampie passed away. This is why they are called my memorial socks. The yarn is 50% cashmere/silk and 50% alpaca from Belfast Mini-Mills. It's gorgeous. The pattern is from an old Paton's book that both my grandmother and my nana had copies of. Now I'm too afraid to wear them because I don't want to wear a hole in them! And since it took so long to knit them both, one is slightly smaller than the other which happens to me when I take so long to get the second sock done (yes, this has happened before...)

I miss you Nana.

Another Wedding Throw!

2009-08-31T16:13:00.003-04:00

Once again I've finished another wedding throw. And I did it just before it got really hot! It's no fun working on something so big when it hot out. I'm really pleased with how it has turned out. I hope the happy couple likes it... (if not I'll willingly take it back ; ) Once again I used Knitpicks Suri Dream Alpaca and their Lace 1-2-3 pattern
Oh, and I had it done in time for the one year anniversary deadline. Too bad the happy couple STILL hasn't gotten it yet. The road to somewhere is paved with good intentions....

Spring Yarn

2009-07-20T00:33:00.003-04:00

Granny Tan had given me some yarn some time ago that screamed "SPRING" so I finally knit with them this year. At first I thought I'd do a potato chip scarf with the green as the base and the pink multicolour as the trim. But then I thought a potato chip scarf for spring/summer may not be all that useful. I wanted a wrap that could work as a scarf too but would be light enough for summer. The green yarn is Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca and Silk. The pink yarn is a blend of 3 different novelty yarns. I went with a mesh pattern and was going to use the pink yarn to add on around the edge but once I got it done I decided the pink yarn would go nicely woven through the mesh.
I always get compliments when I wear it.

I had enough of the pink leftover so I made a short Montego Bay Scarf from Interweave Knits Summer 2007. It's a nice accent piece. I had a hard time getting a pic that shows the real colour.

Wedding Throw

2009-06-06T11:37:00.000-04:00

It's done! The happy couple has only been married for a year and one month (who, me late?!). I was worried about how it would turn out when I was knitting it but I am really happy with the end result. The yarn is Knitpicks Suri Dream Hand Dyed in Falling Leaves , the pattern is Lace 1-2-3 also from Knitpicks.

The colours pooled differently at the beginning of the throw even thought all the yarn was from the same dye lot. I'm going to say that is due to the hand dyed nature of the yarn. I love it.

Other Projects

2009-05-12T09:05:00.003-04:00

I have been working on one knitting project which I still can't share. However I've done a few other things. Mom and I belong to a Christmas Ornament of the month club. The first month was painting.

Oh wait, those were some leftover ornaments from an older kit. We did them first. We still have 3 to do from this years club but they look quite challenging and the instructions are pretty scarce. We'll get to them later...

The 2nd kit involves ornament balls that you stick sequins and glittery bits into with pins. Mom may tackle those this weekend. The 3rd kit is a set of 5 cross stitch on plastic canvas oranaments. I did the first one and just need to trim the felt on the back and it will be done. It was quite fun.

Mom and I are eagerly the 4th kit which should be here any day. We're quite enjoying our craft time!

Mom's February Lady's Sweater

2009-04-24T18:45:00.003-04:00

It's done! And I can finally blog about it. I still haven't seen it on my Mom as she picked it up while I was out. But I'm pleased with how it turned out. I knit it in Cascades 220 Heathers. My hands are shot to hell now but the end result is quite good. On to projects that aren't knit with wool!

Babies!

2009-03-14T10:56:00.006-04:00

Little people in knit wear! (and a mommy with no knit wear...which now that I think about it is just wrong...)

This past November the world welcomed miss Allison. Miss Emily got a baby sister. Aren't they cute?! When Miss Emily was born I had just started knitting and so Granny Tan knit her baby sweater. Now I'm a more experienced knitter but I have never done a sweater so I thought tackling the heartbreakingly cute baby kimono from Mason Dixon Knitting would be a safe bet. It's a great knit. I'm thinking this would be cute in an adult size...

I don't know why the pic is on its side. It's not like that on my computer. I didn't take it sideways. This is a blogger issue. I could spend hours trying to fix it but just turn your head. It'll be way easier. I've let it go, you should too.

This is Miss Emily's hat. The yarn is soooo cute. It's Sirdar baby tiny tots bubbles. And like the sweater, I made them both big enough that they'll be able to wear them for a while.

See I've been knitting, really I have. I have one other secret project on the go and another wedding gift. I'll share later

Hand Spun Wrap

2009-02-15T14:40:00.003-04:00

I wasn't feeling well a couple of weekends ago so I thought it was the perfect time to start my wrap out of the hand spun i've worked on during the last 2 annual spinning retreats.... As I was knitting it I realized how really bad I was at spinning. Some of the yarn was so tightly spun and then there were bits that were barely spun. And I think I should have used bigger needles.

It ended up more of a shoulder cape than a wrap but it is warm.

And the "not feeling well" that inspired me to start this wrap ended up being a full blown flu that lasted for about a week and a half. Next year - Flu Shot!!

A scarf and a purse

2009-01-29T14:06:00.004-04:00

I hit a great sale after Christmas of Patons SWS yarn. It inspired me to attempt the stripped scarf spoken of so highly by the yarn harlot. It really is fun to watch the colours come together. Two different balls of stripped yarn, 2 rows each, 1X1 rib.... who would have thought! See, you don't have to use the very expensive Noro yarn, you have options!

I'm heading to Quebec next weekend for Carnival so I thought I'd knit something for the occasion. Granny Tan had given me this yarn that she had dyed and spun with some silver. It was probably enough for hat and mitts but since it's wool and I'm allgeric, I opted for a felted bag.
I'm thrilled with how it turned out. Perfect for strolling around inside the old city walls in Quebec City! I can't wait. See the silver flecks, that was the silver thread Granny Tan had plied with the wool. Very cool.

Post Christmas Summary

2009-01-15T11:19:00.004-04:00

I hope everyone had a good holiday season. Mine seemed too short. And since I now sit in front of a computer every day for work, I didn't feel like looking at one over the holidays. I did knit but I didn't even get pics of everything I did. I was in a a "get 'er out" kind of mood. I did get a few pics.

I did a fingerless glove, snood and leg warmer set for my niece.

I knit another snood and fingerless gloves for my sister-in-law. Thing about the fingerless gloves.. they can be used on really cold days over you gloves or mittens to give you an extra layer of warmth. It's -22 Celsius here today with the wind chill. I wore my fingerless gloves over my mittens and I was toasty!

I also knit my great aunt another pair of cable booties because rumor has it the last pair I knit for her are almost worn out. It's a light colour for a slipper type sock but it was all I had on hand, the colour is pretty and I know they are nice and warm with this yarn (knitpicks wool of the Andes)

I also knit my mom a wrap, my step brother felted slipper socks and his wife a snood. I think that's it. It was a pretty short list this year. Next year I'm trying to convince everyone to take the money you spend on gifts for others and buy things for yourself that you really want. I am also starting to try and stock pile some FO items so I can be ready but we'll see how that works out.

I was determined I would knit something for myself over the holidays. I had this baby llama wool that was soooo soft. I don't think I'm allergic to llama so I knit myself a hat. I had a bit leftover so I made a headband too.

The pattern is out of a new book I got for Christmas, One Skein Wonders. I love books like this because how often to you pick up a skein or two of some yarn you really love without a project in mind? I do it all the time.

I have some great things on the go so hopefully I'll get a little more diligent about taking pics and sharing. So stay tuned!

Christmas is coming?!

2008-11-16T19:48:00.005-04:00

This work thing is seriously impeding my ability to knit... Although right now I'm waiting for the polish on one finger to dry and can't knit (don't ask, it involves a top coat of polish, routing through my circulars and a smudged nail which is why my nails are never painted anymore. I used to be so well coiffed. Now I'm just happy if I'm clean most days.) so I thought I would blog. I have one item ready for Christmas.

These are monkey socks in regia. Granny Tan gave me the yarn and as soon as I saw it I thought to myself "monkey socks"! And so that's what I did. They are lovely.

I just had to go out and rescue my green big. We are having quite the wind/rain storm and I heard it blow around. I was quite cute out there in my jammies fighting the rain with a flashlight as I rolled around the big green cart. My life is sooo glamorous...

I have a rough idea of what I"m doing for Christmas but I haven't formalized a list. I am breaking down and taking some knitting into work to do at lunch time. I have a great aunt who loves the cable bootie and needs a new pair so I'll do those during at work. I have one half done.

I suspect by Christmas I'll be like this.....

(I just had to put a pic of miss emily in!)

Okay I have to give ollie some blog time. miss emily can walk under him when he's standing. Hard to believe he can curl up in such a small ball... maybe I should turn up the heat...

Serenity now...

2008-10-27T11:15:00.009-04:00

First clue that I've been somewhere where wool runs free...
Granny Tan's foot.. See how small it is! No wonder she makes lots of socks for herself!

Once again I attended the Maritime Spinners Retreat. This year it was held in beautiful Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia Canada. We stayed at the Gaelic College which was a lot like returning to my youthful roots of dorm living in University... how did I ever survive?! Anyway, it was, as usual, amazing! And I don't even spin! But it's about being with this amazing group of supportive, sharing women. And it's so inspiring. Perfect to give me that little push I need as I head into the Christmas knitting rush. I'm doing the Holiday Kal Cal again this year. It's also a great motivator. Anyone can join so feel free! It's a lot of fun and there are some great prizes.

Okay, back to the retreat. We had our spinning area set up in the Hall of the Clans. The accommodations may not have been top notch but the spinning space was perfect. There was a fire Friday night and Sat. There were about 100 attendees.

Can you believe all the wheels

We had a Celtic harp playing Friday night with wine and cheese. It was a total zen moment for me as we got set up, did some spinning and said hello to the people we met last year. It was so nice to see all the familiar faces. And everyone chats to everyone else even if you aren't a social butterfly which I am not but this group just facilitates camaraderie

For me it was extra special because I got to see the Moncton crew who I don't have the opportunity to go see since I moved to Eastern Passage.

There was a table set up to do some milling. This is a process where after the yarn is spun and woven, a group gets around the table and the sign Gaelic songs and mash the cloth in to the table to sort of felt it. The cloth goes from being stiff and scratchy to being soft. This cloth was spun from one of the participants' donated fleece by the New Brunswick spinners, then woven by the PEI spinners and now that it is milled, it will be donated to the Gaelic college to be made into a cloak or something for their displays.

There was a fleece competition where fleece right off the sheep was voted on for the best. (I stayed in this room as little as possible... man could you smell the sheep!)

There was also a contest for best hand spun skein of yarn which Granny Tan won! And to really bring it all together - the prize was established and donated by Christine Stanley and her husband, Malcolm who I get all my wonderful hand pottery from (this is a spot you really want to check out!) in honour of his mother Audrey Stanley who has been knitting for many, many years and mostly knits for the poor with hats, mitts, scarves and even does bandages for the lepers. Mrs. Stanley just turned 90 and Christine and Malcolm thought this would be a good way to honour her. There was also a prize in her honour for best knitted piece from hand spun yarn. Granny Tan had entered in that category too. Hard to believe Granny Tan has a full time job... and a husband... and is working on her MBA... amongst other things.

The reddish looking skein on the right is what Granny Tan won for. But this is her knit from hand spun item. Note the felted slipper with the pea pods to the right. They were awesome.

This is the bowl Granny Tan won.
Coincidentally, this matches all the pieces I have... Now Tan has a piece just like my stuff!

I got very inspired while I was there. I tried Granny Tan's wheel. It was like trying to shove cotton balls into a meat grinder... Okay, maybe that was just me. It's very different than using a drop spindle which I finally got the hang of. I was watching some people drop spindle at about midnight on Friday night and I think I got more out of that than all my efforts previous. But that's how I learn, I see something and it clicks. And bought more. This is an alpaca/ cashmere/silk blend.
And I spun half of it while at the retreat.

It was a great weekend. And while the accommodations may not have been hotel like, the best part was there was no TV or even a radio. I didn't realize how bombarded we are with information until I came home and heard the news, all of it bad. I think we all need weekends away from the information speedway... It took me two days to re-acclimate! Now that's a retreat!

My First Vest

2008-10-02T11:28:00.003-04:00

Wow, it has taken me over a month to knit a vest. And I'm still not unpacked. That's a little sad really. Oh well, I did finally get the vest finished. It's rustic and the yarn wouldn't have been my first choice but I had it on hand. It's not a traditional vest.

I had to do my first crochet ever. I read how to do it out of Stitch 'N Bitch, The knitters Handbook. A very usefull book by the way. It was hard to get a good pic of it but here is the inside neck.

The pattern called for reinforcing the arm holes and v neck with crochet. Once I got the hang of it, it was pretty fun. I then looked up a crochet pattern I had seen since I was having so much fun. http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/60831A.html?noImages=0

It says it's an easy pattern!

Then I looked at the first three rows of the pattern.

Ch 3, join with slip st in first ch to form a ring.

Row 1: Ch 3 (does not count as dc), 10 dc in ring, do not join.

Row 2: Ch 3, turn, dc in next dc, 2 dc in each dc across – 19 sts.

Row 3: Ch 3, turn, 2 dc in next dc, (ch 2, sk next 2 dc, 3 dc in next dc) across – 6 ch-2 sp.

And it looked like a foreign language so I thought to myself... maybe not

Anyway, I finished mom's birthday socks. Yes, her birthday was in April. What's your point? Here is the sock.

Okay, it's the first sock from an earlier blog but the second one looks exactly alike. Trust me.

I'm 40? That can't be right?! So this is what 40 feels like...

2008-08-20T11:36:00.004-04:00

Oddly enough, not all that different then 39. As I mentioned, Granny Tan and I went on a Most Excellent Cottage Getaway for a long weekend for my birthday. Here are the pics. The dogs had a blast!! Oh, and so did the humans. I want to make it a yearly event.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/96986619@N00/sets/72157606710719034/

Pics from Granny Tan's camera

http://flickr.com/photos/troyandtan/sets/72157606721535674/

For my birthday Granny Tan gave me her very first completed lace project. It's a sort of mini shawl. In Alpaca!

She also gave me some nice yarn that matches the green yarn she gave me last winter from Florida. I'm thinking potato chip scarf in the green with this as the end accent yarn.

I had 3 projects with me to work on during our getaway. None of them were too complicated because I knew there would be cocktails involved. As it turned out, I had forgotten the pattern book for my memorial socks so I couldn't work on completing the second sock. So I cast on a Montego Bay Scarf from the Soy Silk I bought when I went to sign the paperwork for my house. The colours are more a like a sunwashed green, pinks, blues and corals.

It's knitting up pretty quickly but now I realized I completely missed my mom's husbands birthday so I working on a vest for him. I had planned to do a vest for him for his birthday, had the yarn and everything... and then just completely forgot to do it. It's knitting up quickly. I'll share a pic when it is done.

Where has all the productive knitting gone...

2008-07-21T11:18:00.015-04:00

I haven't been knitting much because I've been moving! I had gotten a job in Halifax almost 2 months ago and had been looking for a place to live that was close to work, good for the dogs and a wise investment. Luckily I found a place that fits the bill! It's in beautiful Eastern Passage which isn't nearly has far out as I thought it was. It is considered one of the last growth areas in the Urban HRM (Halifax Regional Municipality). So I bought it! Which was way easier than I thought. It's a great investment. Did I mention that already? And one block from the ocean. I have an ocean view!

The position I took is a one year term contract with small Internet marketing and design company that also has it's own proprietary Content Management Software (CMS). I'm their production coordinator as they look to grow. It's an exciting opportunity to support a growing company.

I work right downtown which was a concern at first, the commuting is a bit different than Moncton.... But now I drive a quick drive to the ferry, read while I cross the harbour (finally get to read the 20+ books I have sitting on my shelf) and then walk 3 blocks to work. All very urban. Reminds me of Stockholm where I always took the public transportation to go see the clients and were I was always surrounded by water. (Stockholm is in the Swedish archipelago.)

With my folks moving this past winter and downsizing (instead of being right in Halifax they are now 30 minutes outside of the city, hence another reason for needing a place of my own in town) and my Nana and Grampie both passing away, I had a lot of stuff so having another place to stuff with stuff has worked out well!

Can you see the houses across the harbour? That's Herring Cove on the other side of the mouth of the harbour. The lights are beautiful at night...

It's nice and cool with the ocean breeze for the dogs. As you can see, Emily loves the deck. She's a deck bunny like her momma.

A lot of DIY stuff in the house though. The ceramic tiles weren't laid correctly, the grout is now crumbling. And the plumbing, don't let me get started on the plumbing. Tim went through the house and was complaining about the workmanship. He finally turned to me and said "do you know who I feel like?". I said "yes, Mike Holmes". He's my hero, he's on my screensaver at the moment... Tim tackled quite a bit but I did have to get the plumber in to reseat the downstairs toilet. The floor underneath is not level. Anyway, it's fixed now. No one should DIY if they don't know how! But overall, the house is in great shape. I'd post pics of the inside but the place is still a mess.

Lets talk knitting, shall we. I did buy some yarn lately. Well Tangled Skein is just a couple of blocks away from my lawyers office and after parting with all that money, I deserved a treat for me!! I got this beautiful laceweight. The colour isn't showing up well in this pic because I took it with my phone. it's an alpaca silk blend.

I also got some soy silk. I think I'm going to make a Montego Bay scarf for myself.

Granny Tan and I have a weekend getaway planned at a lakeside cottage for 4 nights with my 2 dogs and her Clancy. Should be a blast! We are working on the menu now! And I have my list of knitting projects all ready to go. We don't leave until August 9th but stay tuned. There should be some productive knitting that weekend! (and perhaps, just perhaps some productive cocktail making...)

Needle felting vs. machine felting

2008-06-15T12:53:00.003-04:00

Oops, that's Ollie. Big nose, eh? And he likes to sniff you all over.. It's bit like being violated. But I digress.

I started needle felting over the machine felted outline for the Celtic Tote. The needle felting is so nice. It's a lot of effort but so worth it. The outside and the bottom of this cable is done. See the difference?
I'm also working on a shrug for myself. I figure it will be nice to have for the fall (yes, it was suppose to be for spring...) The pattern came from my Nan and the yarn came from my Nana so it will be a nice sentimental piece once I finish it.

I'm also working on the lace ribbon scarf from Knitty but I'm using a heavier weight yarn, blue sky alpacas alpaca and silk yarn. The green was beautiful on the ball but when I started knitting this it looked like something for a baby. I think it will be okay once I get it finished and blocked. Hopefully in time for summer wearing....

Felted Celtic Tote

2008-05-08T12:42:00.003-04:00

So I finished the celtic tote from interweave winter 2007. I figured the felting process would take care of the way the outlined backstitch showed.

It did not.
And the felting process lost the cable definition on the handle. In all fairness, I did felt a second time in hopes of losing the definition of the backstitching around the celtic knots cabling.
So they say you can fix it up with needling felting. But do I have felting needles?! of course not! I have every other knitting accessory on the planet but no felting needles. I'm going to borrow some from Granny Tan and see if I can't fix this up. I hope so because I really like the shape of the bag and I want to finally give it to my mom when I see her on Mother's day.

I am still working on Mom's other sock but I also cast on a Montego Bay Scarf for the artyarn supermerino Granny Tan brought back for me from Florida. The colours were so springlike that I just couldn't resist. It's coming along nicely but I had to frog it 3 times until I got the right width to make it long enough with the one skein I had. I'm using size 8mm needles with bulkier yarn than the pattern called for but it's turning out nicely once I got it figured out.

Mom's Birthday Gifts NOW with Pictures!

2008-04-18T12:43:00.006-04:00

Yes my mother got her birthday gifts with the needles still in them. But now that she has seen her gifts, I can now show you. This is the back of the Celtic Tote from Interweave Knits Winter 2007. This pic shows the true colour.

But this pic shows the cables much better. Cool, eh?!

This is my first knitted button hole. I had to do it twice but it turned out fine.
Even the handles on this are cables. I'm working on the front now.
These are the titled cable socks, also from Interweave Knits Winter 2007. I stopped the cable at the foot so they would fit better in a shoe. My mom was really glad because while she loved the cables, the sock would have bothered her with the cables on top. My mom has MS and her feet have weird sensations so plain and soft are best. I must keep that in mind with all sock patterns I knit for her. Plain Stockinette is best. No problem!

I'm just so pleased at how the colour pooled in this, with the ankle matching the foot.

I have one more thing to share. My mom gave me these pin cushions that came from my Nana's. Aren't they adorable?! I just giggle at them every time I see them. Too funny.

Knitting Companions

2008-04-15T10:29:00.002-04:00

This is my knitting space

The dogs like to snuggle with me but when they both decide to snuggle at once, I get kicked out of my knitting space. Sigh... the things I do for my hairy babies. I had to move to a chair.
Awfully cute, aren't they?! I have got to get a life. I'm not sharing any knitting pics today as I am only working on stuff for my mom's birthday. She gets her stuff today (yes, still on the needles, both projects) and then I can share pics. So stay tuned!

Felted Slipper Socks - second time's a charm

2008-04-09T09:05:00.002-04:00

I finished the re-knit pair of felted slipper socks for my Grandmother's birthday. Sent them express, they should get there in time for her birthday on Friday. They still felted short but I wore them a bit, her feet are shorter than mine so they should be fine. The cuff is a little loose but the first pair, the cuff was too tight.
They are a bit wider than the originals as shown in this picture of the original on top of the re-knit pair.Two more birthday knitting projects to go and then I can get back to knitting for me!

Birthday knitting progress update

2008-04-06T11:13:00.003-04:00

Just a quick update.. I knit up another felted slipper sock following the large size for the width. I'm happy with how it has turned out. I didn't do any colour work around the bunion area so these should definitely work. I like my little colour pattern I designed myself. I should get the other one done today and the pair felted. I really need these to go into the mail tomorrow.

I would have had them both done yesterday but I developed a nice little sinus headache. My allergies are killing me... can't wait for spring to actually get here. I'm allergic to wool so I'm blaming the sock for yesterday's headache but I'm also allergic to polyester, angora (the kind from rabbits, where still optimistic about the whole goat thing) dust, mold, dogs, cats, .... air. It's a huge pain in the butt. Oddly enough, there aren't too many who would call me the sensitive type. Oh, and what they say about Alpaca being hypoallergenic?! Well I think it's actually true. When I was working on the memorial socks which are 50% cashmere and silk and 50% alpaca I had no problems at all! But really, who wants to felt beautiful alpaca. I need a felting substitute for wool.

Okay back to the other birthday knitting. I'm not showing the tote I'm doing for my mom in case she reads this. I assume she doesn't but that's a big assumption for me to be making. So I'm keeping it hidden until she gets it.

Since she would have already seen the socks..... I frogged back to the ankle and started it in St st. The pattern in the yarn is so pretty I think it will be okay. After I did this Manon mentioned doing the foot in rib. Never thought of that but I'm afraid to attempt frogging it again. I got lucky the first time and didn't drop any stitches so I don't want to risk it again.

Birthday Screw Up

2008-04-05T10:20:00.003-04:00

Last night Granny Tan came over for a little wine and knitting (see other blog for snack fiasco details) . Upon further discussion and a try on, it was concluded that the felted slipper socks were too narrow for my grandmother. @*#$#%^
I am casting on another pair in the larger size although I will make them the same length as these. I will not do the colour work in the center as this doubles the yarn and makes it felt tighter right were my grandmother needs it wider (bunions from hell). I will knit these top priority so I can get them in the mail and to her by the 11th. So much for being on schedule....

Then we discussed the tilted cable socks. I tried it on. A little tight going on because of the cabling but the ankle was comfy once I got it on. Then I realized that the cabling on top of the foot might be uncomfortable in a shoe. The yarn is a bit heavy for a sock yarn, although it is a fingering weight yarn. So I've decided to frog these back to the ankle on the front and just do it plain for the foot. It will also be quicker since I'm already up to my eye balls in chart work with the celtic knots bag.

Then I realized that it would have been really nice for my mom to have had the celtic knots tote to take with her next week when she goes to Newfoundland to visit my grandmother. Okay, no way will I have that done in time but now I'm feeling really inadequate. The bubble has burst on the knitters delusion

Must go knit.

Little Felted Slipper Socks

2008-04-02T10:19:00.002-04:00

Well I tried to make some warm wool slipper socks for my Grandmother for her birthday. During the first slipper sock I realized that the yarn I was using was significantly different from the yarn. Would I have serious shrinkage when I went to felt? The finished knitted sock was not that big. If it shrunk a lot....

Well I ended up with a pair of bullets. So I stretched them out as best I could and left them to dry overnight.

Today I am wearing them to stretch them out. My grandmother's feet are smaller than mine but much wider. After just an hour I can say that they are comfortably stretched to fit my feet. (this was when I first put them on, they are super snug and quite short)
I'm going to wear them a bit more today and then try and stretch them out sideways. But overall, they will fit my grandmother, she just might have to wear them for a couple of hours before they become that wonderful felted perfect fit!

April birthday gift number 2 - done!

Spring Shrug

2008-03-31T13:11:00.003-04:00

One April birthday done!

This is the shrug for my niece. I'm quite please with how it turned out. Now I just have to get it into the mail before her actual birthday in a week. It was an easy knit and I practiced my left hand knitting on this piece which gave me the chance to get quite good at it. It's easier to knit left hand when using 2 straight needles, something I realized when I started this that I rarely do. I'm always on circulars or dpns.

April's Coming!! Oh Crap.

2008-03-22T10:35:00.003-04:00

I spent yesterday going through my Nana's knitting stuff. I was like a kid in a candy store. And all I could think of was how Nana missed seeing me take so much joy in her knitting things. It made me profoundly sad to think I'd never get to share this passion with her. I'm so sorry I didn't spend more time with her before she passed away, before she went into the hospital. For anyone out there with elder folks in your lives, make the time. It's a terrible regret to have.

I went through all the knitting books and needles, making a pile to keep and a pile to give away to charity. I know my Nana would like the idea of someone who can't afford it, being able to knit. I went through the yarn but there are so many bits and pieces. I think I would like to construct some sort of memorial throw/Afghan to wrap myself in like a hug. Then I will give the rest away. Everything that came from my Nana's house smells like she always did. Right now I just like having the smell of my Nana in the house.

I'm trying to beat away at the April birthday knitting. I have just over 2 weeks to knit and mail my niece's gift. I'm using a pattern from my Grandmother's old pattern books and yarn from my Nana's stash. I will tell my niece this and she'll think it's "cool" cause she's like that. I'm having a little trouble reading the pattern for adding the front pieces but I think I have it figured out. I'm a ways away from knitting the front so I don't have to sweat it just yet and I'm hoping it will make more sense by the time I get there. I don't have enough of the either the lighter or darker blue/ green yarn so I'm doing a 3 inch around the bottom of each piece in the lighter. Hopefully it turns out okay.

Next up is the felted slipper socks for my Grandmother. She is always cold so I thought these would help keep her tootsies warm. And she can wear wool so we are all set. Problem was that the pattern had a snowflake in it. No one wants to see snowflakes in April, although at the rate we are going up here in the great white north, I'd say that was a distinct possibility... So I had to redo the pattern in the middle. The first one I did I didn't like so I frogged that out last night. This one is better and I figured out how to properly do fair isle knitting (thanks Stitch 'N Bitch - A knitter handbook!). I was pretty pleased with myself! Luckily I had already worked on knitting with my left hand so it was pretty easy.

Last but certainly not least is my mom. I started the tilted cable sock from Interweave Winter 2007. Huge fun with this one. I'm loving how it is turning out. Once I get the one sock done I'll move on to the bag I'm going to do for her. I couldn't decide which bag to do but when I mentioned I had a pattern for a bag with the celtic knots on it Mom's face light up. Decision made! So I'll start working on that one soon. Mom's birthday isn't until the 14th and I don't have to mail her stuff so I have to get the other 2 gifts done first. I also have a nephew who's birthday is the same day as my mom's but I think I'll buy him something. It's hard to knit for a 15 year old boy in the spring.

Another Goodbye, Sharing a Knitting Legacy and Pins to Remember

2008-03-19T15:56:00.003-04:00

This past week I had to say goodbye to another beloved person in my life. My Grampie passed away Weds. March 12 after a very brief illness with Cancer. He was 90 on Dec 27th. Two days later he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. After burying his beloved wife of 67 years 5 weeks ago, he himself joined her. Best we can tell, only his last 3 days were difficult. Up until then he was relatively pain free. After watching Nana suffer for over 6 months, this was such a blessing.

If things really do happen in threes then I should be good for a while. Here's hoping.

When I went to Halifax for Grampie's memorial service we spent some time going through the house. Marly had written a wonderful tribute to her Grandmother and her craft and the legacy it left. I hadn't really thought of it that way. I just thought of the bags full of crappy acrylic that made up both my Nana's and my Grandmother's stash. It made me grateful that I had at least taken the old pattern books from the grandmother. In fact the memorial socks, as I call them, are from a pattern out of an old book I had gotten from my grandmother. Needless to say, when I had the chance to go through Nana's stash I was not about to pass it up due to my yarn snobbishness.

And that is only half of it. Nana's lovely sister, Evelyn had already take half of the yarn (Evelyn also has the best sense of humour. No wonder Nana loved her so!). There is a great supply of needles, especially circular needles. And I can't wait to go through those pattern books! I want to plan something special out of the yarn and patterns. Something I can wear and think of Nana. Maybe a nice shawl...

Mom had gone through Nana's jewelry. Nana was not a fancy woman. She believed in quality but not flash so she didn't have any big pieces or extremely valuable pieces. But she did have some beautiful pins. I picked out a few of my favorites. So now I really think a shawl is in order. I wore the dark pin with a shawl that Granny Tan had made for me to Grampie's funeral.

I'm a sentimental old fool so every time I pull these out, I'll think of my Nana. It will make me quite happy.

Broken #@*&# Needle...

2008-03-10T10:00:00.004-04:00

You will not believe this. I was knitting away last night on my mom's birthday sock, the Tilted Cable Sock. It was coming along nicely. I was determined to make it to the heel flap last night.

Suddenly I notice a thin metal stick in my lap. I recognized it immediately as the inside from one of my plastic dnp. The tip had broken off my plastic dpn and then inner metal stick had fallen out. So I tried to burn and reform the end of the needle.

Yeah, that didn't work. So I had to stop working on the sock (luckily I have the second memorial sock on the needles) and now I have to go buy another set of 2.25mm dnps. #(@*&$#@(&#

2008-03-08T12:03:00.002-04:00

Granny Tan brought me back some of the most wonderful yarn!

Don't you just love the spring colours. The bottom one is a hand painted merino. I want to make something like a scarf/wrap out of them all together. Wouldn't that be pretty for spring?
The multicolour yarn is from Art Yarns (www.artyarns.com) but it seems that the patterns they show for it aren't available on the website. I may have to consult Ravelry for ideas.... However this must wait until I finish my April birthday knitting.

Here's the progress on the sock. It's coming along nicely.

Yes, I still have quite a ways to go. I have to be the slowest sock knitter on the planet...

2 dogs, a purse and birthdays galore!

2008-03-06T11:10:00.003-04:00

Ollie's sad...

Clancy went home yesterday. His wrestling buddy is gone... We must have a play date soon. And I could seriously use some time with Granny Tan too! Where does the time go?!

Well I've been working on the brown purse. My hands are just a mess. There doesn't seem to be enough cream in the world to keep them from cracking and getting raw. Funny how lanolin is suppose to make your skin soft yet when your allergic to it it makes it dry and cracked. Okay, it's not that funny... I hope I have enough of the brown to finish the purse without having to buy more.

But then I realized that my mother and my grandmother have birthday's next month (oh crap, I just realized that my niece and nephew also have birthday's next month, in fact my nephew's birthday is the same day as my mom's!). So I cast on a pair of socks for my mom. I was thinking about doing the Fleece Artist garter stitch cardigans for both mom and Nan but quickly dropped that idea for my grandmother since that would involve hand washing and that just was not a good idea for Nan. Then the reality of my finances kicked in... So I'm doing socks for Mom and I'd really like to do her a felted hat to match the potato chip scarf I did for her for Christmas. I'd also like to do the messenger bag Granny Tan did from Interweave Holiday Gifts (but in a different colour scheme) or the Celtic Tote from Interweave Winter. I think I'm going to do Nan a pair of some type of felted slipper or bootie. She is always cold. Nan has a serious allergy to synthetics. I get dry and crack with certain fibers, she gets a type of chemical burn like reaction. It's really bad. So I have to watch what I use. I wanted to do a shawl for her but we'll see.

Anyway I cast on these socks called Tilted Cables from Interweave Winter. I love this pattern. I am a cable junkie anyway and these totally satisfy my cable cravings. My mom already commented that she thought the yarn was pretty. She will totally love these. It's Knitpicks Memories in Prairie something or another - it doesn't matter really because it's a discontinued. I've had it in my stash for quite a while.

I've really got to get moving on the April birthday knitting!

An update on the memorial socks. I cast on the second sock and am currently working on it before bedtime. I don't see it getting finished before April but I'll work a little on it here and there... Once again knitting for myself gets pushed to the back burner....

A sock, a pair of clogs, a purse and a hangnail

2008-03-03T11:56:00.005-04:00

I finally finished one Memorial Sock. It's beautiful. I'm in love. I made Tim go "oh, ah" and pet it.
I have enough yarn leftover that it looks like I may be able to make a bootie like pair of socks out of the leftovers. It will give me a chance to try a toe up sock and if I run out of yarn at the top I have other stuff I can add to make a ribbed cuff. It would be great to have a pair of bootie type socks out of this wonderful yarn to slip on when I get chilly tootsies in bed... And it seems that the yarn has not bothered me at all. Of course I'm not allergic to cashmere and alpaca! So I guess that means I have a good reason to only buy luxury yarns. ; )

Can you see the difference between these two clogs?

I finished the pair of felted clogs I was commissioned to do for a friend of a friends better half (got that?). But I ran out of yarn when doing the bottoms. Note to self - buy extra when planning specific projects... Anyway I used a yarn that was close to it but when it felted it seemed to make the differences more noticeable which I didn't think was possible but when it comes to felting Murphy's Law really does rule.
I put puffy fabric paint on the bottom to try and reduce the slipperiness of the slippers. I sent some pictures to the commissioner and she liked them anyway. I liked them just fine but since someone was paying for them I had to make sure they were acceptable. So today they hit the mail. As you can see, you can't tell the difference when they are on. I have got to make myself a pair of these...
Okay so on to the next commissioned project. Felted stripped purse. This is for my Aunt-in-law's sister. I did one for my Aunt-in-law for Christmas but I didn't write down exactly what I did so I am having to wing it on this one. I started it once but it was too wide so I frogged it and started again. I think I have it right this time. It's going to be brown with a beige strip.
I can confirm that all this Briggs and Little wool does not agree with my skin. I have more hangnails than you can shake a stick at. I do wash my hands often and keep hand cream on them but it's just not enough.
You think that looks bad, you should see my scalp. I don't know why it's my scalp that has gotten irritated and dry but luckily the only person who can see that mess is my hairdresser! But it is official. My skin was fine, my hands were soft and supple and my scalp was perfect... and they I picked up the Briggs and Little wool. I'm convinced that the nicer, better processed, cleaner wool doesn't have the same effect but I'm still testing that theory. All I know for sure was that all was fine when I was knitting with the cashmere/alpaca blend. So bring on more of that stuff!! Hahahaha, I'm even a high maintenance knitter... surprise.

Dogs, dogs, dogs and more dogs

2008-02-28T12:16:00.002-04:00

Welcome to my zoo. When 3 dogs decide it's time to get up, you get up. At promptly 6 am this morning all 3 dogs decided it was time for breakfast. Who am I to argue? Then at 8 am sharp Clancy decided it was playtime. He and Ollie decided the bed was the perfect wrestling ring. Problem with that was that I was still in the bed! And yes, I discovered up close and personal that Ollie can fit Clancy's whole head in his mouth. I was lucky I got out with all my appendages! I kept thinking "they are about to run out of steam and settle down for naps" but the morning seems to be Clancy's prime time. It's their most intense play session for sure. It was after 10 am before they all crashed.

Yup, that's them all on our bed! Needless to say I think the bed will get changed more than once this week... Yesterday they all had big raw beef bones so today they all smell a little beefy. And the farts are just delightful... Oooo gross dude (I say that a lot these days)

Progress on the clogs is moving along slowly. I should have had the second one done last night but I spent more time yesterday rearranging beef bone chewing dogs so that the carpet would stay clean. Well, that's my story anyway. Must go knit while the pack is sleeping!

Clancy, a ball winder and a swiff.

2008-02-26T10:43:00.007-04:00

Okay I meant to blog yesterday but the day totally got away from me. Mostly because of this fellaCute, isn't he. This is Granny Tan's boy Clancy. And he came over to spend 10 days with his big black cousins (that's what his dad told him) while his parents frolic in Florida. He's just a little mite next to my two beasts. But he fits in perfectly. They all get along really well but I do have to watch them in the yard because sometimes all 3 of them decide to play together and I always worry that poor little Clancy will get squished between the two big bouvs.

Actually I'm waiting for the neighbors to call the SPCA for our allowing a live squeaky toy into the yard for the bouvs to play with... He and Ollie really pound the bejezuz out of each other. I think he's crazy to take on a dog 4 times his size but Clancy's a tough one!

Yes, this is my free entertainment for the next 10 days...

What I wanted to share yesterday was that the Martha Stewart show yesterday (Monday, Feb 25)was about knitting and she had an audience full of knitters, knitting away through the whole show. It was great! I never really sit and watch the show, I tend to just have it on in the background so I can't really say if it was a good show or not. But still, that was some serious exposure for knitting. Okay, she was knitting a scarf for her French Bulldog... like the dog wants to wear a scarf.. but anyway, it was good exposure.

I finally got out to London Wul for some wool to make some felted clogs and 2 felted purses that I've been commissioned to do. I had a hard time finding the Briggs and Little yarn I like to use for both. The clogs are for a man and are light and dark grey. ( I have one almost done since I took this pic - man they knit up fast!)

I spent almost an hour trying to pick out the right shade of green for one of the purses. I don't think I got the right shade but it's a nice shade just the same. One purse will be green with cream strips and the other will be brown with cream strips.

After balling the first 2 balls by hand I called Granny Tan to see if I could have temporary custody of her ball winder and swiff while she is in Florida. If anyone who is reading this is close to me - these items make great gifts... hint, hint, nudge, nudge.

Clancy is finally beat out! Okay, better go sneak in some knitting time.

From here to here with little to show for it.

2008-02-20T11:36:00.002-04:00

In the past week I went from this

to this (this is London Heathrow)
Yup, way warmer in Europe. I ended up in Stockholm. My favorite city. It was so mild. It ended up being a nice break from the snow and cold! This is the view I had for years as I traveled to see a client in Stockholm. I can't tell you how many days I waited on this platform for the train back into the central part of the city where I would always stay.
It had been over 2 years since I had been to Stockholm and I was surprised at how little it had changed. Everything was as I remembered. This is Sergel Torg and it's a fountain in the summer.
This is the main shopping street in downtown. Drottingatan. Aren't the lights beautiful. With the long winter nights, the Swedes know how to make it seem so cozy with all the little lights.
I went to Sweden to say my farewells to a wonderful friend and mentor. It was an honour and a privledge to be able to take part in Harry funeral.
I didn't take my camera with me for the funeral but I wish I had. The church was a little old church that was beyond beautiful. The grounds were amazing and Harry is resting in the most beautiful spot. There is an old Swedish tradition where they lower the casket into the ground and all of the funeral attendees proceed by it and toss in a flower to say goodbye. It was beautiful. He will be missed by so many as he was loved by so many. He was truely a great man and I count myself very lucky to have known him.

Needless to say I didn't get much knitting done. But my "nana socks" will now be called my "memorial socks". And every time I put them on I will remember these wonderful people who have been a part of my life.

There is some hope that I might actually get this first sock done sometime in the near future.

After my nana's funeral, when I was so tired I was knitting with my eyes closed... I did make a mistake. I was ribbing where I should have just been knitting. I think it just adds to the socks charm. It's on the back of the leg, just above the heel so it's not really noticable at all.

In honour of my Nana

2008-02-07T19:33:00.000-04:00

Things had ground to a halt this past week as my Nana passed away. She had been in the hospital for over 6 months and I had been wishing she would go peacefully into the night. Grampie, Mom and I went to see her less than 48 hours before she passed. She was asleep due to being well medicated although she wasn't sleeping peacefully. Her body fought on while her mind left us months ago. It is such a blessing that she is at peace now. I wanted to rejoice at the viewing and funeral as so many told me they were sorry for me loss. I had lost her months ago. I had been mourning her since July. I felt a sense of relief when I woke up the morning after she passed away. Her suffering was over. However, last night, after the funeral it really hit me that she was gone. I'll never see her again. But my Nana had been gone for a while, a couple of years really. Alzheimers is a horrible disease. And it's just not fair.

My Nana was my nana, she took care of me when I was little. She wasn't a relative but she loved me just the same. And she did it because she wanted to, not because she had to. When we pulled away from her house when I was 5 years old to move to the US, I made a promise to myself, to come home some day. And I kept that promise. I also promised her that I would take back my name and become Christian again. My mother marryied a Jewish man so my original name of Christie (note the word "christ" in the name) was changed to Judi. That's why I go by CJ now. If you can't keep your word to yourself than what good is your word to anyone else? Nana loved that I kept my promises.

Needless to say I haven't knit much in the last week. I used to take my knitting into the hospital to knit by her bedside. Nana was too far gone by the time I started knitting to really discuss it with her. She did tell me she loved to turn the heel on socks and I do too. By the time I started knitting just a little over a year ago, Nana could no longer remember how to knit. It caused her a great deal of frustrating. My grandmother can no longer knit either, she can't stay focus. So because of this I say to all of you knitters and crocheters out there, do me a favour, this weekend in honour of our elders, indulge yourself in some knitting or crocheting time. Do it for those who no longer can. Do it for the love of such a time honoured tradition. Do it because some day you may not be able to.

COADIC, Helen Gertrude - 84, Halifax, passed away Saturday, February 2, 2008, in Abbey J. Lane Memorial Building, QEII. Born in Sydney, she was a daughter of the late Joseph and Jessie (Lodge) Hussey. Helen had a love for her church, serving as Sunday School Superintendent and was involved with the Missions Society and the Ladies Guild. She was a founding member of the NDP. Her greatest pride was her role as foster mother to well over 150 babies and children. To this day she is still known as "Nanny." She is survived by her devoted husband of 67 years, Gordon; daughters, Gail Michaud-Stroud, Halifax; and Linda Suelter, Lower Sackville; grandchildren, Doris (Pierre) Michaud and Danielle (Stephan) Michaud; Michele Suelter; great-grandchildren, Melody and Alyson; sisters, Dorothy Legge, Halifax; Phyllis (Joe Kennedy), Sydney; Evelyn (Bronson Dicks), Bridgewater; Jean (John Smith), Gander, N.L.; brother, Everett (Agnes) Hussey, Grimsby, Ont.; many nieces and nephews; extended family, Phyllis MacDonald and Judi Weiss. She was predeceased by brothers, Llewellyn, Gordon and Norman; sisters, Beatrice and Edna. Visitation will take place 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, February 5, in J.A. Snow Funeral Home, 2666 Windsor St., Halifax. A funeral service will be held 11 a.m. Wednesday, February 6, in Knox Presbyterian Church. Family flowers only please. Donations may be made to Knox Presbyterian Church or to a charity of your choice. E-mail condolences to: condolences.snow@ns.aliantzinc.ca

I will share with you my latest project. The progress on my socks. I love this yarn. Nana would have shook her head at it, such fancy yarn! Forever these will be my Nana socks.

There is one slight problem. Last night after the funeral I was so tired that I kept falling asleep while knitting. I would come to and realize that my eyes hadn't been opened while knitting the last row. I haven't looked to see how badly I screwed it up but luckily after one round I decided it was time to stop. Aren't they beautiful?

All Hail the New York Giants!

2008-02-04T11:15:00.000-04:00

Not a lot of knitting got done this weekend as it was Super Bowl weekend. So I have just one thing to say

All Hail the New York Giants!!!!!!!

It was an amazing game. For those of you who routed for the underdog, I salute you. See, you just have to have faith!

A wrap gone awry. And an old sock pattern

2008-01-28T10:53:00.000-04:00

I finished my wrap. Totally did not end up with the dimensions I hoped for...

Note how it perfectly covers the ottoman. Oddly enough, I'm not shaped like an ottoman. So it didn't turn out very "wrap" like. However, it is a nice lap type blanket, on the small side though. But I think it will end up being a decorative piece. Not that I have a room that has those sort of bright colours in it... But it will work somewhere, at some point in time.

I don't know if you can really tell in this picture but I ended up picking up a bunch of stitches in the last section. It fans out a bit. What a newbie mistake. I sometimes struggle with the novelty yarn...

On to socks. I had picked up this most amazing sock yarn at the spinners retreat. It's 50% Cashmere and Silk and 50% Alpaca. I'm making socks for me. That's right, for me! I can't freakin' wait!!!!!!!! I love homemade socks. It's a lot of work but there is nothing more luxurious then slipping on a pair of homemade socks on a cold day! The yarn is from the Belfast Mini-Mill in PEI.

The last time I visited my grandmother I went through all of her old patterns. I brought home a ton of them. This is the first one I am attempting. It's funny because the needle size is the old British sizes. Luckily Mom had mentioned the differences or else I would have been completely befuddled. And my needle sizer has the British numbers included. So these end up being knitted on size 0. This is my first time working on size 0. It's really hard after working on the 15mm I was using for the wrap...

Here's the 2 patterns I have it narrowed down too. One is simple except for the cable and the other is actually an easier pattern to follow but more detail. I'm not sure which one will bring out the beauty of the yarn best. Luckily both patterns require a 4 inch 2X2 rib so I don't have to decide until I get to that point. And by then I should have a better idea of how the yarn knits up.
I love cables and the cable pattern is an interesting cable within a cable. I'm just worried that the yarn won't show it up well.
And this one is nice too. Decisions, decisions, decisions...
I also put the hoodie I was working on a while ago back on the needles. I just can't remember what size needles I was using. The pattern calls for 4mm and 4.5mm but I don't have 4 mm. So I don't know if I used 4.5mm and 5mm or if I just used 4.5mm only. And now I have different needles, I have wooden ones to use with this cotton acrylic blend. I should be able to tell after a couple of rows if I have the right needles in or not. I'm going with the 4.5mm until I see differently. It's a pretty boring pattern but good for TV watching.

Mitten Procrastination

2008-01-23T11:58:00.000-04:00

So this is how the mitten turned out. Not bad.

But I'm not sure that the wool is right. It seems too loose. For a mitten the wool should be tight enough (not sure I'm explaining that correctly) so that the air can't get through too easily. Anyway, I decided to take a break from mittens while I contimplated the practicality of this knitting project.
So I moved on to a wrap. I found a pattern for bulky weight yarn and got starte. I was looking for something that I would knit on long circular needles, widthwise. I missread the pattern and ended up with a pattern that runs widthwise but when I change yarn it's lengthwise. So the pattern and the yarn run differently. It may end up looking really weird but I'm loving these 2 different yarns together. I split the yarn up so I'll do three sets of the first yarn on the right and 2 of the one on the left. In this picture it almost looks like the needles are running widthwise but they aren't.
It should be interesting to see how it turns out. But first I have to finish that other mitten and get that parcel in the mail!

Mitts are easy - Right?!

2008-01-21T12:07:00.000-04:00

I finished the scarf. I think I'll give it to my sister-in-law for her birthday.
And I finished the socks for my brother. They turned out nice. But they are just socks so I thought I'd do him a pair of mitts. Mitt's are easy, right? I've never knit a pair before. Somehow or another my brother ends up being my guinea pig for new projects.
After 2 cast ons of another pattern I finally found a pattern that called for the bulky type yarn I was using. (the needles are still off by .5 mm but it should be okay - shouldn't it?!)
These have a finger flap. Very practical. The pattern was only for a woman's size medium so I had to add more stitches to make it bigger for my brothers large hands.
The instructions for adding the cover flap were a little vague. I'm still not sure I have it right. Yes, you BO the mitten part with the contrasting colour. I didn't make that up myself.
We'll see how they turn out. I'll keep you posted. My brother's birthday is in 11 days and these have to go in the mail. Knitter's delusions has set in yet again. I am always starting a new type of project with no regards for the time require to figure out the project. It's an illness. Luckily I know a whole lot of other people just like me. We should start a support group. Although I'm not sure we'd be all that supportive, more like a group of enablers, not so much supporters. Sigh.

2008-01-13T13:33:00.000-04:00

I thought I'd better blog so no one would think I was being slack. So before the football games start for the day (GO Indy! And my boys - The COWBOYS!! I've almost got Ollie to say "how 'bout them Cowboys?!" but it mostly just comes out Owwwooo in his doggie language.). And while the guys are doing this....

I thought I should take the opportunity to bring you up to date. I finally finished a pair of cable booties for myself. They are made from Blue Sky Cotton which is really nice but I do need to do a pair in wool. I won't wear them next to my skin so I shouldn't have too much of a reaction and nothing really warms like wool. And nothing is worse than cold tootsies!
Then I started on a pair of heavy socks for my brother who's birthday is Feb 1st. I want to do him a pair of mitts too. This wool is some stuff my mom had in her stash. It's making one heck of a nice sock! Acrylic though... I hope they are still nice and warm.

Only working on socks was boring the bejezuz out of me so I had to cast on a scarf/wrap. I'm inspired by the wool Granny Tan gave me for Christmas. I don't want to work it yet until I come up with the perfect pattern but I am serious in the mood to do wraps. I don't think I'll have enough yarn here for a wrap but it's going to be one funky scarf. The light one colour yarn is from one of those bulk bag you get at Walmart or Zellers. My aunt gave it to me after she used enough out of the bag to make herself a scarf. The other is one of the novelty yarns. It's a fun effect, combining the two. However the bulk yarn is made from "unidentified fibers" and I may be having an allergic reaction to it. This scarf will go in the gift bag for some lucky recipient in the future.

Christmas gifts for ME!

2008-01-06T12:34:00.001-04:00

I went to see Granny Tan yesterday, first time since way before the holidays. I was slightly embarrassed to see that all her Christmas stuff was put away. I swear I'm taking down my trees today!

Tan had knit me this snood/neck gaiter! Now I don't have to knit one for myself. And it's super soft. I wore it home!

Tan also had gotten some white pulworth, dyed it just for me, then she spun it and then she plyed it with a silver thread. It's really beautiful. I can't wait to knit something with it. I'm not going to rush it though. I'll wait until a project jumps out at me and says "this would be perfect with that pink and silver yarn Tan made for me"!

The Grand Finale for the Christmas Gifts

2008-01-06T11:49:00.000-04:00

I haven't even updated my other blog because I was so busy knitting over the holidays. And I had a great entertaining menu to share... Well maybe I'll put it up for some summer entertaining. Anywhoooo, here's the last of the Christmas gifts. Some weren't even started until after Christmas morning. I wasn't seeing my step-sister and step-brother until after Christmas day so it worked out okay. Tim got me a new knitting mag that had this quick pattern for a Snood. I used lion's homespun. It knit up quick and was soft and luxurious! So this is for my step-sister.

I did this hat for my step-brother's fiance who I still haven't met. She didn't make it over the night my step-sister and brother came over so I still haven't met her. Mom told me these were her colours. I hope she liked it. The yarn was from Granny Tan's destashing that I got. It's a great yarn!

I did a neck gaiter for my step-brother. It is also from some of Granny Tan's destash. It also turned out quite nice.

I finished the clogs for my mom. I got some cork bottom sandals from Walmart and took off the leather straps. My mom needs more support in her slipper than the bottom of the felted clogs has. She wore them for a day and the cork bottoms stayed glued. I was quite happy. The only concern I have is that the felted slippers seem to stretch so I may have to try re-felting them with the cork bottoms on if they get to big. I'll keep you posted. Don't you just love the fun fur cuff?

I did these for my mom's husband. I ran out of the grey twist and thought I could replicate it well enough for felting with beige and black. As you can see, I failed but Dennis doesn't care and he will always be able to tell which foot is which.

After Dennis fell and broke his collar bone just a couple of weeks ago, I thought he should have solid bottoms on his felted slippers too. I wasn't able to get cork bottoms for his (oddly enough the selection of summer sandals isn't great right before Christmas) so I used a foam flip flop slipper bottom for his. The foam bottom had no give so they wouldn't stayed glued.

I had heard of a way to reduce the slipperiness of the clog by putting puffy paint on the bottom. I wish I had heard of this before I sent a pair to my entire brother's family. As my brother put it, my slippers give the work "slipper" a whole new meaning...

The worse part is, I had a whole bag full of 3-D fabric paint. So I could have easily painted the bottoms of all the slippers before I sent them. I have informed my brother's family of the solution to the slippery bottoms. Here's hoping they take my advice before a lawsuit is issued.

One of the gifts for my mom's husband was given with needles still in it. I am happy to say, the gift is now done. They are what I am calling 'bed socks'. They are knit with Knitpicks Wool of the Andes which is a worsted weight wool. But they are amazingly light. They may fit in a boot but they will be great for wearing in the evening while watching TV or curled up in bed!

Here is the last Christmas item to be finished. A pair of cabled booties for my mom. Everyone else has a pair, so she might as well too. They are also done in Knitpicks Wool of the Andes. Mom will love these. And they are wool which is the best at keep cold tootsies warm. (I'm doing a pair for myself after I finish these!!)

Potato Chip Scarf

2007-12-20T11:38:00.000-04:00

I finished this potato chips scarf, pattern from knitpicks.com. I used bling bling and carman, one is bernat and the other is patons, I think. I'm pleased with the results.

My girl, Miss Emily, had to give it a try. While it does go well with her fur coat, it's not for her!

Final Parcel Mailed! Now on to knit gifts for home...

2007-12-18T19:24:00.000-04:00

I forgot to take a pic of the no-sew throw. It turned out nice too. But it is happily sailing off to it's recipient as we speak. Here are the final projects for the last parcel outta here!

It a hat for my brother (matches his green neck gaiter I knit him earlier) A hat and neck gaiter for my nephew.
A dish towel and 2 dish cloths. I really like this ripple pattern!
A pair of felted clogs for my sister-in-law. These were the first pair that I did that actually fit me... I know too many people with big feet!

And another pair for my niece. Yup, I did them for the whole family. I hope they like them.

Now on to projects that don't have to be mailed. I have 2 more pairs of clogs to do, a potato chip scarf, 3 neck gaiters, a pair of cable booties and a few dish cloths... And that should just about do it.

Post FO Completion High

2007-12-12T12:18:00.000-04:00

Does anyone else find that when they finish a project just before bedtime that they need some wind-down time before getting to sleep? I finished the second slipper for a pair of felted clogs around 12:30 on Sat. night. I didn't get to sleep until almost 4 am! I was so wound up! I know my list is overwhelming me. And I should have been knitting for those 3.5 hours.... UGH! I need my sleep if I'm going to keep up with my list. Already I've narrowed it down. I'm okay with that. Although it's kinda sad, given that I started Christmas knitting in August. I finished another clog last night, all except the sewing up the bottom and the weaving in the ends which I left on purpose so that I would be able to sleep. I took a ripple pattern dishtowel I'm working on for my brother and sister-in-law to bed with me to keep me from getting too high on FOs. It worked. I knit for a bit longer but got to sleep at a sensible time. So that's my new trick, leave the last bit to do the next day to prevent the FO high.

Speaking of FO highs, I finished and felted another purse. Pre-felted:

And Post-felted:

Man I love felting things! I just love how they turn out.

One more clog to go and that will be the last big thing to knit for the group of gifts I have to mail. Just a couple of hats, finish the dish towel and knit another dishcloth, add a pom-pom to a hat, sew in 2 sippers and possibly knit a neck gaiter.. oh and finish a throw that is made out of fleece (I'll post it when it's done, it's not knit but it's still a nice idea) to do by Monday for the mail. I have another list then for the final week into Christmas. Sadly, I will be knitting Christmas Day for my step brother, his finance and step sister.... Next year I must plan better!

No more socks for this Christmas!

2007-12-07T11:25:00.000-04:00

I finally finished the pair of socks I was working on. I started these things back in August! Good lord I'm slow! Anyway, they are done. They are cute. And I'm happy with the results.

Now on to something quicker! I finished the sock yesterday and immediately started another pair of felted clog slippers. These are for my neice. They are purple with a light grey cuff. The cuff should felt fuzzier than the rest of the slipper since it's lopi yarn. I think the effect will be nice. Amazing how quickly I got this one done, eh? No wonder I like doing these!

Oh shoot, I forgot, I still have the heel and foot to do for one more sock... I have a pair of wool socks I'm doing for my sister in law. sigh...

Oh my arm!

2007-12-06T11:39:00.000-04:00

I woke up this morning with pain in my right arm. My first thought was that I was having sympathy pains for my mom's husband who fell yesterday and broke his collar bone. Poor bugger! Said he was in so much pain that he didn't think he could lift a fork. But wait, no this pain was real. Holy crap, did I knit too much yesterday?! Impossible, I still haven't finished that damn sock! (But we are on the toe decrease, so the end is in sight). I have too much knitting still to be done! I don't have time to deal with a stiff, sore right arm/hand. I have a ganglion cyst in my right wrist. It rarely bothers me but can be aggravated from time to time. This was not the time for it to decide to act up!

Okay, my grandmother knit like a madwoman her whole life and she never had that carpal tunnel syndrome. No older person I know in my family has that carpal tunnel, you shouldn't get it from knitting. Repetitive computer use I can see... (maybe I should stop typing now). That can't be it. Exercising your hands should be healthy for you. My grandmother does, however, have the worse arthritis.... Oh, god, I'm too young. I drink milk, get lots of calcium and vitamin D. I shouldn't be getting the arthritis yet. UGH! I don't have time for this!!!! Not now, wait until after Christmas, then my hands, arms, shoulders can crap out.

And then it dawns on me... after being up for hours.... I shoveled snow yesterday. This is a snow shovelling related soreness. I'll take 2 Advil and get back to my knitting. All is right in the world again.

Snowday! and The 9 Row Frog

2007-12-05T09:42:00.000-04:00

Monday night when I went to bed the snow was flying. We were forecasted a good old fashioned maritime storm. Now some maritimers may complain about the weather but I love winter. I love everything about it. Snuggling in with a good hot chocolate (preferably spiked!), warm socks, scarves and fuzzy slippers, the short days, the way the sun sparkles on the snow, the long nights, perfect for candlelight (you'll see the problem with this in a moment), soups, stews, skiing, you name it and I love it. I suppose it comes from not having grown up around snow yet knowing the whole time that I was Canadian. My first winter in Wolfville NS was a bit of a shock... like when they didn't cancel classes for what I would have called a blizzard! And waiting out all night in a snowstorm for supersub tickets under a blanket with Yolande and Super Keaner. Ah, those were the days.

Now as an adult with no kids (arranging childcare for snowdays can be a hassle, I know), I look forward to snow storms because they are an excuse to stay in my pajamas and snuggle in while waiting the storm out. But alas, I have dogs. And dogs must go out to use the facilities. And big dogs think snow is big fun. At the height of yesterday's storm my two illustrious beasts decided it was playtime. They frolicked like deer, pounced like bears on salmon and ran around like lunatic. All of this was heightened by me joining them to scoop the poop while I could still see it. It was too windy and stormy to video them but this is how they came into the house.

I spent a good part of the afternoon picking off snowballs, mopping floors and telling wet dogs that they were no longer welcome on the furniture. It took them a good 3 hours to dry out, all the while continuing to ask to go out again.

After all was said and done, the house looks beautiful. Certainly inspiring for Christmas knitting.
Hey, can you find my light reindeer? I think I'm going to have to dig them out a bit today. There are 2 of them out there.
Now you would think that a day so stormy that we couldn't leave the house, so why even bother getting dressed, would be a great knitting day. Well I worked on one sock. Yup, one whole sock. And I still didn't get it done! I finally got into a rhythm around 9 pm only to discover at midnight that I had dropped a stitch a few rows back. I decided dealing with it before I went to bed, so I would have a fresh start today, was a good idea. After I slowly frogged it back, stitch by stitch (I can't just pull out the needles, frog to where I need to and then pick up the stitches. I get too befuddled and end up fighting to pick up the right stitches) I ended up with 9 rows of fingering weight yarn frogged back. UGH!!!!!! I swear I am never going to get these damn socks done!
And the culprit of this mistake?! Candlelight. I decided to embrace the beautiful winter evening and light some candles while watching the last of the snow fall. Lesson learned, sock knitting by candlelight may not be a wise idea. I think I'll wait to further 'embrace' the winter season until after I have my Christmas knitting done.

Maybe I should follow a pattern... and some success

2007-12-03T12:55:00.000-04:00

I started knitting some fetching fingerless gloves but then thought that if I sent these to a teenage girl living in Newfoundland or Ontario - they'd wear them in the middle of winter and end up with frostbite. Teenage girls tend to be more about fashion then common sense, especially the 2 on my Christmas list. So I thought I would make the fingerless gloves into mittens. No, I have never knit a pair of mittens before but how hard could it be. Just knit up to a point, and do a toe like decrease and Kitchener the tip, pick up for the thumb hole, knit the length of the thumb and Kitchener the end. (I love the Kitchener stitch - did I mention that?)

I had some really nice yarn I had gotten from Granny Tan when she did some de-stashing that I thought would do nicely. It was a worsted weight which is what the pattern calls for but it knit up small. I was worried as I did the cuff but I could still get it on my hand no problem so I knit away.

Yup, it's a sad sorry excuse for a mitt. However, the yarn is quite nice and soft. I will frog this and the yarn will become something else. I need to do a hat and neck gaiter for my nephew...

For my niece (one of the teen girls on my list) I decided to do a lacy hat. She may actually wear it in the middle of winter which is better than nothing. It's not really built for warmth but it's very trendy and like I said, is better than nothing. Granny Tan found this pattern for me http://jenniferhoel.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/lace-and-cables-cap.pdf I think she found it off of Ravelry which I still haven't done anything with... ah, in the new year. I'm thrilled with the hat. It's done in KnitPicks Palette yarn, colour "grass". I wish I had time to do a scarf to match...
Now back to doing felted clogs. They are so gratifying, I get them done quickly and they seem like such a substantial gift!

One more pair of Cable Booties

2007-11-29T14:02:00.000-04:00

I finally finished off the cable booties I started at the spinners retreat. They are such an easy knit that I kept putting them off knowing it would take me no time to finish them. Then I realized I was running out of time! I have a lot of things to go in the mail....
These are knit with Wool of the Andes from Knit Picks and the pattern is from One Skein.

FOs with no proof

2007-11-28T12:41:00.000-04:00

I have finished a few projects since my last post but while in NJ for American Thanksgiving I managed to erase 3 days worth of pics. Including an incriminating video of friends Wii boxing that involved a slight head bonk that resulted in fits of laughter from the spectators. I'm more disappointed about losing that then my knitting pics!

I took down 2 pairs of felted clogs for my host and hostess. They fit perfect but I had to pack them damp as I was felting them the day before I left. Those things are super slippery on linoleum flooring... I think I'm going to hit Fabricville and see if I can't get some suede to cut out for bottoms for the 2 pairs I have done and the rest I have to do.

I also did 2 really nice dish clothes for another friend we visited. It was my own pattern, well sort of, I did a wave type pattern that turned out well. It's a repeat of 18 stitches on 5mm needles with the cotton yarn. I cast on 36 stitches for the dish clothes. I was going to do a dish towel too and cast on 54 stitches but I never had enough time before we went to see them

Here is the 4 row repeat I did. I did it 10 times and the cloth was a nice size.
Row 1 : *[k2tog ] 3 times, [k1, yo] 6 times, [k2tog] 3 times; rep from * to end
Rows 2 -4: knit

Now let me go complete some projects I can take pictures of!

Knitting Bag (and another pair of felted clogs)

2007-11-15T12:18:00.000-04:00

I finished a couple more projects for my Christmas List. This is a bag for my aunt. It's a knitting bag for her to put her afghan project in. It won't fit a whole afghan but it's still a good size. I'm pleased with how it turned out. Must make myself one some day... I never make myself stuff. The pattern is a modified version of the marsupial tote from Stitch'N bitch The Knitter's Handbook. And the yarn is Briggs and Little. I stuffed the bag more after I took this pic to try and address the rolling around the top. It seems to help.

I also finished another pair of felted clogs. I know they look like the last pair I did but they are a size smaller and the dark blue trim is a different dark blue then the other pair. I swear!

Off to knit!

CLOGS!!!!!!!!

2007-11-08T16:20:00.000-04:00

Wheeeee! I have a new favorite project. The Fiber Trends Felted Clog Slippers. What a fun and satisfying project. Quick to knit, but not mindless. It's like turning a huge heel and I love turning the heel. I'm so glad I like knitting them because I have all that wool from the spinning retreat and I planned on making them for my brother and his family and my mom and her husband... that's 12 clogs! So it's a darn good thing I like knitting them! These are the pre-felted version of my brother's size 11 man's. My foot next to them is a size 8 ladies.

The only problem I had with these is that I used the contrasting colour on the outer sole only because I was worried I wouldn't have enough yarn. I was right. I ended up only doing the inner part of the outer sole in the dark blue. The yarn was seconds so each hank was not equal in size. I think it turned out okay though. Pre-felted...

And post-felting.

These are just too cool!

Really the biggest problem is that I'm allergic to wool. My hands are all dried up and I've got some of the worse hang nails ever. I'm trying to keep them washed often and I do have a good hand cream to apply when I'm going to knit. The best one I have found is the Neutrogenia Norwegian Formula. It's lanolin free which is the oil in wool that is often the cause of the irritation and it's very emollient. I just have to remember to keep it with my knitting!

How's that?! Two posts in one day! (I thought the clogs deserved there own post)

Manon says "BLOG!" so I blog

2007-11-08T15:45:00.001-04:00

No, I'm not giving into pressure to blog... I just haven't been getting much blog worthy stuff done lately. One sock of this, one sock of that...

The one on the left is the heat wave pattern in knitpicks Dancing yarn (it's discontinued). It's big on me because it's for my friend's daughter who has a size 10 foot. The one on the right is the wool sock pattern from Briggs and Little in their yarn for my sister in law. She's been wearing the ones I made for my brother so I thought I should make her a pair of her own. These are both for Christmas... now I just have to get the other matching socks done...

The thing I'm most please about (and the real reason for blogging!)is the lacy scarf I finished for my grandmother. She was an experienced knitter and she now finds she can no longer knit. She just can't concentrate. Whenever I think I'm not in the mood to knit I remind myself that there may come a time when I can't knit so I'd better enjoy every moment right now! My uncle says my Nan would be sitting on the couch, head falling back asleep and those needles would still be going. Now that's commitment! I know she will appreciate this scarf.

There is a mistake in there but you can't find it... I can though. It was a row I redid about 5 times so I'm just going to say it adds to the charm and proves it's homemade. (It's not in this picture so don't spend hours playing "where's the screw up")

I've completed one full cable bootie and started on the second. I love knitting these and they are great to take on the go. I'm heading to the US for American Thanksgiving and will have lots of airport time so I'll get these finished then and probably do another pair. These are for my friend with the big footed daughter from above. What are they feeding these kids anyway?!

Funny how knitters appreciate waiting time so we can turn it into knitting time. I'm was backed up on pod casts (football season means watching football and knitting all weekend versus listening to pod casts and knitting on the weekends) so I'm good for some serious time in airports. It's the holiday weekend and things tend to get backed up but I'm ready!

I've been trying to whip off a few quick Christmas gifts that will have to be sent away. I finished this hat for my uncle.

This scarf for his granddaughter. Orange is her favorite colour.
This scarf for his other granddaughter. Her favorite colour is yellow.

I'd like to mention that this month is my knitting anniversary. I starting knitting last November! It's been a whole year. Man, have I learned a lot! And there is still so much to do!

Side note... I don't remember when I quit smoking and I smoked for over 17 years. But I do remember when I first started knitting. Says a lot, don't you think?

Project Updates, An "Awwww" and The Yarn Farm

2007-10-17T15:12:00.001-04:00

We'll start with the "awww" portion of this post. Remember the toddler poncho I made for Miss Emily Juckes' first birthday. Well I got pics of her modelling it as she ventured out for pumpkins. Could she be any cuter?! That's mom's arm in the back so Miss Emily doesn't fall off the pumpkin wagon! And while this pic is too cute....

This one shows the poncho better. Yes Emily, I love the great pumpkin too.

As a follow up to the spinners retreat weekend, here is the MacAusland yarn I bought as it drys after being washed in dish soap and spun it in the washing machine. It made a huge difference! But now I have a yarn farm going on in my bathroom downstairs. And this is only half of it!

Now on to projects. There is lots on the go around here. Tim is away in China for 2 weeks so my knitting and spinning projects have taken over the house. Well that and I'm procrastinating. I am giving the dogs their fall grooming special. It's taken me 3 days. Day one was brushing, day two was baths and today is day three and they will get their haircuts. Here they are after their baths. I'm trying to get them to lay in the sun to dry out. Speaking of cute...

Okay on to projects. I felted the purse for my aunt made out of the Bernat Felting Natural Wool. It felted up with one run through the agitation cycle on my washer set to heavy duty. I just checked it then let it run through the rinse and spin cycles. I love it but found out my aunt wanted beige but then I talked to another aunt and now it's going to be for yet another aunt. Anyway, one more gift done. I think I'm going to sew in a zipper. It really makes it functional.

While at the spinning retreat what little knitting I did was on another pair of cable booties. These are for a friend. I made the cuff a little longer, doing 4 repeats of the pattern instead of just 2. I knew I could do this because I had yarn leftover the from the last pair I made. I use Knitpicks Wool of the Andes for this and it knits up really nicely.

Still working on the heat wave sock. The young lady I'm making these for has a size 10 foot. I knew she had larger feet so I only did 3 repeats of the pattern for the cuff so I'd be sure to have enough yarn. I love this pattern! I'm using Knitpicks Dancing Yarn for this project.

I'm also still working on the scarf for my nan and I'm really happy with how it is turning out. But I do have to be really focused when I knit it. I'm using Knitpicks Palette yarn and the pattern is Branching Out. It's a great pattern to start trying out lacy projects.
I also have at least 2 other UFOs that are for Christmas. I'll show them when I'm done. So as if all this wasn't enough, on Monday it was so freakin' cold that I nearly froze my hands off when I went outside with the dogs. So I wondered if I could quickly knit myself a pair of Fetching Fingerless Gloves. Now you may be saying to yourself, "CJ, are you insane?!" but wait, I have a rationale for this insanity. See I'm debating what to do for my niece and my friends daughter, ages 14 and 15. So I thought I'd see how quick these knit up and if they were quick then I'd do them each a pair with a matching hat and maybe even a scarf. I have some great fun fuzzy yarn I got from Granny Tan when she did some destashing. So it really was a test project. They do knit up super fast. I'm almost done the second one, just about 20 - 30 minutes more and I'll be done. I did these in a cotton thinking it would be good to wear when I'm knitting with wool and I had a chill... See, lots of good reason to have cast these on!

Happy knitting and spinning everyone!

7th Annual Maritime Spinners Retreat

2007-10-15T08:31:00.000-04:00

So this weekend I took the plunge and joined with other fiber fanatics and embraced my inner yarn goddess. For those of you who still think knitting is just for grandmas have I got news for you. I finished my university degree at a mostly women's university ( Mount St. Vincent University), proudly consider myself a feminist, ignore any glass ceiling some people want to build and am packing a bigger pair of cajones (balls) then most men but never, and I mean NEVER, have I spent so much time with an empowering, positive, supportive group of women, of all ages and backgrounds. This my friends is where feminism truly exists, right in the grassroots movement of fiber arts. No catty gossiping, no backbiting, no bitching. It was fantastic! And I even spun a little yarn. Yes there were some more mature, experienced women there, many may even have been grandmas. So throw out your stereotypes and lets get sharing!

First of all we had to drive to PEI in the rain. Okay, only PEI can still be beautiful in the rain. And the leaves did not disappoint. On the way home I was actually sad to leave the island... I think it's love. This was the view from our hotel room window at the Rodd Mill River Resort.

We got a goodie bag when we arrived and it was full of fun stuff for spinning, 2 different types of silk, a soy silk and a Merino and seacell blend. I can't wait to try these out. I didn't get a chance at the retreat (you'll see why in a minute). I think I will probably dye the spun yarn and use them as accent yarns in projects but of course that is subject to change.

Friday evening when we arrived we went to MacAuslands Woolen Mill which was just around the corner from our hotel. Man are sheep stinky creatures. I thought for sure I'd have some sort of allergic reaction right in the mill but I was fine (I remained heavily drugged all weekend but I spend most of my time that way so it was nothing new). When I got home last night I realized my dogs don't smell that much better these days - time for some baths around here! But back to the wool. I bought 2 bags of their 'seconds' yarn for making felted projects. I have to soak it all first in some Dawn dish detergent to try and remove some of the lanolin oils. It will felt better with less lanolin and since I'm allergic, it will save my hands a bit too. The top bag is 3 ply and the bottom bag is 2 ply. What are the odds I'm going to remember that when I'm knitting with it?

We had a great dinner at the resort Friday night. The rest of the meals were part of the retreat but Friday night we were on our own. Line, Tan and I all ordered the same thing... this became a theme all weekend. We did take advantage of being on the island and indulged in seafood!!!! That alone made my weekend!

This was the sunrise that greeted us on morning number 2. I, personally would have missed it but Granny Tan popped out of bed at the crack of dawn both mornings.

There were vendors at the retreat offering their wonderful wares. I was a good doobie and only bought this luxurious yarn to make a pair of socks for myself. It's 50% cashmere and silk and 50% alpaca. Did you know alpaca is considered hypo-allergenic? I will be testing this theory in depth as time goes by as alpaca is amazingly soft. Ya kinda just want to lay naked in a big pile of it.....

The vendors were open at 3 different times during the retreat. So like everyone else, I went back and bought more.... Again though I was good, I only bought this pencil roving, Fleece Artists (my first Fleece Artist purchase ever!) Sea Wool (70% wool, 30% seacell, which is made from the viscose processing of seaweed). It is really easy to drop spindle. I'm also keeping this for myself. I see a wrap of some sort out of it. This picture is only about 1/4 of the roving I bought.

So then we got to the spinning. It was a huge room full of fleece and spinning wheels. (Granny Tan at her wheel)

More spinners.

A couple of women getting a lesson in drop spindling silk hankies. With her back to the camera is Line, our other roommate. She did some serious work on her drop spindle this weekend.

This is my mohair fleece. When I had taken the drop spindle class, I had found working with the mohair more easy than some of the others. And near as I can tell, I'm not allergic to mohair but I'm keeping a watch out on that one.

We had some furry companions at the retreat. Angora bunnies! In this pic it's the face of one with the arse of another beside it. They were sooooo soft. And so calm. Apparently they make excellent house pets and you can litter train them!

I spun up 50 grams of mohair and one 100 grams of the Sea Wool. Then is was time to say goodbye to PEI. One last look out the window and we were off.

On the way home we stopped for lunch. It was our last weekend getaway bit so we all ordered seafood platters. Holy haddock (I kept saying "holy mackerel" but Tan kept reminding me that there was no mackerel on the plate)! Tan and I were going to share one and we should have! We all took home doggie bags and now I have leftover fried seafood for tonight. I think I'll have a pile of green veggies with it...

When I got home I hung up my mohair and sea wool to straighten them out a bit. I want to get the rest of the mohair spun so I can dye it. I have another potato chip scarf I want to do and it would be beautiful along the edging.

I will probably spin all the fleece you've seen here and then not spin again until next years retreat but that's mostly because I have so much stuff to knit. Remember, I haven't even been knitting for a whole year yet. I still have so many things I want to do; a toe up sock, a full sweater, wraps, shawls, gloves, mitts. oh my, I'd better get busy!

More Christmas Gifts! (PC Scarf, Neck Gaiter....)

2007-09-29T12:54:00.000-04:00

I completed another potato chip scarf (free pattern from Knitpicks.com). I was going to do 2 different colours of the Paton's Carmen yarn but the colours didn't really go well (steel blue and red...) so I picked up another yarn - Louisa Harding to finish it off. I am thrilled with the result. And to solve my problem of struggling with the Kfb rows, I normally knit English (right-hand) but I knit Continental (left hand) and I was able to knit more loosely. It worked! This knit up quickly.

I started to make a hat for my uncle. The pattern is out of my"Holiday Knits" book and calls for a strip. I'm not sure my uncle would like a strip. But I was worried I wouldn't have enough yarn so I started with a lighter green that I had left over from a pair of cable booties. At some point I abandon the idea of a hat and it ended up being another neck gaiter. I'm actually quite pleased with the result. I have some other green yarn that I'm going to knit into a hat for my uncle. This will be for my other uncle.
I had gotten some sock yarn during a sale at Knitpicks.com but then realized it all required hand washing. I have a hard time justifying socks that require hand washing. I just don't know anyone who I can be sure would appreciate them. So I decided to think about lacy scarves. I was also stumped as to what to knit my grandmother that she would use and that would impress her. She is an extremely experienced knitter. So I settled on a lacy scarf. I'm going to knit this patter (from knitty.com)
with this yarn. It's a blue green (called rainforest heather in Palette from knitpicks.com) and will look nice with my grandmother's Navy blue coat.
Off to knit!

Christmas is Coming!!

2007-09-23T08:32:00.000-04:00

I finally got this potato chip scarf done. I'm having a hard time getting a good picture of it. But now I know why I have such a struggle with these.... I knit too tight so doing the rows of increases is a real struggle.
But the end result is worth it. I have some more 'novelty' yarn to try potato chip scarves with. I'll let you know how they turn out.
Then I came across this wool at Zellers. It's Bernat, it's soft and it's cheap! Right now I'm knitting up a purse for my aunt but if it doesn't turn out, I'll keep if for myself. This wool will either be too fuzzy for purses or not fuzzy enough for the Fiber Trends clogs I want to make. I can see using it instead of Lopi to knit up a seamless sweater for my brother for his birthday after Christmas!
I also completed a neck gaiter for my Uncle for Christmas. However, it seems to be too wide. I've used this pattern twice before but I thought I was adjusting it for the yarn. I followed it to a tee this time but it seems too wide. Tim and I both tried it on but we aren't particularly big necked. I'm going to see who has the bigger neck size, my uncle or brother and then I'll do another one with less stitches cast on.

Anyway, I'm feeling better about Christmas. I think I'm making my list manageable. Must go knit!

Toddler Poncho

2007-09-14T11:00:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned before, I got a brain snap to knit something for Emily Juckes' first birthday about 3 days before her birthday. And she lives far enough away that shipping time is at least a week. But I was committed to getting it done and to her by the end of the month. Well here it is!

The model is George who's been with me for 22 years. He's seen some scary stuff during the university years, been snuggled/drooled on by 4 different dogs and been through the wringer (literally!) so many times we lost count. He actually deserves a poncho of his own! But he'll have to wait, this one already has a recipient.

Note the snaps under the arms so it will stay put when worn. I hope they hold. The yarn, which I used to also sew on the snaps may not hold them but they can easily be removed if needed.

Tim called the front pocket the drool catcher....

Newfoundland and a Birthday

2007-09-02T20:31:00.000-04:00

I went to Newfoundland. (this is actually the Halifax airport, where I had a layover for over 2 hours, and I happily knit in public, so there!)I knit. I knit on the way there, I knit while visiting the relatives, I knit so much I got my aunt knitting again. (insert colourful newfie swearing here as my aunt did) She gave me some mightily fine yarn but it's with my mom, as are the vintage knitting books I got from my grandmother's collection. I'll show them once I get them back into my hot little hands.

I knit 2 pairs of cable booties. The blue pair I finished for my grandmother. See below, except I doubled the number of stitches left for Kitchener stitch, making a nice rounded toe. And then I did a pair in 100% Peruvian wool from knit picks (Wool of the Andes) for my great aunt in asparagus... again - no pic but they turned out really nice.

On the day I was leaving I started the heat wave sock. I love this pattern. Interesting enough without being so much of a challenge that you must remain sober... sober is not going to happen when visiting the relatives.

Then I suddenly realized that it was Emily Juckes first birthday on Sept 5th. I didn't knit the original cardigan I gave her when she was born because I didn't knit at the time. So I felt she was due something. Of course I had this brain snap on Sunday, September 2nd.... Nothing like planning ahead! But I found this deadly cute pattern on Lion's website. And I have a nice 75% cotton, 25% acrylic yarn that drapes like a dream - so I'm off to the races. She will have it this month, I'm committed to that! And it offers room for her to grow. She should be able to wear it this fall and next spring.

I also saw some of the most amazing quilts while in Newfoundland. My great aunt Doreen made the most amazing quilt for her son's wedding. Pointsettas done on a beige fabric that showed the same pattern front and back. And my cousin Helen and her daughter have done some amazing work. I think I was too dumbfounded to properly show my appreciation. I am totally mystified by quilting, all that precise scissoring and all. So I have a huge respect for their work. Amazing. I slept under one my cousin had made and it was one of the best sleeps I ever had, I swear. I wish I had pics - I'm such a slacker.

"One who knits" versus "A Knitter" and Travel Projects

2007-08-22T11:12:00.000-04:00

I'm about to head to the rock, also known as Newfoundland to visit the family. My grandmother used to be an avid knitter but she doesn't knit anymore because she finds it hard to follow a pattern. Everyone in my family (approximately 40 people) has a personalize hand knit Christmas stocking courtesy of my Nan. Nan always had a proper stash which she just recently gave away. I hope she gave it to someone who really couldn't afford their own stash. I would call my grandmother "A Knitter". But there are lots of people in my family who knit. Yet, they don't seem to understand my new found obsession. I'm looking forward to showing my 5 projects I'm taking with me to my Nan. I'm interested to hear what she has to say when she sees I have 5 projects on the go at once. This is where I think you can separate the "Knitters" from "one who knits". A "Knitter" has the obsessive requirement to cast on everything and anything that tickles their fancy. While "one who knits' tend to do one project at time to completion even if they lose interest and the project waits endlessly to be finished.

There is also a difference in in how "one who knits" approach yarn shopping. "One who knits" tend to buy only the yarn required to knit a set project. They will decide for so and so's upcoming birthday/anniversary/baby/wedding to knit an item. They will find a pattern and buy the correct yarn (where is the challenge in that?!) and cast on. "A Knitter" will buy yarn that calls to them, that they just must have. "A Knitter" will figure out what to do with the yarn later, that's not important. In fact, "A Knitter" will bring home said yarn and cast it on with no real pattern in mind. They just have to see it on the needles!

All this being said, I'm "A Knitter". I have a proper little stash and in the less than 10 months since I started knitting, I've already been on 2 yarn diets (the requirement to NOT buy yarn until some of your stash is used or you come into money or the credit card company stops calling). Mine was imposed due to lack of proper storage space. My closet overflowth. As I mentioned I'm taking 5 projects on vacation with me. I still have 3 here at home that are on the needles.. Oh god, that's sad. Anyway, here's what I'm taking with me.

First I have to finish Nan's cable booties. I finished the first one and the toe is way too pointy. Luckily I have enough yarn to do 2 pairs so I'll knit up 3 more and give Nan the ones that turn out the best. And keep the other ones for myself. There is nothing quite as relaxing as curling up on a chilly evening to watch tv, read or knit with a nice pair of cable booties on. Yum!

Tim thought I should just put a bell on the toe and be done with it...

Next project I'm taking with me is the knitting bag I'm doing for my aunt. I think. See previous posts. I'm debating this one because I'm going to have to adjust the pattern to work for the afghan she's knitting. The bag will need to be wider and not so deep. I need to give this project some thought and vacation time may not be the time for really reworking a design. I'll either take it or the wool socks for my sister in law, also see previous posts. Both of these projects are done with Briggs and Little wool so I like to work on one of them while I have lots of cotton projects on the go since the cotton projects give my allergies a rest so it's a nice balance.

Next I'm taking some wool to make my great aunt a pair of cable booties to give to her while I'm there. I can't decide which colour though. I may consult my mother before I pack up the yarn.

Next I'm taking some wonderful Blue Sky Cotton to knit gloves. These will be for me in the vibrant pink but I want to see how they turn out because I would like to do a pair for my Nan for Christmas.

Next I'm taking some cotton wool blend (from Knitpicks) sock yarn to make Granny Tan's Heat Wave Socks. I'm psyched to do these. They'll be for my niece or my friends daughter for Christmas.

Lastly I'm taking some wool to do a neck gaiter. This project is fun, easy and quick.

Actually now that I think about it, I should take mostly easy projects that I can do while chatting with the kin over a cup of tea. Yes, I have the good tea and the good coffee all set to go! What's a vacation without a good cup of tea or coffee?!

What is this? A lesson in felting...

2007-08-20T12:48:00.000-04:00

What is this?
It's a purse, silly! Actually, this is a purse. I refelted this one after cutting off about 3 inches because it was too wide. It refelted quite well but now it's almost too small. Oh well, you can't always win.
This mess is a purse gone mad. I tried making a purse with 2 very different types of wool. The plain red is briggs and little while the stripped is paton classic merino. Yes, I did know they felted differently but I went ahead and knit them together anyway. Then I proceeded to felt them through 5 agitation cycles without checking the progress. Needless to say the paton's felted up waaaay to much. The briggs and little is just right. And the purse is a freak of nature. Lesson learned.

On a slightly more positive note.. I'm working on some cotton cable booties in Blue Sky Alpacas organic cotton. I love this yarn. The booties are turning out nicely but I've made 2 mistakes... How I am making mistakes on such a simple pattern is beyond me. And no, I haven't been hitting the wine hard. You can't see them but I know they are there. These are for my grandmother, and trust me, she will find the mistakes pretty quick. However, that's what makes them homemade! (or at least that's my story)
I'm also working on a pair of heavy wool socks for my sister in law. It's made from the briggs and little wool and it's their sock pattern. I find it hard to knit with this stuff because of the wool content and the roughness of the yarn but I keep washing my hands and keep cream on while I knit to try and minimize the impact on my allergies. I also have some of this to knit up a bag for my aunt so I'm really trying to make it work for me.

Birthday Bits!

2007-08-10T15:24:00.000-04:00

Granny Tan and I met for lunch at this delightful spot called Maelstrom here in Moncton. It was super yummy. Now I must let my stomach rest before dinner with Tim. Tomorrow, nothing but veggies, I swear!

Tan had already told me she had her heat wave sock pattern for me for my birthday which was excellent since I have some sock yarn just screaming for that pattern. But I didn't expect this!

I had been keeping my eyes out for a sock bag but you can't find them anywhere. Today I found out Line is making them. She has done a beautiful job! I was soo excited to get my very own. Thanks Line!

And I had also been looking for the dpn holders like Tan has. Well she ordered some for me off of Etsy. You can't really see but on the blue bead in the centre is a little dog. It's very cute. And the most practical thing for sock knitters!

And now I have some official K2Tog stitch markers. I was using dollar store ones so these are much nicer. And Tan added in a ball of sock yarn cause you can never have too much sock yarn!

She officially rocks. But not to worry, I already have an awesome plan for her birthday.....You'll have to wait though, it's not until October....

Tan also brought me some balls of briggs and little she balled up for me. I had mentioned it in my last post. Nice colours, eh?

I'm going to make another one of these bags for my aunt. They make great knitting bags.

The Yarn Harlot, Birthday Books and Yarn

2007-08-09T13:37:00.000-04:00

Tuesday night I got to see the Yarn Harlot. I hadn't really read a lot of her blog, I had stopped by once or twice but that was it. I didn't own any of her books. But Granny Tan has been a fan for some time and spoke quite highly of her. Now we all know how Granny Tan gets me sucked into things (or so I like to say...). So when she mentioned the Yarn Harlot was going to be in Mecca (aka Halifax) I didn't need any other excuse to pile the furry beasts in the car and head east.

It was so worth it! I have since added her books to my Chapters wish list. I can't wait to read the first one. Tan offered to lend it to me but I think I want my own copy and since I have a couple of knitting projects that must be done now it's not as if I have a lot of reading time on my hands. I'm still trying to finish the second sock for my mother's husband's birthday... which was 2 days ago. He saw and tried on the first sock. Luckily it's been way too hot to need socks lately.

The pattern is Twisted Socks by Bev Warner for KnitPicks and the yarn is KnitPicks Memories in Cape Cod. I'm almost to the toe of the second sock.

While in Halifax we visited the Tangled Skein and I stocked up on some cotton yarn. I'm going to make a pair of cabled booties to take to my grandmother later this month and the pink it to try making gloves for myself. I want to try making them for myself before I try making a pair for my grandmother plus I can check what colour would be best when I visit her later this month and review her coats. This is Blue Sky Organic Cotton and it is amazing.
I had also bought some briggs and little 100% wool to make a felted bag for my aunt for Christmas but Tan is currently balling up the skeins for me. I got 2 shades of blue which are quite nice.

I felted up this purse for my mom for Christmas last year but it is too wide. So I'm going to cot away about 3 inches, reattach the strap and add a second toggle which may just be for show, i may put a zipper in it. I will probably put it through one aggitation cycle in the washer just to felt up the new seam and strap attachment spot. I am also in the process of knitting her a new purse, same colours but different shape. We'll see how it all turns out. I may take one of the purses home to my aunt when I go to Newfoundland to see my grandmother later this month.

Lastly, I got some new knitting books in the mail today from my mother for my birthday. I got the Mason Dixon knitting book, Knitting without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmermann and No Sheep for You but Amy R. Singer. I had looked through Tan's copy of the No Sheep book. It's an excellent resource for those who have any interest in non- wool or blends. The patterns are a bit beyond me at this point but eventually I'll be up for the challenge. Knitting without Tears has the seamless ski sweater which I am dying to make but I think I'll have to wait until after Christmas.... My birthday isn't until tomorrow (mom also sent me 2 cookbooks!) so I'm not allowed to dive into any of these books until then. Ooooo the temptation!

Time to Catch up!

2007-06-28T11:17:00.000-04:00

I finally got my camera back. I've never missed a piece of technology so much. In honour of my new found love for my camera I've decided to name him. His name is Cameron the Canon Powershot S2 IS.

Now on to my projects. I've gotten a few things done while Cameron was in the hospital. Last time I had anything to show you I had just completed my first cables. Well since then I've been cable crazy.

Here are the cable booties I finished. They knit up pretty quick so I got some more wool to do some for Christmas gifts. They are great because you don't have to know the exact foot size since they fit kind of loosely and were meant to go over socks.

Then I moved on to a cabled neck gaiter. The bottom one is done in a angora wool blend. It's really nice. The top one is done in a 75% cotton 25% acrylic blend. I wanted to see how it would work in this yarn. It's called Ecofil and it's made from recycled material. I wasn't thrilled with the result but in a minute I'll show you a good use I have found for this yarn.

The next thing I did was an asymmetrical hat. I was doing it for my uncle, hence the hunter orange but it looks too feminine so I've decided to give it to my sister in law who was wearing the hunter orange ribbed hat I made for my brother last winter. I may put a pompom on top.

All of these patterns came out of my book - One Skein - 30 quick projects to knit and crochet by Leigh Radford.

My latest project is a hooded sweater for me. It's from the ecofil I spoke of above. I think I have finally found a good use for this yarn. The pattern is a free pattern from Lion Brand. It's my first sweater, that's why I'm making it for myself. If I screw it up, it's only me who has to wear it!

I've also got a potato chip scarf on the needles. These are simple and produce a great end result but I find them a pain to knit. This is my second (remember the first one turned out way too short?!) and I mixed yarns. I'm now worried that I won't have enough to bind off and the multi colour yarn in bling bling by bernat seems to be discontinued. I may have to use a third yarn which will be okay, it's going to be one flashy scarf!

Whew! That's enough for now. I gotta go knit!

No Camera - No Pics

2007-06-24T15:49:00.000-04:00

I have finished a few projects but my camera is currently out for repair. But to keep you entertained I've added a new section - PODCASTS! Fantastic. And you don't need an ipod to download these. You can listen right from your computer, burn on to CD or burn on to any mp3 player. Enjoy!!

Too many knitting projects for me (and not enough for everyone else)

2007-06-02T16:11:00.000-04:00

I have been busy finishing up a sock to match one I had already made for myself. It was suppose to be for my mom but the toe knit up too small so I had one for me, made 2 bigger ones for her and then just finished this one for me. Just in time too as it got cold and I needed something warm for my tootsies!

Then I seriously debated what to knit next. I figure it's time to start thinking about Christmas so I should start knitting gifts now. I started with this potato chip scarf. Tanya had started this and found that the 200 stitches the pattern asked for to cast on was a bit much - it would make a 12 foot scarf! So I cast on half thinking that a 6 foot scarf was plenty long. However, I was not using the same alpaca blend and surprise, it is way too short. I like it so I'll keep it for me. So much for getting a few gifts done...

Then I wanted to attempt my first cable so I thought I'd do a quick project for me that would let me cut my teeth on cables. I had some italian cotton I had picked up on sale in Freeport, ME. I only had 2 small skeins so I thought this pattern would work. And this time of year, booties for chilly evenings are a good idea.

So here is my very first cable!! I'm so excited. Tan was right, they are easy. Which is a good thing because I love cables! Aren't they beautiful?!

After this I'm taking my cable skills and knitting a hat for my uncle. I must knit for others, I must knit for others.... Or else I'll be knitting like a mad woman come December!

Basia's Birthday Lime Green Shell

2007-05-22T11:37:00.000-04:00

First a little joke... What did the scarf say to the hat? "You go on ahead and I'll come around from behind". Okay, I thought it was a funny knitting joke.

So I finally completed my sister-in-laws birthday gift only a week after her birthday. This was my first top. I can see why knitters lean towards scarves, wraps, socks, etc. The 14 inches of rib pattern was deadly boring to knit. But I wanted to keep it simple since this was my first top. I had a horrible time with the shoulder seams. They just didn't want to sew up nicely.

So after some consultation with Tanya, I undid the shoulder seams and graphed them. Obviously it didn't give a seamless graph due to the ribbing but I do think it looks better. Problem with this yarn is that is it 5 or 6 strings and it really gets unraveled the more you mess with it. But it's really soft. It's Lion Brand Micro Spun.

I can't wait to start knitting with the wool Tanya spun for me! Isn't it beautiful?!

Green Purse for Me!

2007-04-24T12:18:00.000-04:00

I finally knit something for me. This is the very first thing I did for myself! I was trying to make a purse like the one I had made for my neice...

however, as per usual, it didn't turn out like the pattern...
After I felted it I ended up with a long narrow purse. No way was a button closure going to work here so I ended up putting in a zipper.
Not my best zipper work but it's very functional and I really like the end result.

Mom's Birthday - Knitting Tote and Socks

2007-04-16T14:37:00.000-04:00

I can finally show my mom's birthday gifts to you. She had her birthday this past Saturday. I made her a Marsupial Tote out of the Stitch and Bitch book but I made it a little longer to hold knitting needles. I call my variation the "One Project Tote Bag" as it will fit one knitting project on the go quite nicely. The colours match a felted purse I made her for christmas. I used Briggs and Little wool and it took a long time to felt. I put it through my aggitation cycle 4 times before this pic was shot.

Once I gave the bag to my mom we talked about the handles. They turned out just like the picture in the Stitch and Bitch book but I don't like the way they curl up. Mom mentioned sewing them up to go with the curling so they would be more like cords. I wasn't happy with the felting of the bag either so I asked her to let me keep it. I sewed up the handles and felted it 3 more times. Now I am happy with it. I also made her socks. I followed the Thula pattern from knitty.com. It said to stop making the foot 2 inches from the length I wanted it to be. But then the knitting of the toes only took 1.5 inches to knit. So I ended up with a sock that fit me perfectly but would have been too small for my mom. So I knit the second one bigger and it fits her perfect. I'm still working on her second sock. I wonder how long it will take me to complete the second one for me.... The yarn is a 75% cotton and 25% acrylic. "Ecofil" it's called. It's made of recycled material. It's a nice warm sock. The pattern is really nice, I love how the heel turns in it. And it would be a good base for me to start making adjustments to change the look of the sock.

Baby Stuff

2007-04-03T11:28:00.000-04:00

It started with a hat. How cute is this?! And it was so quick and easy to do. And I had lots of the yarn left over.

So I thought I'd do some booties. I still had almost half a ball of yarn leftover.

So I did a bib too. And I still have a bit of yarn leftover but I thought that was enough.

So here's the gift package. I already had the cookbook. It's a great cookbook for new parents, even if they don't cook. It's my way of trying to prevent more "chicken nugget" kids who are destine to live shorter lives than their parents due to those awful processed foods. There I said it! It's all going out in the mail today. I hope my cousin likes it.

Nan's Shawl and other April projects

2007-03-27T10:14:00.000-04:00

So my nan's shawl is done. I am putting a button on it so it will be more wearable for her. Actually, I think I'm going to put 2 buttons but you get the idea.
Next project is a hat for my cousins new baby boy. I love the colours in this cotton yarn. I don't like to make anything synthetic for a baby... given my grandmother's and my own allergies to synthetics. I also have a cookbook for baby's first 3 years to add with the gift. Healthy eating starts right from day one!

Nan's Shawl

2007-03-13T11:37:00.000-04:00

I started a shawl for my grandmother's birthday. She is always cold so I wanted to make something that would go over her shoulders. And she is allergy to most synthetic fibers. I found the most amazing cotton yarn at Tangled Skein in Dartmouth. It's from Blue Sky Alpacas. I'm totally in love with it. It knits up like a dream! I was going to just knit one long rectangle but I would have ended up using a lot of yarn. So I decided to do 2 panels. Here is the first one. The stich pattern is called Leaves of Grass and I got it from the Lion Brand website. It is really fun to knit up.

Do you see the mistake on the second row of the pattern? In the old days my grandmother would have spotted it in an instant but she is a little less detail oriented these days....

Stay tuned for the finished product!

Second Scandanavian Hat

2007-02-13T16:44:00.000-04:00

Here is my second attempt at a lopi hat. I'm pretty pleased with it. I designed the colour pattern myself. The inspiration was Sweden's national symbol, the Dala Horse. Tim says they look like Bouviers (our dogs) but I say they look like horses.

And this time I blocked the hat. It was really curling up around the edges. And low and behold - it looks like the picture in the pattern!

On to my next project. I'm dying to do cables. In my Stitch and Bitch Nation Book they have a project for "mini' cables. You don't need to use a cable stitch holder. It's a great intro to cables. You can get used to the concept pretty quickly. This yarn doesn't show the cable really well but I like the overall effect. I'm making a scarf. Pretty basic but I do like how this pattern is working with this wool

The colour is off in both of these pictures. It's a nice sage green.

One Scandinavian Hat - Done!

2007-02-08T17:01:00.000-04:00

Okay, does this hat -
close up view, same hat -
look anthing like either of these hats?
No?! I did use the yarn and needles the pattern called for so it shouldn't look this different. But it doesn't matter, Tim likes it and that's what counts. I'm trying another version with Dala horses in place of the birds in the one to the right. I also have to make a slight adjustment to fit Tim's head better. And the ear flaps are going to be a bit smaller. But otherwise it should look just the same! Yeah right!

Scandanavian Hat?

2007-02-07T13:54:00.000-04:00

So I started the hat. I followed the pattern and did the ear flaps first. They were way too small. So I re-did them double what the pattern asked for. It's been so cold that all I could think of was how it would be necessary to have a hat that gives good ear coverage. They may be a little big now but Tim has a big head.

The pattern called for 3 different colours. But since I was using a stripped yarn, I only used 2 colours. I'm happy with how the colour pattern is turning out but it may be too girly. If so they I'll make another one for Tim with the dark grey and white wool and keep this one for myself. I love how lopi knits up! But it may be too big for me. I had to accomidate for the larger ear flaps in the pattern. I suspect that had I followed the pattern that it would have been too small for Tim. I added 12 stitches around. It was in keeping with the colour chart and allowed for the larger ear flaps. If I do have to do another one for Tim, I may try to re work the colour chart to make Dala Horses (Swedish horse figure). So much for sticking strictly to the pattern...

Socks - Done! Now on to Hats!

2007-02-04T15:05:00.000-04:00

My brother's gift is finally ready to hit the mail. I found I quite enough the grafting/weaving of the toe when doing socks. I think it's my favourite part.. and not just because it means I am done. Speaking of done - I think I'm done doing socks for a while. I just didn't enjoy it. I say this now but when I'm in a yarn store and see all the great sock yarn, especially the self-patterning stuff.... well, I guess we'll see.

Now I'm finally going to start the hat for Tim. It has to be Scandinavian looking. And it must have the ear flaps. I spent a lot of time searching for a pattern that looked Scandinavian and that I could understand being a newbie and all... I'm making the hat out of the Icelandic wool I had bought for Tim for Christmas. I was going to try and combine a couple of different patterns but Tim would like the hat for this winter. And since this is only the second hat I've ever done I decided on this pattern which actually calls for the Lopi wool that I had given him.
I'm going to do the one on the left for him. I read through the pattern last night and it almost made sense! So I'm reasonably optimistic that this won't take too long.
Although today is Super Bowl Sunday and I'll be cheering on my beloved Peyton and the boys. So I'll probably work on something simple during the game like some wash clothes. I don't like to keep multiple projects on the go. I don't know why. I think part of what keeps me knitting is the sense of accomplishment. I think this is what made the socks seem so tedious. 2 weeks and all I got done was 1 pair of socks! After 2 weeks I should have something bigger done, like a wrap or shawl. I do have a scarf on the go but I started that before I had any other projects on my list. Now I have a long list of projects to be done. This is my own design.
The other end will also have the basket weave knit and then I think I will sew black buttons on some of the squares on each end for a decorative touch. Whimsical!

Spinning!

2007-01-30T20:50:00.000-04:00

Well Granny Tan sucked me into something else... and I'm not talking about the wine drinking until 3 am on Sat night... (Tan's dog, Clancy finally konked out while waiting for us to go to bed)
Yikes! I'm talking about spinning my own yarn. Because the knitting has Tim so turned on - I had to add to it.... We went to the spinning class at London-Wul on Saturday afternoon. It's official, I'm the worse student on the planet. I have no patience for class time. Although the information was really interesting. Even if I never spin again, it was good to learn about the different fleece and where it comes from and how it is processed. As someone with allergies to everything, this is important information. Although I did nearly have a cow when we realized we had wool oil on our hands (lanolin) which I am allergic too.... But understanding where different types of yarn comes from is half of my battle.

I was having a hard time in class. I'm rush through things. Our teacher, Heidi, picked up on this right away. At home I take my time and it is working better for me. Here are the different wools we did in class. The top is a 2 ply of carded wool and combed wool. I found the pulworth (the white wool) hard to work with. The bottom is the mohair. I loved working with it.
I had bought some New Zealand combed wool earlier in the week in anticipation of the class. It's beautiful but I won't touch it until I feel comfortable that I can make it into a nice yarn. I'm not there yet.
I picked up some Icelandic combed wool before I left London-Wul to practice with. It's got nice short, rough fibers so it winds up into yarn nicely (I think I just screwed up every bit of vocabulary I just learned... oy vey!). I also picked up some more mohair.
I'm spinning the Icelandic when I have time. (Currently I'm trying to finish my brother's other wool sock for Feb. 1st - and it has to be mailed to him in Ontario!) It's coming up thick in spots but I'm okay with that because I'm going to knit my first mittens with it and probably felt them with a fancy fun yarn cuff. I loved how the Icelandic wool felted for the slippers I made so I'm kind of addicted.
Ah, the world of knitting... it's very therapeutic isn't it. It seems to nourish the soul.

The Necessity of Good Needles

2007-01-26T11:47:00.000-04:00

This week I got some plastic needles to try instead of the metal needles I was using to make my brother's socks.

These are fantastic! I may actually knit more socks. I don't need a thimble and they don't poke my in the wrist since they are somewhat flexible. Hopefully it means this sock will knit up quicker than the last one. I only have 3 days to get it finished!