Keeping It Warm

I guess I was a little too enthusiastic about spring in my last post. It's friggin' MINUS 8 degrees out there!! The rhodos look like they want to shrivel up into the earth. Maybe I should be knitting them some blankets.

I made this little capelet for myself, with an eye on my spring wardrobe (puh!). It's in "Hempton" from hempforknitters.com - 40% cotton, 30% hemp and 30% modal. It is comfortable to knit with, not like some cottons that are hard on the fingers. I like how it drapes and hangs a little low on the shoulders. The pattern is Hemp Capelet by lanaknits.com. The colour isn't really true in the photo, looks a bit orange-y where I'd say it's more of a coral shade.




I think I'll be staying in my warm woolies for a while longer, though. Snuggling down with my hot coffee.



and my toasty Queen of Beads (Sivia Harding) socks. (yarn is Socks That Rock, superwash merino, colorway My Blue Heaven)







CAFETIERE COZY: worsted wt. wool, size 4mm needles. Fits small french press. You could probably double the cast-ons for a larger size.

Cast on 40 stitches and knit whatever pattern you like - I used a mock cable which goes like this - Multiple of 10

Row 1: p4, k1, p1, k4
Row 2: p3, k2, p2, k3
Row 3: p2, k2, p1, k1, p2, k2
Row 4: p1, k2, p2, k2, p2, k1
Row 5: k2, p3, k3, p2
Row 6: k1, p4, k4, p1

Do 5 repeats and bind off. Chain crochet button loops and Nellie's your aunt!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

We are back to our typical west coast weather (buckets of rain) after an rather unusual couple of months. Snow and prolonged below-freezing weather made for some nice sunny days. When it rains it warms up again so we're seeing some growth in the garden and lots of birds at the feeders. Snowdrops are the first to appear so I had to bring some inside.















On the knitting front, I finished these long woollies for Johnny









and a pair of socks from my Rockin' Sock Club. The pattern is Queen of Beads by Sivia Harding.









I have a few projects on the needles - felted clogs for hubby, a hemp capelet from Lanaknits. I am stalled on the Eastlake pullover as I keep screwing up the pattern. It may wait until next fall as I want to do some spring projects and more socks, of course. Leyburn socks are next on my radar. I seem to be stuck on the red, blue, purple side of the colour spectrum right now so I want to venture into the yellow side.

I had a wonderful Valentine's Day visiting with my daughter and her family. The grandsons are so cute. We stayed at a nearby hotel and Braedy joined us for a sleepover one night. He was so happy all snuggled up with us in bed watching TV and eating chocolates.

Little granddaughter, Ryleigh, is upstairs having a nap and I can hear her little squeaks and movements over the monitor. So sweet! I love being a gramma!

A Bit O' Bling

I made these earrings for my daughter's best friend, who is like another daughter to us. They're from Knitty and called Bijouterie by Rosemary Hill. (note to self - figure out how to insert links) I thought they turned out quite pretty. I haven't given them to her yet but will be doing so in the next few days. Knitting with wire isn't easy, especially 30 gauge which is very fine and tends to kink. But for a first try it wasn't bad.

Winter is dragging on. And on. And on. First it was the never-ending snow and now it has been days and days of freezing fog. Yesterday the fog finally lifted and it was a glorious sunny day. This morning we are socked in again with a heavy coating of frost on every outdoor surface. Spring please. Soon.



These socks turned out well. It's the Yarn Harlot's basic sock recipe knit up in KnitPicks Imagination yarn, colourway Evil Stepmother. Lovely yarn, cozy socks.












Oooooh, cashmere piano mitts!

And, finally, mindless stress and stash busting work. I loves cotton dishcloths!

Christmas Leftovers

So here it is January 10, 2009, three weeks from my last post already. How time flies. We had a great Christmas day with my daughter and her family. Braedy was so excited counting down the "sleeps" til Santa came. Having a 4 year old around makes it all so precious and fun. Two of my grandkids were having their first Christmas. Sweet little Ryleigh spent Christmas Eve day with us. She is 1 year old as of Jan. 8 and has just started walking. Baby Johnny is 3 months old and such a happy little boy. His eyes light up when Braedy talks to him and he grins from ear to ear.

We did indeed have a white Christmas. At one point there was about a foot and a half of snow, truly beautiful. It is almost all gone now and we're back to our typical west coast rainy, windy weather.

I got an organizing/cleaning bug yesterday and spent most of the morning in my closet. I culled three garbage bags of clothes, two for the Salvation Army and one for the garbage. All the shelves are tidied up and I found things I had forgotten I had! Speaking of which, I also went into the garage and noticed my big canning pot was up on a shelf instead of in its usual place lower down. I went to move it and, lo and behold, it was full of turkey leftovers, veggies and stock that I had boiled up to make soup. Forgot all about it! Surprisingly it didn't look any different from when I put it out there, I guess because it has been so cold. Into the garbage it went, no freezer soup for us later this winter. Sniff.

White Christmas

We are going to have a rare white Christmas this year. The temperature has been ranging from 0 down to -10C over the past week. There is about 30 cm. of snow on the ground and more expected. The family arrives today and I am so excited to have the grandkids here for the holidays. Say good-bye to peace and quiet!

Cold rose hips:



Need to knit a few more:



Peace:

Best Laid Plans and Winter Drawers On

I started this blog thinking that I would hone my writing skills. I am realizing that honing doesn't happen in a vacuum. I guess that's where discipline comes in, not one of my strong points. Maybe (see???) I'll make blogging at least weekly my 2009 resolution.

Winter has arrived. We had 4" of snow yesterday and it is -5C. Not cold by prairie standards but cold for us wet coasters. The grey skies have cleared today and the sun is shining which makes it all much more bearable. I must admit I like having an excuse to bundle up in handmade woollies, sit by the fire and knit. What's not to like about that?


I have been knitting a LOT. One (or more) could call it obsessive but I prefer to think of it as being disciplined. HA! One of my proudest projects is the Cobblestone Pullover I knit for hubby. Perfect fit and all round great knit.












There have also been Amigurumi toys:











Christmas tree ornaments:











A dress and cardie for granddaughter:











Rowena cardigan for me, diaper soakers, scarf, fingerless mitts, fingered mitts, felted purse and bowl, etc., etc. All on Ravelry.


And last, but definitely not least, a new grandson arrived in September! Number three in the 'cutest grandbabies on earth' series.

How The Deal Went Down

I found a new podcast a couple of weeks ago - The Manic Purl Podcast. Turns out Chrissy lives in Vancouver so since I was headed over there I thought I'd see if I could make a purchase of her naturally hand-dyed yarn (100% merino superwash 'Storm'). We arranged to meet one evening in a Starbucks near her house. I must say it felt a little strange and I was a little apprehensive meeting an unknown someone from the internet. Upon entering the Starbucks there was this lovely young lady sitting near the door with a skein of gorgeous yarn on the table. She didn't look scary at all so I got a coffee and sat down for a little visit. Chrissy's hubby/bodyguard arrived a few minutes later and we had a bit of a laugh about our 'deal', wondering if we should surreptitiously transfer the goods under the table, casting glances over our shoulders. We had a very nice visit and I love my yarn purchase - soon to be a pair of socks. Her online store is www.yarnsprout.com



My daughter's shower went really well. Her friends had set up a table on Burnaby Mountain covered in yummy food and drinks. The weather was perfect and everyone really enjoyed themselves. I had dressed up a very cute teddy bear in the Baby Surprise Jacket and wrapped him in the Noah's Ark quilt - I think she was quite tickled.



I have been knitting diaper soakers for the new baby, three so far in different sizes. They are so cute - I can't wait to see the little fella decked out. I also knit up these little socks for the B-man and his little bro.