Blanket Progress

So, I really slowed down on my creating in the second half of June, because I was knitting furiously on this blanket! I have 8 (almost 9) of 14 squares, but I'm really not sure I can finish by the deadline (it's a gift).

It's funny, because I knit all the time, yet I rarely feel like I'm creative. Mostly because it takes so long to actually produce anything. I really did enjoy the challenge of trying to make something new every day, even if I didn't make it to the end.

Rhinebeck 2010 Part II: The Place

So, I made it to Rhinebeck this year (aka the New York Sheep and Wool Festival)! In an effort to focus on things other than the products, I took my birthday present to myself (a digital SLR). Here are some of the shots from the grounds.

Rhinebeck 2010 Part I: The people

I got shot by Gale

and I shot her too!



Dr. Steph in blogger blogging blogger



Natalie and Amy!



Juno and Jo

and so many more...

Urban Cozies at Parc Jacques-Cartier

Urban Cozies at Parc Jacques-Cartier
Originally uploaded by spins & needles.

This one is also mine. Very bright acrylic mitred squares.

Urban Cozies at Parc Jacques-Cartier

Urban Cozies at Parc Jacques-Cartier
Originally uploaded by spins & needles.

I found my cozy on the Spins and Needles flickr site! It's pretty cute, with it's new pink addition (mine is the gargantuan white lace that's been in progress for years without any real goal. I'm just glad it's in use and no longer in my WIP basket! ;) )

Knitting in Paris (Knit Groups)

Yes, I'm a bad blogger! I've been back from my vacation for a week already, and I haven't even posted about any of my knitting adventures, never mind any of the other wonderful things I managed to do! Since this is a knitting blog, I'll start out with a knitting themed post, and see if I get around to any additional posts.



I contacted two knitting meetups through Ravelry before I headed out, and managed to visit with both of them. Saturday, the day after my arrival in Paris, I dragged my ass out of bed to head down to the gardens of the Quai Branly Museum to meet the Tricot Opera group.



The gardens were beautiful, and I felt very welcomed! It was great to chat with other knitters again, check out their projects, feel new yarns and see new books and magazines. I've been living under a rock as far as direct access to knitting stuff for a while, so it was a great way to start my trip. FLOUB was even so organised as to bring a thermos of coffee (much needed after my travels the previous day), so it was a real "cafe tricot!"



On Wednesday night, I made my way to L'OisiveThé for TricotThé. Amy has a great little shop, and it was a very welcoming. L'OisiveThé is mostly a tea room, but it has a small selection of yarn available, and I picked up two skeins of Shibui Knits Sock in Pebble, a mixture of gorgeous beiges and blues, with a hint of violet. Admittedly, not a local souvenir yarn purchase, but it was something I'd never seen before, and it's knitting up beautifully!

FO: Ishbel

See, I do occasionally finish things! This didn't take much time, only a few days, but I was knitting a lot during that time.



It's difficult to get a shot where my facial expression is normal in the very bright sun. This is the best one I came up with.



Pattern: Ishbel by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Sophie's Toes sock yarn Layers of Colour Collection Dark Teal from emilyparson
Needle: 2.25 mm
The yarn was very nice to work with, and looks great.



And some nice flowers in the sun.

Story time

So, I was supposed to be on vacation this week, but things haven't quite worked out as planned. This seems to happen a lot to me, but at least it wasn't a work issue that quashed my plans this time.

On this occasion, my cat got sick the day before I was due to fly out. I feel a bit 'crazy cat lady-ish' admitting that I canceled my vacation for a sick cat, but that's what happened. She has giardiasis, which is not very much fun. I do not recommend it. Anyway, I'm just considering it to be preparation for when I have actual children.

So, the yoga retreat and two days of shopping in Marrakesh has morphed into a week in Paris later this month. (Part of my compensation for working where I do is an allowance that must be spent on travel outside of Sudan, which I need to use.) Not a bad outcome by any stretch. I would actually be leaving this weekend, but the cat needs a second week of treatment, as we haven't managed to kill all of the parasites yet.

So, in my spare time between shoving medication into the cat, I've been knitting on an Ishbel in Sophie's Toes sock yarn in Dark Teal. No pictures yet, as I have some tinking to do. It's become apparent to me that I don't have enough yarn left in the ball to finish it quite as I was planning. The yarn is gorgeous though, so I'll try and get some good pictures in the sun soon!

Life runs away

So, life (or at least blogging) has kind of been getting away from me these days. I've had all sorts of plans to post, but it just doesn't seem to happen that often.

Today is just a quick update. I found out the other day that I'm going to be an aunt! The first thing that came to mind is what I should knit for the upcoming baby. My sister isn't planning on finding the gender out until it's born, so I will have to come up with some good gender neutral knits until I find out what I'm dealing with. It should be a Christmas baby, so I will hopefully get to spend some time home with my sister and the new baby around then. Yay!

I finished something!

It's not much, but it's the first thing I finished in a while. (Particularly the 'finishing' portion) Sadly, I don't have any pictures of them on the tiny recipient, but hopefully those will be available in the near future.

Pattern: Saartje's Booties
Yarn: Blue Moon Fibre Arts Socks that Rock leftover from some basic socks. (I think the colour is Farmhouse.)
Needles: 2.75mm
Buttons: Random ones from A's button collection (from the spare buttons that come with clothes)

Long Absence

Wow, it's been a long time since I've done a real post! I got busy, as happens from time to time. There was a month or so where I was doing nothing except work (I worked two weeks of overtime in just under four weeks!), and it's taken a few weeks to start feeling normal again.

I haven't been doing a lot of knitting, although there has been some. Of course, there aren't any pictures. I'm easing myself back into blogging slowly. :)

I have a number of babies upcoming, so I thought I'd try out the Elijah pattern. I've got my first one done minus one ear and arm. A very cute pattern, although picking up the stitches for each new piece is definitely finicky. I have also started my Rogue Roses socks from the last 2009 Rockin' Sock Club mailing. I started a Wisteria, but haven't even finished the yoke, and it's been set aside for who knows how long. I should really just pick something and finish it!

In non-knitting news, I'm starting to get ready to move back to Ottawa! I should be back, trying to get settled sometime in early September! As you can probably tell by the exclamation points, I'm looking forward to the change. I love having the chance to live in another cultures for a while, but there are things I miss. Two years is a pretty good length of time for Sudan, and I'm ready to go home.

Endpaper Mitts in progress

So, I started a pair of Endpaper Mitts, and the pattern is great! really well written/charted, and I really liked the tubular cast on! Unfortunately, the tubular cast off is not working out so well for me... yet. I've only tried it once, and then didn't want to take the (almost completed) mitt traveling. So, it's been sitting for a bit. Hopefully this weekend I will sit down and work out that final cast off so I can start the second one.


The first picture is a bit dark, but shows the lovely variations in the Sundara sock yarn I'm using. The colours are more true in this photo.

I say that I want to get to the second one, but really, I'll likely cast on for something else. I plan to be in Canada in March, and these are not quite right for the dead of winter, so I think I may make a pair of Bella's mittens instead, and finish number two in this set for next fall.

Mission Possible 2008 Update

Umm, let's just say that this wasn't my best effort...

1. long socks in Mountain Colours Barefoot, stalled a year ago by the loss of a needle (finish ribbing on two socks) I still need to redo the bind-off on one sock!
2. Souvenir Scarf (graft two pieces together, block) I haven't touched this yet...
3. Baby surprise jacket (purchased yarn for several, need to make at least one) finished!
4. Icarus Shawl finished
5. Samus cardigan (rework to fit me or gift) Still waiting
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) no progress
9. baby blanket and the box of grandma's acrylic (?) no progress
10. make a top that fits from some of my extensive bamboo yarn collection I started a Stargazer, but didn't get far...
11. finish spinning the orange roving from Rhinebeck 2005 and knit something from it no progress
12. catalog and organise stash!

Happy New Year!

Wow! I had such plans for posting over my time away from work, but it didn't turn out at all like I had planned. I will hopefully catch up on my travels later this week, but for now, just a few things to post.

1. My New Year's Resolution: This year, I will choose more consciously how I use what free time I have. I don't necessarily work too long as far as hours go, but the subject matter can sometimes be all consuming. As a result, I tend to come home and collapse on the couch at the end of the day and turn my brain off; as a result, I don't get enough exercise, eat well enough or actually do the things I want to get done. Tonight, I made stirfry, which was pretty impressive for me. I even bought broccoli, which is not local produce, so I could have something green!

2. My cat is crazy! She is usually pretty standoffish, except for a day or so after I get back from traveling. I got back on Friday, and she's been stuck to my side like glue since. After a few hours of sleep Friday morning, I unpacked. Here is my cat taking over the Noro Iro cowl I made while I was away.



She's been sleeping beside me, or on my stuff, ever since. I'm not complaining seriously, since I love it. The only thing that would be better would be if she would sit on my lap. It's just unusual.

FO: Snowy Lady Sweater

Or my Turkey Sweater!



So, this is probably the most inexpensive sweater I've ever made. I bought five balls of DK weight wool when I was in Turkey for 15 YTL, which was somewhere in the range of $11 CAD at the time, and it made a whole sweater! The ballband says it was manufactured in Turkey for sale in Germany. Granted, this isn't next-to-the-skin soft, but it works nicely as a layering piece.



The buttons aren't amazing, so they're not affixed directly to the sweater. I attached the buttons to smaller ones that can be pushed through the garter stitch. When I want to wear it with a brooch, I can just take the other buttons off.



Notes: (ravelry)
Yarn: Ayda Saf Yün, 100% wool, 200m to 100g
Needle: 4.0mm
Gauge: 20.5 stitches to 10cm
Size: XL to get XS proportions
Mods: none

Fall in Sudan

Yes, it most definitely is fall in Sudan! It was a balmy 34 degrees outside when I was driving home from work at about 6pm this afternoon. The local pool has cooled down noticeably, so it no longer feels like jumping into a bathtub. However, I don't think the temperature will ever drop enough that I need to use my new FO!

Handspun Beret and Scarf Set



This is the first thing I've finished knitting with my own handspun! The yarn is New Zealand Romney from Little Barn, spun and plied on my Hitchhiker.

The beret is based on an idea I read about on someone’s blog once, but no idea where. I knit the band in seed stitch, but a less stretchy stitch would have been better. Then I picked up stitches around the edge of the band, increased every other stitch on the next row and knit 4.5 inches before starting the decreases. Knit with 3.25 mm needles.

The scarf is done in a simple k1 *yo, k2tog* k1 for every row. I think it’s the lace pattern used in the centre of the Ogee motif, but didn’t check. Knit with 4.5 mm needles.

Sock Meme

When did you first learn to knit socks? Fairly soon after I restarted knitting in 2003. I bought my first sock yarn from Romni Wools in 2004 when I was in Toronto on training for my stint with Right to Play. That was the first lys I ever visited, as in Calgary I had only ever bought yarn from Lewiscraft.

What's the first sock you ever knit? The sock pattern that came with the skein of Fleece Artist sock yarn (I don't see the one I used on the website anymore. I'm pretty sure it's superwash merino, but who knows...). It took a while, but I love the end results. (See centre row right below)

Favorite Sock Pattern? I use the Turkish cast on from the Fall 2005 Vogue Knitting, and the short row heel from Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook and then whatever pattern choices I want for other areas.

Favorite needle method? DPNs. I have done magic loop and knitting in the round on two circs for other things, but don’t have the right size needles for socks.

Favorite sock needles? I’m using Knitpicks Harmony right now. I prefer plastic, bamboo or wooden needles when possible, but have used metal too.

Who do you knit socks for? Me. The only pairs I’ve made for other people have been through sockapalooza.

How many pairs have you knitted to date? More than 10, less than 20 (They're not all here...)



1. P5310031, 2. P5310024, 3. pomatomus III, 4. stuff 007, 5. stuff 005, 6. stuff 003, 7. P1230001, 8. sherbet socks, 9. sockpal

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

What is on your sock knitting to-do list? I have lots of sock yarn in the stash to knit up, and I recently bought some Sundara sock yarn in semi-solid colours so I could try some more complicated cables and/or lace.

What kind of socks to you like to knit-
Striped? Haven’t yet.
Colourwork? I haven't yet, but I'm not against colourwork socks.
Plain Stockinette? Yes.
Cabled? Yes.
Lace? Yes.
Anklets? Yes.
Knee Socks? There are a few I would like to try, but haven’t yet
Solid Colours? Yes, but I prefer a textured pattern when working in solids.
Bright and crazy? Of course. Why knit socks otherwise?
Faux Fair Isle (the yarn doing all of the work)? Mmm… haven’t yet.

Tag a few sock knitters here: Feel free to tag yourself.

Quickie

Umm, I haven't updated in a bit. I spent three hours working an invisible bind off (from the Fall IK) on the pink Pomatomus that's be waiting to be bound off, only to find out that I had somehow made it too tight. Which is unfortunate, because I had decided to try it specifically because the article claimed it was a stretchy bindoff. I'm sure I just pulled things too tightly, but I couldn't deal with picking it out at that point. So, I have nothing finished to show.

I finally decided not to fly back to Canada for my vacation in October. It was a really tough choice, as I wanted to see family and friends and go to Rhinebeck and all. But, I'm probably moving back next summer, and I'm buying a condo, so once I get home it will be much more difficult for me to get over here again. So, I'm going to meet up with some friends in Aqaba for the Thanksgiving weekend, and then I'm spending some time in Syria and Turkey. It should be a nice couple of weeks.

Umm, so I don't have much else to report. I have actually been reading a fair bit, so maybe I'll try writing a book report at some point (since I don't have any knitting to show).

FO: Cozy Brown Sweater

So, I started knitting this sweater on a complete and total whim. I traveled back to Canada in March for work, and in a very busy time leading up to my departure, I managed to leave without packing any serious knitting. I largely blame it on not having much on the needles that would be nice to knit in snowy Canada. I did take a skein of Cascade Magnum and needles to make a hat (having discovered during my crazed packing that all of my hats somehow ended up in storage), but I finished that on the plane.



So, I arrived in Kingston with nothing on the needles! (I might be exaggerating, there may have been a sock, but it wasn't much.)

I had come prepared, having scouted the Internet for yarn stores in Kingston ahead of time. Over the week, I visited Gwyn Griffin yarns, and another one that I can't remember right now, and I bought some nice yarns I hadn't seen before.



But in the interests of getting something on the needles quickly, I also went to the T&S (a sort of general store) and bought five balls of Patons Classic Merino in a dark brown (which they call Taupe), a 4.5mm needle, and started swatching.



This sweater is the result, and it worked out pretty well. I had wanted the fronts to be more asymmetrical, but you can actually only see that they are when the zipper is done up all the way to the neck. But it's still a great sweater, light but very warm, and I'm very proud of how I made the cables flow in and out of the ribbing on the sleeves. Also, it was my first effort installing a zipper and I think it looks good.

When I was blocking, I did notice a few small errors (a purl instead of a knit in a place or two), which reminds me that I need to slow down and enjoy the process more, as the final product is nicer when I do that.

Ravelry details

Knit Night

I hosted my first Knit Night in Khartoum last night! So exciting! I didn't knit much, but I gave an intro lesson and strategised on a crochet project. Mostly it was just chatting in a very comfy way. Exactly the thing I needed.