Monday, November 29, 2010

Lava Tuque


My completed Lava tuque! Made with Manos del Uruguay in Lava.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Update

It's been over a month since my last post, and I have finished a few projects. My winter scarf (renamed Lava Scarf), a Lava Tuque to go with it, the green baby sweater and even a winter tuque for B. Pictures to be posted soon!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

SKA September 2010

Finished my first sock for the Sock Knitters Anonymous September 2010 Challenge - Black Tie, Optional by Adrienne Fong. I don't really like the way it turned out, so I will be frogging it soon. I used Patons Kroy and find it's too woolly for the detail of the sock. Here's the sock:


Thursday, October 7, 2010

Anniversary Card

B and I had our 4th anniversary yesterday and I made him a digital scrapbook card!


It was made entirely from PixelWorks' Forever Love designs (currently unavailable). Her designs are fantastic!

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Baby Sweater

I began knitting a baby sweater a few weeks ago, and it's coming along quite nicely, although I've just started the sleeves and realized I don't have the right needle size to continue. So I'll have to head off to the knitting store this week to pick some up.



The pattern is from DROPS and includes a sweater, hat and booties. I hope to have enough yarn left over to make all three! You can check out my project page here.

Friday, September 17, 2010

*SPOILER* Sock Yarnista Club Update

**WARNING SPOILER**

My package arrived on Wednesday!!! I love my August yarns! I got one of each for the month, Acadia and Forest Primeval.

We also went to Knit-Knacker's Yarn Warehouse in Ottawa Wednesday after work, and I bought the softest lace weight (Punta Yarns) in beautiful blues and greens... it reminds me of the ocean.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Sock Yarnista Club

It's almost mid-September and I still haven't received my first shipment of sock yarn from Three Irish Girls' Sock Yarnista Club! It was shipped two weeks ago today. I am waiting impatiently! On another note I did manage to get a hold of 3IG's Adorn Sock in the Titania colourway! It is so beautiful, I cannot wait to knit it up and see what it looks like. I'll keep you posted on when my first shipment arrives!

Monday, August 23, 2010

Upper Canada Village

Myself, B and a few co-workers visited Upper Canada Village this past Saturday. I haven't been there since I was about 7-9 years old, and I loved it! It was better than I remembered and was expecting. My favorite parts were the spinning room:



The table full of yarn and what was used to dye them (carrot greens, onion skins, goldenrod, some Mexican beetle, roots, indigo, nutmeg and tree bark):



There is also a wool mill at UCV, where there are piles of sheep wool!



I also loved the printing press. All those letters! We even got to try our hand at typesetting. It was slow, but fun!



We also saw lots of animals... I loved the piglets.. one of them tried to suckle my finger and thumb!



And the sheep were so cute! This male came right up to us and posed for pictures.


Thursday, August 19, 2010

Chef at Home

I was home sick yesterday, and had my first "Chef at Home" moment. I was desperate for something to eat for lunch, and looked in the fridge and was uninspired as I didn't want to stand at the stove for any length of time while not feeling well. I remembered back last year around this time when B's (my partner in crime) friend A from London, England was visiting and she made a simple delicious pasta sauce. I used this as my inspiration. It was so simple and I hardly had to watch it at all! I fried up some onion in the saucepan with olive oil (didn't have any garlic, which is an essential in pasta sauce), and added in some chopped carrots and zucchini. Then I added in some split red lentils (dry, but ones that don't need soaking and about 30 min. cook time), the tomatoes (from the can), salt, pepper and smoked paprika and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. It made enough for a few meals, so I've jarred it:



Tonight I had my second helping for dinner:


Thanks for the inspiration! The best part, you can put whatever you want in it! Just take a look in your fridge and see what's there...

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Halfway through

I am halfway through my winter scarf! It is going very fast. I sat and worked out what I believe will be the pattern for the matching hat. I still haven't quite figured out what to do about the mittens, but I found a few simple patterns on Ravelry that I will try to adapt. Luckily I have a hat and mittens which fit me quite well (I have a small head and hands), so I could take measurements from them to estimate my new ones. Hopefully in another week or 2 my scarf will be done, and I will begin the hat.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Three Irish Girls

I've selected my first ever sock club yarn! I couldn't decide, so I got one of each! You can check out the colours on the Three Irish Girl's website. I should receive my shipment by the end of August. I cannot wait.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Winter Scarf 2010

I finally finished the baby blanket! It's shorter than it should be, but it's done! So I started the Ocean Waves Scarf, using Manos del Uruguay in Lava, and it's such an easy pattern! I've already done quite a bit in only 2 days (and one day I only did a few minutes and today I did about 20 minutes).



I think a hat from this pattern is going to work well, but the mittens might be tricky. I may have to make the "eyes" smaller.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Sock Club Fall 2010

I've decided not to join the Indigo Moon Yarns club this year, as it is not a sock club, but rather a yarn club. So, I looked at a few clubs, and really wanted a Canadian one (which I could not find - so if anyone knows of one, please let me know!), and one that ran for 3 months so I could try it out. I ended up joining the Sock Yarnista club put out by Three Irish Girls. The dyer is a woman named Sharon from Minnesota, and her yarns colourways are so nice! I get my first shipment in August, and I cannot wait!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Yarn! Yarn! Yarn!

I'm back from my amazing trip to the Canadian Rockies, and I went a little crazy while in Canmore at the Knit & Caboodle yarn store, and bought a ton of sock yarn!

So it might not be too much to some... but 8 hanks of yarn (5 of them being sock yarn) is quite a lot to me. My favorites are the madelinetosh (DK) and Anzula Squishy. I plan to use the madeleinetosh to make a bulkier pair of socks, and 2 hanks to make the Ocean Waves Scarf with it.

As I was in the car on the way to the airport in Calgary the next day I realized I should have purchased enough to make a matching hat and mittens (I currently have no matching set). So, when I got home I checked where to purchase the yarn and discovered there was a store right in downtown Ottawa - Yarns etc. - so I bought 3 more hanks. The yarn is Manos del Uruguay, so there are no dye lots. The winter gear will be my next project. I have almost completed the baby blanket for my friend. I only have 5 more inches left!! I never realized how long it takes.

On the sock front I have completed 1 sock, which was too big for my foot. I was working with Patons Basic Sock Pattern from their Next Steps Four: Socks and Slippers. I used the smallest dimensions (I have small feet) and they were still too big. So I looked up a bunch of calculators and am trying a second sock. It's looking good so far except for two little holes on either side of my foot where I picked up stitches. I needed to have picked up 1 or 2 more and there would have been no hole!

I'd like to get a book which talks about sizing, because the math is too much for me sometimes. Any suggestions would be great. I thought about Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Sock Book, or Sock Innovation, but the reviews for them were not that great. Also, while Sock Innovation has beautiful patterns, a few reviews mentioned there was no information about sizing. I read a few reviews for the book Sock Club: Join the Knitting Adventure, and it sounds like it might be promising.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Crowsnest Pass

So I'm off to Crowsnest Pass for a wedding this weekend and then off to the Rockies for a week of camping! I am bringing my knitting with me, and I am determined to make a sock that fits me. I completed one, and lo and behold it is way too big (I have super tiny feet). So I am changing my strategy and will knit a pair of sockies as there will be less yarn to unravel if they don't fit! I'm off at 6am tomorrow morning!

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Aida, The Garden Fairy

I decided to post a photo of my largest and most complex cross-stitch ever done (to date). I completed this project in 2007, and it took me 3 years to do.

It is Mirabilia's Aida, The Garden Fairy #41 pattern by Nora Corbett, stitched on 32-count (or maybe it was 24-count?) Aida, with DMC floss, Kreinik metallic floss, and Mill Hill beads. I didn't use the recommended linen as I have never worked with it and wasn't sure if I could get my stitches even.

Here's some detail from the garland she is holding... many many beads were used in this pattern, small seed beads, glass beads of leaves and flowers and crystal ones of teardrops.
The next large one I will do of Mirabilia's will be Titania, Queen of the Fairies #38. It took me years to find a copy of this pattern, and I finally did when I visited Nanaimo, B.C. last year. I found it in a small shop called The Stitcher's Muse.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Indigo Moon Yarns Sock Club

So I just checked out the website for Indigo Moon Yarns, and discovered that the sock club runs for 3 months throughout the year, so I will definitely be subscribing to the next one! It will be my first sock club. I am also happy because it seems the maker of the yarns is from Gabriola Island, B.C. I am happy to support local Canadian artists.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Day One

So this is the beginning of my blogsphere. Never done it before, not sure what to expect or what to write about. Hoping to share some of my crafting projects, whether they be knitting, crocheting, cross-stitch, or scrapbooking... My goal for the year... to learn more about knitting, and knit a lot of socks! I'm currently sock-obsessed. I just only learned about the sock clubs from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Woolgirl, Fresh from the Cauldron, Indigo Moon and Loopy Ewe. Missed all of them this year! Would have loved to be in the club for Fresh from the Cauldron. This year's theme... Twilight and True Blood!

Will be visiting Calgary, Alberta next month and will be camping in the Rockies. The final days of our trip will take us to Canmore, Alberta, where I will be visiting the shop Knit & Caboodle. I cannot wait to see what they have!