Happy Funksgiving!!

I hope everyone had a joyful, mouthwatering, laughter-filled, and truly wonderful Thanksgiving last Thursday!  I have so very much to be thankful for this year, and I did spend the day reflecting on how truly grateful I am for all that I have been given in this life.  Though there are days I feel worried about things, in my deepest heart I know I am one lucky girl to have all that I do!
 
For the first time this year we found ourselves traveling further than just across town to my Mother-In-Law’s as we usually do.  My Sister-In-Law hosted it this year and we bravely made our way into the heart of holiday traffic to spend a few hours with my husband’s side of the family.  It was difficult to leave my Mom to her own devices on Thanksgiving since I am her only close family left, and she had just recently been through surgery.  I felt guilty the entire day.  But we had arranged to have her over on Friday for our very own quiet celebration of Thanksgiving, a celebration I call “Funksgiving” (a play on our name), and that made me feel just slightly better about the way the chips had fallen.
 

Knittymunchkin loves Daddy’s old cars!

 
Funksgiving is not about getting dressed up, making uncomfortable small talk with people you don’t see often or know very well, or eating fancy foods that make all the guests ooh and ahh over the hostess’ cooking prowess.  It’s about comfort, calm, and a day spent in our own house relaxing and feeling thankful for all our blessings.  Funksgiving came about when my husband and I were first married and had to do the typical family negotiations involved around celebration of major holidays.  Which side of the family would get to spend which holidays with us?  Where would we go?  How could we avoid offending anyone?  My husband comes from a divided family.  His Dad pretty much gets the shaft and we rarely, if ever, see him around any holidays.  I think that’s because he is the easiest when it comes to these kinds of things.  He doesn’t make a fuss and prefers to take the pressure off of us by bowing out, rather than expecting us to have to choose between families.  So then it came down to my parents and my Mother-In-Law.  My parents chose Christmas Day (Christmas Eve has always been “ours” in our own home) and my Mother-In-Law chose Thanksgiving.  We hosted a couple Thanksgivings and Christmases in an attempt to include everyone, but it just didn’t seem to work out. Someone always seemed uncomfortable.   So then my Mother-In-Law started hosting Thanksgiving for that side of the family and my parents would go to a friend’s house to celebrate.  It felt strange not to see my folks at Thanksgiving. So we started inviting them to Funksgiving, which is traditionally the Friday after Thanksgiving, to try to keep everyone happy.
 
However, this was not the only motivation for the creation of Funksgiving.  Probably the greatest reason was this: leftovers.  Going to others’ homes for the big Thanksgiving meal meant that there was a massive dearth of holiday deliciousness in our fridge during my husband’s favorite holiday of the entire year.  No turkey sandwiches, no leftover green bean casserole, no potatoes and gravy to munch on for days as you relive the glory of a comforting and filling Thanksgiving meal.  We love spending this day with our little family, feeling grateful, and having a quiet meal together in our own home.  It reminds us, for yet another day, of all that we have to be thankful for.
 
In the spirit of Funksgiving, and because I am still working on decluttering our home, I have a few things I’d like to offer up to all of you lovely readers who take the time to visit my humble blog and stop, for even a moment, to read my nonsense.  I will give these items away, for free, to whoever leaves the first comment requesting the item.  Just one item per person, if you please, and only US requests (I am unable to ship international right now due to lack of funds).  If there seems a huge amount of interest in one particular item, or a question about who commented first, then I will hold a drawing to decide who receives it.
 
First up, is a copy of “Expectant Little Knits”.  This is all maternity patterns for those of you who are expecting, will be expecting, or know someone who is expecting.  I received a free copy of this, and as Knittymunchkin will be our one and only, I have absolutely no use for this book.  I’d love for one of you to take it off my hands and enjoy it!
 

“Expectant Little Knits” – image courtesy of amazon.com

 
My next offering is something a little more near and dear to my heart.  After recently completing a sweater that I’ve not failed to wear at least once a week since its finish (I’ll show you soon), I realized I have some hand knits that really need a better home than I’ve been giving them.  First up is this one: 28thirty (ravelry link).  I have lots of memories of working on this sweater, but only one memory of actually wearing it (other than the photo shoot).  I was newly pregnant and wore it to one of my checkups.  The receptionist complimented my sweater and when I told her I’d knit it myself she was pleasingly congratulatory on my knitting skillz.  Made me feel awesome, especially since I was feeling a tad chubbity with Knittymunchkin blossoming in my belly, but not awesome enough to keep on wearing it.  No matter what I try, it never looks right on me. One funny note: the sleeves look like earthworms, and I’ve always thought of it as my earthworm sweater :) Anyway, I knit this as a size Small and if you’d like to see more details and/or pics, the link to my ravelry project is here and the link to my original post about it on the blog is here.  Any other questions, please feel free to e-mail me or comment here on the blog.  I have just one request regarding this giveaway.  Please, I beg of you, don’t ask for this sweater only to felt, frog, or cut it up!  I want it to be worn by someone.  It would break my heart to have all my hard work destroyed so easily :(  Thank you!
 
Claimed by lollyknits! Thank you!!
 

28thirty – front view

 
Hope each of you had a joyful Thanksgiving and a very Happy Funksgiving to you as well!

 

Snot Rocket

Yes, that’s right.  My precious angel has recently infected me with the crud and both our noses are dripping like your favorite ice cream cone on a sweltering summer day.  I guess we’ve been pretty lucky.  It’s April after all, and this is our first bout of the year. Of course Knittymunchkin is made of rubber and you can hardly tell that he probably feels terrible, between his cold and the last two teeth that are trying to push through.  If only I could be so cheerful.  I just want to lay in bed watching trashy movies and sleeping for, oh, the next week.  Not happening.
 
Anyway, it’s Thursday again.  I have missed the last two (three, if you count my pass week).  But just because I haven’t posted, doesn’t mean I haven’t been chipping away at my goals.  I think the exercise of trying to write about it once a week has done its work, without me actually having to go so far as to bore you with my tales of semi-reformed hoarderliness.  That doesn’t mean I won’t continue to write about it, I just may not wax as poetic about it as I have up to this point (you don’t get off that easy, puh-lease!).  The emotionally charged items I expect to give up now and then will still get their due, but things that go by the wayside more easily will hopefully receive a little more brevity on my part.
 
So.  The Update:
 
Week 13 (March 29, 2012):  Pass from Week 7′s massive offload
 
Week 14 (April 5, 2012):  Candle & Bath stuff brought out of stash & put to use, pre-pregnancy jeans with hole in goddess grotto (ha ha) thrown out, 30 minutes of declutter every Tuesday established
 
Week 15 (April 12, 2012): 10 balls of yarn sent out via RAK, almost 1 lb. of dishcloth cotton scraps sent out via RAK, stickers sent out via RAK, sweater pledged via RAK underway, book mailed out via Bookmooch
 
Week 16 (this week): Book to Bookmooch
 
I’ll admit it.  The jeans were a little hard to part with.  I loved the way they fit when I was skinny; key phrase: when I was skinny.  Realistically, as much as I would love to fit into them again, I never will.  It’s a sad day when you feel defeated by your waistline.  My brain raced with reasons to keep them: the hole’s not that big, you can hardly see it, you could wear them to garden, you might fit into them again someday, they’re so cuuuuuuuute.  I gulped and threw them in the trash.  Immediately I felt the irrational urge to fish them out.  Instead, I walked away and found something else to occupy my mind.  And then….  I totally forgot about them.  Huh.  So that’s how it’s supposed to work!
 
That same week I was reading an article in SHAPE magazine written by the experts who counsel the people on “Hoarders”.  There were lots of tips in there on how to cut down on your clutter and get more organized.  I was particularly struck by the one that said you should set aside thirty minutes on a specific day each week to de-clutter.  It sounded like a great idea.  Now that I have a lot less structure in my days, being that I report to Knittymunchkin instead of a 9-5 workplace, I find it a lot harder to focus and get things accomplished.  You’d think somehow it would be easier, with all that time in my day, but it really isn’t.  Time with a two year old vanishes faster than you can say “Elmo”.  So scheduling specific organization time seemed like a great idea.  I chose Tuesday evenings for my new plan and so far it has worked really well.  Thirty minutes is long enough to get something done, but not long enough to feel like you are chained to a specific task.  The first week I could actually see the top of part of my desk again after just one session.  I’d realistically like to do this more than once a week, but for right now one session is about all I can commit to.  Still, it helps!
 

Little Bubbles Baby Set - Yoke

 
I mentioned that in Week 15 I pledged a sweater via the Random Acts of Kindness Group on Ravelry.  Every month you can post a wishlist and this month I posted on my wishlist that I needed a knitting recipient.  I had two kits for the Little Bubbles Baby Set from KnitPicks, and I never got around to knitting them for Knittymunchkin.  Now that he’s too big for the biggest size, it’s kind of a lost cause to make it for him.  So someone answered my request and I’m knitting this for her 5 month old.  Hopefully, by the time I finish it it will be the perfect size for her :)  The colors I have aren’t sold anymore (or shown on the pattern page) but I love them.  Knitting this makes me wish I’d had more time to knit things for Knittymunchkin before he was born.  Oh well.  Maybe I’ll save that second kit for the grandchild I may have one day.  I know that’s planning pretty far in advance, but it would be worth it to have it when the time is right.  Uh oh. Maybe I really haven’t made any progress!
 
Off to sniffle in bed with a book for a while.  Hope you are all staying healthy & happy!

 

The Mayor Of Cooville

The Mayor of Cooville spends all day in his pajamas.  He lives at home with his parents and doesn’t have a job.  The Mayor of Cooville has people who cater to his every whim.  He’s not afraid to cry when he’s upset or wants his way and he knows who is really in charge and how to stay that way.  The Mayor of Cooville loves milk.  It’s his favorite.  In fact, he loves it so much he eats milk at every meal.  The Mayor of Cooville knows how to pour on the charm.  His smile could stop you dead in your tracks.  He stays up late and gets up early, and knows the importance of a nap (or three) during the day.  The Mayor of Cooville doesn’t have  a driver’s license but he loves riding in the car and will fall fast asleep while traveling.  He has a lot of potential and learns fast.  But most of all, the Mayor of Cooville still lets his Mama dress him funny……
 

Knittymunchkin!

 
I actually finished these sweaters in late 2009, all but the buttons.  But without the buttons on, it seemed silly to post and then things just got effing crazy with Knittymunchkin’s arrival and so on.  These are still a little big for him but I did put the brown and blue one on him when we took him for a walk last weekend.  I felt vaguely smug when we ran into a couple from our childbirth class and they exclaimed, “What a cute sweater!”, not knowing I had made it myself.  Rodger proudly told them so and then I felt even a bit more smug at their astonishment.  I’m so vain about my craft it’s sad ;)  Anyhoo, the specifics….
 

Felix Sweater in Patons Classic Wool

 

• Pattern: Felix’s Cardigan by Jacki Kelly (Ravelry link here, My Ravelry project link here)
• Yarn: Approximately 0.87 balls (194 yds) Patons Classic Wool in “Wedgewood”
• Needles:  Size 7 -  24 inch bamboo circs

 

Felix Sweater in Cascade Quatro

 

• Pattern: Felix’s Cardigan by Jacki Kelly (Ravelry link here, My Ravelry project link here)
• Yarn: 1 hank Cascade Quatro Color #9432
• Needles:  Size 7 -  24 inch bamboo circs

 
What can I say?  I love this sweater so much I made three (third one still needs buttons; photos to come)!  It’s super quick, super easy, and super cute.  I love that I can make one with pretty much one ball of yarn too.  Perfect for those random single skeins you might have hanging out in your stash.  Finding the perfect buttons though?  That search might take you longer than it does to knit the sweater!
 
Now I’m off to check on the Mayor of Cooville.  He’s one demanding taskmaster!  But this Girl Friday sure does love him :)

 

What Not To Wear

Whenever I see someone dressed inappropriately for trail use I laugh to myself just a little inside.  I mean, what were they thinking when they put on a skirt, some heels and a hoochie top, and then went for a walk?  It’s not like the parks around here have nice level boardwalks or smooth paved lanes.  We have dips, hollows, mud puddles, rocks and tree roots all lurking to trip you up.  Not to mention nettles and devil’s club, waiting to attack bare flesh.  But Sunday, in the name of the blog, I became one of those people not dressed for either the climate or the technicality of trail activities.  I could see people laughing inside as I walked by. But it’s all good.  I knew I had a purpose.  And maybe those other people I used to giggle at did too, though I think that perhaps their purpose was to try to look hot without somehow breaking a leg.  To each her own!
 

Click me for a larger photo

R. Darling was feeling creative....

 

Pattern: Bell-Sleeved Scoop-Neck Top from Glam Knits by Stefanie Japel (on Ravelry here)

Yarn: 4 hanks of Blue Sky Alpacas Brushed Suri in “Pink Lemonade”

Needles: Size 10.5 – 24″ addi turbos & Knit Picks Harmony interchangeables, size 9 – 24″ KP Harmony Interchangeables & size 7 – 24″ bamboo circulars

Mods:  Worked 1 extra repeat of eyelet pattern at bottom edge for added length, worked extra rows of eyelet trim around neckline to lessen depth

New Techniques: Not really, except I’d never knit a sweater with vertical bust shaping before

Time Lapse: March 11, 2009 – June 19, 2009

Comments:

First a note about the yarn.  There’s an error in the book.  You do not need 9 hanks of yarn to make the smallest size.  I used 4 but had purchased 10.  Oy.  The good thing is, I can knit a whole extra sweater most likely so the small fortune I spent won’t go completely to waste.  This yarn is absolutely sinful once it’s knit up, but I didn’t enjoy the process in the least.  I would say this is very “technical” yarn.  It’s furry, it catches, and I found myself with the tendency to drop stitches or knit two together without even realizing I’d done it.  I had to resort to counting stitches on every single row of knitting, to prevent from having to go back and fix mistakes.  And forget frogging.  It looks like a mess if you attempt to rip it out for any distance.  The alternative benefit is that, if you do make a mistake, no one will ever notice.
 

 
As for my overall opinion of this sweater, I’m not particularly happy with it.  It feels gorgeous to wear and I will probably keep it just because it feels nice.  I think the problem is most likely the ease.  I tend to like 2-3 inches of negative ease in my sweaters and this has about 1 inch which totally doesn’t work for me.  I feel fat in it and it makes me look dumpy.  Because it’s so “full” it doesn’t go with anything I own.  I admit, I had a clue it might turn out this way but didn’t want to frog back all that expensive yarn knowing it would look like crap afterwards and be possibly useless.  If I were to knit it again (and I could since I bought twice as much yarn as necessary) I would use smaller needles to adjust the size and possibly add more shaping.  I would probably add even more trim to the neckline as well, or even adjust the depth as I was knitting.  It’s just way too indecent and I think a camisole underneath might just spoil the look.  On a side note, I think the pictures in the book are highly deceptive.  The way the lights are shone on the model, you never see that the back of the sweater is rather loose.  The picture makes it look much more fitted than it is in reality.  The neckline appears much higher than it turns out to be as well.  Just sayin’ in case you think you’d like to make one yourself.  Maybe in a different yarn, with less drape, it would turn out differently.  I still like the design and the idea of how it should look, just not how my version turned out.
 

And where would we be without an outtake?

 

The traditional outtake

 

Hope your projects are coming along nicely!

 

Stink. Doesn’t Stink.

Sniff.  Sniffsniffsniff.  Sniiiii-fffff. Yep.  I smell like wet pencil shavings sprinkled with coconut.  I guess that’s what happens when you decide it’s finally time to destash your bath and body baskets.  Oh yes.  There is more than one.  See, not only do I indiscriminately hoard yarn, I also seem to be under the impression that I must buy every half-priced beauty item that I stumble upon, perhaps out of some fear that the world will end and I’ll be caught as the last woman on the planet reeking of BO and without a steady stream of smell-good-stuff to redeem myself.  Usually I stick to a few favorite, tried and tested flavors.  But every once in a while I make an attempt at branching out and come home with something new.  Hence, the wet pencil shavings (which is actually Bath & Body Works’ discontinued flavor: White Tea & Ginger).  Sometimes, one of my flavors will go “off” in storage, and rather than throw the offender out, I will attempt to live with the hideous smell until it’s gone.  Let’s see, that would be the last two months I’ve spent smelling like sketchy ice cream when I should have been smelling like Victoria’s Secret’s Tahitian Vanilla Flower.  Perhaps it is only I, that senses these strange scents don’t smell right on my skin.  R. Darling never fails to tell me I smell good even when I am quite certain that I don’t.  What smells “sugary sweet” to him, smells like something entirely different to me.
 
But even if I stink, there is something I have to (finally) show you which absolutely doesn’t.  May I present a completed 28thirty for your non-sniffing pleasure…….
 

 

 

 

Pattern: 28thirty by Zephyr Style (on Ravelry here)

Yarn: Filtes King Koala – pretty much exactly 8 skeins in color #703

Needles: Size 8 bamboo circ

Mods: Worked only 2″ of K2,P2 pattern on cuffs (instead of 4″), added an extra buttonhole and an extra 4 rounds of K2, P2 pattern at bottom edge of sweater.

New Techniques: Nope.

Time Lapse: June 9, 2008 – February 20, 2009 (Oy!)

Comments: This sweater languished for way too long in my knitting UFO pile before I finally picked it up again around the beginning of Febuary 2009.  What can I say?  It shouldn’t have taken me nearly this long to complete something so ultimately wearable and enjoyable to knit!  Somewhere along the way I’d gotten distracted, couldn’t make head or tails of my poorly written notes, and had kept putting it aside.  Well, as 2009 is the year in which I hope to finish up my stray UFO’s, I figured it was time!
 
I adore this sweater!  As my very first completed long-sleeved sweater, I find this one ultimately more useful than the short-sleeved ones I’ve previously knit.  I’m always cold.  Always.  So what better way to warm up than with a long-sleeved beauty like this?  I love the little, simple details: the purl ridges on the sleeves, the cowl neck, the cute cropped shape, and the perfect fit.  And of course, that pink!   Though the yarn is a bit shoddy, the color was just too perfect to resist when I saw it that first time.  My only gripe is that the cowl neck doesn’t really lay as I would like it to, but I noticed that if I unbutton a few of the buttons it will unflop itself and lay nicely.   So happy to have finally finished this one!
 
So sorry, but there are no outtakes this time :(  In case you can’t tell, I have had a nasty cold since last Thursday and in these photos I actually feel like ass warmed over, so there was no hamming it up for the camera as I usually do.  So sad.  But I promise one next time!

 

Yin and Yang

What was that I was saying the other day about knitting socks?  Something poetic and designed to extoll my love for the craft?  Scratch that.  I think I was momentarily high on yarn fumes. 

This morning as I lovingly stitched away on my Jaywalkers, I admired the chevrons and thought to myself what a glorious sock this was going to be.  Hey, why not try it on just to get a glimpse of that future glory?  The cuff was done, the heel turned (not a single mistake – yay me!), and 5 inches of instep finished when I slipped this beauty past my toes and up to my ankle.  Hmmmm…. starting to feel a little snug….must tug harder…. what the hell?  It does not fit.  Not even close to fitting.  Not even with a little crisco.  All that work.  Wasted.

But in every knitter’s world there is a little yin and yang.  With every bad comes a little good.  Enter Juliet.

Juliet began with the best of intentions for a KAL with the Sexy Knitter’s Club, October 2007.  I was using yarn repurposed from a disastrous attempt at the Textured Tunic from Fitted Knits for the Fitted Knits KAL I had joined earlier that same year.  But after knitting away for a while I quickly lost steam and started in on the slew of Christmas gifts I was attempting to finish in time for the holiday and one thing led to another and that “another” was never Juliet.  I pulled it out again a month ago after finishing a test knitting deadline and thought to myself, I really need to finish this.  I did a few lace repeats and then put it aside again.  So last weekend I finally decided it didn’t feel very good to have this 9 month old UFO sitting around and it was high time I finished it.  I had to be close, right?  I pulled out my sweater and put the stitches on some waste yarn and then tried it on.  What the?  It was the perfect length this whole time and I hadn’t even realized it!  All I needed to do was knit 6 rows and I’d be finished!  How did I not realize this for the last month and a half????  Maybe because I’m a distracted dumbass?  So I promptly finished the last 6 rows, blocked for a week and attached the loops and buttons over this past weekend.  Voila!  The Yin to my Yang (or is it the Yang to my Yin?)!  What a good feeling to know my knitting universe is happily balanced.  For now.

 

 

Pattern: Juliet by Zephyr Style (on Ravelry here)

Yarn: Approximately 11.5 balls Karabella Aurora Bulky color #19

Needles: Size 10.5 bamboo 29″ circular 

Mods: Can’t really think of any, other than deciding where I wanted the garter stitch portion on the top of the sweater to end and how many lace repeats I wanted.

New Techniques: Nope.

Time Lapse:  October 14, 2007 - July 12, 2008 (Yikes!)

Comments: What a relief to have finally finished this sweater!! And it was nice to have found the perfect use for that $80 worth of Karabella Aurora I purchased too.  I really like this sweater. I’m not sure I love it, but I do really like it. It makes me look a little fat but I will totally wear it anyway! It’s cozy. I wasn’t sure about the Karabella at first but after blocking it has an amazing drape that I love and the lace really pops. There were some puckery sections in the back that I wasn’t too hot on which totally worked themselves out during the blocking process. My only gripe was that the sweater grew lengthwise after blocking and now seems a bit too long, even though my husband says it’s perfect.  The buttons, they were free with the June issue of Simply Knitting and luckily, were exactly what I’d had in mind.  Another happy FO! 

 

 ************

And what photo shoot would be complete without at least one outtake?

 

 

Happy Monday Bloggy Peeps!

 

**Our Gulf Islands Trip: Day 3 – June 9, 2008

Our trip route for Day 3

(click for larger image)
Image courtesty of KayakSuccor (aka R. Darling)

 

This morning I stirred awake to the sound of rain gently pattering on the deck above me.  The boat had been still most of the night and was rocking just the slightest bit when I first came to.  Having had a terrible night’s sleep, I rolled over and closed my eyes for another hour hoping to nod off again or at least postpone the cold and damp I knew awaited me when I crawled out of my cozy sleeping bag.  I could never hack it as a true sailor, or even a pirate queen, kickass though the outfits might be.  I hate being damp and cold, and I get seasick (though I was mercifully spared this time).  Plus, I’ve noticed, when you get insomnia on a boat with other people, there’s not much you can do about it except count to 1000 over and over in your head until you either fall asleep or go crazy and jump off the back deck.  Luckily I eventually fell asleep.  It would have been a long damn swim to shore otherwise.

After some coffee and chitchat, we untied ourselves from the mooring buoy and headed off into a cold grey morning, rain gently but steadily dimpling the water.  Today was the first day that I decided it was just too cold to ride on the flybridge with the boys so I stayed in the heated cabin and knitted blissfully.  This was my first day of real knitting and, though I hated to miss out on the scenery I knew was probably terribly enchanting, it was lovely to spend a little time alone with my fiber and get reacquainted.  Foolish me, I’d brought enough yarn to start and finish 28thirty, yarn for a complete Fake Isle hat for myself, and enough yarn to make 6 pairs of Warm Woolies socks give or take.  I laugh now to think I thought I’d have enough time to knit all those things, but I guess I was feeling optimistic.  Or maybe just hopeful.

 

28thirty in progress (knit from stash…..boo-ya!)

 

After about 2 hours of travel we arrived at our first destination for the day:  Degnan Bay on Gabriola Island.  We unloaded the dinghy from the boat and quietly motored our way into the harbor, heavily anticipating one of the major highlights of our trip.  It was eerily silent, with little signs of activity, and I almost felt as if I should whisper.  As if speaking aloud might awaken some sleeping creature that wouldn’t be too happy to find interlopers in their harbor. 

 

Inside Degnan Bay
(click for larger image)

 

A small wooded island outside Degnan Bay
(click for larger image)

 

I was particularly excited to be going ashore as we had been promised that Gabriola was the site of some amazing ancient stone carvings.  As to how to find them, well that part was rather vague.  Walk to the main road, turn left, walk to the church, then take the path behind it to a large field.  Nothing was clearly marked at all, but after a mile or so we found the church and made our way into the clearing behind it.

 

 The field behind the church
(click for larger image)

 

 I can’t begin to describe the feeling that engulfs you when you find yourself in the presence of carvings made some 5000 years ago.  Carvings so ancient that they pre-date the Native People indigenous to the area itself.  What struck me most was how different they were from most Northwest Coastal Native art.  Alien, in fact.  Who were these stone carvers?  What did these images mean to them?  Sadly, the site is quite evidently eroding from exposure to the elements as well as exposure to unappreciative humans who seem to feel compelled to walk over, and desecrate the images with their own brand of graffiti.  It’s sad that a wonder such as this isn’t better protected.  I feel extremely grateful that I got to see it before it becomes just a footnote somewhere in a long-forgotten book.  Here’s a few of the better images that we were able to see (click on them for a larger view):

 

 

Contemplating what we’d just seen, we walked ourselves back to the dinghy and took a quick look inside the bay itself before heading back to the boat.  We had hoped to catch a glimpse of the killer whale image that is supposed to be visible on one of the rock faces at low tide.  It’s the best known of the Gabriola petroglyphs, but we didn’t appear to have arrived at the right time to see it.  Instead, we were rewarded with this little guy eating some shellfish on the rocks.

 

 

In a steadily falling rain, we weighed anchor and headed for Telegraph Harbor on Thetis Island.  If I thought Gabriola seemed eery, then I wasn’t prepared for the creepy that was Telegraph Harbor.  Imagine boats in varying degrees of disrepair, rocking gently in the water, hidden eyes watching closely as the newcomers arrive, unsuspecting, in their midst.  The perfect setting for a horror film.  We even had the pounding rain and ominous mist necessary to set the stage.  But rest easy dear readers, we were safe.  The afternoon was spent knitting, napping and watching movies.  And later, I was rewarded with the most blissful 5 minute shower (in 2.5 minute increments) imaginable.  Never mind that it cost me 1 loonie ($1 Canadian coin) per 2.5 minutes, never mind that a good 2 minutes of each increment was either lava hot or glacier freezing.  For the first time in way too long, I was clean!  Whoever invented hot water and indoor plumbing, you are a true genius and I salute you. 

That night we fell asleep to the sound of pounding rain and the feeling of clean limbs.  Lovely.

 

Next stop: Salt Spring Island!

 

Oh Dear.

To all good things must come an end,
At least I’ve heard ’tis true,
And so MagKnits, our patterned friend,
we bid farewell to you… *

 

Oh dear. No more MagKnits. I understand why they would want to pull the plug, but it’s so sad that they weren’t able to do it less abruptly. So many beautiful patterns lost forever in the pixelated universe of the intraweb, perhaps never to be seen again. Sad for me, but even more sad for the designers. I hope that they will be able to recover what they’ve worked so hard to publish and maybe someday (I hope!) their work will be available on Ravelry. I know my Favorites list will never be the same.  ~Sigh~  Just goes to show you that when you find a pattern you love, you shouldn’t wait – knit it now, print it now, download it now, or you might find yourself adrift without that beautiful new project bliss. Some things on the internet, it seems, are just not made to endure. 

But this pattern, The February Baby Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmermann, it does endure. You see its incarnations everywhere. And here, finally, is my very own to share with you……

 

 

 

 

Pattern: February Baby Sweater (Baby Sweater on Two Needles; Best Baby Sweater) by Elizabeth Zimmermann from Vogue Knitting: American Collection

Yarn: Valley Yarns’ Longmeadow; Approximately 2.25 skeins in Seafoam

Needles: Size 6 bamboo circs for body and Size 6 Susan Bates dpn’s for sleeves

Mods: Worked the sleeves in the round, and omitted the decreases at the bottom edge, but other than that knit this one pretty much to pattern.

New Techniques:  First time using a provisional cast on (for the sleeves).  Worked pretty well and wasn’t nearly as scary as I’d thought it might be.

Comments: I think this pattern would probably be pretty frustrating for a true beginning knitter.  Not that the techniques are especially difficult, but because EZ tends to present it as a “recipe” rather than a pattern.  This is my first EZ pattern, but I do hear this is typical for her and though that’s lovely after you’ve been knitting for a while, I think I would have been really unlikely to finish this sweater if this was the very first garment I ever attempted.  I’m pretty happy with the results, though I dropped quite a few stitches under one arm when removing them from the provisional cast on.  So, I know there’s errors under there even if the recipient may never notice them :(  I don’t like that feeling, but there was no way to make it “perfect” without ripping out the whole garment and since it’s already 6 months too late, I needed to get it finished and make it snappy.  I’m not sure I’d want to work the sleeves in the round again – it was nice from a finishing aspect, but I don’t know if it turned out as nicely as it could have if I’d knit them and then seamed them.  Who knows.  I’m so done with this though! 

 

* Crappy poetry courtesy of knittymuggins.  Please do not copy said crappy poetry.  Not like you’d want to, but you know, just in case.  Thanks!

 

Well At Least There’s This

Some of you may remember that little secrety sumpin’ sumpin’ I was working on for a while.  The Something Exciting which will now be better known as “Petal“.  I have to admit, it was a bit of a surprise to find it all complete and ready for purchase when I was browsing Ravelry this afternoon.  My heart sank just a little.  Like when you find out a week after the fact that your boyfriend went out to dinner with a girl-that’s-a-friend (who you think might be more-than-a-friend) and somehow neglected to share that information until you asked a bunch of snoopy questions and pried it out of him. 

I guess I had a lot of expectations about the process that I didn’t realize I was holding on to.  Some altruistic sense of wanting to help another knitter, albeit someone who doesn’t need my help, and being on the cusp of something new and exciting.  Maybe even a little asterisk in the bottom right hand corner that says something like, “Test knitters using Berocco Nostalgia found that yardage needed to complete this project was in fact doubled.”  In the end, I wasn’t helpful at all and the worst part about it is, I now am the proud owner of my very first Fuggle (non-magic knit) as a result.  Oy.  I haven’t even bothered to take a photo of it yet so pictures may not ever be forthcoming.  Just take a look at Stefanie’s if you’re curious because it looks positively lovely on her!  Sorry, I know you were excited to finally see it.  Maybe, if I don’t frog it in the near future I’ll take one for posterity and share it with you so you can enjoy my very first Fuggle as much as I have (not).

Lest you think I am badmouthing the designer or her process, I feel compelled to assert that I don’t have any negative feelings whatsoever towards her or how everything worked out.  It was my own damn fault for having such high expectations for whatever it was that I thought I was doing and I just can’t explain why I feel so melancholy about the whole thing.  I’m really happy for her that she got the pattern completed and it appears that she had a whole community college class test knit it for her, so I’m sure that was extremely helpful.  And I wish her tons of success with both the pattern and her book that will be coming out in the future!  Hooray for Glampyre!  Thanks for letting me test knit for you even though I suck!

But at least there’s this~

Twinkle Toes in STR Midsummer Night for SITM Pal #2

I finally finished my second pair of socks for my second pal for the Sock It To Me Sock Swap.  These will get blocked tonight and then hopefully I’ll be able to mail them out over the weekend.  Then it’s time for some serious Christmas knitting.  Stay off the Naughty List kids or you may find a Fuggle in your stocking!

 

Projects Big & Small

It’s been a while since I’ve posted pics of what’s been on and off my needles, so here’s the 411 on the fiber.

I get a grand total of about 2-3 hours knitting time during the work week which puts a major cramp in my knitting style.  That’s pretty much all accumulated during my lunch breaks on workdays.  And at home?  Keep dreaming chicky.  There’s just too much other stuff I have to get to first.  And somehow, in a new evil plot to rob me of sleep and knitting, I have to magically find myself another hour each day for exercise!  If only I could get used to flabby thighs and biofilms in the kitchen sink, my WIP’s might be persuaded to show me a little more love.

This here’s the most that I can show you of the Something Exciting that I mentioned a while back. I finished it a while ago, sans weaving in ends, blocking and adding the buttons, but it’s been tragically anticlimactic because I still can’t share it with you yet. I’m not even sure I’m allowed to show the sleeve, but I figure you can’t tell much from a photo of the sleeve and besides, Stefanie has a full photo on her blog and in her Flickr set. I knit it with some Berocco Nostalgia from my stash and it was an easy pattern to follow, I just got kinda bored of knitting monogamously so it took me longer than I’d hoped. I think that Stefanie is a bit overwhelmed right now because I e-mailed her a couple weeks ago to tell her I’d finished and I haven’t heard a peep. From reading her blog it sounds like the pregnancy is really wearing her out. Heck, I’m tired all the time and I don’t even have another person growing inside me! She deserves some rest.  So, I’ll finish it up for reals soon and then when she’s ready maybe I can show you more of it. Honestly though, and this is totally not a reflection on Stefanie or her pattern, but it looks terrible on me. Really terrible. A Grade-A Milk Chocolate Nightmare.  But it was fun to do her testlab even if I never get to do it again.

Man, I finally finished my socks for my first SITM Swap pal. I don’t know why but the second sock was a b*tch to finish. I seriously re-did the heel on it about 10 times. No sh*tting.  Talk about major suckage. I have no idea why it gave me so much trouble, because the first sock knit up without a single hitch and I am one of those people who follows instructions like nobody’s business (yeah, I’m boring like that).  I kept ending up with the wrong stitch count and it just kept getting worse the more stressed I got. I’m already almost a week and a half late with these, so I was sweating to get them done. Now they’re all blocked with my fancy new blockers from here (gorgeous by the way – buy some if you can!), packed up, and on their way to Virginia. Next up: the second pair since I’m an “angel” and have an extra partner. I’m being incredibly unimaginative and am knitting the same pattern for my second pal in a different color yarn. Time to renew the “Mystery At Heel’s Turn” (sounds like a good Nancy Drew, eh?) and if I find the stitch count off again I might have to throw something.  Or throw up. Either way, something’s getting thrown.  I’m a little bit farther along than what you see below, but not much.

This pair’s in STR Heavyweight in the Midsummer’s Night colorway. Pal #2′s favorite color is blue, so I hope she digs these. I’m a little afraid the color’s not deep enough since she says she doesn’t like “baby” colors of anything. Didn’t find that out until too late though. 

Knit this as a little extra sumpin’ sumpin’ for my SITM pal’s package. It’s a free pattern from here and I made it with Sugar N’ Cream in the Pool colorway. Super cute and super easy.  Smariek has tons of them to choose from and they’re all so pretty!  It looks a little wrinkled because I was too damn lazy to take another photo after blocking.

This is an almost finished baby hat that I got at my new LYS when they opened up.  Kind of a cool deal.  They’re called “Apple Yarns” and this little hat was a promotional deal they put together for the shop.  Knit the little hat, they put it in the window for display, and then when they’re finished, the hats go to charity.  I’m all for the charity stuff, though lately I haven’t had much time for it.  I took this one to the coast with me and just have to finish the leaves and sew ‘em on and voila!  Baby hat.

Nope, this funny looking thing is not half of a halter top.  Good thinkin’ though.  It’s actually the baby sweater I was working on in Vegas (see previous bikini photo from Vegas posts).  The pattern comes from the Greetings From Knit Cafe Book and I thought it would be fun to give it a try since I just happen to know someone with a new baby girl.  She doesn’t dig pink like I do, so I’m using Valley Yarns’ Longmeadow in Seafoam and I like the yarn pretty well so far.  The sweater is kind of interesting in its construction since it’s knit from side to side in one piece.  I’m looking forward to finishing my socks so I can finish this one up.  I think it will be pretty cute when it’s done.

Finally! My freakin’ Louet Gems showed up!  I ordered this yarn from one of my less-than-usual LYS’s because I had a gift certificate there and I wanted to change up the colors and thought it might be nice to have a little advice.  The sample book came in handy too.  Hadn’t even thought about needing that to help me decide. Anyhoo, after waiting for over 3 weeks it’s finally here (Note to self: They are lying through their teeth when they tell you it will only take a week to arrive.  Don’t believe the hype.).  The KAL actually started October 1st so I’m already late, but unfortunately, Mirepoix’s just going to have to wait a little longer.  I’m kind of excited to swatch though.  I’m curious to see if the new color combo will be crack-a-lackin’ or just plain old lackin’. 

So, if you made it to here, you must really love knitting!  That’s the 411 and thanks for stopping by!

 

Fabulous Fifi’s Finally Finished!

And I love love love this sweater!! 

The techy knitspeak for anyone who’s curious:

Begin Date:  July 18, 2007

End Date:  August 31, 2007

Pattern Source: French Girl

Size Made:  33.5″

Yarn: 4 balls (50g – 175yd – 160m each) Rowan Calmer in Chiffon (#462)  - 75% Cotton/25% Acrylic/Microfibre

Needles & Gauge: Size 7 bamboo; gauge very close to the 20 sts = 4″ called for in rib pattern

New Techniques:  Cabling without a needle

Total Cost:  Approx. $31.00 (yarn cost $6.25/ball + approx. $1.50/ball shipping)

Recipient: Me baby.  Me!

Comments: Knit for the Sexy Knitter’s Club (SKC) KAL - Summer 2007.  This sweater has turned out to be one of my absolute favorites and I can totally see myself actually wearing this!  Did I mention I love this sweater?  I did not however, really enjoy knitting it.  I found the pattern itself to be somewhat confusing, especially the portion where you are to separate the sleeves from the main body.  After reading, re-reading, pondering, and puzzling over the instructions at this point numerous times, I finally just left the sweater on the needles and started something else.  When I came back to it, the pattern still didn’t make sense, but since I’d already completed one top down sweater previously, I figured I’d just do what I thought the instructions wanted me to.  This was successful, much to my amazement (I expected to have to rip it out completely due to some silly mistake I was sure I’d make).  After that, the only difficulty I really experienced was finishing up the sleeves.  I found the instructions about beginning the actual sleeve to be a bit unclear, but I again improvised and it looks o.k.  I did quite a few more repeats of the bottom ribbing on the lower bodice section than was called for (11 in all I believe) and for the sleeves I did one round in pattern, did the decreases, 1 round of ribbing and then bound off.  Other than that, no real modifications other than to add a stitch here or there when establishing the ribbing pattern for the lower bodice portion.  I think if I made another one of these someday I would definitely attempt the short-row shaping for the bust area.  I think Fifi would fit even better that way.  But I do love how it turned out! 

Don’t you want one now?