Blowing snow

Well the snow has finally stopped falling from the sky, but that isn't stopping the wind from blowing it all over the place. A good evening to stay in and knit or spin a little while drinking a hot cup of black currant tea.
The above picture is the tangled yoke sweater which I finished in 16 days in the fall of '07 (it had a brief blog appearance here). I never got to wear it. When I first blocked it my aunt moved it when wet (I know; I have no clue what she was thinking) and it was all misshaped. That was when it may have fit. It probably would have been a tad too big but still wearable. I tried about 6 months ago to reblock it and well I tried the washing machine which didn't do anything bad to the yarn, it didn't shape well (spin cycles are the devil). It was also when I discovered it was way to big on me. I was shrinking when I made it and silly me made it for the size I was and not the size in-between size I was then or the smaller size I am now. My mother loves the fact that I'm not great with sizing as she is now the owner of the sweater (the second one of which no longer fits me).

I've come to realize how much I truely love this sweater and have after much consideration decided to give it a second go. I made the trip down to Romni and picked up the yarn. The weird coincidence being that the only colour they had enough balls that wasn't an awful pink colour was the exact colour used in the pattern. I wish they had one more ball of the pale blue I saw. I also looked at a lot of the completed projects on Ravelry and realized I like this pattern most when it had a bit of negative ease, so I am making the smallest size.

I have the body done up to the armholes (still considering adding a little extra length), one sleeve done and the second sleeve on the needles. The sleeves I've had to add a few extra inches of length due to the fact I have almost freakishly long arms. I've also already picked out some buttons!
On a completely unrelated spinning note.... I have finally finished spinning up singles today from the lovely alpaca fibre I received from Unravelling Sophia in the vintage swap! I'm going to let them rest today and ply them tomorrow. I'm still trying to decide between a two-ply which will give me a lot more yardage or a three-ply which will hide my thin and thick spinning (it's not that bad, but I tend to notice these things). I'm thinking it will have to be knit up into something that at least has a vintage look to keep with the theme. Any suggestions?

First non-lace scarf ever.......

..... to have been finished by these hands. It might help it was malibrigo; it also could have been the really cold weather that called for a scarf that can wrap around the neck and face. It was finished last night and didn't leave my neck the whole time we were at the Rex listening to swing, blues and jazz (except when other people were feeling it up).
The Purple Smoke Scarf
Pattern: my own (matches the toque and mittens)
Needles: 6mm 16" circulars
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Alpine Pearl
Yardage: 2 skeins plus the leftovers from the toque and mittens (almost another full skein)
Notes: It is a very long scarf, much taller than me even with me raising my hand above my head. It is also very soft and yummy and I have to say the cable pattern I worked out immediately after I bought the yarn works very well with this colourway. A lot of people have been tricked into thinking it is a reversible cable pattern.

An update or two

Well the Sky is Falling sweater has come out of hibernation and I have been working on it again. I am up past the armholes and if I can dedicate some time to it, I will be working on the sleeves soon.
I am also making very good progress on the scarf and have finished the leftovers from the toque and mittens and just have the last skein to wind to a ball and knit up and it will be finished! It should be very warm on those cold, windy days. There is something to be said for worsted weight and scarves if you aren't doing lace!
Oh and this just went into the oven.......my first try at this cranberry banana bread.

First finished object of 2009

I've decided to try a new way for posting finished projects for the year of 2009 and so you know, I might actually post all finished objects!

So without further adieu here is the first finished project of the new year.
The toque of the Purple Smoke Winter set.
Pattern: My own (to match the mittens and scarf also of my own design)
Needles: 5mm 16" circular and dpns
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Alpine Pearl
Yardage: less than one skein

Now I just need to finish the scarf!

Watch out for that giant lizard!

I spent New Year's Day at the Purple Purl's pajama party and had a blast. While there I got to see one of the women working on her Lizard Ridge blanket and fell in love. It uses Noro which usually I think is way too scratchy for against the skin, but is very gorgeous thanks to the way the colour changes. Although sometimes the colours are also way to bright for me personally to wear. But as a blanket well I'll already have a layer to protect me from the scratchiness and I can enjoy the colours without having to wear them. I will most likely need twenty-five of these blocks to make the blanket and I am having a blast whipping them off (as you can see two are already done). Another great thing about this blanket is you don't have to buy all the yarn at once since each square should be a completely different colourway. The goal is to hopefully have this done by January 2010. It just may happen as this does make great TV knitting.
And to help ring in the New Year, here is a picture of Piper enjoying one of her most favorite treats (it's chicken and if you think I can have some without sharing, think again). On January 2nd I have officially had her for one year!

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone all the best in 2009!

A Chrismas Yarn...

Well on the 23rd of December I quickly finished up Dad's socks, the Gentlemen's Half Hose pattern from Nancy Bush's Vintage Socks while finishing off the Christmas baking (cookies & lavosh) and packing for my train the next morning. I snapped a quick picture before they were soaked.
I had also recently finished my mittens while at the Purple Purl on Sunday. The girls have convinced me to write up the pattern. Yummy malabrigo on 4mm needles. They have proven to be very warm.
Christmas eve saw me off on the train to Ottawa. Dad picked me up from the Fallowfield station and we headed over to Nanny and Poppa's to say Merry Christmas before heading off to the farm. When we got to the farm we had a bit of supper, watched Christmas movies and had a visit from the Christmas eve mouse! Isn't s/he cute?!
Christmas morning saw the opening of gifts. Mom received the hat she is modeling below. It is my own handspun and my own impromptu pattern. She also received a lovely skien of malabrigo sock yarn in a rust orange to knit herself up something nice.
Dad's feet are seen here modeling his socks. They fit him perfectly. The only change I made to the pattern was to make them half an inch longer. Turns out that made them the perfect size! They are just the type of socks he said he wanted, nice and long to peep over the edge of his work boots. He's requested a nice pair of dress socks for next Christmas in a navy blue colour.
Here is a picture of my Christmas booty. My mom made me a hat, scarf and mittens. They are very nice and I finally have a hat that is not a toque or baseball hat that actually looks good on me. The mittens are very warm. Trust me I tried them out doing the activites in the pictures further below. The thermos is from my Dad and should keep soup or stew piping hot for up to 24 hours. It can also keep things cool for the same length of time. The purple and green yarn is from my sister. The purple yarn is Briggs and Little. The colour is gorgeous, but B&L is not known for their softness. Hopefully it will soften up with a little washing. I was thinking of making a throw out of it for my couch. I have a pattern that I think will do nicely. The green yarn is Indigo Moon sock yarn in the colourway cedar. I almost bought myself a skein of this on Sunday and am really glad the little voice in my head told me I could wait. These two skeins will become knee-high socks. Now I'll just have to find a skirt to wear them with. She also got me earrings but those were in my ears already and hence why they are not in the picture.
Here is a picture of me in my gettup from my mom (if you look really carefully you can see some of the earrings) and my aunt who also received a scarf and hat from my mom.

After all the food on Christmas day and the sleigh ride, I spent Boxing day outside snowshoeing (Dad caught up to me, I took a detour to the pond). And then I tried a little cross-country skiiing with my Uncle. (click to enlarge any of the photos)


Happy Holidays!

It's that time of year again........

....where the Christmas baking must be done. These are the gingersnaps I've been working on today. I used fresh ginger instead of dried (I would have put a whole lot more ginger in too, if I didn't have to share with people who prefer the blander version) and I changed just under half the flour to whole wheat (I use Red Fife because it tastes nutty instead of bitter). They turned out very well.

I have been working on a scarf for my sister. She bought the yarn and picked out the stitch pattern and I've turned it into a scarf pattern. You can't see a lot of the pattern in this picture because it's not stretched out, but it does give you a vague idea.
It has been cold here lately so I've started making myself a winter set which will include a scarf, mittens and a toque (haven't started the toque yet). I started the scarf then realized I should probably make the mittens and toque so that whatever yarn is left from those could go into the scarf and that way I won't have lots of yarn leftover. The yarn is malabrigo and it is a gorgeous colourway. It is grey and white with hints of purple and blue.
I've almost forgot to show the rush toque and gloves I made while I was up in SSM to keep my fingers and head warm. The gloves are the first pair I have ever made.

The Vintage Yarn Swap

My vintage swap box arrived just before I left for Sault Ste. Marie and TC was getting right in there digging into the box. I took me a while to figure out why he was so excited.....
...until he found what he was looking for. It didn't last very long. He had the catnip guts removed and was rolling in them pretty soon after this picture was taken.
Piper also got a little something in the box too!
And this was also found in the box!!!!!!! So many goodies!
The coffee was excellent as is the tea and as for the other snacks, I can vouch for their tastiness as well. The movie "Cold Comfort Farm" was very good and the alpaca fibre is being spun. I've almost finished spinning my singles and it spins like a dream!
It was a great swap!

Home again

The lack of blogging due to the month of November was mainly because I was in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario for work without internet access where I was staying (okay there was but I didn't find that out until the second to last day I was staying there).

I did a lot of work on Dad's socks. I realized the socks I was working on where the yarn was picked here had even less yardage than the ones from last year and were going to end up looking like ankle socks on him. So I went back to another pair I had started for him ages ago. They are proper man socks that are long enough in the leg that they can be worn comfortably in boots. They even have some nice calf shaping and look nice and manly. They are also made of superwash wool and have a thread of nylon running through them so they should last a long time. The pattern is Gentleman's Half House from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks. I had plenty of time to work on them up in the Soo. One as you can see is complete and I am at the heel on the second one. They are very roomy on me so I hope they should fit him perfectly.
My green silk lace went under reconstruction. As I was knitting it up in my design I realized it was too complicated and was not showing off the colourway (and the purpose of this piece of lace is to show off the gorgeous colourway). So I switched to a very simple ostrich pattern that I think does an excellent job at focusing all the attention on the yarn.

My sister was in town recently and she was wearing a toque I had made that I had never gotten a picture of her in. So I took the opportunity while I had it. Too bad she wasn't wearing that red sweater I made that I have been waiting for a picture of her in for quite some time. Mojo, if you are serious about stockings for your kilt you may want to take a picture of her in her sweater for me, please!
I can only show a little tidbit of the next finished object as the person it is for reads this blog. It is made from my own handspun!
There are some other things I realize I forgot to blog about that happened before I left for SSM and they will be the topics of future posts (like the vintage yarn swap I participated in).