New camera strap!

I was tired of the old strap that came with my camera, emblazoned with huge white letters spelling "Canon." After I saw Caro's straps (I hear there are a few left in her shop!) I examined my own to see if I could duplicate her work. I grabbed some cute echino fabric and got to work. And this is the end result!

It was super easy! I just ripped the stitching on the little leather bits, removed the old strap, used it as a pattern to cut my fabric, left a 1/2 inch seam allowance, sewed up the new strap and attached it to the leather bits. Easy as pie.

My very own chocolate Hourglass

I finished it on Sunday morning and it two more than two days to dry. Two long, foggy days. I tried to will it to dry, but it was futile.

I just had to wait for the sun to come out today!

And now I have my very own chocolate Hourglass!

Pattern: Hourglass Sweater by Joelle Hoverson (ravelry)
Source: Last-Minute Knitted Gifts
Materials: nine skeins of Noro Cash Iroha #108
Needles: US 7/4.5 mm
Started: February 19, 2008
Finished: June 29, 2008
Raveled here

Mods: The sleeves were going to be way too short, so I knit them to be 21 inches instead of the suggested 18.5 (Mum calls me "Monkey arms" for a reason). As it turned out, after blocking, the sleeves grew a bit in length, but I sort of like long sleeves since they're so rare on me. Because of that, I ran out of yarn shortly after attaching both arms to the body, so I ordered more (in a different dyelot, mind you, but it's barely noticeable). I also did four extra decreases along the neckline because the original pattern tends to look a little "Flashdance!"

Verdict: I really like this sweater. It fits really well and I'm sure I'll get a lot of wear out of it. It's also really warm, so I really don't want to have to wear it in the summer again -- I was getting quite hot while shooting these photos.

Party time!

It's the tail end of my summer vacation (we went camping in Keji for a few days and the rest of my holiday was spent reading and knitting. Good times.) and time for show and tell. "What did you do on your summer vacation, Ingrid?" I made an inedible cake.



I picked up The Softies Kit the other day. Unlike Therese Laskey's other softies book, this one comes with supplies: embroidery floss, felt, fiber fill and a pompom -- just enough for making a sweet little party cake!



It looks almost good enough to eat, don't you think?

Swift tutorial!

The best brother ever is doing his part to share his awesomeness with the world. He has posted a tutorial on making your very own swift! See it here.

And maybe you too can have the best brother/husband/boyfriend/Dad ever.

I have the best brother in the world!

I told Nigel about swifts a while back and he was interested in finding out more about them. He went to Hand On Crafts to check out their swift and took several digital photos for reference. One day later, he had a finished product for me!

It's a nice, full-sized swift on a stand (because he couldn't figure out how to make a clamp) made out of maple. It's a little fiddly to get started, but once the skein is on the swift, it's smooth sailing (rather, smooth winding). The swift itself is held up by a CD, a clothespin and a bulldog clip -- a little unorthodox, sure, but it works. I have already wound two skeins and I plan to wind some more this afternoon!

Thank you Nigel! You have no idea how many knitters are drooling with envy!

Mr. P's Sweater: The Reveal!

Way back in January, I finished a sweater for Mr. P's first birthday. I kept it hidden from his Mom and Dad until last week, when Mr. P finally became one year old!

He proved to be quite adept at opening presents.



And here he is, making a funny face, with his new sweater. The funny face is most likely due to the fact that he'll probably have to wait until autumn before he can wear his new sweater.



And finally, a full shot of the sweater.



I can't wait to see the little guy wearing this! Happy Birthday Mr. P!

I met Lolly!

Several months ago, Lolly posted this photo in her Flickr photostream. Right away, I asked her to consider visiting Yarmouth so we could meet in person. I've been reading her blog ever since I started knitting in the round (circa Nov 2006) and we had e-mailed back and forth a few times. When she said she'd love to come to Yarmouth, I started scheming. I knew that she and Kris were outdoors-y types, and since my Dad is the "Tern Man," I thought they might like to see Canada's largest colony of the endangered Roseate Terns. Dad agreed to take them out for a ride on the boat as assistants to monitor the colony.

Since I'm a bad blogger, I didn't get any shots of Lolly and Kris on the North Brother (the island the Roseate Terns call home), but I did pull out my camera when we reached our second destination, Gooseberry Island, just off the coast of Argyle Sound. There were lost of cormorants, a prehistoric-looking bird that kills tress with its poo. (I know, it sounds charming.)



And we saw baby Black-backed gulls. They were so fluffy and cute! Too bad they turn into dirty, garbage-eating seagulls. Dad encouraged Lolly to pick up one of the chicks, but he neglected to warn her that they "squirt" when they're nervous. Poor Lolly had a handfull of gull poo. (Another charming image, no?)



The island also has a small flock of sheep. Dad, being the witty guy that he is, proclaimed them "Marino sheep." This little guy was a little too slow to keep up with his Mum, so he stuck around while we photographed him. I think he may have been a little gimpy too . . . his front legs buckled under him a few times.



After the boat ride, we went to see the 17 windmills at Pubnico Point.



Then we visited Le Village Historique acadien de la Nouvelle-Écosse, where we ate homemade molasses cookies, played an old pump organ, admired antique quilts, learned about lobster plugs, and . . .



. . . saw piglets! There was a sign warning that "Pigs Bite!" but, frankly, I don't think this guy could bite very hard. Interesting tidbit: Kris speaks piglet-ese. Every time he snorted, the pigs would run over to him.



The next day, we had breakfast at the Old World Bakery (I go there every Saturday morning) with Blogless Annie!



And then, the required stop at Hands On Crafts. Apparently we get giddy when we're surrounded by yarn!



Lolly picked up several skeins of Briggs and Little (the pride of New Brunswick) yarn for a sweater, I had a couple of gift certificates so I got the Lady of the Lake (ravelry)Fleece Artist kit and Blogless Annie bought some roving for her thrummed mitts.

I had so much fun with Lolly and Kris. I wish they lived closer (I tried to sell them Blogless Annie's house, but they wouldn't bite) so we could hang out more often! Lolly and I have so much in common (we both happen to be major klutzes, so we shared stories about broken bones and bruises) and Kris is really witty (dark humour, anyone?).

Enjoy the rest of your vacation in Nova Scotia guys and come back soon!

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.