Mr. Bluejeans!

Hello everyone!

Wow it is almost the end of summer- where did it go?? Well I could say that it is partially my fault that summer has flown by as I have been so anxious to go back to school! It's 2 weeks until I do my first week of student teaching!!

I have been very busy since I last wrote! As mentioned in my last post, I finished my icarus shawl and it was much needed at my cousins wedding. I actually was wishing it was knit in a heavier yarn it was so cold!

The weekend before we left my family and I took a day trip to Gimli and I got some lovely Icelandic Lopi yarn from Tergesens (this amazing shop right by the lake that sells practically everything- the building itself is also a historic site- LOVE IT!). The yarn is Lett-Lopi and I intend on making some lovely warm mittens with it.

Our trip was fantastic! Well except the fact that my Dad was sick 99% of the time (motion sickness- the plane combined with a suspension bridge at the Calgary zoo). I did some souvenir yarn shopping. In Calgary, I visited the ladies at Make One Yarn Studio, and let me tell you that is one fine yarn shop. It's very open and the people were so friendly- even offering me refreshments! I was after Dream in Colour smooshy, but they were out of stock so I purchased some Cherry Tree Hill supersock-in the spanish moss colourwayBEsides yarn Calgary was lovely. I got to see my best friend from High School and we went out for a lovely dinner and had one of our famous Slurpee Walks!

We went to Edmonton the next day and I spent FAR TOO much (but not as much as I thought I would) at West Edmonton Mall, and after the mall we made our way over to RIver City yarns, which is just such an adorable shop! There I was fortunate enough to pick up a skein of Blue Moon FiberArts Socks that Rocks Lightweight yarn in the Little Bunny Foo Foo COlourway.

Edmonton was good, and the wedding was really nice despite the fact it was so cold and that I hurt my back stretching that morning.

We drove out to Canmore on our last day before heading back to calgary to catch our flight, and it was quite possibly my favorite moment (although the yarn, catching up with a friend, and shopping are a tie). The mountains were breath taking! I didn't want to blink. I hope to have pics up here some time soon.

Since we got back I spoiled myself with another knit picks purchase ( I had to take advantage of the book sale), and I finished my Mr. Bluejeans sweater. I kind of went full force on the sweater after we got back and finished it yesterday. THe poor sweater would have been finished MONTHS ago but It was hibernating for a few months there. I just love the sweater and again I am crossing my fingers for fall so I can wear it.

IT is so nice and warm and cozy! I can see myself wearing this with almost everything and will be perfect for school!

Anyhoo that's about all- right now I'm working on the socks I Cast on for our trip and barely worked on, and thinking about future projects. Take care and happy knitting!

Well... it's been a while

Oh has it ever been a long time since I last wrote about my knitting. I have been so busy with work that every time I log onto the internet it is only for a few minutes here and there. Well summer is almost half over which means it's almost time to start school :D big yays!

I found out which school I'll be student teaching at and I must say I am very impressed. It is a private school in the area and the teacher I will be learning from seems like an amazing person!

I was reading over my last post to see where I was when I last wrote and it was the day before my convocation. Well you will all be happy to hear that I am now a graduate of the University of Winnipeg with my Bachelor of Arts. It's kind of funny how I will be part of the alumni association and the student association at the U of W. .... in my world of knitting I have become obsessed with one project. My Mr. Bluejeans sweater? No. My Jaywalker socks? no. Shortly after I wrote my last post I cast on the Icarus Shawl with Knit Picks Gloss Lace yarn in the Sterling colourway. I finished this very shawl yesterday and I must say it is stunning! The most beautiful thing I have ever made. At times it was a challenging project and I basically abandoned all other projects for the month and a half it took me to knit the shawl, but it was so worth it.THis picture does not do the shawl justice. Trust me... it is much nicer in person.

As I mentioned before, my other projects have been abandoned. I have not touched the sweater in almost 2 months, I frogged the baby cable socks (the yarn was just not working for socks), and I had abandoned the jaywalkers for some time. I did manage to finish one and get about halfway done the second :D

Isn't the colour amazing? I just love the Knit Picks Felici yarn in the mixed berries colourway.

Well that is about all. I'm heading to Alberta in a little over a week and intend on making some yarn shop stops :D. With any luck I'll grab another chance to blog before summers end... until then Happy Knitting.

Knitting post

While I have been working a ton I have also been progressing well with my knitting. I am currently working on the first sleeve of my Mr. Bluejeans sweater. Loving this sweater to death and, although I've come to a slight halt and not working on it as much as I should, I absoloutly can not wait until Fall to wear it! I have two pics of it. The first is from a distance of the back and the second is a close up of the darling little cables!

I'm loving the colour of the yarn and I just love Patons Classic Merino Wool!

I've made progress on the Baby Cable rib sock- not as far as I'd like to be- but I'm really not caring for the yarn. It's knit picks palette which technically isn't a sock yarn and it's not too bad to knit with but compared to others it does feel really cheap. The sock is slightly small- not so small that I should rip-it and redo it but small enough that it can be a pain to try on while knitting.

Also on my birthday which happened to be about a week and a half ago I started a Jaywalker sock with Knit Picks Felici yarn (mixed berries)! LOVE IT! I love the yarn and the pattern! IT's so much fun! I was making insane progress but I've kind of slowed down the past week but hope to finish the first sock by the end of next week (but we know how I am with knitting goals).

Speaking of my birthday! I got some great stuff: I got some luggage for our trip to Calgary/Edmonton this summer. Money (which has been put to good use!), A manicure which I went and had done this afternoon and my nails look amazing! A yarn/project basket, and forbidden flavours gift cert (a coffee shop by my house).

My gift of money went to great use, although I haven't seen it yet. I made a big Knit Picks order. I bought 3 skeins of wool of the andes in various colours for some felting projects, 2 skeins of Essential sock yarn in African violet, 3 skeind of Gloss lace yarn in Sterling (a grey/white/sorta blue/purple colour), Fitted Knits(book), Best of Interweave knits(book), 2 skeins of Cotlin yarn (one in a purplish colour and one in a green), and a circular needle.

My hope is to use the lace yarn, and circular needle and the Icarus shawl pattern in the best of interweave knits book! My very first lace shawl project so I'm quite excited with anticipation! I haven't received the order yet but it should be coming sometime next week.

In other good news- my convocation is tomorrow and I'm so excited! It seems like i've been waiting forever to finally get my degree and finally the day is almost here.

Anyways thats about all. Happy KNitting!

My Little Gentleman

A little less than 2 weeks ago my family suffered a major loss. Our beloved cat Boo Boo passed away at home at the age of 17 on May 19. He was an amazing companion and you could not have asked for a better guy. I was 5 years old when we found him at the pet store and something just drew me to him. You never heard a cat purr like him and sometimes all you had to do was look at him and the purring would start.

About a month or so ago he started to grow ill and we knew that his time was coming. It was hard to grasp but we all know that he is in a better place and that grandma is taking really good care of him, probably spoiling him (which of course he deserves!). There is still an empty feeling in our home and a major piece missing in my heart. This is a picture of my little prince- I actually took a picture of a picture because it wouldn't scan very well and I did not have a picture that best represent BooBoo on my digital.

May my little guy rest in peace and remember that he was loved and will always be loved by so many! We love you Boo Boo!

The Monkeys are Done :D

Hip Hip Hooray my monkey socks are done and now I can hide those dreaded bamboo dpn and never use them again (unless I am desperate for that size!). They turned out quite good and they would have been done MONTHS ago had it not been those horrible dpns which slowed me down not only in my pace of knitting but also discouraged me from picking up that project and work on it. I think at one point I actually went over a month without touching them. Now they are done and they are fabulous and i put them on last night and did a happy dance around the house :D. I was so hoping to finish them before the weather warmed up and sure enough the day I finish them looks like the last chilly day for a while- oh well I will now have a great pair to start the school year off with. Here are some pics for your enjoyment!

I think there may be a smudge on my camera lens, which I must remember to go clean once I finish this.

These lovely socks were knit with the lovely Christmas present of Shibui KNits sock yarn from Jenna :D. I do hope to one day start another pair but not on those bamboo dpns but on my lovely set of knit picks nickel plated dpns.

In other project news: my Mr. Greenjeans sweater is progressing nicely. I'm almost done the body- i have about 4 more repeats of the cable pattern before binding off and starting a sleeve. I'm loving the Patons yarn for the sweater and I absoloutly can not wait to be done. Except I fear once I'm done i'll be crossing my fingers for a chilly day just so I can wear it... which I'm sure others would not enjoy.

My baby cable rib socks haven't been touched in weeks since the monkey socks and sweater have taken first priority, I officially have moved my rowan scarf into hibernation until summer or some day when i'm bored. The log cabin blanket is still just sitting there and picked up every so often but there is no rush on that.

On deck: I really need to make my mom some new dishcloths and I have some great patterns from Creative Knitting which I have been dying to try. I really want to do a bit of baby knitting since my cousin and his wife are expecting, and my mom's cousin who held onto my grandma's patterns for us has a daughter who is also expecting. I'm thinking some nice booties or baby socks sound good. Maybe even a hat or two since both these babies will be born around fall time, i think.

I'm also drooling over several other sweater patterns- knitting sweater sure can become addictive. I also have so many socks I want to knit and I'm hoping that once i get a little further on my babycable rib socks I'll be able to cast on jaywalkers with either my Patons kroy socks stripes or my Knit Picks Felici yarn.

I want to wish Jenna a happy belated birthday and I am quite excited about her knitting birthday party on Friday- I told her that I'll be there with yarn on, lol. I'm also very excited because in a week and a half I turn 23- 23 WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN! It is also the day of my orientation for the education program which 2 1/2 weeks later I still can't believe I got accepted.

Also in exactly 3 weeks I should be arriving at the u of w for my convocation and waiting to get my cap, gown, and hood :D Oh i'm so excited to graduate! Everytime I think of it I get a little giddy.

Anyhoo I best be off- happy knitting everyone!

Oh the Excitement!

Big Yays!!! I got into the Education program at the University of Winnipeg :D. I scored one of the 35 spots available for my teaching stream! I can not tell you how good this feeling is. It's a little over 2 years from the date I finally realized that teaching is what I want to do and for the past two years I have been working so hard towards this goal.... taking courses that scared me to death (Calculus), slaving over applications and then the constant pain in my stomach I would get just thinking about the possibility of not making it. Now 2 years later I am stress free and so happy to know that I will be going to school to finally work toward my future career!

I, however, have been pretty slack on the knitting front. My monkey socks are about 3 repeats shy of toe decreases and I'm about to work the heel flap on the first baby cable rib sock. I did get a block of colour done on my afghan, and the Rowan scarf is officially hibernating until I feel like some mindless scarf knitting.

Last weekend I did pull out my new Kitty Knits book and whipped up a felted catnip mouse, which is SUPER CUTE and my cats love it :D (i'm getting quite fond of this whole felting thing, it's fun!)

awwww... isn't it cute.

I also have decided to scrap the cardigan pattern I had chosen last entry. I am now going to attempt the Mr. Greenjeans cardigan sweater from Knitty. I bought the yarn last night and I'm going to knit it up with Patons Classic Merino wool in a lovely colour called "new denim" so I guess I'm knitting Mr. Bluejeans *insert laughter here*

Other than those updates there really isn't anything else knitting related. I do hope to pick up the sticks a little more in the next week or so since it looks like my work schedule might slow down for the time being.

Anyhoo, Happy Knitting.

New Projects... New Yarn

My it has been a while since I last wrote. Much has happened since then.... yes the Monkey socks are still slowly progressing (I Blame the bamboo needles, which I am not fond of, for them not being done yet). I have, however, completed my Sweet and Seamless sweater from Not Your Mama's KNitting. I knit it in Ella Rae classic in a nice dark pink/purple colour. I've worn it a couple times already and I am loving it :D. Such a big improvement from the last sweater. THis picture does not do it justice. It's pretty form fitting underneath a long sleeved tee and it just fits perfectly!

I also remembered to take a pic of my Felted cable bag which I finished weeks ago. The picture actually didn't turn out too bad for this one. It's super cute but pretty tiny so I use it to hold my nintendo DS- the perfect size!I made another chapters purchase a week or so ago. I bought THe Friday Night Knitting Club, Kitty KNits, which is an adorable book with so many things I want to knit for my feline friends, and SEnsational Knitted Socks which is a great book (so far). I've already started the pattern for the Baby Cable Rib Socks knit in another purchase I made.

I made my very first Knit Picks purchase and what great service! A little over a week and my yarn was in my hands. I bought 2 skeins of Felici sock yarn in Mixed Berries, 2 skeins of Essential sock yarn in Burgundy, 2 skeins of Pallette in Tidepool Heather, and a set of NickelPlated DPN's. Loving them all... what a difference with the nickel plated as compared to the bamboo dpn's i bought at Ram Wools back in January.

Here is a pic of the baby cable rib socks which I am knitting on 2.25 mm dpns with Knit Picks Tidepool Heather Pallette sock yarn (which isn't the best quality but i'm still really enjoying!). The pic is a little blurry and you can't really see the baby-cables but they are really cute.

I've also been thinking about my next sweater project and I think I might attempt a cardigan. I found a pattern of my grandma's which looks like a great first cardigan pattern- pretty basic but could be fabulous in a spectacular yarn! Which gosh darn means I have to go to the LYS and pick out a new yarn to play with, lol.

Anyhoo that's about all- still making progress on the log cabin blanket but not enough to post a pic yet. Hope spring is treating everyone well- Happy Knitting!

Easter Fun!

Happy Easter Weekend! I just love Easter, I think next to Christmas it may be my fave holiday. I am currently just putting the finishing touches on my cousins easter treasure hunt for tomorrow. For the past few years I've been doing this where I create a bunch of clues which will eventually lead them to a treasure box with a treat in it for them. This year I got my two girl cousins My littly pony toys and I got my 11 year old boy cousin a light up yo-yo. They will also each be receiving a knit easter egg from a pattern in the March 2008 Creative Knitting (which I bought last saturday just days before it was replaced by the May 2008, phew that was close!). I have knit two eggs so far with one to go, but they only take 2 hours to knit so no worries. I knit one in Vanna's Choice (purples) and one in Red Heart (orange), now the Vanna's choice I love working with, in fact I'm still working on a blanket in that very yarn. It is a very nice acrylic and I haven't had any issues knitting with it. This REd Heart, however, almost broke my fingers. IT's not the nice soft Red Heart... no... it's the could be plastic super skein in bright orange I got to make the very same cousin golf club covers for Christmas. As I was knitting it I could literally hear it squeeking and my hand was in pain from trying to maneouver the increases and decreases. The stripe on that very egg is from the yarn I made my first sweater with (and still only completed sweater) and I have no clue how I knit a huge garment with that. The eggs are really cute though and I think my cousins are going to love them!

Last night I finally finished my first Monkey sock. I sat down yesterday afternoon and thought about picking up the final easter egg and getting it done but the monkey sock was calling my name. I had to do two more repeats of the lace pattern and then the toe so I figured it would be a manageable project for the evening. When I did finish the sock, however, I failed to immediatly CO for the next sock, so i'm keeping my fingers crossed I don't come down with second sock syndrome and leave the poor sock until I finish some more projects (in this picture you can see the paw of my little helper, maggie).

At knitting group this past week I really began work on scarf using Rowan Soft Lux yarn I bought at Ram Wools back in... january?? I think. I love this yarn, it is so pretty and soft and so much fun to knit with. It is a scarf and it is almost spring here in the 'peg so I'm in no hurry to finish it. I have a funny feeling it is going to become my "i'm bored with everything else"project and get ignored a lot. As long as it is done by the time the snow flies in the fall the I'll be happy.

As a nice Easter present for my mom I decided to try ballband dishcloth from the Mason Dixon knitting book. I loved knitting this, the constant changing of colour made it a really interesting knit and not as monotonous as a classic dishcloth. I finished it and gave it to my mom yesterday and she loved it!

Now.... what else have I finished... I finished my brothers mittens, yay! Last week I also finished my felted mini bag, which I failed to take a picture of. I love it. The felting went well, although being my first felting project I feel I may have over-felted it just a smidge since the cabling is not as defined as I would have liked. Despite that I am very pleased with how it turned out and I'll try to remember a picture for next time.

Sweater Update: I have been working on so many little projects it has been ignored, although I do hope to be finished the body VERY soon and then the sleeves will take next to no time and before I know it I should have a sweater (and hopefully before it's +30 C outside).

Blanket Update: Still looking adorable, loving the colours, but it is a project that will be slow going and I fully expect it to take forever... once I've knit a few more rounds I'll post a pic to show the progress!

Happy Easter Everyone! Hope the Easter bunny treats you all very well and happy Easter Knitting!

Hip Hip Hooray!

Hip Hip Hooray the weather is FINALLY warming up!!! After weeks of being in the deep freeze Winterpeg is FINALLY warming up :D. I had full intentions on updating this blog a while ago but I came down with a whopper of a cold, it was REALLY bad, and I'm still feeling the tail-ends of this cold. I also did not get much knitting done during that time, so you know I had to be REALLY sick. I barely knit for an entire week, but don't worry I'm trying to make up the time now.

I have begun work on a log cabin blanket from the Mason Dixon knitting book. So far I'm having a blast knitting this thing, although i'm getting slightly irritated with my circular needle but nothing I can't handle. The colours are looking great together and it is a great project to pick up when I just need some mindless knitting.

My sweater is past the body shaping part and i'm just doing some mindless stockinette until it reaches it's measurements and then i can work on the sleeves. My goal for the sweater is for it to be done by April, but i'm really hoping for mid- March so I can get some wear out of it before the warm weather hits. It doesn't really look any different since the last picture, maybe just a bit longer, so I didn't bother taking a pic.

The monkey socks, oh the poor monkey socks. These socks were left alone for close to 3 weeks without being touched. I know, it's disgraceful. However, the past weekend I felt like monkeying around and I finished the leg, finally, and have begun the heel flap! Yay! I'm loving the yarn sooo much, it's so soft and lovely.

I may have mentioned in the last post that I finished the first mitt for my brother, well thats still about where I am. With the extreme cold weather I just could not bring myself to pick up a pair of mittens to work on. It just depressed me. I'm hoping that now the weather is shaping upI will be able to finally finish them so my brother can get a little wear out of them before they need to be packed away. I do, however, have a pic of the one completed mitten. Cute eh?

I'm also still slowly working on my mini felted cable bag. I'm not quite done the body but I may focus more on it in the next few days to get it out of the way. I'm quite anxious to try felting but am fully expecting to have a total mess.

Anyways that is about all on the knitting front. I best be off and Happy Knitting!

Grrrr....

Grrrr I am getting really tired of this whole winter thing. On the bright side you can knit and knit and knit and not have to worry about melting from the heat. My knitting has been going nicely but I have not had as much time to knit as I thought I would since I'm working quite a bit at the daycare which leaves weekends and nights to knit. I have finished my mittens and love them :D, but they aren't super warm so I still have to wear my lined mitts to work in case we take the kids outside. These mitts will be perfect for when the weater starts to warm up a bit.
I have a ton of projects on the go right now. I started a sweater which I am knitting in the round with Ella Rae classic wool and on a 4.5 mm 32 inch circular. Loving it so far and I really hope it turns out because it will be so nice to wear once it is done.

I was making really good progress with my monkey socks. I knit one repeat a night for 3 nights in a row but for about a week they have sat untouched. I'm still undecided on the bamboo dpns i'm using but I am loving the yarn and the pattern :D

On the weekend I was flipping through my 101 Designer One Skein Wonders book and decided to throw a mini felted messenger bag onto some needles. I am not that far along but I may take it to the knitting night tonight to work on and hopefully get a big chunk finished. I'm knitting it with Patons Classic Merino Wool in a teal like colour. This will be my first felting project and I am quite excited to see what it will look like but my expecatations aren't that high, with it being my first felting project after all. I've also got another pair of mittens on the go for my brother but they aren't that exciting. It's basically the same pattern as my flip top mittens just a little larger and brown yarn.

I bought the Mason Dixon Knitting book a week ago and I am loving some of the patterns in it. So much that i have gone out and bought 18 balls of Vanna's Choice yarn (a good acrylic yarn that does not squeek) to make a log cabin blanket. I haven't officially started it but I bought a circular needle and the yarn this morning. I'm using 6 different colours (blue, dark purple, light purple, grey, pink, and brown). The colours work wonderfully together and I am quite excited to start knitting it up. I thought about investing a little more money into the project and make it out of wool but then it dawned on me that this is going to be a blanket and acrylic is more practical.

Anyways that is all, I'm quite busy with projects and intend on working a few rows of my sweater as soon as I hit save... so Happy Knitting.

Hurry Up Mittens!

BRRRRR it is soooo frigid in here the 'peg and I am very close to being done a lovely pair of flip-top mittens knit in Patons SWS (which I am LOVING). They are super cute and with any luck I will be done these mittens today and put them into winter rotation

aren't they cute??? Plus the one that I have finished is very warm, which is a bonus! However, with any luck I won't be wearing them TOO much but who am I kidding, it's winnipeg.

I have also cast on my very first pair of monkey socks! EXCITING! I haven't got very far only a couple of rounds but I am very excited about them :D. I'm knitting them with the lovely yarn Jenna got me for Christmas! I am still trucking along on my Kroy Socks and once they are done the monkey's will have more of my attention.

Onto more exciting news... I finally made a trip to my LYS :D. I know it's quite sad that I have been knitting for 1 1/2 years and have yet to make the trip but I can tell you that it is a good thing I waited until I was working because that place is heavenly. I bought some Ella Rae classic wool for a cute little sweater I'm working on, some Rowan Soft Lux that was on sale, a pair of bamboo 32 inch circulars, bamboo 2.5 mm dpns, and susan bates 16 inch circular. Plus a copy of the Winter Kint Simple magazine.

Last week I attended my very first knitting night with Jenna and it quite fun. Sitting around a bookstore and knitting was such a new experience for me and I got a chunk of my Kroy sock done. The next one isn't for a few weeks but I'm sure i'll go again.

Anyhoo I'm going to go work on my flip top mittens and then head off to work (i'm working a split today 7-1 then 3:30-5:30). Happy Knitting!

New Year... New Knitting... New Post

Happy belated new years! I really should try and post more in the new year. Well I have been quite busy since my last post. I had a great Christmas and I got the cutest thing ever! At a craft sale in November I saw this adorable little sheep yarn caddy, but I wasn't working at the time so I couldn't bring myself to buy it. A few hours later, apparently, my aunt and cousin went to the same craft sale and bought it for me :D I love it!I also got some great books. I got 101 Designer One Skein Wonders, Vogue Stitchionary Vol. 1, and Casts On (gotta love the Yarn Harlot). On top of all that I got Michaels gift cards which have already been put to good use!

On the knitting front I FINALLY finished the first Kroy Sock, and I am pretty far along on the second :D yay! I knit up a pair of dorm socks for my cousin out of that lovely orange red heart yarn. I think he likes them and they didn't take long to knit up. I finished the calorimetry but failed to take a pic. It was a bit large and next time I will cast on fewer stitches but still quite nice. I also have cast on and am almost done my first Taos Slipper from the 101 designer one skein wonders book. Not too sure about the pattern yet but I guess we will see once I sew the first one up.

I am currently thinking about a new sweater. I found this pattern in my "not your mama's knitting" book. It's called Sweet and Seamless and it is a short sleeve sweater to wear over a tight fitting long sleeved top and it is knit in the round so no seams to sew up. I need to get the yarn still and some circular needles but as of now I'm thinking that this sweater will be my next major project. I also need to get a new pair of Dpn's to turn that lovely yarn that Jenna gave me for Christmas into Monkey Socks.

I don't believe there is any more to write about and hopefully i'll be able to stick to my blogging resoloution and type up a little more often. Happy Knitting :D