Saturday, December 24, 2005

Christmas Chaos

Created by me, of course. Two days ago (December 22nd), around noon, I decided that the scarf I was knitting for my dad SUCKED. I'm not happy with the moss stitch, and the cable is coming out really, really stiff. It might loosen up with washing, but I just couldn't see the sense in continuing, if it wasn't going to work. Here's the scarf:

So, what do I do? I head across the street (to
the Knit Cafe) in search of a new project to start, only 60 hours before Christmas. Yes, Virginia, I am nuts. Did I find anything? No. The Knit Cafe has a great selection of yarn, but nothing that would suit my conservative dad. I did come out with a copy of Stitch 'n Bitch Nation though! So, after a long day at work, I headed home and walked over to the Naked Sheep. Turns out they closed at 6, and I was way later than that..... but luckily Denny was still there! Yay! Within two minutes she had hooked me up with two balls of Rowan Classic Soft Tweed in "blanket" which is a nice grey, and it's oh so soft! Denny rocks. I decided on the "Warm Fuzzies" Scarf from Stitch ' Bitch Nation, and thought I would be working at until all hours on Christmas Eve. But low and behold, here we are at 1:30 in the afternoon on Christmas Eve, and it is finished and wrapped! A Christmas Miracle maybe?! So, I'm off to have a wee nap before heading to my parents for lots of food and wine.....
Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 18, 2005

I'm still here, and I'm still Knitting!

Sorry, I guess the holiday craziness had made me a little anti social.
This is a picture heavy post, so I'll babble for a bit while the photos load......

My 33rd birthday was last week. I wasn't planning on doing anything, but my brother said he wanted to take me out. So I invited a few other friends that live nearby, and a group of friends from high school. We just went to the bar across the street and had a few drinks. It was a really nice time. I feel so lucky that i have such good friends. i felt pretty crappy the next day though.
I think I'm getting a little old for shooters.

The weekend before, I went out for my friend Heidi's birthday. She likes to go dancing... so off we went! I haven't been out dancing in ages! i used to love it, but it took me a while to get into it. I sat in the corner with the boys for the first bit, but I did finally get up. I had a great time, but I really wish that "dancing" wasn't such an open invitation to get hit on. It was really quite annoying.

I bid on some yarn on ebay today.... I have never done that before. It's really stressful, I keep checking to see if I'm still "winning". It ends tomorrow evening, so hopefully the stress will end, and I'll have some great new yarn on the way. I have an idea for a diaper bag for my friend Tracey... so I want to get started on it over the holidays!

Anyway, on with the knitting news.
I've been working on Christmas presents:
This is the lace scarf I started after the needlework show. The yarn and pattern are from Headwater Wools. It was my first attempt at lace knitting. I love the way it looks, but I found it more difficult to do than cables, because I couldn't get a handle on the pattern (I had to keep counting and following the chart), I could never visualize where I was, like I can with most patterns. Maybe that's the way it works, or maybe it will just take some more practice!
The pointy spots on the side are from where I pinned it while blocking it. I'm assuming (hoping!) they'll go away with some wear.




This is another scarf I whipped up the other day, because I realized I had knit something for my sister, dad and brother, but not for my mom- Oops! It's Patina yarn from The Cat's Meow.
I found the yarn at Zellers, so I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but I think I really like it, I'm not sure I want to give it away! I think I'll give it to my sister though, and give the lace one to my mom.









This is a pic of Griffen wearing her "skull" cap. I am so pleased with how it turned out! We saw similar ones at the One of a Kind Craft Show last month, but she was selling them for $50! Can you believe it, for an infant hat!? They were made out of merino, while mine is made of acrylic, but it was pretty scratchy, and I would never want to put it on a baby's head.

This is another scarf that only took me a couple of hours. I knit it for a friend at work who makes fun of the fact that I knit so much! It's a Lion's Brand ribbon yarn, done with really big needles, so I had to keep an eye on my stitches, because picking up dropped ones was close to impossible!


Remember the knit pig? He looks a little like a deflated pig here.....


Here is is completed, I love his face, I think he has a lot of character!


And here's a little "spherey" (from Jess Hutchison's book) I whipped up this weekend for Tony and Alesya's baby Sophia, whom I met for the first time today. I like how the doll looks, but I don't like the colours very much. I think I should have done her legs in a brighter colour, rather than a pastel.



Today.... I am working on a hat for me. It's in some Manos that I picked up like a year ago, and have tried to knit a simple hat in twice before, but always messed something up.... hopefully third time is a charm!