sicko

That's me in a nutshell for the last 4 days (and counting). I've caught some kind of really nasty bug. Everything hurt so badly that I couldn't even hold up a paperback book while lying in bed. All I could do was moan quietly. Phoebe took pity on me and dragged her furry self off her heated bed to keep me company. Eating has not been possible and it's rough staying adequately hydrated. I'm guzzling flat ginger ale and eating plain white bread. I'm missing out on a cinnamon bun Christmas party today. Pooh!

Not a lot of anything happening. No knitting, cleaning, baking, wrapping, etc. I am soooo behind. I need a magic wand (or an army of elves) to wave at all my Christmas cards otherwise, they'll arrive after Christmas.

Before I got sick, I finally sewed the buttons on L's Christmas present.


Pattern: my own; a combo of Tasia's cardigan and the seamless yoke from "The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns"
Yarn: Nashua Superwash in 3 different colours (dk blue, light blue, yellow) and Dream in Color Classy in Go Go Grassy. I used 2 skeins of dk blue and just small amounts of the other colours.
Needle: 4.5mm for the body and 4.0mm for the button band
Notes: The cardi is supposed to fit a 1-2yo. The recipient is 18mos so I hope it fits ok.


I matched the stripes on the hem and cuffs but I went wild in the yoke. Switching colours whenever I felt like it. There were a bajillion ends to weave in but it's worth it. The pencil buttons came from a friend. She had them in her button stash. I used the DiC Classy because it's the leftover yarn from L's Dad's fingerless mitts (also a Christmas gift). Father and son will match. Awwwww!

December is sneaky

I'm sitting here updating my day planner and I'm shocked to discover that it's already December. November flew on by and I barely acknowledged it. Is it possible to rewind and play back last month?

Since it's Dec, deadlines are looming and I'm madly scrambling around. Hubby got the outdoor lights up last weekend. The tree is still in the box waiting for me to move living room furniture around to make room for it. We'll get it up this weekend even if it kills me. Today is wrap and mail all international parcels which should've gone out last week. And instead of knitting Christmas prezzies, I've been working on these:


This pooling scarf is going veeeeery slowly. It seems that I'm ripping out half of the stitches I make to get the colours to line up properly. Ugh! But it is looking very nice and worth the effort. Next time, I will choose yarn that is dyed more consistently across the skein.


And this is a new project that I cast on a few days ago when I threw down the pooling scarf in disgust. It's plain ole linen stitch. I wound a skein of dark purple and collected all my sock yarn scraps. I work 2 rows of linen stitch in purple and then I grab a contrasting yarn from the bag and work 2 more rows. I keep switching colours every 2 rows and voila. Pretty scarf.

Off to find empty boxes, packing tape, and look for my stash of Christmas cards. Only 22 days til Christmas...

more white stuff

It really snowed hard yesterday. I shoveled twice - once in the morning and again in the afternoon. Hubby shoveled late in the afternoon before it started raining. It's still raining but it's going to take awhile before all the snow gets washed away. I whined to my sister who told me to "suck it up, buttercup". She's been suffering through a brutal cold snap. I read that her city was the second coldest place on Earth behind Antarctica. Brrrr - that's cold!!!!

Finally, an FO and a WIP that I can show you. At work, I finished a crochet sample for the yarn shop.




Pattern: Sunflowers Satchel by Asami Kawa
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock; col S279; one skein (100g; 328 yds)
Hook: 3.25mm
Notes: I made the smaller size. This bag will be a store sample. Overall, this was a fast & fun project. I ran into some problems right at the end - the start location of the mesh and the start location of the shoulder strap. I ripped out the mesh twice and started each side of the shoulder strap twice. The first shoulder strap error was completely my fault - I didn't see in the instructions to switch from double crochet to single crochet.

I'm taking a wee break from secret Christmas knitting to show you my attempts at pooling:


This is very boring garter stitch and nothing like what Gladys (the genius that she is) creates. If it turns out well, I might give it to hubby for Christmas.

white stuff

We woke up this morning to 2-3" of snow.


This is one of earliest snowfalls that I can remember where it didn't all melt by morning. It was borderline freezing so I did have to chip a layer of ice off the back steps. It's supposed to stay cold and clear so I expect the snow to last through the week.


One of the prettiest plants in my garden is the Beauty Berry bush out front. It's so pretty covered in snow.

lumpy rain

Yep, it's that time of year. I encountered freezing rain and wet snow on the way to my LYS tonite. It was wet snowing on the way home. I had to take hubby's SUV (with bald-ish tires) because my Subaru was at home getting the snow tires installed. We've ordered new tires for the SUV but they haven't arrived yet so we'll be sharing my car if the snowy weather continues.

Lots of knitting going on but a lot of it is top secret so I can't blog about it.

Christmas shopping is in full swing. Hubby and I went to our first craft fair on Wed. We're going back tomorrow to look for a few more items.

Since the house is colder, Ricky has created a snuggly sleeping spot for himself.


This is a deep bookshelf in our bedroom that I use to store quilts in. Ricky reached up and pawed at one of the quilts until it fell on the floor leaving this nice little spot for him to curl up in. He's such a special kitty.

what a pain in the butt!!!

Literally! I went outside yesterday after lunch to throw some tulips into the ground. I'm planting a small cutting garden. I was out there 15 mins tops in heavy sweatpants and the one mosquito in the entire province found me and bit me in the ass. It's November! How can there be any mosquitoes left? My butt itches every time I sit down. You have no idea how annoying that is. I really, really hate mosquitoes.

I've been pretty busy last week - a couple of knitting classes to teach, some homework for an upcoming class, hanging out with my peeps, and going to a book reading.

My manually striped sock is progressing well. I'm past the heel now:


This is Grant Lawrence. He's the author of the book at the book signing. The book is titled - "Adventures in Solitude: What Not To Wear To A Nudist Potluck". It's a memoir of his adventures in Desolation Sound - a boat access only recreational area. I really enjoyed reading it. The book reading was lots of fun. He showed us a short home movie and his wife, Jill Barber sang a few songs. I got my book signed and he graciously posed with my sock for a picture. While I was taking the photo, I heard a laugh behind me and it was Grant's Mom. She told me that Grant learned how to knit when he was young. Maybe holding my sock will inspire him to start knitting again?

Christmas knitting is zooming along. I have just a few finishing touches to make on the yoked sweater - weaving in the remaining ends, knitting the button bands, and sewing on the buttons.


It looks so darned cute!

Hubby is going out of town for a Yahoo conference so we spent most of yesterday catching up on housework and watching a few rental DVDs that I wanted to return today. I didn't feel like working on one of my WIPs so I cast on a new pair of socks for myself.


My MIL gave this alpaca/bamboo blend to me a few Christmases ago. I find alpaca incredibly itchy despite the fact that I'm not sensitive to wool. I've been wanting to make something nice with this yarn but the only place where I can tolerate wearing alpaca is on my feet.

Gladys has been playing around with yarn dyeing so I dragged out a few skeins of yarn this morning to over dye. I had this pretty blah skein - off white & beigey tan. Three packages of Kool Aid later (2 Changin' Cherry and 1 Berry Blast), I've got this:


It reminds me of beach glass in the sand. I like it.

After being terrorized by Ricky this week because her favourite sleeping spot is on the rug right in front of the litter box (Ricky cannot resist smacking Phoebe when she's lying there), Phoebe's found a new favourite sleeping spot.


It's an ootch too small for her butt and her tail & back leg fall off. I should go and get another one and glue them together. Or would that be spoiling her too much?

lotsa knitting going on

Pattern: Dashing by Cheryl Niamath
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy; 1 skein (100g; 250 yds); col Go Go Grassy
Needles: 4mm dpns
Notes: Another Christmas gift crossed off my list. I have 40g leftover. I knit the larger size on smaller needles for a firmer fabric.


Ignore the fact that they look small on hubby. He's got monster hands and big wrists.

I immediately cast on for a child's sweater.


I'm using the seamless yoke design from The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns. The hem, cuffs, and yoke will have stripes. The green is the leftover Classy from the Dashing mitts. Father & son will match!

I joined a CAL on Ravelry and I've picked socks as my project. I've never crocheted socks before so I swatched.


I got gauge on the second attempt. I think this will be fun.

I wound up a few skeins of sock yarn to make another pair of manually striped socks.


I think they look very festive. Hopefully, I'll finish them in time for Christmas.