Saturday, May 31, 2008

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!

Sunday, May 11, 2008

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!