It's Saturday Already??

This week has absolutely flown by! I wanted to blog mid-week, but time and opportunity escaped me. Besides, I've been busy knitting!

The Selbu Modern hat is finished, blocked and has been worn. This was a fun project. The top, final decreasing was a little fiddly, but it turned out really well. I'm happy with this little hat, even if John says it looks like an ice cream cone with candy sprinkles.

Above, the hat is just off the needles, unblocked. Like lace, colourwork definitely benefits from a good blocking. It makes all the difference!

Here, the hat is blocking. The pattern calls for a 10" plate to be used as a blocking board, but when I last made a beret, I had cut a 10" circle out of a good heavy cardboard box. After covering it with plastic wrap, it makes a perfect hat-blocking board and tucks away nicely in my sock drawer. That way, I always know where it is. Below is my favourite picture of this hat, the closeup.

Yup, I'm really happy with how it turned out.

I've slowly been putting together a box of things to send to my daughter. You've seen the three little pairs of mittens. I've blogged about the Armstrong Fair sweater and the little pair of shoes I found at the thrift store. There are one or two more things that need to be made before I send the package out to the coast. The first of those things is the Aviatrix Hat.

Above is NOT the greatest picture, but I have nothing around here that even remotely resembles a child's head. When I told Kristen that I'd made this hat for Ethan, she asked if he'd be able to pull it off his head; I told her it had a chin strap. It seems that, as a baby that has really own experienced summer, he doesn't like socks and he doesn't like hats; that makes sense as he really hasn't needed to wear them to this point in his young life.

The pattern is one I found on Ravelry (such an amazing resource!), by Justine Turner. In this case, the hat has become an Aviator Hat, as aviatrix is a female pilot and this hat is for a little boy. If you're on Ravelry, you can find a link to the pattern page here.

There are two more things I want to knit before the package goes out. First is another little teddy bear, Carolus #2, identical to the one I've already made for Trinity. The second one will be for Oceanna and, as I said, will be identical in all but colour. Trinity's was done in a variegated red/pink combination; Oceanna's will be knit in variegated greens, out of the stash.

The second thing I want to knit is a little surprise for Kristen; I think she deserves something a little special. I won't say yet just what it is I'm making for her, but I will say that I have the yarn in mind, something from the stash that was left over from another project. I found a pattern. I started the knitting and I frogged the knitting; the yarn and pattern weren't compatible. So I found another yarn and started over. Again, I wasn't happy with the combination of yarn and pattern, so attempt #2 was also frogged. Now, I've decided that I'll design a pattern just for her. It will be something of a combination of patterns that I've done in the past, but this little project will be unique to her... at least until I write up the pattern.

As I said at the beginning of this post, this week has flown by. Work has, once again, been very busy this week, with numerous large projects coming my way. Things are under control now, thankfully and yesterday, while the copier was churning out my last big job, I had some time to play around on Word, something I like to do to keep myself familiar with the program. Well, I've come up with a project, something that I've wanted to do for some time now.

As you know, both John and I enjoy cooking and we've collected quite a few favourite recipes over the years. I've decided to put our favourite recipes into a full on cookbook. Quite a few of our recipes are now on one of my finger drives, which I usually have with me at work, so I started putting the cookbook together yesterday afternoon. When I got home, I worked on it a little more. Right now, I'm up to 60 pages and it includes a table of contents and an index. Now, I'll have to go through the hard copies of recipes I've downloaded and recipes I've collected over a lot of years. Once done, I have every intention of making one copy for each of my children. And, right now, I'm having a lot of fun putting it together... as long as I remember to save often!

It's the weekend! I have every intention of relaxing and enjoying myself after a couple of very busy weeks at work. I hope that you, too, enjoy your weekend. Happy Halloween!

Weekend Woes

This week at work has been insanely busy for me. That entails copying, lifting, moving, drilling, punching (sounds violent, doesn't it?) and stress. It caught up with me yesterday. I woke up with a neck that decided to go out without me, resulting in a LOT of pain. Most of the day was spent lying down, drugged up with muscle relaxants and the application of my Magic Bag (aka "the beanbag"). John spent the day at work, so I had the freedom to do nothing.

That said, I did go out for a walk. Well, a walk with a purpose. I had to pick up the yarn I'd ordered from my local yarn store. It didn't help the neck any, but at least I got up and out the door for a while.

Stephen, at the yarn store, graciously offered to wind the yarn for me, but I told him I wouldn't subject him to that torture. As a matter of fact, I've even refused to wind it for customers when I worked at the yarn shop because the yarn is so fine that I've had it break and tangle easily. I didn't want that. And apart from those challenges, this is 1200+ yards; that takes a long time to wind!

By mid-afternoon, I decided to see if the skein would fit on my "swift"; it did, so I wound it up myself. It took almost an hour!

My swift? A standing lamp. All I did was loosen the screw at the top, so the lamp shade moved freely, then positioned the yarn on the shade and wound away. The ball winder, incidentally, was me. It works. It's cheap. Doesn't get much better than that, unless John had been willing to wind it for me, but he wasn't home.

This yarn is fine! It's a little difficult to tell in the picture below, but it's probably half as thin as the Knit Picks lace weight yarn that's beside it. The yarn, by the way, is Skacel's Merino Lace; it's what I ordered to knit the Christening Dress from Sarah Don's "The Art of Shetland Lace". I've also picked up a pair of 2.0 mm straight needles (the whole dress is knit on straights), but I don't think they'll be the best for the yarn; the point is too rounded to easily work the knit 2 togethers. I'm still swatching, but I think I might end up knitting it on a Knit Picks circular needles. The points are much sharper on the KP needles.

In other things, I started another project (surprised?). This one, though, is one of those things that I can pick up whenever I feel the need for some plain, almost unthinking knitting. I have no intention of working on this for any length of time at a time (does that make sense? If not, I apologize; I'm still a little dopey from the pain meds.) This is the "Ten Stitch Twist" by Frankie Brown. It's a great project for using up bits and pieces of leftover yarn. In this case, I'm using leftover sock yarn, something I have plenty of.

The beginning (center) was a little fiddly to start with, but the row-by-row directions are well written and easy to follow. Once past the beginning, the knitting is simple, something I'll be able to put down and pick up easily.

In other knitting, I plan on finishing the Selbu Modern hat today. I'm into the top shaping and only have about 24 rounds left, so it should be very possible to finish it and block it today. I'll post pictures when it's done.

Oh, while I think of it, Robbyn mentioned that the linen stitch could result in a fairly firm fabric. She's right. Working fingering weight yarn in linen stitch on 4.0 mm needles made a nice, drapey fabric. Anything smaller than 4.0 mm, though, would have been too tight for a scarf. I might have cast on for a scarf for John, but in doing the math, I figured I'd have to cast on well over 400 stitches. I just didn't have the energy for that. Maybe one day. At the very least, I've written it down in my trusty notebook, for later reference.

Now, though, it's time for a shower, if only to wash some of the cobwebs out of my head. Then, back to my knitting! It's time for another FO!

Swatch It!

I've been coming across all kinds of really neat patterns on Ravelry. It's been interesting going through my friends' activities list and seeing what others are knitting, queuing and faving. Two patterns have caught my eye recently. Both are scarves.

One is the "Scrappy Lengthwise Scarf" and the other is the "Cerus Scarf" (you will need a membership to log into Ravelry if you want to see the pictures). Both use the linen stitch, a simple slip knit pattern that makes a linen-look fabric that doesn't curl.

I have no intention of casting on for a scarf right now, but the linen stitch had me intrigued, so I looked it up in one of my stitch dictionaries and played around with it after work today. I cast on 20 stitches on 4.0 mm needles and worked the stitch over 18, with one stitch at each end as a selvedge stitch. Even John likes this. He liked the look of it, he liked how it feels (and it's just sock yarn!). Knitting a scarf in this stitch, lengthwise, could give a very interesting look. Now, I've got ideas floating around my brain.

In the meantime, though, I'm working on the Selbu-Modern hat and very much enjoying the process. I'm taking my time with it because it does aggravate my right wrist, but that doesn't mean I want to put it down. At the start of each round, I put it down, only to pick it up again right away because I want to see how the it will look after THAT round!

Right now, as of just before having to put it down for dinner, I'm one round away from starting the top shaping. I'm not going to try to get it done tonight, but I'll certainly have it done by the end of the weekend.

I find that the contrast yarn (the colourful one) is a little to busy to use on it's own, but in a fairisle-type project like this one, it's just.... happy! It's a cheery little hat and I'm looking forward to seeing it finished, blocked and on my head. I only hope it fits me and suits me. Oh well, if not, I'm sure there's someone it will fit, and I'll just have to make another one for myself!

I got a phone call yesterday from my LYS; the yarn I ordered for the christening dress is in. I changed my mind on the yarn I had planned on using. The yarn I ordered is a little more reasonably priced and is a good quality; I've played with it before. I'll be knitting the christening dress with Skacel Merino lace weight yarn, a very fine yarn. I think it will work just fine, as the pattern calls for the finest yarn you can find. The Skacel Merino is definitely fine! Now, I just need to find my 2.0 mm straight needles.

Meet Miralda

The Miralda Shawl is finished, blocked and has made her public debut! I'm really happy with this shawl; it turned out beautifully!

The yarn is Jarbo Garn's Gastrike 1 (something like that), knitted on 4.0 mm needles. Miralda is from Nancy Bush's book "Knitted Lace of Estonia".

In other knitting, I've joined a knitalong on Ravelry, for the Selbu Modern hat by Kate Gagnon. It's a fairisle-style slouchy beret. The yarns I'm using are both from my stash. I'm not sure what the coloured yarn is, but I think it's a Fleece Artist sock yarn. The other is a superwash wool fingering weight baby yarn, very nice and soft, lovely to knit with.

I'm pretty sure this will be a quick knit, even though the ribbing was done on 2.0 mm needles and the body is worked on 2.75 mm needles. What you see in the picture is what I did last night, with a couple of rounds being done during my lunch break today (a MUCH needed lunch break; I'm really busy at work right now).

Now, I'm going to knit a bit more while John's puttering around in the kitchen. He's making spaghetti sauce (for the freezer) and will then be making dinner. Yes, it's going to be a late dinner; it's already nearly 6:30 now, but it's a quick-to-make dinner. And as long as he's cooking, I'll wait.

More Little Mittens

Pink and purple, apparently the favourite colours of two little girls. Mittens for Trinity and Oceanna are finished (well, all except for weaving in the tails on the purple mittens). I love little projects that knit up quickly!

And because I can't just knit mittens for Trinity and Oceanna, I had to make a pair for Teagan, too. These turned out really well; they're so cute and should go quite well with his blue jacket.

The yarn is, of course, a self-patterning sock yarn. In this case, it's Online Supersocke 100, from the Fun Colour line, colour #769, knit on 2.25 mm double pointed needles. The pattern is, once again, from Ann Budd's "Handy Book of Patterns".

Now, I think it's time to get back to my regularly scheduled knitting... that is, I'm going to finish my glove today. Or, at least, I'll make a valiant attempt at doing so. It's another gray and rainy day here in the Okanagan, so I have a feeling we'll be staying close to home.

It's Definitely Autumn!

John was almost lamenting the fact that, at the college, there were almost no leaves on the ground. No leaves on the ground and being almost caught up with other tasks would mean a possible shortage of things to keep him busy. The lack of wind was keeping them from falling. Well, I have a feeling that's just changed.

The car in the picture below parked there early last night, around 8:00. (Incidentally, I won't say a single word about the paint job on that car.) This morning, as you can see, it's almost buried in leaves. It's been raining and I'm sure that's helped the trees to shed their stubborn leaves. This morning is a moist one, with clouds hanging low on the surrounding hills, almost obscuring them. Though wet, it's quite warm, 10C or about 50F. Even though it's gray, I really don't mind a day like today; in a way, I find it comforting. It's fresh, but not cold, warm but not cloying; the air feels clean. You could curl up on the couch with a book (or your knitting) or you could go out for a nice walk. It's that kind of comforting.

As for knitting, I have been doing a few rows on my gloves every day and now I'm at the point of starting the pinky. I should have this glove done this weekend, barring any unforeseen circumstances. The little mittens for little hands are coming along, too. The pink ones, as you know are done and the purple ones are nearly done, too. I had intended to work on them during my lunch breaks at work, but that didn't happen. I'm almost at the shaping for the top on the second mitten, leaving only the thumb to do. Then I'll cast on one more pair in a boyish shade, for Teagan. Incidentally, I found out on Thursday, after a conversation with the grandkids on Skype, that Oceanna's mittens are the pink ones and the purple ones are Trinity's, to match their new jackets. It was good to "see" them!

Kristen is one tired mom right now; all four kids have, or are getting over, nasty colds. There's no confirmation that they've got H1N1, but it is definitely going around their town. Earlier this week, a 26 year old woman in their town died from the disease, apparently with no underlying medical condition. Scary stuff!

On to happier things... last time I was in the yarn shop, in addition to picking up some yarn for my gloves, I bought this yarn:

It's Marks & Kattens Fame Trend. I've heard of Marks & Kattens before, but I've never worked with any of their yarns. This is a fingering weight yarn, single ply, 75% superwash wool and 25% polyamid, 100 grams/420 metres. It feels almost like the Noro sock yarn, but softer. I'm thinking of making a shawl with it, but I'm not positive yet. I might do some experimentation with it. As you can see, it has a lovely variety of colour in it, ranging from an almost black navy blue, to a pale gray/blue.

On Ravelry, I've seen some lovely shawls done with yarn similar to this (think Zauberball, for those of you on Rav), the gradations in the yarn giving an extra "texture" to the finished shawl. I was thinking of that when I bought the yarn, but now I'm thinking other things as well. We'll see. It's something to play with, right? Play is good!

What To Do With Apples

This past weekend was Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada. Because it's just the two of us, we really don't celebrate it; it's just nice to have a 3-day weekend. I, of course, have been knitting. I have a pair and a half of little mittens now and the fourth mitten (in purple) is well on the way.

In addition to just resting and watching football, we did have some apples to do something with. So, I decided to bake an apple pie... which turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself!

We were given more apples than we can possibly eat before they go bad, however, so we had to do something else with them, besides making apple sauce, that is. John wanted to just cut the apples up, blanch them and freeze them, but I find that the texture's not that nice when you finally get around to using them. I mean, it's fine for apple sauce, but not so much for making pies, and I told him as much.

He went online, hunting for a recipe for apple pie filling. We spent some time peeling apples and stuffing jars, then filling them with the starch, sugar and cinnamon mixture. All in all, you're looking at seven future apple pies!

And we still have apples for eating out of hand!

Where Has All the Garlic Gone?

John planned on having fish for dinner last night, and seeing that I'd used up the last lemon and the last of the garlic for the Goulash soup, we had to go out to get a lemon and some garlic. I suggested that we make a little bit of a scenic tour out of it and John suggested that we check out some of the local vegetable markets. So we did.

Our first stop was at one of our usual grocery stores for a lemon. Not a problem. Then we decided to check out one of the markets for garlic, because we can usually get good garlic locally. They were sold out. But they did have pumpkins!

Unfortuately, I don't do pumpkin. We went to another farm market. They had the grand total of 3 heads of garlic left and they didn't look very good. They were a little on the soft side and falling apart. We chose not to buy them. The market where we usually get our garlic didn't even get enough of a crop this year to be able to sell any.

Was this a bad year for garlic or something? We spent quite a bit of time hunting down garlic. In the end, we went to the shop where we buy most of our vegetables, Quality Greens, and bought a couple of heads of California garlic. Even those were not that impressive. The cauliflower, on the other hand, is wonderful; we had some earlier last week and it was delicious!

All in all, it was a disappointing outing. But the sun was shining and the pumpkins sure looked good (and there was even an alpaca in the pen behind the pumpkins in the second picture!).

Goulash Soup

For some time now, a long - remembered flavour has been teasing my tastebuds. Many years ago, when my first husband and I were dating, we would often go to a local restaurant, the Bavaria. They served a soup, Goulash Soup, that was so popular that people would call in and order it for takeout. It really was good.

With the weather finally turning cool, the memory of that soup has been front and center in my mind, so I went recipe hunting. I found a recipe for Goulash soup on Recipezaar and made it yesterday. I do have to say, right up front, that I didn't have all the ingredients so I did make substitutions, but, my oh my, this turned out really well!

Basically, I made it as written, but I'm not a huge fan of bell peppers, so instead of the three peppers called for, I used only one. I had chicken broth available, so I used that instead of beef broth. I also added extra paprika and more caraway seeds because other recipes I found used much more of those ingredients than this recipe. I cooked it long enough that the meat falls apart, melts in your mouth.

When I make this again, I intend to add some red wine; I think it would add another layer of flavour. As well, I'll make sure I have beef broth because it has a fuller flavour than chicken broth does. However, served with a nice sourdough bread (toasted) and a glass of milk, this was a really satisfying lunch and a nice break from knitting.

One Down, How Many More to Go?

I finished the first of the mittens yesterday. The second is already on the go; I've done just over 1" of ribbing. Because I don't have little hands around to try these on, I have to trust that the pattern is correct, as far as length of the hand and thumb goes.

I found it quite interesting that no matter where I looked, whether it was books I have, Ravelry or even a Google search, I couldn't find fingering weight mittens for kids. These mittens are knit with fingering weight yarn and I think they'll be just right for a West Coast winter (unless they get a colder than usual winter). And they knit up quickly! It doesn't get much better than that, does it?

Now, I'm even considering making a couple pairs of little gloves. Does that make me a glutton for punishment??

Little Mittens for Little Hands

After talking to my daughter this week, I've decided to make mittens. Lots of little mittens. I have plenty of yarn in the stash that could be turned into mittens, so I will.

This is the first one, of the first pair. The yarn is leftover Lanett. Remember I had to buy a whole ball just for the trim on a baby dress? And then I bought another ball because I didn't have enough to make a baby sweater, then frogged it. Well, it's going to be turned into mittens.

I looked around online to see if I could find a mitten pattern that uses fingering weight yarn, but I couldn't find one. Most of the patterns I did find use worsted weight yarn. Where the kids live, out at the coast, near Vancouver, winters don't get as cold as they do inland. It rains more than anything. That said, little fingers still need mittens at times. Not finding an existing pattern, I referred back to Ann Budd's "Handy Book of Patterns" and that's the pattern I'll be following.

Now, you'll notice that these are very plain mittens. Once I had the ribbing done, I thought to myself that I could have done something a little fancier (like combine pink and purple perhaps?). I might do that in another pair, but for now, it will be just plain mittens, one pair in pink, another in purple (leftovers from my gloves). After that, we'll get into the boy colours.

Back to dishes now. John is working today and I did say I'd putter around the apartment, tidying and knitting, but I can't knit until the dishes are done.

With Strings on Her Fingers

Glove #1 is finished... well, all except for weaving in all the ends. I couldn't resist taking a picture with all the ends exposed (the glove is inside out, which is why the cabling looks all wonky).

The pattern, again, is "Knotty", a free pattern, available as a Ravelry Download. The yarn is SandnesGarn Mini Alpakka, knit on 2.25 mm needles. I'm working the pattern as written up to the start of the pinky, then following the directions in Ann Budd's "Handy Book of Patterns". 

Now, it's back to work (I'm blogging on my lunch break).

And, As For Knitting...

There's been a fair bit of it this weekend. I took the Drops gloves with me to Sit & Stitch yesterday and last night I finished the index finger and thumb. Because it was already dark by the time I finished up, I wove in all the ends this morning.

The gloves fit well, they feel good and I love the colour (which is a little deeper than the picture shows)! Even John likes them and agrees that I'll be able to wear them with a good variety of things in my wardrobe. To review, the pattern is from Garnstudio.com, Drops pattern #86-5. The yarn is SandnesGarn Sisu, and the gloves were knit on 2.25 mm needles and took me exactly one week to knit. Can I recommend this pattern? Absolutely! Oh, and the only modification I made was to make the ribbed section of the cuff shorter than the pattern called for. That's it.

I enjoyed knitting those gloves so much that I've cast on for another pair of gloves. This pattern is a free one as well (don't you just love the variety of free patterns out there?). It's the Knotty Gloves by Julia Mueller, available as a free Ravelry download. I'm using another SandnesGarn yarn, this time it's the Alpakka Mini, a fingering weight 100% alpaca yarn. Once again, I'm using 2.25 mm needles.

This is where I am right now, almost up to the pinky. Again, it's knitting up quite quickly! The cable section was a lot of fun to do, if a little confusing. The only reason I say that is because this is the first, or maybe second, time I've knitted cables from a chart. Once I got the hang of it, it really wasn't difficult at all, quite logical.

The yarn is what you would expect from alpaca, so soft and light and really nice to work with. I'm making some modifications to the pattern; as written, all the fingers are at the same level as the pinky. All the gloves I've knit have the pinky knit first, then the remaining stitches are picked up and knit for about three rounds. If you look at your hand, you'll see why: the pinky starts lower than the other three fingers. So, that's how I'll knit these gloves. I'm following the pattern up to the pinky. From there, I'll follow Ann Budd's "Handy Book of Patterns", sort of.

If all goes as planned, by next weekend I could have two pairs of gloves to choose from. Incidentally, the Vanalinn glove? The one I pulled the needle out of? Well, I ended up frogging it; I just got too frustrated trying to pick up the stitches and tinking at the same time. It was only a couple of inches and it will knit up quickly once I pick it up again. And I certainly will. I really like that pattern.

Now, however, it's time to put the knitting down. John's been in cleaning mode today. Once he's had a shower in the nice, clean bathroom, we're going to have a game of Scrabble. May the best woman win! ;)

Who do YOU admire... Heartbreak & Admiration

On the Ravelry group for the podcast, I asked the question "Who do you admire?" In order to clarify that question somewhat, I responded to my own question. I wrote that I admire my daughter because "she's gone from mother of two (Trinity, aged 5 and Ethan, aged 8 months) to mother of 4! And she's done it with an incredible amount of grace and love".

Allow me to elaborate a little. My youngest daughter also has two children, ages 4 and almost 3, a daughter and a son. She also has a substance abuse problem and has had for a long time. We've always known that there was a possibility that, one day, her children would be taken from her. We hoped it would never happen, but realistically, we knew it would surprise no one if/when that day came.

Well, that day came and Kristen would not allow those two little ones to go into a foster home where there was no one they knew. As far as she was concerned, only family can look after family. When she got the call, she stepped up. I talk to Kristen a lot. Her home is now filled with the sound of children, not always playing nicely, but often I hear laughter and play in the background; I hear the love and care and concern in her voice. I know that all four children are being loved and well cared for. I also know that it isn't easy for her. Her life has gone from busy with two to hectic with four (and she's still planning on going back to work when her maternity leave comes to an end)!

I also know that she wouldn't have it any other way.

I wrote in my Ravelry response, as well, that she has done this with grace and humility. In taking on two extra children, she's been faced with numerous challenges. As she has voiced her needs to family and friends (not because she's asking for anything, she wasn't... just voicing the facts), everything she needs has been offered to her. And as each need has been met, she's been blown away by the generosity of her family and friends. In one conversation I had with her, she was even in tears because of that unexpected generosity.

I'm incredibly proud of Kristen; she's become a strong, beautiful woman, a woman worthy of my admiration and respect. Yes, I can honestly say I admire her.

As for my younger daughter, I can only hope and pray that she uses this time to get her own life in order. If she doesn't, she will not get her children back. I love her dearly and I will always keep hope alive. At least, we all know that the kids are in good hands.

*Knitting content will return later... there will likely be a second post today.

A Change is as Good as a Vacation

Well, at least that's what they (whoever they are) say. I've decided to make some changes to the appearance of the blog and I think I like it!

So, I've been doing some thinking. I really should be putting up another podcast, but I'm not feeling the urge to do so. I'm finding it more and more of a challenge to actually sit down at my computer to write and record, so I think I might just take that pressure off of myself and let the podcast go.

I have enough on my mind and my plate right now that the added pressure (put there by no one but myself) is almost too much. That said, I do enjoy the blogging and may try to expand that somewhat.

Opinions?

Pure Evil, huh??

Couldn't resist, Robbyn! Just for you! :)

The butter tart recipe is now available in the sidebar. Enjoy!!

Argh!!!

Notice anything out of the ordinary in this picture?

There should be three needles in that piece of knitting (Vanalinn glove #2, by the way); there are only two! I managed to grab the wrong needle; instead of grabbing the empty one, I pulled the next one in rotation. I knew I shouldn't have been knitting!

The Drops gloves, on the other hand, are giving me no grief at all. As you can see, they're coming along nicely. The glove on the right, obviously, has two fingers done and the glove on the left is ready for fingers.

Must go repair... *sigh*