Crazy Knittin' and Sewin' and Stuff...

Been a long time, been a long time, been a long time...

Okay, you know that it's been awhile since you blogged when the blogging platform has completely changed since the last time you were here.  So forgive this if it seems a little different. 

It has been a busy spring.  My boy is almost 12 (argh) and is graduating from Grade 6 this year, which means a new school transition here in Alberta.  Elementary school goes from Kindergarten to Grade 6, then Junior High from Grade 7-9, then High School from Grade 10-12.  Because of our move last summer, he is no longer designated for the same school as all of his friends from Elementary School.  Which I thought would be a problem but it hasn't been a huge one yet.  It's interesting because he is consciously choosing to be a different version of himself as he enters the new school.  He's getting his hair cut this weekend ( he has been known as the Hippie amongst his small class of boys with short hair - he has a beautiful head of strawberry blond hair) actually by a hairstylist, not by me (saints be praised).  All in all, he is turning into a lovely young man.  When you are a parent, you go through phases where, while you always love your kids (hopefully) sometimes you don't really like them very much.  Right now, I am slightly amazed that he is such a caring and loving kid.  He treats his sister really well, even when she isn't treating him as well.  He's very cool.  So I hope the next year is okay for him.

We are starting construction on the sewing room soon.  Lindsay has been ripping things apart in the garage, and soon we can start to put things back together, I hope.  I am down to a reasonable amount of work to be done before we go away on vacation ( in a month or so) and the world will soon be turning properly on it's axis.  Yahoo.

So, knitting you say.  Well, there's lots, and I shall try to dole it out over the next few weeks.  I have been on a sweater jag for the last month or so.  This has never really happened in recorded memory, but I'm going with it.  It doesn't seem to mean that I'm finishing ones that are already started, but I am whizzing through them at an alarming rate.  Here's a couple of little projects to get you started.

Project: Boobilicious Mud Season (sounds like a weekend getaway for female wrestlers).

This little cropped sweater is made out of yarn spun by me.  The March installment from Spunky Eclectic was Navajo plied to make a soft squooshy yarn, then knitted up in this top down sweater until there wasn't any left.  I like it a lot and it was great fun to knit without a pattern (I've been doing that a lot lately).

Project: Fleece Artist Kit purchased in Toronto at Lettuce Knit on our Big Trip. 

I started this way back in September and then it got abandoned in favour of the Christmas knitting.  So it was finally picked up again in February.  I'm going to rant a little here, so be warned.  I love the yarns from Fleece Artist.  They are fantastic at developing yarns people really love, the color are great and their knitability is fantastic.  The instructions on their kits, however, are crap.  And while I know this, I still followed them.  So I have to rip out the neckline and redo it.  It is knitted in seed stitch, which needs to be done in a smaller needle size, since the gauge changes with the stitch pattern change.  I know this, but the directions didn't say to change needle sizes, so now the whole neckline gapes open.  AArgh.  So while it isn't really finished, I thought it warranted mentioning.

And with that, I need to move on for today.  I won't be gone for long though.  There's lots more to talk about.  Thanks for sticking around, those of you who have.  I appreciate it.

Find some shade to sit and knit in.  Don't forget the bug repellent though.

New look, new finished objects...

So whaddaya think?  I like the green.  It's the only green around these days.  Winter has made a last appearance in the last week and it doesn't seem to be going away again anytime soon.  Flurries and a high of a whopping -3 degrees Celsius today.  Gotta love Calgary.  Seasons are a relative thing.

There hasn't been much blogging this spring.  I have been struggling a bit more than usual this winter.  I usually get a little down in the winter months, being the lover of sunshine that I am, but this year has been exceptionally down-putting.  The death of my Aunt Diana, combined with a mini mid-life crisis has made for a long winter.  I am slowly putting things back together, but it is awkward.  Change is hard, but it's a good thing when you get to the other side.

On the plus side, all this angst means that while I haven't been talking about the knitting, there has been lots of knitting getting done.  So let's talk about it, shall we?

First, and most favorite: The Ancient Afghan.

This one was started in 1992, as near as I can figure.  It is from a Leisure Arts booklet that is still in print, and has directions for 60 squares from which you choose the ones that you want to make up your blankie.  This project has travelled from Saskatoon, to Montreal and then to Calgary, and with several moves within each city.  In an effort to finish up some longstanding unfinished objects, I pulled it out a couple of weeks ago and laid all the pieces out on the bed.  Kyra wandered in and expressed some interest, which I jumped on like the desperate knitter that I was at that momoent.  She didn't want it to be too big, so it only required the knitting of one more square and assembly.  Finish it off with a crochet edge, and that puppy was done like dinner.  Here's a picture of it in it's natural habitat:

Nice, huh?

Next:  Another bunny.  This time for Kyra, and her choice of colors and yarn.  She likes order.  Animals should be animal colors, not multi-colored pink like the last one I made. So here is Kyra's bunny.

Also cute.  But disturbingly naked.  I don't know why, but these animals really seem to need clothing to me.  Sophie's bunny had a little dress, and I suggested that I could do the same for Kyra, but she didn't want one.  I always feel a bit like I should be averting my eyes.  My own little thing, but a thing none the less.

I have more to show you, but I have to move on for now.  The work that I have been avoiding isn't getting done while I sit here either. 

Sit in the sun and knit for me, since I can't find any.

Where did March go?

It's one of those things that I have found myself saying with alarming regularity in the last few years, but time sure is flying by these days.  I was thinking that I had just posted, but the date says that it was two weeks ago.  How did that happen?  The last time I looked it was January.  Okay, maybe not January, but it sure wasn't the end of March.

So on to the knitting and the spinning and the sewing...

I haven't a whole lot to report, other than I seem to be fighting off a horrible case of startitis.  How come I never have finishitis?  Do you know anyone who ever has finishitis?  Wouldn't it scare you if you did.  I seem to be functioning with a lot of projects on the go at once, which isn't that unusual, but they are all out in the house.  Usually I stash them away in a box after the guilt just gets to be too much, but this year all those projects are just sitting there staring me in the face, begging to be finished.  And I am turning my back, heartless soul that I am, and moving on to something new.  Oh well.

What do I have?  I have finished socks.

Socks for Ben, to be precise:

Yarn: Garnstudio Fabel, blue/green colorway.

Can I just say that I love this yarn.  We were at the lake, and the boy was complaining of cold feet after playing in the snow for an hour.  I pointed out that he needed wool socks to keep his tootsies warm.  I showed him the yarn I had brought to make socks for me, and he loved it, so socks were made using the usual sock recipe.  I should point out that when I was asking him to measure his foot, he gave me the measurement, then suggested that I make them a little bigger than that so that they will fit him next winter when we are at the lake again.  Because apparently he isn't going to wear them at home.  Not that I really expected him to, but it was slightly disturbing to have it actually said straight out, without any beating around the bush. 

And in spinning news...

this is what happened to the February installment of fibre from Spunky Eclectic.  And it is slowly making it's way into a shawl that was supposed to be done for Easter, but was instead worked on at Easter.   I'm using the Arrowhead shawl pattern from Interweave knits, and have purchased a skein of yellow Fleece Artist Kid Aran that will fill out the rest of the shawl.  I ended up with just under 200 yds of pale multicolored worsted-ish yarn, so started off with it, then introduced the yellow in ever increasing bands of color until I run out of the handspun or get bored of the pattern, whichever happens first.  The colors aren't  ones that I would usually choose, but something about the pattern is appealing to me.  I am trying to knit with my handspun right after it's finished, so that I can get better at spinning for a particular goal.  I get so excited when the new fibre comes that I spin it right away and keep ending up with the same thing every time.  So a little pause and forethought is in order ( not one of my better talents).

So that's it on the knitting and spinning fronts.  We are going to start on the garage conversion in the next couple of weeks, so I'm repacking all the boxes that are left from the move in preparation for the great clear out and demolition.  Love the demolition.  Who knew how much fabric there was?  Okay, I knew, but it still amazes even me.  I realized recently that I have been doing so many alterations and home decor sewing jobs that I haven't been actually constructing clothes for a long time.  That, combined with the need to thin out the stash, has inspired a quiet plan to sew all my summer clothes this year.  And to Sew With A Plan.  So I'll actually end up with a wardrobe at the end of it, not just a bunch of clothes.  I decided to go with red, navy and white as the main colors (just to get away from black for awhile), and boy, do I have a lot of red fabric.  I have been pulling possibilities as I repack boxes, and there's a lot of possibilities.  Now to get it all together with patterns and notions so that I can sew in my spare time.  I suppose I should actually go and continue with that.

Knit somewhere warm - these damp spring days can be chilly.

Things are getting done!!

Hurrah, hurrah!  Things are getting finished.  Not much, but I'll take what I can get these days.  Consider yourself warned, there is alarming cuteness up ahead.  So what has been finished, you ask?  Well, let's start with the oldest one first (in terms of start dates):

Project : Bias shell from Knitting Classic Style by Veronik Avery

Yarn: Butterfly Super 10 - 3.5 skeins (size 36.5)

Thoughts:  This was supposed to be a Christmas present for my sister-in-law, but it fell victim to a combination of last minute-itis as well as "I have no idea if this is going to work or not".  So it was abandoned in the early morning hours of December 20.  The issue is the nature of the fabric.  This top is constructed from the center out, using regularly irregular ribbing radiating outwards, making the hem dip down on either side and giving that nice deep v in the middle.  Veronik cautions you in the pattern to choose a size that is 3-4" smaller than your actual chest size.  When you do this, you end up with a lovely form-fitting tank.  The issue is that the nature of ribbing is to pull itself in, so you end up with a bit of a, well, protruberance and the center where you cast on.  If you have chosen your size according to the pattern directions, it's fine.  The minute you put it on the ribbing is stretched out and the third boob disappears.  But if it is biggish at all, then there is a dimple in the center front and center back.  Not attractive.  So in the pre-Christmas rush, I didn't have time to deal with potential disasters, so I abandoned it.  But in the interests of finishing things, I decided to finish it up and see what was what.  So I did, and tried it on.  My chest size is only a 38, so there was still some dimply action in the center front.  But when I put it on over another sweater, the dimple disappeared and it looked quite lovely.  The moral of the story?  Read the directions.  That's one of those morals that I seem to have to learn over and over again.  So now it is off to my sister-in-law, the initial intended giftee, who is a little bigger than me in the boobal area.  And it's done!!!

So what else is done?  Lots.

Project: Sophie the Bunny for Sophie the Niece.

Pattern:Sophie from Ysolda.com

Yarn: Body - Araucania Copihue ( I think - lost the label)

Dress and ears - leftovers

I found this pattern through Ravelry and immediately bought it for my niece - Sophie who loves bunnies.  You start with the head, stuffing it as you go and closing it up before you pick up stitches at the neck for the body.  If you follow the directions completely you will not have to do any sewing up save the facial embroidery.  And it's devastatingly cute.  I have already started another for my daughter, who chose boring old cream wool for her bunny. 

There's still more:

This is my first installment of Spunky Eclectic Fibre.  I joined her monthly club, so I get some happy mail regularly.   This spun up quickly and perfectly in shades of teal, blue and grey.  The colorway is called Snow Squall, so I had to make something for my brother out of it.  It started out as a hat, but it ended up as a felted basket:

That is a crazy amount of knitted-on i-cord going around the edge of the basket, continuing around the knotwork, going overtop for one strand of the handle, then forming the same knotwork on the other side and twining around the handle strand and back to the beginning.  Then toss it in the washer.  Always slightly terrifying, but fun all the same.  Fill it  up with Easter chocolates, and a knitted bunny, and you have a bit of spring-y joy.

Too cute by half!! 

Sit in the sun and knit while I go and finish up some more stuff!!

It's Sunday!

How's it goin'?  Did ya have a good time in the last couple of weeks?  Yes?  No?  Ah well.

We went to the lake, dug in the snow, went skiing, celebrated my Dad's birthday and came home.  There was lots of pajama time in there and some knitting, lots of reading.  It was good.

But this is supposed to be about the knitting and the sewing.  I suppose.  I have a few pictures of things that I haven't talked about, so I guess that will have to do.  I seem to be in the middle of an attack of the Mid-winter blahs.  I was working on some really boring things yesterday, and all I could think of was that I didn't want to be doing what I was doing, not that I would rather be doing something else.  Which is the usual issue.  So here we are. 

Eileen's Shawl

Pattern: Shetland Triangle from Folk Knits (I think)

Yarn: Elann.com Baby Cashmere - about six balls-ish. 

I made this shawl for a client who is going through some pretty significant life changes - lost a bunch of weight, then broke up with her husband.  She is having a rough go, and needed a bit of a boost.  It is becoming the thing that I do - making shawls for people who are having a hard time.  This was a quick knit back in January, mostly because I was avoiding altering all her clothes.  I loved it, but then I love most things when I am done them.  I think that may be the source of the blahs - I'm in the middle of everything.  One of my goals this year was to finish some stuff, so I haven't been starting anything much new so that I will finish my old stuff.  But I'm not really finishing my old stuff.  I'm just not doing much of anything.   In the interests of spurring myself on to March Finishing Madness, I thought I might list them here (gulp):

1. Lindsay's Cardigan - grey alpaca loveliness that requires some attention, but is still boring.  I am down to the sleeves and the finishing.  Still dragging my feet though.

2.  Bias Shell - this was supposed to be a Christmas sweater for my sister-in-law, but it just got too weird.  It's ribby, constructed from the center out, and seems to have a protruberance in the middle, not unlike a third boob.  The boob disappeared during blocking, but then reappeared during handling to sew it together.  Admitted defeat and went to Winners and bought her a sweater, but still should finish it. 

3.  Mohair Bolero - started this hoping to spur myself out of this knitting lethargy, but didn't really succeed.  I finished the fronts and back while in Saskatchewan, but ran out of steam on the sleeves.

4. Socks for Ben - the boy was complaining about cold feet at the lake, so I started a pair of socks for him.  And ripped one out cause it was too small, then started again.  And stopped.

5. Socks for me - same story, different yarn.

6.  Shawl for Cheryl - another friend with a troubled life at the moment.  Clapotis with beautiful Ultra Alpaca in a soft grey heather. 

7.  Bolero in Makalu - different bolero than above, started but then stalled out due to overwhelming sleevage.  Requires some concentrated math, then will finish quickly.  Sometime

So that's just what I can think of off the top.  A bit terrifying, even for me.  But the sun will come out and things will warm up, and my blood will start to flow again.  Really.  It will.

Stay warm and knit well.

Progress - really!

January is always a profoundly dumpy month for me.  The weather is dumpy, I feel dumpy post-Christmas, work feels dumpy.  Dumpy, dumpy, dumpy.  But now it's February.  The month that leads to March, which means spring might actually come sometime.  The other thing that happens in February in Alberta is the Teacher's Convention and Family day, giving the kids a five day weekend.  Last year we went to my parent's cabin in Saskatchewan and were met with this:

That railing in the background?  That's the back porch, at the top of six steps.  So we had to shovel our way into the cabin at 8:00 pm after driving all day.  The kids and I thought it was great fun.  My husband, not so much.  Could have something to do with the fact that he drove the whole way.  Go figure.  After we got in, we had a blast for three days.  We introduced the kids to cross-country skiing (Saskatchewan is  a much better place to do that than the Foothills of Alberta), hung out and played games, celebrated my Dad's birthday, and revelled in the state of being that exists when you don't have to drive anyone anywhere.  That may have just been me revelling, but we all had fun.  So we're doing it again this year.  There isn't as much snow, but we're taking an extra day.  Yahoo. 

What?  Oh, you want to hear about the knitting.  Well, if you insist. 

I haven't been doing much that is interesting, at least to me.  I resolved this year to finish things that have been sitting around in a state of unease for awhile.  The first of these is Lindsay's Cardigan.  It's made of lovely grey alpaca from Saskatchewan, and while it doesn't photograph well, it really is a lovely

thing.  The pattern is good (Ribbed Diamond Cardigan from Interweave Knits a couple of years ago) but it inhabits that no-man's land that exists between attention and inattention.  The knitting is easy but requires that you look at what you are doing (you wouldn't think that would be a stretch, but it is lately) so it can't be worked on in front of the television.  So this one is being worked on in the morning for half an hour, and that's it.  So progress is slow, and slightly painful.  I have finished the fronts and the back, so I am down to the sleeves and the finishing (of which there is much). 

I have also been struggling to find something to work on in front of the television.  I don't feel the sock magic right now, although they would be perfect.  I have started two different projects, but neither one of them is floating my boat terribly much.  Basically, things are a little blech, but soon they will be blech in a different environment, so that will be good. 

Stay warm and knit well.

I am here...really...that's me...

under the gigantic pile of alterations.  A couple of years ago, when I started to sew for other people, I had this romantic view of creating beautiful things for other people who would appreciate handmade, as opposed to home-made, and we all would be rosy and lovely.  And then I would do alterations for people to fill in time between those other rosy jobs.  Not a whole lotta rosy jobs this winter, and lot-lot-lot of alterations.  Now don't get me wrong.  I actually do enjoy doing alterations.  You can learn a lot about how clothes are made by taking them apart, and I am always up for a little knowledge-broadening experience.  However, as I type this, if I look to my left at the closet where I hang clothes people have brought to me for alteration, it's scaring me a little.  Two ladies have each lost a ton of weight and want everything taken in.  Me, I would go shopping.  But that's just me.  Sixteen garments from one, and twenty-five from the other, along with four vintage fur coats to repair.  I'm getting a touch on the bored side.  Just sayin'.

So that's why there isn't a whole lot of activity in blogland.  Pictures of other people's clothes aren't really exciting, and that's about all there is.  Next week I'm making doll clothes though.  Should be a sweet release, and at least a little on the creative side.  Here's hoping.

Sit somewhere and knit for me.  Lord knows I could use the change of scene.

Five Fruit-y bits...

Another finished object...2008 is shaping up to be a good year.  I'm finishing little things, and have faced up to the big things.  I'm going to finish stuff up for the next little while - and by finish things up, I really mean finish things up.  Things that were started already.  Like Lindsay's Cardigan, which has been languishing for a really long time.  I think I was going to start it during the Knitting Olympics, which would make it at least two years old.  It's lovely though.  So on with things that are already done.

The Five Fruits sweater set is finished.  That's a whole lotta alliteration there (sorry).  It was made over the course of a couple of days of chaos out of Sandesgarn Smart Superwash wool.  A friend of mine has a friend whom she went to high school with who just became a grandma.  A bit daunting for the friend, who is entirely to young to be a grandma, but her friend started young, as did her daughter.  So here is a lovely knitted gift for the baby.  The pattern is Five Fruits from Magknits, except I wanted it to be a cardigan, so I made it one.  I followed the basic mods from Knitting from the top, increasing following the numbers from the pattern.  Found lovely buttons and used the leftovers for a hat.  I love it.  I was knitting away on the yoke, thinking that I had seen this combination of colors before, then ta-da, found the fabric in the background in  the stash.  So I backed it with some red polar fleece, and made a blanket big enough to tuck around a toddler's legs.  Quick and cute - all you really need in a project for January. 

I have finished a shawl today too, but no pictures yet.  Maybe by Monday.

Sit somewhere warm and knit.

The View From Here

So this morning, I'm sitting on the couch post-shower but pre-coffee, having put on my brand-spanking-new cotton cabled sweater cadged from the Boxing Day sales at Old Navy.  Cables and a lovely robin's egg blue color for under $20 - who can argue with that?  I'm feeling slightly swish, when I look down prior to that all-important first mouthful of coffee.  And what do I see?  Have a look:

Now who in heaven's name would put bobbles on the belly of a sweater?  Honestly?  That is not my chest, thank heaven.  I didn't notice when I bought the sweater, but now it's like I can't take my eyes off my own belly.  And that's never a good thing.  Harumph.

On with actual knitting content.

As I have been stating lately, I come from a family of handmade gift-givers.  One of the more important things in my house is my daughter's blankie.  It was made by my grandmother for my son when he was born, and I think it's one of the last big things that she made (but I could be wrong about that).  It's lovely and lacy but still warm.  My daughter adopted it as her own a few years ago, and it has become one of her favorite things.  I love seeing her snuggle in with it at night, or wrap a stuffie up in it, since it reminds me of my Grandmother and afternoons in her living room at the farm, listening to everyone talk at eachother.  So after all that pre-amble, here it is:

It's a bit dodgy, but it's lovely.  (Sorry for the picture quality, but cream-colored lace is hard to photograph at the best of times, let alone January light.)Last week my daughter came home from school with an assignment page.  The class is making it's own museum filled with artifacts from each student.  Everyone is to bring in something that is important to them and their family and explain why they think it is important.  Kyra wanted to bring in her blankie, since my Grandma made it and there is someone in every generation of my family who knits or sews, and she loves that about us.  But she also didn't want to leave her blankie at the school overnight.  So what is a knitter to do?  Make a smaller version, of course: 

Behold the mini-blankie.  It's about one third the size of the original, and the corners are different, and it's clean (!), but other than that it is exactly like the original. 

See?

  It was hugely satisying to copy something that my Grandmother worked on, and satisfy my daughter at the same time.  I started it on Saturday and finished on Monday evening, taking time out to tear apart the sewing room and do laundry and stuff.  Not too bad if I do say so myself. 

Next, the baby sweater to end all baby sweaters. 

While I am jazzed up on coffee...

So this morning my regular coffee cup was in the dishwasher.  We have two of my favourite cups, so this is a rare occurence.  My regular mug is slightly bigger than our other mugs, so I had two cups this morning.  As I jitter my way around, I think that may have been a bad idea.  Forgive me now, and if you can't handle the skitteriness, just look at the pictures and move on.

I spent the week between Christmas and New Year's sitting in a corner with my knitting.  It was fabulous.  I made all sorts of small projects, and left all the big ones alone. 

Around the edges, there is a scarf like this one that I started way back in the summer for my brother.  It didn't get finished in time for Christmas (sorry Patrick) but it might end up in someone's stocking next Christmas.  It is two colorways of Noro that are worked in stripes of 1x1 rib.  Easy peasy knitting, but bored me to tears.  I loved watching the colorways change for the first ball, but lost interest when the second one came around, thus explaining the six month timespan to complete this project.

This one is called Crosspatch from Knitty.  The yarn is some Alpaca from Saskatchewan that my dad gave me for Christmas.  No labels, so no idea where it came from beyond that.  The hat was a good sized project to try out mosaic knitting, and left me vaguely intrigued.  I don't know whether I would use it on a bigger project or not.  But the hat's nice.

These are lovely.  I have been wearing them non-stop since they were finished, and I still love them.  The pattern is from Hello Yarn and was great fun.  I love that these mittens look like complicated norweigan mittens, yet they have a squirrel on them.  They make me giggle, which is good.  I had counting issues (yes, at 37, I still seem to have problems counting to ten.  Sad, but true.) when I got to the numbers at the top, combined with the decreases, so had to fix both of them when half done, and the left one was more successful than the right.  I love them anyway.  The yarn is Elann's Peruvian Collection Highland wool that I had in the stash (the reason for the bold type will become obvious later in the week.

These are badly photographed socks with Snoopy done in intarsia on each leg.  They are another project that got waylaid in the move and returned to in the Christmas season.  They were supposed to be for someone else, but she doesn't seem to be picking them up, so they are waiting.  I like them, but intarsia isn't my thing at the moment.  They're done though. 

So that's all for today.  I am working on a shawl for a friend who is going though a hard time (it's what I do), so that's taking up the knitting time right now.  I'll tell you more later.  I promise. 

Stay warm.  It's January.