Sigh.

It is really, really hard to be a teacher in this province. The second you do anything that could be slightly taken in the wrong context, there is someone who automatically contacts the Powers That Be in order to complain. I've been threatened more than once with losing my job.
After a lot of soul searching, I decided that this blog has never been brought up by certain people, and since I never (today excluded) bring up anything political and/or work related, I really should activate it again. It was something I really enjoyed, and I have had more than one knitting friend tell me that they miss my sense of humour and that they enjoyed following my blog. That made me feel good. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, in the vernacular of them lolcats, I. BE. BACK.

 

SO. In the overly long time that I have been gone, I have knit many, many things. You can check them out at http://www.ravelry.com/projects/lareine.
Currently, I have just begun the lovely Sylvie. My parent bought me a gift certificate last Christmas and it was one of the patterns that I chose. Then, after a year of no yarn buying (a quite frankly insane New Year's Resolution), I picked up some lovely Cascade Eco+ at The Little Red Mitten in St. Thomas, ON. I love this shop. They have SUCH an amazing selection. I have to go in with an absolute concrete budget, or I would go bankrupt. And my father said he preferred red for the pattern, so red it is.
And there you have it. Pictures of Sylvi as warranted.

Yikes - I been away!

Hello folks, long time no blog!

Of course most of it was because of the annual 'can't blog; knitting for Christmas' stuff. Since it tends to be only my family who reads my blog I can't post much about what I did.

And then, the other part of the not blogging was simple laziness. I admit it.

Anyhoo, I have been knitting like a fiend, and actually managed to get my Christmas knitting done well in advance, so much of the knitting of late has actually been for myself! And, as usual, I have about 4 projects on the go.

Finished Object #1 - Tiny Antler Hat. Isn't this the freaking cutest thing you've ever seen?? It's CUTENESS EXPLOSION!!

Then I created a cowl to match. My vintage wool winter coat has a very annoying neck. The zipper closes & hits a spot on my neck that is very annoying, especially when it's cold. It's a metal zipper! So I whipped up a quick cowl. I call it 'Latte', because it's not quite vanilla. But close enough.

I am the toastiest wee reindeer in Muskoka!

Also on the needles are (still) the Moose Vest, the Honeycomb Vest and a new pair of mittens.

And - excitement of excitement - I did a knitting workshop with The Yarn Harlot!! OMG that woman is hilarious. I don't know why I was so surprised; after all, her blog makes me snort out loud. But she had us in stitches all day. In the morning she talked about knitting history and showed us pictures of things. Hilarious classic portraits of people 'knitting' with 3 needles, or something that looked like it was supposed to be knitting in the round but was on straights, stuff like that. She taught us throwers how to pick, and the pickers how to throw, and how to do a very convoluted purl when picking called the Norwegian Purl.

In the afternoon she taught us 'lever knitting', which is a style of knitting that is much more natural for the body, is faster (once you get familiar with it!) and will let you knit for much longer of your lifetime because there is less chance of repetitive stress injury. It wasn't hard to get the hang of it, but it will take lots of practice. I tried doing the Latte cowl with it, but because it makes my tension all wonky I gave up. She suggested doing 'homework' of a simple 1x1 rib scarf every night before doing our on the needles projects. I'll dig in my stash to find something for that. It won't be a scarf I'll wear, because it will start with really tight tension and loosen up as I get more comfortable.

And, of course, seeing as the workshop was held at the wonderful Little Red Mitten, on the lunch break I did some shopping. I picked up some Harrisville Shetland for my new mittens and some red Cascade 220 for another pair of armwarmers.

Oh! And here is the finished coatdress & cape from Fairy Tale Knits for the nieceypoo. I just have to whip up the muff to go along with it. I can't wait to see it on her.

Yep

Sometimes you just need a project change to get the knitting juices flowing again. This is Snow Queen, the cover pattern from Fairy Tale Knits. The sample for the book is done in blue, which is a little more snowy, but nieceypoo must have pink, so the pattern name doesn't really make sense now, does it? The stitch pattern is a 6-row repeat called German Herringbone, and is easy to memorize. Chunky (well, actually worsted, but I'm used to dk or fingering!) wool & big (again, big to me) needles mean I'm just zooming along. But, sudden knitting fever combined with damp weather create arm issues, so I didn't knit at all for 2 days. Back to it today!
Here is what I've done so far, modelled by the ever patient and helpful Rosebud. She loves to help me knit by laying her giant head on one of my arms to slow me down. Very helpful.

Oh dear.

That didn't take long. Elizabeth is getting boring. I've almost finished the front, and it's all repetition. Same pattern, same colour, boring, boring, boring.

I keep finding excuses not to knit. I actually cleaned the bathroom tonight - and it didn't even need it!!! Never a good sign. Plus I keep looking at the skeins and balls and bags and baskets of yarn lying around every room in my apartment, thinking of the other things I want to do.

Am I alone in this? Getting bored so easily with a project? Is this the ADD manifesting itself through my knitting? This is why I tend to do really complicated things, with either lots of colour work or cabling. This has neither. The centre triangular pattern is brainless, and the sides are just stocking stitch.

I should be a good girl and finish the front before moving on to something else.

Then again, I have been meaning to wind those skeins of silk for a while...
And I have a project planned for nieceypoo...
And I have a newphew (new baby; I think it's a boy, therefore newphew) on the way...

Man, ADD sucks!!

Sigh.

The downside to summer knitting - I do so much so fast & so suddenly (compared to when school's in) that I always wind up with a repetitive stress injury. My left forearm is really sore.

When I get going on a piano bender, it's my right arm that gets sore. So how exactly does knitting use my left arm more than my right? Or maybe it's just because I'm right handed, so my right arm can take more punishment.

I will attempt a couple hours tonight, but I won't push it. Sigh. 

OMGOMGOMG

I forgot to post!!

I got the latest newsletter from The Little Red Mitten in St. Thomas. Right away I forwarded it to my mum. WORKSHOPS WITH THE YARN HARLOT!!!!

I told my mum that it would be a great birthday gift. And, being the wonderful woman that she is, she obliged! The very next day she contacted the store, and the Saturday workshop was already nearly full. Being a mother she was worried about what would happen if I couldn't make it down from Muskoka to London that weekend. To paraphrase the lovely owner of The Little Red Mitten, it won't be a problem!!

I would have preferred to be able to take the Sunday workshop about lace knitting, but it's December. Who knows what the weather will be like? I needs travel time.

I had to laugh at my mum. When she was enrolling me in the Saturday workshop, "Knitting for Speed & Efficiency", she wondered aloud why I would want to knit faster. I wish I could knit faster! I'm sure Steph will be able to teach me a couple new things.

That being said, I knit a couple of inches on my Elizabeth I last night. Tonight? Nada. Which is,, actually, probably a good thing. No repetitive stress injuries.

Now to decide which book to bring to have autographed.

Can you hear me now??

It's been a very long time since my last post.

Something happened that made me seriously reconsider continuing this blog, but then I told myself that I already gave up 2 social media things for that reason, and why should I give up a 3rd that was about something that means a lot to me? I don't need to go into details. If you are reading this, and you understand, 'nuff said. If you're reading this & you're clueless, welcome to my blog!! LOL

Back in late June I casted on for yet another Alice Starmore. She may not be among many knitters' favourite designers simply for the fact that she has stood her ground against her publishers, but you can't deny her design genius! Because of this dispute with her publisher, many of her books are out of print. I already had the Celtic Collection, and my mother found me In The Hebrides at a rummage sale of all places, but what I really wanted was Tudor Roses. And believe it or not, I found it!!

I started off easy peasy. Elizabeth I. One of my heroines, of course; how could she not be? Redheaded, stubborn, and a brilliant mind to boot. Hmm...reminds me of meself! I'm knitting this in berrocco vintage dk, a nice basic cream colour.

Historically, the first two weeks of summer, I relax & knit like a fiend. That didn't happen this year. I had company in the form of my 5 year old niece whom I adore, but has an endless stream of energy. Ergo & therefore, not much knitting accomplished! But lots of swimming, playing with the dog, and general fun had by all.

I got a fair bit done chez les parents after delivering nieceypoo to her parents (in one piece, too!!). I am now at home & can knit to my heart's content. Or, at least, to the arm's dull pain sets in.

And, of course, just to make things challenging for myself, I stopped at Knit & Quilt on my way home (they let Rosebud join me so she wasn't in a hot car; great for her, not so much for me. It's difficult to browse when people are fawning over your adorable dog) to pick up the goods for my next nieceypoo project. Everything must be pink. I got dusty rose because I reckon I can knit with it without getting sick to my stomach. I hope she likes it!