Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Birthday fun

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the lovely birthday wishes! I had a great time at the awards show, even if I didn't win the award (I wasn't expecting to win, so I wasn't disappointed!). In lieu of the award, I got some great birthday presents! Jesse got me the Cadillac of tripods with a crazy joystick head to match. Now I no longer need to perch my camera in a tree to get a decent shot.

The in-laws also got me something I have long been yearning for. A ball winder. Yes. Now I can wind centre-pull balls to my heart's content. (or is it "til my heart's content"?)

New ball winder!

Malabrigo cake

Worsted Malabrigo in bergamota. Delicious.

Blogless Annie, when are you coming over to wind up some yarn?

Saturday, May 17, 2008

somebody's birthday . . .

is today!

365-12 (Happy Birthday to me!)

No, I'm not in my "birthday suit," I'm wearing my fancy awards show dress!

365-12 alt

Wish me luck at the ACT Awards tonight! Here's a pic of my birthday cake. Mmmmm. Chocolate cheesecake . . .

Birthday cheesecake!

It was delicious!

Thursday, May 15, 2008

FO: Swiffer cloth

Sherrie mentioned wanting a reusable Swiffer cloth, so I checked Ravelry, found a pattern I liked and in no time, I had a finished object!

reusable swiffer cloth

Pattern: Swiffer Re-Usable Cloth by Birdy's Knits
Materials: Casco Bay worsted cotton in Olive
Needles: US 6/4mm
Started: May 14, 2008
Finished: May 15, 2008
Raveled here

reusable swiffer cloth

I should have taken more photos, but I'm sure Sherrie will post some. It has little bobbles that slip into the grips to keep the cloth on the Swiffer. It seems to work really well too. Just when I was taking these photos, it picked up bunches of cat fur. I had to pick it all off before I brought it over to Sherrie's house!

Linen clutch

I'm going to an awards ceremony this weekend at our local theatre. They're giving out awards for each of the productions over the past year and I'm nominated for Best Actress for The Boyfriend. I'm quite sure I won't win, but I'm excited nonetheless since it's an opportunity to get all gussied up for a party.

I bought my dress from a Canadian designer through the online shop, Maison de Moi, but I needed a handbag to go with it. I saw this great pattern, but I didn't have any fabric that would match my dress. That's when I spotted some neutral linen in my stash. I figured if I made a linen clutch, then I could add a few decorative buttons and make it match my dress. I also happen to have an "in" with a button collector.

Buttons from Gramie's collection

I think I've mentioned Gramie's button collection before. She has scads of buttons in a drawer in her sewing room and they're all sorted by colour. I asked her for her red and gold buttons and she delivered. Check out those piles!

buttons and dress

I picked some buttons that match my dress, sewed them on and, voilĂ ! A clutch that perfectly complements my fancy togs.

linen clutch

Saturday, May 10, 2008

FO: Hand Towel

I whipped this up last night for Mum for Mother's Day. She has a couple of knit hand towels and she mentioned how much she liked them. I had planned to make one out of the Ecoknit organic cotton yarn I bought in Montreal, but I had this idea that Mother's Day was further away than it actually is. So, I searched Ravelry really quick and found this pattern.

Pattern: Kitchen Hand Towel (pdf) by Clara Masessa
Source: Kraemer Yarns
Materials: every last bit of one skein of Ecoknit organic cotton in Coffee.
Needles: US 6/4mm
Started: May 8, 2008
Finished: May 9, 2008

Mods: I made the towel part an inch shorter because I didn't want to run out of yarn.

I gave the towel to Mum today and she loved it. The cotton is really soft -- not like that crappy Bernat cotton yarn. I'll probably make another one of these for me, because I found it kind of hard to part with this one . . .

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Bloggy meetup v2.0!

Last Saturday I met my second "Internet friend," as hubby calls them. I've been reading Nicole's blog ever since her first post. If you're not familiar with her, please check her out! She has knit some beautiful garments, like this.

We met in downtown Ottawa and went out for a lovely lunch at Wasabi. We sat and talked for a long time, as if we were old friends. It was great! Apparently all the good yarn shops are just outside Ottawa and neither of us had access to a car that day. Nicole felt bad, but I didn't really mind. I mean, I didn't really have any room in my suitcase for any more yarn! But she mentioned a shop within walking distance called Knit Knackers that has Malabrigo. Wait, what? Did you say Malabrigo?

I went straight for the worsted stuff. I touched it. I fell in love. I left with this incredibly smooshy, soft, cushy skein in Bergamota. It's like buttah. Bright orange buttah.

As I was swooning over the Malabrigo, something else caught my eye. I think both Nicole and I rushed over to the same shelf at the same time. What did we see?

Yup. That's Noro Kureyon sock yarn. I had only ever seen this stuff on the Internet! Apparently they just got it in at Knit Knackers. Neither Nicole nor I could leave without a skein. I got this beauty (#188) in purple, navy, grey and green.

One of the kind shopkeepers took a photo of us fondling the Malabrigo lace weight yarn. It turned out a bit blurry, but I like to say we were in a "yarn fog."

It's a good thing yarn is squishy. I was able to squeeze the two skeins into my suitcase without too much difficulty (okay, I had to stand on my suitcase in order to close it). Thanks again Nicole for a fabulous visit!

A post-script to my bloggy meetups: I was also supposed to meet Amy on Sunday, but we unfortunately ran out of time. I'm hoping that since she is originally from Nova Scotia, we can meet next time she comes home to the East coast!

Friday, May 02, 2008

Bloggy meetup!

I had my first meetup with a blogger I had only previously known through this computer screen yesterday. Although people told us both that it's creepy to meet someone you only know on the Internet, we knew it was okay. Besides, what's the worst that could happen? She might take my eyes out with a knitting needle . . .

Claudia is a fantastic sewer and great photographer. She surprised me with this adorable box bag that I filled with . . .

a half of a charade sock!

We stopped at Ariadne Knits where I picked up two skeins of Cherry Tree Hill supersock merino,

one skein of EcoCotton,

some lace Addi Turbos and the Soak, as seen in the blue post.

Jesse obliged by taking a photo of us while we were still giddy from the yarn shopping!


We also stopped at a little shop called Atelier Woodenapples where I picked up this tee!

Yeah, I love this tee.

We capped off the day with an amazing dinner at Byblos, a trendy Iranian café.

Thanks again Claudia and Dan for such a fun day!

Colour Week: Blue

Colour week is coming to an end and I really enjoyed it. Here are today's blues.

Macaws at the biodome.

I had never seen this stuff in person until I visited Ariadne Knits. I had to get a bottle to see what all the fuss is about.

And this, just because everyone is so Habs crazy here.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Colour Week: Red

We had a fantastic day in Montreal. We went to the biodome and the insectarium and then met up with one of the greatest gals I have ever met . . . but I'll save that for a subsequent post. Here are some of the red objects I spotted today.

some unidentified red flowers in the biodome's tropical forest.

a roseate spoonbill.

some ladybug magnets in the insectarium's gift shop.