Habs and cables

Remember last year when I blogged daily for a whole month? Yeah, it's not happening this year. Things are pretty quiet these days. Same old, same old.

But I have been knitting. I set aside my Potpourri mittens and decided to cast-on for another pair of socks (part of Sock Knitters Anonymous Sockdown again). The November challenge is to either knit a pattern that utilizes mosaic/slipped stitches or a pattern designed by Chrissy Gardiner. There's also a mystery sock pattern designed by Star Athena that utilizes mosaic stitches. I chose a Gardiner pattern and I'm hoping to finish the socks in time to give them to my mom for Christmas (they must be finished by Dec. 31 to be elligible for prizes for the SKA challenge).



The pattern is Cabled Lace socks (look at the pattern pic on Ravelry, it's much prettier than the pic I posted above). I'm using Knitpicks Stroll in Buckskin.

In non-knitting news, I had lots of fun last week at work when I got to cover a very crazy event. As you may or may not know, I mostly cover entertainment stories at work. Political, once in a while. But sports? That never happens.

Well last week was the premiere of a movie about the Montreal Canadiens' 100th anniversary. Sort of (the story is actually about a young hockey fan who's very sick in the hospital and a teenager who plays hockey, but the Habs play an important role in the story). I was sent on the red carpet to cover it and let me tell you, it was crazy!



There were hundreds of fans waiting for the actors and the Habs and they were screaming! It was fun though. I got to talk to Henri Richard (I was lucky, he didn't talk to that many reporters but I guess he took pity on the poor 5'2 girl with her camera who yelled "Mr Richard! Mr Richard!").

When the Habs players came out of the limos, the crowd went wild and it was quite difficult to talk to players. I couldn't ask Carey Price a question to save my life, I was stuck in the middle of a group of reporters who were all trying to talk to him.

I then got close to O'Byrne and got scared. That guy is a monster! I think he's 6'5 and huge. Did I mention I'm 5'2? Well I lied. I'd be 5'2 if I was wearing skates. I think even if I had tried to ask him a question, he probably wouldn't have heard me. ;) So I opted for a player more my size and went to talk to Gionta instead. Hehe. I also got to talk to Bergeron, Lapierre and now former Hab Guillaume Latendresse. Oh and Cammalleri, but just as he was about to answer my question, a PR lady came and got him (and yelled at me for going over the velvet rope and onto the red carpet. I'm short! It was the only way for me to get the guys on film!)

Anyways, it was fun, but I still prefer to talk to actors and musicians rather than athletes.

Potpourri

Chris is away all weekend for work, which means I have tons of time to knit. This morning, I started this:


(Potpourri mittens, from Vogue Knitting, Fall 2008. Yarn is Knitpicks Palette in Masala, Cream and Sky.)

I took that picture this afternoon. I have about twice as much done now. It's funny how quickly this is going considering how long it took me to knit a Christmas stocking with bulky yarn.

I'm loving the mittens, though I believe I should have chosen a lighter orange. Oh well. That's what happens when you order online. I will need to get a colour card next time I order from Knitpicks, because I plan on knitting more mittens this winter. Especially since I bought this last month (I think I forgot to mention it before):



It's a lovely, lovely book and I want to knit thousands of mittens now.

I also have a FO to share:


Pattern: Flora, by Margaux Pena
Yarn: Susan Andrew Collection Warani (green + cream)
Needles: US 5 / 3.75 mm
Modifications: I almost ran out of yarn at the end (I was using leftovers from my Fake Fake Isle hat.) So I skipped a couple of plain knit rows between the crown decrease rows.

The hat will go to my aunt, who is almost done with her treatments for breast cancer. I made her a Parrotfish hat a few months ago, but I wanted to give her something warmer for winter.

BTW, Robyn is going to be knitting all night long to raise money for the fight against breast cancer. I think it's a wonferful thing and I wanted to publicly thank her. I can't wait to read about it on your blog Robyn!

Christmassy FO

I've been a bad little blogger, I know.

I haven't been able to think of anything good to write about lately. I'm assuming it will all change since I have a few FOs coming, as well as some stash enhancement and a soon-to-happen meeting with a long time blogger-friend. So good things are happening. Expect posts and pics. Hopefully.

I do have one FO to share right now.


Pattern: Falling Snow Stocking, by Jennifer Hoel
Yarn: Lamb’s pride bulky in Blue Blood Red and White Frost
Needles: US 10 Circs + DPNs
Modifications: The tip of the toe is supposed to be white, but I ran out of yarn so it's all red.

I love the stocking and I'm supposed to give it to my mom, but I sort of want to keep it for myself. ;) I guess I'll have to make another one.

Snowflakes, photos and cough

I am sick :( I have a bad cold, and of course I got it just as I was about to enjoy a nice 4-day weekend. Sucks! I don't know yet if I'll be able to go to work tomorrow. Hopefully I will, but I hate being sick at work and I never know if it's better that I go and work or stay home to make sure I don't get everyone else sick.

I've been knitting a little, mostly on the Falling Snow stocking.



It's going slower than I expected, but I'm still hoping to finish it by the end of the month (that's what I call being optimistic).

Also, this is the time of year that I get jealous of everyone who gets to go to Rhinebeck. But this year, I'm not too jealous, because I wouldn't have any money for yarn even if I could go. That's because I got myself an early birthday/Christmas gift.



My first real (as in, not a point-and-shoot) camera! It's definitely nothing fancy (Canon EOS Rebel XS) and all the other models in the store were much fancier and pricier, but since I don't know a thing about photography, I'm happy with it. Now I just need to learn how to use it. It's too bad I'm currently so sick I can't even think about getting out to take pictures.

Habs socks

I still haven't decided what I'm going to make for the October Sockdown on Ravelry. I'm leaning towards a Christmas stocking, though I would need to buy some bulky yarn for that. We'll see.

In the meantime, I cast on for a new pair of socks last night, during the Habs game:



If I had started them last season, I would have called them my "Sock-u Koivu" socks, but since he's no longer in Montreal, I'm naming them "Jaroslav Spasock". My plan is to knit them during Habs game (that's a challenge because I love the yarn so much I want to keep knitting them today!). They're going to be a Christmas gift for my mom's boyfriend (who is like a father to me).

Speaking of Habs, yay for the win against Toronto last night! But I'm so sad about Markov. Apprently, he'll be gone a long time. That can't be good.

Mystery solved!

I finished the September 09 Mystery Sock:





Pattern: Fox Faces socks aka September 09 Mystery Sock, by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Tanis Fiber Arts, fingering weight (I LOVE THAT YARN)
Needles: 2.25 mm DPNs
Notes: Knit two at a time on two sets of DPNs. I made the leg a bit shorter (5 pattern repeats instead of 7).

I'm very happy with the socks and knitting a mystery pattern definitely was a challenge. I was scared I wouldn't like the result, but fortunately, I do. But I knew that with Nancy Bush, I would probably like it.

I cast on for a new project, that I wasn't able to photograph properly. I did my best:



Pattern is Flora and I'm using leftovers from my Fake Isle Hat. I'm making it for my aunt who is currently battling breast cancer. I already made her a hat Parrotfish during the summer, but I want to knit her something warmer.

I'm also trying to decide on my new sock project for Sockdown October. In October, we can knit:

a) Holiday stockings
b) Man socks (it has to be designed specifically for a man)
c) Socks for a Cause (proceeds from the sale of the pattern has to go to a cause)
d) Any sock designed by the designer of the month, Jeannie Cartmel

My problem is that I don't think I'll have time to knit more than one pair and I have too many options.

I want to make the Falling Snow Stocking. I like the Paul Atwell socks (man socks). I also like Having Hope (proceeds donated to cancer research). And I like a couple of Jeannie Cartmel patterns such as Starflower, Magic Mirror and Summer Sliding.

I don't know which one to choose. Yesterday, Having Hope was winning. Today, it's the holiday stocking. I have no idea. I also want to start a pair of Go Habs Go socks to knit during the Habs games (that won't be part of the Sockdown challenge). Stay tuned!

Habsolutely fantastic

Can you smell it? The beginning of hockey season is right around the corner. Tonight is the last preseason game and in a few days, October 1st, my beloved Habs will play their first real game of the season. I can't wait!

I had tickets for Thursday's game against Boston. Unfortunately, my new favourite player wasn't playing.


Brian Gionta ♥♥♥♥♥

I still enjoyed the game, even though we lost. I took a few pics but the stupid net ruined them all.


Plekanec ♥♥♥♥♥


My favourite goalie Jaroslav Halak ♥♥♥♥♥






I was seated close to Joël, Jacques and Alain from RDS.



I ♥ Youppi


Patrice Brisebois announced he was retiring and got the Jean-Béliveau trophy.

Sorry about the lack of knitting content. Expect a sock-related post soon.

Two at a time

I finished a pair of socks last night, like I had planned.



Pattern: None
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential Multi, in Tucson
Needles: Two at a time on two 2.25 mm circulars

This is my second pair knit two at a time on two circs, and it's definitely not my favourite method. I like that when I'm done, I'm done (don't need to knit a second sock), but I still prefer my DPNs.

Today's goals

It looks like I'm going to have a ME day, since my boyfriend is leaving me by myself to go hang out with the guys from Metallica (cause he's cool like that).

So I made myself a list of goals for the day, some fun ones and not-so-fun ones.

1. Go to the gym
2. Do laundry (you don't want to know how many loads I need to do. We don't seem to have any clean clothes left)
3. Finish my Tucson socks (I'm at the toes, I can do it)
4. Cast-on for one of the Christmas gifts
5. Watch the Habs game on RIS
6. Read a magazine in the bath

I also need to resist the temptation to go to Effiloché for some yarn therapy.

Startitis again?

It's happening. Startitis. I can feel it coming.

I've been wanting to start projects like crazy lately but I'm resisting so far. I'm a slow knitter and if I start too many things, it takes me forever to have anything finished.

But today I saw the Honeybee Cardigan and I fell in love. Then I read the magic word, "seamless", and I fell in love HARD. I really really want to make it, plus I need something fun to make me forget that I'm still not pregnant after a year of trying (I don't really want to talk about it).

So. Do I cast on? Or not?

I first want to finish my first sock in progress, but I should have it done by next week. And my Nancy Bush mystery sock is right on schedule (I finished clue #3 on the first sock in one evening last night, and I'll work on sock #2 tomorrow). All my other WIPs are on hold indefinitely because I'm just not into them. Sooooo, I'm due to start something new any day now.

However, I have many projects on my to-do list. I want to make the Shifting Sands Scarf for my mom (for Christmas) and the Flora hat for my aunt who's battling breast cancer (also for Christmas or sooner). AND I want to make the Potpourri mittens for myself. *sigh* Too many beautiful patterns, too litle time.

(This post was brought to you by a Wednesday night and a bottle of wine. Because I'm worth it).

Ps/ Congrats to Kate-the-enabler on her Little Miss Enabler!!! :)

Building a Mystery

In the... five years or so I've been knitting, I've fallen in love with many yarns. Sometimes it was love at first sight, or at first touch, other times, it started with a like and slowly transformed itself into love. Of course, no matter how much I've loved them, I could never remain faithful, but the yarns didn't mind sharing me so all was good.

But now. Now I think I found THE ONE. I am passionately, madly in love with Tanis Fiber Arts' sock yarn, so much so that I need to declare my love publicly. I LOVE YOU YELLOW YARN!

(As much as I love it, I know I won't be faithful to this one either. Hey, I'm only human).

I've been working on the Nancy Bush mystery sock since we got the first clue on September 1st. The first clue was short and easy (and it included a braid!).



I was able to knit clue #1 on both socks in a couple of days. So I was really happy when we got clue #2 on September 8.



Clue #2 is finished on sock #1, I'll work on sock #2 on the weekend. I'm loving the sock! The only modification I've made so far is that I only knit 5 pattern repeats instead of 7.

I can't wait to see clue #3 (I think we'll turn the heel). This mystery thing is fun!

ETA: I forgot to take a pic of the back of the sock. It's a K1P1 rib for the first three pattern repeats and then it switches to stockinette for four repeats. Since I'm making mine shorter, I did the rib for two repeats and stockinette for three. I think it looks neat.

Stuff to knit with...

So I took the time to photograph the yummy yarn that was in that box I posted in my last post.

First: sock yarn!



Knit Picks Essential (now called Stoll, but it still says Essential on the label). From left to right, the colours are: Grass, Mermaid, Buckskin, Plum Tweed, Pumpkin and Sprinkle Heather.

I also got three skeins of Palette:



Colours are Masala (top), Cream and Sky and I plan to use it for a very special pair of mittens. Can you guess which one? Clue: they're in my queue.

You can see a close-up of every yarn in my stash page on Ravelry.

Back to reality

There was no escaping it this week: I had to go back to work after two weeks of vacation (was it really two weeks? It felt like two seconds).

We had a very relaxing time and spent a good portion of our vacation at home, or with family. And we went to Quebec City for a few days.



We saw The Image Mill, which was fantastic. I wasn't able to get good pictures though. Trust me, it was worth it.

We also saw a baseball game, but unfortunately, Eric Gagné wasn't the pitcher that night (he was the night before). Quebec's team lost. Oh well. We had a good time, even though it was COLD out!



We also visited a place that makes apple cider. We sampled many of the products and it was delicious.

We saw the free street show by Cirque du Soleil, well most of it any way. There were a lot of people there and I wasn't feeling too well so we left early.



So, our vacation was nice but I wasn't too sad when Monday came and I had to get back to work, because that same night I went to see...



Franz Ferdinand!!! It was seriously one of the best shows of my life. It was amazing. They only have good songs so the show had to be good. The singer spoke French the whole time, which was nice and he had so much energy it was contagious. You can see a couple of videos on YouTube.

I mostly knit on my plain socks on two circs during my vacation (no pic for now). And yesterday, I was finally able to cast on Nancy Bush's mystery sock (first clue has a braid!) yesterday, after a little... um... winding incident. I'm using Tanis Fiber Arts yarn and I LOVE working with it! Love!

Speaking of yarn, I have enhanced my stash recently... but I'll save it for another post. Here's a sneak peak:

I am possessed. Possessed!

Something took control of my mind, my body (and my credit card) and is making me buy yarn, yarn, and more yarn.



I received this new pretty this morning. BMFA Socks that Rock lightweight in 24 Karat. I was planning on using it for my yellow Nancy Bush mystery sock, but I'll be using the Tanis Fiber Arts I got last week instead. So STR will become something else, later.

Oh and I did order from Knitpicks. A new set of DPNs to replace the ones that have mysteriously disappeared, SIX different colours of sock yarn and three skeins of Palette in three different colours for a pair of mittens I want to make.

I ordered last night and got an email this morning saying it's shipped already! Talk about quick!

I'm enjoying all the shopping, but it's enough now. I need to stop the madness. No more sock yarn purchases until I have knit seven pairs. I think I can do it. I already have one on the needles. After that, only six more to go! ;)

I did it!

Two socks on two circs!



I finally figured it out! It took me a while to get used to the technique, but all is well now and I'm happily knitting. I was also pleased to notice that the yarn is not pooling (so far), it's striping! They're not neat stripes like the ones you get with self-striping yarn, they're more like zebra-stripes, and who knows if it'll keep doing that for the whole socks, but right now I'm happy with the way they're coming out.

I think I deserve a little reward for trying again after my first failed attempt, don't you think? Yeah, I thought so too.



Tanis Fibert Arts fingering weight in Buttercup. I know, I know, I actually ordered yellow yarn from BMFA for the Nancy Bush yellow mystery sock (I'm still waiting for it btw), but I couldn't resist. I kept thinking about it, which is proof that I needed it, right?

I'm in a stash enhancement kind of mood, especially since I got rid of a lot of old acrylic I knew I'd never use. So now I have SPACE! And I need to fill it. With yarn. Lots of yarn.

I have a big order (well big for me) in my Knitpicks cart, I just need to make up my mind and press the order button... I'm sure I will, eventually.

I want to drown in sock yarn

I've been in a weird kind of knitting mood these past couple of days (any non-knitter who accidentally stumbled upon my blog probably just left after reading that first sentence).

When I finished my Froot Loop socks, I thought it would be a good idea to work on an UFO so I picked up my Montego Bay scarf, which is a great project for summer knitting since the silk is so light. BUT... I'm just not feeling it. I think the yarn is pretty, but I'm not liking the scarf too much. Granted, I only have a little more than a foot done, and I do think it has the potential to become a very pretty scarf, so I don't want to frog it. But meh. I'm on vacation, I should knit whatever I want!

Problem is, I don't know what I want! I'm really looking forward to the September challenge in the Sock Knitters Anonymous group (Nancy Bush mystery sock!!!), but we're not September yet and I still haven't received my yellow sock yarn (it was sent on Monday so hopefully I'll have it soon). I almost bought a beautiful skein of Tanis Fiber Art in yellow the other day, but I figured I'd wait for what I ordered.

I finally cast on for a pair of Merletto mitts, using homespun yarn that I got as a gift. Let's just say that after a lot of frustration (and yarn that kept on breaking and breaking), I ended up throwing the yarn in the trash. Yeah, I know, I'm bad, I threw away yarn...

After that, I decided I'd knit a pair of plain vanilla socks and I thought it would be cool to use the 2 socks on 2 circs method. I've tried it before, thanks to Karine who helped me figure out how to cast on. Unfortunately, that was a couple of years ago and last night, I just couldn't do it, even though I had the instructions in front of me. It was very frustrating. I ended up casting on using DPNs, but after a few rows, I realized they'd be too small so I frogged. I'll start again later today and *maybe* I will try the 2 socks on 2 circs method again, who knows. I'm using this btw:



I also want to start the Shifting sands scarf (that may or may not become a Christmas gift for my mom) and a pair of Postwar mittens soon.

Oh and I bought Cookie A.'s book!



OMG. I seriously want to knit every single pair of socks in that book. They're just beautiful. I bought it just before watching Julie & Julia, and it really made me want to start a project of knitting all the socks in the book in a year. But then I thought I'm participating in enough challenges as it is. But I do want to knit socks from the book soon.

I'm feeling chatty today. I think this is my longest post ever (ok maybe not, but it feels long. I hope I'm not boring anyone).

When I decided to use DPNs for my plain vanilla socks last night, I thought it would be a good thing to try my Harmony DPNs, since I hadn't had the chance to try them yet. Well guess what? I couldn't find them! I looked everywhere and they are nowhere to be found. I'm so pissed!

But I went through my modest stash while looking for them and it made me realize that I really have a lot of yarn that I'll just never use. Mostly acrylic that I got when I was a brand new knitter. Now I already have a plan to go through my closet sometime next week and get rid of everything that doesn't fit and that I don't like. And I decided I'll do the same with the stash. I don't have much, so it won't be a lot, but it'll be nice to get rid of some stuff that just take some space and that just end up making me feel guilty. We are giving everything to Le chaînon by the way, so we're not trashing anything.

Of course, giving yarn aways means that I'll have some room in my stash... ;) I was on Knitpicks earlier and thought I really should replace those Harmony needles. And then, last thing I knew, some sock yarn jumped in my cart, as well as some Palette yarn for mittens... Eeek! I haven't bought anything yet, it's just all there, sitting in my cart, tempting me. I really do need solid yarn for all the socks I plan to knit, you know...

(Expect a yarn porn post in the next couple of weeks...)

Oh the joy!

I am on vacation Ladies and Gentlemen! I'm just beginning today two weeks of pure bliss, of days filled with nothing but knitting, reading, cooking and... nothing! We have a little trip to Quebec city coming up, but other than that, not much is planned. Chris is going to a bachelor party (no, not his own!) on Saturday and I think I'll spend that day at my mom's. Hopefully, it will still be sunny and I'll get to swim in her pool.

I figured there would be no better way to start my vacation than with a FO, so here you go:



Pattern:Froot Loop by Kristi Geraci (Ravelry Page)
Yarn: Lotus Yarn sock club exclusives. Colourway: Dookie (in honor of the Green Day album of the same name)
Needles: 2.25 mm DPNs
Modifications: None

Yarn jumping in my cart

So it seems I haven't updated since July 22! Yikes! I'd like to blame it on summer, but we've had such bad weather these past few months that I've spent more time inside in front of the computer than I care to admit. I don't know why I haven't been posting. I have been knitting, that's for sure. And shopping.

Every knitter who knows me knows that I don't have a big yarn stash (but Chris would beg to differ). I like to buy yarn, but I don't like having too much. I know this is going to sound weird, but I feel like I can't be creative when I have too much yarn. Whenever I want to start a new project, I feel forced to use the yarn I have. And even when I don't have a project in mind, I feel like I should really try to find patterns to go with the yarn I already have. So I end up not always knitting what I feel like, I'm just knitting to use up the stash, know what I mean? Whereas when I don't have a lot of yarn, I can just pick whatever pattern I choose and go to the yarn store to buy what I need without feeling guilty.

Oh and also, I don't have that much space for a huge yarn stash.

That being said, I've been shopping anyways. It all started when I decided to order blocking mats from Knitpicks. I just didn't want to order from them without getting some yarn too. And since I was in a lace mood, I got a skein of lace yarn.


Knitpicks Gloss lace in Fiesta. Sorry about the blurry pic, I only realized it was blurry once I got it on my computer.

While I was on the site, I looked at the sock yarn and also decided to get this:


Knitpicks Essential Multi (now known as Stoll Multi) in Tucson. Unfortunately, when I bought it, I thought it would stripe. It turns out it pools (at least that's what it looks like on the Ravelry pics). The colours are still pretty though.

A week or two later, I was looking for yarn for a scarf I want to make soon. So I got this from Robyn's Nest:


Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Dark Earth. Sorry again for the blurry pic. Ordered it on a Sunday night, had it in my mailbox on Tuesday morning! Or was it Wednesday? Anyways, it was the quickest transaction ever.

There's more.

I'm a member of the Sock Knitters Anonymous group on Ravelry and I decided I wanted to participate in their Sockdown challenge this year (See the group page for info). I figured I'd challenge myself even more by trying to use yarn from my little sock yarn stash at least for the first few months of the challenge (I had told myself when I started my Froot Loop socks that I'd need to knit 5 pairs before I bought any more sock yarn).

But then I found out the Mystery sock designer for September (first month of the challenge) is Nancy Bush... And that the socks would have to be knit in yellow (solid or semi-solid) to count. I didn't have any yellow in my stash, but dude! A mystery sock by Nancy Bush!

So it looks like I'll soon be the proud owner of a skein of Socks that Rock in 24 carat. I didn't have a choice. The yarn jumped in my cart.

*love*

Have you ever been so enamored with a yarn/pattern combo that you feel you could knit it again and again and again and again...



If I could marry a project, I think I'd marry that one.

Ishbellissima!

Ok I know I haven't blogged in weeks, but that's because I was too busy knitting. That's a good reason, right?

It took me exactly one month to finish my Ishbel shawl.


Here it is pre-blocking.


And here it is drying. You'll notice I chose not to do the pointy lace edging.


Done! Sorry the pics aren't so good. We wanted to go take some outside but it was raining. Of course, now that I'm posting this, the sun is out. Go figure.




I like it as a scarf too.

Pattern: Ishbel, by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: All I know is that it's 100% wool and that it came in a cone. I still have tons of leftovers too.
Needles: US 7 / 4.5 mm
Modifications: I knit the large stockinette/small lace version. It's my first ever finished lace shawl and I love it.

And as I always do when I finish something, I immediately cast on for something else.



I'm making Froot Loop socks, using Lotus yarn. Stay tuned!