Daisy is done!

I finished the little baby cardigan I made for my friend's baby-to-be.


Pattern is Daisy from Knitty. The yarn is Schachenmayr Nomotta Micro (100% acrylic). I got it from a secret pal quite a while ago and couldn't find the right pattern for it until now. It's pretty soft.

Here's a close-up of the duck buttons I chose:


In other news, this is probably my last post for a while, as I will be leaving for Europe this Friday. I'll be in France for two weeks for work, and then I'm going to England for a few days just for fun.

I still don't know what knitting project I'm going to bring along. So I may update before I leave if I ever figure out what to take with me (I just can't imagine not bringing anything).

Behold, ze blanket!

The Big Bad Baby Blanket (aka Damned Blanket) is done:



Unfortunately, it's acrylic and can't be blocked. It has some wool in it though I can't remember how much (not much I'm sure).

I'm not 100% happy with it (don't know about the colour). I'm thinking of also giving her a baby cardi (which would have to be done in the next two weeks or so...)

Finished!

So when I uploaded the blog yesterday, I realized that I hadn't posted any FOs since February! Eeek! It sort of inspired me to finish these:



I love new socks!

I'm sure most of you knitters have already looked at the latest issue of Knitty. I gotta say I absolutely adore the little girl cardigan and I like the Hedera socks too.

Oh and if you don't know, the IK summer 2006 projects preview is up right here. Now I always prefer Fall and Winter knitting, but I gotta say this summer issue looks promising. Dows anyone know when it's coming out?

You know you're a knitter when...

... you're going to Europe and one of the first thing you think about is "What knitting project am I going to knit?"

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am going to Europe. The first two weeks will be spent in Paris and it's going to be a business trip (I just love saying I'm going on a business trip, especially because I look about 12 and definitely not business-trip-like). Just like last year, I'm going to the Ville lumière to help with a special newspaper made just for the Cannes festival. I'm really excited as I had so much fun last year. But I was wise this time (probably because it wasn't short notice like last time) and planned to get there one day early. I may have a little bit of time to shop (read: find a yarn store). We'll see. I'll admit that finding yarn will not be the main event of my trip (so maybe I'm not a real knitter after all). I'm going to be in Paris from May 13th (leaving Montreal the evening of May 12th) to May 28th.

I added one week of vacation to the trip and I will spend it in England. I'll be taking a plane from Paris to London on May 28th. The last time I was in England, I really wanted to visit the city of Bath, but didn't get the chance so I'm planning on spending a day or two there. And then I'll come back to London and I'll take a plane back home on June 1st. How is that for a business trip/vacation?

So yeah, knitting projects. Right now, I have on the needles a pair of socks that should be finished by the time I leave. Ditto for the Big Bad Baby Blanket (I only have a couple of inches + the border left to do).

And then there's Mariah. When I began joining all the pieces together, it just didn't work. The sleeves, despite being all wrong, looked pretty nice when by themselves. But when I started piecing the sweater together, I didn't like the way they looked. So I frogged them and started over. I have maybe 4-5 inches done. But I don't want to bring that on the plane.

So... it will be a new project (yay!). Maybe the alphabet blanket? (You can see a finished one here. We'll see...

Projects update

Since the last time we spoke (or whatever) I worked a little on the blue socks, a little on the neverending baby blanket (I'm now past the halfway mark) and quite a bit on Mariah.

I've now finished knitting all the different parts (except from the hood) and I've joined them all and started the yoke. I can already tell that this will be my least favourite part of the project. That and the seaming. And the sewing of the zipper...

So this post is picture-less, sorry, but hopefully I'll have a finished Mariah soon enough.

I'll end by saying that I want this. And a ball winder.

WIPalooza

This is a boring time to be a blogger. The reason is that I don't finish anything! It's not that I don't want to. I'm dying to finish some of these projects. But I'm a slow knitter and I'm currently working on longer projects. The exception being:



These are the still unfinished second pair of Olympic socks. Taking the picture, I realize that I should really start working on them again. They're cute.

Then we have Mariah:



You see two sleeves and part of a back. If the sleeves look weird to you, well... they are. See, I learned how to read a chart correctly (really, I did!), but then all my projects involving charts were done in the round. So when I started the sleeves, I immediately began reading the charts as I had always done, from right to left... on both sides. Eeep! I realized the mistake halfway through the sleeves, but I sort of liked the way they look so I kept going. :p

I'm almost halfway done with the Big Bad Baby Blanket:



This is taking longer than it should, because while it's lovely, it's quite boring to knit. And I'm pretty much only working on it when I'm at a knitting meet-up. But it will be done before May. That's my goal.

Finally, the socks-that-may-never-be-finished:



My first try with fair-isle. They take forever. And they will most likely be too small. I'll try to block them bigger, or I'll just frame them or something.

Hopefully, the next post will have a FO. Yeah like that's likely ;)

Yarn and Hookers

I received the cashmere yesterday. Yummy! I gotta say the shipping was incredibly quick. I like that.

The colour is significantly darker than on the picture, but I really don't mind because:

a) I expected it (it's never really like on the monitor)
b) I really like the real colour anyways

I washed some of it and it's drying right now. I wanted to divide the cone into two hanks, but after I started to "de-cone" it, it got a bit tangled at one point so I cut it. So what I have washed is only a tiny part of what I bought, but I'll get to see what it's like when it's washed before I do the rest. Maybe I'll post pictures too.

Oh yeah, and Jennifer asked me about the seller. His (her?) name is Colourmartuk. Of course, I'm in no way affiliated, just a happy customer.

This week, I also got this:



I know there are some Debbie Stoller haters out there. I also know there are some crochet-hating knitters out there. But I'm not. The first Stitch N'Bitch book is what made me want to learn to knit. I loved the kitty hats, the Under the hoodie sweater and the socks so much. Of course I haven't made any of these items :p And since then, my tastes have changed and I'm not as much into the hip stuff. Maybe because I realize that if I'm going to spend so much time knitting something, I don't want it to be out of style after a couple of months ;)

Anyways. I still got the Hooker book, because I really want to learn how to crochet and I figured the instructions will be easy to understand. It looks like they are. I'm not too crazy about many of the pattern, though I really really like Froufrou and the jacket (can't remember the exact name right now).

Unfortunately, I only seem to want to knit Mariah right now so no crochet for me for a while. I'm almost done with the sleeves now. Finally. I think I'll have them done by Sunday.

Yum

A few people on the socknitters list mentionned this seller on Ebay who sells cones of cashmere yarn. Of course I couldn't resist. So I got this cone up there. 1300 yards (4-ply), 100% cashmere for 38$CDN and that includes shipping from the UK. I'll be sure to let you all know if I like it when I get it. I've never knitted with cashmere before so I'm quite excited.

I don't think I've mentionned that I ended up not finishing the socks for my Olympic knitting challenge. I had just turned the heel by the time the closing ceremony started. I'm a little disappointed but I'm still glad I tried. The socks aren't even finished yet, I haven't touched them since the Olympics ended. I just couldn't wait to get back to Mariah.

I love that pattern. LOVE IT. I've been looking at finished Mariah online and I just can't wait till mine is also done and I can wear it. Hoping it'll look good enough. I'm more than halfway done with the sleeves. They're going so slowly, but I'm glad I started with them and not the body. I also find that I'm loving the Wool of the Andes more and more.

Once in a while, I become obsessed with a pattern and that's happened lately. I really want to make Tubey from Knitty. Maybe it'll be the next sweater, after Mariah (which means it won't happen until next year or so and i'll probably have become obsessed with a million other patterns by then).

Going for Silver, maybe?

Well here are the embossed leaves socks:



I love them.

As for the second pair, well... One sock is done. The other one only has a cuff. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to make it. Damn me for trying to have a life while doing this Olympic thing ;) I'm still going to try to make it, but seeing as I have a pretty busy weekend planned, I doubt it's going to work.

I was going to post a pic of my progress but my batteries died right after I took the embossed leaves socks picture. Batteries are charging right now so I'll be able to take a pic later.

Back to the knitting. Oh yeah, and GO CANADA! Gold medal in men's curling today, yay!

Finally!

I can finally update the blog! First my computer refused to work and then the blogger site wouldn't let me update. Grrr.

Before I start on my progress, I'd like to congratulate Mr Gibson and Mr Pain, who just won Gold and Silver for Canada in the skeleton competition. GOOD JOB!



Here's sock number one. I'm at the gusset on sock #2. Which means I'm late, since I have another pair of socks to complete before the end of the Olympics. But I'm not too worried since the second pair will be a plain pair, so it should take me less time to complete it.

I hope that all the knitting olympians are doing well. I'll admit something: I miss Mariah! I'm itching to get back to those sleeves. Oh well, I'll get there soon enough and by then I'll have two new pairs of socks to wear :)

Canada : 1

Canada got the gold today, yes!

Just a quick update now that I can. I was computerless for a couple of days so I couldn't say that I modified my Olympic knitting challenge. I'll be making two pairs of socks instead of one. Funny thing is, when I finally was able to get to the computer today, I noticed that Jo also doubled her challenge. Great minds think alike (except her projects are quite more challenging than mines I think) ;)

The first embossed leaves sock is going very well. The pattern is very easy to follow. And it looks absolutely gorgeous.

More later, I gotta run. Good luck to everyone!

Missing the socks

I was so sick of knitting socks after I finished the Christmas pairs, I didn't want to touch my small DPNs for a month. But now I admit that I'm missing my sock knitting.

And I really don't know how I'll wait until the beginning of the Olympics to begin the Embossed Leaves Socks. I just googled the name and saw many finished pairs (not to mention a pair in person made by the designer herself last Wednesday :) ). They're so beautiful, I want mine now!

Meh. I'll wait. At least I was able to swatch and I think I'm all set now. I have really small feet so I usually try to get gauge and then I use needles one size smaller than what I got gauge with. It has worked very well for me so far.

Ok I'll go work on my sweater now (does the fact that I'm actually happy to be knitting on a Friday night instead of going out make me a loser?).

Olympics!

The other night, I dreamt that I was knitting the Embossed Leaves Socks for the knitting olympics (yeah, I dream about knitting sometimes). So that's what I'm going to make.

New yarn, new yarn!

Today's knitting meetup was great (as they all are of course). So many people, including lots of new people, showed up. I think there were 15 of us at one point. It was very nice. We even got to meet Kate Gilbert's daughter, who is the most adorable thing.

Jessi sold me a skein of Fleece Artist merino that she didn't want anymore:



Then, Kiyoko from AmiAmi came over with bags of yarn and I couldn't resist. I got this:


The yarn is called Faith and I will use it to make Veronik Avery's Short Row Hat.

And I got this:


I think the name of the yarn is AHS Slub Kasuri and I have something like 900m of it. It's incredibly soft and it will most likely become a shawl.

***

Also, I'm crazy and I'm thinking of participating in this:



Even though I shouldn't start a new project. But I can't resist a challenge so I most likely will. Now, I only need to choose a project, and that's when YOU have a role to play.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO MAKE!!!

I have a few ideas.

1. Mona's socks from the last issue of Interweave Knits.
2. Clapotis
3. The Peppermint Twist shirt from Stitch N' Bitch
4. Kyoto (I'm currently in the process of frogging the one I started in the hope of maybe starting over after rechecking my gauge).
5. Madli's Shawl, from a past issue of IK. I'd love to make that but I doubt I'd be able to make it in 16 days (same with #3 and #4 actually).

So if you have a suggestion, let me know. I just would rather not buy any yarn and I could make the above projects wiht yarn that I already have so it would be good.



***

I was tagged by Kadi (that is, if I'm the Caroline she tagged!), so here we go:

Four Jobs You Have Had In Your Life:

1. Journalist
2. Translator
3. Technical Writer
4. Communications Agent

Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over:

1. Lord of the Rings (the whole series)
2. Harry Potter (all of them)
3. Amelie
4. Shallow Graves

Four Places You Have Lived:

1. Montreal
2. Hull
3. Sherbrooke
4. Cowansville

Four TV Shows You Love To Watch:

1. Tout le monde en parle
2. What not to Wear
3. Les Bougon
4. 24 (got Season 1 for Christmas, now I'm hooked)

Four Places You Have Been On Vacation:

1. Germany
2. Paris and London (one trip)
3. Cuba
4. Columbia

Four Websites You Visit Daily:

1. Hotmail
2. Livejournal
3. Atforumz
4. Knitter's review Forums (not daily but often)

Four Of Your Favorite Foods:

1. Lasagna (with my own spaghetti sauce)
2. Homemade pizza
3. Tuna or smoked salmon paninis
4. Penini Romanoff

Four Places You Would Rather Be Right Now:

1. Out
2. Of
3. The
4. Country

Four Bloggers You Are Tagging:

1. Jo
2. Mona
3. Julie
4. Elisa

***

I'm ending this with a pic of the progress on my sweater's sleeves:



I wish you could see it better, but it'll have to do.

Hey what's up?

I just realized that I haven't blogged in half a month. Eeep! Thing is, I kept on meaning to take pictures but never really got around to do it until now, so...

But here they are! First, my last finished object of 2005, a hat for my boyfriend. I made it with Noro Kureyon (colour 51) and this pattern after seeing a post on atforumz (thanks Maureen!).



And I've made two things in 2006. First is the Basic cables hat from Stitch N' Bitch Nation. It was my first time making cables. I was actually hoping to use the yarn to make Veronik Avery's short row hat from the latest Interweave Knits, but it didn't work very well with the pattern. I also made a very basic garter stitch scarf with chunky yarn to go with the hat.



As to what I'm working now, well...

Other than the two projects (socks + a bag) that I already had on the needles, I casted on for the Big Bad Baby Blanket from Stitch N' Bitch. It's for a pregnant friend, and since the baby is due in June, I have plenty of time. I'm using some Patons Decor yarn that I had in the stash. I'm not too crazy about the colour (I loved it in the skein, but I found out it has too much brown), but I think it'll look nice enough as a blanket. We don't know if the baby's going to be a boy or a girl and I think the colours are neutral enough.

I also decided on a sweater. Hopefully, it'll be a success and I will end up actually wearing it. I chose Mariah, from Knitty. I love the pattern but it's quite a difficult one for me. I'm only on the sleeves (I'm making both at the same time) and I can already tell it's going to take me forever to finish. Oh well. I'm using Knit Picks' Wool of the Andes for the first time. In Cranberry. It's lovely.

2005 in knits

It's funny how I was so looking forward to finishing my Christmas gifts so I could finally knit something for myself. Well after Christmas, I started two projects: a hat for my boyfriend and a baby blanket for a pregnant friend ;)

I actually finished the hat and will give it to the giftee when I see him on January 2nd. I'll post a picture then because I'm currently camera-less at my mom's house until Monday.

So I think 2005 was a pretty good knitting year. I finished 20 projects. I made my first sock (and many others) this year. I tried fair isle (though I have yet to finish a project with that technique). I've done a bit of lace too. But the best thing about this year is that I had the chance to meet other knitters. And they're all fantastic.

Hopefully, 2006 will also be filled with knitting goodness. I'm hoping I can finally make a sweater that I'd want to wear. And I should really try cables. I'm not scared of them at all (doesn't look really difficult), so I don't know why I haven't done them before.

Currently on the needles: fair isle socks, a bag and a baby blanket. Mona has really inspired me to try to make Veronik Avery's short row hat. I'm itching to start it now (I brought yarn for it at my mom's). And I want to make felted clogs for my boyfriend and for me. And many other things.

I wish you all a very happy 2006!

Done, done, done, done and DONE!

The gifts are knitted and wrapped. Two of them will be given out tomorrow, the other three will be on the 25th.

I wish you all happy holidays. Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate it :)

Will I be done on time?

Yes, I think I will be done on time for Christmas. Of course, I had to accept the fact that I wouldn't knit all the gifts I wanted, but those I wanted the most to finish will be... I think.

What I have left:


A scarf for my godmother. This one is pretty much done as it is long enough to be a scarf. But I'll add a few more inches if I have the time.


These are socks for my godfather. I finished the first one... I think it was on Friday (oh and I used Mona's toe decrease from her sock pattern in the latest IK. LOVE.IT.)

And this is a WIP that I'd really like to be working on right now but it'll have to wait until after the holidays I think:


(This is half-sock #1 of the Best of show pair from Socks Socks Socks. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to wear them until... I don't know, 2007? But I love what I have so far).

And to end on a non-knitting note, here's a pic I took last Saturday, the day after a big snowstorm hit Montreal:



Ok time to go back to the sock knitting!

Quickie

I was in the metro today, coming back home from work and happily knitting on a sock. At one stop, a lady came up to me and asked me if I had knitted my hat myself. I said yes and she told me it was beautiful.

Awwww!

Bunny clothes!

I made the 5 hours baby sweater but I wasn't entirely satisfied with it, so I gave it to my stuffed bunny instead:



It looks cute on him doesn't it?

I only have 1.5 pairs of socks left to make before Christmas. I think I'll be able to make it. Then I'll try to make something for my boyfriend (either a hat or felted clogs, not sure yet). And then I'll only make things for ME for a while. I've made about a million pairs of handknitted socks this year and I only own two pairs. And I've made a bunch of fuzzy feet last year and I don't even own a pair. That, my friends, need to change. I'll be selfish in 2006, but I promise that if people ask me to knit them something, I'll offer to teach them how to knit it themselves.