Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Wow!

Wow... I can't believe it.... my simple Baby Jane pattern has had an astounding response. Almost 200 people downloaded the pattern from Ravelry in the first 24 hours. I can't believe it! It is such a compliment and I am so pleased. Thank you so much!

I finished up the Little Sister's Dress last night, and put the buttons and button loops on this evening.I really like how the stripes got thicker as the dress got wider

Thanks to mom for the cute buttons (and the yarn of course). They are perfect!This is a fantastic little pattern and a nice quick knit.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Signs of Spring

I went to clean all the newspapers out of my garden (the paper boys are pretty careless around here and often throw the paper on my porch, where a good breeze tosses it into my wild roses - making it really difficult to clean, so I've left it all winter) and discovered several signs of spring.
....My lawn covered in grape hyacinths. This won't last long because I guarantee my landlord will have it mowed by the end of the week... but it is pretty. You can also see my insanely over grown roses -- clipping them back is next weekend's project, but they will look like that again by July. They are gorgeous in full bloom though.

As I as cleaning out the papers, I also came across this cute fellow:Of course he didn't stick around long:
Although hidden by the roses, my garden was also full of tulips... so I picked them all!Of course, these will probably be toast by the time I wake up tomorrow, as somebody (aka Mr. Rocky) looks upon all my flowers as his own personal salad.

And my final sign of spring is a gift to you!

A free pattern - Baby Janes because it's Baby Season!I designed these because all the other patterns out there are in garter stitch, and I wanted something with a smoother look.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

It's raining yarn!

After a brief moment of contemplation this weekend, I realized sometimes I am a very lucky girl.
And this time my luck is coming in the form of free yarn! (and who doesn't think getting free yarn is damn lucky?)

First -- last weekend Mom and I stopped at my grandparents. My grandma had been going through her stash, and came across 10 balls of Bouquet Softee in a lovely peach, yellow and cream mix. Deciding she wasn't going to use it all, she asked me if I could use it. She kept three balls for herself (to make a baby set for a friend of my uncle's) and gave me the other seven.
After finishing up my elephants and a couple socks, I cast on for Serenity earlier this week.

The subtle colours are perfect for the cabled pattern. This will, of course, be going to Dave's friends for their new baby, but I am thinking about extending the pattern and making one for myself. It's so pretty and relatively easy too.

Then, earlier this week, mom offered me some Patons Beehive Baby Sport. She wasn't too fond of knitting with it (it's really splitty) so I got two balls in a pretty red/pink/yellow mix.
Last night I cast on for Little Sister's Dress, which is an absolutely adorable pattern. This is also for Dave's friends baby, but I think I may make one for my niece as well. It's way too cute and so easy to do. Someone on Ravelry has done it with the yoke and hem in green and the body in white and it's adorable.

Mom also gave me two more ball of this yarn in a more mauve colourway, but I haven't decided what to do with it yet.

But the wonderful yarnness isn't done yet.

On Friday I accompanied mom to Coldwater (near Barrie) to my great aunt's funeral. It's always an interesting event when my entire family gets together, and while it was a sad occasion, we always seem to make the best of it.

Mom and I took my Grandma on a side trip to the Purple Sock, a little yarn store in Coldwater. While there I fell in love with a huge hank of Fiddlesticks Wool Silk yarn.
So Mom bought it for me (I have a feeling it was a bribe so I wouldn't tell Dad how much she spent on all the other yarn she bought that day.)
And Rocky promptly claimed it as his own and made a nest out of it.

I'm still debating on what to do with it, but I'm open to suggestions on simple but pretty shawl patterns.

And as if that weren't enough, my Grandma was also given a huge stash of yarn that belonged to my Great Aunt. She invited Jenn and I over on Saturday and we sorted through it all an split it up. I ended up with a garbage bag full, as well as several afghan squares that just need to be sewn together.

What a week.... and now it looks like I have some serious stash busting to do!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

It's a girl!....

... or at least it will be. She still has a few months cooking to do... but that means I have a few months to make lots and lots of girly things!

Dave's friends are having a baby and they just found out it is a girl. This is great because everybody has been having boys lately, and I don't like knitting boy things... they aren't pink and they aren't frilly.

Tonight I made this!
I have to admit I have a bit of an obsession with feather and fan. I blame my mother, who made me a feather and fan afghan when I was young. It was done in a shade of dark orange with a yellow ripple and I loved it. I'm not sure what happened to it -- I still have my Strawberry Shortcake blanket from when I was a kid, but not that one -- maybe I loved it to death.

Anyway, I saw this pattern months ago and knew I had to make it, but nobody was having a baby girl. (Although thinking about it now, I could cast on with a heavier wool and make it for my niece who is almost one), so when I found out they were having a girl, I rushed home, printed out the pattern and knit it up.

I am going to make some nice red Mary Janes to go with it.

I also want to make them a blanket but I'm torn on which one to do. I'd like to do the feather and fan (big surprise) that's done in the round, but after doing several pinwheel blankets, I'm not sure I want to another blanket in the round.

Well I have red shoes to knit so I better get to it!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

A question, trouble and a new project

First:
Why is it, give the choice of three perfectly good boxes, cats will always try to stuff themselves into the smallest one?

Second:
Remember how I said Rocky hides his toys?
Obviously not well enough. No sooner did I finish posting yesterday, than I turned around and saw Tux with it. They are all making good use of it now and have even pulled some of the stuffing through the knitting.

Third:
As if I needed one, I started a new project....A sock yarn afghan. This one is going to take a while... not necessarily because the squares take long -- I can do four little squares, or one big one in just under two hours -- but because I don't have very much leftover sock yarn. In fact, all those squares are from leftovers I stole from mom.

So that means I have to knit more socks, which means less time knitting squares... unless of course any of you feel like donating your left over sock yarn :)

(Actually I recommend you make a sock yarn afghan yourself. It's a great take along project, and with the stripey yarn, really fun to knit up!)

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Uh-Oh

I think it's an addiction....
I made this one with sock yarn (After working with acrylic for so long, Cherry Tree Hill really is a treat! Sproing!)

To give you an idea of the size difference:
The larger one is knit with worsted.

So why make a miniature sock yarn elephant you ask?
To fill full of cat nip of course! I gave it to him last night, and I have no idea where he's hidden it this morning. he has a habit of stashing his favourite toys so the others can't touch them.

I did finish my ankle sock last night, but I haven't taken a picture yet so I'll save it for another post.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Toyland

Horseypie is done -- finito.... au revior!
I'm not sure why I dreaded finishing this one so much. It's not a complicated pattern, I just got really bored with it. (And the back legs really are designed badly)
I only made a few modifications. First in the way the legs are sew on. The pattern says to gather up the top after sewing and then attach, but that made it look like weird sausage legs. The other modification was an accident... I knit a few too many increase rows on the bum, so it's a little wider than it should be... but there's nothing wrong with a well padded behind.

After finishing up Horsey, I guess I wasn't quite finished yet because I knit another Elephant.
But now it's 1 a.m. and I really should get to bed.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Three down....


....One to go. I have fallen out of love with this project. It's ubercute and not hard at all, I think I'm just bored with it (and I still have thoughts of silk/bamboo blends on my mind.... though they are warring with the fact that I should really spend that money on tires for the car)

That said, the back leg really is a pain, there is a lot of increasing in increasing and it makes for some really tight knitting.... it also leave holes that stuffing can peek through. I'm not thrilled about that, but I'm determined to trudge on.

Tomorrow is going to be a long one, so chances are there will be no knitting... maybe I'll finish it on Wednesday.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

A medical breakthrough

I think I've discovered the cure.... well maybe not cure... but treatment... of the dreaded second sock syndrome:Don't knit the second sock.... at least not immediately. Knit another sock or two in between, and then when you go back to do the second sock, it's almost as refreshing as knitting a new sock!

Obviously, you can see what I've been up to this weekend. You already saw the grey sock (for Dave) I cast on for the brown and green one (for Dad) on Thursday and finished it up Saturday night. That's the quickest I've ever knit a sock, though admittedly, I had a lot of uninterrupted knitting time. Other than a brief break Friday, when I went to pick up Dave (his car is still out of commission) and another brief break Saturday when we stopped by Mom's, I was pretty much knitting non-stop. (All of these are my own designs and when I get around to knitting the second socks, I'll make the patterns available)

I cast on forthe blue/aqua/purple sock this morning (well actually it was about 1 p.m..... we slept in until noon) and I must say I like knitting ankle socks... they just fly by. The yarn is also a lot of fun to knit with because the colours are just so happy. They aren't colours I'd choose for myself (these are one of the pairs of Christmas socks) but they certainly make me smile, especially after knitting with grey and then brown yarn.

Another thing that made me smile this week was this:This is a great little pattern that I've been wanting to make for a while. Well actually I made it months ago... you may remember, it was green and I was going to felt it. Well.. I finally got around to felting it the other day, and ... it was kind of a failed experiment. The yarn (I don't remember what it was) didn't felt well, and then the cats ran off with the feet and I still can't find all of them.

But, on Wednesday, I was sitting there and I realized I didn't have anything for my youngest niece for Easter. I had the Cabbage Patch Kid and a basketful of clothes for her sister, but nothing for her. So, I pulled out the pattern and started knitting.

It's great for last minute gifts, as it only takes about three hours from cast on to stuffing. I knit it on two needles instead of four. I have a lot of experience stuffing toys and I knew it was going to be a pain to try and stuff it through the trunk (it's only an inch or so wide). I sewed from the trunk to the middle, and the from the bum to the middle, leaving about a 2 1/2 inch gap. If you are knitting this in the round, I would recommend stuffing the body before you start knitting the trunk.

Either way, it's an absolutely adorable knit. And I have to knit another one (for the person the green one was intended for) but first I have to knit those darn horse legs.... the shower is this weekend!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

I'd rather be knitting with silk

Well I think my knitting mojo is slowly returning.

I've gotten a pretty good response for Riopelle. And I must say, it's always good for the ego when people actually want to pay for something you've created.

Last night, I even got the first sock I'm designing for Dave finished.
Sorry for the crappy picture. The sock is too big for me, and Dave wasn't here to model. I also don't like taking pictures with the flash, but it was too dark last night.

When I get the other one done and the pattern together, I'll take some better pictures with a bigger, manlier foot.

I've knit it in SWTC Tofutsies. While it's very cottony to knit with (of which I'm not that fond) the finished fabric is very soft... which probably has something to do with the 25 % soysilk fibre.

And speaking of SILK... that's what's got me really revved up about knitting again.

I was reading Julie's blog and she was showing off the new Lorna's Laces Pearl she just got in.Now I'm not one to get all excited about fibre -- I like knitting, I like nice fibre (especially alpaca -- though admittedly my love it has waned since Dave's sweater stretched) but I'm practical creature at heart (sometimes)... I don't have the money to get all wound up about yarn. Shoes -- yes, yarn -- no. (No I'm not a knitter with a capital 'K' ... and I'm okay with that)

But this yarn.... I don't know, maybe its the shiny... I HAVE TO HAVE IT. And I don't want to just make a scarf with it... I want a cardigan.... this cardigan (but longer):
The really painful thing is Julie's store is less than a 10 minute jaunt up the highway from my work. I could just drive up there as easy as pie and come home with it and start knitting right away. But I don't get paid till next Friday.... I WANT IT NOW!

*Sigh* ... I guess I'll just go make horseypie some back legs.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Spring my A$$!

Well, as many of you know (or have read) Mother Nature has decided to be a bit of a b@$%& this week. Southern Ontario got hit with a nice round of snow today (which is expected to continue until tomorrow). Where I live didn't get hit too bad, it only started snowing here around 5 p.m. but it's still cold and yucky. Further north (and west, I believe) started getting it this morning.
So today was the perfect day for warm and toasty socks...(Courtesy of mom)

A nice home-cooked (I mean microwaved) meal....
(That's all the makings of Alpha-Ghetti sandwiches - YUM!)

And a snuggle with a good friend!If you're where it's snowing, I hope you're warm and have lots of knitting.
And if you're enjoying warmer weather... you suck.
:)

Friday, April 3, 2009

The great reveal

Well I'm sure you've all been holding your breath...

Here is it is, as promised...

RIOPELLEAs I said before, I got this yarn off mom months ago. It was really difficult finding a pattern that would work because of all the colour.... so I designed my own.

It's a pretty quick project (for a shawl) and makes great TV knitting.

It's named for Canadian artist Jean Paul Riopelle, who is credited with bringing the abstract impressionist movement to France. Like abstract impressionism, this shawl uses texture and a multitude of colour to create a work of art

And you can get it HERE!

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