What a ride...

Well, once the gifts were wrapped,
the cookies decorated (with assistance, of course), and the blackmail efforts put forth , we had ourselves a wonderful Christmas! I only hope yours was as much fun - I now find myself the owner of an iTouch, which, for a wannabe-techie like me, is a total blast to play with!

The kids got an XBox 360, with Guitar Hero II, and this has proven to be the hit of the party - I pretty much suck, but get such a kick out of it that I don't care...

Handknitted gifts were finished on time (okay, one with only about 1 hour to spare before being handed over, but it was done, okay?!):
Grinchy socks from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, with my own label, thanks to Carole ;

Loskins socks, made with Dream in Color 'Smooshy', Happy Forest colourway (which I will have to make something from for me because I am totally enamoured with the colour - and I don't usually like green...);

and a Felted Striped Tote from One Skein, using STASH Lion Brand Wool and Paton's Classic Wool (it's functional and virtuous).

Stash enhancement has also occurred, but I'll save it for the next post...

I am still slogging - yes, that's right, it's now a slog - away on my niece's Wallaby - sleeves attached, so just shoulder shaping and the hood and I'm golden, and then comes the hard part - deciding what to cast on for me. Too many ideas, too many possibilities, swirling around in an already overloaded, hormonally kicked-to-shit mind... I am hoping to make a decision soon, and cast something on -

silly, isn't it? To have this much trouble finding something to make for myself? I have the makings for many wonderful things but can't seem to narrow my focus... I may have to ask my sons to help me with this, and then I'll do what my mother has always done - take their suggestions and do the complete opposite... or not... I can't decide...

Happy, happy

Criss Angel and Harry Houdini hope you had a sincerely spooky Halloween
-
they did...

Since last we spoke, I have been witness to sites only seen in Toronto:
- it's hard to make out, but there's a guy walking with a canoe on his shoulders, under the new Michael Lee Chin Crystal at the ROM.

I have appreciated the juxtaposition of old and new

I have accompanied Ben's grade 6 class to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, where we enjoyed lunch under the bomb bay of a Lancaster plane, and I experienced the best field trip ever!
(Yes, Ben is trying to look thoughtful, perhaps even pensive, here)

I finished and sent off my Sock Wars weapon

Project: Sock Wars sock, "Scar" Pattern

Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Mini-Merino - from STASH!!

Needles: 3.5mm

Started: October 13, 2007

Finished and Mailed: October 27, 2007

I have cast on new socks, hopefully for myself, using absolutely scrumptious Dream in Colour 'Smooshy' sock yarn purchased from Connie at Pick Up Sticks, in the Happy Forest colourway I am not a green person, but I cannot tell you how deeply I love these - the subtle variations in colour are just wonderful - I may have to wrap these socks around my head so that everyone can appreciate the depth of colour...

I have made yet another trek to the magic stores in Toronto with my sons, and found this label on a box, which opened up a whole whack of interesting questions.

And because we felt touristy, we also took pictures of a billboard I have always liked,

found at the corner of Queen and Bathurst...

I hope I never outgrow my touristy side...

now I must de-Halloween the house before we go to see Jerry Seinfeld's new film, Bee Movie - I love Jerry Seinfeld with all my heart, because he makes me laugh - please, Jerry, don't disappoint me...

Howdy, howdy, howdy!*

*Whoever can tell me who said this, and in what film, gets a skein of Cherry Tree Hill supersock merino yarn in the Monet colourway - no fooling!



busy, busy, busy here, finishing projects - the red Lake Placid Pullover for Artisan Knitworks, the brown frilled shrug for Cindy at Apple Laine (both of which I forgot to photograph before mailing), a Rowan sweater for my LYS (and thanks to Wannietta, I know exactly how many ends I wove in here - a f*&ktillion)

working on projects - a Louisa Harding wrap and a brown silk/cashmere scarf for the store (the yardage on this scarf yarn is incredible - it will not end!!), my entry for Sock Wars (still not done, but plugging away);

and chomping at the bit to start new ones - a Wonderful Wallaby for my niece who is having a birthday soon, and just too many other things for me. I am still hyperventilating at the number of projects I want to make, and am totally surprised by my inability to make a decision.



Oh, well, it's a moot point for now anyhow...



I did see the Red Frilled Shrug I made on Cindy's website, which thrilled me no end!



The boys and I were LOVING the 80 degree weather on the weekend - we went to a pumpkin farm on Sunday - did the hay ride to a 4-acre corn maze, did a little potato chucking, then onto the pumpkin patch itself, where we picked our favourites and toted them back to the van, only to find that we had been blocked in by a not-too-intelligent, way-too-enthusiastic parking attendant - 20 minutes of backing and forthing on a steep grassy hill and we were out of there relatively unscathed... not happy, but unscathed...



New sock club stuff came this week - I love sock clubs, it's almost like free sock yarn because it's already been paid for, and you never know what's coming, and as we all know, sock yarns don't count as stash...

STR, in a gorgeous colour and great pattern, and the coolest extras that scared the hell out of me when I opened the envelope and they fell out

and from Make 1 Yarns, which I am totally in love with - the colours, the pattern - just love this one

After our wonderfully warm Sunday and Monday, we had some nasty cold rain, and it is now officially fall. I am always sad to see the end of summer - shorts and bare feet, vacation - but am slowly getting my head around the change... this helps, but it's still slow...

when next we meet, I'll tell you about what I've found in my quest to organize...

Warning: Graphic Photo Ahead...

They're here already! You're next... you're next...... you're next........
Kevin McCarthy, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1956

Yes, it's another fabulously steamy day here in summer vacationland, the place where you'll hear such phrases as: What's there to do today? But it's too hot to go outside! Oh, I'll read later... And a personal favourite: How come we always have to clean our room when there's nothing else to do?

I, on the other hand, am never bored,which I expect displeases those who are younger even more - just finished the sample shrug for Apple Laine
I think the colours look like a watercolour painting, and I love the lace patterns. Being slightly perceptually challenged, however, it took me a LONG time to figure out how this would be worn - there's no head hole. Two armholes, but nowhere for your head to go. I did, finally, figure it out, even though it's not for me so it's not that important that I get it. But still, nice to have a visual of what's taken a couple of months of steady work to produce.

Got a little decadence in the mail today:. Nothing like a little Fleece Artist to kickstart the morning. But wait, what's that with it?Matching stitch markers with freshwater pearls? Are you sure they're not jewellery? And how hard would it be for me to make them into jewellery, because frankly, I think my earlobes are just a little more deserving of such luxury...

This evening, I am planning to start something else, about which I am very excited, but very late: . I have been completely enjoying reading along thus far, and am looking forward to jumping into the fray -

as long as the ivy doesn't get me first...

It's a Puzzler...

Years ago, I made a Seaman's Scarf (I'd link it but I don't remember where the pattern came from) from quiviut yarn (again, no memory, no link) as a gift for a friend (and those are wrinkles from its being rolled up waiting for my attention)
Said scarf was recently returned to me because of this:

It is absolutely riddled with moth holes! Oh, sure, the moths have good taste, but it's just heartbreaking!

And of course, I used every possible bit of the yarn for the scarf, so I have no bits for mending.

After much consideration, I think what I will have to do is frog it, and then reknit something similar, but likely a little smaller.

On the plus side, I had forgotten just how delicious quiviut is - the scarf is virtually weightless, and so warm... I think I've gotten more selfish over the years, because I doubt very much I'd be able to part with it now.

Here is the Ribbon Tied Hoodie from Debbie Bliss for my LYS, after drying:
I posted it on Ravelry, and mistakenly linked it to an incorrect pattern... I was soon corrected by one of the editors for the incorrectly cited book, and the link was removed before I could shamefacedly apologize... my, how information travels!

I am still overwhelmed with Ravelry, but I play with it whenever I can eke out some time - truly astonishing, the work, the information, the people... makes my head spin!

Still slogging - yes, slogging - away on my Toe Up socks (thank you, Wendy) in the Regiment colourway of Twisted Fiber Arts 'Arista' yarn. Love the colours, love the feel of the yarn, hate how long it's taking. I suppose if I were working on them exclusively, they'd be whipping along, but between work knitting, gardening, and amusing the boys, well, you know...

The boys will be off next week on a trip with their dad, so I have BIG plans - house stuff, knitting stuff, maybe some dyeing stuff, maybe even some spinning stuff?

Have I ever mentioned my tendency to think bigger than I can do? Yup, it's a definite puzzler...

Beware - knitting content ahead...

Why, yes, I do still knit, and I have the sticks to prove it...

Beautiful bronze sticks, handcrafted by Molly at Celtic Swan, which were my birthday gift to myself, and which I am chomping at the bit to use on my next socks, the April Kit from Blue Moon Fibers Socks that Rock club:

Sorry for the flash effect - this is a much better representation of the truly edible colours in this wool/silk blend:

But first, I must finish the twins' socks, which are due this Saturday... hmm, sounds like a test or paper or something, doesn't it? Not like the relaxing, satisfying activity we all know knitting to be...
They should be done tomorrow, and I did do the second pair while we were away last week:

Project: My own generic sock pattern, size 7, for the twins
Yarn: KnitPicks "Bare", dyed with orange KoolAid and received in a yarn swap some months ago
Started: May 5, 2007
Finished: May 14, 2007

These are the red and blue Bemidjis, knit for Artisan Knitworks and mailed the week before I left, all cuddled up on the couch:


Hmm, funny how you don't necessarily see the chaos surrounding you until someone comes to visit unexpectedly, or you take a picture of some of it and get an objective look - remind me not to take pictures anywhere else in my house...

Today's project has been to wash and scrape our old plant pots, so that the boys can paint them in their own personally selected colours, and then fill them with their own personally selected flowers - so tired and old looking, huh?


They were here when we moved in, must be older than dirt, but for now, they do the job just fine - and WAIT till you see the colours the kids picked - this will be one glow-in-the-dark kind of garden...

speaking of the kids, Ben had a project a couple of weeks ago wherein he had to build a real structure out of common household items. He chose the Skydome in Toronto:


and opted to make it out of... are you ready?... marshmallows.

BEHOLD! Edible Skydome:


You have to picture, us, sitting around our table, stringing endless amounts of mini-marshmallows ( couldn't use the BIG ones, oh, no) on toothpicks, stranding them together, and then glue-gunning them (and they actually didn't melt like I thought they would). We had a tough time coming up with the dome part, but I had a flash of inspiration at the grocery store and asked if I could buy one of the plastic tops they use on vegetable trays. No, apparently they don't have a code for those and can't sell them. Could they give me one? What, am I NUTS? GIVE something away? For FREE???? So, I paid $15 for a veggie tray, the contents of which I then jammed down the throats of my kids and their friends who were lucky enough to be visiting that day, and we had a dome.

Which was too small.

Saran wrap does, in fact, have a million uses, and I would gladly offer a testimonial to that fact.

All in all, a fun project, and so damn creative - however, it will be a long, LONG time before I can eat another marshmallow.

and now I will leave you with the latest addition to my fridge:


Am I the only one who finds this pee-in-my-pants funny? My girlfriend and I made asses of ourselves in the cardshop with our uncontrollable laughing, but apart from her, no one else really gets it...

sigh

Meme tomorrow, Scarlett, I promise...

Advice needed, please, and I'm not fooling....

Happy April!

So, my nieces are turning GASP! SHOCK! 15 later this month, and are typically hard to buy for. So I thought one of things I would do for them is make them each a pair of socks. They wear only mismatched socks - don't ask, it's just their "thing". And by mismatched, I do mean each sock is from a different pair.

So I have this ball of Opal 'Feelings', which I really like and think would be great for them - or for one of them. Here's my dilemma: are they mismatched enough by having the stripes off kilter, or should I knit two altogether different pairs and give them one of each? And that begs the question of whether the seond sock should be the same for each, or if they should both have one completely different from each other? The latter scenario would leave me with enough yarn for one sock each, of course, and then I could have my own mismatched pair.

Am I making any sense here? The kicker, of course, is that we are probably celebrating their birthdays a week early, on Easter weekend, which is actually NEXT weekend, and this is how far I am on the first pair:

As an aside, the bag is a KnowKnits pouch, an early birthday gift for me from my mom - I love my mom...

Elsewhere in my knitting life, the vest and socks - remember the yellow socks? The colourway was PENGUIN - were well received, and both fit, although I am told the vest does a "Vulcan" thing at the shoulders... hopefully that will be remedied by further blocking...

I am still working on the blue Colore sweater for Artisan Knitworks, but it is coming along quickly...

I finished my Indigo Fire socks, and the little scribble of yarn beside them is all I had left, which absolutely pleases me
what do you guys do with your left-over sock yarn?

Project: Toe-Up Feather and Fan Socks from Wendy Johnson
Yarn: Indigo Fire from Yarn Ahoy!
Started: February 24, 2007
Finished: March 29, 2007

And I got my March installment from Pick Up Sticks' sock club, which is just delicious...


it's rainy and kind of chilly here today, nothing close to the high 50's and sunshine we were enjoying earlier this week (yes, that's Farenheit - I think better in Farenheit - and gallons, I understand gallons better, too, and inches and feet and yards and ounces), and this is dogs' preferred activity when it's rainy and chilly:


Haircuts tomorrow...