Bye bye 2007!

Wait, where did 2007 go? Seriously, could this year have gone any faster? I can't believe it's the last day!!! Now let's hope that 2008 goes by as quickly. Why? Because I have a very personal reason to want to be in 2009 now! My boyfriend and I talked and we will probably try to start our own little family in 2009. In one year! I can't wait. And I think I just shared too much, I hope I don't jinx it!

2007 in a flash:

-I finished 16 projects. My favourites : Coachella, Shedir, the endpaper mitts and the Fake isle hat.
-I made 8 pairs of socks. My favourites: Monkeys and Roza's socks
-I tried Fair isle (and I love it!)

And on a more personal level:

-I moved in with my boyfriend
-I quit my full time well paid job (that I hated) for a part-time job (that I love)

I was just looking at my last post of 2006 and I looked at my knitting resolutions. I wanted to try colour work and I did it. I wanted to learn to seam well and... well I didn't really. And I wanted to finish Kiri's shawl and the blue cardigan and they're still in a box somewhere. Oh well. Oh and I also wanted to knit a pair of socks a month. I knit 8. Not too bad.

In 2008 I want to:

-Learn to seam well
-Try entrelac

That's pretty much it. I already have knitting plans for the beginning of 2008. Right now, I still have the pink mittens on the needles. They would have been done had I not cast on for the Woven Cables scarf. I also want to knit socks: Cable Net, Annetrelac (from IK Holidays 2007) and Anastasia. And then there's the Streakers shrug that I've been meaning to make a while ago.

That should keep me busy, and out of yarn stores, for a while. Speaking of yarn stores, guess what my mom got me as a Christmas gift? Yes, another gift certificate to Effiloché! I'm going to buy the whole store!

Happy New Year everyone!

'twas the night before Christmas...

Aaaaah. Christmas eve! The decorations are up, there's a sugar pie in the oven, presents are under the (mini) tree... and I'm going to work in an hour! *cries*

I'll be all right. There are a lot of people who have to work tonight. Doctors. Taxi drivers. And me.

I've been in a knitting funk this week. I started the LaLa mittens and the pattern just wasn't right for the yarn. That and I didn't like the fabric I had with 4mm needles. So I frogged and cast on again with smaller needles. I didn't really use a pattern (though I did cast on the same amount of stitches than the Lala pattern required), I just knit by ear. And I really like the end result. A mitten!



Ok so there are still ends to weave in. And a thumb would be nice too. But I'm almost done.

Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it!

It starts with a W, ends with a W and there's an O in the middle...

I got my last package from my Secret Pal!!!



I am SO SO SO SO lucky! Seriously, did you see that bag? I can't believe she took the time to make it for me, it's absolutely gorgeous! (It's even more beautiful in person too!). I love it.

Then there's Lorna's Lace. You can never go wrong with that yarn. It's beautiful. And on top of that, I got Raspberry-Chocolate flavoured coffee. My favourite flavour!!!!

Thank you Brooke, you've been a fantastic Secret Pal. I can't believe how spoiled I have been!

Not really a Fake Isle Hat...

Pattern: Fake Isle Hat, from Magknits
Yarn: Warani (Susan Andrew Collection). 50% Suri Alpaca, 50% extra fine merino wool. I bought it at Ariadne** and I was told the green was being discontinued so hurry if you want some!
Needles: 4mm (US6) 16" circular (I used my Denises) and DPNs in the same size.
Modifications: I used solid yarn instead of the Noro. And I chose not to do chart B at all because I didn't want too much white. I think it looks great. I am so pleased with that hat! And I had bought two balls of the green but I only needed one and I have more than half of the white left over so I will be able to make another one!

So I am now DONE with all my gift knitting! Yay! This year, I'm giving:

-A scarf to my boyfriend (already given)
-Socks to my mom
-A scarf to my mom
-Socks to my sister
-Socks to my stepdad
-A hat to my friend (technically for his birthday, not Christmas)

And since it's all done, I am now free to knit for myself! And I'm starting with a pair of angora mittens:



The pattern is Lala's Mittens (pdf here). I'm not sure how the cable will look in the fuzzy yarn, but we'll see.

**Those of you who had trouble finding the address for Ariadne's store, it's in the blog section of the website. They are probably too busy with the store to update the site and add the address on the main page. The store is at: 3837 Rue St. Jacques Ouest, Montreal. It's close to the Place-St-Henri metro station.

Weekly WIP Report (+FO!)

Hello readers! Today is a snow storm day. Since I don't drive, I love snow storms! I especially love to knit during a snow storm. So I did some knitting this morning and I have a fabulous WIP to show for it.

But before we get to the WIP, here's a FO:



Pattern: I cast on 48 sts and did a 2x2 rib until I ran out of yarn.
Yarn: Misti Alpaca (100% baby alpaca hand dyed, worsted weight). LOVED the yarn. It was incredibly soft.
Needles: 4.5 mm (US7). I used my Knitpicks options.

The scarf was supposed to be a Christmas present for my boyfriend but he was so impatient to get it (and it's cold outside) that I gave it to him right away. He loves it I think.

Ok, now the WIP. I mentionned a few posts ago that I wanted to make a hat for my friend's 30th birthday. After looking for the perfect pattern, I finally chose the fake isle hat.

I love the look of the hat in Noro, but I'm not a fan of the scratchiness of the yarn so I wasn't sure I wanted to use it. It's not *that* scratchy (I've used it for hats before), but some people are more sensitive than others so I preferred not to use it for a gift. So I considered using solid yarns. I saw some solid Fake Isles on Ravelry and they looked good, but I still wasn't sure.

Then I found solid yarn that were exactly *him* so I thought what the heck, let's try it! Boy, I'm not regretting my choice, I'm LOVING the result!



What do you think? The yarn is "Warani" and it's 50% suri alpaca, 50% extra fine merino wool. It is SO SOFT! I'm now at the point where I should be starting the second chart with the white/cream yarn, but I think I'll just keep knitting with the green. I like it the way it looks now.

I'll probably finish the hat this week and then I'll be knitting for MOI only for the next couple of months!

The best way to spend an afternoon

Here I am on my last day off before I get back to work for 4 days. Time goes by quickly when you have nothing planned!

I had the loveliest day yesterday. I had decided to go see the new Ariadne store and I wanted to bring homemade cookies so I baked some decadent double chocolate ones:



I think they were pretty good, if I do say so myself. So off to Ariadne I went, and I was so pleased to see Jo there! I hadn't seen her in like a year! Also there were Celia and her adorable daughter Morgan, as well as the two owners, Mary and Molly Ann. I actually took a picture of the group but when I opened it in Photoshop, I realized that I'm really bad at taking pictures and that I can make good looking people look, well, not as good. So I'm not posting it!

But I do have pics of the store! Lookie!









(I made sure I had Molly Ann's red shoes in that one. I love them!)

I spent the whole afternoon there, knitting and chatting and it was so nice. I'm definitely going back, probably next week. There's a knit night on Thursday but I'll be working so I can't go. :(

After the knitting goodness, I met my boyfriend and we went to eat some Indian fast food before the Habs game.



We didn't have the best seats in the house, but we still had fun, even though we lost. I still like to think that Tomas Plekanec (my favourite Canadien player) scored just for me. Oh and they had a little problem with the scoreboard...



41-0? Haha. I wish!

I think we have a winner!

I've been looking and looking for a hat pattern that I want to make for a friend for his 30th birthday (December 27th) and I think I found a good one : the Fake Isle hat from Magknits. If you're on Ravelry, go look at all the different versions, they're all beautiful. And a lot of people mention that it's a quick knit so that's good. I don't want to start on it until I'm done with the boyfriend's scarf, because I promised him he would have it in time for Christmas. But I have less than half a ball to knit so it's not that bad.

I also keep finding new patterns I want to knit but they'll have to wait a bit because I'm being careful with new yarn and pattern acquisitions. But look how adorable Kate Gilbert's Bird in Hand mittens are? And how about these mitts from karendipity? Look on her site, she has gloves too. Beautiful! (NOTE TO MY BOYFRIEND IN CASE HE READS THIS: Clique sur les liens, si jamais tu cherches quoi m'acheter pour Noël!!!)

So yeah, like I said, I'm trying to be careful but I will buy some yarn today. I'm planning on visiting Ariadne's new brick and mortar store and I have saved a bit of birthday money just for this. Not much, but enough for a skein of sock yarn. I know I can't go there for the first time and not buy anything!

Santa Claus is coming to town

Dear Santa,

I have been a very good girl this year. I've been nice. I've helped others whenever I could and I really have been eating my vegetables. I feel like I need a reward.

Now what I want the most in the world is peace and happiness for all, of course. But "all" includes me, so here's what I think would make me very happy:

-A kit of Knitpicks sock sampler. Now I'm not sure if I prefer the warm, the neutral or the cold colours, so just surprise me. Or even better, send me all three.

-The Carnival Baby Blanket kit, because it's just so damn adorable.

-Sock yarn from Lotus Knits.

Thanks in advance Santa, I will leave cookies for you on Christmas night.

~Caroline~

Ps/I want to know what my knit blogger friends want for Christmas! Tell me in the comments or write it on your blog!

Knit night... at home!

I thought for sure that I would go to Knit night tonight, but I had forgotten how draining a first day at a new job could be. I'm so tired I could sleep on my keyboard! I really don't have the energy to go on the other side of the town, even though I really wanted to!

I know for sure that I will love this new job. I like everything about it already, except for the shitty hours, but that's journalism for you! But I'm really looking forward to being a month from now and to know my way around everything.

Also, I'm sure you all know by now, but the new Knitty is up! I have to say I expected more sweaters, but I'm happy no matter what. New patterns! I like that there are lots of socks and I love Halcyon and Jeanie. Oh and the Eco Fairy is adorable.

On my last post, Kate-the-blogless-enabler asked if I will show pics of the yarn I'll buy with my Effiloché gift certificates. Well of course! But I'm not planning on spending them just yet. My yarn money will be very limited this year so I'll have to chose carefully. I know I plan on going to Ariadne's new store sometime next week and I want to buy a little something there with my birthday money. Effiloché will wait until... at least after Christmas!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

So we had the first big snowstorm of the season today. It was wonderful. I know, not everyone thought so, but since I don't drive, it didn't affect me as much. I thought the snow was beautiful. I just hope it won't all melt before Christmas!

I'm not going to talk about WIPs this week. My boyfriend bought Guitar Hero for the Wii last week, and let's just say I feel like I sold my soul to the videogame. Christmas knitting? What Christmas knitting? Look, I'm playing My Name is Jonas!

Despite the lack of knitting, I have some fibery goodness to show you. I got a package from my Secret Pal and it was better than anything I could have expected!



My very own spindle!!! It's beautiful and I've always wanted to learn how to spin! Oh but wait, there's more.



You can't spin without fiber! The spindle was actually part of a kit and it comes from Maine Woods Yarn & Fiber and I love the colours.

Now I just need to figure out how this all works. Hopefully I'll have more time to learn after Christmas. THANK YOU SECRET PAL!!!

In other news, as I mentionned in my previous post, I turned 30 today. I gotta say that today was pretty uneventful. My real birthday celebrations happened on the weekend. On Friday, I had a party with friends (including one that I hadn't seen in over a year!) and on Saturday, I had one with family. I had a great time. My mom made me a scrapbook (it was her first one) and it's probably my favourite gift... that and my new iPod. I love it I love it I love it. And my boyfriend got me a set of speakers for it so it will be great when we have people over. I also got a few gift certificate including these:



Sorry the pic is so blurry. They are Effiloché gift certificates! I'll be able to buy some yarn! Woohoo!

Finally, another great gift was a picture that my friend took when he went to Chile this Fall and that he got framed. I love it and it made me want to make something for him. Like a hat. His birthday is on December 27 and my new goal is to finish my boyfriend's scarf and then make a hat for this friend. I need pattern ideas now!

December 3

I am now officially 30 years old (ok not really. I was born at 8:52am on December 3 and it's only midnight. So I'm still 29. Technically.)

Who knew changing jobs would take so much of my time? This week, I'm working everyday from Sunday to... next Sunday! Thank God I'll really be part-time after that.

I have lots of things to write about but no time for it. Hopefully I'll be able to write up a longer post tomorrow with pics of fibery goodness thanks to my Secret Pal.