Positivi-Tuesday!!

Ok, ok, so I know I'm not supposed to ONLY post on Positivi-Tuesday, but time just got away from me this week.  Before I go too deeply into the positive vibes I just want to mention that my all day date on Sunday was delicious  fabulous!  We had brunch at Frank at the AGO and it was amazing.  Definitely one of those places where they somehow manage to concentrate the flavour of a regular sized meal and squish it down into a daintier petite portion.  Dessert was a plate of cookies, and let me just say that I may have fallen in love with madeleines.  Naturally the gallery was wonderful too.  The exhibits we saw were inspiring and full of colour.  Have I ever mentioned how I love museums and galleries?  Well, I do...

Now on to the positive newa story of the week.  Tonight I found http://www.goodnewstoronto.ca/ which is dedicated to highlighting goodness in Toronto, Ontario which can regularly be forgotten in a large city.  For instance, this story about a local youth who has taken the initiative to not only volunteer in a wide and varied number of organizations, but has also facilitated the donation of hundreds of pairs of jeans to the underpriveledged.  He even bought 500 pairs of jeans for this cause with money he had saved from his own allowance! 

Knitters are also generally viewed to be generous people given our penchant for spending hours upon hours of time and energy on items given away (sometimes as gifts, sometimes as charity), but for this young man to spearhead this idea at such a young age shows his passion for this cause as well as his generosity.  Up to this point I have not knit anything for charity but I would like that to change in 2012.  I will be making blankets for my local doggie daycare.  They take in rescue dogs at a moment's notice and give them food, shelter, and most importantly love.  Find something that strikes your passion, spread the good and de-stash with some charity knitting along the way.  If you already knit for charity, leave a comment and let everyone know how we can get involved in your charity too!

Last week I breifly mentioned looking forward to my new job and now that I've started it, I am adding it to my list of things I'm enjoying this week.  I've met new people, I'm learning every day and I'm loving the challenges so far. 

I'm also really loving my friends this week.  Monday was the first day of my new position and at lunch time there was a delivery of a beautiful arrangement of my favourite flowers in one of my favourite colours (let's face it, I like all colours) with a note from my "besties" congratulating me on my new job.  Aren't they beautiful!!?!?  I have the bestest friends in the world.   

Beautiful, simple, modern - my fave!

Happiness in a vase.

If these things weren't enough to keep me smiling, I finished my quick-knit scroll stitch cowl Thursday night!  I love, love, love it.  The yarn was a dream to work with and the thick-thin nature of it kept the project interesting.  The scroll stitch pattern, which I picked up from Serenity Knits in Newmarket made the fabric of the cowl twist and turn into a bit of a wibbly accordian before blocking, but I wore the cowl pre-blocking anyway simply because I couldn't manage the wait.  On Friday night I washed it in some Eucalan and laid it casually over the back of a chair with a fan on it to air dry overnight.  Without even using pins, it blocked out into a completely different shape and feel, giving me a luxuriously soft cowl with a fabulous drape to it.  Now instead of crimping up the fabric, the undulating stitches simply add a flow to the direction of the fabric that I would never have expected to acheive.  I love to snuggle into it when I wear it, and the alpaca content makes it super warm in this cold spell we've been having recently. 

Still on the needles...

Nice stitch definition.

I may never take it off.

It doubles as an effective disguise.

What am I looking forward to this week?  Mostly socializing I think.  As you know, I was sick last week and really only got back to my regular self at the end of last week.  This means much catching up is to be done so I will have a few visits and outings to do that I'm eagerly awaiting.  I'm also looking forward to casting on my second thrummed mitten (betcha thought I forgot about that one) and getting more of my ripply blanket ends woven in (will they NEVER end!). 
Until next time, Happy Crafting!

One Week to Christmas!!!

It's one week to Christmas and it's not looking too good.
The gifts being made aren't ending up like they should.
Our knitter, alas, is starting to fade,
With scarce half her gifts blocked out and made.
Onwards she goes, not giving up yet.
"There's seven more days, I'll be done then I bet!"
Frantic and frazzled she knits on even quicker,
Her hook and her needles nothing more than a flicker. 
Her hubby looks on with tender care,
Trying not to show his look of despair.
But secretly he's shopped for all on their list,
In case his dear wife doesn't finish the gifts! 

Whoosh, boys and girls...looks like Santa's on his way soon.  Still no sign of my Nativity, but there you have it folks.  I'm not letting them get me down.  This weekend we put up some lights and things outside so that it didn't look like the Grinch had stolen Christmas.  I must say though that it did put me in rather an anti-Christmas funk for a while after the incident happened. 

Nevermind, no more of that.  I recently established that with Christmas so close, the baby blanket, though quite far along now, will not be complete in a week (short of my taking up a speed addiction which I'm really not prepared to finance).  So instead I decided to whip up a little crochet ear flap hat so that the little'un has something to open.  It is hellish cute, I must say, but I must have done something wrong in the back.  Perhaps the slip stitch join counts as a chain stitch or something like that because it seems to come down into a peak.  I'm not frogging it this time.  I figure it's for an infant who spends most of his time on his back anyways, so there you go.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. 


I think tassles and poms are super cute!

No baby to model it, sorry...

This braid at up a stupid amount of yarn...FYI.

So it would appear that we are almost ready for the holidays, albeit we have over 15 gifts left to buy, but the stockings are hung, the tree is up, the lights are out and the spirit of the season is back so...there you have it. 

Today I'm going to spend the day baking and cooking because my uncle is in town from the UK and we are having him and my cousins and my parents over for dinner.  Brave, I know.  There will be 10 of us in all squished around my dining table, but I suspect we'll manage.  I'll let you know how it goes. 

Keep up the great work on the presents I know you're crafting out there!  Have a great week and Happy Crafting!

Good-bye November

So, here we are again. On the bright side, November is finally on its way out the door. I don't know about where you are but here the weather hasn't been doing anything to further endear this month to me.  Dreary, drizzly rain all week, and more on the way. 

On another note, shortly after my last post the blocking of the blanket was finally complete and I gave it to its eagerly awaiting owner (who loved it). 

 

 

 

 

Up until this point I haven't formally reviewed any patterns or yarns I've used.  I think you and future me will definitely find it useful if I do.  The pattern is The Bobble Baby Blanket and is available as a paid pattern on Ravelry.  It is a well written PDF and is clearly illustrated with many photographs.  I would totally recommend the pattern.  That said, I found it slightly frustrating that the yarn requirements are listed in grams rather than yards.  My friend had already made this blanket in Cascade 220, so I did the logical thing and converted her yardage into my KnitPicks Swish DK, arriving with an order of 11 skeins in Sugar Plum.  I used 8 skeins and wound up with a blanket whose length spanned our double sized guest bed.  It's not the end of the world at all, but it is definitely surprising.  

Now onto the yarn.  Generally I liked the yarn - it was consistent.  There were no knots in it, and it was pretty soft, though not as soft as Cascade 220 superwash.  I washed it in Eucalan even though it is machine-washable, simply because I didn't want to mess it up before giving it to the new owner.  It smelled distinctly of wet sheep when I took it out of the laundry sink.  This is likely a good sign, one that means it actually came from a sheep, but it was a bit alarming to me, who had not yet washed a large project entirely made of wool.  The other thing I learned is that I hate that colourway.  I'm not sure if it was the colour itself or the lack of variegation in the yarn, but either way by the end I wanted nothing to do with Sugar Plum or anything resembling it.  It just seemed dead to me.  Once it was all washed and blocked and set aside and I was no longer forced to look at it, I liked it again.  Over all I would recommend this yarn to someone else, and I would knit with it again, but it would not be my first choice. 

Snapping me out of this colour funk is my latest love, as you know, my ripply blanket.  I am loving this project for all it's wacky colour changes, plus this yarn is soft, soft, soft!  The only problem I'm having so far with this is that I start getting a blister if I work too long on it.  Solution - alternate with knitting.  Hehehe.

 

And what am I knitting?  My UFO socks that have been shoved in my knitting bag begging for some love since well before I got married last June.  What can I say?  It turns out that I'm a fickle and unfaithful crafter.  But at least I always come back.  

 

November clearly wasn't all bad.  Mr. Frogged took me to my favourite Mexican restaurant, Dos Amigos, the other day, and allowed me to knit socks in public while drinking a lime margarita.  The food was great, the drink was great, the knitting got a little sketchy - I'm not gonna lie.  I don't think one is meant in any realm to turn a heel and consume alcohol.  It's just a thought.  But look how far I've gotten!  Erin from the Anatomy of Knitting Podcast is right.  No matter what happens, you always feel very clever after turning a heel.  I used some bastardized version of Wendy Johnson's Toe Up Socks With a Difference.I'm working with Shibui Knit Socks and I do like it very much.  It's boingy somehow and feels good on my foot (in my first pair of socks). I'm kinda champagne taste with a beer budget when it comes to sock yarns, so it's fortunate that I have small feet and that I like ankle socks so I get 2 pairs per skein. 

What I don't understand is how I ended up with this crazy hole in each corner?  Is it because I didn't wrap my stitches?  But the pattern stops wrapping after a certain point.  Is it because I didn't keep track of when to stop working across and occasionally knit right the way across?  I think that might cause this but any confirmations would be greatly appreciated.  Post me a comment to help solve this mystery. 

Lastly, I went to a thrum mitten class at Serenity Knits in Newmarket this weekend.  I cannot say enough good things about this store.  It's such a pleasant relief from the small, overfull stores you often find in The City.  It's roomy, but not overwhelming.  There is a lot of selection, and their yarns are clearly selected with care.  In case you don't know, thrums are essentially 4 inch bits of roving that are worked into stitches within a mitten, or hat, or sock to add a fleecey layer of warmth to the garment.  Traditionally, I learned from Beth who taught the class, they were used in Newfoundland and Labrador in unwashed wool providing the fishermen with warm and waterproof mittens.  Naturally I bought the materials for the class - Fleece Artist Thrummed mitten kit - Yum, and I am making this first pair for Mr. Frogged in a lovely green colour as you can see, and in a size large because he's got big hands and is obviously masochistic by requesting such a big mitten.  Can you see the cute little heart-shaped stitches that the thrums create?  I mean, very manly arrow shapes....

Naturally, to dispell mitten envy, and quite possibly theivery, I had to buy a kit for myself in this luscious red.  Please ignore my finger encroaching on the photo.  I'm posting unusually late tonight and promise I will get you better pictures of my mitt yarn soon.

 

There was a 10% off student discount at Serentiy, so I obviously bought something else too.  Oops...

It's not my fault.  Really it couldn't be helped.  First of all, it's the coolest sock yarn in the world because it's designed for two at a time socks and has been dyed two strands at a time, allowing me to make identical socks without having to curse out loud.  Second, it begged to be brought home with me and practically hopped in my knitting bag when I threatened not to succumb.  I had to buy it or risk the yarn framing me with shoplifting.  Tough decision, but someone's got to make it.  

Oh jeez, I'm getting a serious case of the head nods so I better go to bed.  Until next time, friends, Happy Crafting!

Not Off the Hook Yet

Look at me go! Two posts in one week, I must have my blogging mojo back.

First and foremost, I finished the bobble blanket! Yay! Well, ok let's be honest here. I finished CROCHETING the blanket, but it's still wet and blocking with a few...erm...loose ends.

Wanna see? I thought as much. Well...ok.




That's the blanket before being pinned. Imagine my horror when I realized that my chain edge was so tight that my beautiful bobbly blankie was all wibbly! However, after some creative fanangling it looked like this:




Much better!

When I began this blog, the intent was for it to be a knitting blog, but since then all I keep doing is crocheting blankets! The next one's on the hook. See?

It's my Ripple Blanket. I'm using a slightly (accidentally) modified version of the pattern Lucy gives here in her Attic24 blog. It's going pretty quickly and I like it so far.

I'm also going to be hooking something else but it's a Christmas gift and I can't say anything more because I'm not sure who actually reads this blog.

But can I be honest with you? I mean really honest? Shh...don't tell but I don't want to hook anymore. I want to knit. But I can't because I've been possessed by crocheted blanket-making. Possessed, I tell you.

I can't help but think that there are at least 17 different ways I'd rather be knitting right now or at least 17 different things. I mean seriously seventeen.

1) my unfinished vanilla socks;
2) my abandoned first ever sweater, which I believe to be in my house somewhere despite having not seen it since I moved after my wedding over a year ago;
3) my beautiful and neglected kid-silk mohair cowl (cowls are so in right now!);
4) my lonely fleece artist sweater kit, still tied up in it's bag;
5) Mister Frogged's self-patterning Regia yarn socks;
6) my self-patterning Regia yarn socks;
7) the red tam for Tasha;
8) the wedding blanket, which I cast on when I got engaged ... in 2007;
9) the cushion from my first skein of hand-spun;
10) a chunky cowl-y thing, from yarn not yet acquired;
11) a purple tam for me from my English souvenir merino yarn;
12) thrummed mittens!!  (the class is next Saturday...yaaaaaay!);
13) slippers - preferably felted clogs;
14) a little sweater for Tonka;
15) a Christmas Pickle;
16) a Clapotis, because everyone's done it but me;
and
17) a tea cosy, as a gift, with a union jack on it!

On second thoughts, that list is completely daunting...exhausting just reading it I think.  Maybe I'll keep hooking....just a little while longer. 

Cuteness in Pink

What are babies for if not to coo at, cuddle and dress in warm woolies?

I finally finished the second Tiramisu blanket after some frantic end weaving and ribbon threading only to the hand it over before photographing it. It was received with the joy and gratitude that most (good) receivers of crocheted yumminess show and in exchange I got this precious photo of the first Tiramisu blanket in full use.







Last night at my craft date I made nice progress on my cowl. I will photograph and post it up soon. It's starting to show that knit lace glory that I've heard so much of.

And there's promise of thrummed mittens on my horizons...stay tuned.

Happy crafting.

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Spun Out

I haven't really had the time to knit or crochet but check it out, the second strawberry Tiramisu is complete. Sadly it's still waiting to be washed and blocked but as I said, this week has flown by with scant chance to do a whole lotta much. I will get to it this weekend, I promise.













I went to the KW Knitter's Fair yesterday for the first time. It was awesome and I bought my first drop spindle and lots of luscious roving. So exciting. I started spinning last night and I LURVE it!!






This week what has taken up my time is our new family cottage. My entire family has just gotten a piece of Canadiana. And in my mind, I've just answered the question of "where will I keep my spinning wheel when I get it?"






Now I am the family interior designer, literally, and as such have been faced with the challenge of gettin' this show on the road by thanksgiving, which is a feat. I wish I could say I take it in stride but alas, I'm not that cool. I'm a perfectionist who wants her family to think she's something bordering between Superwoman and Martha Stewart pre-jail time. And when I think I'm failing at this, often I have a bit of a wobbler. A wobbler as defined by Ozzy Osbourne is like a freak out. So that was the culmination of the week on Friday morning but now I'm much better and back on the excitement wagon after having gotten much shopping accomplished this weekend. We are on our way to the cottage now to measure out where exactly the unpurchased wheel will go. ;)

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