Final stretch

We’ve had plague at our house this week and by that I mean that hubby brought home some sort of bug that caused him to almost poop himself to death. He then kindly passed it on to me. Ah, it really is the season of giving. Needless to say, we have not Christmas presents, barely any stocking stuffers, and no Christmas baking.

But you know what? That’s really okay. I got hubby a bit of candy for his stocking and a new game for the Wii (don’t worry, he never reads this). I got my wheel last month so I am happy as a clam. We did manage to get out yesterday and buy some groceries and really, for me, Christmas = all about food. The only thing I forgot was Hawkins Cheezies darn it. Now I’m going to have to go out at some point today and pick those up. You can’t have Christmas without them, at least I can’t. That and Triscuits are huge memory foods for me. We always had them at the holidays and now I must have them every year too.

In other more fibrey news, I did finish the Tidepool socks:

I’m really happy with them. Very soft and the pattern is really nice too. I don’t think I changed a thing with the pattern and for me, that’s rare. Usually I fart around with the pattern and then forget to note what I did so the second sock is very “experimental”. I think I’d like a pair for me but in something more colourful. The Knitpicks Gloss did give off some colour when I soaked them though and I thought that was a bit odd. I only have 1/2 a sock to go on the pair for FIL. Oh, and about those, I was calling them the Lava Flow (.pdf) socks, yeah no, I’m on crack or something. They are of course the Not Cable Socks (.pdf). I don’t know how I make it through the day sometimes.

So, MIL and FIL will each get a nice warm cable touque and a pair of socks for Christmas. Then I want to make me a nice warm hat, seeing as we woke up to snow again this morning.

So hey, how’s Poppy doing?

Hmmmmm?  Pardon?  Oh, what’s that, over there?

See that?  I totally distracted you with nothing but a bit of string.  The fact that I knew that would work only because it would have totally worked on me is irrelevant.  It is pretty string though, is it not?  That’s Alfebetto from Artfibers.  I believe it’s colour #5.  It is lovely and after fighting the good fight and getting my sleeves safely installed in Poppy I thought I deserved a treat and did a little stash diving.  I’m doing the Montego Bay Scarf from IK, Summer 07.  Very mindless and that is making me happy after the sleeve work.

Just to clarify, the sleeves are in, I’ve learned a tonne of lessons, not least of which is to do short row shoulders (if I ever do another sew it together sweater in my life!), Diane Soucy and Stephanie Japel are my bff’s though.  I’m a sucker for top down sweaters, and now I know why.  Sewing is hard.  I will take some picis of Poppy soon though.  I just have a few more ends to weave in then finish around the neckline and the bottom and she is fini.

I also got some of these in the mail yesterday:

They are super shiny, wicked pointy, and take a bit of getting used to.  Not near as much drag as other wood needles but still more than say and Addi Turbo.  I want to used them some more before I say anything else.  I also got a couple of the fixed Harmony needles in 3.0 mm to try and see if I can get some Kauni gauge.  I’ve been stalking this site for days trying to decide what pattern I want to do my Kauni in.  Scroll down, click on the left hand side you’ll see 4 links to Norwegian Fair Isle.  Some of the charts would be stunning with the Kauni.

Finally, I had noticed that when I get off the train in the mornings there are quite often vendors/company reps giving away free samples of things.  Newspapers, granola bars, etc.  When the new season of Survivor was about to start they were giving out little foil wrapped fortune cookies with the show & tv station logos on them.  Hubby really liked that!  Snort.  This morning, it was a newspaper and a yogurt.

I wish they were there everyday!  I’d never have to pack my breakfast again.  I always eat when I get to work, I just cannot face food at 6:00 in the morning.

As a definite bonus for a Tuesday, the sun came out and the temperature went up to almost 19 Celsius.  Can you imagine?  It was like a summer morning.  So cool, er warm, er, nevermind, you understand.  Here is a pici of the sun coming up from the top floor of my building.  It was amazing to watch.

Then I went and ate my free yogurt. 

Attention span of a gnat

The new fall Knitty is up, in case you didn’t know.  I was smitten and cast on Mr. Greenjeans right away.  I’m using Cotton Ease in lime.  Here’s how it’s going so far:

Sorry the picture is a bit dark.  We’ve entered the rainy season her in southern British Columbia.

This is the first time I’ve used Cotton-Ease and so far I like it.  Also in the picture are a pair of sock blockers I found at the Salvation Army a few weeks ago.  So cool and only 50 cents each.

I got an email from Knitpicks about the new Harmony needles last week.  Has anyone used them yet?  I am having a terrible time getting gauge for my Kauni cardigan and a friend suggested I try wood needles.  She says they have more grab and stretch out the floats better in fair isle too.  I thought I might order a couple of the Harmony needles and give them a try but I was wondering what others thought of the quality and such.

Dinner time and then a maybe a movie.  Watched Ocean’s Thirteen last night.  Meh.  Should have stopped at Eleven, the last two were not just not very enjoyable.

I’m in love

A word to the wise, order your own birthday presents and you will very rarely be disappointed.

These are great. If I was male, it would have been embarassing when these got delivered to work today. Yep, its that creepy how much I love these. Happy Wednesday. I’m gonna go cast on something. Anything. Just for the joy of it. God I love knitting!

Oh! I almost forgot, look what Linda made in my name! How cute is that?

And, look what CeCe made! Nice, right? Excellent cables!

Have you knit for Dulaan today? If you did, have you told me about it yet????? Dontcha wanna win? Dontcha deserve to win?

Done and done

Yep, there it is in all it’s glory. The first pici is lighter than true life but lets you see the details a bit better.

This pici is a bit too dark, but you have the rare honour of seeing Mo Cuirdh, our older cat.

My friends call her my invisible cat because she is never seen when they come over. To be honest, she’s not seen much when it’s just hubby and I at home. She’s lived with us for 13 years and is still a bit skittish. When it’s all nice and quiet late in the evening she comes out for some lovin’. I’m not really sure what brought her out on a Sunday afternoon but there she is.

In honour of finishing an old UFO I’m going to cast on a new project tonight. I want a nice spring pullover and I’m gonna make one darn it, from stash yarn! I want to give the new 5mm Knitpicks needle a good run for it’s money and be sure that a whole set of them is a good idea. Look at me, showing restraint and all! Boo ya!

Wow, is there a class for this?

Man, I have got to get better at taking picis of myself and others. Pictures of yarn and nonmoving objects, not so bad. Anything with a pulse, forget it.

There is the giggle and jiggle

The flashbulb in the mirror.

Tottally off centre

The one where I look like I have a stick up my butt.

The one where I have 7 chins and a weird facial expression.

‘Nessa looks good though, such a pretty smile! Needless to say, these are my fruitless attempts so show you my new cardigan. It needs some form of closure in the V-neck area, I’m thinking a length of thin leather to tie if I want it to stay closed.

I really like the sweater, very comfy and the yarn is great after being machine washed and dried flat. Not sure I if I would use the dryer, maybe one day when I’m feeling brave.

In other much more productive notes, Ann is knitting like a mad woman. I think it is the new swift and the ballwinder driving her on. Take a look at this little sweater she made last week. So cute! I’ve made this pattern for a friend at work and it is a winner. Actually, the cardi above in the incredibly sad photos is from the same designer. I love her patterns. I’m lazy, I don’t sew, what can I tell you.

I found a new home for the Denise needles set. Hi Darlene! They are heading east as we speak and I hope she will be very happy with them. I’m going to order my Knitpicks set this weekend and then stalk the mailman for a week or so. He likes that. I still have not found the box with the book prize, but I will, I promise. Some time this week.

I also finished a couple of Flap Caps this week during my odd moments of free time between work and home. One two strand model of sock yarn and DK weight wool like Pat did and one in Patons SWS.

I’m off to do some more work on my long in the works crocheted afghan. I think I should be able to finish it this weekend. Finally. It’s only been ongoing for about two years. Sheesh!

A quickie with some picis

Vanessa, my friend from work, and the daughter I will never have, got me the greatest gift! Look at how cool this is. It’s one tremendously long zipper that you zip up and up and up and up into a purse. It’s my new small project knitting bag. I love it!

To prove that Nessa is the daughter I will never have just look at this. We bought the exact same geek shoes two days apart and when we weren’t even together. Love it!

I also got these in the mail yesterday. They are really nice! I am seriously swooning over the pointiness of these needles and the smoothness of the join. Wow. I think I’m gonna buy the set.

To that end I will be selling my Denise set + an extra 52 inch cord (very handy for ponchos and blankets). $25.00 US plus shipping via Paypal and she’s all yours. If you’re interested drop me a line at beentsyATyahooDOTca.

I’ve also been a busy little beaver lately making some stitch markers and such for the upcoming Dulaan contest. We’re gonna start the party on March 1 so get you’re needles warmed up. I’m thinking some stitch markers, a book, some yarn, and I don’t know what else there will be for prizes. Aren’t you excited? Wicked!

Oh, and I got the new Spring IK. I am not amused. IK is not supposed to have all the patterns in the back like Vogue and FCEK do. That’s one of the biggest reasons I like IK. Make the OH! noise about a pattern, look to the side, check out the pattern and see if you have the yarn, is is something you want to attempt, what does the designer have to say about it, etc. etc. etc. Oh well, whatcha gonna do eh? That said, I love the Green Tea Raglan, the Bauhaus Fair Isle, and the Dollar and a Half Cardigan.

And Kat, you are totally right. Matching is probably highly overrated! And to that end, I scavenged a really cool mirror yesterday when I was at work. A woman who was moving was putting out a bunch of stuff for the garbage and I swept in and saved the mirror. Within about 15 minutes everything she had put out was picked up and taken away by people. I love recycling!

Okay, gotta go do laundry. Must have clean undies & jeans for casual Friday. Too much information? Yeah, you’re probably right.