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"?)





Worsted Malabrigo in bergamota. Delicious.

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

somebody's birthday . . .

is today!



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



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



It was delicious!

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!



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



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.



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!



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

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!

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!

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.

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.

Colour Week: Orange

More colour week fun! Thanks again to Leya for hosting. You can visit her blog for the list of all the colour week participants.

I don't know whether these onions are orange, but I liked the way they look against the blue wall.

I've noticed that orange signs in Montreal are particularly bright. Perhaps that's so they don't get ignored . . .

An ornate orange roof on Ave. des Pins.

Colour Week: Yellow

I'm really enjoying colour week. I've been seeing yellow everywhere today!

Yellow yolks for breakfast.

We took the train from Ottawa to Montreal today and, of course, our tickets were yellow.

We'll be staying with some fantastic friends in Montreal until Saturday morning. One of those friends happens to be a former German professor.

Colour Week: Green

Leya is hosting a colour week and I've decided to take part in order to force myself to take more photos while we're on vacation. Hubby and I are in Ottawa today and we're going to Montreal tomorrow. I'm planning to meet up with a couple bloggers while I'm in these parts!

I love Nunavut's crest. And I love how so many things are coppery green in Ottawa.

The tulips are almost ready to flower!

I bought this in Halifax yesterday. I am so looking forward to reading it! Weren't we all Anne-aholics when we were little girls?

Flu and gifts

I'm on my sixth day of battling the flu from hell. Will you do me a favour, blog friends? Remind me to get the flu shot next year. No procrastinating. No excuses. I must never get a flu like this again. Thanks.

Way too long ago, I got this lovely "petit oiseau" in the mail from Claudia. I kept meaning to blog about it, but I got really busy with work and then pummeled by this flu . . .

Claudia really like the snowgirl with camera ATC that I did for Project Spectrum, so I told her I'd make a special one for her. She said she'd send me something sweet in exchange. I was really happy to receive this bird because I had secretly been coveting it (as seen in her Flickr profile pic). Thanks again!

Sherrie is selling some beautiful shaving kits in her shop. I bought one from her for Jesse (no special occasion, just an "I love you" gift).

When he was opening it up, he first saw the mug and said, "I don't drink coffee!" Then he saw the soap and said, "I don't care about soap!" Then he saw the brush and said, "Oh! Cool!" His old shaving mug has a cartoon pig on it and the brush is ragged. It was definitely time for an upgrade. Thanks Sherrie!

And speaking of Sherrie, she just had a birthday. I am giving her the Birdie mitts, but I had to wrap them up unfinished. The second mitt still looks like this. I haven't worked on it at all this week because my fingers still ache from the flu.

I see a white wall and I want it painted . . .

Mint green!



And aubergine!


Blogless Annie came over today to impart her vast knowledge of painting (She has painted her entire three-storey house. She knows a thing or two about painting walls.). We started first thing this morning and finished the kitchen by supper time! All the walls in the house were stark white when we moved in. I knew right away that I wanted to do some painting, but I thought it would be hard. Guess what? It's not hard at all!

Next up, painting the living room.

Happy Easter/Joyeuses Pâques

Easter egg cake recipe from Nigella Lawson's Feast.

*I just realized I made this same cake last year.

Six pack

Brenda tagged me for this "six random facts" meme. I have so many quirks, it's kind of tough to narrow it down to six!

1. My arms are incredibly long. They span nearly six feet . . . and I'm 5'5". This is why I think I may run out of yarn before I finish my Hourglass Sweater.

I love you this much!

2. As stated in a previous post, I yodel.

3. I'm allergic to kiwi, pineapple, all citrus fruits and most other tropical fruits. Yeah. Deathly allergic.

Don't worry, Mum! This isn't a real lemon.

4. I'm not a vegetarian, I'm just a picky eater. I don't like red meat and I haven't eaten any since Grade 8.

5. I can touch my elbows behind my back. It's supposed to be humanly impossible. Why can I do this? See quirk #1.

Freakish.

6. I am accident prone. As I type this, I have Band-Aids on two fingers. I seem to break my big toe yearly (I'm due for another break either this month or next, so watch out!) and I've dislocated both of my shoulders (not at the same time). I could go on and on . . .

I'm not going to tag anyone, but please, share some of your freakish quirks in the comments!

Pillow talk

When I ordered the fabric for Andrea's backpack, I may have ordered a couple half yards of some pink Joel Dewberry prints to make throw pillows for the bedroom. This weekend, I had the chance to make those pillows -- my first foray into patchwork. I think it went well.


I bought a couple of pillow forms at Michaels and loosely followed this tutorial to make these. I think they look quite happy nestled on the bed with the original big pillow made out of those place mats Sherrie gave me.


I haven't left knitting by the wayside! I've been diligently working away at an Hourglass sweater (ravelry link) in chocolate brown Noro Cash Iroha. It's so much fun knitting with this yarn. Mmmmm.


And I think my mitten mojo is coming back. I felt the urge to finally knit that second Birdie mitten the other day. I know, winter is almost over, but it would be nice to have two mittens. I'm just sayin'.