Socktopia!

I was planning on making a pair of socks a month this year and I found out there's a cool knitalong that could help me accomplish just that.



I couldn't resist joining Socktopia. I just love challenges. I have no idea what I'll do for January just yet, we'll see.

Speaking of socks, I'm LOVING the Monkey socks and I'm LOVING the Austermann Step yarn I'm knitting them with even more. I'm already almost done with the first sock, I just can't get away from it. But I really need to take a break and get back to the blue cardigan. I started redoing the front yesterday and I just couldn't get into it. *sigh* I must finish it.

2006 in Knits

I finished my boyfriend's Fuzzy Feet. Here they are pre-felting:



(You gotta excuse the new cashmere yarn in the picture, it seems to like being photographed). I used Galway worsted and it felted beautifully, as you can see here:



I finished 15 things in 2006 and since I doubt I'll finish anything else in the next few days, I think it will be it. I think 2006 was a good year.

-I worked my first cable.
-I made a sweater.
-I participated in the Knitting Olympics (though I did not finish my two pairs of socks in time).

Yeah, I'm pretty happy. And I already have goals for 2007. I want to:

-Try colour work. I'll probably go with something small. A hat or mittens. Not sure what yet but I want to try.
-Finish my blue cardigan. It turns out I did the shaping wrong on both fronts so I want to redo them. I really need to finish it.
-Learn to seam well.
-Pick the Kiri shawl back up and finish it.

And as usual, I have a billion projects in mind. There are several sweaters I want to make (I must finish the blue one first), so many that I wouldn't know which one to choose if I were to start one now.

I want to make a shawl with the cashmere coned yarn I bought a while ago. I really like this pattern from Knitpicks. Of course, I need to finish Kiri first.

Of course I also want to make the cashmere cloche with the yarn I bought yesterday.

And I think I want to make almost every sock Cookie A ever designed. I've already started by casting on for Monkey yesterday. Yeah, I did that instead of starting the cashmere cloche. What can I say, a Knit-along thread on Craftster inspired me. Plus, the pattern works beautifully with Austermann Step.

'twas two days after Christmas...

I hope you guys had a merry Christmas, if you celebrated it that is. If not, I hope you had a wonderful day anyways :)

My mom is not a knitter and she doesn't know a thing about knitting. But she loves me and she knows I love to knit. So every year I get yarn in my stocking. Problem is, my mom doesn't have access to a LYS so I always get stuff I wouldn't buy myself. Like this:



Now don't get me wrong. I do appreciate the gift and I believe there is no such thing as bad yarn. Plus, I think the colour is pretty and I like the scarf on the pattern band so I'll probably end up making it someday.

But today I went to Effiloché and used some of my Christmas money (cause mom is great and she also gave me money) and I got myself what I really wanted for Christmas:



Yeah bad pic, I know. But you can sort of see some Fleece artist merino yarn in a raspberry-like colourway, a set of 5 bamboo 2.25 mm DPNs (my favourite for sock knitting) and 50g of Hand Maiden 4 ply cashmere.

Wait, you can't see the cashmere? Hold on:



It is to die for. I want to make the Cloche pattern that comes with the yarn. One woman at the store told me she used it to make the same cloche and that she made two and still had enough yarn for one more so that is good.

It's taking all my willpower not to cast on right away. But first, I want to finish the Fuzzy Feet (the knitting part at least). THEN I can cast on for the hat.

Last Christmas present

I finished another short row for my mother.



I simply don't get tired of this pattern. And the yarn was just yummy. It litterally made me hungry all the time with its chocolate, butterscotch and latte colours.

This is probably my last post before Christmas, so merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate it!

Warm hands

I made mittens:



I used this pattern.

Now on the needles: Fuzzy feet for my boyfriend. I wanted to make him the Fibertrend felted clogs, but I figured I had a better chance of finishing the Fuzzy feet before Christmas. I also want to make a short row hat (yes, another one) for my mom. But there's no pressure. If i don't finish these items by Christmas, the recipients will simply get them later.

They're finished!

Ta-da!



Pattern: Jaywalkers from Knitty
Yarn: Um. Regia. In one of the Canadian colours.
Needle: 2.25 mm DPNs.

I liked knitting them but for some reason they took FOREVER to finish! I'm glad I have them now, they fit really well and I think the pattern works great with the yarn.

I'm also almost done with a pair of mittens. Expect pictures soon.

Oh and I have bad news : I lost my hat. My beloved short-row hat. I usually lose one hat a year but I really hoped I wouldn't lose this one. I suck.

Last Sunday was my birthday (thanks to everyone who left birthday wishes in the comments). I didn't expect any knitting-related gifts so I was really surprised to get a really wonderful one. My boyfriend's grandmother made me a scarf! It's very simple but it's beautiful and I love it. I've received knitted gifts before but I was younger and didn't know how to knit. Now that I know how much time a simple scarf takes, I really really appreciate it.

Dear short-row hat pattern

I LOVE YOU!



You see me with a weird expression on my face. I'm wearing Veronik Avery's short row hat (link is a pdf file). I made it with the recommended yarn. It will be a Christmas gift for my sister.

I'm also wearing a scarf made with acrylic. Yes, acrylic. Red Heart Whirly. And it's soft. Weird.

Oh yeah, and I'm also wearing my HABS shirt. Because I'm going to see them play tonight. Against the Maple Leafs. They better win!

My birthday is tomorrow! I'm not expeting any knitting-related gifts, but I received money already so I'll probably buy me something wooly. I'll be 29. I don't like that number.

Finally, I was asked in the comments of my last post which knitting-related calendar I prefer. It's difficult to say (that explains why I got both). The One knitting pattern a day one is nice because it has, well, a lot of patterns. They're pretty simple and the majority are patterns I wouldn't make, but I still like it. The Stitch and Bitch one doesn't have that many patterns and most of them have been published in the S&B books already. So if you want patterns, I wouldn't suggest it. It's still a fun thing to have though.

Red Heart, really?

Yarn snobs must leave this page immediately.

Last year, my mom put three balls of Red Heart Whirly in my Christmas stocking. I thought it was nice of her even though I'm not a huge Red Heart fan. I'm not a real yarn snob. I do prefer natural fibers, but I don't mind acrylic once in a while.

That being said, I decided to cast on for a scarf using that yarn a couple of days ago. I finished it today. It is *very* soft. It still does fell acrylic-y so it's not for everyone but I'm quite happy with it.

I'll post a pic later this week. My camera batteries were used with the Wii remote (the Wiimote!) and now they're dead. I don't own a Wii but my boyfriend has one for a week (he's in charge of the tech page for a newspaper). I'm loving it.

Also, thank to Jo who gave me the tip, I was able to find the 2007 Knitting Pattern a Day and the Stitch N' Bitch 2007 calendars. I had heard not-so-good things about the Pattern a Day one but I must say I really like it. Sure, I think some of the patterns are horrible (personal opinion of course) but some are really nice. The Christmas pillows are especially beautiful. Speaking of Christmas, I gotta warn those who don't celebrate that they won't find many patterns useful for the month of December. I love Christmas though, so I'm happy.

Oh and Jennifer posted a pdf of the Bowling Socks, with permission from Patons. Go download it, they're great!

Small FO

I finished my first stash-busting small object:



Knitty's Fetching. Made with Zara. They are cute and took very little yarn (ha, here goes the stash busting). I'll probably make another pair for my sister.

I decided to make more short row hats, for myself and for loved ones. So I ordered some yarn from Ami-Ami. I hope it gets here soon, I love that yarn!

Knitting celebrity

Yesterday, I had the chance to hear The Yarn Harlot speak in Montreal. If she ever comes to your city, I suggest you go hear her, she's hilarious.


Stephanie Pearl-McPhee as she's about to take a picture of the Montreal knitters with her travelling sock

Unfortunately, I had to leave before she was done, so I didn't get to meet her. I was disappointed because I really wanted to say hi and to get my book signed, but I really couldn't stay.

In other news, here's my progress on the blue cardigan:



All the knitting is done, the shoulders have been seamed as well as one of the sleeves (well it's been attached to the body anyways). I really seriously need to register for a finishing class or workshop. I suck at seaming so bad, my sweaters never look right because of it. No matter how many books I read or how many videos I watch, I can't seem to do it right.

I cast on for Fetching. This should be done quickly. Then again, the Jaywalkers should also have been done quickly and I'm not even at the heel of the second sock yet (I'm almost there though). I don't think I've ever taken so much time to finish a pair of socks. And it's not because I don't like them. I don't know, they just take forever. Speaking of socks, Ms. K. was knitting a fabulous pair yesterday. If you read this, could you tell me what yarn you were using (and where you got it if you remember)? I really need pink socks. :)

November is for small knits

October is gone and Socktoberfest is now over. I have to say I didn't do as well as I would have liked sockwise. I just didn't feel like knitting socks that much. I'm really looking forward to finally wearing the Jaywalkers though so I'll probably get back into it soon.

I couldn't get online at all yesterday. I realized only this morning that it was because you now have to dial the area code even for local numbers in Montreal. Since I'm still on dial-up (I know, I know...), it affected my Internet connection too. No work and no Internet = lots of time to knit (and the clean the appartment but I somehow prefered to spend the time knitting). I'm happy to say that I finished the left front part of the cardigan. Now I only need to finish the right side and I'll be done. Well after the seaming and stuff.

I already have sweater patterns in mind for my next big project, but it will have to wait a little. I decided that November will be my small project month this year. Why, you ask?

Well this morning I took a big look at my stash. And I realized that I have only a little bit of sock yarn:


With socks, when I decide to start a new pair, I usually take something from my little stash instead of buying something else. So it doesn't accumulate much. With other projects, I usually find that there's nothing interesting enough in the stash so I buy new yarn.

Anyways. I also have a little bit of nice yarn.

Navy Zara, Green Galway, Alpaca, more Alpaca, cashmere in a cone...

The nice stuff never sits there long because I can never wait to knit with it.

What I have a lot of (compared to the rest of the stash that is), is acrylic.


(All acrylic or acrylic blends, except for the black cotton in the front). Most of it I bought when I first started knitting or I received as gift. Some of it is very nice. I adore Patons Decor. I have four balls of red Micro Nomotta (or something like that) and two balls of green that I love. I made a baby cardigan with some of the green and it turned out lovely.

Another thing I have A LOT of: leftovers.



I just can't get rid of it. Most of it anyways, as I did throw away some of the smallest bits today.

So yeah. I decided that I'd try to get rid of some of this yarn by making small projects this year. With the holidays coming up (Halloween is over and I've already seen a Christmas-themed commercial on TV), I'm sure I'll be able to find people to give them to.

I made a list of some of the things I have in my stash and matched them with small projects I'd like to make. It goes like this:

• Almost full ball of Navy blue Galway: A pair of mittens. I'm pretty sure I'll have enough as I was able to make a pair with one skein of Noro Silk Garden and the Galway skein I have is much bigger.
  
  
• White Bernat Satin leftover: Another pair of mittens
  
  
• Navy blue Zara (2 skeins): Fetching from Knitty.
  
  
• Alpaca paint (1 skein, variegated): A hat (maybe a simple beanie)
  
  
• Green Galway (3 skeins): Felted clogs
  
  
• Red Heart Whirly (3 skeins): Scarf
  
  
• Patons Decor (1 huge skein + more than half of a second one): Hat + mittens set
  
  
• Bernat Frenzy (3 skeins, red): Scarf
  
  
• Caron Jewel Box (3 skeins, red): Scarf

I'd also like to make fuzzy feet with the leftover Wool of the Andes from the Mariah cardigan (I have a lot of it but didn't feel like taking it out of the drawer to take a picture). I also have a few cones of bulky acrylic/wool blends that I'm slowly turning into scarves. Not to mention the yarn from projects that I need to frog...

Of course I don't think I'll be able to finish all this in November (especially the scarves. They may be small but they can take a LONG time to finish). I'll be happy if I can finish 2-3 things. And I'll also finish the cardigan and probably cast on for new socks sometime during the month. But just trying to assign projects to these yarns feels like a step in the good direction.

By the way, if you have any favourite scarf/mittens/hat patterns, feel free to share :)

Inspiration, WIP, Food and News

1. Inspiration

One of the things I like the most when I surf knitting blogs/forums/communities/websites is seeing a finished object picture of a pattern I've already seen. Sometimes, someone's picture manage to make me want to knit something from a pattern who did nothing from me with the original picture.

Example:

Many of you own the first Stitch and Bitch book. I think the Pin-Up Queen sweater (the one on the left) is cute, but I never really thought about knitting it.

That is, until a very talented girl posted her version in the Knitting Livejournal Community. Great sweater and it looks fantastic on her. Now I really want to add it to my "to knit next" list (as if I needed something else added there). ;)

2. WIP

I've been working on the blue cardigan quite a bit lately, and I'm happy to say that the back and the two sleeves are done. I'm now working on the left panel. Thank God it has a little cable; I was getting tired of all the stockinette.



3. Food

A little while ago, I posted a picture of an apple bread that I made. Someone asked for the recipe in the comment. Unfortunately, I can't copy it here as it comes from a cookbook and I'm pretty sure it would go against copyright laws.

I will, however, suggest another apple-based recipe that I've tried and liked even more than the bread. Apple Squares!

4. News

After years of working on Sunday, I had finally made new arrangements at work so that I could work Monday-Friday like most people. That made me happy in part because it would allow me to go to most Sunday knitting meetings. But after two weeks of that schedule, I was offered a new job with another company... working Sunday-Thursday! I accepted because the new job sounds exciting and the pay is very good, but I'm a little bummed that Sunday knitting meetings are out of question again. I may be able to make it on Wednesday in NDG or on Thursday on the Plateau sometimes, but not always, that's for sure.

I'll be able to attend this Wednesday meeting though, since I have this week off. :)

Why are there so many talented and creative people in the world?

Designers, I love you all, but you're making my life difficult.

As I'm happily continuing to work on the simple cardigan from a FCEK magazine, I'm daydreaming about what kind of sweater I want to make next. My "things I want to make someday" list is getting quite long, but for the next project, I had narrowed it down to two:

Simple Knitted Bodice

AND

Central Park Hoodie

But then someone posted a link to this:

Lucy in the Sky.

Awwww. It's so pretty! I want it!

So please, designers of the world, take a (well-deserved) break*. I have too much to knit already and I need to catch up without being distracted by new beautiful patterns.

* I'm just kidding of course. I surf pattern sites like others surf porn.

Happy Head

It's getting quite cold in Montreal so it was the perfect timing to finish a new hat!




(I swear I'm not stoned on that picture. My eyes have been itchy since yesterday).

Pattern is Véronik Avery's Short row hat (Pattern in pdf format).

I used the recommended yarn, Faith, by Ami-Ami, colour A-48. The yarn is very soft and the hat is warm. Let's just hope I won't lose this one!

Last Friday was Stitch N' Bitch night at a new yarn store, Effiloché. Some people from the Montreal Knits group were there, as well as a bunch of other people I had never met before. The evening was nice and I got to touch a lot of beautiful yarn. I also got to see the original Clapotis as well as the original Union Square Market Pullover (Kate Gilbert, the designer, teaches knitting classes at Effiloché).

I was very good and I only bought two things. I got a skein of Austermann Step sock yarn. The yarn has Aloe Vera and Jojoba oil in it, which makes it so incredibly soft. I can't stop fondling it since I got it back home. The colour I got is the one used for the fingerless mitts on this page (I'm not affialiated with this site at all, I just found it when I googled the yarn's name).

I also bought the fall 2006 issue of Knitscene (finally, there's a place in Montreal where we can buy this magazine!). I got it only because of this pattern. It's so beautiful. It's so me. I must knit it.

I will leave you guys with the preview for the next Interweave Knits magazine. I like a lot of the patterns but my favourite one is the cardigan for Arwen, though I would personally make it a bit longer.

Hmmm, Fall!

Fall is my favourite season. This past weekend was so perfect. It was sunny, and just cold enough to wear a scarf and a sweater. My boyfriend and I decided to rent a car, get a hotel room and go to Quebec City for the weekend.

I knitted for part of the trip, so I could finally progress on the Jaywalkers:



I'm getting close to the toe on the first sock. I'm loving the colours.



How could anyone not LOVE fall? The leaves were so beautiful in Quebec all weekend, I could have taken thousands of pictures.



Fall is also apple season. So we went apple picking in L'Île d'Orléans.





We brought back a huge bag of apples. What will we do with all of this?, you ask.


Apple bread. It's delicious.

Socktober 1st

Socktoberfest has officially begun!

I was hoping to post a pic of my Jaywalkers-in-progress today, but I just realised I left it at my boyfriend's.

So instead, I'm going to talk about all the socks I've made in my knitting career. Don't worry, it won't take too much time.

My first socks were made of Bernat Hot Sox. Yes, acrylic. I don't wear them often (they are way too big), but surprisingly, when I do, they don't make my feet sweat. I was extremely proud of them when I made them. I used a simple pattern from the Lion Brand website.

I then discovered the wonders that are self-striping yarns and made these simple socks. I think I used the same pattern, but smaller needles.

Then, a secret pal was wonderful enough to send me some Fleece Artist sock yarn. I instantly fell in love with it. And I made a pair of feather and fan socks from Socks Socks Socks. I think they're my favourite socks to date.

For Christmas 2005, I decided to give socks as a gift. My mom's boyfriend got these, my little sister got these and my mom got the Go with the flow socks from a past issue of Interweave Knits.

That same Christmas, I gave my godfather some simple ribbed grey socks (pictured with the other Christmas socks).

I got a little sick of socks after that, but I got right back into them for the Knitting Olympics. I made the Embossed Leaves socks, designed by the lovely Mona for Interweave Knits, as well as a pair of simple blue socks. Sadly, I didn't finish them in time to win the Olympics.

The last pair I made are these, using no pattern at all, for the first time. I started them while I was on a business trip to Paris (I love to say that).

So that's it. Next post will (hopefully) have a picture of my sock WIP.

Celebrating Socks

I joined Socktoberfest!



I'll try to post about socks (I mean more than usual) during the month of October. If you love socks, do the same!

My goal :

1) Finish the Jaywalkers
2) Start to teach myself to knit 2 socks on 2 circs

Sock lusting

Remember how I fell in love with the Cable Net socks from the new issue of Knitty?

Well believe it or not, I found a sock pattern I like even more. Meet the Bayerische sock by Eunny Jang. It's so beautiful it almost made me weep.

I definitely want to make me a pair (as well as a pair of Cable net because I still love them). But before I do that, I must:

a)Finish the Jaywalkers (and considering I'm still on the leg of the first sock, it may take a while).

b)Teach myself how to knit two socks on two circs, something I'd rather do with a plain sock pattern.

So yeah, it will probably be 2007 before I make these beautiful socks. But I will.

Also, my good friend Bianka gave birth to the most beautiful baby boy (named Isaac) on Monday. I held him when he was only one day old! Of course, now I really want to knit something for him. I was thinking of making Kate Gilbert's Peapod set (scroll down the page to see it). I could make it in a six month size and give it to him for Christmas. I'll see. I've been wanting to knit this since I first saw it.

UPDATES ON MY PROJECTS

Kiri shawl: I've been working on it quite a bit this week but I keep making mistakes. I must pay more attention when I'm knitting lace, no matter how easy the pattern is. I really want to finish this for my cousin's wedding on Oct. 14 but at this rate, it's not going to happen.

FCEK blueberry cardigan: I haven't touched it since I've finished the back.

Jaywalkers: Like I said, I'm almost done with the leg of the first sock. I'm loving the yarn I'm using (Regia in one of the Canadian colours).

Knitty!

Ok, if I only knit one thing from the new Knitty, it will be the Cable net socks. Most.beautiful.socks.ever.

Projects update:

Blueberry cardigan: Back is done. Will start the sleeves soon.

Jaywalkers: I decided to frog and reknit them. So I only have about an inch done.

Kiri: Haven't touched it in weeks. I really need to get back to it. I'm using magnificent fall colours. It needs to be done now!

Wool and needles

You know, I really hate not having a camera. In one week I'll finally be able to post pictures again (and I'll get to see my boyfriend after two weeks without him!).

I'll be able to post a new Mariah pic because it finally has a zipper! Yay!

Did I ever mentionned how much I love shopping online for yarn? I'm having a love affair with Knitpicks. Seriously. Don't get me wrong, I love shopping in the Montreal yarn stores too. But I can rarely afford a sweater's worth of wool in stores here. And I LOVE to receive packages.

I received one two days ago. The Blueberry Wool of the Andes is the perfect colour for the cardigan I wanted to make. Perfect. I also got some sock yarn that I can't wait to try. I also can't wait to try my new needles! I want to do the two socks on two circs thing.

As you may have guessed, I cast on for the new cardigan right away. I have 10" of the back done. It's going to be beautiful!