Waves of blue (and white!)

I finished the baby blanket on Saturday morning, just in time for my friend's baby shower!



Pattern: Waves of Blue by Bev Galeskas
Yarn: Bernat Softee
Needles: US 7/ 4.5 mm

The pattern was very simple and easy to memorize. I absolutely love the end result and my friend was very happy and touched that I would take the time to make something for her. The yarn, well it's acrylic that I got last Christmas. It really wasn't bad though. It's very soft and easy to work with.

Next on the needles: Socks, maybe? I also want to finish a project or two.

Glorious markers

I've always thought I had enough stitch markers. I only ever use a few at a times anyways, so I don't need millions of them, right?

That's what I thought until I realized I just couldn't live without Brigitte's Go Habs Go stitch markers.



Seriously, how cool are they? The Go Habs Go beads even look like little puck! She sells sets of 5 stitch markers and the 5th one is custom made to honour your favourite player (TP14, guess what it means?). I love them!

BTW, Brigitte's Etsy shop is named Les TricotLores (brilliant!) and she sells Habs inspired yarn. Profit from the yarn go to the Montreal Canadiens Children's Foundation. It can't get any better than that.

Blankie in progress

I've been meaning to post these past couple of days but I've been so sick! Both Chris and I were hit with a bad bad bad cold (the worst I've had in years). Usually, one of us gets sick first and the other one gets sick right after, but this time, we both got sick at the same time and it was just bad. I'm feeling a little bit better today, but the past three days have been hell. I would just cough and cough and cough and medication didn't help much. And I think we went through 5 boxes of tissues. It was ugly.

Unfortunately, that means I wasn't able to work on my friend's baby blanket much. This is what it looks like now:





I want to have it done by March 28. I'll have to knit a lot in the next week...

A year ago...

A year ago, I took this yarn:



And I cast on for a pair of socks. I knit and knit and knit and progressed:



And then I got one sock. And then I decided I didn't want to knit the second sock. So I didn't.

A year later, I decided I did want a pair of green cabled socks after all so I picked the project back up and I knit and I knit until I got... A finished pair!


Picture 1: Good colour


Picture 2: Blurry, but more detailed

Pattern: Cable Net socks by Ariel Barton (from Knitty, Fall 2006.
Yarn: Reynolds Soft Sea Wool in Olive
Needles:2.25 mm dpns
Modifications: I did 3 repeats of the leg pattern (instead of 4) because I was scared to run out of yarn. I think it's a good thing I did because I didn't have much leftover.

I love the socks and I love the yarn, but I don't know how much I'll like non-superwash socks. We'll see.

I wanted to cast on for my Go Habs Go socks as soon as I finished the Cable Nets, but then I realized that I do want to knit something for my friend's baby shower (March 28th) so I cast on for a baby blanket (Waves of Blue blanket). Being a slow knitter, I doubt I'll finish it before the shower, but I'm going to try. She's due in June, so I have extra time if I can't finish it by the end of March.

Have you guys seen the new Knitty? There are some cute things in there, but nothing that makes me want to cast on ASAP. I really like Decimal and Cachoeira.

Nothing to see here!

Oh blog, dear blog. I wish I had more interesting things to write about. Some knitting pics to share. Yarn porn*. But I have nothing.

I'm still working on that UFO I don't want to talk about until it's done. The good news is that I should finish it in the next couple of days. Yay!

I think I'm getting startitis. I haven't suffered from it in a while, but I've been having a few symptoms these past few days. The main one is that I keep looking at my Ravelry queue. And since I have no pics to share, I'm going to share the patterns I'm liking right now.

Froot Loop socks
Arbor
Central Park Hoodie (Classic. I really want to make it.)
Shifting sands scarf
Jeanie wrap
Après-surf hoodie
Nalu mitts

I've also been thinking about going yarn shopping. Thinking about it. But I'm trying to be good and knit from my stash for a while, at least for small projects, which is all I've been doing for the past year or so. Still, I see yarn shopping in my future.




*Everytime I use the word porn on my blog, I assume I'll get more hits. I'm looking forward to seeing how many people are going to find this blog and be so disappointed to see there are no naked chicks on here. Oh my, and now I just wrote "naked chicks".

Twist and Shout

I've been MIA again, sorry! I thought I had posted last week, but apparently not. I have to admit I don't have any pretty pictures to post. No FOs, no interesting WIPs that I want to share, no new yummy yarn.

I haven't started anything new since I finished my Bella Mittens. Instead, I picked up an old UFO that I plan on finishing. I'll wait till I'm closer to finishing before posting pics though, as I'm scared I'll get tired of it again and set it aside.

I do plan on casting on soon though. First of all, the fantastic ladies from the Go Habs Go Ravelry group are planning a "Sock-u Koivu KAL" (get it? Haha!). I'm going to use my Go Habs Go yarn of course and knit Chris a pair of socks.

I'm also tempted by all the cute Spring-y patterns that are coming out. Have you guys seen the new Twist Collective? I adore the Ardent Jacket and I would make it if I thought I could make one that looks as good. Of course, it would help if *I* looked as good as the model (who is, I believe, the girl who thought me how to spin last year).

I also really like Dulce de Leche, the sleepy monkey baby blanket (though I doubt I'll ever make it), jennie's toys, cherry fizz, Collette, Primrose path and all the socks.

Of course I also got the new Interweave Knits, and I love the Float Stole, Fountain Pen Shawl, Silk Cocoon Cardigan and Soap Bubble Wrap.

We'll see if I ever manage to start (and finish) one of them!

Every single day of forever

Pattern:Bella's mittens, by Marielle Henault
Yarn: Knitpicks Cadena in Mist
Needles: US7/4.5 mm DPNs

I absolutely LOVE these mittens. They are perfect and they were a quick knit (I would have finished them last week if it hadn't been for my injury). They are also the perfect colour to go with my woven cables scarf...


... except that I lost my scarf the same day I finished the mittens. *sigh* I guess I really can't go through a winter without losing some knitwear. And now I need a new scarf.

In other news, my neck/shoulder still hurts and I'm still not sure what's wrong. It got really bad at one point and I just couldn't sleep. I went to an osteopath and it's gotten better every day since. Hopefully it'll be back to normal soon. I want to try and go back to the gym this week (my trainer has designed a program that won't hurt my neck).

Mitts in progress

I gotta say, those Bella mittens are a quick knit:



No, I'm not done yet, but I haven't knit at all these past few days. Imagine being in a doctor's waiting room for 3 hours but not being able to knit because you're in pain. That was yesterday morning. I'm still not sure what's wrong with me. The doctor called whiplash, but I thought that was something you had after a car accident. Apparently not. Anyways, I got me some anti-inflammatory drugs (and no cervical collar, thank God). Hopefully I'll get back to knitting soon.

Green socks!

Look at my beautiful new socks! I love them!



Pattern: Paddy's Lucky Clover Socks by Angela Dominey
Yarn: Shelby B's Designs 100% Superwash Merino in Lucky Clover
Needles: 2.25 mm dpns

The yarn and pattern were from last year's March sock club from Robyn's nest. The pattern was fun and easy to memorize and the yarn is just fabulous. Very soft. I'm wearing the socks right now and I just love them.

I'm trying not to knit too much right now because there's something wrong with my left shoulder/neck. It's been hurting for days now and it's getting worse each day. I don't think it's knitting-related, but still. I'll go to the doctor sometime this week (probably Tuesday). Last time something like that happened (last year or so), I has to take pain relievers and muscle relaxers, but I was better after a few days.

To Angela: You asked me if it's easier to learn to knit with smaller or bigger needles. I think every knitter has its preference (I like to knit socks, so I like small needles) and I think you can learn using any needles BUT my preference for a beginner would be size 4mm to 5 mm needles (US 6 to 8). Bigger needles are cool cause you can use them with bulky yarn and it goes quick, but I find them harder to manipulate. Of course, you also need to choose yarn that will go with the needles (using bulky yarn with 2mm needles wouldn't be a good idea). But for the yarn I sent you, 4-5mm would work great.

Tara (and anyone else who loves Twilight), go and read this (PDF file), it's hilarious! My favourite part is "Rosalie Hale is making dinner…I know, right??"

Another funny. (Not Twilight related)

Yay, package!

Receiving a package is always fun, and I got a brand new one from Knitpicks today. Remember my winter blues shopping? You will see that I have been very reasonnable. This is what I ordered:



I got new size 7 (4.5mm) tips for my Options set. All my other tips are metal, but I thought I'd try the wood to see if I like it. The colour is funny, but I like them. I also got some wood DPNs (2.25 mm, which is the size I use most of the time for socks).

I also got volume 2 (cables) of Vogue' stitchionary. Just because. (I already had volume 1 btw).

Last, I got two skeins of Cadena, in Mist. I want to use it to make Bella's mittens, from the Twilight movie! Because, yes, I too have fallen in love with that story. The books are like crack and I just couldn't stop reading them. I finished the last one, Breaking Dawn, last night and I'm now kind of sad that I don't have any more to read now. But I do love the mittens and I will make them. I will most likely only need one skein, but I didn't want to run out so I ordered two.

That's all for today. Expect a FO post soon (I'm almost done with the socks). Toodles!

Goal #3! Hat trick completed!

We have a hat trick, ladies and gentlemen! Three hats finished in January and I'd still have time for a fourth one (I think I'll stop at three though).



Pattern: Short-Row Hat by Veronik Avery.
Yarn: AmiAmi Faith
Needles: 4mm, US6

I love the hat. Love. But I'm a bit sad because I've used my last skein of AmiAmi Faith. I love that yarn and it's not available anymore (as far as I know, someone correct me if I'm wrong). I'm telling you, if anyone has some skeins of this in their stash, I would be ready to buy or trade for it. I love it that much. This is my fourth Short-Row Hat and they always look gorgeous.

I think I'm suffering from the winter blues again. It happens every winter, but it usually starts at the end of February/beginning of March. It sucks, but I'll manage.

To make me feel better, I decided to shop (of course). I hadn't ordered from Knitpick in a while (I try to buy locally when I can), but I needed some new size 7 tips for my Options set. While I was there, I got new DPNs, a book and a bit of yarn. It should be here any day now. More details (and pics) when I get it!

Two goals for me, two goals for him

Pattern: Zig Zag Beanie, by Dawn Leeseman (IK, Fall 2008)
Yarn: Some acrylic leftover... Bernat satin I think.
Needles: US 8/5 mm and US 9/5.5 mm circulars, US 9/5.5 mm DPNs
Modifications: I cast on for 90 sts instead of 80 because 80 looked too small and I didn't want to change needle size. I followed the rest of the instructions as is and improvised a bit for the decrease.

So this was HAT #2 for the Hat trick knitalong. Only one left! I'm wearing my Habs jersey on the pic because we had tickets to see the Habs play against the Capitals at the Bell Centre tonight. Once again, I was lucky to see a fantastic game. We won 5-4, the game was very exciting (Sergei Kostitsyn scored the winning goal 20 seconds before the end of the game!) and my man, Tomas Plekanec, scored 2 goals and was named first star of the game!



Now I need to choose a new pattern for hat #3!

She shoots, she scores!

I scored the first goal of my hat trick this afternoon, while watching the Habs play against the Panthers (we're ahead 5-3 right now). I would have finished it last night during the Canada-Russia game (what a game too!), but I didn't have the right DPNs.



Pattern: Madge by Jillian Moreno
Yarn: Classic Elite Yarns Desert, colour 2027
Needles: US9/5.5 mm circulars and DPNs
Modifications: The hat would have been way way way too short if I had knit it as is. After I finished the 19 rows of the pattern, I knit rows 1-10 again before starting the decreases.

Now I need to decide what my goal #2 will be. Stay tuned!

Hat trick!

Is there anything more fun than starting the new year with a challenge? I'm not taking any resolution this year, but I am participating in the HAT TRICK challenge with members of the Puck this! group on Ravelry.

The goal is to do a hat trick, i.e. to knit three hats, during the month of January. Details here. I was already planning on knitting hats to destash this winter so this is the perfect challenge for me.

I started tonight by casting on for Madge (too bad the Habs lost while I was knitting) and I'm confident I'll finish it during the next couple of days. It's a pretty quick knit. Pictures coming up soon!

Bye Bye 2008

Free Graphics - MySpace/Xanga/Friendster


I hope each and everyone of you had a great 2008 and I wish you all an even better 2009!

I'd say this year was a pretty good one for me, despite some difficult time at the end.

Knitting-wise, it was pretty quiet. I only finished 12 projects, all of them small (5 pairs of socks, 4 pairs of mittens, two hats and a scarf). My favourite FO is definitely my Bird in Hand mittens. I'm hoping to knit bigger things in 2009, but that will be for another post.

On a more personal level, as I mentionned, I had a difficult end of the year, which started with a miscarriage in November. I know I haven't mentionned it (despite it happening during NaBloPoMo), I just couldn't really talk about it. It happened very early and quickly. I barely had the time to be happy I was pregnant and then suddenly, I wasn't anymore. I'm ok now, and I'm hoping for a different outcome in 2009. I'll keep you posted.

In December, my family suffered a loss when my aunt (mom's sister) died quickly and quite unexpectedly. At the end of November, we learned she had lung cancer and by mid-December, we found out she only had days to live. She died peacefully on December 21. My mom has 11 brothers and sisters and my aunt was the first to go so it was especially painful. She was only 57 years old.

Ok I am all done with the bad. I thought I'd keep the good for the end so you won't leave this blog feeling all depressed! Because despite the bad, I had a good year. I found a job that I really really like (and it looks like I'm quite liked there too). They're giving me responsibilities that I thought I wouldn't have for years and I'm loving it.

Chris and I celebrated our three year anniversary in August. Can I call it anniversary if we're not married and don't ever plan on getting married? It doesn't matter, I'll call it whatever I want. So we've been together almost 3.5 years now and in a couple of months, this relationship will become my longest ever (his longest is seven years though so we have a long way to go until that). I love him with all my heart and I consider myself lucky to have found him. Oh and we had our first (and only) fight in September this year! It happens so rarely I almost want to celebrate it next year ;)

2008 is also the year of our fabulous trip to Europe. We went to Italy, France and Spain and it was fantastic and magical. I don't know if we'll travel in 2009 but I sure hope so. We have tickets to a taping of The Daily Show in New York in May so hopefully I'll be able to get some time off to go! I want to have Jon Stewart's babies!

That's all I have to say about the past year. We're going out tonight with friends to celebrate. It should be fun. I hope you all have fun celebrating too!

In-between

We're at this period of time between Christmas and New Year's eve where all I want is to eat healthy, NOT drink and NOT see people. Too much of a good thing is never good. I think I'm this close to a sugar overdose.

So, I'm sure you all really want to know if I finished my gifts on time. Well I did! Ok, I finished the hat in the car on my way to my mom's, but still, it was done when I got there. Unfortunately, as I was knitting it, I realized there was a good chunk of pink/lilac in the skein I had bought, and I knew the recipient wouldn't be too crazy about that. So I cut it out. But then I ran out of yarn and couldn't get anymore because it was Christmas day. So I took another skein of Noro I had and tried to find a colour that wouldn't look so bad. It's not perfect but it's ok and the giftee loved it so all is good.

Unfortunately (again), I only had time to take a quick picture so it's all you're gonna get.



Pattern: Quickie Silk Garden Hat, by Isela Phelps
Yarn: Noro Kureyon (I didn't note the colour)
Needles: 4,5 mm/ US7, circulars + DPNs

I am so glad Christmas knitting is over! I think I'll want to make me a hat and new mittens next, but I'm not sure. I've picked my lucky clover socks back up and I finished the first one.



I'm really enjoying the pattern (by the lovely Angela) and the yarn (by Shelby)) is so soft I'm almost sad to be using it for something that will go on my feet. Sock #2 is on the needles and I hope to finish it soon.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Yes, I am aware that I haven't been writing much. No, my disappearance has nothing to do with the book (I've only read a few pages so far, I'll get to it after Christmas).

I have been working, knitting, and dealing with the lemons that life decided to throw at me these past few weeks. But I'm ok.

My knitting has suffered and I only just finished my mom's mittens yesterday:



Pattern: #03 Green Autumn (Druid Mittens), by Jared Flood (Vogue Knitting, Fall 2008)
Yarn: Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn in Glorious Green
Needles: 2.75 mm/US2
Modifications: I made them for my mom and she has big hands. So I added an extra pattern repeat. I also added stitches to the thumb (I picked up 16 instead of 12).

The top looks weird on the pic but it's all right in person. I love the mittens and I hope my mom will like them too. I think I want to make another pair for myself (maybe next winter).

Now I only need to finish a hat. I don't need it until Dec. 26 and I have three long car rides coming up so I'm optimistic.

Happy Holidays to everyone and Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate it. Me? I'm gonna be working 4pm to midnight on Dec. 25. Joy.

Wanna see some yarn?

Today is election day in Quebec and I hope those of you who can vote did. There's a good thing about working weird hours: I left to go vote at 10:21 this morning and I was back at 10:30! Tonight is going to be a crazy night but it should be fun. I'll be in charge of "reactions" all evening. It shouldn't be too stressful. I hope.

I know I mentionned yarn in the subject line, so here you go. I still had one Effiloché gift certificate left and I had to spend it because it expires on Christmas day. So I went on Friday. I didn't buy anything terribly exciting, but I'm happy:



I got some Dale of Norway Baby Ull, that I want to use to make the Postwar Mittens. I'm still not 100% sure about the colours, but I'll give them a try and we'll see. I have to wait until I'm all done with Christmas knitting to start them (cause they are for sure going to be for me!).

Then, I got a skein of Noro Kureyon, colour 233. I want to use it to make the Quickie Noro Silk Garden hat for my stepdad.

I also bought the winter issue of IK and I still had some money left on the certificate, so I added two skeins of Regia sock yarn. I need to buy more solid coloured sock yarn so I can knit some of the beautiful patterns I have in my queue.

Re: Christmas knitting, I just finished Druid mitten #1 and I.LOVE.IT. I want to keep it for myself. I just hope it fits my mom's hands. She has big hands. They're a bit too big for me, so I'm hopeful (I had to add an extra repeat of the pattern on the hand to make sure it's going to be long enough. I might have to redo the thumb though). Pictures coming soon.

Now I just hope I'll be able to finish them AND stepdad's hat before Christmas. Wish me luck!

Days of our Parliament

Things are completely crazy in Canada right now, ladies and gentlemen. Never before has federal politics been so exciting for me! And apparently, the US medias don't talk about it so I invite you all to read this blog post by the Yarn Harlot. She explains the whole thing very well.

Our prime minister is with the Governor General right now (probably asking her to prorogue parliament). My thoughts:

1. Stephen Harper is arrogant deserves everything that is happening right now. Governing like a majority when you're a minority could only work for so long.

2. I would personally like to see what the coalition could do, despite the fact that I strongly dislike Stéphane Dion (who is an intelligent man, but a very weak leader). I don't know if there's any chance they could replace him before May (Michael Ignatieff would be my choice), but I think it would be best.

3. Separatists =/= evil, dammit! I've been reading forums and watching TV and there seems to be quite a bit of Quebec-bashing going on outside of our province. And people wonder why few Quebecers are federalists...

4. Quebec will be electing its prime minister on Dec. 8, but no one is talking about the campaign right now because what's going on in Ottawa is so much more interesting. Jean Charest (our current PM) must be so happy. He's ahead in the polls right now and he could spend the rest of his campaign in Florida and no one would notice...

When did that happen?

So it looks like I'm 31 today.

I feel like I've gone from 21 to 31 pretty quickly, where did all those years go? And why don't I totally feel like an adult yet?

Despite getting older, there are good things about birthdays. Like cake (though I don't have one... hopefully I will this weekend). Gifts are good too. Chris got me a CD I wanted, a knitting book* (he says it doesn't count as a gift because he got it for free at work) and a HABS shirt!!! I'm so happy about that one. I don't have it yet, though, because he wants me to go with him to pick it out. I'm going to two games this winter and I'll have a shirt, woohoo!

*For the curious, the knitting book is in French and it's called "Elle tricote ses grigris, ses écharpes et cie". I haven't looked at it that much yet but it looks ok.