Spoiled!

That's what I am! I picked this up today, while mailing off a package for my secret pal.



And this is what's inside!



(Sorry, I haven't arranged this list in any particular order) 2 24” Clover bamboo circular needles, sizes 3.25 mm and 3.5 mm, David and Goliath (of “boys are smelly” fame) sticker, magnet and key chain, Care Bears stickers (2) and Magic 8 ball, gummy bears (now how’d she get that through customs? When I was at the post office, they questioned me at length about food. Apparently we can’t even send gum to the US!) and 3 balls of Filatura di Crosa Sesamo in colour 15 (an orange-copper-pink mixture, very nice for fall). I have some ideas about what I’ll try with this, but I need to swatch to see what the fabric will be like.

In other knitting news, I have finished the sleeves for Samus! Now all I have left is seaming and knitting the rest of the applied i-cord. I hope I can finish it this weekend to wear next week, although new may win out over finishing.

Surprise!

What could this be?


surprise

Actually, It could be a number of things. A belated birthday present from a friend? Movies I bought off another friend? Sockapal2za socks? Or, a new Secret Pal package? Well, it could be anything, but since it might be a Secret Pal gift, I'm making myself wait until I have my package ready to send to go pick this up. I'm thinking Saturday. Although that's also the only day I can really get to the pickup, so its not really a choice on my part.


samus sleeves

Here is my update on the Samus sleeves. I have progressed since this picture was taken, but its just a whole lot more stockinette, so this is good for now.

Finally, I saw this in the window of a local bedding store. Isn't it cute?


cute

Besides the animals knitting, there are sheep wearing scarves!

daffodil?

Here's a photo of my newest sock. I'm still not sure if I'm going to do a pattern or ribbing, but I like how the turkish cast on worked out. However, I'm not certain the colours look like a daffodil to me. I think the yellow is a little too light.


daffodil sock

I have to admit, since I know the chances of my getting home during daylight hours during the week are slim at best, I stockpiled pictures on the weekend. I'll spread them out over the week, even if they don't show my most recent progress to avoid big gaps. Hopefully its still interesting.

krazy socks

Well, despite not doing much knitting, I have managed to finish my third pair of socks (ever)! They are knit on 3mm needles from Patons Kroy Socks Stripes in Krazy Stripes. I didn't follow a particular pattern, but I used a short row heel.


from the side


from above

The one thing I would change next time would be the toe. I didn't think to do some decreases when I switched from ribbing to stockinette, to I have two corners. Lessons learned.


toes

I have already cast on for a new sock. Since, I've got this cuff down thing figured out, I tried the Turkish cast on for toe up socks. The first couple rows were a little tight, but its going well now. I'm using Knitpicks Sock Garden in Daffodil. And, I knit the cuff cables for Samus on the trip last weekend, so I've been working slowly on knitting up from there.

In other news, I've finally started giving family and friends my blog address. I waited because I wasn't sure it was going to stick this time (I had a blog when I was overseas and then stopped posting when I got busy. I didn't want to mislead them again.) At a couple month of regular posts, I think its time, since many complain that I never tell them what's going on in my life.

slow down

Wow. I was so quick off the mark with the Rhinebeck post, and now I've completely dropped off the map. I've been tired still from my busy weekend, and work has been busy (I just found out that I'm on call this weekend too, so no respite for me). I haven't been doing much knitting either. I knit a bit on my sock at the knitting group last night (It was crazy! There were twenty-odd people there! It was the largest crowd in a while as we joined up with some people from the knitty board). Justine and I spent a lot of time winding our purchases from Rhinebeck on Daisy's swift and ball winder, which she was kind enough to bring. We got a lot of stares with that contraption set up in the middle of the coffee shop (there are pictures available on the yahoo group if you want to see). There was one point where her skein kept tangling and we were both sitting on the floor babysitting it and we were giggling like mad... It was a nice moment.

Other than that, I've been reading a new book! That's pretty new for me, since I haven't read much lately. I'm reading The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, which I picked up from the Bookcrossing meeting that was going on during the last knitting group I went to.

Rhinebeck

Well, the adventure started about 10 am on Friday morning with Justine, her partner, Patrick, Jo and her daughter arriving at my place to pick me up. And, we're off!


my travelling companions (well, this picture was actually taken near the end of the trip, cause I didn't think to take one earlier)

Mapquest had said the drive would be about 6.5 hours. Well, what with the vagaries of travelling with an eight year old, stuffing 5 people in a smallish car and the torrential downpour we were driving through, it was 7 pm before we pulled into the Pleasant Valley Motel. (When we talked talked to a local later, he said it had rained 20 inches in the past week! All of the rivers had left their banks. And the basement of the hotel was flooded, so they had a generator going all night Friday to keep the water from reaching the electrical panel!)

Jo and Justine were largely going to meet up with Sara and Cate, so we found them first near the petting zoo.




We met lots of other people too, including, but not limited to, Wendy, Christine, Melanie , Moth Heaven, Norma, Steph, Alison, Jenn, and Juno. There were so many more that I've forgotten names of or talked to without even introducing myself, but everyone was so nice! Not that I'm surprised, but it made everything so much fun. Say hi in the comments if I've forgotten anyone.

Aminals...


sheep


llama

Then, there was shopping. I tried to take pictures, but my efforts never really showed off the sheer enormity of this event. Let's just say that there were 20 buildings worth of fibre-related goodness, with over 220 vendors!

My stash enhancement:


yarn

Two hanks of alpaca from Staghorn Valley Alpacas and two hanks of Duet from Brooks Farm. The Duet is 55% Mohair and 45% Wool and is incredibly soft!


roving

And the fibre for spinning (since I don't really know the difference between roving, batts or other forms of fibre)... from left to right, Tina's Hand Painted Fibers in Bittersweet and Lemon Sherbet and batt from Grafton Fibers

I think this is good for now...

I'm back!

Guess where I was this weekend?

Autumn colour

autumn colour

Well, as you may have noticed, I've had to skip Wardrobe Wednesdays this week. It will return next week. In the meantime, I'm placating you all with a lovely shot of the fallen leaves.

Now, for a knitting issue. I have finished the body of Samus, and I decided to starton the applied i-cord edging before the sleeves (I had high and misguided hopes to wear the body as a vest to Rhinebeck this weekend). At this point, I've ripped it out once and am on the verge of doing it again becuase the line where I'm applying it to the sweater is so uneven.


samus edging (with cat for scale)


samus edging close

I know its hard to see on the photos, as it really is a little thing, but sometimes there is a ridge where I'm applying the cord to the knitting, and sometimes there isn't. I don't really like the ridge, but I'd accept it either way if it were just consistent. Any suggestions?

In other news, I think my cat is jealous of my knitting. On Sunday, I was knitting away and the cat came over wanting to be petted. I put the knitting aside for a minute to pet her and she climbed onto my lap. This, from a cat that has never sat on my lap willingly in the four years I've owned her! She's affectionate, loves to be petted and sit beside me, but generally dislikes being held. Then this morning, I was trying to photograph the dastardly i-cord and she would not get off the knitting. But as soon as I stop with the photography, she went back to sleep. Weird that.

knitting news

Lest you think I don't actually knit, I thought I'd post some pictures of actual knitting. I've started working on samus in Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in Stream.


samus

I have finished the cable along the bottom and am now working my way up the body for the second or third time. Since I'm not using the yarn called for in the pattern and I decided to add a wee bit of shaping, I've had to rip out once or twice, but I decided it was worth getting it right. Especially if this turns out to be the first thing I make that fits me.

It's knit flat, so its long.


samus again

I have three Denise cords joined together so I can stretch it out to see how it will fit as I go. I'm using a size 10 needle (recommended size is 7 or 8) to get somewhere near the pattern gauge, but also because I like how the fabric drapes at that gauge.

In other news, I finally took pictures of some of my secret pal gift. You see why I loved this card?


card from my secret pal


tattoo on my back

Side note: Yet another annoying thing with this camera. It was suprisingly difficult to get a picture of this tattoo. I know I'm so pale that I glow on occasion, but the camera wouldn't really focus on the tattoo. This is one of the few (of many) shots that was even close to being in focus. I only have a few more days to make a decision...

Wardrobe Wednesdays

I know its already Thursday, but there's not much I can do about that now. I've been thinking about adding this as a regular feature, and Wednesdays make for nice alliterations.

So, now that I'm actually working and not a student, I find that I have a hard time judging what constitutes a work appropriate attire. And, since I had questions about the outfit I wore to work today, I thought I'd put it to blogland. And I think I'll try and do it regularly as I purge my closet of the clothes I no longer need and try to build a nice, compact wardrobe (without looking too conformist - I don't really like wearing suits). So, for background, I work for the Federal Government in Canada. My office is fairly dressy, although we do have casual Fridays. Lots of people wear black suits every day, but lots of people don't as well.

So, what I would like would be for people to comment to let me know if this outfit is fit for work. Sort of like Hot or Not, but not really. So, are these outfits a "workplace wow" or a "workplace woe"?


Option A


Option B


boot closeup

Live from the Skatch

So, I was supposed to be on a plane right now, but when I arrived at the airport, the ticket lady found me a better flight that leaves a little later but gets in earlier. That was just fine with me, so I'm hanging out the Saskatoon airport (as opposed to the Calgary airport a little later on). I thought I'd do a quick post, as I have some interesting pictures from the weekend.

First, in knitting news, I finally finished the first sweater I ever started!


My first sweater

I had been knitting for a while, but had only really made scarves (and maybe a first try at a hat) when my sister asked me to make this for her. She picked out the pattern, and I decided to use some yarn my grandma had given me. It was Eaton's Sayelle, the yellow colour in the picture. Of course, I finished a sleeve and the back and then realized that I wouldn't have enough yarn to finish the front, never mind the second sleeve. So, I frogged the sleeve and finished the front and hood in the yellow. Then, I gave the sweater to my sister for her birthday in May so that she could decide how she wanted it finished. She picked out the gray yarn for the sleeves, and I designed the pocket to tie the two colours together. I actually sewed the pocket on this weekend, and then made sure to get pictures. Yay for the FO!

I actually had a pretty good weekend, despite coming down with the cold that's been circulating through my office. It was my cousin's wedding so almost all of my family was able to come to Saskatoon to celebrate. I flew in on Thursday night, and now it's time to head back. We're not all getting together for Christmas, so it was worth the plane ticket for a short trip.

I bought a digital camera because I've been talking about it for a while, but I'm not sure I'm terribly impressed with it. I will take the time to read the manual when I get home, but I'm finding the picture quality uneven, even under the same circumstances. For example, these two pictures were taken from the same spot in the same (poor) lighting conditions, but one is completely out of focus. I'm finding that I'm having a lot of focus problems. I'll see if I can figure it out, but I'm also glad I've had a chance to test it out before the return period is done.


camera woes


better