dare I say it?

am I really on top of the Christmas list? (You know that list - the one with my husband and son, 15 members of the husband's family, 6 members of my family, 12-15 friends, as well as a few hangers on that get but don't really deserve (you don't want to know). Then there's the work crew that may or may not be an exchange with (but I hate to be caught short), and the odd extra "just in case" gift.

Before anyone thinks I'm done shopping - please. Give your head a shake. The shopping is no where near started, let alone being close to finished.

I'm talking about the handmades. The knitted, the (in a few cases) crocheted, the sewn and the beaded.

I did make it easy on myself - the nieces and nephews are getting hand sewn pajama pants, then a little something extra for each (a Noro knitted skirt, thrummed mitten, beaded bracelets, and in some cases, gift cards) I've been sewing since I was a kid (thanks, Mom!), so I can do a pair of jammie pants in about an hour. And when I production line the cutting (love my big rotary cutter), it can go even faster. I prewash all the fabrics, and toss them in the dryer (they are pajamas - no one is going to handwash them). Then I stack up two or three layers and cut. I'm sure the woman at Fabricland thought I was a touch nuts buying the same pajama pattern in three different sizes, and other pajama patterns as well, but face it - my family comes in all sizes, so I need the multiples. I cut out a few pairs at a time, group them by colour range and then sew away. Grouping by colour range is to make it easy with the thread and bobbins. All those that us white thread go in one pile, the black in another, greys over there, and the odd red or blue or yellow sits alone until I get to them. I'm having a blast with this, matching up the fabrics to the kids (and adults!)

For the hockey players:

the baseball players: the basketball players: the poker fans (or sons of said poker fans): the musical theatre kid: the hippie chick: the drama queen: the "too cool for pattern - just drab plaids" teens: the lizard lover:the "all things skull" fans: the Florida flamingo lover (my Mom):and of course, me - the wolf in sheep's clothing! (actually I just love the sheep thing): (crap - I forgot to take this picture - it's very cute. But on the back burner until the rest of these are done)
Eight pairs are done, 8 more are cut out, and 5 more need to be cut. Then there's some knitting (mostly sock) and a couple of things to buy. Another bonus this year - I have vacation time that I HAVE to use up before the end of the year, so not only will I have the week before and the week after Christmas off, I will still have 3 or 4 days before that! Hopefully one will be spent at the AGO - my son's class is going on a field trip to see the King Tut exhibit, and I desperately want to be going along. So that leaves me a couple of days to shop for stuff.

You know all this organization is going to come back and bite me on the ass, don't you? Especially now, since I've just gloated about it. The universe will stomp on me in a big way...

I have a new toy

I'm posting this from my new iPod touch. Basically, it's an iPhone without the phone. (I love my Razr phone...). My son snags it whenever he can (I've got him addicted to the Sheepstacker game...)
yeah, I'm having way too much fun. who knew typing with my thumbs was so easy?

November 11

I may not support any war, but I absolutely support those that choose to be there. As the daughter and granddaughter of veterans of Korea and WW1, this day is meaningful to me. My Dad was in the Canadian Navy and my GrandDad was a member of the Yorkshire and Lancashire Regiment of the British Army. I have their pictures and their medals, and while neither of them defined themselves by their service, I know it shaped them and by lieu of me knowing them, I'm sure it shaped me in some way.

I thank them, and all others.

more on the thrummed mitts

One pair is done: And I've made some changes to the other: The grey and red pair will be put away for Christmas now.

The changes I made to the blue? After some careful measuring and weighing, I determined that I would not have enough of the grey alpaca for the pair. Crap. So I dug out my wheel of navy pencil roving, and have alternated rows of super soft grey alpaca and not so soft but really warm navy wool roving. The bonus? I like this better. The navy adds a depth of colour. Even my husband noticed and liked it better. (A comment made without even any prompting! He's getting so much better at this...) He's sure my nephew D will love these. I hope so. Or at least, I hope he likes them enough, or at least, he likes me enough not to tell me if he hates them...

You can see here how generous I make the thrums. I feel that the inside of the mitten should be completely packed with fibre. You shove your hand in, and the fibre forms around it, making a custom sized pocket, just for you. Luxurious. It's the only way to go.

The blue mitts are so much easier to knit - the Heilo yarn is closer to a DK weight, while the Briggs and Little grey was a worsted. On 4mm needles, the grey made a firmer fabric, but it was harder on my hands. This Heilo is much easier. I can see these mitts taking less time, even though they are larger.

Next up - some Peruvian hand painted stuff with plain thrums, and some beautiful cream coloured wool with hand painted thrums. Or maybe I'll keep the cream colour and make the thrums in the stripe colours of a classic Hudson's Bay Point Blanket.

Can't get any more Canadian than that...

random answers

Sometimes I get questions in the comments, and I've never really been sure how to answer them, so I thought I'd collect them and answer them here. I'm kind of hoping that those that ask are still coming back to read...

Regarding the thrummed mittens, Tracy asked where I got the roving. The red roving is actually White Buffalo Mills Unspun. It's a wheel of pencil-like roving, and I have tons of it. Years ago, I bought wheels in black, red, navy, rust, green and gold. I have no idea why, or where (possibly from Briggs and Little), and I have used it for thrums every since. Okay, I just did a little checking - I definitely bought it from Briggs and Little - here's the link. It's great for thrums since it's already a perfect size - you just have to rip off the lengths you need. (Most patterns tell you 3 inch lengths, I go for at least 4 inches. For thrums, more is more.) I've also got some braids of Fleece Artist Roving in hand-dyed colours, and these look great with solid coloured yarns. I have used the Fleece Artist kit that she mentions, although Tracy, how the hell did you get two pairs out of 1 kit?? I made one pair and I had to supplement the roving they supplied, as there was no way there was enough roving for even the one pair! as I said, the key with thrums is "More is More" - skimping on them is defeating the purpose. You need enough roving inside to make it worthwhile, otherwise, I wouldn't bother. So lesson learned, the Fleece Artist kits, while absolutely lovely, are fine for 1 pair of small child's mittens, but be warned if making some for adults - it won't be nearly enough. The grey alpaca (I also have a bag of white alpaca) was bought at the Kitchener Knitters Fair, about 2 or 3 years ago. There are plenty of sources for roving out there.

Deirdre asked about the Halloween pumpkins - how did I get the white teeth? That's easy - just carve off the orange skin to reveal the white flesh of the pumpkin underneath. I use my old litho carving tools - they look like small woodworking awls and shapers. It's way easier than it looks to do.

Brenda asked if I enjoy knitting thrummed mitts. I do, although I have to admit mitten knitting is not among my favourite things. I go in jags with it. Right now I'm willing to knit mittens, a month from now, I will hate them, I'm sure. As far as thrummed vs. regular mitts - I like something to keep my brain occupied. So it's either thrums, or colourwork or SOMETHING beyond straight stockinette. (Yet, I rarely pattern my socks, preferring to keep them straight stockinette. I know, my brain is wired a little funny...)

Deirdre again - asking about the yarn and roving. Okay the roving I explained, but the grey wool is also a Briggs and Little wool - for some reason I have a ridiculous quantity of this stuff. I must have bought it during one of my "Buy Canadian" phases. Which is not a bad thing.

Marlyce asked about the charity our Guild supports. We support many, including Yellow Brick House in York Region, a woman's shelter, Southlake Regional Health Centre, and many others that or "charity co-ordinator Jen finds. I believe there are some overseas charities that are helped as well.

Regarding the decluttering, we donate toys and stuff to Goodwill, clothes go there as well, or I give them to my Mom for her church. Some of the toys go to my friend who runs a daycare. Basically, other than things that are trashed, we are not just throwing things away - they are getting re-used by someone. This weekend, another 4 boxes of toys went to a daycare (2 more are in my trunk to drop off this week), and bags of stuff to trash were put out. The basement is getting there - a good vacuuming, and we're good to go. Now I have to convince husband and son that the Playstation and Wii should move down there as well...
Next up - closets and outgrown clothes. I swear, my 10 year old kid grows overnight! Thankfully, he likes his t-shirts baggy...

yum, yum,yum...

New sock yarn! Tove at Needles and Knits got some new sock yarn in, and she was making some socks with it. It looks and feels like Noro, but there are 420m in a ball! Seriously, she was on the second of a pair of adult socks, and the ball was still freakin' huge! We're debating whether you can get two full pairs of adult socks, or if it will be a pair of adult and a kid's pair. Since it didn't seem fair to let her do all the work on this theory, I had to buys some to try it out:

It's called Fame Trend, by Marks and Katten. It's 75% superwash wool, 25% nylon, so it should hold up well. It's like Noro in that it seems to be a single, rather than a plied yarn, so that may negate the nylon content in regards to how well it holds up, but I will try it out to see. The top one is a black, cream and grey mix, and like Noro, it has long colour shifts. The bottom left if actually a green/grey/brown mix, although the green is not showing well here - in reality it's a lovely mossy shade of green. Then there's a rainbow colourway, bought because it looks like fun. The grey and black will probably be for my FIL, the green is for me or possibly the husband, and the rainbow hasn't been decided yet (probably me - I know it will be appreciated that way...) I'll use the extras for my son - he rocks the handknit socks, but he keeps growing out of them.

This yarn would be great for knee socks, as well. (I'm not a fan of knee socks myself, but that has me thinking about my nieces, and the rainbow colourway...)

And yes, I have already started the black grey and cream. Yes, I have multitudes of other projects I could and should be working on. But this is research! Right?

Attention! Hell has officially frozen over! Twice!

I have a 15 year old nephew. I love him to death, although it doesn't show. I don't shower him with handknits (at least, not since he turned 8 or so). He was one of the first of the sibling offspring, so he got all the great baby sweaters - including a spectacular (If I may say so) bright red cabled jacket that looked great on him (and three other kids after him - I always took it back for washing, to ensure the lifespan).

But for the last few years, he has been pretty specific about the hand mades. "Please don't." So I didn't. I did hem his school uniform pants, but that was more for him Mom - he was quite happy to leave them long and dragging..., but I never sewed or knitted anything for him.

This summer, after seeing my kid in his hand made pajama pants at the cottage, he discreetly mentioned that some of those would be cool. In plaid. I filed that away, and will be making some of those for Christmas. (all the kids will be getting pj pants - the girls are getting embroidered satins and some tie dyed cottons, the boys are getting patterns to match their interests, and plaids). At that point, I debated buying some ice skates for Lucifer.

But the really "stop me in my tracks, completely gob-smacked" moment came just last week. I was on the phone with his mom, and heard him in the background. His mom came back on the phone and said "D would like a pair of handknit mittens if it's not a problem."

????

Not a problem? Holy crap, I've been waiting for this moment! I told her to put him on, and tried to keep it low key, although I was jumping for joy inside.

"So Dude, what colour? Blue? okay, I can do blue. I'll send some examples over of blues I have, and you can pick. Cool. Yeah, no problem, I'm sure I can find some time..."

So I grabbed blues - I had some Heilo Norwegian yarn, plain blue. I had some hand-dyed, some Socks that Rock Silke (my personal choice), some alpaca. I gave him about 5 to choose from, and at the last minute, I threw in the grey and red thrummed mitt, as well as a plain knit mitt for him to choose from. I also tossed in the bag of delicious grey alpaca roving for thrums. I put it all in a bag, and my husband took it over there on Monday, during his weekly poker game. (Don't ask - it's been going on since high school).

I got a phone call that night. "D like the plain blue (Heilo),but wants to know about the fluffy ones." I got him on the phone, and he said he really liked the fluffy ones, since they were really warm. I told him to stick his hand in the bag of grey roving, and tell me if that feels as nice as the grey and red one. I hear a muffled "wow, that's sick!" and he gets back on the phone and asks if he can get the grey fluff inside the blue mitten. "The red is nice, but the grey is sick!"

Sick it is. He's getting blue mittens with grey alpaca thrums. He'll be happy, and I'm thrilled. At least I am until all the others decide they want them. Or his friends. My track record with mittens is not good. I'm making as many as I can now before the feeling wears off and I can't stand the sight of another mitten. It will happen...

Wonder if Lucifer needs a toque?

Halloween 2009

We lucked out this year - Halloween falling on a Saturday gave us a chance to decorate the house beyond just the pumpkins.

We had fun with this - Husband and son did most of the outside, while I was busy carving out 3 (actually 4) pumpkins. Husband had requested a Frankenstein pumpkin, while son wanted the toothy guy. I opted for my favourite pumpkin in jail again. I usually don't repeat carvings, but I love this concept.

Rachel H - did you remember to steal this idea?

The boy's costume this year was "Death". When we were looking at patterns, he chose this, and I said "oh, you want to be the Grim Reaper". "Yeah, Mom, but you can just call me Death". Okay, so the concept of cute costumes is long gone... Who knew Death wore Nikes...

It was worth it when I could hear the kids yelling to their friends "You have got to see this house - it's wicked!" And for kids to mention they thought the decorations were cool and that they liked the pumpkins? That was sweet.

new stuff

Since I finished one project (the Montego Bay Scarf), I thought I would start a new one. (I know, I know, I just showed you the multitudes of things I have on the go. Remember the title of that post? I'm fickle. and obviously possessing of a short attention span...)
But... there are two good reasons for the project I chose to start. One - it will be a Christmas gift for a friend. A University of Ottawa-attending friend. For those that know Ottawa in winter - it's cold, so she NEEDS these. Second, I'm doing a mini workshop at Tuesday's Guild meeting on this technique, so I needed to practice on and have to show. Right. Both excellent reasons for digging into my roving stash for some thrummed mitts. (The irony that I'm probably not going to stop at one pair of these is not lost on me. Yes, all other projects are being left behind...)
This grey and red pair (colours of the University of Ottawa) are for the daughter of my son's sitter, and will be very welcome. Then there's probably a black and gold pair for son's teacher (school colours - those winter days of playground duty can get a little chilly...) Then I found the grey alpaca roving, and well, yeah, I think I need a pair of these as well. I mean, I can't really give someone a gift I haven't road tested myself? Can I?

Uncle!

I finally cast off the never-ending Montego Bay Scarf. I could have kept going, but to be honest, it's a scarf, not a freaking escape ladder, and I think once it got to a certain length, anything more would be superfluous. Yes, I ended up with a small amount of silk/merino left over. Not enough for much of anything. And you know what? It's easy to do this: Quite liberating, I might add.

Seriously - this thing blocked out to over 9 feet long and 9 inches wide. Enough, already...
And when I unpinned it, it stayed over 9 feet long and 9 inches wide. The lace opened up beautifully. I probably didn't need to block it so severely - I could have reduced it by a couple of feet, but the wool was so fine, I thought a really open, lacy effect would be nice. And it is.

It's been packed away for Christmas - not yet sure who the recipient will be yet. Depends on who doesn't piss me off between now and then...

I've been tossing a lot of stuff around the house lately. Getting rid of the excess. Whether it be toys, clothes or other such detritus we seem to have collected over the years, we are slowly weeding it out. For a family of three, we have a lot of stuff. An embarrassingly large amount of stuff. We've thrown around the idea of a garage sale, but neither one of us is at all interested in doing it, so Goodwill and garbage it is. Toys especially. Having worked in the toy and craft industry for a large part of my career, I have accumulated lots of them. Every week, our goal is a minimum of one garbage bag and one donation bag out of the basement. So far so good. Plus, we're attacking the clothes - every thing the kid has outgrown gets given away or tossed, depending on condition. Adult stuff - same. I've got clothes that I haven't worn in a long time. Some was being held onto for sentimental reasons, but really, will I think of my dad less if his blue and white striped shirt is no longer hanging in my closet? I don't think so. Will I suddenly cease to remember that great rafting trip we took in the Ozarks without the t-shirt from Missouri? Nope. Memories are ingrained. Stuff is not. So it's going. All of it. Eventually.

how to get comments without begging...

So I gather the best way to get comments is to either show off some paper crafting or bitch about my family!

You guys are great. A real ego stroke, with all the nice things said about the book. It is nice - nicer in person than it shows in pictures, and my MIL will love it, her friends will be impressed, and the K can stuff it if she doesn't approve. It's not for her, it's not about her, it's for her Mom, and that's something I think she is losing sight of. (Hmmm... more family bashing - wonder if this will push the comments into the double digits again?)

The K found out I'm making cupcakes instead of a cake, and surprisingly she wasn't completely peeved. She did mention that we did a cake for the FIL, and maybe we should do the same. I mentioned something about growth and embracing change, and that she was welcome to bake if she wanted.

Cupcakes it is...

tomorrow - real knitting! new stuff, even! Really!

family...

...can't live with them, can't kill them and get away with it.

Party planning for my MIL's 80th birthday continues. The Kommandant (as I've taken to calling my one sister-in-law), continues to ask for our opinions, so she can ignore them all. "Control Freak" does not even begin to describe her. My husband is in London on business today, and since she lives there, he will be meeting her for dinner. I want to be a fly on the wall for that dinner conversation...

I've taken on aspects of the party where she can't interfere. I'm making the guest book, so people can leave memories and remembrances of MIL. I hate those generic ones where you sign your name and date - no room to write a greeting or anything. So I've embraced my paper crafting mojo (and the fact I have easy access to stuff), and made this: (her picture and name have been removed, but they go in those two white spots...) It's an 8" x 8" scrapbook, and I've replaced the pages with cardstock you can write on.

(okay, her name is not removed here, but it's just her first name, and her kindergarten picture - I'm pretty sure she's not recognizable from this...)

Each page is different - there are specific pages for her grandchildren and kids to sign, and the rest are just pretty (I hope). It's her style, all flowery and such, so I hope she likes it. I think she will - the K will probably not, since she hasn't seen it and has no control over it. (She did ask me when she could she what I have so far, and I told her "the day of the party".) Yes, I'm a three year old when it comes to dealing with things and people that annoy me...

The other thing I'm doing is the cake. But I'm making cupcakes instead (each will have a moulded chocolate 80 on top. My MIL will love it (she loves cupcakes), but the K will probably have kittens, because it's not "normal". And yes, she'll find out on the day of the party.

I'm going to need plenty of something numbing that day...

quick knit

Our Guild donates items to charity each December, and I try to knit up a few items to add to the pile. Hats are always good since they're easy and somewhat mindless, and always needed. Especially for boys. It seems charities get a much higher percentage of girl items - not surprising - pink and pretty is always easier than dark and plain. SO I grabbed a bunch of grey, brown and charcoal Classic Merino and have been cranking out hats. Here's that latest, cast on and made while deciding on which of my existing projects I want to continue on. (I also needed a small compact and portable project to take to basketball games and swimming lessons, and I didn't have a sock I wanted to work on.)

It's not blocked yet, but I love the brown and grey together. This will join the other hats I've already knit, ready for our December meeting when the pile in the middle of the room gets increasing bigger as each knitter adds her donations! I'm hoping to get a few more done, with the remainders of the Classic Merino balls I have lying around.

And just because I think this post needs another picture, here's a shot of some fall colour - Thanksgiving weekend, taken during a long walk down our cottage road.

fickle? who me?

So I'm fickle. So what? Variety is the spice of life, right? This is a representation of the current projects I have on the go right now. I say current, because this pile does not even come close to all the UFO's I have hanging around, these are just the ones that get attention at the moment. Starting with the big one on the bottom - the olive green, rayon and cotton "make it up as I go" cardigan. I'm still in love with this, and after a quick tryst with the Mohair cardigan, I'm back knitting on this. Mostly stockinette (there are columns of garter stitch in there that I'm hoping to morph into a great bottom treatment when I get there. Wish me luck...), so it's great mindless TV knitting.

Starting at the top, a quick charity hat using up the lovely blue and brown yarn recovered from my Romulan jacket fiasco. Someone will love it.

Then there's a blue cotton sock for my husband. He saw my cotton socks and the ones I made for my Mom, and asked for a pair of his own. He loves the wool, but there are days that demand cotton, he says. Since I like having a sock on the go, this is the go-to one.

The lovely cream coloured blob there is an ancient Fiddlesticks lace scarf - I started this at least two years ago, and it got buried. I recently unearthed it, and when I need a challenge or something to occupy my mind so I won't kill anyone (cough*family members*cough), this is it.

Then, because I can't seem to put the crochet down, another bag, this time using 100% hemp in a beautiful green. May be a keeper, may be a gift.

I just realized that I'm missing the never ending Montego Bay scarf from this pile - it's still around, gets looked at every now and then, but the ball still refuses to shrink.

There's also a couple of other socks around somewhere - I think I need to go through some bags and baskets to find things. Who knows? I may find another treasure like the Fiddlesticks scarf.

pretty... and quick!

I finished Steph's Pretty Thing cowl a while back, and just got around to blocking it. As you recall, I went up a needle size or so, and used heavier wool than recommended, because I really wanted to make this with the Baby Llama wool I had. Although the cowl turned out a bit bigger than the pattern, I quite like the folded-over effect.

Super soft, super warm, great pattern. the actual colour is a deep rich chocolate brown - not represented well in ANY of these pictures!

I plan on making more of these - possibly adding some horizontal repeats to make it wider, using a gossamer type yarn to make it like a hood - large enough to pull right up over the head. I love patterns that offer versatility that way - longer, shorter, wider, thinner - all easy to adapt to.

Great job, Steph!

makes me want to knit this...

Susan (formerly LuckyCanuck) gave up blogging a while ago, but is still knitting up a storm, and has kindly allowed me to show off her work here. She finished up the Gretel tee, and here it is blocking: and here's a modeled shot:

Specs: (directly quoted from Susan)

"Slanting Gretel Tee, IW Fall 2009. Made with about 5 skeins of Knit Picks Andean Treasure (100% baby alpaca sport weight) in Sapphire. I made the smallest size and I’m glad I did. I wanted a fitted sweater. You don’t want this one baggy. I can’t remember the needle size I used but it was about 3mm to accommodate my loose tension. Gauge swatch? Me? Not a chance. Note on the alpaca – I wore it yesterday it’s already pilled on the bum. A very delicate yarn, so I will have to use my yarn pumice a lot. Another suggestion for yarn – something with a very smooth hand. This alpaca is a bit fuzzy, shows the cable texture well but a smoother yarn would really highlight it. Super easy pattern with no errors and a fairly quick knit. Highly recommended if you dislike cables, like me. Makes me want to do more now!"

Nice job Susan!

cottage knitting

We spent the Thanksgiving weekend at the cottage, as is our norm. Lots of turkey and accompaniments, good family time - it's a great way to spend 3 days.

I also get a fair amount of knitting time - although it's a major work weekend (boats, docks and water systems come out, cupboards get cleared out to deter critters looking for snacks, and we basically get the place ready for winter habitation (fewer visits, so we shut it down in between), there always seems to be enough time to sit with wool and needles.

The silvery grey wool/silk/bamboo sequined blend I got in Kitchener became this: Storm Cloud Shawlette. Nice pattern, and it shows off the sequins nicely, but it's a tad on the small size. I'm either going to try to block it out bigger, or I'm going to frog the whole thing and find a comparable yarn to mix it with to stretch it out, or perhaps even find a better pattern for it. Even so - a nice yarn to knit with, even if it did discolour my fingers while knitting - must remember to try to set the dye when I block it.

I also got a lot of work done on the second crochet bag - this is a linen blend yarn, and the bag just needs a handle, which was started after this picture was taken, and is already more than halfway done. My mom is a fan of all things pink, and I think this dark rose bag may just be for her. She shops at this market near her place (where I worked for years during high school), and buys just what one person needs. This bag is the perfect size for her.

when I start wearing socks, these will be first

I finished another pair of cotton-Lycra socks, and these are for me! One, I love the colour combination of blue and gold, with some orange tones tossed in. Two, they are seriously comfortable. So when sock weather rolls around, I'm ready. Okay, I know it's already here for some, but I can't give up my beloved flip flops yet.

(sorry for the orangi-ness of the pictures - darkness + fluorescent lighting...)

Yes, I know we have had frost, and rain and at the cottage, even some snow flurries, but really, until there is a layer of snow on the ground, I'm going shoeless and sockless for as long as I can. Plus, it's become a matter of honour. Some people have competitions as to when the heat gets turned on, around my office, there's a pool going based on my footwear. People have picked a day when I will actually wear closed toe shoes with socks. I'm not allowed to know who's in the pool, or what day they've chosen, so as to keep it as impartial as possible. However, I'm pretty sure I know the people who have already lost, and I have a pretty good idea how many are still in - when the CFO drops by my desk to "chat" each morning, I get the feeling he's still in! (I get allowances for days when I have to wear a skirt or other clothing inappropriate to flip flops - I do have meetings with outside people...)

it really is pretty...

I'm not much of a bandwagon jumper, although at times, it may seem that way. I did make the February Lady Sweater, and I did make a Kauni (although I used the yarn, I made up my own pattern). But I've never made a Clapotis or a pair of Monkey socks - neither pattern grabs me. I make patterns I like, or fit a need - like for a gift.

Stephanie's Pretty Thing is that. It's a great pattern that I like (okay, love), and it fits a need. It will make perfect gifts for friends and family. It looks complicated and time consuming and they will be very impressed, whereas it's a pretty straightforward knit that's very enjoyable and quick.

This first one is for me. I'm using the baby llama I got in Kitchener, and a slightly larger needle (4.0mm) to match the yarn better and to adjust for my giant sized melon head. There is not a word I can come up with that can describe the softness of this yarn. I knit the amount shown above in the car on the way home from the cottage and a bit at home. It's that fast.

Call me a bandwagon jumper if you will, but this is a pattern that I will make again and again, changing it up to suit the user and the yarn.

short break

Sorry all, but I'll be off line for a bit. Stuff going on that's taking up all my time and energy. It's all good (okay, mostly good), and with the Thanksgiving weekend coming up - I'll be away from the blog until at least Tuesday.
Talk amongst yourselves...

what is that? Really? its...

CROCHET?

Yes, and I blame Carol completely for this. She posted her version, and the very easy pattern, and I went into the stash, hunted down some cotton to try it out, and 2 days later I had the blue one, then I found some single balls of linen and some hemp, and well, single balls aren't useful for anything, and some of my friends and family have dropped hints about reusable bags (I think they are after sewn ones, but we'll see...), and well, then I found myself with hook in hand.

(I'm pretty sure I haven't convinced anyone of anything other than the fact that I am a complete startitis fan, and just felt the need to make these.)

But there have been requests for bags, so I'm thinking this is a nice change for me while I decide on my next project. (or which of my current projects I may pick up again.)

It's a ridiculously easy pattern, and once into the mesh part is completely mindless (as long as you can count to five) and great for watching tv.

I sort of screwed up the blue bag - I made the bottom a touch tight, I think, as it's more of a cone shape than a flat disk, but I paid better attention to the red linen one and got that bottom to lie flat. However, the blue bag still works, so no big deal.

mo jacket, continued

Brenda had asked for the "deets" on this jacket, so I thought I should share. This was a Fleece Artist Kit, bought at the Kitchener Waterloo Knitters Fair in September. It's a basic Fleece Artist Pattern that comes with a skein of Mohair, approximately 450-500 metres. It is only in one size, but figure if it fits me, it will be roomy on anyone that wears less that a size 14. There's a fair degree of stretch in the fabric, as it's knitted on 7mm (? maybe 8mm) needles. Like all Fleece artist patterns, it assumes you have a working knowledge of knitting. It really is just a boxy, waist length jacket with set in sleeves.

I bought another hank of Mohair at Dye-Version in green tones, since the yardage was virtually the same, and will make another one with minor mods (a little longer, maybe a button band treatment, and a different collar). I may keep this as an Olympic project - I know it's almost cheating to have a project I know I have a good chance of completing in time, but I'm going to make it more challenging by changing it up and adding a zipper this time around. I also know that February is going to be a challenge for me - it's a ridiculously busy time in my job, as we determine upcoming licenses and stuff, so that's another challenge.
Then again, I might not wait. I may just start this puppy sooner...

Tomorrow, a surprise!

the Mo Jacket

It's done and being worn, and I even have crappy pictures to prove it! The lighting in our office bathroom at 7am sucks, and taking one's own picture in a mirror is not easy.

And just to prove that I DO love my flip flops - here's my footwear on a day where I'm wearing a mohair sweater, shirt and t-shirt:

I meant to take a picture of it on the mannequin to show it a bit better, but I ran out of time last night.

I think I'm going to wind the green mix mohair and make this again - I may make it a touch longer, since the green mohair has a bit more yardage, and I will probably change the collar to something a little less prominent, but otherwise - a great pattern.