Friday, February 22, 2008

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

FO: Mary Jane slippers

I definitely needed a break after knitting the Bird In Hand mitt, so I decided to indulge in some Artyarns Supermerino and knit myself the cutest slippers ever.


Pattern: Mary Jane Slippers by Whitney van Nes
Source: the purl bee
Materials: 1.2 skeins of Artyarns Supermerino in colour #127 and bits of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Victorian Pink
Needles: US 6/4mm and US 5/3.75mm circular needles
Started: February 13, 2008
Finished: February 19, 2008

I love these. The toe looks a little funny because the sole peeks out a bit on top, but that doesn't bother me. I think it actually looks sort of neat. What can I say? It's a super pattern teamed up with super yarn.


And here's a gratuitous Moustache shot -- he's angry that I've turned his ball of supermerino into slippers.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

1/2 FO: Bird In Hand mitt

As soon as I saw the Bird In Hand pattern, I knew I had to knit it. I had some red Briggs and Little yarn on hand that Sherrie picked up for $3.99/skein, which fits perfectly into Project Spectrum's fire theme. I've never tried colourwork before, but it was one of my goals for 2008. I'm happy to say I can cross that goal off my list!


I had visions of taking a photo like this, but torrential rains melted away all the snow yesterday, leaving only this tiny patch of dirty snow on our lawn. Sigh.


And, of course, here's the birdie!


You'll note there's only one mitten. Yeah. I will knit the second one soon, but I need a little break first. I'm sorry to say, this was not a fun knit. I used worsted weight yarn (as per the pattern) with 3.25 mm dpns and got gauge, but the fabric is so tight and was really hard on my fingers. The braid was a huge challenge for me. It took me an hour to work each braid. Maybe I'm slow, I dunno, but I found those three braids really friggin' tedious (they look great, though!). Also (this is my last complaint, I promise), the mitten was so lumpy, bumpy and ugly after I finished it, I almost frogged the whole thing but I decided to try blocking it before giving up entirely -- I'm glad I did! A very rigorous block was just the trick and I'm happy with the way it looks now.

But I'm still not ready to knit the second mitten yet.

Oh! and Happy Valentine's Day!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Generosity

I was the lucky winner of a couple of books on Alison's blog (Thanks again!) and they arrived in my mailbox today!


I must say, I really like Classic Knits at Home, but Glamour Knits at Home is a little too frilly for my taste. There are a couple of patterns I like, but most of them are too fussy for me. Nevertheless, both books are filled with beautiful photographs.

Alison also included a couple of bookplates, which I love.


I casually mentioned to Blogless Annie how deeply I love the way rosemary and mint smell together, as in the Aveda shampoo. She surprised me by whipping up a batch of Mintmary soap! Folks, I wish this was a scratch and sniff blog because this soap smells divine. I want to keep a bar in my pocket at all times, just to take a whiff every few minutes. Mmmm . . .


I still have a few pieces of cake leftover. Who says you can't have cake for breakfast?


P.S. I am still knitting. I have a fiery WIP for Project Spectrum to show you soon!

Monday, February 11, 2008

When it's a blinding blizzard outside,

it's the perfect day to hunker down and bake a cake!


This is my all-time favourite cake. It's Nigella's Chocolate Raspberry Heart from Feast. I could eat this entire cake by myself, but I think I'll take it over to Sherrie's for knitting group tonight.

Oh yeah, and I also made the local rag last week. Yup. That's me, yodeling up a storm.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Antique sale find

Sherrie, Blogless Annie and I went to a antique sale this morning and I came home with a pink glass bedside water carafe. Here it is with the cover on:


And with the cover, which doubles as a glass, off:


I always have a glass of water on my bedside table, but it inevitably gathers dust on the surface overnight. This little carafe solves that problem and looks pretty darn cute too!

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

FO: The Hubby Hat

Jesse has never wanted anything hand knit. On occasion, I'll show him patterns I think he'd like (Cobblestone, anyone?), but he always scrunches up his face and shakes his head. So, you can understand why I was so surprised when he asked me to knit him a hat. What kind of hat? He didn't know. I showed him a few patterns, all of which got the same response as Cobblestone, until one day when we were driving in Halifax I spotted a pedestrian sporting a ribbed hat with two stripes. Do you want one like that? Yes, he said. So, I started searching Ravelry for a nice pattern. He approved this one:


Pattern: The Boyfriend Hat by Stephanie Nicole
Source: Stephanie Likes to Knit
Materials: 2.25 skeins of Mission Falls 1824 wool in Ink and scraps of the same yarn in Stone
Needles: US 8/5 mm bamboo dpns
Started: February 2, 2008
Finished: February 5, 2008

Mods: I knit the hat one inch longer, so it covers his ears.

Check out those decreases! They're the reason I chose this pattern. I just love the way they look.

Jesse models his hat while Moustache looks on

The hat is a hit with its new owner. He couldn't model it outside today because it's raining, but he says he's looking forward to wearing it while skating on the lake.

Saturday, February 02, 2008

FO: Monkey socks

I can just barely hear my feet sigh when I slip on these socks. They're lovely. I've been wanting to knit a pair of Monkeys for a while and they were a joy to knit -- 3683 Ravelers don't lie.


Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A.
Source: knitty
Materials: 2 skeins of Oceanwind Knits merino in blu
Needles: US 1.5/2.5 mm Addi Turbos
Started: January 23, 2008
Finished: February 1, 2008

Mods: The cuff. I hate knitting through the back loop, so I just knit a standard 1x1 rib.


The yarn: I fell for this yarn when I knit Mum's Hedgerows. People! This yarn is perfect! Squishy, soft, shiny, bouncy, the perfect semi-solid colourways -- I can't say enough about it. I sincerely hope it wears well, because I want to wear these socks everyday.


The pattern: One word: addictive. It took me 10 days to knit these and I'm not the speediest knitter, but I couldn't put these socks down. The pattern is easy to memorize, which is nice because it looks impressive, but it's not hard at all.

Verdict: I don't want to take them off of my feet.