Monday, December 31, 2007

Trying for 1 more knit of 2007

Can I do it??
I have just cast off mitten #1 for little man.
It's 8:52pm--and I'm sure I can make another mitten in 3 hours..
I'll try to post pictures before midnight---if I don't' make it, I'll delete this post and you'll never have known anyways.
ha ha

fingers on fire...here i go

edit:
10:30pm Mittens are done!!

It took me 1.5 hours to finish a pair and weave in all the ends and sew up a little hole where the afterthought thumb goes...
Cute little mitts.

That's all for 2007.

See you next year!!!

blogging from afar




I am in Quebec right now--sitting in my FIL's Chalet, watching Law and Order while little man sleeps.



Princess B and hubby have gone skiing and I am enjoying some quiet with the sattelite.



(Channel over load--oh wait



Danger Bay is on...I loved that show as a kid... Canadians? are ya with me?)






So, I finished the baby hat and it's so cute!



I think the surprise element has been lost since the baby's Mom reads this blog--but if your name starts with J and you are my friend and you want to be surprised...stop reading.
































































Simple Bonnet by lemonfresh. (I found the pattern on Ravelry and she graciously shared it with me.)






The picot edge is my favourite.




Cute little yarn leftovers.


So all my Christmas knitting is done and I am making some mittens for little man.
When we get back tomorrow night I might selfishly spend the whole night spinning since the Lendrum has to go back to the guild on Wed.

I sold my handspun bamboo that was in the shop. Actually when we got back from Christmas I had a pleasant surprise in a big order that included 2 of my handspuns (the first sales of handspun!) and some yarns.
I was feeling discouraged and wondering what the fate of my Etsy shop was. I was thinking there was no point in dyeing if the stuff I was dyeing wasn't selling--but I have some new ideas for colourways and want to get the dyepots going.

So, that's my Christmas knitting finale.

Since it is New Years Eve, I have been thinking of knitting goals for 2008.

Sweaters:
a) I NEED to finish Ribby Cardi. It has been hibernating since the Spring and needs finishing.
b) I have another sweaters worth of yarn (some FREE Cascade 220 that I got from the Good Yarn Karma blog).
c) a tank for the summer that I swatched for but didn't start.

Lace:
a) I have some laceweight that was won from a blog--and I need to find a good pattern and just get to it.
b) I also have some hand-dyed lace to knit up.


Spinning:
a) Learning to spin for a specific project (ie; worsted/woolen, spinning for a specific WPI)
b) Spinning for a big project--likely a sweater. There are some tutorials on Knittyspin that outline steps for spinning for a sweater and since I have about 5 pounds of Superwash Merino roving that I can dyed any colour I want--what is stopping me???

I'm also going to just be using stash yarn. From the list above, I certainly have enought to get me through an entire year's worth of personal projects.
The only yarn I would buy this year would be for gifts that I can't handspin.
I have one test knit project to do this January that I will be buying yarn for--but that will be a gift for later this year...so it doesn't count...

What are your knitting/spinning/crafty goals for this year???

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Things that make it all better



I am feeling better.
I went to bed late (too much sleep for 2 days) and got up early with the little man.
I had some coffee to start my day, got the mail, bought some groceries and things are going tickety boo this morning.

Princess B was feeling sad because she forgot to bring the special gift that she had been making for me the week before Christmas.
She presented me with it today (the gift was actually in a box that she had decorated and "constructed")

She made me a sheep:



Complete with actual roving glued on for the fleece. Isn't that the cutest thing ever???

This makes me feel better too:


Really good tea from Adagio.


and good mail


good mail makes everything better.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

the plague, it hit us hard

yep we were sick again.

i will spare you the gory detail (but some of the stories we laugh about now)

that nasty stomach bug hit us again this year--12 out of 14 of us got it--hard.

the only 2 spared were my step-mom and my 4 month old newphew.


grrrr

i missed Christmas.
I got to do stockings in the morning and opened my gifts at some point during the day (not sure of time or place)

i finally had some solid food today and got to eat a bite of each serving of Christmas dinner.


we had no idea that we were sick until Sunday afternoon--and then it started.


anyways--it's over.

we are home.

i am eating solid food.


i will leave you with this pretty picture for now


Friday, December 21, 2007

to the finish line

First off: Princess B is fine.
She was just feeling sick at school and after some rest she was back to normal.
She had a little playdate today with her 'best friend" who is moving and today is the last time she will see her for a while.

We are all healthy (yeah!)


I still have some more to knit on BSJ--but not much.
We have a 3.5 hour car ride tomorrow and I think I'll get it almost finished then--some seaming and voila.

Done in Patons' Classic Merino "Wedgewood"


So Christmas knitting:
Fetchings--done
Hat--done
BSJ--70% at this moment--no worries.

I will be knitting while gone as well. I am going to knit a baby hat Saturday night to gift on Sunday.
I will be finished up previous baby hat that was a disaster.
I will be making some more Fetchings.

I will be knitting and drinking tea with my sister!! (and hanging out with the rest of my family--but she's the only one who ooohs and aaaahs over alpaca with me)

I had a small party and some more shopping and errands tonight--so hubby was home doing loads of laundry (yeah!).
We are 3/4 packed and just have to put things in the car.
I have 2 things to wrap tonight and then the rest of the stuff that you have to do before you leave--check lists of food to bring, lights in the house, dog stuff etc etc and then we are off!

I'll be back Thursday for some show and tell and then we are gone again.

Merry Christmas everyone--may it be a Blessed time!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

please no

Princess B just came home sick. was sick in the night also.
I am really hoping there is not another stomach virus this Christmas--that will make 3 in a row.

but at least there will be quiet day around here.
little man is now sleeping, there is a Barbie SwanLake movie on, some Gravol in a sick tummy.
and mommy has some knitting to do.

p.s. note to self: do not knit a BSJ when you are really tired--it messes up your stitch count and you have to rip back 6 rows.

update

Hat is done.
Might need to be lengthened, but I need for him to try it on at Christmas.

BSJ is on the needles and according to my superior (cough cough) math skills--I'm 15% done.
Not bad for 2 hours of pattern chart searching, needle finding, casting on, counting X 12 and knitting.

I will be baking cookies with Princess B's JK class tomorrow--it will be fun.
Hopefully some laundry and knitting will occur during the day.

Watch the sidebar for BSJ progress....

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

My Christmas Knitting


I kept my Christmas knitting very conservative this year due to crazy job and crazy church stuff.
I knit this
for someone, can't say who. It was made with 100% Alpaca wool from this place
I have never knit with Alpaca before and it was just heaven. I just loved every stich, plus I liked the lace pattern.
I have done lace elements before, but never a full lace project. This is a really nice pattern that I hope to knit again.















I bought 2 skeins of a mohair blend yarn and am doing an 8 row repeat lace moibus/mobius and am teaching myself to knit continental. My wrist hurts from the effort but it is worth it to learn a new skill. I am not finding it faster as I cannot knit without looking at the stitches, but perhaps with practice it might improve my speed.

Giraffe was home sick today (out yesterday with a snow day) so into the tub he went and I blocked my scarf. I ironed it with a damp towel but as I didn't get the shape I wanted I have it blocked with T-pins and will see how it looks in the morning.

Off to bath the kid (yes bath and not bathe, it's a Canadian thing, at least in my house) and have a bite to eat. Tonight will be for wrapping as Giraffe will be in bed and hubbo at work.

Hat half done



Half an evening of knitting and I have the hat half done:


(it doesn't look like much, but it's pretty and black is really hard to photograph)
You can probably just see the cables in there somewhere.

I will do some knitting while little man sleeps but am finally Christmas shopping tonight (I can usually get it all done in 1 night if given the opportunity) so we'll see how much progress is made.

How is your Christmas knitting coming????

Monday, December 17, 2007

Happy snow day.

We woke up yesterday to a metric ton of snow (I have no idea what that means but it sounded good):


Church was cancelled because of the snow (and freezing rain) so we all hunkered in for a snow day.
I slept in (thanks hubby!)
and then drank coffee and hung out with the kids.
Hubby did some work (we have 250 Christmas cards and newsletters to hand address, stamp, label and stuff for today) and the kids and I snuggled on the couch.


Some movies (Star Wars and the Sound of Music), some snow fort building (an igloo--we have an igloo in our backyard)...


...more coffee and the second of the Fetching mitts is done.
I gave them a bit of a Eucelan soak and put them on to block them--and voila--all done


I am totally happy with them and want to make another pair. (notrightnowbecausethereisstillmoreChristmasknittingtodo)

Today there is school, which means Hubby will be working tonight. The kids are happy today (playing together at play-dough and colouring)--and I hope to swatch this afternoon to get ready for tonights knitting.

I am doing a plain-ish black hat for my BIL the cop. He works undercover (shhh) so needs some thing warm and plain.
I am going to make the harlot's "Unoriginal Hat' but will modify given that I have a different weight of yarn.

Let's see how much I can get done in one night.

..

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Fetch



Another knit night with a friend and with some quiet hours in the afternoon--I have a "fetch"
the "ing" is starting and might be done tomorrow.

I am loving the way the cables are working out.


I did get gauge when I did a swatch but for some reason it wasn't working out at the beginning of the pattern, so I made some modifications and am happy with it.
I hope that it fits.
I tried it on, my friend tried it on and it fit us both so I think it is safe.

I am in laundry purgatory this morning, have to run errands, go shopping and get to a Christmas party this afternoon--so no knitting will occur until tonight.

I only have 2.5 gifts left to knit and one to fix--can I do it?
Watch the progress bars on the sidebar (courtesy of Ravelry.com) and we'll see what happens!

Friday, December 14, 2007

Knitting progress

I am doing some Christmas knitting but not a whole lot.
I have some projects in the works, one finished and 2 not yet started (not to worry)

Since some recipients read this blog, I will only show you this:

and tell you all the tales about it's misadventures after it has been delivered.

I am trying to get better pictures of my yarn and so I made a ghetto lightbox following this tutorial.



I cannot seem to get a decent picture of my Brown Eyed Girl finished (ie: twist finally set) sock yarn in the box however.

It's so much prettier in person.

So, that is my update, I hope to show projects as they occur except for ones who read this blog.
(Does anyone read this blog anymore?? I had a shock yesterday when I checked my stats and found out that my readership had gone down by 7 people yesterday. Sob.
Maybe it's the lack of posting, the lack of progress and the lack of pretty pictures)

Wanna see a pretty picture???

While I was cutting up some apples today, Little man must have found the camera--because I just found twelve of these:

They aren't all like that, some are like this:



and that's all I have for today--little man is sleeping, Princess B is at school so I have about an hour to get some knitting done.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Where Have I Been?


It has been forever since I have last posted. Where have I been? I have been all over the place (mentally) but I have essentially been chained to my desk at work with training days and meetings and databases crashing, and metaphorically chained to the church with retirement weekends, pagents and budget stuff. Add to that a wicked flu, Christmas preparations, and I have been everywhere but here.
So just a few lines to get caught up.
We got a tree...

We had a little friend with us (who I will not name or show except here for privacy reasons- can you see the snowsuit?) The kids had so much fun running around, throwing snowballs and generally being stinkin' cute...



We had hot chocolate, enjoyed singing chickens, saw animals in the Nativity Scene and generally had a wonderful day.
After cutting the tree and heading home, the little ones crashed and watch Rudolf and Happy the Baby New Year (my personal fav).

My (non-wicked) step-mother requested a family pic in front of a door (not sure what the theme is there) so we posed and smiled...


With the beautiful but deadly ( I am so allergic) real tree in the front room, Giraffe wanted he his very own for his room. Not wanting to deal with mess, water etc of a little real tree, I snagged the top of my artificial tree from the basement and presented it to Girafee for his approval. With a few touches it was pronounced cool...

It did however needed the addition of "The Force":






The dog was unimpressed.



I must away to bed. I have a mohair moibus on the needles and hubbo just got home from working an evening shift.

Friday, December 07, 2007

A FO another spinner and I'd better get in gear.


I can't believe I have never blogged this project.

It's a cashmere cowl that I made for my MIL's Birthday.
Her Birthday was actually the end of November so I was trying to get it done to mail but then found out she was coming this weekend and decided to take it slowly.
Rounds and rounds of stockinette can make your head want to fall off.


Pattern: Pashmina Cowl from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Elann Peruvian Baby Cashmere 2 balls in Pink
Needles: Knitpicks Circular in 3.25mm US 3
Modifications: I wanted to make it look a little lacy--so every 10th row I did a K1, y/over, K2together to make lacy holes.
I also didn't do the full length, nor the p1 row, k 10 rows at the end. It kept me to just at 2 balls total and I think it's long enough for her to pull up over her face if she wishes, or fold in half for double the warmth.

Fun project, easy knit.
Softest yarn ever! (I just want to rub it on my face all the time)
This yarn would make an excellent baby bonnet (which might be next on my list)

Another FO:

I have finally finished my Brown Eyed Girl Sock Hop Roving.
Silly me thought the Lendrum could handle 8 oz of plyed yarn.
It couldn't.
I ended up having to break the yarn and ply a second skein.
I had some left over and plyed that on itself a la Andean Plying bracelet, while at the Spinning Guild on Wednedsay.
I spent the whole guild meeting plying actually.

I plyed the baby skeins from our Spinning Day last Thursday and they are cute!

Last night was a Christmas Concert/Dinner/pageant that Princess B was involved in and hubby had to work. I had a sitter for Aidan and after putting kids to bed, sat down to teach her to spin.
She was super excited--her Mother is one of the spinners from last Thursdays fun-day--and the rovings may have come from sheep that live at her house!
It only lasted about 10 minutes as her Father came to pick her up.
But I promised her another time....

I need to get knitting and spinning for Christmas.
I only have a couple of projects that will be hand-knit--one I have the yarn spun for and the other I might just knit.
I think it's too late to dye, spin, ply and hand-knit the project I have in mind.

How are you all doing with the Christmas knitting??

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

A spinning day

While I have 3 wheels at the house I decided to host a spinning day.
Spinning is much more fun when you can share it.

I had 2 friends over for a day of spinning, lunch and idle chit-chat.

I bought some rovings (Romney and Rideau-Arcott--one friend has sheep and she has R-A's and might have the actual sheep that donated the fleece for these rovings!)
We also spun some Superwash Merino from my shop.
and washed fleece.

It was a little tricky to watch Aidan, wash fleece, cook lunch and teaching spinning all at once but they were VERY quick learners and did well to just be left to figure the rhythm of it on their own!

Here is a short video of my friend Karen spinning on the Lendrum;


I am going to ply their little skeins and give it back to them--or maybe just set the twist on the chunkier skeins.

I took some time to get to know my new wheel as I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and play with it. (She needs a name also)

I am coming to the end of my time with the Lendrum and so need to get the Crown Mountain Farms fibre finished and plied. I would love to borrow the wheel again for another month but with Christmas and New Years being away, I think I will wait and try it again another time.
Love love love this wheel.

My "Brown Eyed Girl" rovings are spun and currently look like this:


this is my sad attempt at a ghetto light box. I need some tracing paper of more tissue and some time to make one more like this.

I've started plying but don't' seem to have some hours to put into it.

Since the weather has started to become grey, rainy and snow-y I just feel like sleeping all the time. I already miss sunlight and tend to want to go to bed at 4 in the afternoon.
So..I'm trying to get good sleep and get stuff done at night...but there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day.
Plus it's only a few weeks until Christmas.
I dont' think I'm going to do the big knitting-gifty thing this year. Maybe just a couple of things..

:0