the Tilted Duster!

Well, the storm I was carping about earlier todayis raging outside but I don't care because I have finished the Tilted Duster!! I managed to get it done before the trip! (now, whether I'll get the other work I have to do done is another story...)

Aphrodite wears it very well, don't you think?


Not really fair of me to pose her outside given the 6 inches of snow that has fallen today... but at least she's got a fancy jacket!



Specs:

Pattern: Tilted Duster by Norah Gaughan (Interweave Knits mag, Autumn 2007)
Size: 32"
Yarn: Rowan All-Seasons Cotton - seaspray, espresso and mocha
Needles: 5 mm Addi Turbo
Notions: Buttons from Lettuce Knit:
... and Romni (these are vintage buttons - aren't they fab?)

Date started: 9 November 2007
Date finished: today

Notes:
- a very straightforward but fun pattern. Great TV or public knitting (I knit most of both sleeves and some of the skirt while commuting). It knits up quickly with the bulkyish wool.
- I'm glad I went with the ASC as I like the way it shows the ribbing off.
- I decided that the pattern begged for some extra colours. The assymmetry of the espresso and mocha is due to the fact that I had only one skein of the mocha. I quite like it though. Initially I was going to do the front side rib panels in a third colour but am now glad I didn't.
- it is a very flattering pattern and I will be wearing it tomorrow to Jolly Olde England with my new taupe cords!

Oh, and what is Aphrodite wearing underneath?

This t-shirt is from Fresh Baked Knits in Kensington Market. Well worth a trip if you're coming through Toronto.

Now, off to the laundry room... sigh.

'tis the season to be grumpy...

...especially when one has to head out to the mall of a Sunday afternoon in December.

Oh, the weather outside was frightful:


(Ah, Toronto in the wintertime! Such lovely snow!)

... and frightful as well was JJs temper when the classical music station played "The 12 Days of Christmas" twice in a row and I kept singing it after that!!

JJ: Will ye' stop singin' that bloody song, lassie?!?

KB: Yeah OK, Ebenezer.

JJ: Did ye just call me an "old geezer" again?

KB: Isn't it time to go for that hearing test, EBENEZER?!?

But really, I should have cut him some slack. He was the one driving the car, and this was the scene at the Yorkdale Plaza parking lot:



(This, on the side where there are always available parking spots... and this after John had driven around for 15 full minutes looking for a space on the main entrance side...)

We finally managed to find a parking space here:
But, because every cloud has a silver lining, I was able to knit all of this while JJ was circling and cursing:
(Actually, I lie to you. I did not seriously knit all this while we were in the parking lot. However, I did knit all this while sitting in the car on the way to and from the mall, and I would say that 50 per cent of it got done while desperately seeking a parking space).

I did not have the heart to take any photos while in the mall. Suffice it to say that the number of people thronging Sears made the parking lot look like an oasis of tranquillity.

We did manage to accomplish what we set out to do: buy lounge pants for me:
... a sport jacket and trousers for JJ (which have been left for alterations), and the rest of the Christmas gifts which I can't show by reason of being secretive. (But don't get too excited, o blessed future gift recipients - you're just lucky that Sears is smart enough to put gift certificated cards next to the tills).

I had the requisite holiday shopping altercation with a complete idiot who was allowing her kids to play hide and seek in the menswear department. I stepped on one of them by mistake (really by mistake! Although I'm not a big fan of kids I would not deliberately do one harm, really!) and was immediately threatened with bloodshed and lawsuits by his raging mother. This kid, by the way, had nearly knocked JJ over while careening around like a madman, while mommy blatted on blissfully into her cell phone. So JJ stepped into the fray... and let's just say that I won't be facing a $2million lawsuit as had been originally promised me.

By the time we left, I finally understood the meaning of this ugly sculpture that has been haunting me for years in the Yorkdale parking lot.

It is a giant wraith of shopping-fuelled rage!

But our shopping adventures were not yet over. I asked if we could stop at Shoppers Drug Mart on the way home. JJ initially refused: "Haven't ye had enough o' the shoppin', lassie?!? And it's snowin'!" However, we needed essentials:


... and so we did have to stop.

When we got home, I decided to take out the mountains of recycling which had piled up in the last week or so (damn and blast the Toronto Star for sending "free" newspapers that we don't even read!!!) and in this regard, passed through the apartment lobby. This is what you first see when coming in the front entrance to the building:

... and here are the holiday displays in their full glory:

Kinda cute, eh?

Oh - and check out the fancy candleabra next to the elevator:



See what a high class building I live in?!

And finally for some craft stuff. Here was my progress as at yesterday afternoon on the Tilted Duster

I love this pattern! What other pattern gives you something that starts looking like a garment in just a few hours?!?



(This would make a great tank-style bra with some Cascade Fixation, wouldn't it? Hmm...).

I'm also hatching a nefarious plot involving my Montego Bay Scarf which I can't seem to wear as I am scarf challenged and keep tripping over it (it's 80" long). Of course, I could give it to one of these people I love to hate who actually knows how to wear scarves... but why? Stay tuned...

And - in parting: let's lift a glass to the memory of Eugene O'Keefe, Canadian brewer, who was born on this day in 1827:
(sorry it's not O'Keefe's, Eugene: I kinda lost interest in the brand when the stubby bottle died:


...but I'm sure you'll approve, Eugene, of my Christmas tree! I do wish it were mine, actually, and that I'd thought of the concept: this came through on some group Email or other, unattributed...)

Christmas in July...

...because I've just finished the He Gansey for DH! (pattern by Jeannine Sims in the No Sheep for You book)

Detail:


Front:


Back:


The grey grew on me. Too bad I couldn't wait for a sunny day to photograph it, though! ;-)

Specs:

Needles: 5mm Addi Turbo (body) and 5 mm Takumi bamboo (sleeves and neck)
Yarn: Rowan All Seasons Cotton - Misty colour (15 skeins)
Size: 45" approx chest
Time spent: 12 hours total for each sleeve and the neck. Didn't keep track of the rest

Notes:

As this pattern was knitted in the round, I loved it - no seaming! It was much quicker to work than I would have thought which was also nice.

I did make some changes to the pattern:

- sleeve pattern was originally all in double moss. I decided to put the tree and line pattern from the front yoke on the sleeves instead, with seed stitch beside... and finish the sleeve under the elbow in stockinette. Official reason: this is more in the style of a traditional gansey. Real reason: I'm lazy and just wanted to do as much stockinette stitch as possible! ;)

- I also changed the neckline from rib and rollneck to 2/2 rib, based on DH's preference

- the sleeves are about 1 1/2 inches shorter than the pattern calls for, again due to DH's preference.

The Rowan cotton was also great to work for. I'm not sure how well the photos show it, but it produced great stitch definition and is also nice and light.

The rest of the pattern ended up fitting DH very well (I had him try it on while working on the first sleeve).

Now - I'm just hoping that the weather will be warm enough so that he can't actually wear it until October! Having said that, it is a cool day today here... SIGH.

Next up... I'm not sure yet. I bought some Kerzner Ranee on sale ($1/skein) and may whip up a tunic.