Day 8 of 30

That little post-Halloween party I mentionned in my last post ended up being quite fun, but today I realize that I'm so not 20 anymore. I didn't get drunk or anything, but people left our appartment around 3 am and I'm so freaking tired today! It's a good thing I don't have anything planned except watching the hockey game tonight. AND, when I got up this morning (around 11am), Chris had cleaned up the appartment! Is he wonderful or what?



With the holidays approaching, what do you guys think I have in mind? Christmas knitting of course! EVERY SINGLE YEAR, I tell myself I won't be making any gifts this year, and EVERY SINGLE YEAR, I find something that I really want to knit and that someone I know would love. And then I feel that if I knit, say, my sister something, I just have to knit for my mom too so she won't feel left out. And I end up knitting a bunch of gifts.

Of course, the same thing happened this year. But I decided that my Christmas knitting list will be short and simple. And no pressure: if I don't finish things, it won't be the end of the world. I always buy gifts anyways, to add to the knitted ones.

So here's my list for this year (all Ravelry links):

1. La La mittens, for my sister (they're halfway done and I expect to finish them in a day or two).
2. Instant mittens, for my mom
3. Quickie Noro Silk Garden Hat, for my stepdad
4. The Boy Hat, for Chris

That's it! Of course, I also would LOVE to make a couple of Yuletide Gnomes, but we'll see if I have time. If not, there's always next year.

I think my list is very reasonnable. The only problem is that there are also about a million things I'd like to make for myself. I can make me a Christmas present too, can I?

Day 7 of 30

Unfortunately, this post is going to be short and picture-less.

Even though I have today off, I'm busy, busy, busy! We're having a little post-Halloween party tonight and we need to get the appartment ready. Let's just say I wouldn't want to have people over right now. So I'll be spending the afternoon cleaning and shopping (we have a few things left to buy for tonight).

I'll be back with a (hopefully) longer post tomorrow. Meanwhile, for those of you who haven't seen it yet, here's a little something that should make you laugh:

Theoretical knitting?

Day 6 of 30

I know more than one States were voting on gay marriage at the same time as the presidential election, but I've mostly heard about California's Proposition 8. Now it's still not clear too me whether or not the proposition has officially passed, but it looks like it has.

"On the day after the election, the results remain uncertified, and with 100% of precincts reporting, the vote was 52.5% in favor of Proposition 8 and 47.5% against, with a difference of about 504,000 votes; as many as 3 million absentee and provisional ballots remain to be counted." (Wikipedia)

This makes me so sad, I don't even have words. I'm sad that there even was a Proposition 8 to begin with, but to know that half of Californians think they have the right to take away other couples' right to be married infuriates me.

I guess I just don't get it. Seriously, can someone explain to me why a couple shouldn't have the right to officialize their union just because they were born gay? Just because they happened to fall in love with someone of the same sex? I have yet to hear ONE SINGLE good answer. (Read 12 reasons why gay marriage is wrong. It's sarcastic, don't worry :) ).

But seriously, if someone can give me a reason why this is legal:


Pamela Anderson. Married three times. Divorced three times (twice after only a few months of marriage).

And this should not be legal:


Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin. Married in California this year. They were together 55 years (Del Martin has passed away since, unfortunately).

I know which wedding I would have liked to attend...

Day 5 of 30

You can see the front page of newspapers from Montreal, Quebec city and the Ottawa region this morning. Every newspaper in the province (and, I'm guessing, in the country) has this on the front. And we're talking about the president of another country!

As you can guess, I'm very happy with the outcome. You could just feel the hope coming out of the TV screen as the results were announced. I can't wait to see how America will transform in the next four (eight?) years.

Unfortunately, we are still stuck with this dude:



Oh, and remember when I was all tired because I was working like a maniac during the federal election, which concluded on October 14? Well, guess what? I'm going to be working like a maniac again for the next month, because our darling Quebec prime minister decided it would be oh-so-fun to have a provincial election too! *sigh* The campaign was just launched this morning and we're going to vote on December 8.

Just so you know, it will be the SEVENTH election for Quebecers (counting both federal and provincial elections) in FIVE years. Crazy! And expensive. Just what we need right now, in this economy. Can you see I'm not happy?

Day 4 of 30

I'm not American, but I am fascinated with American politics and I really cannot wait to see the results of tonight's election. I hope all of you who can vote did or will do it today (I've heard the lines can be long... guys, that's why we're knitting!).

As you have guessed with the pic I posted above, I am crossing my fingers for Obama. But no matter who you vote for, I think the important thing is to let your opinion be heard. But if you guys don't elect Obama, can we borrow him for our next federal election? I'd gladly take Obama over Stephen Harper any day (I think I'd even take McCain over him. But not Sarah Palin, oh hell no).

Anyways, in honor of the election, I'm gonna leave you with links to my favourite Obama-related projects:

-Gloves for a change (scroll down) -Ravelry link
-Obama-rama -Ravelry link
-BARK OBAMA Dog Sweater -Ravelry link
-My Jewish Grandma is voting for Obama (that one is a MUST-SEE, but I only found a Ravelry link). BTW, if you're on Ravelry, take a look at all that girl's projects, she's very talented (and there are many more Obama-related ones).

Day 3 of 30

BACON DANCE!

I'm doing the Bacon Dance because I got the best news ever yesterday (and what a better way to show joy than to bacon-dance, I'm asking you). I found out that one of my good friends is pregnant! And what makes it the best news ever is that she had been trying for 1.5 year! I'm so happy for her, I can't stop smiling! She deserves it so much!

Of course, now I want to knit a baby blanket for her little one. I have plenty of time (she's due June 11), but seeing as I'm a slow knitter, I better get started soon. I've been browsing patterns on Ravelry and here are my favourite ones (all Ravelry links, sorry, but you should sign up if you're not on it anyways):

-Alphabet Blanket
-Blanket with lacy pattern (I'm actually in love with this version of it.)
-Teddy Bear baby blanket
-Luca - Cabled Baby Blanket

And I also have the patterns for the three blanket in this picture. I like all three.

I'm opened to suggestions if there are other patterns you like! I also would like yarn suggestions. If you've made a baby blanket before, what did you use? Did you like it? I'd like something machine-washable and not too expensive. Natural fibers would be best, but if you've tried an acrylic that you really liked, I'd be willing to try it. I'm not sure which colour I'll choose (I guess it'll depend on when I cast on. I may wait until she finds out the gender).

Day 2 of 30

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a big Montreal Canadien fan. I love watching hockey, either at home with my boyfriend or in a bar with friends (or, even better, at the Bell Center, but that rarely happens unfortunately).

So we watched the game against the Islanders at home last night and man, did they play badly for 2 periods! They were down 4-1 at one point and I was sure they were going to lose (which sucks, the Islanders should be easy to beat!). Then they woke up during the third and ended up winning 5-4! Woohoo! AND, my favourite player ended up scoring two goals and also got two assists.



Thanks to him (and Markov (2 points) and Kostitsyn (1 point)), I managed to score 7 points in my office hockey pool with that game alone. *happy dance*

Those of you who came here for knitting content: I'm sorry! But you'll be happy to know that my hockey-watching time was well-spent, as I made good progress on a new WIP:



The pattern is La La Mittens, by Gina House. I'm knitting them for my sister for Christmas. Of course, I didn't read the abbreviation part of the pattern (I always mess up something) so I didn't realize that I had to slip stitches purlwise with the yarn in BACK, so it makes for funny looking cables, but I sort of like the way they look so I'll just do the same for mitten #2. I'm sorry I don't have a better pic, navy blue is difficult to photograph!

Day 1 of 30

Ready, set, go!



So, as I said, I'm gonna try this "blogging daily for a month" thing. But please, don't expect long, insightful posts. It's not my style. Most of them will be silly or boring "here's what I did today" type of posts (I say boring because my life is pretty boring in general).

I figured I'd start the month with a glorious FO! Therefore, I present you the Bird in Hand mittens:





Aren't they beautiful? They're so warm too. I love them!

Pattern: Bird in Hand, by Kate Gilbert.
Yarn: Frog Tree Worsted Alpaca (yummy!)
Needles: US 2 / 2.75 mm
Modifications: As you can see, I didn't do the embroidery on the little birdie. Maybe I will, I just don't feel like it right now.

I already started another pair of mittens. I'll tell you all about it... tomorrow! (Hey I have 29 more days of blog writing ahead of me, I need to save some blog fodder!)

One thumb short

I am one thumb short of a pair of mittens! No problem, I thought! Today's Sunday. Chris is working. I have a whole day of knitting, cooking (and unfortunately, I had some cleaning planned too) ahead of me. Plus, the weather is gorgeous and I thought I'd go out and take a walk...

... and then my phone rang and, fool that I am, I answered. It was work. Someone is sick. They ask if I can fill in tonight. *sigh* I am nice, so I said yes. The good thing is that I'll get paid overtime.

I'll probably finish the thumb tomorrow, and then there will be pictures.

I also wanted to write about Christmas knitting, but I think I'll save that for November. See, I'm a bit nuts, so I signed up for:



One blog post a day for a month. It will be quite the challenge since I can barely manage to write a post a week right now. But it should be fun. Anyone else wants to join?

Mittens in progress and a little bit of yarn

So, while the whole world (or so it seemed) was getting ready to go to Rhinebeck (NO, I'm totally NOT jealous), I decided I needed my piece of knitting goodness too, so I went to Ariadne's knit night on Thursday.

It was well worth it, cause I got to see Mona's beautiful daughter Hannah, who is only a couple weeks old. And beautiful, let me tell you! Congrats again, Mona.

I had planned on buying myself something, but I ended up being VERY VERY good! I only got:



A skein of Classic Elite Desert, 3mm bamboo circulars (not pictured) and Steppin' Out Too, since I already have the first one and love it (I've only knit two patterns from it so far, but I will knit more for sure).

As for the Desert yarn, I want to make a hat out of it. There was a beautiful one on display in the store, and I found out I already had a pattern in my Ravelry queue (Halley's comet hat)! But then, while browsing Ravelry, I also found out about the Madge hat, and I sort of want to make it too. So I don't know which pattern I'll choose. We'll see.

I've been knitting on socks, and also on the Bird in Hand mitt #2. As promised (I think I promised it), here's a pic of the first one, with the one I'm working on.



I can't wait till they're done! It's getting colder and I want brand new mittens!

I also want to write about Christmas knitting, but it'll wait till next post!

The Day After

I'm soooooooooo happy the election is over (but sooooooo sad Harper won again).

Election night went very well, we didn't have any technical problem and I was able to send three stories. Because I got the results for my candidate so late, I didn't have to do a radio interview, which is good because I was nervous about that.

I think I'll go to Ariadne tomorrow. I need to reward myself with yarn!

BTW, 2009 will be here soon, do you have a calendar? If you don't, here's a suggestion:



Hehe. You can buy it here. (Oh and I got the link from Lime & Violet. Gotta give credit where credit is due.)

Is it October 15 already?

I gotta say, I can't wait for the Canadian election to be over. I am stressed out like you wouldn't believe! Now I've worked election night before, but always in the newsroom. Tomorrow night I'll actually be at a candidate's HQ, I'll have to write two stories, get sound clips and send them AND I'll do a 5 min. thing on the radio. It may not sound like much, but it's going to be stressful and I'll be praying that I won't run into a technical problem.

I've been stressed for a week now, so yesterday, Chris and I decided to go for a relaxing walk on Mont Royal. All you Montrealers know how much fun can be had on the mountain on a Sunday.

There were tamtams (how do you say that in English? Drums?):



There was beautiful foliage:





And there were Dungeon and Dragons fanatics pretending they were in a real battle (or something):





I thought one of them really looked like Sayid from Lost, so I had to take a pic. :)

As far as knitting goes, since I finished my Woven Cables scarf, I decided it was time to knit the second Bird in Hand mitten. I had finished the first one last spring and decided to wait till Fall for the second one.

(I was going to post a pic of the first one, but I realized I don't have one. You'll get one next post).

Everything was going well with mitten #2 -- though I still hate to make the braids and there are three of them on each mitten -- until I realized I was following the instructions for the right mitten when I was making the left one! So I had to frog an entire chart repeat, which was not that long, but it still sucked.

That's it for now! Canadians, don't forget to go vote tomorrow! I think I'll buy myself some new yarn after the election!

Best scarf ever

I finished my Woven Cables Scarf!!!



Pattern: Woven Cables Scarf, by Keri McKiernan.
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca
Needles: US 7 and US 5 circular needles

I love love love it! It's warm and soft and just perfect. And I realized that I didn't have to knit it as long as my usual scarves, because it's very thick so I don't need to wrap it twice around my neck.

Next UFO that I want to transform into a FO: the Bird in hand mittens!

Also, in honor of Socktoberfest, I started a new pair of socks.



It's the lucky clover socks, that I got in the Robyn's nest sock club last March. I love the yarn and I love the pattern so it's going to be a fun knit.

I found my knitting mojo

So it looks like the key to getting back my knitting mojo was simply to not have access to any knitting for a few weeks. Since I got back from my trip, I've been knitting and knitting and knitting.

Or maybe it's simply the fall weather that is inspiring me? I don't know. But I know the thought of a warm scarf makes me very happy. This past week, I've been working exclusively on my Woven Cables scarf.



It's going to be a great scarf. In a neutral colour, so I'll be able to wear it with any hat and mittens. And soft. And warm. Yummy.

And just because I had not posted a pic of it yet, here's one of the Montego Bay scarf that I was supposed to bring with me during my trip but that I stupidly forgot.



I didn't swatch and I should have, cause I think it's way too wide. I'll frog it and start again.

I'm itching to start a new pair of socks and I think I know exactly what I want to make. Stay tuned!

Guess who's back!

Honey, I'm hooome!

After three weeks of pure bliss in Europe, I got home on Sunday and it looks like I brought back quite a souvenir: a huge cold! I haven't felt that sick in a while, though it's a little better today (which is a good thing since I'm going back to work).

Fortunately, I felt fantastic during the whole trip. I had a great time, drank good wine and met nice people. We first went to Rome.



I loved seeing the city and I'm glad I did, but it's definitely not a city where I could live permanently. I found it a little bit too chaotic. I loved the Vatican too (the Sistine Chapelle is definitely breathtaking).

We really wanted to see Pompei, so we took a long daytrip that was totally worth it.



I couldn't believe how HUGE Pompei was, even though I had read about it a lot. Very impressive.

Then we went to Florence, but we took advantage of our rail pass and stopped in Pisa first.



No matter how many time you've seen the leaning tower in pictures, you will still be impressed when you see the real thing. I loved it.

I also LOVED Florence. Much calmer than Rome. Our hostel was great and served fantastic free breakfast, had free walking tours with a great guide and also sold good wine for only 5 euros a bottle. The city itself is beautiful.



And it has the BEST gelato!



After Florence, we went to Venice, but we could only stay for a day, due to an error in planning on our part. The city was beautiful, as expected.



We also took a boat to Burano, a little island that is actually part of Venice but you have to take a 40 minutes vaporetto (boat public transportation) ride to get there. It was so cute! All the houses are very brightly coloured and it's just a very peaceful place.





We came back to Venice at sunset.



We left Venice and Italy to go to Nice, in France.



Our goal was to just rest and spend our days on the beaches there, which we did in part, but I really disliked the pebble beaches. I need sand! We also spent a day in Monaco (30 min. bus ride) and it really is a place filled with tourists and rich people. You wouldn't believe how many fabulous cars and designer clothes we've seen there! But my favourite part of the day was the visit to the Oceanic museum, where we found Nemo.



Nice was our only stop in France, and we left for Barcelona, Spain, after a few days. I totally fell in love with Barcelona (I wish I could live there!). We had a lot of fun. We were very impressed with the Segrada Familia church.





We went to the beach again (yay, sand!).



We went to Park Guell.



And, finally, we took a Spanish cooking class where we learnt how to make sangria, tapas and paella! Yummy!



As you can see, I loved my trip! And as for knitting, well... I actually forgot my scarf at home!!! I couldn't believe it when I realized it. I didn't have much time to miss knitting though, except during the long train rides. But I was happy to pick up my scarf when I got home. I had never spent three whole weeks without knitting a stitch before since I first started knitting!

Meh

I am not happy.

I can't sleep because my left eye hurts. It feels as if a tiny little needle was scratching it. Not pleasant.

So I'm leaving in a week and I still don't know what I'm going to knit during the trip. I had decided on the Montego Bay scarf. I even wound the yarn tonight. But now I can't find the damn magazine. All my magazines are in my closet, but the one I need isn't there and I have no idea where it could be.

Maybe I'll just bring sock yarn.

I did it!

I managed to knit two pairs of socks during the Olympics! Scroll down to my last post for the first pair.

For the second pair, I had first planned on making the Lace cuffed socks, by Veronik Avery. But I ended up disliking it in the purple yarn so I changed patterns.

I chose another pattern from the Steppin' Out booklet, the Lace and Diamond Socks, by Mona Schmidt. I finished them this morning.



I love them! I used some Regia yarn that I had in my stash. I shortened the cuff a little (I did 4 lace repeats instead of 6).

I have knit 4 pairs of socks this summer, which means I only have one more pair to knit before I can buy more sock yarn. I don't feel like knitting socks right now though. I'm feeling the urge to work on some old projects. I've picked my woven cables scarf back up this afternoon and I've been working on it. I want to finish it before winter comes, you know...

According to my widget, I'll be in a plane in exactly 9 days 22 hours 6 minutes and 23 seconds. I can't wait!

Olympic update!

As expected, Canada has waited until the second week of the Olympics to win medals (I'm watching the men sing the Canadian national anthem after winning the goal in rowing as I type this). And as expected, I'm going to have to do a knitting sprint to reach my Olympic goal.

The good news is that I finished the first pair.



Pattern:Twist and Cable socks by Veronik Avery
Yarn: Basic Regia sock yarn
Needles: 2.25 mm dpns
Modifications: I made the cuffs a bit shorter

I love love love the socks!

I cast on for the second pair this morning. I'm making another Veronik Avery pattern, the Lace cuffed socks, and I'm once again using Regia. It's going pretty quickly so far, and since the foot is all stockinette, it should go faster than the Twist and Cable. Maybe I'll make it...

Olympic report - Day 2

It is now day 2 of the Olympics! Last Thursday, I finished the sorta-SOS08 socks:



Pattern: Summer 2008 socks by Wendy Johnson.
Yarn: Fleece Artist Sea Wool
Needles: 2.25 bamboo dpns
Modifications: The pattern is toe-up and I wanted to make them cuff-down so I pretty much only used the stitch pattern with my regular sock pattern. The lace part is very stretchy so I had to reduce the number of stitches (from 66 to 50) or it would have been huge!

On Friday morning, as I watched the Canadian athletes enter the stadium in Beijing, I cast on for my first Olympic sock. I'm using Veronik Avery's Twist and Cables socks pattern. The yarn is your basic Regia sock yarn. Here's where I am today:



I'm hoping to turn the heel tonight and to finish the first sock tomorrow. We'll see how it goes...