Message for Santa...

Need Yarn!

For some strange reason, I had a craving for colorful yarn yesterday. I have a reasonable stash, but somehow nothing seemed colorful enough. So, I braved the snow storm and made my way to Romni wool ( and managed not to get the traditional parking ticket). My eyes were satisfied with the colour feast, and I managed to come back home with enough yarn to make three scarves: from Wisdom Yarns, Poems colour 553; from Patons, SWS in Natural Earth; from Katia, Dulce Plus in colour 52.

On with the scarves...

Scarf done

Although I had finished this scarf last week, I was being lazy about weaving the loose ends in, and posting it. I finally gave myself a good kick in the behind, and finished the project (and might even wrap it tonight). The yarn is Paton's SWS (Soy Wool Stripes) in Natural Navy. The colours are more accurate on the pic where the scarf is rolled. I liked it so much that I added a few balls on my Christmas wishlist.

More Christmas knitting to do.... and planning on some knitting for myself for the new year.

New needles, and another Webkinz sweater

Here are my new customized needles. Signature Needle Arts. lets you chose the size, tip, lenght and cap of your needles. I chose the stiletto tip, and it's just perfect for the my "tight knitting". The colour of the needles is determined by the size. Mine were 4.5, and the cap is spiral. They really slide well, and I'm thinking of investing in another pair. Including shipping, it's an affordable $38 luxury.

I have made another sweater for my nieces Webkinz. I may knit one for each of their pet (eight in total, not counting what they'll get for Christmas). One of them asked me if I would knit one for her friend's Webkinz too. I may knit a few so they may give them as Christmas presents to their friends.

Webkinz sweater

Like so many kids all over North America, my nieces are just crazy about Webkinz. I must admit, I like them too, and I log into their account every day to make sure they don't miss out on their "regular maintenance". Of course, the nieces were thrilled to hear that a clothing line was launched. They each got a pair of pants, and a sweater. I borrowed the "handknit" sweater(totally machine made), and I just knitted another one with leftover yarn. First pic is the Webkinz version, second is mine. The model is a Christmas gift for one of the nieces. Shhhhhhhhh, don't tell!

Soooo tired this morning...

Yummy yarn

I just received some new yarn I ordered from Pick up Sticks. The colours are just yummy, especially the Applelaine "Cotton Candy". The red next to it is "MacIntosh", and the brown tone is "Godiva". All these food inspired names make me hungry, but let's not forget to mention the Cherry Hill "Spanish Moss". Not as tasty, but very pretty.

Socks and a scarf

I liked the Applelaine's "Army Surplus"so much, that I ordered more yarn and made another pair for my friend's husband for Christmas. Both their Christmas presents are knitted now, and I feel a little less stressed as I cross off the names on my list. Sophie and hubby are modeling the new socks. There's probably enough left to make another small adult pair. After the rush to meet the Christmas deadline is over, I will have to knit a few pairs for myself, as I've noticed a few pairs that look worn out, and almost past the darning stage.

A while back (March I think), I had bought a soy yarn by Patons, called SWS (for soy wool stripes). I was going to knit "My-so-called-scarf" with it, but decided against it last minute (please don't laugh, I tried to figure out the stitch from the pattern for a half hour then gave up), and went for this instead. I really like the stripes effect (the colour is called Natural Navy), and it's soft enough for my sensitive skin hubby. Yup, Christmas gift!

Yes, another pair of socks

So this is what I've been up to recently... Not much knitting, I must admit. One pair of children's socks for my niece Jessica, and yarn winding. All Applelaine. The socks are in "Army Surplus", the first colour of ball is "Purple Haze" and this will knit up a pair of socks for me. Next up is "Garden Party", and then "Winter Dawn" which I used in a previous pair of socks.

Two sad things happened in the past month, which I find hard to post about. My husband's aunt died, and a friend of mine has been diagnosed with stage four cancer... There, I've done it, I've posted about it.

B.W.O

I came across this and I must admit, I like it.

Really, my knitting has suffered since my last post, and I don't have much to post about. I'll be getting back to my knitting this week, and do I ever need to catch up.

I can't believe October is here!

I can't believe October is here! With this beautiful weather, it still feels like August. That would explain why I'm late starting my Christmas knitting. Yes, it is time to knit for Christmas gifts. Just less than three months to go.

Since this warm weather is bound to come to an end (as early as tomorrow), I decided to pick up an almost forgotten project, and complete it: Sophie's blanket. Despite the breaking record heat outside, Sophie insisted on trying it out to "see if it fits". Looks like it's to the queen's satisfaction, and won't be frogged.

I also have been knitting (surprise, surprise) a pair of socks. The yarn used is from Applelaine and the colour is appropriately called blueberry. Ir really reminds me of the different hues of a blueberry. The new socks are modelled by my husband, as the recipient has much larger feet than me.

Sophie's been cheating on me!

You read right, she's been cheating on me. With my own sister! She spent most of the weekend on my sister's lap as soon as the crochet came out. Admittedly, she looks real good in red, and I was only knitting on a pair of socks, so not much to keep her warm. My sister's throw is much bigger, but it's not for Sophie.

In a previous post, I mentionned strarting a sweater for my mom. Here's a picture of the pattern. I've had it for at least six years, if not more. Of course, the original yarn used in the pattern must be discontinued, but I got got a similar gauge with Amazon DK, an oatmeal mercerized cotton.

And it's done

Well after my fifth time frogging the one sock, there it is, the completed pair modeled by my sister. In a previous post, I had mistakenly mentioned the colour as Angels, but it's actually Libertine (quite a difference in terms, sorry if I offended any angels or libertines!).

In other knitterly news, I have started a sweater for my Mom. We were discussing projects we had knitted in the past, and she mentionned that sweater. She remembered it was quite comfortable, but unfortunately it is now a bit too short around the waist area. Luckily, I had some cotton waiting to be knitted into something.

Just frogging....

For some reason, my Sweet Georgia socks are not looking the same. For years now I've been knitting both socks at the same time, just to make sure they're (almost) exactly the same (sizewise, and patternwise). For the fourth time, I've frogged the one sock that had an area where the stripe pattern was breaking and forming a spot instead. I think this time it's looking like stripes, but a bit more diagonal than the other sock. Oh well, at least it's stripes...Grrrrr!

New sock goes to Thousand Islands

I got my repaired camera back on time for our weekend trip to Thousand Island. I have also started a pair of socks, and decided to pull a Yarn Harlot shot. The shot was taken after it got too dark to knit, and when traffic started slowing down. What was supposed to be a three hour drive, took almost an extra hour (and that's with one fifteen minute stop). The yarn is Sweet Georgia, and is called Angels. It was part of my birthday yarnmania purchases.

The town where we stayed in the Thousand Island area is called Gananoque. It's a beautiful town, but it feels empty without a yarn store (or at least not in the main part of the town). We went for a boat tour in one of the big tourist boats the first day, and chartered a small boat the next day. The chartered tour was much more pleasant and Captain Dave, a lifelong resident, had lots of interesting annectdotes about the area. On top of all the expected cottages owned by rich and/or somewhat famous people, Captain Dave added some local history and ecology.

Unfortunately, Sophie didn't come with us, but here's where she would have waited outside when we went for ice cream at Nana Splitz.

This is the cottage I really like, as it reminds me of my grand-parent's house in New-Brunswick. Of course, their house wasn't built on a semi-private island.