FO: Un-cashmere neckwarmer

ETA: Sherrie has since posted some new photos of her wearing the neckwarmer properly!

Sherrie e-mailed me a link for an "un-cowl" that she thought was cute, so I sat down an knit it for her and surprised her with it last Friday night. She posted a photo of it on her blog, but I don't think she's wearing it right (she knows -- I told her). I think it should be flipped over so the toggle is toward the bottom of the scarf instead of at the top. But, whatever. It's hers and she can wear it any way she wants!

It took me a morning to knit. Here are the specs:

Pattern: Cashmere Neckwarmer by Kim
Source: Yarn Abuse
Materials: leftover bits of Manos del Uruguay 100 per cent wool in Natural and Green
Needles: US 11/9 mm
Started: January 25, 2008
Finished: January 25, 2008

Fugly to fun

I changed my mind about what to do with those Frenchy's place mats. We haven't done anything to our bedroom, decorating-wise, and I thought those place mats would be a good springboard to start a bedroom theme. Here's the very plain bed and fugly curtain (belonging to the former owner of our house) before:



And after:



It's a start. I still need to paint the walls someday (and decide on a colour), but right now, I'm happy with the way it looks.

FO: Manos mitts and cowl

I've gone too long without proper mittens and the recent cold snap reminded me once again that I am in dire need of warm, woolly mittens. With the Manos yarn that Blogless Annie gave me for Christmas, I finally knit myself those mitts I so desperately needed.


Pattern: I used this pattern as a guide, but I changed so many things that it might as well be my own pattern.
Materials: 1 skein of Manos del Uruguay 100 per cent wool in colour #114 (Bramble)
Needles: US 8/5 mm dpns
Started: January 18, 2008
Finished: January 21, 2008

Notes: They are warm and look oh-so snazzy with my turquoise jacket. They've already started to pill because I've worn them so much in three days, but that doesn't bother me.


I needed a scarf to match the mitts, but I didn't have enough yarn for a full-length one, so I decided to knit a cowl. I just cast on 75 stitches with US 10 circulars and knit until I ran out of yarn. I also got to use that great bind-off method again. It may be more time consuming that the traditional bind-off, but it makes such a nice finished product.


Here's a happy gal with her new winter gear! However, you'll notice now that I'm finally properly outfitted for winter, the snow is all gone and the sun is shining. My timing sucks.

Frenchy's finds

Last weekend Sherrie, Blogless Annie, Phillip and I spent an afternoon rooting through the bins at Frenchy's. I scored this skirt that Annie found in the costumes bin (is this really a costume?). I thought it was the cutest thing in the world. Rick-rack and an appliquéd bird? Yes please.


I removed some ugly "pearls" from the bird's neck (really? Do birds wear pearls?) and now it's perfect. I love it!

And this morning I scored an even better Frenchy's find without even visiting Frenchy's! After my traditional Saturday morning visit to a local cafe and bakery, I decided to stop at Sherrie's house for a visit. Little did I know she was searching for my phone number at that very instant to tell me she found these glorious oversize place mats for me! Eeeeeee! I won't use them as place mats, but I will cut them up to make other things. I'm thinking another handbag . . . a girl can never have too many handbags, right?


I also have a new obsession. I spent all day yesterday listening to Sia. She's friggin' nuts, but she has the most incredible voice I have ever heard. And then when Jesse came home from work he had picked up her new album for me!

Phillip's sweater

Last night I finished the seemingly never ending seaming of Phillip's "can de pois" sweater (the colour is very reminiscent of canned peas, hence the nickname). Since it's a gift for his first birthday, which is in June (I know, I'm a keener), I'm not going to post a full shot of the sweater. I want it to be somewhat of a surprise for his Mum and Dad.


Pattern: Shawl Collar Sweater by Debbie Bliss
Source: Essential Baby by Debbie Bliss
Materials: 6.25 skeins of Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran in 210 lime
Needles: US 8/5 mm and US 7/4.5 mm circulars
Started: December 29, 2007
Finished: January 17, 2008

Notes: It's a pretty straightforward sweater. The only weird bit is that it says to put the uppermost back stitches on a holder while you work the front and sleeves, then you pick up the held back stitches and work the collar. Why not just work the collar as soon as you finish the back, and skip the holder altogether? I dunno.

I also used a new-to-me bind off for the collar to make it stretchier: Zimmermann's Better Bind Off. It worked really well. This would be an ideal bind off for toe-up socks. You can sort of see how it looks in the photo below.


The yarn is very nice. I like it better than Cashmerino Aran because it seems to pill less and it's equally soft. It's also superwash merino, which makes it ideal for a baby who will most likely drool and spit up on it from time to time.

Now I have to hide the sweater from Sherrie until June!

FO: Simple Bag

Blogless (Blog-free? Which do you prefer?) Annie borrowed Last-Minuted Patchwork + Quilted Gifts from the library and she was kind enough to loan it to me while she's away. I love this book. There are so many great patterns in here. So, with a tummy full of my favourite salad, I sat down and made the Simple Bag while watching cooking shows on PBS.


I used some floral fabric from my Gramie's stash and some linen that I picked up at Le's Fashion this morning.


I love the way the straps use both fabrics.


And here's a shot of the bag's interior. I love everything about this bag! I can't wait to try out some more patterns from this book.

Favourite salad

I've been making this salad for lunch everyday this week. It was inspired by a salad I used to eat at a restaurant in Moncton. One day, I told the chef that he should never change that salad because it was so good. Of course, the next time I went in for a salad, they had changed their menu and eliminated my favourite salad. I experimented in the kitchen to try and recreate the dressing, and this is what I've come up with. It's my take on a Greek salad.


Get yourself some lettuce (any kind, I like romaine), tomatoes (I know, it's stupid to buy tomatoes in January, but they were at the grocery store and I brought them home. They actually taste really good), cucumber, feta and Kalamata olives (I happen to have run out of olives).


Make the dressing. I use a few splashes of balsamic vinegar, the same amount of olive oil, a drop of honey and a couple of pinches of dried oregano (rub it between your fingers to crush it up a bit).


Whisk it up.


Drizzle your dressing over your salad, and you have Ingrid's favourite salad. Yum.

Banner year

Wow. Considering I just started knitting last November, I'd say I accomplished quite a bit in 2007. It's neat to see all the FOs up there in that mosaic. I can see a colour trend -- there's a lot of pink and turquoise, arguably my favourite colours.

In 2008, I plan to try colourwork (I have this in mind) and maybe even knit something for Jesse. Whenever I show him a pattern for something I think he might like, he scrunches up his face and shakes his head. But I recently found a hat that he has said he'd like to have and I can't tell you how excited I am. Finally, I may get the chance to knit him something!

Happy New Year and happy knitting to all.

Yarn binge

I've never had much of a stash. My "stash" mainly consists of a small Rubbermaid bin filled with bits of leftover yarn from past projects. My rule is to only buy yarn when I've finished a project and need something new to work on. That all changed after Christmas. Armed with $40 in gift certificates for Tangled Skeins in Dartmouth, I braved the freezing rain on December 27 to take full advantage of their Boxing Day sale.

I knew I wanted sock yarn and some yarn for a sweater for Phillip's birthday (he's outgrown the Trellis I made him, so, naturally, he needs a new sweater). Here's what I brought home with me:

Oceanwind Knits superwash merino in blu at 30 per cent off.


Artyarns Supermerino in colour #127 (it reminds me of watermelons), also at 30 per cent off.


Eight skeins of Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran in lime, again for 30 per cent off. I've already started knitting the Shawl Collar Sweater from Bliss' Essential Baby for Phillip.


As I was winding up my sock yarn, I spied some Noro Cash Iroha at 50 per cent off. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you see a pile of Cash Iroha? The Hourglass Sweater, of course. Seeing as I don't own a copy of Last Minute Knitted Gifts, I raced around looking for it at Tangled Skeins. I found a "store copy." I had a plan. I asked the kind clerk whether I'd be able to photocopy (I know, sacrilege!) the pattern if I bought eight skeins of Cash Iroha. She complied, and I ended up with yet another large bag of yarn!


Blogless Annie also added to my newfound stash by giving me two skeins of Manos in colour #114 (Bramble) for Christmas. I haven't yet decided if these will be mittens of a scarf. Even though it's been sort of overdone, I do like My So Called Scarf.


So, there it is. Now you know what's in my stash. I think it's time to pick up a bigger Rubbermaid bin.

Handmade gifts

Frenchy Sherrie and I had a little gift exchange yesterday. You can see what I made for her family here.

And what did I get?

The most perfect Christmas tree ornament for a knitter.

Some homemade vanilla (it's just a vanilla bean and some vodka. So simple!).

And some of Sherrie's soap (mint chocolate), a tiny grater and some nutmegs. What's weird is I just ran out of nutmeg this week and was planning to pick up another nut at the health food store yesterday. It's creepy how Sherrie can read my mind.

Thank you Sherrie for all the fun handmade gifts!

Sigh.

I finished all my Christmas knitting early last week.


The presents are all wrapped.


Our first ever full-sized, real tree is up.


And now I'm just relaxing, making some mindless moss stitch face cloths for myself. I am 100 per cent ready for Christmas.

Potpourri Post (cute "p" words)

I have a whole lot to tell you about, so I'm going to throw everything into this one post. Christmas is almost here and I'm too busy to break this up into several tidy, little posts. Here it goes.

First things first. Hand-knit socks + party shoes = a match made in heaven.


Yes, that's right folks. Once I let the sock yarn from hell mellow a bit, it gave me some pretty snazzy socks. Sure, they didn't end up striping evenly, but it's winter, it's snowing, it's cold and I need to warm my tootsies (especially when they're in party shoes rather than big, woolly boots). This is, of course, the Jaywalker pattern, knit up with Claudia Handpainted Yarn in chocolate cherry.

Next up, I fell madly in love with Noro this week. I spent two days knitting a couple of secret Christmas projects from two balls of Noro Kureyon #134. Wow. Could this stuff be any more beautiful? Seriously, Noro is to knitters as crack is to junkies.


After I told you about my blank moo greeting cards, I received a sweet note from a lovely moo employee named Daniel. He said they spotted the error shortly after sending the cards, so they were repirnted and reshipped right away. I got the new cards in the mail this week and they look quite sharp.


And see? My message is printed on the inside!


I also finished these wristers for Sherrie's Dad for Christmas. If you take a trip in the wayback machine, you'll see I knit him some wristers in February. Sherrie does a good job explaining what wristers are here.


And speaking of Sherrie, look what she gave me in exchange for the wristers!


Some of the sweetest smelling soap ever. It's minty and oh-so refreshing. Mmmmm. I could sniff this stuff all day.


She'll be opening an etsy shop soon, but if you hop on over to her blog, you might be able to snag some soap from a test batch at a rather substantial discount.

A little something special

Becky over at moonfrog is having a "little something special" contest for the holidays. She's asked bloggers to post a photo and a story about a special decoration that makes your holiday season special. Here's my entry!

When I was a student intern at The Herald in 2003, the first assignment I got was to write a story about an "interesting" crafter at the Dalplex Christmas Craft Market in Halifax. The assignment had been pawned off on me after all of the seasoned reporters pooh-poohed it as a lame holiday story. I didn't have the luxury of declining the assignment since I was the lowest on the totem pole, so I accepted. Lucky for me, I have a knack for making the most boring, eye-rolling story ideas into award-winning, front page stories (it's true! The only award I ever won was for a story with the headline, "1,000 cookies a day.").

Anyway, to make a long story short, I ended up interviewing Elizabeth Brown, an artist from Liverpool who saw "faces" in other people's woodpiles. She used her wood carving skills to bring those faces out and was selling her carvings at the craft market. The story didn't make the front page, but it did end up on page A3, above the fold. (click on the image to enlarge it and read the story.)


I went to the craft market on the day of publication and found Elizabeth Brown. She had picked up The Herald before setting up her shop that morning and she said several people had stopped into her booth after having read the story. She was so thrilled with what I had written that she gave me one of her old world Santa Christmas tree ornaments.


The ornament is still one of my favourites and I smile every time I see it. I usually keep it hanging around year-round as a reminder of how I was able to turn what could have been a really lame story into one that brought me compliments from those hard-ass reporters who wouldn't touch the assignment with a 10-foot pole.

Crafting day!

Yesterday, a bunch of us gals got together to spend an afternoon crafting for Christmas! Here's Sherrie working on some handmade cards.


Rebecca and Annie worked on some hand-knit gifts.


And I worked on a top secret project that kind of turned into a disaster. I'm not sure if it'll be a Christmas gift or not. It depends on how butt-ugly it is when it's finished.


We also indulged in some sweets!


I made this tart from November's Martha Stewart Living magazine. It was divine!

We are snowpeople. Take us to your freezer.

What's this cult of snowpeople that has invaded my kitchen floor?


Why, they're the Christmas cards that arrived in the mail from our good friends at moo!

I painted a special Christmas snowperson a few weeks ago and ordered a bunch of greeting cards. The only problem? The little elves at moo forgot to print "Merry Christmas/Joyeux Noël" on the inside of the cards. I sent an e-mail to moo to let them know, but I don't want to send these back because I'll never get the corrected version in time for Christmas. Oh well, I guess that's what happens when one tells machines to write in one's Christmas cards instead of the lovely pen strokes of the human hand.

And speaking of snowpeople, I've already sold a few through etsy! Thanks to everyone who ordered snowpeople and thanks to those who have e-mailed me with special requests for bigger snowpeople or custom snowpeople! You've made me oh-so happy!

I can't blog about most of the crafting activity that's been going on here chez "words starting with p" since much of it is secret, but I can tell you about this little baby set I made for yet another friend who had yet another boy.


This is the sweet baby cap and Sarrtje's bootees. Both great patterns that I will keep coming back to. (Anyone recognize the yarn? It's every last bit I had leftover from the clap!)

Get your own snowpeople print!

1. Shannon and Courtney, 2. Tim, 3. Mike, 4. Marc, 5. Jill, 6. Janesta, 7. Ingrid, 8. Amber

The snowpeople are up in the shop! Please stop by and have a look.

I apologize for the unexpected hiatus

Has it really been two weeks since my last post? It's hard to believe, and it's not because I lack things to blog about, I guess life just got in the way.

I've been working on a few secret, unbloggable Christmas presents, thanks to a lovely afternoon spent crafting at Sherrie's house. Since the coffee sleeve I made Jill went over so well, I decided to make a couple more. This time, I put experimental embroidery aside and tried out a little bit of appliqué. I think it went well.


I also tried a couple of different closures -- a button from Gramie's stash with a sewn loop from Ysolda's tutorial and a couple of snaps. I think the snaps are rather snappy (couldn't resist). I'm not sure who I'll give these sleeves to yet, but they might be Christmas presents.


And speaking of Christmas presents, I received my first early gift! My brother made me some steps for our back door. The steps that were there when we bought the house had almost become compost, they were so rotten. So, a big thank you goes out to Nigel for his handy skills!


Oh! and for you ravelers out there, you can see one of my secret knitting projects here.