Ea's One-Woman Knitting Assault

Mitten Mania!

2008-11-05T15:39:00.002-04:00

Yep, I'm still obsessed with these Newfoundland mittens. I've decided to knit mittens for my mom, dad, brother and his girlfriend. I've also knitted another pair just because.

This pair is for my brother' s girlfriend Gwen. She likes purples and pinks, so I thought the Sean Sheep Armitage in Cranberry for the body colour and Patons Classic Wool in Plum Heather for the cuff and thumb would be right up her alley. The only problem I'll have with the Sean Sheep is matching up the colour gradiation on both mitts. The pair I made for my dad turned out well, but the colours don't line up exactly.

Again made with Armytage in Foliage and PCW in Dark Natural Mix. Green's my dad's favorite colour, so I think he'll love the gradiations from emerald to olive to grass green. I hope these fit my dad, I wasn't thinking of hand size when I made them, so they fit me, but I'm not sure they'll fit him.

I tried to make some adjustments for my brother's mitts. I added another honeycomb repeat and added some rounds to the thumb, as he's all tall, thin and lanky. I had knit him Swell two Christmases ago, with the same black and new denim PCW. He had to wait 2 years to get matching mitts, but I had to knit that Dr. Who Scarf for him!

Mom's favorite colour is blue (which might explain why I like turquiose, mixing both of my parent's favorite colours), so these mitts in PCW New Denim and Old Maize will make her happy. I love the combination of blue and yellow, it looks so fresh and crisp.

As I'm typing this post up, I'm watching Flight of the Conchords. Hilarious! But very distracting....I apologize for the terrible writing!

Another season passes...

2008-10-30T16:24:00.003-03:00

And I manage to get an update done! I was supposed to be spending today doing loads and loads of laundry, but when I went downstairs to make sure no one was ahead of me, I discovered both of the washers and one of the dryers was broken! Can't do much laundry with one dryer! So, to cheer myself up, I went over to LK yarns. My birthday was last Friday and I had been generously given CASH, so what would any knitter do with a surplus? Buy yarn of course!

Noro and sari and Fleece Artist! OH MY!

I knew I wouldn't be able to leave without some Noro, and I knew I'd find something in the big bins of Fleece artist mill ends and seconds. But then I saw the recycled sari silk... I've thought about buying it many times, only I found many of them just had too much red in them! This skein has a lot more cream and gold, but still lots of red and fuschia.

I'm not sure what I'll make with this yarn. I'm thinking maybe a bag? It's not a yarn that you'd put next to your skin.

I just love that there's little bits of metallic thread. Plus, I only pad $10 for a 150g skein!

Next is the goregous Fleece Artist. I absolutely LOVE this colourway, but I did also have my eye on a blue green and bronze one that reminded me of a Nova Scotia Tartan. Both are mill ends, and I can't find the colours on their website. I imagine this one is called "forest greens" or something. Again, don't know what I'll do with this, but most likely it'll end up a scarf.

Last but not least is the Noro Kureyon, colourways 40 and 207. Aqua/purple/brown/blue and
brown/green/orange/fushia/purple/electric yellow! I can't wait to make another scarf out of these! It's either going to be another ribbed scarf or a diagonal scarf like the Unicorn Pegasus Rainbow Scarf by Huan-Hua Chan. I love how bright these colours are, so I can't wait to get started to see how they look together!

See? In the centre there? A little bit of the shocking bright yellow! Eeee I love Noro!

So that's the latest addition to my yarn stash, but I still have so much more to show you! I will post in a wee bit, too much to post in one go!

I will be back (eventually)

2008-06-21T10:59:00.002-03:00

Hi all you people (I don't even know if anyone looks at this site anymore). I haven't posted in over 8 months. I've been busy with 2 jobs that had me working 6 out of 7 days a week. I have some pics from back in March to post here, but I'm awaiting a better camera before I take pics of any new stuff I've made.

I will hopefully post soon, as I now have a new job! It's 9-5, M-F, so I finally have weekends off for the first time since I was 16!

Any ways, on to the knitting!

I've had an obsession with Newfoundland Mitts since I was a kid, and now that I know how to knit them, I went on a bit of a spree.

From Left to Right:
My turquiose and rainbow mitts. Made with Paton's Classic Wool in Too Teal and Katia Mexico in Easter.
Black and rainbow mitts, made with PCW in Black and Katia Mexico again
Teal and brown mitts, made with PCW in Peacock and Retro.
Pink and yellow mitts, made with PCW in Old Rose and Maize.

There are two other pairs I knit missing from this picture. My original blue and red pair got lost on a bus while Greg and I were on our way to the movies in Bayers Lake. I hope someone found them and has toasty hands because of them! The other pair was sold at the yarn store I work at, Kreative Knits & Designs. It was similar to the black pair, but in white instead. The black and teal pairs were sold a while ago, both bought by the same person!

Close up of the honeycomb stitch.

These mitts have evolved slightly from my first pair. The cuff has changed from a 1x1 ribbing (which I am horrible at) to a k2, p1 ribbing that looks a lot sharper and seems to sit snugger on the wrist. The cuff is knit for 20 rounds which gives me exactly 3 inches. The thumb is knit for exactly 20 rounds before the decrease row. The top of the mitt...well, I had been finishing it off with a kitchener stitch to get them to lay flat, but it makes it awkward to get the mitts to lay the right way, so I've switched to a regular "thread yarn through remaining stitches and pull tight" ending. I still haven't perfected picking up stitches for the thumb, but I'm good at sewing up the gaps produced as a result of my lamentable skills.

Speaking of Kreative Knits, I think I'll give you a bit of a tour. Knitters, ask away if you want to know about a yarn you see.

One of our many walls of yarn. To the left and right are scarves and hats and such that we sell in the store.

More yarn (lots of Lily Chin here).

Mmm...Berroco.

Some beautiful pillows made by Crystal, who moved to Alberta last summer. I miss her. The pillows are made with woven ribbons.

*drools* Scottish Cashmere.

And here's where I sit and knit all day long.
Oh, and we also sell some really nice handmade soap. There's handmade in Nova Scotia, with ingredients like Maple Syrup, Dulse and Blueberries.

I of course love the Apple Blossom one. I just might have to take it home with me.

While I was snapping these photos, I took a picture of my new favorite necklace. I got it for A DOLLAR. Which I guess is a good thing since I lost it. I'm so sad.

This is a scarf I started. It's made of 100% pure silk yarn from Fleece Artist, a Nova Scotian yarn company. I'm pretty proud of myself. I'm not a lace knitter, but I'm trying hard not to screw this up. It's silk, for crying out loud. It deserves to be knit into something beautiful.

Close up of the pattern.
I'm also working on a bigger, brighter scarf. I was inspired by Brooklyn Tweed's Noro Striped scarf, so I took apart the Calorimetries I made ages ago (and only wore one a couple times) and put the yarn back together to make a bright, splashy scarf I won't get bored with. The colours are beautiful. They go together well, without being too similar. I love teals and browns, but I also love rainbows, so this scarf is the perfect marriage of my favorite colour combinations.

My one irk with Noro is the fact that there are random knots in the skein, which result in an altogether different colour popping up. For a subtle gradiation self-striping yarn, this is a jarring jump from one colour to the next.

See what I mean? it goes from tawny brown to electric blue in the middle of a row! And the other ball jumped from a green to a purple!

Well, that's it for now, I'll try getting some new batteries for my crappy camera and update from March til now!

Get 'er done!

2007-11-27T14:29:00.000-04:00

I've been pretty slack with everything since my birthday. My knitting has been slow and steady, work has been a bit tedious, and I've spent a lot of time watching episodes of shows I've missed (The Tudors, Dexter and Big Love being a few). Now that American Thanksgiving has come and gone, I've been on a mission to finish all things Christmas as soon as possible. So far, I have finished knitting One person's gift, but I only have two more people to buy gifts for. I think I'm in a good place for a month left to Christmas. So, most of these are WIP pictures. Hopefully that will change!

First, the Christmas presents. I hope none of the recipients glimpse this page, but I think I'm safe!

For my brother, who has wanted a Dr. Who scarf for ages, I have restarted one I began earlier this year. The first attempt was too wide, and wasn't going to be long enough. This one, however, will be monsterous!

The scarf is over a quarter of the way completed, and it already spans my 6' queen sized bed. So, we're looking at a 20' scarf at least! Notice the pink stripe. I'm going to have only one or two more of those, because paired with the other colours, it simply makes the scarf too feminine. I've replaced the pink with a grey-green for the rest of the scarf. My colours are not very accurate, I'm improvising with the huge amount of Patons Shetland Chunky yarn I was given by my aunt last year.

My dad is a huge golfer, he's out on the course almost every day in the summer. He also has everything under the sun golf related, includig books, ornaments, computer games, etc. So, I decided it was time I knit him some golf club covers. They're unique, stylish, and could double a s mittens if he was in a pinch :)

I have another cover finished, made in opposite colours to the tan and teal (teal bottom, tan top), and I'm going to make another in the red and grey, switching the colours again. I wanted a matching set, but I only had enough yarn for two of each colour scheme. I still think it looks great. The pattern is from Creative Knitting (my favorite knitting magazine), and the yarns are Patons Classic Wool in Peacock, Dark Natural Mix, Rich Red and Pearl.

Close ups of the houndstooth pattern (so easy!):

And last, but not least, my scarf for my brother's girlfriend. It's a simple sideways garter stitch scarf, but the yarn is amazing so it looks really nice.

Bad photo...

Close up of the thick and thin quality of the yarn (Bernat MAX in April Wine)

A bit truer colours, but any attempt at accurate colours today was hopeless, it was a very grey day!

That's all for now, I'll post the rest at a later time!

22 Celcius? Seriously?

2007-10-22T14:40:00.000-03:00

How am I ever going to get a chance to wear all my toasty knitted stuff when mother nature can't make up her mind? It's as warm as July out there! Oh well, I shouldn't complain, I love warm weather!
So, what have I made lately? Not too much, I'm trucking along on a few lengthy FOs, and some Christmas presents, so nothign really to show for my efforts just yet. But I did finish a couple small projects, which I've been fighting with my camera so I can take pictures of them, but here they are!

First, the easy peasy dishcloth, with the easy peasest pattern.

Yarn is Bernat Handicrafter Cotton in....a pink, orange and yellow colourway? Sorry, don't have the name at the moment.

I'm not a fan of the pooling colours in the middle of the cloth, but it's not a big deal.

I finished off a cute neckwarmer out of the Katia Mexico yarn I've used for my Newfie mitts. It's a simple tube of about 120 stitches, knit in 2x2 ribbing. Much less yarn than a scarf, and it does the same job!

These were more of a repair job. I had to take apart one of these mitts because a mistake I made in the waffle pattern, causing it to be too short. Now they're good as new!

The colours go with my House Unity scarf I made a while back, as well as a green and yellow cabled hat I made to match the scarf as well.

Two weeks ago was Thanksgiving here in Canada. I saw this adorable turkey over at Bittersweet and HAD to make him. While working at Kreative Knits that Saturday (yes, I have the job, I LOVE it, it's wonderful, I knit all day!) so I worked on him at the store. He is almost all single crochet, and he was as easy as (pumpkin) pie!

All of the yarns are acrylics I had lying around.

And last, but not least, we have a tiny ladybug infestation. At least 20 are hanging out in our bedroom window. So pretty, but I worry the cats will eat them.

My birthday is in 2 days! Someone buy me Amigurumi!: Super Happy Crochet Cute! I worship Elizabeth Doherty and her amazing skills!

A chill is in the air!

2007-10-02T14:24:00.000-03:00

Remember in my last post that it felt like 39 celcius (102 ferenheit)? Well, on Sunday, it managed to make it to 14 C (57 F), but by the time I got home from work, it was closer to 3C (37F). Brr! Soon there'll be frost and, dare I say it, snow! So, as the weather turns from pleasent to icy, I have been working hard, cranking out fetching beret/tam type hats. But before we get to that, I wanted to show you my first completed "knitting" project. I think I might have been 10 or so when I made it.

This scarf was made on a large spool knitter, using the yarn that came with the loom/spool knitting set I got as a child. I'm assuming it's acrylic, and the colour pattern goes peach, gold, green, white, peach, gold, green. It has been worn for years by my first teddy bear, who is a mere 5 inches tall.

Pretty impressive for a first textile project, I must say, and Teddy's all ready for the fall chill.

I promised some photos of the berets I made, and I will not disappoint. Without further ado, here they are.

Beret #1 (My favorite):

(Note all photos of me wearing the hat suck.)

Specs:
Pattern: Bulky Tam by whatifknits
Needles: US 10.5 circs (I think 24") and DPNS
Yarn: Patons Nuance in Mythic. This yarn is so soft and light, I'm totally in love with it!

Beret #2:

Specs:
Pattern and Needles same as #1
Yarn:Bernat Felting Natural Wool in New Iris
A little thicker, probably better for winter, but still very pretty!

Beret #3:

Specs:
Pattern and Needles same as #1
Yarn: Lion Brand Moonlight Mohair in Glacier Bay
I hated working with this yarn, the mohair went EVERYWHERE, but I love how it looks now.

Beret #4:

Specs:
Pattern and Needles same as #1
Yarn: Patons Divine in Richest Rose
Another Mohairy yarn, but much softer than Moonlight Mohair. Pink is not really my colour, so I might sell/give this one away.

Cold weather does not just call for Hats, I have started making mittens as well. My favorite mitts are ones I saw all through my childhood. I've wanted a pair for years, and now I'm starting on my second pair! They're called Newfoundland mitts, and they're very warm. The honeycomb stitch holds in the heat, and even when made with acrylic yarn, they keep the hands of kids and adults cozy, even when wet!

My pair is very reminisent of spring, so hopefully they'll cheer me up during the gray days of February.

Without the flash, the colours are still bright!

Close up of the pattern, two slipped stitches pull the fabric into the honeycomb shape.
I got the pattern from the Creative Whimsy blog. But the pattern isn't really copyrighted or anything, people have been knitting these for decades! I was obviously inspired by her use of Noro Kureyon, though.

My mitten specs
Needles: US 6 (4mm) DPNS
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool in Too Teal, Katia Mexico in Easter (as you can see, I frogged my scarf I made earlier!)

Well,that's all from me now, bundle up dearies! Snuggle your furry friends!

UPDATE!

2007-09-27T14:17:00.000-03:00

I had to write on my hand Update! With three underlines, just so I would remember to do this. My sock pal is anxiously waiting for me to post about the gorgeous socks and other great stuff she sent me, and I have so much to post! Be prepared for a long, detailed blog full of pictures!
Ok...Where to start...
Well, A few weekends ago, I went home to try and sell my knitted scarves, hats and dishcloths at the annual 50 Mile Yard Sale.
I set up my table at my parent's house...

Priced the items according to what I thought they were worth ($10 for a scarf, $10 for 100% wool touques, $2 for a dishcloths)....

And by the end of the day, I sold 1 scarf and 3 dishcloths! Terrible! People are just not looking for quality knitted items at yard sales!

At least I got to see a pretty Monarch butterfly.

A few days later, I got a package in the mail. It was from my sock pal, from Sockapalooza! I told her I liked Dobby socks (ones that didn't match), and that's what she made! They're wonderful, and they fit perfectly! I haven't had to wear them yet, it's been really warm here, in fact, yesterday got up to 31 celsius (88 ferenheit), feeling like 39 celsius (102 ferenheit)!!!! But I love them!

Broadripple sock

And for the other foot....

Monkey!

I love the colours in both pairs. But she didn't stop with the socks, no, this is what she sent along with them!

The rest of the yarn! That's crazy! AND a pretty bag! The outside fabric matches the monkey sock, and the inside fabric matches the Broadripple sock! So awesome!

She also sent me the patterns for the socks she made, and another pattern for an ankle sock, which I couldn't resist making!

(I have such a huge ankle, from multiple sprains that made it swell up to the size of an orange!)
Tada! One Breeze sock down, one to go, which I think I'll make with the orange yarn and the orange stripey yarn for the heel. Yet another pair of Dobby socks!

Close up of the lace pattern

And the gorgeous heel!
She also sent me a wonderful lemon and poppyseed soap, that I use all the time, it smells great! And a sample of wool wash, which I'll be using soon to get all my socks ready for chilly winter nights.
And I took some shots of berets I made, but I think I'll wait for my next post to talk about those.
For now, here's a shot of Carlos on our new bed, which is insanely comfortable!

I've been meaning to do this for a long time...

2007-09-04T14:02:00.001-03:00

Each and every one of my new posts here on blogger seems to be some sort of apology or excuse. It takes me weeks, even months, for me to post. Why, you ask? Am I that slow at knitting that I produce only a few FOs a year? No, quite the opposite. I have become a high volume knitter, completing a project almost every day I am at work.
Do I have too much to do? Well, that was the case a couple months ago, when I was preparing for my wedding, and a few months back when I graduated from University of King's College. But other than that, no, I have plenty of time to update. I just don't! Why, because, while I could knit until my hands fall off, I am an extremely lazy person. I am trying desperately to fix that. Every other day I try to get out for a long walk. I am trying to force myself out into the job market and find something that is not necessarily in my desired field of future work (library and archival work, for anyone who has a job needing filled out there!) that pays better and has more hours than my job now, which gives me the flexibility to knit while I'm there but is terrible on the budget. I have, over the past few months, learned what it is like to be rejected for a job. I had, until recently, applied for jobs with multiple openings and minimum wage salaries. But now, I am applying for government granted, single-position postings and higher salaried, bigger responibilities, etc, etc, and you would think a BA would count for something. Unfortunately, all the jobs I have applied for, I have either been turned down or never been responded back to. This has sent me into a spiral of depression, which definately does not help my job hunt.
There is however, a glimmer of hope. My LYS, which I like to think I've been a loyal customer to, is in need of a helping hand. I'm in the process of writing the owner back to accept her offer of working for her when others employees are off. I couldn't be happier!
Now, as to my knitting, I unfortunatly have a camera that is either on the fritz or batteries that need replacing. I had set up a photo of 5 dishcloths, 17 scarves, 4 hats and a calorimetry to be photographed, but I can't get my camera to turn on. These are all meant to be sold at the 50 Mile Yard Sale this weekend, if I can just get a hold of my mother! I plan on making at least 3 more scarves, as this is where my money will be gained (I hope). I'm nervous they won't sell, but I want to get my feet wet in selling my knitted goods, since I will never wear all of my scarves!
Well, I'm going to dig around for some photos to finish off this blog entry, but first, a 3 things meme I got from Mikkers over at Domestitchery

3 things that scare me
-walking alone or waiting for the bus at night
-Big dogs off their leash
-Death in general

3 people who make me laugh
- my husband Greg
- Kat
-Kit (I know, Kit Kat, ha ha ha ha)

3 things I love
- cats
- knitting
- chocolate

3 things I hate
- most people who drive the roads of Halifax
- Homophobes
-People who think they can get away with anything

3 things I don’t understand
- most computer stuff (Greg's the IT major, but even he can't explain it to me!)
- French, even though I spent about 10 years studying it in school
- How Crocs have become so popular

3 things on my desk
- An almost finished "Party" dishcloth from this pattern
- my cell phone
- a stack of nearly obsolete CDs

3 things I’m doing right now
- Worrying about the LYS job (she's not getting back until the 10th!)
- Hoping I can go home for the 50 mile yard sale
- Wondering how I'll make it to the 14th on $9.

3 things I want to do before I die
- Have two children (hopefully little redheaded girls!)
- Have a sucessful career
- See Europe and Asia

3 things I can do
- Procrastinate but still acheive high marks
- Be top producer at work
- Keep calm under enormous pressure

3 things I can’t do
- Keep my apartment clean (yes, me too!)
- Simple math without a piece of paper or calculator
- stop doing my job at work- even though i hate it, I can't goof off or slow my dialing down...it's just not in me to be like the slackers who piss me off!

3 things I think you should listen to
- your parents!
- Mika. His songs are just so upbeat! And I think he's the reincarnated Freddie Mercury.
- Your heart

3 things you should never listen to (but you know you want to)
- Yatta
- Any music by Paris Hilton
- Most "gangsta" rap unless you want to feel degraded ladies!

3 shows I watched as a kid
- Full House
- Blossom
-Ready Or Not

Photos!

My Under the Hoodie is finally finished! Now It needs to get cold enough to wear it!

Ugh, terrible picture... I'm not happy with the length!

Closeup of a beautiful scarf I made that I'll be selling this weekend!

The body of a bag I've made, it needs the straps now and possibly a lining!

Closeup of the yarn, Moda Dea Cache in Wink.

Our wedding!

July 21, 2007

The kiss!

The wedding party. Bottom row: My MIL, Hailey, my cousin and flower Girl, Dad
Middle Row: FIL, Greg, Me, Mom
Back Row(s): Weasel (Greg's uncle), Nic (Greg's friend), Apollo (My brother), my four bridesmaids and friends, Cait, Sara, Karyn and Kat (maid of honour)

One of my favorite phots of Greg and I!

My family

My dress. Alfred Angelo, Ivory and Robin's Egg Blue. My flowers were blue Hydrangea, Ivory roses, and yellow Freesia.

Until my camera comes back to normal, that's all for now!

Sick and it's raining!

2007-06-11T18:02:00.000-03:00

It is absolutely pouring outside (as it has been doing for days on end, it seems)! And I have another bout of the pesky cold I always seem to get, so I was feeling miserable and decided a blog update was in order. I have really only been making scarves, as I can do so without thinking while I'm on the phones at work. But I also have a few UFOs kicking around, which I will post next time along with my sock! Yes, singular, I just made it past the cuff, I'm so terrible. But it is a nice looking sock, I'm calling it Peaches n' Berries. Which also makes me think of the Peach and Strawberry Crisp I made a while ago (Frozen Fruit + Ingredients for a crisp= one amazingly quick and tasty dessert).
Anyways, enough of my delirious ramblings. Here are 5(!) scarves, one only halfway finished, the others just needs some ends sewn in.

Scarf #1 (Starting on the Left):
Needles: US 10 1/2
Pattern: Simple Feather and Fan
Yarn: Bernat Boa in Cardinal, S. R. Kertzer Ranee in Ruby, Estelle Shimmer in Burgandy
Close Up:

Scarf #2
Needles: US 15
Pattern: garter stitch
Yarn: Two Dollar store yarns similar to Bernat Boa and Patons Pooch in pastel rainbow shades
Close Up:

I think this looks like a stuffed animal gone through a mulcher!

Scarf #3
Needles: US 15
Pattern: Sideways Garter stitch (3-4 rows for each stripe)
Yarn: Estelle Dazzle in colour 283, Patons Lacette in Precious Pink
Close Up:

I really love how the colours go together, pink and black work so well with silver!

Scarf #4
Needles: US 15
Pattern: Sideways Garter stitch (3-4 rows for each stripe)
Yarn: Patons Evita in Brazil, Estelle Shimmer in Pearl.
Close Up:

Crazy tribute to Brazil!

Scarf #5
Needles: US 10
Pattern: Dr.Who Scarf, halved and using larger needles
Yarn: Random Chunky Zellers yarn I got at Christmas.

Carlos thinks it's a good place to lay

But thought being a psycho kitty would be more fun!

That's it for now, I hope to update this week with more knitterly goodness!

Punk is not Dead!

2007-05-24T13:03:00.000-03:00

So I bought this book last Friday, and I absolutely HAD to make the mohawk hat! While I didn't have any chunky wool, I doubled up some worsted weight and away I went!

Here's my rocking fauxhawk:

Pattern: Punk's not Dead from Pretty in Punk
Needles: US 10 1/2
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool in Black and Too Teal and Lett-Lopi in Blue.

I've gotta work on it staying standing up

On my loverly foam head.

Well, that's it so far for any knitting. I'm kind of stagnant in terms of wanting to do much. But I'll get it back, I need to knit socks!

scarves and dishcloths: I'm so boring!

2007-05-01T11:34:00.000-03:00

Well, I'm a couple weeks from officially graduating, with a nice 3.05 GPA, so maybe I'll have some more time to knit! Lately it's just been what I can concentrate on while at the call centre. So, it's just been scarves and dishcloths! plain ol' garter stitch work. with a few YO's thrown in for excitement. So, I've been using some interesting yarn, at least! Eyelash yarn is my friend, I care not for haters on the fashion yarns!

First up, two similar sideways scarves.

I'm wearing my custom "Weird Sisters" t-shirt. I <3 Tonks, and I'm attempting to put together a costume for the OOTP movie! Anyways, the scarves. Both are made lengthways, using various eyelash yarns.

Scarf #1:
Needles: US 15
Yarns: S.R. Kertzer Serenade in colour 2241, Bernat Boa in Emu (label said Racoon, but I see now that the label was switched!), S. R. Kertzer Baby Monkey in colour 1052 (purple/yellow). The colours went together so interestingly, and it's so soft!

A close up of the stitches. very fuzzy!

Looks good on Mahoot!

Scarf #2
Needles: US 15
Yarns: S.R. Kertzer Serenade in colour 2244, a Bernat Boa knockoff I paid $1 for at EFADS (Everything For a Dollar Store), the color is close to Boa's Toucan.
This one didn't turn out as nice. The colours didn't contrast enough, the Serenade got lost!

Detail

On 'Hoot.

I decided to make a scarf with the rest of my Katia. I wanted a bit of a different look, so I added some YO's for a dropped stitch scarf. It's a bit short, but I'm just using it with a jacket for an accesory, not for warmth.
Needles: US 7
Yarn: Katia Mexico in colour 5852.

Close up.

On the fashion model.

Finally a scarf that matches my shirt! I LOVE this colourway, I couldn't pass it up when i saw it in the store. It reminds me of moon mist ice cream!
Needles:US 15
Yarn: Patons Cha Cha in Vegas.

Close up on the ice creamy colours :)

And last, but not least, circular dishcloths in Violet veil Ombre and Summer Splash (Bernat Handicrafter)

That's it for now, I'll be casting on for my sock pal soon!

EEE!

2007-04-06T17:00:00.000-03:00

Here it is, I have arrived. Wednesday, I went to LK Yarns and bought my first skeins of Noro Kureyon! I feel like an official knitter now...I'm buying "big girl" yarn, so to speak. So, without further ado, I give you my yarn porn.

The Noro!

That's colours 156 and 182. Both are beautiful! Here they are in skeins...

And wound into balls. 156 has teals, greens, browns, blues and burgandies. 182 is the rainbow colourway...everything from bright red to plum.

I also bought 3 balls of Katia Mexico, in a NEW colourway (to me that is). It's so springy, I'm in love!

Close up of the heartbreakingly beautiful colours!

This is colour 5852, know as "Easter"...a perfect yarn to have this weekend!

So, what to do with these lone skeins? Why, make more Calorimetries of course!

The result of 2 1/2 days of stress knitting (exams and papers, nuff said)

Calori #1 With Noro 182

I'm a little pissed, because the skien was two smaller ones tied together, so the colourway started over again, as you can see with the sharp green/purple contrast! I'm the only one who will notice, though!

And I think I'll use a gold button for this one...reminds me of a mini wheat.

Calori #2 with Mexico

I love this colourway to pieces!

It's getting a cute ducky button!

Calori #3 with 182 again.

I love the contrasts. I ran out of yarn a few rows short of the end, but I fixed it by using some Lett-Lopi in Royal Blue I had from splj 1. It matched perfectly in texture and colour!

See? the blue matches so well!

And this one is either getting a heart button or an elephant, haven't decided yet!

Calori #4 still to come...

Quick and dirty knit!

2007-03-12T22:47:00.000-03:00

I give you the fuzzy rainbow rasta Hat!

Yarn: Red Heart Bright n' Lofty in Snowcone
Needles: US 15
Pattern: Loosely based off this one.
Back view:

Duuuude.

Just something quick and cute!

I believe it's been too long comrade

2007-03-05T11:19:00.000-04:00

Well, I don't know why I'm posting now, but it's about damn time! I just switched over to the "new Blogger" so I think an overhaul is in order, with a new template or something. I've done a few things knitting and crochet related, but mostly small projects. So, without further ado, we will see what I've been up to!

This will take a bit of photobucket digging, please bear with me...

Oh, over Christmas, I got YARN! Yes, it must be in all caps. We're talking the most you could pack in to 3 grocery bags. Lots.

17 balls of Bernat Chenille, which I can find very little on. From Right to Left: 3 balls Blueberry Splash, 4 balls Banana Splash, 2 balls Melon Ice, 2 balls French Mint, 3 balls Off White, 2 balls Blueberry Frost, and 1 lone ball of Cherry Cream. It's fairly thin, the gauge is 16sts & 30 rows = 4" on 4mm needles. Each ball is 85yds/78m. I started a scarf on the off White, but it was tdious, so I frogged it, and started on a dishcloth style shawl or blankie in the blueberry and banana.

Too Many to Count balls of chunky yarn from Zellers (Canada's Target). Lots of colors, mostly red, purple, green. I have a better idea for these. Lots of Hats, starting with one from a Knit 1 pattern that's got a pom pom mohawk...I just need 10 1/2 US circs and dpns...So far, I made a cable knit bag and a pair of slippers with this stuff.

Ok, on to some FOs!

I give you Calorimetry. This pattern is so popular on Craftster and my lj community, I couldn't pass it up! I made two more, one in winter white and one in too teal in PCW. This one is done with Katia's Mexico on US 7s, which pops up on my blog since I bought about 6 balls of it!

It's so pretty

Carlos sporting my too teal Calorimetry.

Anyways, moving on...to my first ever crocheted hat!

I love it! It's a non-pom pom version of the his and her hats from the October issue of Crochet Today. It's made with Moda Dea Cache in Rendezvous, for once the reccommended yarn!

A close up of the stitches.

It's a bit big for my styrofoam head, but I wasn't about to model it, what with my bed head.

My prototype for a crazy idea for my wedding guest's favours. Around 100 crocheted cupcakes, filled with candy, either smarties or jellybeans. The inside of the cupcake is supposed to be stuffed, but I think it'd be cute to use them as favour boxes (and less expensive than the little cardboard one's that are about $4 for 12 at Micheal's).

So, very soon I have to get to Walmart and buy two big balls of white and blue and get cracking!
Oh, and I'm thinking of having a crocheted wedding cake to put on the favour table, too.

And last, but not least, I finally finished my House Unity Scarf!

The jacket next to it is a baby sized hoodie I tried to get Carlos to wear. He didn't.
I'm quite pleased with the results, it's much lighter than my other Harry Potter scarves, it makes me want to frog both of my ravenclaw ones and redo them in 1x1 ribbing!

And finally, my obligatory cat pictures:

My cats are far more photogenic than I.

Mahoot's in a dress! tee hee!

I know, I know

2006-12-01T19:00:00.000-04:00

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!

2006-10-18T09:49:00.000-03:00

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

2006-09-13T23:30:00.000-03:00

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?

2006-08-27T15:14:00.000-03:00

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?

2006-08-04T08:21:00.000-03:00

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

2006-06-23T19:56:00.000-03:00

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

2006-06-15T11:35:00.000-03:00

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

2006-06-01T01:56:00.000-03:00

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

Cashmere!

2006-05-31T23:49:00.000-03:00

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!

2006-05-25T23:28:00.000-03:00

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.

2006-05-08T23:40:00.000-03:00

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.

I can't believe I never posted this sooner!

2006-04-29T23:32:00.000-03:00

Yarn:Patons Kroy Socks (75% wool, 25% nylon) 203 yd/ 187m in White Cap
Koolaid: Pink- 2 pkgs Strawberry Kiwi
Blue- 2 pkgs Ice Blue Raspberry
Purple- 2 pkgs Grape
Method: Found Here.
Result:Glorious.

This ball took hours to wind by hand, because my skein tangled really badly in my attempts!

The colours are fairly close, but this is a webcam, so it's not perfect.

Here's a bit of it knit up. the stripes are nice and sharp, about 3-4 rows each, which will make some awesome socks.

I dubb this colourway "Care Bear Stare" due to the hues reminding me of Hugs, Tugs and Gran. I will post the finished socks someday!
Tomorrow, I'm going to try dying some more Classic Wool with lime, tropical punch, ice blue raspberry and changing cherry....we shall see! Self-striping yarn is addictive!
And now for the cuteness factor of my blog: Mahoot not wanting to be held (which is always). But see how wonderfully he matches my hair? And his eyes are just a goregeous bronzey gold. Oh to have pretty eyes like my kitty! They just now inspired me to find just the right yarn to match his eyes....for what, I don't know. I loved the cloche missamerika made with moonlight mohair (scroll down to see a close up of the yarn), so I might check out that gold color.

Responsibility, what's that?

2006-04-20T15:26:00.000-03:00

Well folks, one more exam and my third year is over! It's one essay question, which the prof already gave us, so this should be a piece of cake! Because of my exams, my projects have been of the instant gratification sort....made inbetween studying breaks (usually while watching General Hospital, or Genny Ho as Greg termed it!) So, here they are!

This is what I'd like to call my "Crazy Ass Bling Purse". It's the Heartthrob Purse from Creative Knitting's January edition. The yarn used in the pattern are 4 worsted weight yarns (rayon and bamboo), three held together at once. Well, I went my own crazy, experimental route, and chose a ball of white phentex merit, two balls of sugar and cream christmas sparkle (white cotton twisted with a silver tinsel), and the lion brand festive fur I bought recently. Well, the result is a crazy sparkly monstrousity that I'm not quite sure will see the light of day.

If you look closely, you can see the rhinestone zipper that took forever to sew in! It's so hidden by the fun fur, I think I might need to give it a trim...that could be disasterous, though!

I bought the clear plastic handle yesterday on my excursion to michael's (more on that later). It adds so much to the tacky factor.

Speaking of purses, I now have all of the materials to finish up my fancy designer purse. Dowle handles, red satiny ribbon, and nice grey fabric for lining. This will be so classy!

It being Easter last week, I had toknit some Eastery things. So, I give you my Bunny Bunny Bunny!

He's made with Jess Hutch's Bunny pattern, with Patons Canadiana in Oatmeal. Jess suggests to use doll eyes, but since all I had were yellow cat eyes, I thought it best just to use french knots. His little bowtie is some sheer green polkadot ribbon I found one night working as Pedway Guard...not a lot of ribbon, but I think it looks cute.

I also ended up making a few Easter eggs from curlypurly's great egg pattern. The left is Red Heart Super Saver in Neopolitan, and the right is TLC Essentials in Spring. I also made one in Opal sock yarn, but I believe the cats stole it. The way the self striping yarn worked up, it looked more like a stuffed olive than an egg!

This here's an aarmwarmer. I cast on for this thing, like, 10 times. I tried working on it in the round, but then decided on doing it flat so I could sew up the side and leave a thumb hole.

Close up of the stitch. It's 3x3 basket weave stitch, which I think looks like a subtle checkerboard. I HAD to make armwarmers in this cotton candy pink to go with my new hoodie...

I love it so much! The yarn matches her little pink bow! so cute!
Anyway, yesterday I went to the new Michael's that opened up in Bayers Lake. I must have spent an hour in there....So much cool stuff, made me want to start up beading and jewelry making with all the goregous beads they had! I restrained myself, and here's my haul:

Two balls of Lion Brand Jiffy Thick and Quick in Grand Canyon ($5 each!), two balls Moonlight mohair in Glacier Bay (so pretty! I love to pet it!), and some cool flower shaped handles. Oh and the clear plastic handles as well. So worth the trip, and I can't wait til they offer a beginner crochet class!
So, that's all from me this week, hopefully I'll finish up some more projects for next week! Bye!

I'm finally free!

2006-04-07T12:42:00.000-03:00

Classes are finally over, I just need to ace my exams, and I'm done 3rd year English! So, That's why I've neglected my good old knitting blog. So, all there is to do now is pic spam!

I've aquired some interesting yarn in the past little while. On my journey to pick up Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on DVD at Walmart, I of course found myself in the craft section. I was drawn to the lovely(?) Festive Fur, and I bought two balls each of silver and gold. I'm thinking of using them for spiral scarves (which you will see later), or with the single ball of ONLine Linie 185: Smash Irisee in blueberry that I picked up...maybe a purse???
The other ginormous ball pictured is this 3-ply teal wool I got from Kreative Knits and Designs for $6.00! It's a little less that 300yds, great for felting, which I plan on making a "designer" clutch with, which you again will see later on in this post.

This is the knitting part of the "designer" clutch I'm making, which may go to a friend for her upcoming 21st birthday. It's made with black Titan yarn, a big bulky acrylic that's super soft and my favorite bulky yarn to work with. The colour's washed out because I took pictures by the window, it's actually very black. Anyway, this clutch is going to look like these ones by margaret nicole, who sells them for $150!!! I just need the dowels and some pretty ribbon :).

My Panta is done! I had showed you the wrong side of it in my last post, but here it is, finished and after several wearings. It's perfect for bad hair days! And it stays in place so well!

I also whipped off this pretty spiral scarf, which is a little short, I'll have to cast on more stitches next time. It's made from this pattern, on size 15 needles.

The yarns are a thrift store raspberry acrylic, Patons Divine in Floral Fantasy, a thrift store peach mohairish acrylic, and a thrift store dusty rose acrylic. All in all, I think this would be a great xmas gift for my female relatives, it's so customizable and easy!

Last weekend was the Junos, and I had to work. Being very bored, I whipped off 3 dish cloths. I can make 2 1/2 regular garter stitch dishcloths out of one ball of sugar and cream (mine was navy), and I also made one "fancy" one from a pattern off the ball band.

I started a purse in the fall, thinking i would make it for my mom as a christmas present. Well, it's still not done, but I've started up with it again. Here's the pretty strap, done in a simple cable pattern.

I've sewn fabric to the other side to help it keep its shape.

This is the actual bag part. It'll be getting a lining, with a pocket, then I'll knit a couple strips that I'll sew onto a zipper, then onto the bag. I have a great ugly green zipper that will go well with the cerulean stripe in the yarn.

The yarn is Katia Mexico in colour 5854. I still have 2 balls left, and no plans for them!

Under the Hoodie is still going strong. I have 9" of the hood done, then once that's done, it's time for sewing! I HATE seams!

The rest of the body...I'm so proud of that pocket!

Carlos is being modest.

Mahoot is being destructive.

Socks, anyone?

2006-03-19T09:44:00.000-04:00

After a one week hiatus (the weather was crappy on the day I usually take pictures, thus no good lighting!) I'm back with my creations. I finished the shrug I made for my friend, but I have yet to be able to give it to her (and her birthday was on the 3rd...oops!). It's Patons Classic wool in Peacock. I forgot to take a photo of it, but the process is agonizing, so I'm thinking no. I also whipped off a headband yesterday at work with some Too Teal in PCW and my own koolaid dyed skein, held together with Bernat Matrix in Acid Axis. It turned out okay, but I was itching to try a Panta... sooo:

I give you my crappy attempt at Panta. I haven't got size 5s, so I'm making it with size 4s. This just means it'll cover less of my head, but it'll still go around my head. I'm terrible at ribbing, it never stays uniform. The yarn is Patons Astra in Ultra Blue, a discontinued color that I love to death! I'm pretty sure too teal is exactly the same...nope, Teal's a smidge darker. Anyway, on to my other projects!

Under the hoodie is coming along really well. I have the back and sleeves done. I'm now starting the neck on the front, which crosses over a bit before it becomes the hood. Should be all kinds of fun to finish!

Sesame is coming along really well. I finished this right front section, but I probably won't have time to work on it anymore until classes are over.

If you can see, I've finished two socks in the past couple of weeks. I'm on a strict "no pairs rule", which means I don't need to match! Carlos's feet are also proudly displayed.

Sock#1: Made with Opal Dreamcatcher in color 1237. It's a total Dobby sock, all over the place with color and pattern. The toe is garter stitch wedge toe.

And the heel is my second attempt at the garter stitch short row heel. I love it.

Sock#2: Made with 100% merino wool, hand spun, hand dyed, from LK yarns (see my links for their site). Very plain sock.

Toe is a simple stocking stitch

Heel is a common heel flap, which I was surprised at how it blended in so well.

And, last but not least, Carlos loving my socks.
Will post soon with the finished Panta!

Knitting R&R

2006-03-03T18:24:00.000-04:00

Ahh, it's so nice not to have to worry about progress on my knitting projects, now that the Knitting Olympics is over. I can sit back, relax, and knit whatever I want, without feeling guilty. So here's what I've accomplished in the past week:
One day, I was on the bus to the mall, and I had a brainwave. I've had a skein of Bernat's Neapolitan yarn for ages, and I've wanted to make something out of it for just as long. So I finally thought up this:

An Ice Cream Cone Hat! It's of course made with abovementioned yarn, and some Patons Canadiana in Oatmeal. I was lucky, the yarn store I went to is going out of business, so I got the ball for 30% off! NowI have to plan my purchases there...to get some good yarn deals! And maybe add to my needles...I've been eyeing some BIG needles :)

See how it spirals, just like real Neapolitan ice cream?

Now, picture it with a big red pom-pom, for the cherry on top! I have to get to a craft store for a pom-pom maker, I'm not cutting out some cardboard ones!
I also made this much progress on Sesame:

Yeah, not a lot. I was more interested in the hat, which I whipped up in a few hours. But I also worked on the shrug I've been commissioned to do...I just need her measurements and I can finish it!

I also re-started this sock with some beautiful Opal Dreamcatcher Yarn (Color 1237, bottom right corner).
So, that's about it in the knitting world. Oh! I dyed some yarn today! The same color and yarn as the last time, so I can finally finish Under the Hoodie! Yipee!

Knitting Olympics: Day Fourteen

2006-02-24T11:31:00.000-04:00

Project: Thrummed Mitts
Progress: Done baby! Gimme the GOLD!
To Go: None! Nada! Zilch! I'm done!
Activities other than knitting done on day: Knitted on Sesame incessently, searched for needles to do the shrug, couldn't find them. Went out to dinner at Taco Bell ( Had a Chicken Crunch Wrap and Fries Supreme...Fat City but I'm almost over my cold, so it was a reward for my wellness. I realize the irony in that one). Rented Lady and the Tramp (but forgot our VCR's busted) and Transporter 2- good movie!
Total hours of knitting: two at the most. I spend more time fiddling with those damn fleeces.
Photo: Gotta have proof, so here it is:

Ta Da! Two mittens, both alike in dignity.

The Right

The Left

A close up of the cute little fleece v's.

Mahoot quite likes them!
Medals Won By Canada: 5 Gold, 8 Silver, 6 Bronze. Slowly, but surely, we're getting some medals.
Other knitting I did: Finished Sesame's back!

It's the biggest part of the cardigan, so the rest should be a breeze, right? right? I'm actually dreading the collar. And the buttonhole band. Both make my head spin!

Mahoot approves of Sesame too!

Knitting Olympics: Day Thirteen

2006-02-23T11:48:00.000-04:00

Project: Thrummed Mitts
Progress: 1 complete mitten, ALL of the body on the second.
To Go: The thumb! Also, fluffing the fleece. Shouldn't be more than 2 hours.
Activities other than knitting done on day: Again, vegging on the couch with a cold.
Total hours of knitting: two maybe? I knit while watching the Men's Hockey Team get trounced by Russia 2 to 0. So Canada's out of the finals. The women just made it look so easy.
Photo: Too sick. Nuff said.
Medals Won By Canada: 5 Gold, 8 Silver, 5 Bronze. The female speed skaters kick ass!
Other knitting I did: Working digilently on Sesame. I'll soon be done the armhole shaping and on to the neck and shoulder shaping. But I need to start that damn shrug!

Knitting Olympics: Day Twelve

2006-02-22T14:56:00.000-04:00

Project: Thrummed Mitts
Progress: 1 complete mitten, start of the 3rd fleece repeat (5 rows of thrumming) on the second. I'm now past the thumb, it's on a stitch holder.
To Go: 2 or 3 more fleece repeats, or 4 in. left of the mitten body. Then the thumb, and then fluffing the fleece!
Activities other than knitting done on day: I am struck down with a horrid cold, so I've been knitting on the couch, watching tv and having naps, eating a bit. Nothing fun, really.
Total hours of knitting: an hour or two of the actual knitting, a half hour of making thrums. And I've knit like mad on my Sesame cardigan. I'm at the armhole decreases already. I have another shrug to knit up...haven't started. Must finish this mitten!
Photo: None, again. I'm too sick to bother.
Medals Won By Canada: 5 Gold, 7 Silver, 5 Bronze. I think that's the count that was predicted by "olympic experts" that we would win. Hopefully there's still more to come!
Woman's Hockey: WE WON GOLD!!!!!!!!!!! We beat Sweden 4 to 1 in the gold medal match! yay! That brings goals for to like, 44, and against, 2! The men's team don't get it so easy. Right now, they're in 3rd placing. I hope the get gold, but hey, who knows?

Knitting Olympics: Day Eight

2006-02-18T21:26:00.000-04:00

Project: Thrummed Mitts
Progress: 1 complete mitten, a few rounds of the cuff on the second
To Go: 1 whole mitten less a few rounds of cuff. I'm not a total slacker though. I just had a lot of other stuff going on. This week was the week before "Spring Break" (Reading Week as my profs call it), so I had papers, assignments and tests to do. Yay school!
Activities other than knitting done on day: Met with my Creative Procees profeesor to discuss my creative project (a short story ah-thank you), visited my yarn ~~dealer~~ seller and got some yarn for my secret pal (shh!), a ball of Katrina for my silky tie wrap, and a ball for a project that I *ahem* haven't disclosed yet. Then started said project while watching episodes of Life As We Know It (It's good, Kelly Osbourne is surprisingly great...I love teenage dramas. But NOT the OC...bleeeeechhhhh!)
Total hours of knitting: hmm, maybe 15 minutes? My heart just wasn't in it.
Photo: None for the mittens, but....um, I did get around to finishing that shrug I mentioned...

and a matching purse....

and then I started this sweater (In Old Rose, Dark Natural Mix, Maize and Chesnut Brown in Patons Classic Wool, of course)....

Ok, so I'm an Olympic Slacker. Shame on me.
Medals Won By Canada: 2 Gold, 4 Silver, 5 Bronze. That's like, 3rd place in the standings!
Woman's Hockey: Canada 6, Finland 0. Oh, and Canada 8, Sweden 1. Yeah, it's 38 goals for and 1 against. I <3 you women's team.

Knitting Olympics: Day Three

2006-02-13T13:14:00.000-04:00

Project: Thrummed Mitts
Progress: 1 complete mitten! Finishing completed, too!
To Go: 1 whole mitten! with 13 days to go!
Activities other than knitting done on day: Went to work at a construction site. I'm a security guard, so I knit on the job. No one was around, so I got lots of time to myself!
Total hours of knitting: about 6, but that counts weaving in ends and fluffing all the fleece out. So, I can fiish one of these mittens in 10 hours. not bad!
Photo: This mitten is so stuffed with fleece, but insanely warm. I'll forgive that it makes my hand look like it has elephantitus. I love how the fleece V's look like hearts. aww. Here's the outside:

And the inside:

Medals Won By Canada: 1 Gold, 1 Bronze
Woman's Hockey: Canada 12, Russia 0. We Canadian women kick ASS! And yes, both medals are won by women, too.

Knitting Olympics: Day Two

2006-02-13T13:04:00.000-04:00

Project: Thrummed Mitts
Progress: 4in. of4 in. 1x1 ribbed cuff, 1 repeat of fleece pattern (2 thrummed rows)
To Go: 1 whole mitten, 1 whole mitten less cuff and 1 repeat of fleece pattern.
Activities other than knitting done on day: Went to work at the Public Archives.
Total hours of knitting: less than 2.
Photo: The photo was hastly taken while my transport waited for me downstairs! So, it's horrible!
Medals Won By Canada: 1 Gold
Woman's Hockey: Canada 16, Italy 0. WOW.

Knitting Olympics: Day One

2006-02-11T07:29:00.000-04:00

Project: Thrummed Mitts
Progress: 2 in. of 4 in. 1x1 ribbed cuff
To Go: 1 whole mitten, 1 whole mitten less 2" of cuff.
Activities other than knitting done on day: Watched the opening ceremonies, grocery shopped, made potato skins and fried pepperoni, watched Law and Order and CSI.
Total hours of knitting: less than 2.
Photo: sorry, none today. Besides, it's a 1x1 rib cuff. very boring.

Knitting Olympics away!

2006-02-10T09:46:00.000-04:00

Well, the olympics are starting in a few hours, and I'm all ready to start my thrummed mittens. I'm using this pattern, with some hints for Yarn Harlot's site to keep me going, and Patons Classic Wool in Too Teal, and Patons Up Country in Soft Cream for the fleece. It'll take some fluffing up after I'm done, but it should be just as cozy as good old roving :) It's also been discontinued, so good luck finding it!
I've swatched the thing, flat though, so the thrums weren't turning out the best. But, once I get it started in the round, it should go more smoothly.
Once I figure out how to set up my webcam on my new computer (the software that came with it seems to have disappeared), I'll take some progress photos of my mittens, as well as this shrug which I'm making with S.R.Kertzer's Mozart in Purple Haze. It's so beautiful, the yarn knits up to look like a bunch of lilacs or violets when knit in seed stitch. I have 3 or four balls of it, and the shrug will probably take 1 and 1/2, so I'm thinking of making this little purse with it. Possibly with two strands held together. I picked up the binder rings and tubing last night, so once I'm done my Olympic knitting, this thing's getting done!
Happy Knitting everyone, and good luck with your respective olympic challenges!

Another Day Off

2006-02-03T18:28:00.000-04:00

I have Fridays free this term, and while I should be using it to study and whatnot, I spent my day doing all things knitting related. I organized my stash by color (The majority of my stash is blue/turquoise/teal, but I was suprised to see how much pink yarn I had :S I'm not a huge fan of pink...here's hoping my secret pal is, it's really nice yarn!) and sorting out all my needles and putting the dpns together. I worked some more on Under the Hoodie, and I now have 1 sleeve finished, the back stripe on the body, and the start of the second sleeve. I'll most likely run out of my hand dyed yarn before the sleeve is done, but I'm waiting for my yarn ~~dealer~~ seller to get some more winter white and peacock in to finish the whole thing.
The Silky Tie Wrap might also soon go on hiatus, once I run out of Katrina. I'm a one-ball stasher, which means I don't usually by more than one colour of yarn at a time, so I end up having to go back and buy more :)
I also tried my hand at making sitch markers. I have some boring plastic rings from the craft store, but I wanted some cute ones that really stood out. Plus I wanted something nice to send to my secret pal (whenever it is I'm getting one---- don't get me started!). So, here's my first attempts:

Horrible picture, tweaked with Paint Shop Pro. Anyway, I used gold colored wire (don't know the gauge or anything, just that it's very pliable) and this cute plastic telephone charm I've had for YEARS. The beads are wood and ceramic, taken from an anklet I was never going to wear.

I'm very proud of this one. Same wire, with a star charm I have no idea where I got it. The beads and sequins are from a dissected hair scrunchie I was never going to wear. I can't wait to do a project that I'll need them!
I'll probably get some better wire soon, at least some silver stuff, to match all the silver charms I have. And then I'll make some sets up, four each maybe? They're SO easy to make, I'm tempted to show them to my LYS and see if they'll sell something like that.
Till next time, keep fit and have fun!

Snow Day!

2006-02-01T14:48:00.000-04:00

We got a lot of snow overnight her in NS (about 15cm/6in) with another 15cm to come before the day's out. Which means the university is closed! yay! So, of course, I got a fair bit of knitting done already!
I've been taking Paint Shop Pro through its paces trying to get more accurate colours fro my photos and trying to make them clearer, but hey, there's only so much you can do!

Here we have my Silky Tie Wrap, at the halfway mark. It's barely visible, but on the right hand side, you can see the base triangle shape, and then the side panel and finally the tie triangle, which is a little short to my liking. Oh well, this may be a gift for someone if it doesn't fit :)

My Under the Hoodie sleeve. 68 rows down, 50 some to go. I hate sleeves for the sole fact that you have to increase so much. it means math >.>

This is a photo of my brother wearing the hat I made him for his birthday in December. It's Hot Head from SnB, made from various chunky yarns I had on hand, including Titan, my fave chunky yarn so far-it's so freakin' soft!

And last, but not least, I give you Mahoot, my other cat that is not as well represented on my blog as Carlos, his brother and partner in crime. How can he sleep like this? I don't know, but he has a chair stealing habit. I stood up to reach behind my computer and hook up my web cam, and I wasn't up more than 2 seconds when he was snuggled into this position! Lousy chair stealer!

2006-01-29T20:53:00.000-04:00

Listening to Charlie A'Court, putting me in a mellow mood. He spoke to my Creative Process class Thursday, and played us a couple of tunes before giving away some of his CDs. That man can sure belt it out. He's got that gutsy hard voice that you know's from the heart. The edges of his voice are softened on his CD, but I love how he sounds live. He kicks ass.
On to the knitting...

I give you, the pocket! (WHY OH WHY DON'T I HAVE A DIGI CAM YET???) I was so nervous about picking up the stitches, but once it was done, it looked wonderfully seamless. the bottom edge flips up, but hopefully that'll fix itself when I block it.

I ran out of Patons Classic in Peacock (the yarn I'm using for Under the hoodie), so I've started another project. This one's called "Silky Tie Wrap" from Creative Knitting's January issue. I'm enamoured with the simple construction- no seams! It's made with Patons Katrina in Lagoon, not the Regal Silk the pattern suggests! I think it looks very close to the photo in CK, so I'm happy! I'm thinking of making this for my mother, maybe in Patons Glittalic or Brilliant, especially in marvelous mocha. Being a redhead like me, I think she'd love the bronzeish brown colour. I want to finish it before she takes her Alaskan cruise this summer, it would look so nice! Anyway, I made it through the first side panel, and I'm about to start the first tie. It's looking great so far!

Slippers and Under the Hoodie

2006-01-23T00:44:00.000-04:00

I've been complaining for weeks now that I need new slippers. Well, I sucked it up and knit my own.

Ta Da! Mary Jane slippers knit out of Bernat Galaxy in Jupiter. I had a couple balls laying around, and as the yarn is borderline interesting/ugly, I had to find some use for it.
Side view:

I'm torn between Galaxy looking like those photos from outer space, someting I pulled out of the dryer lint trap, or an unsightly tumour. Let's just say the first one, shall we?
I've been making steady progress on my Under the Hoodie sweater. Because of my impatience, I've started the back, front, and a sleeve.

This is the back. I've made it through the first stripe, which is hard to see in this photo (as with everything else). Waiting on the finishing of the sleeves to see how much of the large stripe's yarn I have left.

The front. I'm on row 34 of the 49 rows I need to knit before picking up the stiches for the pocket. Little bit nervous about the picking up of stitches, but I'm sure it will be fine.

The start of the first sleeve, using my first dyed yarn. It's dyed with Koolaid's Changin' Cherry. I was hoping for a more intense teal, but as the next photo more accurately represents, this is the end result:

A more minty, spring green. I'm still pleased with the results, though, for my first attempt.
Any way, now that I have all the yarn I need for now, I'm going to try and finish the sweater before the Knitting Olympics comes along. Wish me luck!

I'm Baaack!

2006-01-18T22:31:00.000-04:00

Seriously, I need to keep this thing updated! I have so many projects finished and even more just started! The final push to update was Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics. 16 days to complete a challanging project. I've chosen thrummed mittens. I've had the yarn and fleece for ages, I just haven't gotten around to starting. And February is a perfect time to knit these toasty mitts, which originated right here in Atlantic Canada.
On to the FOs!

Sock knit with Kroy Socks by Patons, pattern by Lucy Neatby.

SUPER long vertically striped scarf. Pattern from Vogue, knit on size 6s, so it took AGES. I cast on 600 stitches I believe. Crazy.

POA Style Ravenclaw scarf, finished just in time for the midnight premiere!

Scarf made with Bohemian yarn on size 19 needles. Softer than a kitten. I love it :)

My Apple Blossom Scarf, made with grey, pink, and aran coloured worsted, and Bernat's Galaxy in Venus. I did some simple lace pattern on each worsted panel. It turned out okay, it rolls a bit, though.

scarf made with Cha Cha. I love the colors. teal, purple, brown and olive. very soft and pretty.
I'm working on Under the Hoodie from Stitch n' Bitch, so expect to see some photos of that soon!

PS-Sorry again for the photo quality. When I get a new computer, it think I'll get a digital camera bundled with it :)

2005-11-14T23:31:00.000-04:00

Holy man it's been a long time since I updated here...but I have a good excuse. Not only did my computer die, but so did my webcam, and also, school is an attention whore! I really hope to post more frequently, but I won't promise anything. I've finished just about all of the UFOs I had posted about this summer, and now I have a pair of fingerless gloves, a purse (for my mom) and who knows what else on the needles. I hope to get a camera soon, so I really want to post some pics! Anyway, see you all when I can!

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

2005-07-29T11:16:00.000-03:00

Ok, haven't updated in a long time because my computer bit the dust. I've been knitting loads, but haven't had the computer to update! Sorry, but this will have to do for now!

Another UFO Bites the dust!

2005-07-06T01:08:00.000-03:00

Look! It's the Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers!

I STARTED these way back in April or May, when it was horribly cold out. They're a tester, since I want to make them from my brother for Christmas, in a black, blue or blue/black worsted. They were so quick to knit, all told maybe 5 hours. I'm keeping them for myself, but now I'm on the quest for the perfect yarn to use for my brother's. Any ideas? He usually wears black, but his fave color is a deep blue.

Opal sock- a beaut!

2005-07-03T22:32:00.000-03:00

"fdIeeer"- Carlos, stepping on the keyboard.
I finished Sock # 1 with my Opal sock yarn. It looks gorgeous, but it's so floppy! How do I fix this with blocking?I kneed a sock form, I think.... Carlos seems to like the sock, and so do I, despite its elepahantitus.

Saturday Night Fever

2005-07-03T01:35:00.000-03:00

Today I made a stop at LK Yarns (the store, not the website) in the Hydrostone Market here in the city. I am in awe of how crammed full that place is! So many amazing yarns, from your generic run of the mill yarns found in every yarn shop, to beautiful hand dyed wool yarn and rovings. I must go back, with a big wad of cash. But my goal is to finish ALL the projects I'm working on before I buy any more yarn. But I slipped today. I bought some Patons Kroy sock yarn ay LK, just because I have some pretty peach yarn that won't make a pair of socks.... I've just done a quick search and found my
Fancy Free color, which I think will go well with the peach I already had.
I MUST go back to LK. But I MUST restrain myself!
Okay, so the list of projects I have to finish before I can start anything else goes like so:
-POA/GOF style Ravenclaw scarf
-Mudflap Girl Tanktop (bright yellow w/ a pink skull and crossbones)
-London Calling Sweater (turquoise, hot pink and white/silver tinsel)
-Opal Socks (wool/silk in pink, green, blue and yellow stripes and b/w pattern)
-Punk Rock Backpack (the bunny version)
-Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers (the second one)
-winecozy from knitty.com (but I think I'll scrap that one, I've already ripped it twice)
-Ron Weasley doll accesories (Weasley Sweater, maybe robes and a school sweater)
-~~Kitty Ears (just need to put on the pink inside of the ears!)~~
hmm, I believe that's all. wow, I have a long way to go. 9 projects. hmm, maybe once I get down to 5 I'll start some new ones. I see more socks in my future and a new handbag. Oh and my brother's Christmas present. And some other christmas presents. I'll never win :)
My soon to be Mother in law (Mom #2 as I call her) knits and crochets, so she sent me a pattern for a catnip toy for my two kitties, Carlos and Mahoot. It's made with Lion Brand Fun Fur and took less than a 1/2 hour to make. This is the finished product:

And this is Carlos having a fit over it when I let him sniff it:

The toy is now demolished and very damp. He enjoyed it very much!
Anyhoo, time to sign off for now. I'll try to get some FO pics posted soon, and maybe even some UFOs, since I have 9 of them!

2005-06-26T11:57:00.000-03:00

Wow. Insanely hot today. too hot to do anything. Even knit. It's a scary thought, not picking up those needles! I'm very close to finishing the back of the London Calling sweater from Stitch N Bitch Nation. Sure, it's light weight, but oh no I can't have anything toch me.It's far too hot. 30 degrees celcius and climbing. Pure knitting hell.

2005-06-26T11:55:00.000-03:00

Tooo hot to knit.....booo.
I feel like a turkey slowly roasting in the oven. Yarn is not my friend at the moment.

2005-06-19T21:56:00.000-03:00

My one and only 2004 FO:

This took me from June 2004-December 2004 to complete. But it's my first knitting project ever, so give me a break! It's a PS/CoS style Ravenclaw scarf.

More FOs to come.

I'm in love...

2005-06-10T00:30:00.000-03:00

...with a yarn shop. I've been meaning to check out Kreative Knits and Designs (http://www.kreativeknitsanddesigns.com) for a while now, and I finally did a few days ago. I'm used to getting my yarn at big impersonal stores like Walmart and Craft Canada, where no one has a clue about knitting. So when I went into this tiny store, I didn't know what to expect. But the woman there was super nice, and knew so much about all the yarns she had, which made me feel so welcome and not so confused as I am at other stores. I meant to just go in and get a size 6 circular, but left with some size 13s too, and a ball of Bernat Galaxy in Venus , which I prompltly started knitting up into my Lacy Scarf of Doom (pics coming soon!). I went back to KKD today and bought a set of 12 bamboo needles in a nice case, and a ball of Opal sock yarn in color 1123 , which is amazing yarn, because it's self stiping and makes its own pattern! It's goregeous wool/silk blend...I can't wait to knit it up!
Anyhoo, that's my knitting adventures for today...someday soon I will post my FOs and UFOs!

Welcome to my knitting blog!

2005-06-08T16:10:00.000-03:00

Hey everyone, and welcome to my blog where I'll post all my knitting related stuff. My projects, additions to my yarn stash, problems, tips, whatever, as long as it's knitting related. I must warn, I only have a webcam at the moment, so my photos will be pretty awful, but I want to get a digicam in the future, so let's hope, huh?
If you want to read about other things in my life, head on over to http://www.livejournal.com/users/ea000blaze which up until now housed my knitting hobby, but I think it's time to expand. Please comment, I live on internet contact (j/k). Enjoy my site, and keep smiling!