I know, I know

But, I haven't really been knitting much exciting stuff. I've been cranking out crazy Red Hat Society scarves like nobody's business, but not much else!
Ok, I'm lying a little. Here's some stuff I snapped photos of:

The Red Hat Scarves. For my mom and aunts. From left to right we have:
1. Garter stitch scarf on US 15 needles, Patons Mosaic in Marble
2. Garter stitch scarf on US 15 needles, Patons Cha Cha in Red? (not on the website)
3. Garter stitch scarf on US 15 needles, Patons Cha Cha in Bebop
4. Garter stitch scarf on US 15 needles, Patons Ci Ci in Calypso
5. Garter stitch scarf on US 15 needles, S. R. Kertzer Limited Mozart in Purple Haze
6. Wavy Gravyesque Garter stitch scarf on US 15 needles, Patons Melody in Racy Red
7. Garter stitch scarf on US 15 needles, Patons Mosaic in Marble

Can you tell I do repetitive stuff at work?


The Dumbledore Hat. Seed stitch all the way, US 7 needles, Patons Canadiana in Blueberry.


The House Unity scarf. I ran out of black yarn in between the last yellow and red stripe! urg!
1x1rib, US 7 needles. Patons Classic Wool in Black, Rich Red, and That's Blue, Patons Canadiana in Gold and Dark Green.


Armwarmers! Simple pattern, Katia Mexico in 5854. Lurve this yarn!


Slytherin Armwarmers. Various Stash acrylic. Amigurumi mushroo. Made for a $5 swap, which I never recieved.

Done because I haven't updated in a while!

To let Yarn Geek know that she has friends on the interweb

Four jobs I've had:
1. Blueberry raker
2. Cashier/Gas Attendant/Stock Girl at the Upper Stewiacke Co-op
3. Security Guard
4. Call center interviewer

Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. Footloose
2. This Boy's Life
3. The Producers
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (the Yule Brawl! *sniff*)

Four places I have lived
1. Dean, NS
2. University of King's College
3. Liverpool Street, Halifax, NS
4. Bedford Highway, Halifax, NS

Four television shows I love to watch:
1. CSI
2. General Hospital
3. Survivor
4. Criminal Minds

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. New Brunswick
2. Every province but Newfoundland
3. 25 of the 50 US States
4. Cape Breton (should be its own country)

Four of my favourite dishes:
1. Poutine
2. BBQ Chicken pizza
3. Roast beef dinner
4. Steak and Potatoes

Four websites I visit daily:
1. Livejournal
2. You Tube
3. Pandora
4. Gourmet Amigurumi

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Not about to go out in the rain for class
2. Back in bed
3. home in the country
4. At a yarn store

Four bloggers I am tagging:
Whoever comes across it.

I've been converted

I've learned to crochet. Bad Idea. This means the projects I want to do has exploded exponentially now that I can do both. And my absolute obsession now? Amigurumi. I want to make tons of cutesy little toys that just make you go "awww" and melt a little inside. I am determined to figure out this little gem, as I would go into cuteness overload as soon as I put on those big eyes. And the best part of amigurumi, you need very little yarn to make 'em, and that means STASH BUSTING!!!! Very handy. So far, I've made a cute mushroom (can't show you, it's for a swap!) and I'm working on a cute lil unicorn, which I had started to knit, but this one is so much better! And I plan on using this basic pattern to design my own Ami. Someday I'll be as good as her (YEAH RIGHT!).
Update on my knitting: Almost done the neck on Sesame! Have yarn for Big Boho Blankie, not enough to finish, but I'm plugging away on it. And, um, that's about it!
I need a photo...this is a very blank post...

The Big Boho Blankie in action! Mahoot has some competition for the softest thing in the apartment!

Where has my knitting gone?

My jobs this summer are nothing like last summer, so my knitting time has greatly suffered! I'm still plugging away at various projects, but very little progress has been made. I'm still working away at Sesame, and I'm very close to finishing all the "pieces" and it'll just be a matter of adding the neck, button(hole) bands, and sewing it up. *sigh* How I hate sewing...

Here are the front and back pieces. The stripes line up perfectly! I'm really happy with how these turned out.

And here's the slight...problem with the sleeve. It also lines up perfectly with the body's stripes, but unfortunately, it's REALLY long. It's about two inches below my fingertips, and barely above them when I roll up the sleeves, like it shows in the photo. Oh well, it'll just make it really cozy :)

I also worked on this today. I labeled my circs with circular paper tags.

I put the US sizes, and the length.

It also helps hold the cord together so they will stay coiled up in my needle case.

And the tags peek out of the pockets to let me know what's hiding inside.
I've also finished this shrug finally. It looks ok, but I plan on making the next one look a little better, by making it longer and fixing the raglan increases. And possibly modifying it to use worsted weight :)
Um, anyways, that's it for now. I shall update again soon!

I'm back...in purple and red?

Wow, no posts in a very long time. I'd feel bad if I'd actually done much knitting. I haven't. I've been busy working and trying to beat the heat. I've mostly been cranking out dishcloths and plugging along on my Sesame cardigan. No time for much else. But I did finish a couple scarves.


I give you the Red Hat scarves. My mom is starting her own chapter, so I decided I'd use my knitting skills for a quick project for them. I hope to make one for every member, but then if they want more, I think I'll need to start charging. It's kind of expensive, the scarves take 2 balls each...anyway, these two scarves are made with Patons yarn...the colourways are almost identical.

Scarf #1
Yarn: Patons Cha Cha in BeBop. Purple, pale pink, fuschia and bright red colourway.
# of Balls: 1 so far, though I might add another. It is a good length already, though.
Needles: US 15


Scarf #2
Yarn: Patons Ci Ci in Calypso. Purple, lilac, fushia, bright red colourway.
# of Balls: 1, but will have another added later.
Needles: US 15
Both were done in garter stitch, but no other stitch would have worked very well with them anyway :)
So, That's all for now...til next time, keep knitting and have fun!

Dyeing yarn with the Pasta Chef

Yesterday, while shopping, I picked up a gadget advertised on TV as being able to cook pasta, vegetables, etc without heating on a stove- just boiling water. Today I was thinking about dyeing some sock yarn so I could finally start the Dobby socks I've been wanting to make for ages. Light Bulb Moment. I'd dye the yarn in the Pasta Chef!

The steps seem pretty simple. Now watch as I try my own way...

Step 1: Place wet yarn in Pasta Chef's thermal tube.

Step 2: Put in kool-aid packets (1 lemon lime, 1 changin' cherry)

Step 3: Pour in boiling water, snap on lid.

Step 4: Put on thermal protective sleeve (to keep the heat in? or to protect my hands?)

Step 5: When Water is clear, strain.

Hmmm....we seem to have a problem....

The final result. Lesson learned? While the Pasta Chef does work, the powder needs to be stirred into the boiling water and THEN the mix poured into the tube :) Oh well, it'll be an interesting varigated yarn to use...just not for my Dobby socks. *sigh*

Rainy Day Posting

Hurricane Adolf or whatever it's called has hit Halifax in what has been a lousy rainy spring. Yesterday was really nice, up around 22 c but of course that was short lived. It's really depressing not having any Vitamin D! So I'm just here drinking some vitamin c while I post some of my FOs. Granted, one of my FOs has become MIA for some reason, though I KNOW I bought it home from my Aunt & Uncle's 40th wedding Anniversary. Anyways, on to the photos. But before that, all I can think of right now is "Afternoons will be measured out, measured with coffeespoons and T.S. Eliot" A present for anyone who can name the song :)

I bit the bullet and felted my Freedom Wool Cloche. Here it is drying on my makeshift hat form. It's a round bowl balanced on a paper towel roll. Worked well, but the bowl had a hard time staying on the roll.

And here it is dry and on my head. It still needs a ribbon and a flower or brooch. I just don't have anything to match just yet. I would have liked it a little longer, but I'm still pretty happy about it.

Here's the special project I whipped up over a few days. It's a really simple triangle shawl made with 13 different yarns, including all the ones I posted about, and a few more I found in my stash. This is a WIP pic, because it's lost at the moment. It looks so nice though, pinned up at the shoulder so the longest part is on my other side. Sort of looks like an assymetrical poncho. Urg, I wish I could find it. Anyway, this picture shows one repeat of all 13 yarns. I did this in garter stitch, 4 rows for each stripe, 2 full repeats of the 13 yarns, and then 6 more stripes in pattern. I'm so pleased with how it turned out, the textures are wonderful, it drapes perfectly, etc.

The start of my sushi for Greg's mom. One Tuna Roll and one California roll from the Magknits pattern. I love how seed stitch turns into rice! Mine aren't the best looking, but I think Mom #2 will get a real kick out of them :) I'm also giving her a sushi set, which is where the bamboo mat came from.
And while this isn't knitting, I have no other craft blog, so I give you my cigar box purse:

I got most of the materials from Micheal's, including a book of cigar label images, like the one here. I still need to get some strong glue to attach some sequins and rhinestones, but otherwise it's pretty much done. I also picked up a metal lunch box to decorate as well :)
And that's all for now. The sun tried to break through the clouds while I was typing, but now it's gone away again. Boo tropical depressions!

My needles

Made with a wonderful .pdf found here. Use it! Not this one!

Cashmere!

Last Friday, I was blessed with my vacation pay. And while no one could ever have a vacation on the money I got, you sure can spoil yourself with yarn. I browsed at Kreative Knits for about an hour, and came out with a big bag of yarn and my wallet over $90 lighter. What does $90 of yarn look like?

This, believe it or not, is what it looks like! It's missing two balls of Patons Bohemian in White Out, destined for the Big Boho Blankie I'm plodding away at.
Anyway, clockwise from the top, we have: Berrocco Lavish in Cadaquez (lavishly expensive, but so soft and glittery!), Patons Shetland Chunky in a color the apparently don't have anymore (a soft, buttery yellow)?, Patons Fresco in Tye Dye (also discontinued, but the bargain of the day at $2.50!), SRK Baffi in Cream/Gold, (also discontinued!) Lily Chin Tribeca in colour 1276, Jilly 100% Scottish Cashmere(!!!!!) in Light Navy (colour is way off on the website), and Lily Chin Gramercy in colour 3867. Phew...lots of pretty yarn, all but the cashmere is going into a special project I hope to start soon! The cashmere...I'm thinking of making into a simple lacy scarf like Branching Out, but I'm thinking a flower instead of leaf pattern, since it's blue like forget-me-nots!
Anyhoo, enough yarn porn, onto the WIP!

The start of this shrug, which I'm considering ripping out, because it just looks too small. I'm meant to work the raglan increases until the sleeves will go around my arm, and at 3" or so of knitting, I'm barely 1/4 of the width I need! back to the drawing board, methinks.

Close-up of the raglan yo increases.

My second attempt at this cloche, which I've had to modify so much it's not really the same hat!
I'm so scared of felting, but I hope to do it Friday!

On my head. Don't mind the serial killer dazed look, I was taking the picture by pointing the camera at myself and looking at the reflection of the view screen in the mirror. I don't want it to shrink too much lengthways, but otherwise it's too floppy, and that brim needs some help! I hope the varigation of the yarn isn't totally obscured, it's very pretty! I'm calling it the "Freedom Wool Cloche" after the yarn.

Time for a frustration pic. This is my Sesame sweater, which I knitted away happily on while Mom was here last week. Then, when I was at the armhole shaping, I realized I had cast on 10 fewer stitches than I should have! Grrr, so, now it's back to square one of the left front!
That's all for now, hopefully I'll have another post in the next few days!

Only a short update, even after so long!

I have so many projects to post, but for the past two days, I haven't had the time, even though it's "off" time from work. My mom's in for a conference at the nearby university, so she's been staying with me. And spoiling me with homecooked stew and pasta, and buying some much needed things for the apartment, including one of those little upright canister vacuums for the hardwood floors. I love my mom! Oh! I totally forgot to post pictures of her Mother's Day present before I gave it to her! It was a knit washcloth and bath mitt knit with Bernat Handicrafter, in the colour I talked about in my last post. Then I added a couple wonderfully smelly bars of soap and travel shampoo and conditioner, so she can take it all on her Alaskan cruise at the end of June :) And my shrug turned out beautifully, but I need somone to take a photo of me wearing it, as I'm terrible at self portraits.
Moving on, I thought I'd regale you with my wonderful story of salvaging thrift store yarn from an old sweater. I had seen other bloggers post about their wonderful finds, and I decided to try it out gfor myself.

Exhibit A: The ungodly ugly sweater, size XL, $5.99 at the local Value Village Thrift Store. I adore all things rainbow, so this sweater beckoned to me. The only tag on the garment said: 100% Peruvean Wool. Bingo.

A close up on the fabric. The yarn appears to be worsted weight, but it's really two strands of somewhere between sock and sport weight yarn. Double the yarn yardage!

The resulting yarn balls as of last night. As of this afternoon, the green ball is at least twice its size and a fair size ball of blue has joined them. And I haven't even passed the neck/shoulder area yet.
The yarn is very rough, so I know it won't become socks, but I'm considering making a shawl out of it, in a simple lace design, since it's not fine and smooth enough to have a uniform lace look to it. I'll post photos once all the unravelling's done!

On Mom and I's shopping excursion tonight, I picked up some yarn at the local Michael's. I finally got my hands on some microspun, which I love, it's so soft! The colors are turquoise and coral, the lighting doesn't capture it. And, as I'm determined to make this shrug of sorts, I got some Bernat Softee Chunky in "New Denim Heather". I've had the perfect brooch to go with this shrug for months now...

I bought this vintage-esque brooch at a craft store that was closing out, for only $5! It's all the way costume jewelry, but it will really fit with the vintage style shrug!
So, that's all for me now, until next time, keep fit and have fun!

Chillaxed knitting.

Ahh, summer vacation. All I have to worry about is work, and I could quite frankly do with a lot less of it. But something has to pay the bills! So, since I've been off for a while, I got a lot of little projects done. Instant gratification is the name of the game. I also made a couple things for Mother's Day, but I'll post them after my mom gets them :) Right now, my "main" project is to wear on Mother's Day (if I get Sunday off. Finger's crossed!). It's a hevily modified version of the Everybody's Doing It Shrug. The original website for the pattern was down, so I just improvized!

So far I have a 1 1/2" section of seed stitch (14 rows on size 7 needles), and then I did 5 garter stich rows, followed by a k1, yo row. Then, I looked through The Stitch Library and found this daisy stitch. I love how it looks, i might make another shrug on larger needles in just this stitch. It's goregeous!

Because the daisy stitch pulls the piece together so much, it created a very suprising and very pretty scalloped edge! Such a happy accident! I will take a phot when the shrug is finished, hopefully by the end of my next shift. I'm at 9" of the "body" of the shrug, so it should only take another 6 or so inches to fit! I love making shrugs! Oh, and this was made with Patons Classic Wool in Winter White. I rarely use anything else!

I picked up a few balls of Sugar n' Cream from the "Buck n' Near" store, for some pretty dish cloths. Here's one in Americana, and I have a ball of Daisy Ombre, Salt and Pepper, and a Bernat Handicrafter HUGE ball in Summer Splash (the same as Sugar n' Cream, which is odd!) So, lots of dish cloths in my future. Great Xmas presents, in my opinion. Though I might be infringing on Joan, my uncle's wife's mother, who knits them and sells them to make money for my cousin's college fund :S So maybe I'll just knit a bunch for Mom and Apollo.... hats and scarves for the rest of the family, maybe!

As you can tell, I have a new digital camera. It's so loverly, so I knit a little case to protect it. The airplane button was inspired by the word "incoming". I plan on duplicate stitching a cityscape on the bottom of the case, too look like a night air raid, since we always see air raids in green night vision.

The final project I took a picture of (yes, I have more. Like an afghan modified from a pattern in this book.) It's a garter stitch blanket made of Patons Bohemian in white out on size 15 needles. It's just the simple dish cloth pattern, but it's working up to be a soft fluffy cloud of plush goodness. It's going to be between 4-6 balls of Bohemian, depending how large it gets. I'm about halfway through the first ball, and it's already 2' across. I'd like it to be 5 or six feet square, but that might take a LOT of yarn. Oh well, it'll be the softest blanket ever!

And this is some more additions to my stash. Two ball of Baby Monkey, for a knitted kitten I'm making in the likeness of my brother's cat. A ball of blue Kroy socks yarn to go with my dyed yarn for the cuffs, heels and toes, and a ball of muslin to try my hand at more self striping yarn!
And now, for my obligatory cat pic, I give you Calos looking very perplexed.