log cabin blankie in progress...

Needing something simple to work on (what with all this festive cheer!), I hauled out this project which I usually reserve for commuting on the TTC. I have given up on the advent blanket for now as I prefer the colours in this. It is being made from part of my grandmother's former stash... a 100% acrylic kit from the 1970s! Needle size 3.75 mm.

Happy Boxing Day!

... which I am celebrating not with a trip to the mall (AGH) but by making boxes. Three, to be exact. Leftover Lamb's Pride Bulky. The remaining one is done but awaiting felting.

Bowled over...

... by a herculean knitting effort over the past two days. Spent Christmas Day watching Law and Order reruns and using up spare Lamb's Pride Bulky. On Christmas Eve, knitted a new beret out of the blue. Please find below.

1. Fruit Bowl (hiding chipped bowl inside). Pattern from Leigh Radford's "One Skein".



2. Wee bowls. Pattern from "One Skein".



3. Beret. Yarn is Jo Sharp Silk Tweed. Pattern from Interweave Knits Winter 2006.



4. Purse. Pattern from "Knit One, Felt Too" by Kathleen Taylor with some modifications.

baggage...

A couple of photos of a bag I made for my mother some time back and which she brought to town with her...

Knitted in Lamb's Pride Bulky. Pattern from "Knit One Felt Too" by Kathleen Taylor.

what I want for New Year's

A non-knitting post for a change (well, slightly):

What I want for New Year's:

(a) in altruistic form:

- world peace
- banishment of the Harper government for some kinder gentler regime (I know not what in this bleak bleak land)
- failing all of that, an income for everyone which covers a basic cost of living

(b) selfishly speaking:

- Denise needles
- a lottery win for my work group pool (but then again, I haven't checked any of our December tickets...)
- a trip to England and Scotland

(c) what I've actually received for Christmas/New Years (partly because me and partner have decided to give gifts all year...) or what my household has received:

- fabulous drapes
- Blundstone boots
- a new winter coat
- a leather bag (advance nameday gift from my mother)
- a surprise gift at my staff holiday party today from my former articling principal/current colleague: a t-shirt stating that "I took up knitting to keep me out of trouble"

Plus we have a new car to drive. So I really can't complain.

new hat!

The fun just never stops around here ..:-). Here is a felted hat - it doesn't look as coneheaded on as off. Brown Sheep bulky and mohair (one strand mixed in). Appliques in Brown Sheep bulky as well.



And a slighly morphed picture of me wearing it...

other December gifts for myself...

... because one can only truly enjoy the spirit of giving if one gives generously to oneself! (that's what I keep telling myself anyway...)

1. Silk Road yarn by Jo Sharp (together with the pattern I plan to use it for) - colour "opal". The yarn feels sinfully luxurious. The pattern is from the Knit Today magazine (a british mag I just came across).



2. Curly Locks yarn by Fleece Artist (they were kind enough to send me a pattern for a shawl by Email).



At least I can be assured a happy knitting start to the New Year!

Last Christmas gift FINISHED!!!

At least, it's the last Christmas gift other than for myself...!

It's the blanket based on the Nina shawl pattern in the MDK book - except I-cord edging, no ruffle and and I-cord border. Thanks to Phyllis for a lovely pattern - and despite some low-level cursing at the time, the chequerboard was worth the effort.
See below for specs if interested.

(a) blocking



(b) just about finished (colours here are truer as in natural light)



Specs:

Yarn: Super 10 Butterfly (mercerised cotton, 125 g = 230 m)
in colours sunflower, chestnut, chocolate, paprika and unnamed [I call it light chocolate]
Needles: Addi Turbo (first time using them, and I loved it!)
Size: 52" long by 42" wide

(and why is it that I weigh in metric but measure in imperial anyway? Hmm. I MUST be Canadian!).

advent-ageous!

Recovering from a cold - which meant I had to take Friday off and recuperate... ahem... knit myself into oblivion.

The latest instalments toward my advent blanket:

4. Wide rib (deep burgundy)



5. Horizontal wrapped rib (coralberry)



6. Moss zigzag (lavender) - in progress



Seed stitch in light blue was, alas, left at my office on Thursday. Oh well.

advent blanket

Well, immediately I get the yarn in to finish my mother's blanket, I decide on another blanket idea for myself ... !!! (at least I managed to get in quite a bit of work on my mother's blanket before taking this one).

FINALLY using some Paton's Decor from my stash which has been sitting there... well, I don't want to say... let's just say it was part of a big Kaffe Fassett project that I gave up 10 years ago!

One panel a day to usher in the new year 2007...

Each panel is 10x10. Knitted on 4.5 mm needles - 49 sts by 80 rows. This will be a "sampler" blanket taking stitch patterns from Debbie Bliss's How to Knit book:

Chequerboard


Double Parallelogram


Diagonal Garter Ribs

handmaiden textured scarf

Here is the scarf I knitted tonight thanks to Handmaiden's lovely kit - I deviated a bit from the patterns given by them mostly because I am too lazy to do yarnovers ;-). Colours are a bit deeper than they come out in the photos. Length of scarf: 57" long by 6 1/2" wide.



... and detail...

finished rug!

All that agonizing for nothing! :-)

winter is icumen in...

...llude sing goddam!

Apologies to the middle english person who wrote the original poem. Actually, pursuant to the suggestion of a friend a long time ago, I am trying to find the key to not detesting winter - i.e. associate it with positive activities. Hers were skiing and other outdoorsy stuff. Mine... well, the obvious.

And now I have discovered the joy of knitting hats and scarves (which is surprising to me, given that I have been knitting for over 20 years!). This has led me to become obsessive with buying yarn over the last couple of weeks.

It has also led me to start work on the following items: a fuzzy hat. Not as warm as I thought... when I wore it to the wind tunnel that is known as Yonge/Sheppard intersection in Toronto today, the wind whistled right through. So, have started on a headband (in mission falls merino, light pink) to put inside.

I have also started on the following:

- another hat (in Debbie Bliss Merino Aran)
- a fuzzy and funky scarf (courtesy of Fleece Artist/Handmaiden's Textures2 scarf kit)
- a pillbox felted hat (in the washer as we speak)

May post pics of these in progress later. Really can't right now as my lover is home and I do not wish to confide the extent of my obsession to him (although I suspect he's figured it out. The two and a half blankets in two weeks might have been the first clue. I must say, though, that he is not complaining about his cardigan!).

As if THIS weren't enough, I stopped at the LYS on my way home from work today, ostensibly to look for some 20 cent buttons (that's what I told myself). Instead I spotted some kid "Curly Locks" yarn by Fleece Artist in hot pink and just had to have it... for yet another scarf, I suspect. However, it WAS on sale ... (at least that's what I keep telling myself...)

Off to knit now.

the stress... ahem, joy... of felting!

As I type, I am attempting to felt a very large project (31" x 27") rug in one of the (front-loading) washing machines in my apartment building. This causes me to hyperventilate (well, not really, but almost...) as I'm worried about ruining the rug, which I loved in its unfelted form. Here it is below, for posterity...



This was knitted in Brown Sheep Burly Spun and was found in a book by Beverly Galeskas called "Felted Knits" (which I recommend very highly).

Well, there goes the timer for round 1 (I also have a hat in there). Wish me luck...