Bring on the Baby Knitting!

It's official! Baby knitting has started! Not for me, of course, but for my cousin's baby, who should be coming sometime in March. I'm so excited! I have inklings that it's a boy, but who knows? Well, the parents do, but they aren't telling (damn them), so I'll just have to knit generic things. Although, I do think there may be a slightly masculine twist on it.

I cast on the Scandivian Jacket by Debbie Bliss, and sheesh, it's pretty. It's pretty HUGE, I mean. The darn thing is as cute as a fricking button, but there's no way it would fit a one-year-old, unless that one-year-old weighs 40 pounds. Oh, well. They can hang onto it until baby does fit.

I started with this yarn, Bernat Handicraft Cotton. Pattern calls for Rowan DK wool, but I prefer cotton when knitting for babies.




I was knitting along happily until -- oops! What the heck is that? What's can't see it?



How's this? Better?








Well, that was stupid. So I rip back that row and keep chugging along. It's a really fast knit, considering I just cast on yesterday and that I'm already (drum roll) done the back!





And a detail of the pattern:









Oh, you're wondering what I got from Make 1 on Boxing Day? Allow me to show you.

First I got all these (40% off) for a lovely stranded project I'll be working on in the near future. Aren't they pretty? I hope the colors work out okay.





Then I got this for my spinning pleasure. It's 4.4 oz of tussah silk top from Curious Creek. 20% off!



And lastly, it was my birthday today, and I got wonderful presents from everybody. I got a niddy noddy from Barb and Toby and a Lazy Kate from Gary, my father-in-law. Also, unexpected by (I think) both Barb and I, I got a lovely set of woolies for my feets.




Aren't they pretty and festive? I love them. They're so nice!!!

That's all for now! Until next time!

Merry Christmas!

Ah. Christmas knitting is over. Let the angels sing. I finished, officially, 24 hours ago, at 11:30 p.m., December 24, 2007. At least it's done. I started in September, and here's how the count goes:



1) Scarf for my mom
2) Scarf for my grandma (remember the first Stolen Moments Wrap?)
3) Knucks for my brother
4) Scarf for my cousin's girlfriend
5) Scarf for my father-in-law's girlfriend
6) Hat for Robbie
7) Spun wool for Barb
8) Spun wool for somebody else (who has not received it yet)



Not bad, eh? The last thing I finished? A second Stolen Moments Wrap for Darlene.





Yes, I put a fringe on it. I thought it really made the scarf. Don't mind the two different colors. The second picture is truer to color, but I like the first picture more. These were both previous to blocking, which I did before I fell asleep.

The holiday was lovely, lots of wine, family, friends, presents (we hit the motherload of practical presents this year, which I'm very happy about), and a minor trip to the urgent care unit. I may have strained my heart muscles while being sick for a while -- but fear not, I am okay. I'm on enough ibuprofen to down a small child, but I'm good.

Yesterday, Christmas Eve, was spent with my family since that's the day that we celebrate Christmas. None of that waiting for morning crap. After a thoroughly filling meal of too much food, we opened gifts, and Elodie really has a hang of it. She got some adorable outfits and great toys that will keep her occupied for at least a week (wink). After getting our exhausted munchkin to bed, Robbie and I set up her toy kitchen and Santa brought some presents over and put them under the tree. I finished the last scarf (yay!), and we settled in for bed.

I was awoken at 7:30 to open Christmas presents. Elodie got a sled among other things, and she really liked her Spidermen that were gifted. Later, my family arrived and Robbie's family showed up. We had Christmas Day brunch at our house, and Elodie opened MORE presents (did I mention that she got sick of presents after a while?). Brunch was great, although it was a lot of cooking. Then we napped. Thank goodness for Elodie's nap times.

At 2:00, we went out to my father-in-law's house. After some visiting, we drove to my father-in-law's girlfriend's daughter's house and had dinner. The dinner was sublime, as usual, and a lovely time was had by all.

We relaxed at home for the rest of the evening, watched some Sound of Music. I also cast on a knit up a gauge swatch for the Spring Shawl Surprise that I'm partaking in this year. I'm very excited, and I hope it will keep me motivated.






Swatch looks great. I'm still using that cone of mystery merino laceweight. Size 3.0 mm needles.

As for tomorrow, it's Boxing Day, and the Boxing Day Sale at Make 1, and you guys, I got a gift certificate for Christmas... THANKS BARB AND TOBY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everybody!!
Good night!

Fluffy McGoodies.

New yarn!!!!



This lovely puffiness is 100% wool. Green with black and white tones and flecks for a lovely heathery yarn. Spun up thick 'n' thin, and then plied with a green thread. We have coils in here as well. About 5 ounces. It WILL be for sale in the store at its grand opening. Watch for more yarn pictures of my latest spins on here TOMORROW!



(this picture kind of blows because I took it with the flash on)


p.s. I have sheep fleece. Six of them. Anybody know how to process it??????? :P

My Daemon.

Seriously can't wait for this movie. Seriously.

No time left.

I'm knitting and ONLY knitting right now. It's nuts. Of course, I'm working and still taking care of my family, but I don't have time to spin. I still have Xmas present to finish, and there's only 28 days until Xmas!!!!! Less than a month!

We had a bad night last night. Elodie had been sick since Thursday, and last night, it peaked with a 102 degree fever. We took her to the Children's Hospital where she was diagnosed with Croupe and was given a few doses of oral steroids. She's home today, along with Robbie who is watching her while mommy works - (procrastinates) - and is THE grumpiest baby EVER. EVER!!! Screaming, whining, crying, throwing food, begging for milk, tossing the milk at you, crying some more. Top it off with a buttload of work because I can't say no to anything, and you have my life at the moment.

Long story short, Elodie and Robbie and I didn't get home until 2:00 last night, and Elodie was up at 9:00 today thanks to a phone call from my contract. :( Le sigh.

Further, I'm more than a little choked right now. See, I had Danish citizenship, but I thought the opportunity to apply for it permanently had passed at the arrival of my 21st birthday. I'd greived my stupidity for not applying and moved on. Last week, I called the consulate to see if there was ANY chance that I could still apply for my dual citizenship to find out that I could've received it until my 22nd birthday. Now I'm doubly bummed for not even checking. I'm going to DK this summer, though, so I'll be marching my little katooshie with my rudimentary Danish-speaking skills to the place in Copenhagen where I can apply, and I'm going to BEG for my citizenship.

The reason I want it so much? It's my heritage. It's the other half of me. It's the place that I spent summers and vacations. It's where half of my family lives, and it's the place in the whole world that I feel like I'm home. :(

Okay. No time to complete this post in a coherent fashion. I have work to finish, dinner to cook, a child to love, a husband to nag and Xmas knitting to finish!!!!

Not Having Fun.

So it went from bad to worse. Remember how my wrists hurt last time I had posted? Add to that a stomach virus and you have happy little me for the first three days this week. I was feverish and shakey and sweaty and seriously thought my girls were leaking like they had shortly after I'd had my daughter, but it turned out that it was an actual bead of sweat (more like a small rivulet) running from my girls to my pants. How disgusting.

I was not having fun this past week. Between trying to work, trying to deal with the dirtiest house I've owned in a while and taking care of the munchkin by myself while Robbie's laughing it up in Jasper, it's been a trying time. The only thing that could console me was my socks. I'm working on a pair of socks from Cat Bordhi's new book, "New Pathways for Sock Knitters." How lovely is this book? I bought it on a whim after reading a great review by The Tangled Arts. Thanks, T! I agree. Great book! *thumbs up*

Currently, if you want to hear how awesome my night is going, I have 27 minutes of a 65 minute file finished that is due for tomorrow, meaning I still have and hour and a half of work left to finish tonight. Further, I have a 60 minute file due on Sunday and a 50 minute file due on Monday. Obviously, I'm working this weekend.

To make things every better, right now, Elodie is being weaned from her soother. I really did put it off too long. First it was going to be at three months, then six, then a year, then after she cut her molars. Now? 19 months and just leaving her soother. :( What a rough night tonight will be. There's always been an excuse before. She was sick or we were in Newfoundland or she was cutting a tooth or she was especially grumpy or mommy had a lot of work to do or daddy was tired. NOT ANYMORE!

I feel my will crumbling. Time to drink. Then maybe curl up in a nice bath for a few hours until she's officially asleep and I'll type after that. :\

Xmas knitting is nearly complete with only two halves of scarves, half a toque and one mitten to finish. For good measure, I'm probably going to finish the sweater that I started six months ago for Elodie so she can wear it for Xmas morning. :) Thank goodness SOMETHING is going well tonight.

K

Late for pictures.

Ok. I apologize. It's been a rough couple of weeks. First, I like money, so I've been working 8-10 hours a day, trying to save a bit before xmas. Second, I overworked myself and ended up hurting my hands fairly significantly. I was having burning pain all in my wrists when I worked, and it was NOT good. I was rather concerned that it could be carpal tunnel, a dangerous thing for a transcriptionist. After sleeping with a wrist brace on for a few nights and taking the weekend off of typing, my wrists feel much better, although they're still not 100%.

Without further ado, I give you pictures!!!!

I promised you pictures of my wheel, an Ashford Traditional:





See the split in the wheel?? The one between the spokes? THAT is the damage.





The wheel is great. It's well-broken in, and I've been pampering it with a nice, thorough oil every week. These pictures were taken before I oiled it, so it does look a bit nicer now. The wood has swelled since oiling it so often, and the split is almost gone. I've put some glue in there for good measure.

On to the yarns!!!!

I'm not too happy with this one. It's 100% Alpaca. Red laceweight alpaca plied with an undyed single. It's warm, but I just don't like the look. Very thin. Like, maybe sport weight?



Here comes the next. I call it Toby because it's for Toby's Xmas present. It's also 100% undyed alpaca. VERY warm.




OKAY! TOBY! HIDE YOUR EYES!!!!!!!!



That's the scarf. Like??? It's got a bit of red thread knit into about three rows to give a nice, subtle stripe.

Finally, Robbie's yarn.






It's been navajo plied (which I love), and is self-striping. I REALLY love this yarn. Can you tell? I only took about a billion pictures. There is other yarns, but I'm honestly too lazy to take pictures of them. LOL! I've done a few more sock yarns, which turned out much better than my first attempt. If you haven't noticed, I've pretty much stopped posting knitting. This is NOT because I've stopped knitting. It's because they're Xmas presents, and I WILL NOT ruin the surprise!!!!

Anyway, there's about a pound of yarn in the mail, on its way to me. I'm excited. It's a test-order from a fleece company, and if it's nice, I'm going to be ordering A LOT more so that I can keep my store well-stocked.

Finally. Three words. ORGANIC SHEEP FLEECE. I went to Millarville this weekend with my mom and gramma, and met a sheep farmer. Turns out he has fleece. LOTS of fleece but never even thought about selling it to handspinners. Oh, I'm going to buy. Oh yes.

Opening Soon.

I have officially gotten myself an Etsy store. Think Ebay but no bidding and full of crafty happiness. The grand opening will be December 15/2007, but do check it out. I've got it all set up and ready for my yarn!
http://plied.etsy.com

I'm so Stupid

Yeah. Just lil' stupid me. I took all my pictures, was all set to load them on the computer, got them loaded and then... deleted them. Ack!

So I'm back at square one. It snowed here last night, so everything is muddy and gross. Gimme a few days (to get out of my funk) and I'll post the *new and improved* (aka retaken) pictures again.

*sigh*

It's Picture Day!

Remember elementary school when you'd get all pretty for picture day? Well, tomorrow is picture day, and the new yarn is spun, dried and ready for its closeup! Stay tuned!

Up Late

I'm just sitting here at my computer, doing some extra work so that I'm not glued to the crappy thing all day tomorrow. I decided to check my incoming number with analytics today (I'm a little obsessed) and there were well over 100 hits today. WOW. From as far away as Instanbul, Denmark, New Zealand, Japan -- crazy. Le power du Craftster.

Heard of Craftster? If you haven't, you are missing out. Craftster has, well, crafts. Full of 'em. You can post your finished crafts for all to see, browse finished crafts, WIPs (work-in-progress for you non-obsessed) and get all these great ideas and tutorials and maybe just have a bit of the talent rub off. It's wicked. Anyway, I posted the Stolen Moments Wrap with a link back to the page with the wrap on it, and BANG! Hundreds of people show up.

It's kind of like when you have a party as a teenager and you tell five friends, and then they tell five friends who tell five friends who print out flyers and bring a keg. Soon, your house is a hopping. Except in this case, your friends are flying in from all over the world, 15 different countries, to be exact. And they leave your house clean. Ah, the internet. Talk about your Globalization.

Anyways, no new knitterly things to blog about. Robbie uploaded more Elodie videos. She's so cute. I spun up some more sock yarn (a heavier, 3-ply yarn because I want really warm socks for winter). I'm also going to be opening my own yarn store via the internet for now in a few months. Things are in the works, so do stay tuned.

And Toby, the Artemis yarn is on hold. :) You can help me at Christmas if you feel so inclined.

G.

Apparently I need to spice this place up a bit.

Picture Time!

It's a beautiful day here, at 20 degrees. Very unusual for the middle of October, but I decided not to waste it and hurried outside with my camera to get some lovely pictures in the sun. I must have looked like a nut job surrounded by all my yarn in my front yard. :) I'm not really sure if I can put this post into a neat and orderly fashion, but I'll try.

First, Here's a few more pictures of the Stolen Moments Wrap by Amy Swenson. It's a lovely thing. I'll be sad to see it go come Xmas time.

Next up, we have some pictures of other Xmas presents in the works.

This is the Branching Out scarf, which I am calling the "Little Branching Out" simply because I'm using smaller needles than called for, making for tighter stitches. It's done in Rowan Felted Tweed on size 4 mm needles.

Next up is a half-completed project, Knucks from Knitty. These are also done in Rowan Felted Tweed for my little brother. He's a pilot, so I'll be spelling "Fly Boy" on the back of them.

The kid has huge hands. As you can probably barely make out, a little lady bug came to visit. He must be a little camera shy, though, because when I tried to take his picture, he scarpered.

On to spinning! I bought this from Make 1 last weekend when Robbie left.

It's one pound of superwash in some lovely berry colors. I wanted it to self-stripe for the project I'm working on with it, so I spun it into a lovely thick 'n' thin single. Then I plied it with a beaded this:

Remember the laceweight I got at the thrift store back in March? Yeah. I beaded it and plied it with my thick 'n' thin single and got this:

Whatever could that be in the background?

Hmmmm....looks familiar. (The beads photographed much brighter than they actually are. They're really quite a dark blue.)

Now it really looks familiar.

Who guessed it? Anybody? It's the latest (and final) rendition of the Plied Scarf, which is almost done. I'm calling the colorway "Newfie Twilight," since it reminds me of those beautiful sunsets over the ocean where the stars are just starting to come out. Once the pattern's out, I'll be offering kits of the pattern and beaded yarn for sale RIGHT HERE! YAY!

Next on the agenda, I'm finished spinning that sock yarn. SEVEN SKEINS OF IT!

I'll be gifting two skeins of it (the already wound ball in the centre) to knittinggrammy because she is the sock pro (and I missed her birthday). :)

I spun up 50 grams of 100% silk, which I need to knit into a Slanted Eyelet Scarf by Friday. This is only 1/3 of it. The rest is drying in my kitchen as we speak.

And finally, I went to Legacy Studio last Friday with Kyla, and I've found my new happy fibre place. I bought this:

Eight ounces of happy. I also got this:

Eight ounces of undyed alpaca pencil roving. Oh, I love it.

So that's what I did this week. I know it looks like a lot, but it still seems like I've accomplished nothing. My stash has hardly shrunk (I wonder why). Oh, I love spinning. I REALLY do. Look for yarns for sale here in the future. :)