EEE!

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!

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

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

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*