Lavender Knits

2011-12-02T08:29:00.006-08:00

Despite the bit of rain we've been having, the weather has been gorgeous for the most part. My favourite fall days are the cold, crisp sunny days. Just bundle up in your cozy handknitted woollies and it's all good.

Yesterday we got a really nice treat at work - a tour up on the catwalk. I've been up on the ring beam of the old roof and been up on the old roof before but this was much scarier. Not a place you want to be if you don't like heights.

The stairs and the catwalk are the grated metal kind...the kind where you can see ALL the way down. Ick! I'm usually okay when it comes to heights but this was making me go weak in the knees by the time we got up to the actual catwalk.

Things that makes me happy:
1. I have the next ten days off!
2. My fibre friends welcoming me back into the fold after my long absence.
3. It's December and Christmas shows are back on TV!

It's a perfect day!!

2011-11-23T21:03:00.004-08:00

To make up for working last Sunday, I took a couple of hours off today to get my haircut. It's one of those haircut where you trust the stylist and tell her to surprise you...which she did, in a good way. Really happy with the cut. On the way back to work, I stopped off at Sweet Georgia Yarns to pick up my fibre club stuff for October & November. October's fibre is a blend of superwash Merino, bamboo, and nylon. November's fibre is Polworth and silk.

A great hair cut and fibre. You would think that all this would be enough for a perfect day but no, it got better. Got back to the office and there was a message from home that my Hansen minispinner had arrived.

Perfect day!!!!

King of Coffeemakers

2011-11-19T20:31:00.006-08:00

My Hansen mini spinner is not here yet but the new coffee maker arrived on Friday. It's a very unusual looking machine this Technivorn Mochamaster. It's handmade...yes, handmade coffee maker. While not quite as awwsome as a mini spinner, it's a pretty amazing coffee maker. What makes it so special is that it actually brews coffee at the right temperature!

On the knitting front, I finished the Stockholm shawl in record time. My motivation was the very cold mornings waiting for the train. Long enough to wrap around twice and wide enough to pull over my head as a hood.

Pithy details: Berroco Ultra Alpaca in dark brown, roughly 3-ish skeins (yarn reclaimed from a project that was destined to be unfinished). 7 mm needles, cast on 252 sts and knitted in the round. Knitted to 16" wide and blocked to 13". Silly me washed it in warm water.

Made it through the dark tunnel...

2011-11-10T09:44:00.003-08:00

...and there was light at the other end. I promised myself that I was going to meet up with the Twisted last Wednesday. It was time to get my life back in order, get back the stuff that's important to me.

Sometimes plans change. When I got home from work that Wednesday, fate decided I was going to stay home...and ordered this.

Very much a SQUEEE worthy moment.

Roof from the inside

2011-08-25T20:07:00.005-07:00

Nervousness and sleepless nights are all part of the package now. It's about a month to re-opening day and things are really jumping at work. Everyone is walking around with a glazed look.

Our department is slated to move back in two weeks. I'm going to really miss it here at the Waterfront. Miss all the yummy food carts at walking distance...back to the dust, noise, steel toe shoes, and hard hats everyday.

Hot! Hot! HOTHOTHOT!!

2011-08-20T20:34:00.004-07:00

It's hot today. It wasn't that hot when I left the house this morning. Cool-ish enough to grab a sweater. By mid-day, it was HOT! Extra hot if you're walking on concrete. And no one felt like cooking today so a decision was made to go out for sushi. The perfect meal for a hot day. Cold raw fish in an air conditioned restaurant. Followed by black sesame ice cream.

Which led me to google black sesame ice cream recipes. Now I have to go find the ice cream maker. :)

No explanation for this picture except that everyone needs a random shadow picture once in a while.

Didn't mean to leave it so long...

2011-08-16T21:30:00.009-07:00

I had forgotten my password to log in...it's one of those things when you try too hard to remember something and it just doesn't happen. And then if you leave it for a while, your fingers automatically remembers the right sequence to type and you're in!

Old age will do that to you.

So far, I have no new finished projects. Stuff are on the needle but knitting half-heartedly. Summer has been nice but super busy. Work is getting stressful again. I haven't decided if it's good stress or bad stress. Just a different kind of stress than before. There's so much to do getting a world-class stadium ready & re-open in less than 50 days. It's really REALLY scary!

I did managed to take a few days off and we went on our Annual Trek. The Annaul Trek was a tradition my sister and I started when the kids were teeny. Our usual trek was to ride the Westcoast Express downtown, have breakfast, wander through Science World, BC Mining Museum, etc. It was something we loved doing. Over the years, BC Mining Museum went away and Science World got old. It was hard to come up with something different. This year's trip was to Britannia Mines. I haven't been there since the renovations and it was really a lot of fun.

All the old core samples were kept in trays here. There must be millions and millions of them. The guide was telling us how valuable and extensive this collection was, etc and not to touch. At that point, I looked at the group and most of us had a core sample in our hands and guilty looks on our faces. She might have mentioned that first.

It was a fun day. We wandered around the mine, panned for gold (got some interesting shiny rocks), then drove to Squamish for a tasty lunch. The weather was great and a good time was had by all. Our kids are older now and I'm not sure how many more Annual Treks they'll put up with but I'm hoping there's at least one more.

2011-06-05T20:07:00.008-07:00

I got a call Saturday morning from Helen at Black Sheep Yarns. She said that those bags we were drooling over the other day are in...do I still want one? HAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!

Within 15 mins I was at the store.

The pockets are really nice and deep so you don't have to worry about things falling out. The inside is HUGE!

And it's reversible too! It will hold a knitting project or more PLUS whatever else you'll need. A beautifully made bag.

Of course, if you have a new knitting bag, you must have new yarn to go with it, right?

Madeline Tosh Light.

I was thinking of a light shawl for that yarn. I even started one today, right after I finsihed Amiga Three. Did about 3 inches and changed my mind.

It's amazing what a difference a sunny day makes. When I took the pictures for My Amiga, it was a very dreary cloudy day. The colour kept looking more green than yellow.

Pithy details on Amiga Three - Louet's Euroflax 100% wet spun linen, knitted on 5.5 mm needles. No real modifications to the pattern except on the front band. I did a simple yarn over eyelet. No buttons. If I decide to add buttons later, I can use the eyelets as buttonholes. No blocking but threw it in the washing machine on a gentle wash, followed by 15 mins in the dryer.

Interesting the lint that came off this yarn...it's like paper.

Gingerbread Cake

2011-05-23T15:03:00.002-07:00

Gingerbread Cake...my new favourite. So good with coffee. I need to make a variation of this with chocolate. Gingerbread Brownie Cake has a nice ring to it.

Amiga Too

2011-05-17T21:37:00.005-07:00

This is the Amiga Too from the Amiga pattern from Knitty. And I've started a third one. I really don't think I've ever knitted the same sweater pattern three times in a row. Love this pattern. It's a quick simple pattern that is easily adapted to pretty much any type of yarn. This version is more snug fitting than the first version. I added the feather & fan inserts on the bottom and sleeves. The sleeves are tapered to the elbows then flared slightly by the lace. No buttons on this one.

I started Amiga Three in linen. Loving this one so far and can't wait to see it finished.

And just to show that everything is not always about knitting...

Things that makes me happy:
1. It was sunny today. Time to plan more picnic lunches at work!
2. Long weekend coming up and the weather is supposed to be nice.
3. My cellphone. With this phone, I always have a camera with me.

Knitting in April 2011

2011-05-01T15:16:00.006-07:00

April turned out to be a bit of a stash busting month. It wasn't really intentional...just so happened that the projects finished this month were knitted from the stash.

Ribwarmer is one of my favourite designs by one of my favourite designers - Elizabeth Zimmerman. This ribwarmer vest is a modification of her design from the Fall 1997 Knitter's magazine. It's done in one piece with no seams if you graft the shoulders together. It's a great pattern for odds & ends of leftover yarn and it really knits up fast.

Well, that's interesting. Blogger is being weird and I'm not able to post another picture.

That's ok. The other sweater was just a plain simple shell knitted from Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool. I love this yarn but it pills if you look at it sideways. I'm sure it's one of the reasons this yarn was discontinued. The pattern is Amiga from Knitty. A great versitile pattern that's good with all different yarns. Just started the second one in a grey wool.

Echos in Alpaca

2011-03-18T00:11:00.005-07:00

I saw a really fascinating scarf/shawl, whatever in the Spring issue of Interweave Knits. The pattern was for a reversible cable scarf that can be used as a shawl. Reversible cable...the same on both sides. Great concept!

Got it! Made it! And here are pictures to prove it!

The yarn is the Baby Alpaca from Diamond Yarns. So very soft!

Exactly two skiens used to knit it to pattern measurements.

If I were to do this again, I would do the 1-stitch buttonhole instead of two as the pattern suggested. I found the button holes a bit big once you dropped the stitches. I ended up closing up the buttonholes with a bit of sewing thread.

I didn't like the loose loop of yarn after you dropped the stithces. Next time, I would knit to the second to last row before binding off, knit to the stitch you will need to drop, drop the stitch and knit through, drop next stitche, knit to the end. Then cast off on the following row. I thought about going back & redo the last two rows but didn't feel like it.

According to the pattern, it should be wide enough to be draped over your shoulders like a shawl but I found it a bit too narrow for me. Worked great as a cowl, though. If I were to use it as a shawl, I would double the stitches.

Things that makes me happy:
1. Spring is here...first tulips are up and blooming. Same with daffidils.
2. Wandering around the seawall at lunch.
3. Weather is still cool enough to wear knit stuff.

Someone had a bad day...

2011-02-24T22:11:00.005-08:00

Overheard on the train today...

Two construction he-man types were sitting together, taking up a total of four seats. They had their bags and dirty gear thrown over the extra two seats. One guy deliberately put his dirty work boots up on the seat across from him and pretended to adjust his laces everytime the train stopped at a station...just so people would be so grossed out that they wouldn't want to sit there. I could hear them talking about that. Couldn't miss their conversation - they were quite loud and obnoxious in their opinion of us dainty office worker types. When the train pulled into the final station, the two men gathered up their belongs and disembarked from the train. The man with the shoe lace trick left a bag under his seat. No one said anything.

That's justice.

Only crazy people take pictures of their yarn...

2011-02-22T22:31:00.004-08:00

I will admit to being a little bit crazy...

...but this is Madeline Tosh pure silk lace, 100% Tussah silk, hand-dyed. What you can't see in the picture is the green tones in there. Silk is so hard to photograph. I could probably be able to capture the colours with the big camera but I really wanted to see what this little cellphone camera could do. The picture doesn't tell you how scrumptiously soft this stuff is. A total of 2000 yards. I have a couple of ideas for this yarn but nothing definitely yet.

Love it when the weather forecast is wrong!

2011-02-22T00:13:00.002-08:00

Last Friday, the forecast was for rain and snow. I think they were off by just a bit.

It's late...

Another Lazy Sunday

2011-02-13T22:11:00.013-08:00

Today's Sunday activity was spinning. And making cheese muffins. Cheese muffins are like scones but takes a lot less work.

Fibre is from Sweet Georgia's fibre club from September 2009. I'm that far behind on my spinning. The colourway is "Enchanted Forest". As I'm spinning it I can picture Robin Hood wearing a cloak made of this fibre, hiding amongst the trees in Sherwood Forest.

In between spinning and cheese muffins, time was spent playing with my new cell phone. As much as I'm going to miss my old phone, I'm loving this new one. It's basically a camera with a cell phone attached. :)

The first crocuses and snowdrops are coming up. Spring is not far behind.

Thankful for:
1. ...the lull between the storms that are the Olympics and the re-opening of the stadium.
2. ...my spinning wheel - spinning is so calming and peaceful.
3. ...our Canadian health care system.

Winter Cowl KAL

2011-01-08T12:33:00.006-08:00

This isn't a cowl but a shawlette (mini shawl). Started Jan 1/11, finished Jan 6/11. The fibre is from Sweet Georgia's fibre club but I can't find the tag with the description. All I know is that there's bamboo in there. Yarn is handspun by me.

Pattern is 198 yds of Heaven. I added an extra repeat to make it bigger (it's still a very samll shawl...more like a scarf, really). Great pattern - fast & easy to knit up.

Boxing Day

2010-12-29T08:47:00.006-08:00

I think, of all of the days during the Christmas holidays, my favourite day is Boxing Day. It's a little like the hump day of Christmas and New Year's Day. I don't really care for the crowds of Boxing Day shoppers so it's a stay-at-home day for me. Boxing Day is when the craziness of Christmas has past, the presents have been opened, and everyone is relaxing to enjoy their new toys. You still have plenty of leftovers from the dinners previously so no cooking is required. There is still the holiday glow but you're not quite into the New Year's celebrations yet.

It's a day that you can sit around and catch up on all the Christmas specials that you recorded but haven't had time to watch. And knit.

Excuse the mismatched hat...she doesn't have hair yet.

6 More Sleeps to Christmas!

2010-12-19T20:46:00.009-08:00

All the presents are wrapped & under the tree, just waiting for the BIG day. I'm counting down with 6 more sleeps to go.

This skein of Madeline Tosh Pashmina (75% Merino, 15% Silk, 10% Cashmere - colourway - Fjord) was a celebratory knitting project. The chosen project was the Eleanor Cowl from Knitty. The yarn was absolutely yummy to knit with and the pattern was quick. It only took a couple of days. I didn't weight the cowl but there seems to be a fair bit of yarn left. Possibly enough for a pair of fingerless mittens.

What else have I been doing? Finished spinning from Sweet Georgia's fibre club. Unfortunately, it's been on my wheel so long that I've forgotten which month the fibre was from.

I also started another Barn Sweater. A barn sweater is just a simple basic sweater...the kind you would throw on to go out to muck out the barn, if you have one. I don't have a barn but I like comfy sweaters. I love working with the Berroco Ultra Alpaca (50% Alpaca, 50% Wool) for the Ribbed Cardigan that I'm making a Barn Sweater in brown.

Lazy Sunday

2010-11-21T23:58:00.005-08:00

I really should have been studying but it's really cold today and we got a light dusting of snow. I took that as a sign that I should knit something warm...like a hat...Sweet Georgia's Ballard Slouch hat, to be exact. A quick knit for a slightly snowy Sunday. I found a leftover skein of Lorna's Laces that was perfect. One thing I didn't factor in was that if you wet block it, it will take time to dry. So no new hat for me to wear tomorrow.

Brain hurts

2010-11-16T23:12:00.002-08:00

My brain hurts right now. For the past four weeks, I've been thinking, eating, dreaming Organizational Behaviour and I have another three weeks to go. I'm not used to this. I miss knitting. I miss watching tv. I miss vacuming. Ok, that last one is a lie.

Summer is really over.

2010-10-25T22:46:00.004-07:00

So here we sit, feeling smug that we haven't broken down & turned on the heat yet. Thinking that maybe we'll make it to November. Then we found out that the swine kid has been turning on the heat. We lost.

You can really tell that summer is really over.

I wished I did more knitting over the summer...I could really use another sweater or two right now.

Things to be thankful for:

1. No leaks here at home and no leaks in my office at work.
2. I don't work outside in the rain and cold.
3. Westcoast Express trains are heated in the winter. It's all very civilized.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-10-10T23:15:00.003-07:00

Things to be thankful for:

1. Growing up with a great dad. I still miss him after all these years. Especially at Thanksgiving as it usually fell on his birthday.

2. Hot water heater broke but thankful it wasn't the great disaster that it could have been. A few days of inconvenience of washing in cold water is nothing compared to the water damage that could have happened.

3. My son. Looking at my cousin's new baby tonight reminded me of all the silly things my son used to do. Now he's an adult. I'm very proud of him. :)

4. The use of my hands. If I lost my eyesight, I could still knit. But if I lost the use of my hands, I would go crazy. One can't take anything for granted.

This was my favourite vacation picture taken at the top of the hill of the Plains of Abraham, overlooking Old Quebec City.

Vacation meanderings...feel free to skip this post.

2010-10-07T09:31:00.007-07:00

Really enjoyed Montreal and Quebec City. Beautiful old buildings with lot of history. Everything seems to have burnt down at one point or another. We walked everywhere and I do mean WALK. They weren't kidding when they said there's a church on every block. Somewhere on the second day, after visiting the 50th church, we stopped going in. Mont Royal was interesting. We were walking along and I asked my husband how far until we get to the mountain. He said we're on it. It's a very small mountain. By B.C. standards and the true definition of the word mountain, it's almost a hill. Still, it was a beautiful walk. Old Montreal was really touristy and it was very crowded. If you don't like crowds, don't go on a Saturday when the Tall Ships are in. We went back the following Monday and it was much better.

I wasn't looking but came across one yarn shop in Montreal. It was an odd little store. All the yarn was in cones and stacked in boxes like a warehouse. The prices were by the weight. You would go in and pick out what you wanted and a little old man would wind it off the cones and weight your yarn on an old scale. I couldn't tell what was the material for most of the yarn. Another thing that surprised me was how many people smoked in Montreal. Although, you can't smoke in stores, there's no bylaw that says they have to be a certain number of feet away from the entrance. There were a couple of old ladies smoking just at the entrance and it made the yarn inside smell like cigarette smoke to me. Blech!

In Quebec City, we stayed in Old Quebec. The hotel was really small and quaint but in a good way. No rusty beds. Again, we walked everywhere. Plains of Abraham, Battlefield Park, Old Quebec, the lower city, EVERYWHERE. One would think that with all the walking, I would drop pounds but paired with all the good eating we did, I'm lucky the net gain was only one pound.

Toronto could have definitely be a miss for me. What made it worthwhile was seeing old friends and meeting people I've heard my husband talk about over the years. He hasn't seen some of these people in nearly thirty years. Most of these guys knew each other in highschool band and are still playing music for fun. Some of them are in the music business there and some just play in bands on weekeneds. They got together at the place we were staying and played. That was a lot of fun. Good food, good conversation, good music, and good people.

Yarn-wise, Toronto was the only real wool stop. Visited Lettuce Knit and Romni Wools. Lettuce Knit is like any LYS anywhere. Romni Wools was filled to the brim with yarn. I convinced my friend to start knitting again. Overall, I bought one measuring tape (forgot mine at home) and one ball of yarn. Honestly, there was nothing that I saw that I couldn't get in Vancouver.

As fun as it was to go away, it's so nice to be back home. Two weeks is a long time for me...I start missing things like my own pillow and my coffee mug. Just before we left, we got our new stove delievered. I'm so glad I took an extra week off. It has been nice and relaxing. Dusted stuff (house needed serious dusting), tried out the new convection oven (baked muffins), knitted stuff (made pumpkins), and general relaxing.

Thunder and Lightning

2010-09-15T08:22:00.002-07:00

Last Wednesday, lightning struck a house half a block away. It was loud, very loud. Thank goodness no one was hurt. The chiminey was damaged. For some reason, that affected our internet. We finally got our internet back on Friday and our WIFI back last night. It was the weirdest feeling not being able to access the internet whenever you want.

Reasonable thoughts

2010-09-12T09:04:00.005-07:00

My brain is saying that it is completely silly to pack ALL the yarn for the projects I'm knitting during our trip. I have never EVER knitted an entire sweater in two weeks. But...in my heart, I can't bear the remote possibility of running out of yarn and not be able to knit. This is not reasonable. The only way I'm going to run out of things to knit on this trip is if the plane flew into some kind of time warp where the ratio of their time to ours is 25 years to 3 days. But still...I'm bringing the yarn...just in case.

The grey shrug is done and I love it. The green one has been ripped back and is now ready for whatever's next.

I've been in a finishing mood lately and finally finish the button bands on the purple ribbed cardigan. After four attempts, I went with my original plan of rib 2x2, simple two row buttonholes. The dumb thing was making the buttonholes without choosing the buttons first. You kinda have to keep your fingers crossed that you're going to find buttons that you like and will fit the hole. I was lucky. I found some really nice vintage glass buttons at Black Sheep Yarns yesterday. They fit perfectly and looked great on the cardigan. The drawback was that the sewing hole on the buttons were too small. If they were plastic, I could heat a needle and widen the hole but you can't do that with glass. Bummer. The buttons are great and I can probably use them with something else but the poor cardigan is still buttonless. The yarn is Berroco's Ultra Aplaca - Lavender Mix. Soft and easy to knit. Love it so much that I bought some more yesterday...in bunny colour. :)

Shrug Version 3

2010-09-01T07:20:00.003-07:00

Version 3 is doing well. Version 3 is completely different from the previous versions as I didn't bother ripping out the original shrug. I just started a brand new one with yarn I bought for a second shrug. New yarn, new colour. I'm coming to the tail end of the second ball and already at the start of the second sleeve. Definitely will have enough yarn with just four balls. Amazing how things work out if you follow directions. This time, I'm following the pattern...with really minor adjustments.

Our Montreal/Quebec trip has been booked. Hotels, planes, trains, blah, blah, blah...all done. Knitting projects have been sorted out and ready to be packed. Itouch loaded with patterns of each project. Thought about taking my spinning wheel but decided against that. Yarn & Fibre places have been checked out on Ravelry and on the internet. Directions for these places have been printed out. All the important stuff done.

Shrugging off the Shrug

2010-08-28T14:10:00.002-07:00

Version 1 - I hate sewing so I thought it would be brilliant to knit the shrug in the round. I always get gauge so didn't bother doing a swatch. By the time I finished the first sleeve and was well on my way through the back, I decided the fabric was too tight. I wanted something looser. Ripped everything out and started with bigger needles.

Version 2 - This time, I casted on for the sleeve and knitted 4" and checked the gauge. Close enough...just off by a stitch or two. No problem. I wanted the shrug to be on the big side anyway. Merrily knitted the first sleeve, the back, and then the second sleeve. Keeping in mind that I wanted this shrug to be loose, I added 2 extra inches. Did I mention that because I wanted it on the big side, I casted on for the largest size? Well, I did. According to the pattern, this would give me 22" across the back when all done.

This morning, I noticed that I have only less than half a ball left and I still have the ruffles to do. Odd. I don't usually run out of yarn. Off I go to the LYS and found out they were out of the colour I'm using. If I'm lucky, I might have enought to do a simple edging. Got home and knitted the last three rows. I decided to pin the shrug together & make sure everything fits before binding off. It was too big. Measured it and it turns out that it was 5" too big across the back. 27" across the back meant that it was falling-off-my-shoulders-too-big. No wonder I ran out of yarn.

Version 3 will have to wait until another day when I'm not so frustrated.

Things that save the day:
1. Picked up fibre from Sweet Georgia. Can't wait to spin that.
2. Picked up more Noro Shirakaba in a different colour in case I want to make another shrug. This time, I bought extras.
3. First time ever! Four balls of Noro and only found two knots.

Twit

2010-08-21T23:23:00.002-07:00

Twitter is a strange bird. Is there a prize you get for having lots of followers? Is that why people get all bent out of shape if you stop following them or not follow them back? I'm afraid I've offended a few people there. Oh well. Life goes on.

Teeny Tiny Tomatoes!!

2010-08-17T20:31:00.004-07:00

When I first saw these, I thought they were jelly beans! Super teeny tiny cherry tomatoes. Weird year for growing veggies. I think the weather got too hot too fast and the poor little tomatoes didn't have a chance to grow before ripening. They're very tasty, though. It's like all the flavours of a regular tomato squished into a little jelly bean sized package.

I'm really going to miss being down by the waterfront when the construction for the Stadium is done. One could get used to the view here. This pic was taken this morning. No filter on the cell phone camera so the colour is a bit off.

A couple times a week, there would be a cruise ship parked in this spot. I love the atmosphere here when the place is teeming with lost tourists. It makes you feel like you're almost on vacation yourelf. :)

Things that makes me happy:
1. Teeny tiny tomatoes are better than no tomatoes.
2. Living in a place where people come for vacations.
3. Gibson's Fibre Fest this Friday! And I have 2 days off!

Woohoo! Blueberry crop!

2010-08-02T13:36:00.004-07:00

Seriously! This is it. Our entire blueberry crop to date. Ok, not really...there were three more blueberries on that plate which got taste tested.

I really don't understand it. Things that are supposed to be super easy to grow would just not grow for us. Things that are supposed to be difficult to grow would spead like wildfire. To date, we have not successfully grown rhubarb. We've tried using store bought plants from reputable garden centres and cutting from friend's tried & try plants...nothing. I guess we can now add blueberries to that list now.

Things that are Double Rainbow:
1. Stat holiday Mondays.
2. Cooler weather for knitting & spinning.
3. Ice coffee cubes for making iced coffees.

Psst to Gillian - good idea about VitD. I will look into that. Unfortunately, I seriously doubt I could convince the guys to switch from cow's milk. I don't care for cow's milk so this is a great alternative for me.

Almond Milk

2010-07-31T21:23:00.002-07:00

I really don't know why this happens. I'll be sitting there, perfectly sane, and then an idea pops into my head. When that happens, I just run with it. If I don't, it will drive me crazy.

This one is making almond milk.

Found all sorts of recipes online (love the internet!) and this seems to be the general idea...

1 cup of raw almonds, soaked 12 hours. Take the husks off and rinse.
3 cups of water.

Blend until smooth, strain with a fine mesh strainer. That's it. You have almond milk.

My first batch earlier this week was ok. It was a bit watery as I used only 1/2 cup of almonds...one recipe said to use 1/2 cup and they will swell to 1 full cup. Too bland for my taste. This time, I soaked one cup of almonds and blended that. Much better. Some recipes also suggest blending the almonds with dates as a sweetener but plain is fine with me. So far, it hasn't killed me yet so I guess it's all good.

Apparently, you can save the almond meal, dry it out in the oven and use it for baking.

On Friday, I wandered through Nood in Gastown & picked up some silicone cupckae cups. Much to my surprise, they were on sale! 30% off! They would be perfect for making your own peanut butter cups. :)

No fibre pics today

2010-07-21T21:25:00.004-07:00

I finally finished spinning and plying the August 2009 Fibre Club fibre from Sweet Georgia. Thank goodness for Ravelry. I had to look up the colourway because I couldn't find the paper description. Copperhead. I would have pics to show but the swine kid took the camera to the fireworks tonight. >:

So, instead, I have pictures of today's lunch and the lunchroom...

Vancouver is such a beautiful city. Just behind the Olympic cauldron there are benches overlooking the water - outside where I work. These aren't your ordinary park benches. They are high back wooden loungers! What amazes me is that every time I've been there, there's hardly anyone there.

Things that makes me happy:
1. Fresh fruit in the summer.
2. Looking forward to squeeing over the new Aug/Oct fibre club offerings from Sweet Georgia.
3. Cell phone cameras - the best invention ever!

More hexagons!

2010-07-10T09:19:00.003-07:00

Y'know, these hexagons are not too bad to make. I have thirteen joined together and a whole bunch of crochet bits in various stages of hexagon completion. I've been crocheting them one colour at a time - do a bunch of centre purples, get tired of that and move on to the cream, and so on. It's perfect for mucking around on the computer. I can do a handful while waiting for LFG to pop on WoW. Multitasking at its best.

Hexagon love

2010-07-02T08:34:00.005-07:00

I came across this tutorial on how to crochet hexagons and thought to myself...what a great way to use up leftover yarns!

I'm sure for the crochet savy folks, it's a piece of cake. It took me the whole week to make one. But once I got the first one done, it wasn't bad at all. Made a few more and thought I could piece them together to make a little blanket. I estimated I will need 160 hexagons.

So far, I've made six. I will also need more yarn - which defeats the purpose of using up leftovers. And I didn't factor in the bazillion little yarn ends to weave in.

I think the novelty of crocheting will wear off before I get this finished.

Sidenote:

Picked up my new glasses this week. I feel old. I needed bifocals. Yes, you can get them without the lines (which I did) and they're called Progressives. It wasn't too bad adjusting to them.

Happy Thoughts:

1. Extra long weekend! And it's not raining anymore.
2. Love the super lush green colour of the grass.
3. No plans for the long weekend except do eat, knit, sleep, and WoW! Not necessarily in that order.

Joong (or better known as rice wraps at our house)

2010-06-05T22:40:00.004-07:00

Many cultures have these. Call them whatever you want but they're the Best Thing Ever. Ok, not as good as chocolate and coffee but pretty darn close. I have 60 of these. :insert happy dance here:

When asked if I wanted 60 of these, I didn't considered the amount of space they will take in my freezer. They take a LOT of space!

Creative uses for a meat mallot...

2010-05-30T22:28:00.005-07:00

A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with my sister about a pair of granny boots I used to have. I wore them until they fell apart and always meant to replace them. We were wandering through a department store shoe section at that time. Her reply was less than flattering about the selection such a store would offer.

So, with that in mind and a free Friday afternoon, I decided to wander through one of my favourite shoe store. I also heard a rumour that they were having a sample shoe sale as well at one of their stores. The store was just too crowded to look properly so I headed to the other store. Found the boots I wanted and they had my size. The only problem was that the arch on one boot was slightly higher than the other. Experience tells me that if I could feel it then, it would irritate my foot after wearing the boots all day. Unfortunately, they only had one pair my size. The other store (the CROWDED store) had two pairs and I really didn't want to walk all the way back. The clerk wasn't able to get in touch with anyone at the other store becuase of the sale and everyone was too busy to answer the phone. Then she did a very nice thing...she offered me a nice discount so I could take the boot to a shoe repair and have them restitch the lining. So I bought them.

When I got home, I took the meat mallet and went Bop! Bop! Bop! on the spot and it worked. I've had these boots for a week now and they still feel great.

Food shopping

2010-05-29T14:33:00.008-07:00

A zillion years ago, we lived near 11th & Fraser...not too far from Famous Foods. The Famous Foods then is nothing like the Famous Foods now. This place was recommended by someone who is very particular about what she eats. Now I know where to go for my hard to find baking needs in bulk, although their stock of baking chocolate is not quite as extensive as Gourmet Warehouse. They have organic everything there. Stuff that I wouldn't think you could even get organic!

And I found Greek yogurt there. Organic Greek yogurt. I've been looking for some to try & make my own yogurt. Wish me luck on that. :)

View from the top...

2010-05-11T20:26:00.005-07:00

There was no way I was going to say no when asked if I wanted to go up to the ring beam.

View from the freight elevator going up:

View of False Creek and Science World from the ring beam:

View of the hole in the middle of the Stadium roof as they're cutting away the panels:

It was a beautiful day to be up there.

Coffee Bag

2010-05-09T10:57:00.008-07:00

Ethical Bean Coffee is a good coffee at a decent price. We drink a lot of coffee which means we go through a lot of bags of coffee. I think these bags are supposed to be recyclable but I couldn't help but wondering if there's something I could make with them. You know - reuse, reduce, etc...

In the spirit of my bag-making phase, I present...

the Coffee Bag!

Things I would do differently next time:
The plastic wrinkled when I turned the bag right side out. I would leave the opening larger so the bag could turn without wrinkling the bag too much. I made zipper tab ends and it added bulk to the end seams - making it very difficult to sew the sides. I think I would prefer to have the air vent facing inside than out. Mylar is slippery to sew so don't rush the sewing. You only get one chance with this material. If you make a mistake, you can't redo the seams...it leaves holes that won't go away.

The bag smells like coffee.

Round two...

2010-05-07T23:32:00.005-07:00

I wasn't really happy with the cow bag. The cotton was a bit too soft even with the lining. This was made with some green upholstery fabric I had left over from making a teddy bear.

Oh, did I mentioned that Button Button is just a few blocks away from my new office? This is very handy.

Things you do when you're bored...

2010-05-05T23:20:00.002-07:00

I had planned on meeting up with the Twisted tonight but didn't feel great when I got home. I decided to stay home tonight and play a bit of WoW. Tonight I really sucked at healing and wiped the group twice. At lvl 53, it's BRD...a dungeon that I absolutely hated. It was time to go do something else.

Scrounged up a zipper, some fabric, and half an hour later this is what you get...

...a little cow bag. Maybe I should iron out the wrinkles?

BC Place Stadium...end of an era

2010-05-04T20:53:00.003-07:00

Now you see it...

Now you don't...

BC Place Stadium's roof was deflated for the final time this morning. I watched it with mixed feelings...a bit of sadness and a bit of excitment for what the next year will bring. I was also sad that not all my Stadium friends were together. We all watched it from various locations. I wish we could have all been together for this.

Hurry up and wait...

2010-04-26T21:31:00.003-07:00

Today was Moving Day at work. They're putting in a new roof at work and we all had to leave the building. What doesn't make any sense is that while WE had to leave due to safety concerns, the contract company will be moving in and using our office area. Whatever.

The bright side was that there was a lot of hurry up and wait time. Luckily, I had my knitting with me. Any day that you get to knit on work time is a good day, right?

How Green is Green?

2010-04-24T22:47:00.005-07:00

Earth Day 2010

For the most part, our family is pretty green. We do all the usual stuff like recycle anything and everything. We use energy efficient light bulbs. We compost. And lately, our city has a program to compost food scrapes like chicken bones, etc. So I can safely say that we're Green. But one can be a bit more Green if you look around. Lately, at work, I've been putting my sugar and milk in my coffee cup, pour a little bit of coffee, swirl, and then top up my cup with coffee. This is so I don't have to use a wooden stir stick or spoon to stir my coffee. It seemed pointless to dirty a spoon just to mix coffee. Give or take, that will save ~300 stir sticks a year. Not big by global standards but every little bit helps. I've also started bringing my little plastic chopsticks when we go for take-out sushi. No bamboo chopsticks were harmed in the feeding of my sushi cravings. I got this set at one of those Japanese dollar stores. It came with a nice little carrying case with little bunnies on the front. Really cute!

Every little bit helps.

Finding treasure

2010-04-05T20:33:00.003-07:00

I was going through some boxes in my ~~junk~~ work room and came across a stash of Rowan Lima that I bought on sale. Finding yarn that I had forgotten is like finding treasure. Going through that room is like digging for treasure sometimes. The original plan was to knit the Alana Cardigan with it but not so sure once I looked over the pattern again and checked out some of the finished projects on Ravelry.

You know what I really want to knit right now? A little sock monkey pouch for my Ipod.

More procrastination

2010-03-30T20:50:00.001-07:00

I kinda feel bad...every so often, I get requests for my knitted Waldorf doll pattern and I don't have one...yet. It was one of those pick up your needles and knit until it looked right projects. I've been telling people that I'm going to write out the intructions one of these days.

It took me forever to write up the Sock Monkey pattern. I'm a procrastinator.

Sick

2010-03-13T13:39:00.004-08:00

You know that commercial where the gorilla is jumping and beating up on a suitcase? It was to show how tough their luggage can be. Well, I feel like the suitcase...except I'm not as tough. I hate being sick. It's such a waste of time. Even my hair is achy.

Blech!

Ravelympics - Cedar Leaf Shawlette

2010-03-06T14:33:00.006-08:00

Well, the 2010 Winter Olympics is more or less over. Paralympics is still to come next week but the hype for that is much less than the regular Olympics. A shame, really. The stadium is now gearing up for the big opening ceremony next Friday. This year really does seem to fly by fast.

During all that I did managed to finish my Ravelympics project.

Pithy Details:
Yarn - handspun Blue Faced Leicester, fibre dyed by Sweet Georgia (Fibre Club), colourway - Foumndation.
Pattern - Cedar Leaf Shawlette - Never Not Knitting

The yarn was probably thicker than what was recommended but it was perfect for what I wanted. A nice thick and soft shawlette. I added an extra row of eyelets before starting the leaf border to better separate the border and the shawl.

Would I knit this again? You betcha!! I'm looking forward to trying this pattern out in different yarns.

2010 Olympics Fever

2010-02-17T23:47:00.005-08:00

This was the view that greeted me as I was walking around BC Place on my way to the check-in gate at 6:45AM this morning. It was so breathtakingly beautiful that I had to pull out my cell phone to take a couple of pictures.

The dark objects along the bottom are little Inuksuks along the shoreline. It was really amazing. There must have been at least a hundred or more of them. This just reminded me that I'm lucky to be where I am. It's so easy to forget; being where I am, it's like being in the eye of the hurricane. I forget what's going on around me until I step outside. I'm always surprised at the level of excitment that's in this city right now. Despite the work stress leading up to this point, it is so cool to be part of something this big. This city is going nuts!

Red "O" Mitts - the Reader's Digest Version

2010-02-07T13:19:00.004-08:00

I wanted something Olympic-like and functional for those fun times when I'm sitting outside at the check-in tent. My red mittens would be perfect but just can't write with them on. The solution? Half mitts. It only took a couple of hours on Friday. The Friday we had off because they're doing a security sweep of our offices. These mitts are red - same wool as the full sized mittens - but for some reason, looks pinky in this light.

2010 Olympics - a knit-free zone?

2010-02-02T21:24:00.002-08:00

Hmmm...going to have to rethink how I'm going to knit my Ravelympic project. Just found out that I may not be able to bring my knitting through the check points for my venue. Which means I won't be able to knit on transit going to & from work. I'm going to have to leave my project in my office.

February's desktop

2010-01-31T23:04:00.002-08:00

It's the year of the Tiger so I thought this screenshot would be appropriate for Feb/March desktop.

Mittens

2010-01-25T23:05:00.004-08:00

I want a pair of red mittens but didn't like the acrylic store bought ones. So I made my own. It was also to keep me from casting on the Cedar Leaf Shawlette. The mittens only took a couple of days to knit. While these mittens are not the Red Olympic Mitten pattern, they're close (I mean, mittens are mittens) so I made a donation.

Want to see something incredible? Knitters have raised over $1,000,000 for Doctors Without Borders.

And if you're interested in knitting your own mittens, Swatchless has the Red Olympic mitten pattern. The proceeds are going to Penguins Can Fly.

I will now have to find something else to knit for the next two weeks.

Ravelry's Knitting Olympics 2010

2010-01-21T23:09:00.003-08:00

It's countdown time to the 2010 Winter Olympics. I have mixed feelings about this Olympics. Normally, I'm all over it, especially with this one being in our own backyard...literally. Working at one of the venues can be really exciting but it has been so stressful. Every time I think or hear about the Olympics, I get heart palpitations. I wasn't sure if I was going to do the knitting Olympics this year. But then, I thought...how often does this comes around? It might be just the thing to de-stress things a bit.

So, I joined Team Canada Ravelry group and picked my project and yarn.

Cedar Leaf Shawlette. Something nice and uncomplicated that won't make me want to poke my eyes out with my needles. The yarn is the Blue Face Leicester that I spun up last summer. Fibre is from Sweet Georgia's fibre club...Foundation colourway. I've been trying to think of something special to use this yarn for and when I saw the pattern, I knew it was right.

I'm all set to go. I've been knitting like a crazy person to finish up my Almost-Cassidy cardigan just so I could get that done and out of the way so I wouldn't break my resolution of finishing things before starting new projects. The main pieces of the cardie just came off the needles tonight. This weekend, I will sew them together, knit the band and I will be done just in time to start the shawlette for Feb 12th.

Things I'm thankful for:
1. A cool bunch of friends at work.
2. New knitting projects
3. Books

2010 New Year Resolution (despite my objections to making resolutions)

2010-01-16T15:21:00.003-08:00

Normally, I'm not big on New Year Resolutions. For me to make resolutions is pretty much condemming me to failure. I start things and I never finish things. I have lots of ideas for projects and things to do but once I get started on them, if it takes more than 10 minutes, my interest has moved on to the next shiny thing. Very easily distracted.

I would like to change that. I'm going to start small. Give myself a few things to finish so I wouldn't get discouraged.

1. Finish the grey cable cardigan. Yes, that cardigan is still not finished. It's all knitted but still need to be sewn together. I promise I will do that this year. I think giving myself a year is good except I'm also a procrastinator. I will most likely wait until December and think maybe no one will remember that I put that on my blog to finish. It's getting silly...I finished knitting the sweater in December 2007.

2. Finish the hair on my Waldorf doll. She still only have half a head of hair. And she still needs clothes. Maybe I should list the half-finished sweater that I'm knitting for her here too.

3. Finish my cashfern scarf. Honestly! I only have 1 repeat left to do! It's sititng in a margarine tub somewhere in my wool room.

4. Finish the finglerless gloves I promised my niece. I promise to have them finished by next winter. You will get them eventually.

Happiness is...

2010-01-06T23:19:00.001-08:00

...yarn sale at your local yarn shop and coming home with a sweater's worth of Rowan Lima.

Yum!

We have cake!

2009-12-27T22:39:00.006-08:00

A few weeks ago, we discovered a mouse living in the back of our laundry room. No real damage but a box of instant mash potato powder was chewed into. We completely forgotten that box was there. The real casualty was an electronic rice cooker that was a present from my mom a few Christmases ago. There were a few droppings along the top of the cooker and inside the vent. Even if I could clean it up, I would never ever feel comfortable using it...so it went in the garbage.

We have several rice cookers and the one we use daily is in the kitchen. It's nice small one that makes enough for the three of us. The one the mouse contaminated was a bigger one that makes congee (mushy rice). We don't use it often but it's so handy to have. I can cook congee on the stove top but it's so handy with the cooker. You throw in the ingredients, press a button, and go away until it's done. I was bemoaning about how I would miss that cooker. One of the boxes under our tree this year was a replacement rice cooker from hubby. The box said it cooks white rice, brown rice, sushi rice, sticky rice, congee, soup, and cake. Yes, cake.

I was intrigued by the cake function and had to try it out.

The instruction booklet suggested using a boxed cake mix but I used a simple cake recipe I found online. The recipe made more than what was recommended so I had to hit the cake setting twice in order for it to bake properly. The result was a tasty cake, a little on the dense side - that's my fault...I should have separated the batter into two batches.

So, yes, you can bake a cake in a rice cooker. Who knew.

Christmas is coming!

2009-12-21T07:02:00.005-08:00

It's Monday morning and I'm home. I have two days off. Normally, this would make me very happy but this is the first year that I am not taking time off between Christmas and New Year. To coin a phrase from a coworker...it's cuckoo banana heads at work right now. I'm not denying that I'm not excited with all the Olympic stuff happening around me but it just doesn't feel like Christmas is 4 days away. Presents are ready & waiting to be wrapped, tree is up and decorated. A new Christmas puzzle sitting in the box. Same as every other year but this time it feels different. The 2010 Olympics have overshadowed Christmas for me. :(

In order to get that Christmas-y feeling back, we made a trip to Granville Island on Saturday afternoon before heading over to the Festival of Lights at Vandusen Gardens later. I love that place! They did a fantastic job on the lights. Despite the large crowds, it was still a lot of fun!

A dark and ugly picture but unless you're planning on bringing a tripod & such, pictures will turn out dark and ugly. These were the most amazing lights! They're the plastic top part of water bottles cut into flower and star shapes! There must have been bazillion of these all over the garden. In the dark, with the lights, they look like coloured ice flowers!

And here's another picture that turned out without a lot of effort.

Happy Christmas to all!

It's cold outside

2009-12-10T07:19:00.004-08:00

Last summer, during that long heat wave, I said I wasn't going to complain when it got cold in the winter. But that was before I knew how cold it was going to get! It's FREAKIN' COLD here!!!

The up side is that I got to wear all my hand knitted hats, scarves, mittens. I just didn't expect to have to wear everything all at the same time.

It's in the forecast to snow tomorrow and all through the weekend. I have mixed feelings about wanting a white Christmas. This is the first year in a long time that we're not shutting down for the holidays.

Mini Santa

2009-12-05T14:31:00.003-08:00

The perfect accessory for any computer desk. I'm going to bring this in to work for my desk...on Wednesday.

ETA: Did I mentioned I have two days off? Wheeee!!!

A very productive weekend...

2009-11-29T22:20:00.003-08:00

It took me the whole weekend but I made a picture.

It's not much but I can proudly say "I did this myself" I've been playing around with the Adobe Illustrator and there is so much to play with! Every step was a challenge, right down to trying to figure out how to save this as a jpeg to post here.

Just because I can.

Things that makes me happy:
1. Playing with new toys.
2. Making things - even if it is just a picture on the computer.
3. Christmas music.

I got nothin'

2009-11-22T22:19:00.003-08:00

Well, I've been knitting and doing a bit of spinning. Not much excitment here. Started a pair of fingerless mitts today. Got a new camera but it's been too rainy and cold to go outside to try it out. Not really feeling motivated to do much this weekend. It's been a long busy couple of months at work and I feel I need some decompression time.

I've been playing around with Illustrator on the computer making calendars. I found a place that sells mini jewel CD cases. The difference between the regular CD ones and the calendar ones is that the calendar case cover flips back. I ordered 200. Husband asked what am I going to do with 200 calendar cases. I dunno...I guess I'll make 200 calendars. I don't think I even know 200 people to give calendars to.

My knitted Waldorf doll is still waiting for the rest of her hair. She still needs clothes.

Things that makes me happy:
1. Christmas music.
2. Wool socks FTW!!
3. More Christmas music!

Peanut Butter Cookies

2009-11-08T13:38:00.005-08:00

I made peanut butter cookies today. It's the easiest recipe in the world.

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg.

Mix, bake for 10 mins at 350 deg.

That's it. It's a really small batch so I usually x4 to get enough cookies to last more than an hour. It's best to use peanut butter that's smooth and not separated. It's impossible to stir the oil back in and makes lumpy cookies. Family doesn't mind anyway and it gives the cookies pockets of peanut butter. Still tasty but hard on the wrists.

Knitting news

Still working on the Pinwheel sweater. Just knitting up the i-cord border now and then have to start the sleeves. It knits up fast but all that plain knitting in the round is really boring. I was getting to that point where I want to poke my eyes out with my lace needles.

Doll Pattern

I've had several people email me asking about the pattern. I don't mind sharing it but I need to re-write my doll pattern. I was making notes as I went along on my ipod touch when I accidentally lost the app (bad sync on my part) and lost all the info. It's easy enough to re-write but just have to find the time to do that.

Things that makes me happy:

1. A picture of my nephew in his transformer costume. He won first place!
2. Birds in the garden. I love watching the birds in my backyard.
3. Rainy weekends - guilt-free days of sitting on the couch, knitting, and watching old movies.

WARNING! THIS POST CONTAINS GRAPHIC AND SHOCKING PHOTOS...

2009-11-01T10:04:00.006-08:00

...for knitters.

In the spirit of Halloween that was yesterday, here's something to put fear in the hearts of all the fibre people out there.

I love this cardigan. It's just a plain sweater with a picot edge around it and mother-of-pearl buttons. Somehow I had snagged and broke a thread on the back of this cardigan. I knew that and had meant to fix it before I washed it. Completely forgot and washed it last night. Yup. This was the biggest fright I ever got on Halloween.

The good news is that it's fixable.

Other stuff

Ever since Black Sheep Yarns opened up last year in Port Moody, I've been doing a lot more spontaneous knitting. Before, it was a planned trip to the yarn store. I usually take transit to work so I would have to plan in advance to drive in to Vancouver, find time either at lunch time or end of the day to hit all the stores. And if I forget something, it's a pain to go back. Now, I just drive 5 mins and Black Sheep is there. Although I try to go for specific things, I'm more likely to pick up a new yarn just to try. If I like it, it's easy enough to go back and pick up enough for a larger project. The down side is that my yarn stash has grown way too much this past year.

Yesterday's yarn haul yeilded 2 balls of Noro for a scarf, a skein of Koigu sock yarn, and the Rowan Lima Collection pattern book. There was a couple of samples of the Lima knitted up at the store. That yarn is really amazingly soft, not surprising with 80-something % Alpaca. Considering that it will use 5.5mm needles, the yarn is very light and the sample sweater had a lot of drape to it. The yarn itself is actually a chain of thinner yarn. My guess is that it will trap air inside itself to give it bulk and warmth without the weight. I'm tempted to go back today and pick up a ball to try out. But I know that would mean going back and getting enough for something larger...something that I wouldn't have time to knit up right now.

Maybe buying the pattern book wasn't such a good idea.

Things that makes me happy:

1. BC Lions lost last night.
2. Hell week at work is over.
3. Sushi for dinner last night.

Weekend Warrior

2009-10-25T13:32:00.003-07:00

I actually made up a list of things to do this weekend. I will not post the whole entire list but I will share what I've accomplished...

1. Finally finished sewing the last seam in my felted tweed cardigan. I love this stuff! It's so soft and squooshy!

2. Blocking the above cardigan. Keeping my fingers crossed that it will dry before the end of the day. I don't trust the dog to not sleep on it. That's an annoyed dog butt sticking out.

3. Started knitted the Pinwheel sweater with the Cascade Heather. I think this might be it...the yarn seems to be happy being the Pinwheel sweater. The February sweater is now back in the queue. One day I will find the perfect yarn for it and it will be wonderful.

4. Knitted the stem & leaves for my pumpkin and finsiehd the second pumpkin. I'm going to make a couple more before I felt everything as one batch.

5. Finished the last 1 & half inches of a sock. The yardage for the Noro sock yarn is really incredible! I don't know why I thought I would need two skeins for pair of socks.

6. I have over one and half skeins of the Noro sock yarn left that I started the New York Plaid scarf. So far, I have nearly 6" done.

7. Fixed the problem of my apps not showing up on the new computer for my ipod. It was as simple as manually transferring the files over from the old computer to the new. I spent a lot of time on the phone and emailing the folks at Apple. No one suggested this and they couldn't figure out why the apps weren't showing up. I posted the problem on Ravelry (a knitting forum) and someone suggested this.

7. Finished some work-related stuff.

Who am I kidding?

2009-10-17T15:01:00.004-07:00

I had to go to the yarn shop to buy some green wool. For my pumpkins, I said. But before I left, I did some quick calculations on how much Rowan Felted Tweed I would need if I were to make a sweater with it. Now, why would I do that if I had no intentions of buying more wool? I can't say it was all my fault. I had this ball of the soft grey sitting on my computer table for a couple of weeks now. It was supposed to be a bunny rabbit but it will now be part of a soft grey sweater.

Rowan Felted Tweed is my new favourite yarn. I'm fickle that way.

Thankful for:
1. Rain.
2. Halloween chocolate. Every year we buy more and more candy but have been getting fewer and fewer kids. I know where all the extra chocolates are going.
3. Good dental coverage - need a crown...maybe it wasn't good idea about the extra chocolates.

Garter stitch ranting

2009-10-12T22:23:00.005-07:00

I hear a lot of people say stockinette stitches are the most boring thing to knit. Not true...garter stitch is the most boring thing to knit. At least with stockinette, you get to purl on the wrong side to break up the tedium of plain knitting. Garter stitches makes me want to poke my eyes out with my needles.

The Cassidy cardigan is now on hold. It looked ok but it wasn't want the yarn wanted to be. It wanted to be the February Lady Sweater. That's what it's going to be. The only problem is the huge amounts of garter stitch to be done. It looks great so far but so very boring! Fourteen more rows to the end of this section and then on to the fun stuff!

I broke up the monotony of garter stitch knitting with a side project of knitting a pumpkin.

The pumpkin itself turned out well but can't say much for the leaves & stem. After the leaves & stem were knitted & had gone through the felting process, I noticed (as you can see in the picture) that they didn't felt at all. Took another look at the ball band and it said "superwash". D'oh!

I'll have to dig around some more for green wool tomorrow. It hasn't been a good knitting day.

I also made some little clay rabbits who looked more psychotic than cute. Not a good craft day either.

Thanksgiving

1. I know I've said many times how thankful I am for my friends and family but it bears repeating...over and over again. I didn't want to say the same thing every post but I really am thankful for them. I'm really lucky to have them. There's no rule that says I have to come up with something different everyday.

2. The use of my hands that I could make stuff on a whim.

3. Coffee - did you know coffee is good for you?

Towashi! Towashi! Towashi!

2009-10-06T20:49:00.003-07:00

The crochet class was fun. Dotty at Black Sheep is a very patient teacher. I'm well on my way crocheting this scarf. But like any lace project, it looks like something the cat threw up until it's done and blocked. I'm using something Malibrigo that I had in the stash. Good for me! Stash busting!

BUT! At the end of the class, Dotty showed us a crochet scrubbie...a Japanese towashi. The concept is simple enough - you increase at one end and at the same time you decrease on the other end. Sew together and you get a spiral shaped scrubbie. My crochet version was really really bad and asked myself how hard would it be to knit them? Apparently, not hard at all.

Instead of working on my scarf, I've been making towashies. I've been experimenting with different size needles and different numbers of stitches. While they are supposed to be used as dish washing scrubbies, the larger ones can be used as a body scrubbie. They're knitted out of cotton so they are quite soft.

Thankful for:
1. Drop Bears - a group of people I play WoW with and they have been very kind to a noob like me.
2. 2010 Winter Olympics - Whatever one's opinion on such events, I really do believe that it's the reason the economy in my little part of the world is not as bad as others.
3. Family members who are sane and rational. They keep me grounded and relatively normal.

Oh look! Shiny!

2009-10-03T13:10:00.001-07:00

I have a LOT of yarn and fibre and I went to the yarn sale at Black Sheep anyway last weekend. Of course I bought more yarn. What else do you do at a yarn sale?

Last Sunday was the first Beginner's Crochet class. I kinda know how to crochet but I always wondered if I was doing it wrong. It never looked right. Anyway, Dotty at Black Sheep was more than patient with us. I learned so much in that first class. I never knew how to count my stitches properly...one reason why I sucked at crochet. Nothing worked because my count was always off. She went over everything - how to hold the yarn. different ways of holding the hook, and a few of the basic stitches. I came home and practice a bit and jumped right into something that she recommended NOT to do....crochet with mohair. I made a little crochet cap to make the wig for my doll. It looked great until I took a closer look in daylight. Yuck. I'm going to have to add more hair.

The second class is tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it. We get to start our scarf!

My problem is not the lack of ideas of what to make but the opposite. I have too many things I want to do RIGHT NOW. I have so many projects going and will jump from one to another whenever anything new and shiny catches my attention.

The latest "new and shiny" is the Gail (aka Nightsongs) shawl. I don't remember where I first saw it. Probably Ravelry. I blame Ravelry. So last night I got home around 8pm. Ate dinner, watched a bit of TV with the Hubby, played a bit of Warcraft, and thought...hmmm....the yarn I spun from Sweet Georgia's fibre club would be perfect for this shawl. Next thing I knew, it's 2am and I'm knitting a shawl. Not the wisest thing to do because it was frogged out this morning and restarted with larger needles, same yarn, and minus the errors. It's thicker than most lace things I make but I'm happy with the look so far.

Erick's Knitted Sock Monkey Pattern

2009-09-21T23:37:00.002-07:00

Here's the pattern for the sock monkey. I hope I didn't miss anything. The monkey is knitted in the round with no seaming involved.

ERICK’S KNITTED SOCK MONKEY PATTERN
Yarn: Cascade 220 – 2 skeins grey, 1 skein white*, 1 skein red*
*You don’t need a full skein of the white & red.
2 small black buttons for eyes.
Black yarn – just a bit to embroider the face.
Stuffing
Needles – 3.5mm double pointed needles.
Stitch holders or spare yarn.
4” doll maker’s needle or long darning needle.
Stitch markers – optional.

Legs:
Using Emily Ocker cast on method and white, cast on 8 sts & divide over 4 needles.
Knit 1 round.
Knit 1, M1 to end = 16 stitches.
Knit 16 rounds.
Join red yarn and knit 2 rounds. Break off and knit another 3 rounds in white. Break off white and join grey.
Knit 52 rows in grey (or until leg is long enough).
Put the live stitches on a holder and make second leg.

Monkey Butt:
Knit front stitches of first leg, knit front stitches of 2nd leg, knit back stitches of 2nd leg, knit back stitches of first leg.
Knit 2 rounds in grey.
Attach white. The side facing you will now be the back of the monkey. Short row until 8 sts remaining and back to full sts.
Short Row Butt:
Knit 15, wrap & turn.
Slip 1, purl 12, wrap & turn.
Slip 1, knit 10, wrap & turn.
Slip 1, purl 8, wrap & turn.
Slip 1, knit to first wrap, pick up wrap & knit together with the stitch, turn.
Slip1, purl to first wrap, pick up wrap & purl together with the stitch, turn.
Repeat until all the stitches with wraps are picked up & knitted. You should be back where the grey yarn is still attached.
Break off white and join grey. Knit body – 50 rounds in grey. After a few rounds, stitch up the hole between the legs. Easier to do it now than later.

Head:
Break off grey and join white. Knit 1 round. For front head shaping, short row 2 sets of white, join red and short row until 8 sts remaining. Return to full sts following the same colour changes.
Knit 3 rows plain knit in white.
Dec for top head shaping. Dec 1 on each side of front & back (total 4 sts dec) every second round until 12 sts remain. Don’t close up the head yet. Put the remaining stitches on some spare yarn to hold. This would make stuffing the monkey easier.

Finishing:
Stuff body, working from feet up. Stuff in small amounts at a time and don’t roll up the stuffing. Keep it nice and loose. It will pack better than large wads. I used wool fleece to stuff mine but if you’re making it for a child, you can buy hypoallergenic stuffing.
When you finished stuffing the head, graft the top close. Pull the yarn tail into the monkey and bury the end.
Optional - You can make a little cloth bag of lavender to stuff in the body but if the monkey will be a toy for a child, I would not recommend this as the monkey may need to be washed occasionally. Also optional is that you can make a little bag of stuffing beads to give the monkey a bit of weight.

Arms:
Using the Emily Ocker method, cast on 6 using white. K1, M1 to end. 12 sts. Knit 16 rounds, join red, knit 2 rounds, knit 2 rounds in white. Break off and join grey. Knit 45 rounds. Cast off.
Make second arm.
Stuff and sew opening close. Join to body.

Tail:
It’s a 5 stitch icord.
Using white, cast on 5 stitches on one double pointed needle. Slide stitches to other end of the needle and knit. Repeat for 14 rounds. After a few rounds, pull the yarn tail to tighten up the stitches.
Join red and knit 2 rounds, break off red and switch back to white for 2 more rounds. Break off and join grey for another 50 round or until tail is long enough.
Cast off and sew firmly to monkey butt.

Ears:
Using grey, cast on 16 stitches and join.
Rnd 1 and all odd rounds - Knit
Rnd 2 - (Knit 1, inc 1, knit 6, inc 1, knit 1) x2 to 20 stitches.
*Increase 1 stitch at each end of the ear for front and back of ear until you have a total of 32 sts.
Rnds 9 - 15 rounds – Knit
Dec 1 at each end of the ear for front and back of ear. You are decreasing a total of 4 stitches each round until 12 stitches remaining. Graft to close and make second ear.

Face:
Use pins to mark eye placement.
Pin ears to the sides of the head & sew.
Use small black buttons for eyes and pin to the head. If this is a toy for a child, embroider the eyes on with black wool.
If using button, use a strong buttonhole thread and long doll needle, enter the body through the back of the neck and pull through to the first eye placement. Attach first eye and put needle back in the head and out through the next eye placement. Attach the second eye and put needle back in the head and out through the first eye. Pull a bit to indent the eyes but not too tight. When you’re happy with the look, put the needle through the first button, back in the head to the second button. Put the needle through the second button & back in head, exiting at the base of the back of the head. Knot firmly but be careful not to catch any of the wool fibres. Pull the needle through the doll to bury the thread end.
Using black wool, embroider the nose and mouth.
Using some white wool on a needle, run the wool around the neck line a few times. Pull carefully to give the neck a bit of shaping. Tie off and bury the ends in the doll.

I'm such a goof!

2009-09-20T21:41:00.002-07:00

It would help if I gave you my email. I thought it was in my profile somewhere.

thymeformom AT hotmail DOT com (without the spaces)

Sunday Stuff

2009-09-20T14:33:00.008-07:00

Today is the last day of my two week vacation. It's been great. It felt like it's been more than two weeks...in a good way. Didn't think about work...much. Didn't check my work email at all. I was tempted a few times but resisted. I feel good. Refreshed. I know that feeling will last until Monday morning half an hour into the work day and then it will be like I've never been away. Ugh!

To make myself feel better about the impending doom called work, I made a batch of brownies. Brownies are easy to make but hard to pour into these little cups. I could have made a slab of brownies but didn't feel like it.

Ugly, aren't they?

They say brownies can last up to 3 months frozen. Do people really have extra brownies that they can freeze them? It will never happen at my house. I was going to let these cool and then glaze them later but not sure if it's worthwhile glazing the six remaining brownies.

The Waldorf doll is going well, sort of.

I've stuffed the legs and lower body and trying to figure out the best way to attach the head. I've been thinking about how to do the hair. From what I've read on the internet & at Ravelry, I might just make a skull cap to attach the hair and then sew the cap on the head.

I wrote up the pattern for the sock monkey and these are the legs for the second monkey. Elegantly displayed on top of my favourite knitting container - the classy plastic tub. If anyone is interested in the pattern, email me and I'll send it to you when I'm done. I'm going over the pattern to see if it makes any sense. Most time, my patterns only make sense to me.

Things I'm thankful for:
1. The big rainfall we got the other day. It made the yard lush and green.
2. Today's sunshine and breeze. I love this weather!
3. My hands - being able to make and create crafts and work with my hands.

Malabrigo Artigas Vest

2009-09-14T11:37:00.004-07:00

So...do they look like wood?

The vest is knitted from Malabrigo Gruesa, Pearl Ten colourway. Funny enough, when I ordered the yarn, it looked plum/purple in the book but blue in real life. I don't know if the tags were mixed up but I like the blue a lot better. I have way too much purple yarn.

The vest is the Artigas pattern in the Malabrigo Book One but with some minor changes. I used 9mm instead of 10mm and didn't check gauge. (You have to live on the edge sometimes.) The front bands are done in 2x2 rib. Same for the arm bands and neck. Instead of using only one button closure at the top, I did four. And I lengthened the body slightly and changed the armhole shaping.

I love this vest! It was a really quick knit and it's soft and comfortable and warm. Sometimes, you just have to knit something that you don't need a math degree to figure out. Something quick and painless and will give you instant gratification.

I was thinking of making another one but I'm not so good with making two of anything. :(

2009-09-12T16:24:00.002-07:00

I finished knitting the feet and legs and have joined them to knit the body. I was thinking that maybe I should have knitted the feet in a different colour so they'll look like shoes. We stopped off at Black Sheep Yarns to pick up some yarn for the shoe colour on our way to see Distict 9. Movie was good but it had a few holes in the plot. The whole time, I was thinking: I have yarn in the car...I have feet to reknit. In the end, I decided not to reknit the feet and keep them flesh colour. I'll save this yarn for the next doll.

Things to be thankful for:
1. Cousins who knows a lot about computers. Whee! New computer!!
2. Dalaran at 60 fps - if you play WoW, you'll know why this is a good thing.
3. One more week of vacation left!

For the lack of anything really interesting to say, here's a pic of the buttons I made. Still need to colour them.

No Excuses

2009-09-11T00:06:00.010-07:00

It's just plain laziness that I haven't wrote. It's not because I don't have anything to say or that I was very busy....just lazy. That's it.

Not sure where I'm going with this post so I'm going to just ramble for a bit here. A few weeks ago, a mother was badly injured and her 2 year old daughter was killed a block from where I work. It was a very grisly accident. So bad that there was no doubt the child was dead. I can't think of words that could describe how the mother was. I can't imagine how her life has been forever changed. I can't imagine how the father must have felt. And how it must affect the grandparents and the aunts and uncles and everyone that these people know. Today, I was driving along a very busy street and saw a child run out onto the intersection. He had only taken 4 steps onto the street. I heard a mother yell out for him to stop. I looked around and I did not see the mother at first...she was about 15 meters behind, talking on a cell phone and pushing a baby stroller. There was an older child with her. You can tell she was frazzled with the three kids. But it made me want to go up to her and yell at her, what was she thinking??? Who could she be talking to that was more important than her kids?

I'm just going to jump right in to fibre stuff now. I did say I have no idea where I'm going with this post. It will just be whatever is in my head. I have two weeks off from work so YAY!!

Ok, I've been spinning some of the Fibre Club fibre from Sweet Georgia.

This is Foundation from June, I think. I divided it into 8 to spin and navajo plyed it to keep the colours together in a block. I'm now spinning the August fibre and have a few months backlogged.

I've been in a finishing mood. Finished the monkey ears FINALLY!

I can't remember when I started this little guy. He's been sitting around earless forever now. My son guilted me into finishing his ears.

I've also finished a vest that I've been working on. I didn't like the way I did the armbands so I picked them out and re-knitted them. Now all it needs are the buttons. I made some out of air-dried clay & will paint them this weekend.

I finished another sweater & even started sewing the seams together. I just have one more side to sew up.

I've been reading up on Waldorf dolls. There's a Ravelry group for them. There's a Ravelry group for pretty much anything and everything. Waldorf dolls are traditionally sewn and I really don't care for sewing that much. I decided to knit a doll.

The head is done and stuffed in the traditional way for making a Waldorf doll. Fleece batting is rolled into a ball and stuffed into a piece of tubular gauze. The head shaping is done by tying the head in sections to form the eye lines and cheek. Normally, the head is then covered with a skin tone stretchy fabric that is sewn onto the head but I knited mine instead. I think I should have tied fibre ball tighter as the knitted skin doesn't seem to show the definitions as well as a fabric skin would. The fleece I'm using is a leftover shetland batt that I carded. This picture shows the head and neck. The extra fibre will be rolled up and stuffed into the body. This will make the head stable and not wobble.

The plan is to knit the two legs, join at the bum, knit up the body. Knit the arms and sew those on separately. In theory, it's simple. I'm working on the third set of feet right now. The others were either a bit too small or I wasn't happy with the shape. The hardest part is trying to keep track of what I'm doing so I can make the second leg the same.

Is there such thing as too much sunshine?

2009-07-25T14:28:00.003-07:00

Blogger ate my post.

It's too hot to type it over and OVER again!!

I'm going to find a cool spot to enjoy my iced coffee.

edited to add...figures it took this one! :(

The best way to spend a Saturday morning

2009-06-29T21:41:00.003-07:00

I love it when it's warm enough outside to sit out & do my carding. I don't have to clean up all the debris after.

I found a box of shetland lamb fleece - washed, picked, & sorted out in ziplock bags. I think the idea was to blend it with something. Can't remember what I had intended to do with it. I do remembered changing my mind about what I was going to blend it with. Anyhow, I spent Saturday morning carding the fleece into fluffy batts. I even had my spinning wheel outside for a while until it got too warm.

Thankful for:
1. A bit of rain last week - plants are loving this weather.
2. A relative quiet day at work to catch up on stuff.
3. Spent time playing with my drumcarder and spinning wheel.

An attempt at Silk Fusion

2009-06-21T08:31:00.005-07:00

I hang out with a group of really cool fibre friends - Twisted By Choice. Every so often, we get together & do fun fibre stuff. That was what we did yesterday.

The day was filled with catching up on each other's news, wet silk dripping everywhere, and lots of good tasty food. It's been a rough time at work. Having a chance to spend a day like Saturday just playing and squishing wet silk on a nylon mesh is really good for your soul.

This piece is made with some leftover dyed silk. I can't remember if it's Bombyx or Tussah but it is really REALLY shiney! The top has been embellished with dyed silk rods and silk waste. This sheet was the second one. The first one didn't turn out so well with the top layer pulling apart already. I think the medium wasn't worked thoroughly enough. I'm going to try and coat the surface with a gloss finish to see if that helps.

Thankful for:
1. Perfect weather on Saturday - not too hot and no rain (just a couple of drops).
2. The Clubhouse - where we meet up & play with fibres.
3. Moroccan olives!

Cool Knitting needles!

2009-06-05T20:14:00.006-07:00

One of the joys of blogging is that you get to read and see a lot of really neat stuff other people do. Came across this at Craftster...how to make your own resin knitting needles! They are so cool!

I know I still have a can of resin the garage somewhere.

Things that made me happy:
1. Mairuru's sarubobo and pattern...I'm making one right now.

2. Being a couple days ahead of schedule at work...so I have a few days grace to fix mistakes & make changes.

3. Good friends at work to lunch with.

BFL

2009-06-02T19:58:00.006-07:00

At lunchtime today, I walked over to SweetGeorgia's studio to pick up the Fibre Club fibre. May's offering is a beautiful handdyed Blue Face Leicester in greens & blues with a touch of brown (but it looks a bit copper-y in the sunlight). The colours were inspired by a local eatery called Foundation. I love the colours in that place with all the old formica kitchen tables and vinyl chairs. I have a thing for old formica tables. We still have the set inherited from my parent-in-laws when we first got married. The table ended up as a baby change table when my son was young.

You can't see it but I've pulled a bit off already and have been finger spinning it at work this afternoon. How can you resist?

Things that made me happy today:
1. Lunchtime walk to Felcia's studio.
2. Fibre at the end of that walk.
3. Ice cream for the walk back to work.

How many pairs of knitting needles does one really need?

2009-06-01T21:38:00.002-07:00

The age old question.

It's embarrassing but I do have a lot of knitting needles. I had no idea until I started cataloguing them in my Knit Buddy application on my ipod. I have 53 pairs of circular needles, 23 pairs of straights, and 17 pairs of double pointed needles. All in various sizes...except 8mm. These are the ones not in use in my box. That's insane. I keep all the packaging for my needles so I when I'm done with them, they go back in the packages. There are empty packages as well in that box. Quite a few empty packages. I think one of the things I need to do this summer is to go through everything and take apart any WIPs that I know I'm never going to finish. I did a cleaning up of my yarn stash last year but this year will be WIP clean up time.

Knit Buddy also allows you to track your yarn stash too. I'm not going to even attempt that.

Did I mentioned that I signed up for a beginner's crochet class at Black Sheep Yarns?

Thankful for:
1. Sunny, hot day.
2. Sushi for lunch.
3. A nice cool breeze tonight.

Time off

2009-05-29T00:07:00.011-07:00

I love Long Beach...not Long Beach, California but Long Beach Vancouver Island. We were there for four days. The weather on the first day was raining by the buckets but it was still so beautiful. The next couple of days were sunny and gorgeous. It was windy there but no one cared.

This was the view from the balcony in our cabin.

This little cove was just below our cabin. As soon as the tide was out, we were down there, poking into the tidal pools.

I love the colours and textures best. Spent a lot of time staring at the little sea anenomes. They looked like little buttons.

I don't know very much about starfish but always thought they only had eight legs. This one has eighteen.

The mandatory sunset picture...

Thankful for:
1. The agility and mobility to enjoy a walk on the beach.
2. Being able to take time off at work during a crazy time.
3. The baked goods at this lodge were really good and being able to limit myself to one pastry a day.

Saturday

2009-05-23T14:16:00.003-07:00

The first rose of the season!

We're having one of our rare Vancouver sunny day today. I love this time of the year. It's warm and sunny with a nice cool breeze. Every year, I try to take a picture of the poppies. The deep purple in the centre of these poppies are my favourite shade of purple. It's amazing how brilliant this colour is. I was fooling around with the settings on the camera, trying to capture that same brillance. I am not good at this. The resulting photos look so orange-y. It's ok...I have the whole summer to experiment. :)

Right now, I'm sitting out on my deck, picking through a bag of silk noil. It's one of those mindless tasks that you can do anywhere and anytime.

Friday!

2009-05-22T23:48:00.004-07:00

Today was not your normal Friday. It was one of the Friday-from-hell type of Fridays. The kind that is usually reserved for when you really REALLY want the day to end so you can go home on time. The only good thing about today is that it's the start of almost a week off for me. Almost a week off because I'm off next week but have to work next Saturday. We've hired a crap-load of staff and were told that we have to be there for the new staff orientation. Bah! Everyone was really busy trying to get things done for next weekend plus we have a show happening as well as all the construction going on. I feel slightly guilty that I won't be there and will show up just for Saturday. Just slightly guilty.

While everyone at work will be running around like crazy, I'm heading to Long Beach on Vancouver Island.

Thankful for:
1. Finally figured out how to convert movies for my ipod.
2. A week off.
3. Dog managed to get outside before throwing up today.

Woohoo! New fibre accessory!

2009-05-18T14:21:00.006-07:00

Picked up a new knitting accessory on Friday. It's wonderful! I can use it to keep track of my knitting needles, carry patterns & charts on the go, and all sorts of fun stuff. Found an application that would even keep track of all your knitting projects on the go and acts as a stitch/row counter as well. It's been only 3 days and I can't believe how I ever survived without it!

Oh yeah, it plays music and videos as well. :)

I was all set to get a new phone. Wasn't even thinking of the iphone but the Samsung Omnia. Why? becauase it has a much better camera (5.0 megapixel) than the iphone (2.0 megapixel). Then my sister showed me her ipod touch. That was it...game over. I don't really need the camera and I didn't need a new phone either. I just wanted a new one. The camera on my current phone is still pretty decent. Besides, I have my camera. And I like the idea of not paying huge amounts of money for a data package that I don't really need. The ipod touch will connect to any open network. Lots of areas like that downtown. Free internet means more money that could be better spent on fibre.

And on Ravelry, there is an ipod forum too! Knitters are truly everywhere.

Thankful for:
1. A brother who emails you back late at night with answers to your ipod questions.
2. A sister who is every bit an enabler as my fibre friends.
3. Long weekend Monday.

Part of the knitting green initiative.

2009-05-14T23:44:00.006-07:00

It's not like I don't have anything else to use. I have bags and baskets that I use for knitting but I always go back to the good old margarine tub. Everything fits. It keeps my yarn from rolling all over the floor. I could say it's part of my green initiative. yeah.

Things to be thankful for:
1. Sunshine today.
2. Getting my stuff done ahead of time at work so I have time to deal with the changes tomorrow.
3. Long weekend this weekend and that means we get to leave early on Friday.

Nothing much to say today.

2009-05-12T23:43:00.003-07:00

Not much to say today...came home, ate dinner, watch tv, knit, pretended to crochet, played WoW. I'm starting to find it odd that I meet nice people when I play lower level characters than my high level ones. I don't know if it says something about the mentality of people who play games. People can be pretty serious in the top levels making sure their toons are decked out in the latest and greatest. I guess a lot of people play the lower alts are for fun and can afford to be more laid back.

Things to be thankful for:
1. Lunch and a much needed chocolate break.
2. Sunny weather in between the rain.
3. My office was not flooded out.

2009-05-11T00:06:00.006-07:00

All in all, it was a fairly quiet weekend. Hubby was still feeling sore from his back surgery so we didn't do the usual Mother's Day stuff. We did go to the Joel Plaskett concert Saturday night, however. I was a bit worry how his back would be, sitting in those tiny cramped seats. We bought the tickets ages ago before he got his surgery date. Concert was great!

Here's a tiny horrible picture of Joel Plaskett, taken from my cell phone camera. Not the best picture. I completely forgot to do the settings properly and didn't want to fiddle with it in the dark.

Things that makes me happy:
1. Stopped by Black Sheep Yarns for the yarn sale on the way to the concert.
2. Just so happened to have a ball of yarn and needles in my bag (see #1) so I was able to knit while waiting for the concert to start.
3. Good music.
4. Concert finished (even with all the encores) right before the hockey game ended so we avoided the traffic going home.
5. Next weekend is a long weekend!!

A thought or two...

2009-05-08T00:05:00.004-07:00

Sweetgeorgia's post the other day about women artists and how they struggle between a balance of family and art is very interesting. I can honestly say those same thoughts have crossed my mind many times. As much as I would love to spend as much time as possible being creative, I wouldn't give up what I have with my family. I think that's the point of that movie...why should women have to make a choice? It's a question that I've heard many women ask themselves all the time. I don't think there is one right answer. I think it's a balance that we each have to find and come to terms with.

Thankful for:
1. Ugly job to pay the bills so I can afford to play once in while.
2. People like Sweetgeorgia for her honesty and willingness to share herself.
3. Although I call it the Ugly job, it has good moments too. I can't really say it's a dull job.

A spinning mishap

2009-05-01T18:05:00.003-07:00

Found a bobbin of merino/silk that I had spun ages ago. Wound it into a ball & plyed it. It was looking pretty good. I have a bad habit of pulling the end a little ways into the yarn so it wouldn't unravel...which I did here. Usually I make the end long enough so I can see where it is to pull out. Didn't do that this time. I took the bobbin off the wheel to wind onto the niddy noddy and the end had disappeared. The worse thing you could do is panic (which I also did) and really messed up the bobbin looking for the end. What am I going to do now? Can this be saved?

I was hoping that leaving it for a day or two would make the end miraculously reappear. No such luck. I thought maybe the bright sunlight would help...nope. Shouldn't have panicked.

Facebook

2009-04-30T00:45:00.002-07:00

I've been thinking long and hard whether or not to start a Facebook profile. My sister is on there...so is my niece, my son, pretty much all my cousins, aunts and uncles. Looked up some friends too. It seems harmless enough but I can't seem to bring myself to do it.

It took me a very long time to even mention to real life friends that I blog. Even now, a lot of my friends don't know I blog still or I haven't told them where to find me. Just you fibre folks and that's it.

I think I'm not quite ready yet.

A little change in plans

2009-04-29T22:07:00.003-07:00

I really didn't know SweetGeorgia's studio was so very close to where I work. It was very do-able to run over there on a lunch break. Yup. It's such a cool place! There were all these beautiful colours of Cashsilk on a shelf... yes, they're even more brilliant in real life.

I was going to save this for when we go away at the end of May but who was I kidding? There was really no chance this would sit around for a whole month!

The colourway is Blackberry. I started it while I was waiting for my husband in surgery. It was the perfect pattern - easy enough to knit without concentrating too hard and fun enough with the lace to keep my mind busy so I wouldn't worry. As much as I love the Ping yarn, I really needed something to wow me today. The surgery went well and he's staying overnight and should be home tomorrow.

Thankful for:
1. Canadian healthcare & health insurance.
2. Ability to knit.
3. Competent surgeons.

It's been way too long!

2009-04-26T15:43:00.004-07:00

One day stretches in the next and before I knew it, months have gone by.

It's now Spring and the planting of the garden has begun.

The kale is actually from last year's planting. They came back this year. Surprised that anything made it through the snow we had. Those snow storms killed off quite a few of our older plants...like my rosemary bush that we planted when we moved into this house. I was very sad to see that it didn't survived.

One thing I've decided is to play less on the computer and do more fibre stuff. Computer games can be addicting. Time spent playing WoW means less time spent doing fibre stuff like dyeing and spinning. I dusted off my spinning wheel this weekend and finally finished Ping, the pygora fibre. It's washed and dried and ready to knit.

I even have the perfect pattern for it...Sweetgeorgia's CashSilk Fern scarf. As much as I've been craving colour lately, I just couldn't bring myself to dye this fibre. I love the different tones of grey in there. Hard to tell in the photo but in the sunshine, you can see all the different tones and I love it! Plus the fact that it's pygora/merino blend makes it super duper soft.

It's not my best spinning but considering how long I've been away from my wheel, I'm surprised I remember how the thing worked. There is something so very soothing about watching the fibre turn into yarn. I think next weekend, if the weather is nice enough, will be spent dyeing.

Thankful for:

1. Warm grass and sunny spot for the dog to sleep on.
2. A fibre stash that makes it easy to satisfy any fibre cravings.
3. Internet for bringing me inspiration when I needed it.

Gung Hai Fat Choi!

2009-01-25T22:58:00.005-08:00

It's not really a resolution but I decided this year I was going to try very hard to finish one project at a time and not start anything new until whatever I'm working on is finished.

I started the Kim Hargreave cardigan over the Christmas/New Year break. It was going well. The sweater was supposed to be done in seed stitch but after doing half the back, I didn't like the look. Ripped it back & did only 16 rows of seed stitch for the border. It was much better. The rest of the back took 2 days to finish. I knitted both fronts together. Forgot to mirror the shaping and ripped back. Got to the shoulder shaping and decided the measurements from the pattern would give me a small armhole. I like my sweaters roomy. Ripped back & added a few centimetres to the armhole. Ripped back the back to match the addition to the armhole. Started both sleeves and that went well. Got to the top shaping for the sleeve cap & realized I didn't add any extra length to compensate for the larger armhole. Ripped back & re-knitted the cap. Just about to cast off both sleeves when I re-read the pattern. I'm 20 stitches short at cast on so the sleeves are very narrow. Ripped back to seed stitch band to add stitches as side increases. That's where I'm at now.

So when my son said he wouldn't mind a nice warm scarf to wear, I jumped at the chance to do something else. As much as I love this sweater, I need a break from it. It also meant a trip to Black Sheep Yarns today. Guess what he picked? The same yarn in the same colour as my doomed sweater! I managed to convinced him to go with a different colour finally. The scarf pattern is the Henry scarf on Knitty. I didn't realized (because I didn't read the pattern) that it's knitted lengthwise. That means 452 stithces!

Row 1 is basically knit 1, yarn over all the way across and row 2 is slip 1, knit 1. For some reason, I slipped 1 knitwise instead of purl. I knew it would sit backwards on my needle but thought it would be a good idea. So the next row, I had to turn every second stitch around so it was facing the right way. That's a lot of stithces to turn around. My brain is still on holidays.

It's Chinese New Year here and this weekend was full of family get-togethers with lots of eating rich food. That's my only excuse.

Good fortune to everyone!

Thankful for:
1. Flannel sheets - really love crawling into bed with warm fuzzy sheets.
2. A mom that cooks like nothing you've ever seen!
3. A family that loves anything seafood. Every family gathering is a feast of seafood of some discription.
4. No snow this weekend - the forecast was for "flurries" but it was sunny all weekend.

A White Christmas and then some

2009-01-03T23:41:00.007-08:00

I think this year, the weather has been trying very hard to make up for all those green Christmases! I can't remember seeing this much snow in one year before. Love snow but glad I had the past couple of weeks off (and next week as well).

Despite the pain-in-the-butt factor of icy roads and having to shovel the snow, I love it! It appeals to the kid in me. We stayed at home more than we would otherwise. It was really nice to spend quiet evenings cozy at home. Definitely a plus!

This year has gone by so fast! It has been a good and bad year for me. When I look back, most of the "bad" was from work. That's something that I'm thankful for...strange as it sounds.

Son graduated from high school with honours and a couple of scholarships. The Asian part in me played that down but I'm a really proud mom! :D He started university and seems to be doing well. He's healthy and happy...a bit messy but that's a teenager.

Hubby slipped in the snow a few weeks ago & ended up with back problems. He's going to the physio right now. Considering how hard he fell, I'm glad it wasn't worse. Another reason for a quiet Christmas this year. He's not moving around very fast.

Work had been very stressful this past year. I won't go into it again. The new year is not looking any better. For the past couple of months, I've been seriously rethinking my options but have decided to tough it out here. Olympics are coming and the opportunity to be part of it is too much to give up now. I made a decision to stay at least until the end of the Olympics...after that, we'll see. It's easy to look back when you're in a quiet time and think maybe it wasn't so bad. I'm sure reality will slap me in the face when I get back to work. When I get stressed at work, I buy yarn. I predict a lot of yarn buying this year.

Things to be thankful for:
1. Taking an extra week of holidays and actually finding myself relaxed and happy.
2. No one I knew got into any car accidents because of the snow.
3. My family.

And things that makes me happy:
1. Found a box of Halloween chocolate I forgot about.
2. Snow - it has been a beautiful White Christmas.
3. Ten balls of Rowan Felted Tweed to make into a nice soft sweater.

oh Pooh!

2008-12-05T14:50:00.003-08:00

It's December 5th already!! I hate it when December sneaks up on me and I'm not ready yet. No homemade fruit cake this year. Just did not have the time. I really should be putting stuff like that on my calendar..."Make Fruitcake - August 20, 2009" "Start advent calendar - Oct 15, 2009"

I don't think I'm alone in my obsession of Advent calendars. I absolutely love them! Especially hand made ones. There's a group on Flickr that shows so many super cool ways you can do an advent calendar.

Things that makes me happy:
1. December
2. Bright shiny Christmas lights
3. Christmas music

WotLK in 2 more sleeps!

2008-11-12T00:41:00.003-08:00

Wrath of the Lich King will be out in 2 more days...technically 1 more day as it's past midnight here. It should be interesting with all the problems Blizzard has been having with their updates & patches. They've been running special events to promote the release. Today, the regular maintenance encountered a huge glitch and all the servers were down until late this evening. WoW players from all over were experiencing withdrawl symptoms.

Interesting note to add that, out of 8 people on Ravelry who plays on Moonrunner, 5 has now joined Dropped Bears. Knitters are taking over.

Ah! Some people are just poor party guests!

Things that makes me happy:
1. The ball of KSH slowly turning into a lighter-than-air scarf.
2. Tomorrow is Wednesday...much better than if it was Monday.
3. Leftover Halloween chocolates.

It's Monday!

2008-11-10T09:30:00.006-08:00

This past year has been very busy and very very rough for me, work-wise. I can't see things changing until well into 2010 or later. It may never get better. Overall, I do enjoy what I do. I can deal with stress but not to the point where I'm working 6 days a week or more on a regular basis. I never manage to take enough time off to compensate...there's always something else looming up around the corner. Everyone at work are in the same situation. Last week, people were walking around looking white with stress.

I took three weeks off in the summer. During my time off, I was called regularly 2-3 times a day or more. Honestly, I didn't mind because I was so damm grateful just to have three weeks off in a row. That is really sad. I've been seriously thinking about my options.

Anyhow, on to cheerier things. I have today off, it's not raining (in fact, the sun just came out), and no one else is home. Just me, the dog, and a whole lot of fibre stuff to do. When faced with all the possibilities of how to fill my day today, I'm overwhelmed. I'm going to go finish my coffee and take the dog out for a stroll and see what I feel like at that point.

I noticed I've stopped doing a Thankful for list. I don't know why...it just happened. I think with everything at work, it has been affecting me in my Real Life more than I thought. I've been grumpy for way too long and it's wrong.

So, to revive and revise a good thing, I'm going to make it my Things that makes me happy list...

Things that makes me happy:
1. Sunshine peeking out from rain clouds.
2. A ball of pale, pale lavender Kidsilk Haze sitting on my desk.
3. A dog waiting by the door because I said the W-A-L-K word.

Optim Merino Handspun - Hyacinth

2008-10-05T22:36:00.004-07:00

Date started: can't remember ~ 4 weeks ago
Finished Date: Oct 5/08
Fibre: Optim Merion - 100% wool - dyed by Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks
4 oz - 270m

I love working with the Optim Merino. The fibre spun up very nice and smooth. I did noticed as I was spinning that there was still a faint smell of vinegar on the fibre. There were also bits of second cuts in the roving but they were easy enough to pick out. The yarn is very soft to the touch. There should be enough yardage for a scarf or a pair of mittens. I love the sheen on the yarn.

Hmmm...I'm beginning to notice that I have a lot of yarn in the purple tones.