FOrama!

I finally finished my Gatsby Girl! It only took a few hours to seam the sleeves to the body and do the crochet and buttons at the neck edge, and it looks very good! I do think its a little short in the body, so I'm thinking about picking out the cast on edge and adding an inch or two. I have the extra yarn. However, that's a lot of work, so I think I'll wear it a few times!



I also thought I'd get around to posting pictures of a few other things. This is a little vest knit in Handmaiden Stretto! I knit it in one piece from the back, over the shoulders and down the front again. I knit the front a bit longer than the back, and then made them match up by gathering the side seam around the chest area. I quite like it, but you know, its a bit hot here for wearing.



Here's the scarf I was making with my last skein of Noro Kureyon and some Wool of the Andes. It will match the mitts I made with the first skein of Noro (although I think they're in storage, so it will be a few years before I get to wear them together). I will be wearing this in the snows of Canada in only a few days.



And, since I realised that I had never posted a picture of it, this is my finished Olympic sweater!

All project details are on Ravelry!

Feminism relies on us all

I've been trolling around the internet a lot lately, looking for inspiration, and I don't know what else. This article is amazing, and I'm thinking about grabbing the book when I'm back in a place with book stores.

I'm also really enjoying the Inspiration Project.

Where do you turn to for inspiration?

13 Questions

Um, I'm tired, but I haven't posted in a while, so here's a meme...

1. Childhood ambition?

Architect

2. Best/worst weather (choose one)?

Best: Cool, crisp fall day with a bit of a breeze, and a few clouds in the sky, but sunny.

3. Favorite food?

So many... right now, its probably popcorn, or these cranberry pumpkin crisps I bought last time I was in Canada

4. Current book?

I just finished reading the Inheritance of Loss (Kieran Desai)... and I'm not sure what I'll read next.

5. Guilty pleasure?

Magazines - not tabloids or People, but things like Glamour, Marie Claire, knitting or other crafts, travel, house design... I'll read almost anything, but I feel guilty buying them because of all of the paper.

6. One quirk?

Oh, I have tonnes, but... I find it really hard to skim through magazines. I usually read them straight through without skipping anything. Thus, I dislike magazines that stick the ends of stories in the back, as it forces me to jump around to finish the story and see the end before I get there...

7. Something you’ve never done that most people have:

Broken a bone? I guess I don't really know what most people do.

8. Favorite drink:

Chai latte

9. Oddest job you’ve had:

I was once hired to paint corals at a horse farm. And although I didn't get paid for it, I once tarred the outside of the basement of a house we were building.

10. Last song you listened to (on purpose, not on the radio):

Cupid's Revenge

11. Cities/towns/villages you’ve lived in, in chronological order:

(I'm leaving out the multiple moves between places, and only listing the first time I lived in a place) Moose Jaw, SK; Wainwright, AB; Calgary, AB; small town at the southern tip of Lago Majore, Italy; Annemasse, France; Jericho; Ottawa, ON; Khartoum, Sudan

12. Teenage ambition?

Um, to get married and have kids (at one point)

13. Movie you’d most like to be a character in:

The Golden Compass

Mission Possible

(also known as 'better late than never')



So, I signed up for Mission Possible ages ago, and then never got around to posting my twelve goals for the year.

1. long socks in Mountain Colours Barefoot, stalled a year ago by the loss of a needle (finish ribbing on two socks)
2. Souvenir Scarf (graft two pieces together, block)
3. Baby surprise jacket (purchased yarn for several, need to make at least one) finished!
4. Icarus Shawl ETA:I have been working on this! 20/06/08
5. Samus cardigan (rework to fit me or gift)
6. my own scarf finished!
7. Gatsby Girl (sew arms to body, crochet neck edging, add buttons) hopefully in time to wear in March! finished! on time too!
8. Colourwork Vest (finish or frog)
9. baby blanket and the box of grandma's acrylic (?)
10. make a top that fits from some of my extensive bamboo yarn collection
11. finish spinning the orange roving from Rhinebeck 2005 and knit something from it
12. catalog and organise stash!

Tired

I got home last night from a four-day work trip, and somehow I'm tired to the bone. I had big plans to go to a friend's party last night, but instead I was in bed by nine, and I slept almost 12 hours! (After subtracting the time spent petting an anxious Spooky cat) I have a very relaxing day planned, starting with a bath, late lunch with friends and a massage! (Have I mentioned that I love the Thai massage place here? Cause I do!) At some point, I do need to do some grocery shopping and good stuff like that, but for now, not so much.

Good weekends...

make for poor blog posts. At least while I'm in the midst of it.

It's Saturday morning, and I've already had a lovely dinner with friends, a day spent wandering around the pyramids and other archaeological sites, and a night dancing on a rooftop under the stars. So, today I'm a little tired, a little achy. I'm going to work out my issues at the Thai massage this afternoon, and then I have a baby shower for a friend! I'm not really done my portion of the planning, so that has to happen at some point. And, I really should go to work, as tomorrow will be crazy preparing for a work trip starting Monday. Somehow, I don't see that happening.

Anyway, I have been knitting, and I've even finished something...



The gift for the baby shower this afternoon!

Project Specs:
Pattern: EZs Baby Surprise Jacket from The Opinionated Knitter
Yarn: Dale of Norway Svale, a cotton, silk and viscose blend
Needle: 3.00mm bamboo straights
Modifications: I slip stitched around the neckline to add short ties, as I don't have any suitable buttons in my stash, and there is a definite lack of crafting supplies here. I did the buttonholes though, in case they're needed at a later date.
Total project time: 1 week, or thereabouts
Notes: I had to restart this project 3 or 4 times, as I seem to be incapable of making the double decreases line up. I ended up having to use markers, which upped the work a bit (knit to stitch before marker, slip stitch, drop marker, k2tog, psso, move stitch back to left needle, replace maker, move stitch back to right needle, continue knitting...) but my decreases (and later increases) all line up. I was frustrated, and also running out of time, which was why I decided to knit on when I realized I was knitting across only 89 stitches (look at the left hand front near the edging). Now that it's done, I can see that I would be much happier had I fixed that, but it needs to be gifted now.

Internet-less

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Originally uploaded by knitter_tara.

I had big plans for blogging/ravelry/facebook this weekend, and then the internet went down... So, I'm stealth blogging this from work just to say that I'm still alive and kicking, even if my computer is essentially useless to me right now...

Happy February all!