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!

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.

There is a very fine line between hobby and mental illness.....Dave Barry

I love that quote. I have walked that fine line many times. When I find something that really interests me I tend to jump into it, immerse myself in it and not come out until I have either gotten bored or life has somehow gotten in the way. As I get older I seem to have more patience and stick-to-it-ness, I am more willing to work out mistakes and not just throw up my hands in despair, and I have much more pride in and appreciation for the finished product. I think knitting has been my biggest and best obsession. It is a great stress-buster. It is portable, tactile, sometimes repetitive, mostly interesting and the end result provides great satisfaction. Knitting socks makes me feel ever so clever. Wielding five fragile rosewood sticks and a fine yarn looks very impressive. I was once on the ferry to the mainland when a small group of Chinese tourists stopped in front of me to watch my knitting, bobbing their heads and smiling at me. They were clearly impressed, which felt good, but I felt like a tourist attraction, almost as good as spotting a killer whale off the starboard side!

I recently finished the Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman. It is a very interesting pattern, a little confusing in that EZ assumes you are in her brain and know what she is thinking. It is not for the faint of heart or the inexperienced and the finished piece is a strangely shaped rectangle that looks nothing like a sweater. The 'surprise' is how it goes together. I don't think I could ever have figured it out without a diagram which has you match A to A and B to B and voila! you have the cutest little sweater for baby. I had enough yarn left over to make a little earflap hat and booties. All set for my daughter's baby shower next Monday. I'm also working on a quilt for baby which I'll have finished as soon as I put the binding on today. My plan is to dress a stuffed toy in the knitted outfit and wrap it all in the quilt.

The Wee Hours

A little birdie woke me this morning at 4:45 with a very pretty, but LOUD, call right outside my open bedroom window. I tried to go back to sleep but no such luck. Gave up and got up. rrrrgh.

Life has been somewhat hectic this last month. My son-in-law has been in Fiji leading an archaeology field school so my daughter and grandson have been staying with us. Having a 3 1/2 year old around makes for very different days - his energy is unstoppable so there is something happening all the time. He is so cute, so lovable, so affectionate and sooooo busy! I love having them here -- J loves to cook so we have great meals cooked for us as well as lots of home baking (not good for the waistline but so what!) The little guy had strep throat last week, fever, lethargy, swollen tonsils, etc. Poor baby, he really felt miserable, but he was such a trooper saying "I feel better now" whenever we fussed over him. He had to go on antibiotics and yesterday we noticed a rash over most of his body. We stopped the antibiotics (he has had a full week's worth), gave him a soothing bath and hopefully it will be better when he gets up this morning.


I have been getting quite a bit of knitting done as it is something I can pick up and fire off a few rows in between gramma, mom and wife chores. The Sea Baby outfit is for the new grandson due in September. It was a lovely knit with yarn that was 30% Sea Cell. Such a cute pattern. I also made a tea cozy for J to match her lovely Denby ware. That was done in Cascade 220 wool which felts beautifully. Felting always scares me - taking a nice, albeit large, object and tossing it into a hot water wash and agitating the hell out of it is somewhat of a leap. I have only had to frog one item (slippers) but that wasn't the felting process, more the pattern being weird and the slippers ending up looking like a plaster foot cast. I save them though as you can cut the felted object like fabric so may be able to use them in or on something else one day.

The weather has been great, lots of sunny days, some of which have been a little too hot for my liking. Hot flushes and hot weather are not a fun combo. However, it is usually easy to find a cool(ish) spot somewhere and, if all else fails, a drive in my AC equipped car to run some errands makes for a reprieve. The relatives in Florida thought it was highly amusing when I told them we were having a heat wave. They seem to think the Pacific NorthWest is always wet and cold. Funny, that. The garden is gorgeous - roses, star-gazer lilies (8 feet tall!), day-lilies, shasta daisies, canterbury bells.....

Where did summer go?

After that lovely stretch of warm weather last week I have to confess I thought it would last forever. Well, it didn't. The last few days have been downright miserable. Wind and rain and overcast skies - blah. The garden seems to love it though, in fact the whole yard looks green and fresh. There is a lovely little wild rose bush in full bloom at the top of the driveway, the salal has flowered and the brambles add their own special highlight of white blossoms all through the underbrush. I love the new green tips on the branches of the evergreens - they look like little fingers.

I finished a felted tea cozy yesterday (in spite of a migraine - rrrrgh). It was a very easy pattern, the flowers were cross-stitched on after knitting.

It is amazing how a big floppy knitted article can felt down to a solid piece of fabric. Next project will be felted clogs for Braedy. He actually asked me to knit him some slippers last time he was here so I'd better get busy before his next visit!

My son-in-law left for Fiji on Friday for a two month archeological dig. He has taken a field school with him so will be teaching the entire time he's away. He and my daughter study the pottery found in these digs to try and establish a travel timeline of the ancient peoples. They have found shards of pottery up to 3500 years old with distinctive markings that indicate the movements of various indigenous tribes. Very interesting stuff. Meanwhile my daughter and Braedy are left behind as daughter is pregnant, due in September. I'm headed over to visit with them this weekend. They will be coming to stay with us for most of July which will be lots of fun. It always brightens up the house to have Braedy around.