Thursday, December 30, 2010

Mantra

I will finish Deanna's sock before casting on a new project for me.
I will finish Deanna's sock before casting on a new project for me.
I will finish Deanna's sock before casting on a new project for me.
I will finish Deanna's sock before casting on a new project for me.
I will finish Deanna's sock before casting on a new project for me.
I will finish Deanna's sock before casting on a new project for me.

Oh, damn.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

A Knitting Christmas in Giving & Receiving!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas - I know I did! Lots of visiting and playing time with my darling niece, food and family and some shopping as well! Plus...
I can finally show what I made for Christmas presents!
For my Dad I made the Canadian Living Reindeer Sweater. I don't think he'll ever wear it. He's very picky and it is rather big on him. I should have made the XL instead of the XXL. Oh well. When he was up here he tried on an Alice Starmore pullover that I had hibernating because it was so huge on me, and it fits him perfectly. So I'll finish the arm and the neck and he can have it.

My sister Deanna got a pair of mittens that I made in the summer (modelled here by my mum):


And she also got a pair of socks. Well, she got a sock. The other one is half done and I'll mail it to her when it's finished in a couple days!


And now, for the getting!
My sisters and I all take after our mother in different ways. She & I both like to theme things. When I'm having a dinner party, I'm much more organized if I can theme it, like Indian or Tuscan or something.
My mother does Christmas and birthdays that way.
This year all my Christmas gifts were knitting themed! Could be because everything on my list was knitting related, or that all knitting gifts are guaranteed to please me, or simply because that's what I do.
So I got a giant bag full of knitting stuff. Much of which was secretly bought while I was with her. Did I mention she's a brat?
Stitch holders and a froggy container to hold odds & sods (please ignore the dog hair in the picture; it's inescapable):


A cute Xmas tree ornament that I will leave up all year long. Also bought when I was with her:


Adorable earrings!


The silk that I was drooling over when she took me to The Little Red Mitten in St. Thomas! Brattykins had the lady slip it into her bag when I wasn't looking!!!!!! Oh, I can't wait to do something with this!!


A very clever swift that isn't an umbrella swift - it's got pegs that you space out according to how big the skein is, and you sit it on top of the table to make your ball.


And, last but not least, Knitted Lace of Estonia, and the Yarn Harlot's Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much. I was killing myself laughing while reading it. And even my non-knitting brother in law was laughing later on, when he picked it up and started thumbing through it. Possibly because he recognized me in some of the essays.


And here is my gift to myself. Anthony is my hero.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

YESSSS!!!!!!

The giant gift is done!!! My back is killing me from sitting on the floor for 4 hours sewing it up, but that MF is done!!!!!
Pics posted after Xmas. Just needed to share the jubilation.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Insanity

Most people who know me will agree that I am, in fact, quite insane. The nicer (or maybe gentler) ones will say perhaps 'quirky' or 'different' instead of insane, but it all boils down to the same thing. I am insane.
And it's only going to get worse. Today is December 16th. That is 9 days until Christmas. If my math is correct. I am insane, after all.
So therefore, I have 9 days to finish 2 Christmas presents that I cannot specify because at least 1 of the giftees reads my blog, so you're going to have to take my word for it that 9 days left to finish these gifts is insane.
Okay, deep breath and off to knit again. If I weren't insane already, I would be well on my way.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Why?????

I have been without a car this week. I need a new engine. Yes, you read that right. I was running with no oil. And no warning lights came on. And it didn't act differently. Because nothing normal ever happens to me.
So, being trapped inside this weekend meant lots of Christmas knitting, which is good, because we're only 3 weeks away.
But, naturally, disaster struck. I got home this evening courtesy of another teacher who lives up the road and works in Bracebridge as well, and there was a trail of yarn leading from the living room to the bedroom. With a great sense of foreboding, I headed into the bedroom, where Rosebud was cowering beside a little lump of knitting. (Aside: if she knew I was going to be pissed, why did she do it at all?????) None of the knitting had been torn out, thankfully, but she ate the bamboo needle. My only pair of 6mm. And no way to replace them.
The knitting was on the coffee table. Along with a pair of chopsticks that had been used for last night's dinner and forgotten to be taken to the sink. Did she eat the 99 cent pair of chopsticks? NO! She went for the $10 needles.
And, of course, the small Christmas project is at school, so I can't work on it.
Now I'm all fussy.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Still alive, still here

Xmas knitting goes on apace! Can't post any pics of it, but if you're on Ravelry, you can see 2 of the projects on my profile. None of my family (my primary blog readers, of course!) is on Ravelry, so I can do pics there.
I've got 1 project on the go at home, and 1 at school. It gets worked on during recesses and lunchtime. My boys in the writers workshop work on their stories while I sit and read, and we talk about their stories and conference at the same time. It's pretty cool. But can't knit during girls' book club or yearbook meetings, unfortunately! But I've got a lot done on it, anyway. And lots of compliments, too!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Thursday, November 4, 2010

ADD SUCKS!!

Man, I had having ADD!
Giant list of things to knit for Xmas and what do I do tonight? I launder & press 21 fat quarters for a quilt. My first quilt. Fat quarters that sat in a bag in my bedroom all summer. Nope, I have to decide to do them tonight.
I blame my mother. Not for the ADD. I don't think. No, I blame my mother for the craft gene. I've already explained that she's a knitter. Well, she's a quilter, too. It started with my oldest cousin when I was just a little kid. He and his wife wanted a quilt for their wedding, so my mum made them one. And thus began a family tradition. Get married, get a quilt from my mum. The one she made for me & my ex husband was a tulip pattern that was copied from a quilt that I had on my bed. My grandmother had made it, and it was falling apart, and I loved it. In my version are fabrics from the Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls she made for me, from my bridesmaid dresses that I made, from the first items of clothing that I ever made, all sorts of things with memories. It's amazing.
I don't have a scrap stash. I have a yarn stash. So my quilt is being made with brand new fat quarters. And I don't do pastels or florals. So my quilt is purple. There are things that look like pop art, batik, tie dye, and some basic checks and dots. It's going to be pretty cool.
BUT I HAVE TO DO XMAS KNITTING FIRST!!!!!
New mantra. Knit first, quilt later. Knit first, quilt later. Knit first, quilt later.....

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Happy Hallowe'en!

Hallowe'en is my favourite holiday. And yes, it is a holiday. It's just as important to Wiccans as Easter is to Christians. So there.
Normally my house and my office at school are decorated to the hilt. I have more Hallowe'en decorations than Christmas ones! But this year I just had too much on the go to decorate, except for doing my nails every night last week. (sidebar: I seem to have created monsters on that one. There's a gang of kids who come to inspect my nails every day and they're so disappointed if I haven't changed them. And, being raised Presbyterian, there is nothing worse than disappointing people, even munchkins.)
So here is my only Hallowe'enie thing this year. Rosebud says 'Yeah, yeah, Happy F*ckin' Hallowe'en, now get this thing off me.'


Thursday, October 21, 2010

Pics at last

I finished Anise on Sunday night, but I finally found the USB cord for my camera, so I'm posting the pics tonight!
I made some changes to the pattern. I don't like double moss stitch, so I did regular. And I only put snaps and fake buttons at the very top, for now anyway, because I think I like it better.
This is such a great sweater! Simple and comfy and cozy. I really liked working with the wool as well. I thought that it being single ply with hardly any twist at all would make it difficult and easy to split with the needles, but I didn't have any issues at all. I would use it again - if I ever do anything chunky like this again! Chunky knits are rare for me.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Learn From My Fail

When using a circular needle as a straight needle because there are so many stitches, do not get confused and start knitting in the round. It causes a lot of extra work. #LFMF

Monday, October 11, 2010

Temporary good bye!

So this Thanksgiving weekend included a girls' trip to Paris (ON, unfortunately!) and the Mary Maxim outlet. (sidebar: next time you're in Paris, I highly suggest the Cafe de Paris on the main street for lunch - we were all delighted with our meals, and it's got great atmosphere packed into a tiny little space.)
If you're Canadian, you know about Mary Maxim and their iconic 1970s zip-up acrylic sweaters. I had one with horses on the back. So my automatic connection of yarn to Mary Maxim was acrylic. Phentex. Dye lots not required.
Not so anymore! Yes, they have the traditional 100% acrylic, but they've branched out. Tons and tons of sock yarn, from Patons to Lana Grossa. Sirdar. Diamond Luxury. Cascade. A great selection, in other words.
I picked up rather a lot of yarn for a sweater I plan to knit for my dad for Christmas. Dad is not a small man. I finally found a pattern that will fit him, and the required ton of yarn for it. Plus some for something for the niecypoo and others who shall remain nameless as they are sometimes on this blog!
So, since Xmas knitting is taking over, posts will be few & far between for the next little while. Buh-bye!

Friday, October 1, 2010

Fussing

I'm trying to find a theme that I like and doesn't take forever to load. So if you keep seeing different backgrounds when you visit, don't panic and think it's someone else's blog! It's still me; I'm just farting around.

EDIT: Okay, when I look at the site now, even though I'm logged out, it still shows the little tool and pencil icons for editing. Can somebody let me know if they're visible to you as well? Thx.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Of course.

I am trying to leave Rosebud out of her crate while I'm at school. She's rather cramped in her crate now that she's pretty much full grown, and I feel guilty at the thought of her there all day. The problem is, because it's just her & I (and the cats, but I doubt she sees them as equals) and no other humans, she's overly attached to me. Yes, it's totally mutual, but I don't freak out whenever she leaves my sight. She, on the other hand, does. She follows me everywhere. She can't handle it when I'm not there. When I've tried to leave her out before, disaster has ensued because of her anxiety.
This was the yarn disaster. Brutal. She also decides to forget her housebreaking training.
But last week it was 2 days with perfect behaviour!
This week started rough - Monday she had an accident and ate a knitting needle. Accident defense is I think she was sick. She threw up several times Monday night and was shivering so hard the bed was shaking.
Knitting needle, however? GRRRRRRR.
And it was a 10mm one! I never knit with needles that big. I had to buy the pair to make the Anise jacket, with which I totally fell in love. But it's pretty hard to knit when there are giant gouges and sticky-outy-bits on a needle that snag the wool. So I was hoping to have the pieces done this week so that I could block and piece it, and sew on the useless buttons and the useful unseen snaps. No such luck. So maybe next week! Finished pics will of course be posted. On the plus side, she did 2 perfect days in a row, yesterday and today! In fact, today she didn't even bother getting off the bed when I came in the door - I had to go to her. Spoiled brat I have made her.
In the meantime, I've been working on the math for a pair of socks I'm designing. I'm hoping they go better than the last pair. Fingers crossed!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Final product!

Doing a zipper is much harder on knitting than it is on fabric! Fabric doesn't move around nearly so much. So the zipper doesn't stand up very well to close examination, but I love this sweater anyway! I'm going to wear it until it falls apart. Which, if I am a knitter worth my salt, won't happen!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Of course.

I finished the applied i-cord on Samus today. I'm suffering from something more than a cold and less than the flu, but I needed to go into town tonight to get dog food. Nothing worse than an already spoiled rotten dog who's hungry. So while I was in town I stopped at Fabricland to get a zipper and thread to finish it officially.
But, of course, having a foggy head means I bought the wrong kind of zipper. I didn't get a separating kind. What a pain in the butt. But I'm wearing it anyway right now. It's so nice and soft and cozy! I've never knit a sweater in Patons Classic Wool before. The yarn snob in me thought that because it's so cheap (only about $7 for a 100g ball) that it was only good for mittens and hats. I'm so glad to be wrong! I'll totally knit a sweater in it again - in fact, I'm thinking of doing the Vine Yoke Cardigan in it. On Ravelry, there are a few people who knit it up in Classic Wool and it looks great.
But it will have to wait - Christmas knitting needs to happen first. And, of course, I can't post pics of Xmas knitting on here because the family does, on occasion, check out my blog. So posts may suffer soon. Apologies in advance.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Ick.

I was right. The applied i-cord for Samus is incredibly tedious. It gives a great finish, looks wonderful, blah, blah, blah, but I think it's going to take me just as long to do the i-cord finish as it did to knit the whole bloody sweater!
I just keep telling myself it will be worth it.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Can't wait!

So here is the body of Samus. Apologies for the quality; I had already packed my camera to take it to my parents' for the weekend, so I took the pic with my phone.
And I'm almost done the first sleeve, too! Not looking terribly forward to the applied i-cord trim. I've done tons of i-cord before, but never applied. I'm not sure it can technically be called i-cord, since the 'i' stands for idiot. As in, any idiot can make one.
I'll be the judge of that. Although, that youtube video makes it look pretty simple. Albeit time consuming!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

EUREKA!!!!

Found it! Went into school today for our mandatory 'welcome back' PD Day and there, in my office, on my desk:

I remember now that I took it in at the end of June to photocopy the pattern for Viola so that I could put it in a document sleeve and not wreck the book. Yep, I'm a dork.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

And......done!!

I absolutely adore this sweater. I love, love, love the colour. For some reason, the v-neck went a little bit wonky, but it works. I quite like it.

YAY!!!!!!

I got my yarn from Romni in the mail today!! I'm so excited! I'm totally pulling an allnighter to finish Chiral.

Monday, August 23, 2010

And more!

Samus is coming along nicely. I added a little subtle waist shaping, not too much, since there wasn't much ease to begin with, but a little is better than none.
My sister and my darling niece were up this weekend. Avery wanted to help me knit, but I told her not on this one, so she got some needles and a ball of the wool for the sweater, and poked the needles in and out of it. When she asked me if she was doing it right, I said yes, of course. Her using them as chopsticks to pick up the ball was a little suspect, though.
She's only 2 1/2. I think I'll wait until she's at least 4 before I start to teach her.
In the Shetland Islands, knitting has been taught in school as part of the curriculum for more than 60 years. It has just been taken out as part of budget cuts. How sad. Knitting has been such a vital part of the Shetlands for so long, and the referenced article from the BBC says that many of the new designers got their start in school. Fair Isle is one of the islands, for pete's sake!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

See?

I have 2 more repeats of the 32-row pattern and the band is finished. Then I just have to pick up stitches on my lovely addi turbos and knit the body! It's all plain, so hopefully, since it's fairly chunky yarn it will go too fast for me to get bored.
I just have to do the calculations for the waist shaping before I begin. It's not a shaped garment and that just doesn't suit me. I'm too hourglass for that.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Ah, cables!

I love doing cablework! I seem to knit superfast doing cables, because I love watching the patterns form as I work. Same with colourwork. This is why when sweaters get to the point where Belle Epoque is, they just sit for ages in the knitting basket, because plain old back-and-forth stocking stitch just bores me to tears.
I'm also quite delighted with this wool! Patons Classic Wool is probably one of the cheapest 100% wools out there; you can buy it at Michaels for goodness sake, but it's knitting up so nicely and softly! I've only ever used it for mittens before. And the cables are showing up very crisply and clearly. Two thumbs up!
Bonus points if you can catch the inevitable mistake in the cable.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Curses! Foiled again!

Never in my whole life has it taken me 4 hours to get to Toronto. It took more than an hour to get from Vaughan to the 401. Ridiculous.
I left here at 1pm. I figured I'd get to Romni by 3:30 or 4:00 at the latest, plenty of time to browse and pick up my 2 balls of Silkroad Aran.
I got there at 4:58. Literally. When I drove by, the door was open but by the time I'd found a parking spot and run around the corner, they were closed.
So a credit card is thawing out to see if they'll send it up to me. What a drag. I so wanted to have Chiral finished this weekend. All the finished pieces are blocked. The cap on 1 sleeve, the button band and the ruffle are all that is left to do. Dammit!!
So of course, I needed to start another project. I have spent the entire afternoon swatching.
Swatch #1 was for Viola, from the misplaced French Girl Knits. Boo hoo!! I HATE the yarn I bought for it. Too slippery by half. I couldn't even swatch it properly, no matter what type of needle I used. I tried metal, bamboo, and birch. No luck. It's so slippery that I couldn't get an even tension. And I never have trouble with even tension.
Swatch #2 was for the Vine Yoke Cardigan from the wonderful Ysolda. I think the Paton's Classic Wool will work for it, but I have to get a 5.5mm circular to do it. I rarely work with needles that big, and actually had to swatch on dpns! Swatch worked, but I'm just deciding if I want to use that wool for the Vine Yoke or for: Samus. I love this cardi. I printed off the pattern ages ago and have had it in my binder waiting for me. Every time I go through my sweater binder it calls to me. I think perhaps the heathery style of this wool will be better for it. And until I make up my mind, it doesn't really matter, because I need a 5mm circular to do it.
So, I began the Green Autumn, aka Druid Mittens. They look like they'll be challenging enough for me to not get bored, but simple enough that I can put them down to finish Chiral and pick up again without any trouble. Then there is the Druidess Beret designed to match. They'll look cute with my black fall coat, when it's nippy out but not cold enough for a winter coat.
But damn it all, I wanted to finish Chiral!!!!! Freaking Toronto traffic!!! This is why I live in Muskoka.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Yuck.

The problem with using stashed yarn for a project is that, unless you bought a ridiculous amount, you will run out.
And I seem to have chosen one hell of an obscure yarn. There is no store between here & Toronto that carries it. Or in town. Or in North Bay. So off to the city I go tomorrow. Don't get me wrong; I love Romni. It's totally Mecca for Canadian knitters. But I hate Toronto. Too big, too many people, not enough trees, not enough parking spots and it smells.
I'm on the last sleeve for Chiral. Then I need to do the button bands and ruffle. I need 1 ball - so close!
So with the detour to the city, I won't be done until Sunday. I was hoping for tomorrow. I guess I'll survive to knit another day.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Nice.

I love my LYS!
I stopped in today to get a longer pair of 5mm needles and there was a knitting gaggle happening. I noticed one of the women was working on something from French Girl Knits. I mentioned that I had something planned from it, but that I had misplaced the book, so they let me photocopy the pattern!
Not illegal; you're allowed to copy up to 10% of a book for personal use. Besides, I already own the bloody book; I just can't find it!
So as soon as I'm done Chiral (which should be by the weekend) I can start Viola! I'm so excited!
We were joking at the shop that now that I have a copy of the pattern, I'll find my book. You know I will.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Well, there's a question for you!

Why on earth don't I knit with chunky yarn and big needles all the time? I mean, it knits up so fast! I started Chiral on Sunday. As of right now, I'm done the back and about halfway done the left front.
Just think of how many more sweaters I could finish if I used chunky instead of the finer stuff all the time!
I love this colour, too. It just screams 'AUTUMN!!!!!'. Which makes me happy, because, of course, what follows autumn?

WINTER!!!!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

I give up

I ripped the place apart and I can't find French Girl Knits anywhere! I have a tiny apartment; this makes no sense at all.
So I changed my mind and I'm making something else! In the latest edition of Interweave Knits there is an awesome section called 'The Architect Knits'. Some very cool shapes and structures. This cardigan has a wonderful curved ruffle up the button band. Fairly chunky wool, too, so it should be a quick knit, which is good, because I tend to get very bored with plain colour knits. I need pattern stitches and colour work to keep me entertained. Belle Epoque is proof of that. Who knows when I'll finally get around to the sleeves.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Dammit!!

Finished the Christmas gift and wanted to begin the Viola sweater for myself, which is on my summer project list and of course

DUM DUM DUM
DUMMMMM

The book is nowhere to be found.

Why does this always happen to me?

Monday, August 2, 2010

Oh dear.

The WIP is supposed to be a Christmas gift. But I am loving it ridiculously much and I fear that I may keep it.
The parents are coming up this weekend. It will be finished, so maybe I should send it down, all wrapped up, with them so as not to tempt me.
That's a plan.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Movin' Right Along!

I love that movie. The Muppets just ain't been the same since Jim died.

Grecian Plait wasn't on the summer project list, but this one is. Except that it's a Christmas gift so I can't post pics or details. Suffice it to say that it's beautiful, Canadian designed and inspired by a National Historic Site and the giftee will love it!

Irrefutable Proof

Yep. I'm ADD. Especially about knitting. I was getting tired of Belle Epoque. I have the body done, all that's left is the collar and sleeves. And what do I do? I pick up another WIP*.
Grecian Plait. I've been working on it for quite some time. And I have a couple of good reasons why I put it aside. First, I don't really like the pattern of the variegated yarn. Yeah, I'm that shallow. It's 'Sublime' mohair/wool blend that seems to be discontinued - going to be warm! Secondly, I recognized that there was no possible way that this was ever going to fit Fat Me. So it hibernated for a while.
I had the back, front and about 1/2 a sleeve finished. So yesterday, I finished the sleeve and started on the second. Today I finished the second sleeve and pieced it. I actually quite like it!
Two problems - one easily fixed, the other not so much. I need to sew ribbons or something inside to attach to my bra straps so that they don't show. Can't stand that.
The unfixable problem is that I used it as an experiment for my first short rows. As a result, I have a bubble bust. I've dropped 2 cup sizes in my weight loss. Which I love, but bubble bust is not good. I've analyzed the pics and it doesn't look too obvious. I hope. I will wear it anyway, because I like how it turned out.
I also did some subtle waist shaping, so that it fits my very curvy shape better than a straight garment would.

* Work In Progress

Monday, July 19, 2010

BOOYAKASHA!!!!!

I just noticed that I broke 2000 visitors! Love you all!!!

Zoom, zoom, zoom!!

So here is the Belle Epoque sweater, which was on hold for baby outfits and socks. Since I've finished the socken, I've been burning on this one, and I've finished the body and have just done the armhole castoff and have put the back stitches on a holder. For some reason I'm 10 stitches short on the back, but that's no big deal. I can fix it. Massive blocking to do on this one, too. Wet blocking, more than likely. Must make a blocking board.






Here is a closeup of the Crocus Bud pattern. You can see that it really needs some blocking to open it up like the picture in the pattern.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Look what a little inspiration can do!

Jeez, a trip to a yarn shop to add on more projects sure acts like a kick in the butt for me! Finished the second patchworksock tonight! Finished it with the worst Kitchener stitch ever known to Knittingkind! My Kitchener has always been pretty dicey, but seriously, this one was brutal! I was tempted to post a picture of it, just so that people would know that I wasn't exaggerating, but then I realized that any knitter who saw it would lose all respect for me, so I decided against it. Instead, you get a picture of the finished socken on my fussen. Excuse the lighting, it's rather dim in the 'guest room', AKA my old bedroom. No traces that I ever lived here, though, thank goodness. It's always kind of creepy when parents keep their kids' rooms exactly like they were when they lived there, like shrines or something. ((shiver))

Boo. Hoo.

There is a lyric from Justin Rutledge and the Back Forty that I love. "God damn my liver when it's thirsty; God damn my wallet when it's dry." (Too Sober to Sleep)
In my case, it's my knitting thirst and the dry wallet. I'm down in London visiting the parents, and my mum took me to a new knitting shop she discovered in St. Thomas, The Little Red Mitten.
Wow. Amazing place. Wonderful staff, a great selection, a whole room of pattern leaflets and books with chairs and a table to sit at, a work room at the back filled with women who were having a raucous time, and this amazing French silk that nearly brought me to tears when I had to leave it behind. Seriously. This skein just fell like a waterfall over your hand, smooth and silky and decadent like chocolate mousse. $42 was actually a very reasonable price for it, but I was on a very tight budget, and I learned long ago to set a budget for yarn shop visits, and then to take that amount in cash, and to leave the credit card behind.
So I did get a few projects' worth, and the latest Interweave, and I know that every time I'm down in London I will be back. If you live in the area, you must check it out!
Just don't you dare buy the French silk in mulberry. Or I will OWN your ass.

Friday, July 9, 2010

One Down!

And the 2nd cast on! I have so many projects that I want to do this summer, so no stalling like I did with the Bavarian socks. Fingers must fly!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

So how much am I loving these socks? Socken? Like wieviel baby!! Actually, I'm surprised I don't have them done yet. But I've been spending a lot of time on the beach, and while I do take my knitting to the beach, not a lot gets done. And tonight I did my nails in 'honour' of the heat wave of which we snowbabies are dying. Notice my lack of dangling participles. Can't stand 'em. Yes, I be a Grammar Centurion. (I refuse to use the term 'Nazi', seeing as how they killed millions of people. Kind of belittles their crimes to be referring to grammar or soup, doesn't it?)
And tonight I am drinking a lovely white wine, which will hit me incredibly fast since my weight loss, so I will be losing fine motor skills rather quickly.




So here are the nails:


Right hand: Thumb: big ass bottle of sunscreen. Index: watermelon! (I ate a whole wedge of watermelon yesterday.) Middle: fluffy clouds. Ring: sun, the bane of a redhead's existence. Pinky: believe it or not, a popsicle.









Left: Thumb: Egg frying on the hot sidewalk. Index: itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini. Middle: that bastard sun again. Ring: thermometer about to blow its top. Pinky: clouds again.
I'm mildly shocked at how well the right hand turned out, considering that my left hand is pathetic at doing anything other than holding a knitting needle.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

This is the LIFE!

I love living in Muskoka. It is just so beautiful. I've been up here for 9 years, and I still drive in to work every morning saying to myself, "I can't believe I live here!". Except, of course, during tourist season. Then I'm in self-imposed lockdown. I went into town yesterday and they'd already hit. The G8 was better than that!
So today is a gorgeous Saturday. I had planned to hit the beach, but I woke up with a killer headache (didn't sleep well), and I figured that hours of sun would only make it worse, so this is what I'm doing instead:


Ain't life rough? And Rosebud is alternating lying on the ground with, and carrying around a piece of cheese bread that she nabbed when I dropped it on the floor, Bronte is in the shade under my chair and Sulis is off playing jungle cat and stalking some poor critter.
Damn, I wish I had a cabana boy. Then life would be perfect!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

ouch.

I don't know what I did at school yesterday, but I really hurt my left hand. I picked up my socks to work on last night, and it hurt so badly I couldn't even hold the needles! Then today I could barely move it. It loosened up through the course of the day - I can actually type slowly right now - so I didn't bother going for x-rays like I thought I might need to.
But I'm taking the night off from knitting, just to keep on the safe side. So I've turned my attention to my new baby. I cleaned it off, and the water in the bowl was black it was so dirty!
I stopped at the library and picked up a book about weaving, and I think I'm going to put the names of all the parts on sticky notes and label the loom so that I can see what's what. Visual learner and all.
On a side note, while I'm doing all this I'm watching Tropic Thunder. I haven't laughed yet. Although Robert Downey Jr. is brilliant as always.

Friday, June 25, 2010

New Toy & New Socks!

Check out my new toy! I got a loom! I have absolutely no idea how to use it or even how to set it up, but I sure will have fun figuring it out! And besides, it was free!


And here are my new socks: Patchworksocken!! Knitted in mitred squares to make them triangles. After the ribbing, you decrease and make triangles, then pick up along the sides of the triangles to make squares, then mitre the squares to make more triangles. Sounds complicated but actually isn't. And I'm doing it in that luscious Indigo Moon fingering 'Milk Chocolate' that I got at Romni back in the fall. Socks are so much fun!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Finished!

Here is the outfit that I made for my friend Christine at work. She's expecting her first in just a few weeks.
I've made this outfit before, and I love it. It's simple, works for boys or girls, and I love moss stitch.
And the apple buttons were just perfect for a teacher's baby!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Gross. Out.

Having 2 outdoor cats, I am used to watching my step first thing in the morning when I leave my house. I often have to slalom around mice, voles and the occasional frog to get out. Sometimes birds. No matter how often I tell them, "Rodents only!!", they do on occasion go for more of a challenge.
The screen on my kitchen door needs replacing, so on days that are relatively blackfly-free, I'll open the window enough that they can jump in & out at will. The other week I heard Bronte jump in, and a couple minutes later when I went into the kitchen, there she was stretched proudly out in front of the fridge, dead bird in front of her.
Then, a couple of days later, I heard a fuss on the patio and went out to see that Sulis had a baby bird cornered. It was a pheasant or a quail or something. I rescued it in a tea towel and sent it shuffling off into the wild blue yonder.
But today? Today was the WORST. There is a crawl space under my stairs, and the two of them often go in there to hide from Rosebud, or have a self-imposed time out, I guess. It's only covered by a curtain, so they can get in. The stuff stored in there is balanced rather precariously, kind of like a not-quite-fits game of Tetris. Last night one of them knocked a bunch of stuff over. So today I was picking it all up and balancing it back in stacks, and picking stuff out of the knitting basket that it had fallen into when I felt something squish in my hand.
It was a dead frog!!!!!!! In my knitting!!!!!!!!!!!
I didn't take a picture. So you'll have to trust me. Gag. Ick. Bleck. Grrrrrr.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

giggle

You know you're knitting obssessed when you're watching an episode of NCIS, and the victim is slumped over with a knitting needle sticking out of his neck and all you think is, "Susan Bates, 4mm".
Hey, it was a repeat. I already know who did it.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Still here, still knitting

Having now fully recovered from the Rosebud on the Loose fiasco, knitting has returned to normal. Belle Epoque is on hold as I knit for a couple pregnant friends at school. Here's what is done so far on it:

And here's what's done on the baby outfit to date:


It's from an old copy of Women's Weekly out of the UK, and I'm doing it in Paton's Grace, in 'Wasabi'. I had planned to do the Pea Pod Baby Set, but I didn't like it, so I changed to this one. I've done it 3 or 4 times, and I love it more every time!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

KnitKat!

So I went to http://www.comparethemeerkat.com/home to find my ideal meerkat. And guess who I got? KnitKat!!

Isn't he beautiful? A meerkat in Paris who knits! Heavenly!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

OY.FREAKIN.VEY.

I love my Rosebud. I hate it when people call me her mother (Hello?? Me Homo sapiens, her Canis lupus familiaris. My frozen uterus isn't going to birth a human, let alone a dog.) But if I'm honest, she really is my baby and I adore her.
Until she does something like this:

I managed to untangle 2 skeins and wind them up before it occurred to me to take a pic!
I don't like leaving her crated all day when I'm at school, and I'm trying to gradually leave her out. I left her out yesterday and she counter cruised, got a bag of brand new (and rather pricey, the monster eats better than I do!) treats and ate the whole damn thing! Today, she got my wraps off the table and ate them. And a pair of glasses. Bad enough, but then I went into the living room and there was yarn everywhere. I absolutely bellowed her name. I went back into the kitchen and she was cowering by the door. Then I made cupcakes and my blood pressure returned to normal.
Tomorrow, she is crated. No matter what sad face she makes at me. Must stay strong. She is a Sad Basset Face expert. Like from birth.


Sunday, March 28, 2010

Well, this made me LOL

I'm not a crochet fan; never have been. I have yet to see the crochet item that doesn't make me think of granny squares or macrame. Which makes me think of ABBA. Which makes me convulse and break out in hives due to my severe allergic reaction to ABBA.
But I digress. This is what made me LOL:


I absolutely love the thought of crochet designs based on non-Euclidian geometry. It's almost enough to make me want to order the book and learn to crochet. Almost.
How did I find this treasure, you ask? It was an article on the Beeb Online - the book won the Diagram Prize for the oddest book title of the year. Luuurrrrve it!!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Oh, Baby!

Knitting porn. You know what it is. This arrived in the mail today. So far, I have refrained from drooling excessively, but I make no promises. I have many projects on the go, but many more floating around in my head that I'd like to try to make. Hopefully, this book will help, because the other book I got was no good for what I wanted to do - all knit in the round, very traditional type stuff. This one has shaping, different sleeve settings, different necklines, the whole kit and caboodle. It will be so easy to combine it with my Nicky Epstein books to do some ubercool stuff. I can't wait!

Friday, March 5, 2010

Since I got my new laptop in December I've been having trouble accessing the brilliant Ysolda Teague's website. I posted on Ravelry that I'd been having issues, and asking if anyone else was having the same problem.
Turns out I was completely alone, but the theories that were posited were great! One was that CSIS had blocked her site, deeming that cool Scottish knitwear designers were a hazard to Canadian security. But other Canadians weren't having the same issue, so there went that idea.
Another knitter thought that perhaps someone (or some critter) I share my home with could have blocked the site on me. I could see Bronte trying to toy with my head that way. Rosebud's paws are too huge to be able to type, and Sulis is doped up on painkillers after having her ovaries yanked, and I don't think she's mature enough to come up with such a cunning plan, anyway. Her brain isn't at the cunning point yet.


<-- The closest Sulis has ever come to using the computer.


Then, a knitter who is also a computer scientist in Australia offered this advice: perhaps Ysolda changed her server and my server hadn't updated my DNS. I have no idea what that means. I get the big idea, but beyond that...
Anyway, she gave me the name of a site to go to that walked me through changing my TCP/IP settings - and it worked!! Now I can keep up with Ysolda, who makes me thing that she has the most amazing life.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

It Begins!

I started the Belle Epoque jumper a couple of years ago, when I was still huge. I did swatch, because I was substituting the yarn, but the swatch (as per the Yarn Harlot's warnings about swatching) was a lying a$$hole. So let's name the swatch Andrew, after my ex-boyfriend who possesses the very same 'qualities'.
As a result of Andrew's lying, the sweater was huge! And this is when I was huge, too! So it was frogged and the lovely Lana Gatto Venus mohair (now discontinued, so no link, sorry!) was added to the stash. I have been wanting to redo it ever since, and now that I'm 80lb lighter, it's time!
So last night I casted on, and in a size small no less! That will give a wee bit of negative ease on it, and I think that will be better instead of loose, which may look a bit shapeless in an empire-waisted tunic. Here is what I have so far, which isn't much, but as usual I came home from school and slept for hours because the freaking apnea still isn't under control and I'm constantly exhausted.


Here is a closeup of the Crocus Bud pattern, as much as it shows after only 1 repeat. But check out those nails! I'm on fire :) !!