North and Interior

Sorry for the delay. My parents are in town this weekend, and this is the first chance I've had to update. The photos below are for four Mayan sites (Lamanai, Altun Ha, the Barton Creek Cave and Corocal) that we visited and the storm that capped off my vacation.


jungle


mask


big stairs


rounded corners


Altun Ha


cave entrance


Ceiba tree


storm at Caye Caulker

Make that in a few days...

I am here, with pictures... These are only the first few days of my trip, but since this post is already picture heavy, I thought I'd save my collection of Mayan ruins for another day.


Welcome to Caye Caulker

The Cayes (pronounced Keys) off the coast of Belize are small islands, at least partially formed by mangroves. They are in close proximity to the second longest reef in the world, so the snorkeling and diving are fabulous (I only tried the snorkeling). We stayed on Caye Caulker, which is very laid back. We also visited San Pedro, on Ambergris Caye, which is both larger and busier.



Caye Caulker doesn't have many motorized vehicles, but there are always people meeting the boats who will help you carry your luggage to your hotel.


Lokal Flava


local transport

The one thing you do have to watch out for are the golf carts. They don't go very fast, but they're hard to hear coming.


daytime


sunset

This was taken during a sunset canoe trip on the landward side of the island. The mangroves act as a nursery for all of the creatures that you can see out on the reef.

I'm back! More pictures tomorrow!

San Ignacio

Hi again... I'm now in San Ignacio, after passing through Orange Walk and Crooked Tree. We've been on the move quite a bit since we left the Cayes. Mostly, we've seen Mayan ruins and wildlife. Again, I will have to post pictures when I get home. I'm only here for a few more days, so we've booked a couple different things before I have to make my way back to Belize City to fly home.

Caye Caulker

I am now in Belize, after a couple of flights and a lot of time in airports. We did a full day snorkelling trip today, and I've managed to burn myself in an uncomfortable location. Too bad! It was really cool to see sea turtles, sharks, sting rays and lots of other assorted fish and coral. Part of our group even saw a manatee! Sadly, I didn't bring my camera cord to the internet place, so there are no pictures yet. Anyway, its only been one day. I'm sure there will be moe to come.

Vacay

Obviously I'm not doing that well with the regular posting. I don't know that I'm too busy to post, but I haven't finished anything in ages. I'm knitting a pair of socks from Mega boots stretch. I am on the foot of the first one, after having to rip back multiple times. It was almost horrifying that I briefly blanked on how to do an hourglass heel. I redid it three times before I could make it work.

So, I'm leaving on vacation. I'm going to Belize for 10 days, or so. I'm excited, and I'll try and post a couple times, just to let J know I'm still alive. Other than that, I'll probably be quiet for the next two weeks (not that that differs much from the current state of affairs here.)

A saga of socks

So, apparently I have bad sock karma. I have taken part in sockapaltwoza and sockapaloooza (organized by the wonderful Alison), but I have yet to receive a pair of socks!

My first pal actually flaked on me, so Alison kindly arranged for a sock angel (for whom I was a sock angel as well). Unfortunately (this portion of this sad story is entirely my fault), I had moved at some point and completely blanked on changing my address. So, the postal people say the package was delivered, but the people in that apartment (I still live in the same building) claim they never received any of my mail. (I don't believe them. They tried to steal money from me through mail they received. You'd think I'd have learned by now!)

But now it seems that Canada Post has taken a dislike to me. A few weeks ago, my new sockpal (the lovely Kayla, who is currently taking a break from blogging) emailed me to tell me that the sock package she had mailed to me had been returned to her! I was hyper alert to ensuring that I had submitted the right address this time, so I don't understand what the problem was. Anyway, she promised to remail, but I haven't seen anything yet! The last message I have on the subject is from May 16th. I clearly understand how Ms. Grumperina feels.

So, if I maybe don't participate in the next sock pal round and actually knit some socks for myself (and I've now sent out three pairs), please be understanding.

Wow

I was doing so well with the posting, and then I fell of the face of the earth again. Actually, the problem is that I never get home until 9ish on weeknights, and I had an intense bout of lethargy last weekend, which resulted in my not leaving the house or doing anything else for two days. It's actually a sad waste of a weekend, but sometimes there's nothing to be done.

The other reason for my lack of posting is my lack of knitting. I've been working on some Mega Boots Stretch socks, which need to be frogged (too small, although I'm toying with the thought of turning it into a pair of fingerless gloves). And Jamesay will still be another 10 inches of ribbing, and I'm finding it difficult to work up the enthusiasm. I feel the need to knit something in pieces, so that I can have different things on different sides (if that made any sense at all).

So, its hot here today. I finally set up the fans I bought a few weeks ago in preparation for this weekend. The cat doesn’t like them, but hopefully they will help me be slightly more comfortable this summer than last. I wonder if a dehumidifier would help even more, as feeling mildly damp all the time makes the heat even harder to bear. Actually, given the orientation and size of the windows in my apartment, I’m thinking not. (I actually installed the blind and the curtain rod in the bedroom today. Now I just need to get curtain rods up in the living room before my parents show up in July. And the saddest part is that I've lived here for 9 months!)

I ran in the 5K race for the Ottawa Race Weekend on Saturday. According to the official results, I finished in 33:35, and I came in 2576th place (out of more than 6500). It was definitely a learning experience. Next time I’ll start much nearer to the front, cause I was frustrated trying to get around the many walkers for the first half (after that, it was slightly more spread out). They were very well organized for the number of people, though.

Soon to come, a draft about socks...

lull

Yay! Cynthia received the socks I knit for her! And if you haven't seen it yet, you should check out her Warming Grace project.

So, I don't have much to show as far as recent knitting. I've been working on nothing but my sockapaloooza socks for exclusively since March, so I had to start some new projects after I sent them off on Wednesday. I've started a new pair of socks, and a Jamesey. Nothing worth photographing yet.

And, although J forbid me to post the photos from her bridal shower yesterday, I'm going to break her rules...


J's shower

(I don't think this is the one she objected to anyway...) Anyway, this is near the end of the party. You can see the tops of the many wine bottles (for the August party, assuming they last that long).

Muse

So, I was at the Hawksley Workman concert on Monday, and I had an amazing time! It was in a theatre, which felt a little odd (it was different than previous shows that I've been to) but really fun! I find him really enjoyable to watch, and I highly recommend going if you get the chance. This was my third Hawksley concert, and I own three cds, so I am a bit of a fan. However, no performance is ever the same, and he rarely plays the songs in the same way they're recorded for the cd. He uses his voice as an instrument as well as singing, so it can seem a little odd (there's a lot of howling/screeching/warbling etc.) the first time you hear it, but now I think its interesting to hear how many different ways a song can be transformed. And then there's the conversation with the audience that flows through the performance. It has to be experienced to be understood.

Tonight was my first soccer game of the season (it was an exhibition game against the WR1 team from my club (that's one division higher than the team I play on))! I remember why I love playing. At the same time, I felt much more fit than I did at the same time last year, so that makes me happy. I've been working on running for around 2 months now, and I'm doing a 5K at the end of the month, so its good to feel the improvement. Yay!

Finito

off the needles\

and on my feet...

Dear Sockpal,

They are done! And I love them! So I'm going to put them in the mail right after work. The envelope is already addressed. Only then will there be no fear of my "losing" them...

Sock Specs
Pattern: Pomatomus with minor modifications to make them fit a human being when knit with my tight knitting
Yarn: Fleece Artist 100% Washable Merino Wool, Colour ?

Saturday morning

I need to try and get back to some kind of regular blogging schedule, for all my devoted readers .

So, its 9:00 am, and I've already cleaned my bathroom and done the dishes. My cat has started waking me up right around sunrise every day, and since that's about when I get up on weekdays, I find it really difficult to sleep later on the weekend. Thankfully, since its the weekend, I'll be able to have a nap after I go get groceries.

I actually have a pretty packed weekend ahead of me...

1. Grocery shopping. I plan to stock up and get my order delivered, so I have to go today. I actually plan to buy fans today, because I sweated through the whole summer last year without (I was totally unprepared for my first Ottawa summer).

2. The gym - twice. I would go for a run outside, but the weather is not overly appealing.

3. Bar-b-q at Sarah's? (see above - rainy grey weather makes being outdoors less fun) Given the weather, there will still be a party indoors later, but I know myself. If I'm at home, cuddling under blankets and watching a movie, the likelihood of me getting off my ass to go out into the rain to get somewhere else is not high. Besides, with the waking up at 5:30ish, I tend to be in bed by 10 pm most nights.

4. Knitting. I need to finish my sockapaloooza socks this weekend, so I invited people out to knit at the Bridgehead in the Glebe (108 Third Avenue) starting around 2pm on Sunday. Anyone reading this is welcome to stop by.

5. The National Gallery. I've lived in Ottawa for almost 2 years now, and have been woefully negligent in taking in the sights since I've been here. It's time to put some effort into exploring the city and the surrounding region. I might even go to Montreal next weekend!

And then there are the assorted sundry items, like vacuuming and dusting/organizing, cooking for the coming week, and all those other things that pile up.

Anyway, I should get started...

I won!

I got a package in the mail today, all the way from Cardiff!


prize

This is the prize I won in the Knitting Olympics draws, generously donated by Fyberspates. I have 200g of laceweight mohair and fancy star stitch markers!

So, since I've never knit anything with laceweight anything, does anyone have any pattern suggestions for patterns? I have approximately 850 m of the grey and 450 m each of the purple and the blue.

my progress, May 2

Sockapaloooza

Well, I bet no one out there even knew I was participating in Sockapaloooza! From my knitting lately (or lack thereof), I certainly wouldn't have guessed. I started these Pomatomus (sp?) socks during my trip.

pomatomus

I restarted once because I was nowhere near gauge, but I was still only a repeat in when I got home. (The observant among you will note that I didn't remotely follow the instructions for the heel, which looked interesting now that I've looked at the pattern. I now have to decide if I should do the toe as written. The really observant will notice that I added two stitches to every repeat. It was the only way I could fix the gauge problem since I didn't have any larger needles with me.) Sadly, as it stands now, I will have to send my sock pal a note that the socks will be delayed, but they are on the way...

Absent

Well, I'm away from work for the next little while, so I don't know how often I'll be posting, but I'll see if I can get a few in. Yesterday I started my trip in Halifax, and today we're spending the night in St Stephen, NB. We've managed to see a lot of the countryside, as there is a lot of driving between meetings. However, there are also a lot of early mornings, which is why I'm on my way to bed now... (We are an hour ahead.)

I am getting some knitting done in the car. I've finished 1.5 repeats on Pomatomus socks in some Fleece Artist. They look really good, but I'm pretty sure I'm nowhere near gauge, so they won't fit. I'm going to block tonight to see if they grow any... Otherwise, I'll figure out how many more stiches I need tomorrow and start again. I figure I can add a few stitches to every repeat or I can add a 7th repeat if I need somewhere in the vicinity of 22 stitches. Given the sizing right now, that seems like a probable course of action.

DNF

DNF

Now that its 11:30, I have to admit, I'm a DNF in the Knitting Olympics. I have somewhere between 5 and 6 inches left on the body before I'll be done. I am impressed that everything else is done though, including the weaving in of ends. I think it looks pretty good, and that I will like it when it is done.

I don't think I really considered how hard this event would be on me. After the first weekend, my hands and wrists were achy. Given that I have a history of tendon problems in my hands and that I work on a computer all day so couldn't afford to have my hands claw up, I ended up barely knitting during the week. Oh well, there are no excuses in the Olympics. I think if I were to do this again, I would pick something slightly smaller and pace myself more to spread my knitting time out over the full three weeks instead of cramming it all into the weekends. And get a new chair that would help me have better posture and support my elbows. That would be better for my hands and back. I guess, I've got a few years to train.

Feb 17

I'm behind in posting this. This was my progress as of midnight on Feb. 17. I had sincerely intended to take a picture on Sunday evening, but as you can see, it didn't happen. Oh well... Someday I will post on a regular basis.

Nerves

I'm now decidedly nervous about my Olympic knitting... My lack of posts indicates a significant absence of actual knitting time. I will try and show a picture tomorrow, but basically, I am at mid-chest on the body and I've finished 1 and 2/3 arms. I need to finish the second arm, pick up and knit the neck band, and then do something like 18 inches of stockinette for the body! :O I am now seriously doubting my ability to get it done, but all I can do is see...

Progress

try 2, day 2

Here is my progress, just over 24 hours after starting my second effort. So far, all of my stitch counts are right. I have 6.5 inches along the raglan increase, so I have a few more inches left before its time to put the sleeve stitches on holders. It doesn't seem too bad, although a week of work is going to put a significant dent in my progress. I'm off to bed, and to ice my wrist in preparation for tomorrow.

Project Specs:
Pattern: Knit and Tonic's The Essential Stripe
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Alpaca and Silk, in an off-white, orange and blue
Needles: Size 4

The heights?

olympic challenge

So, I kind of let this whole Olympic thing sneak up on me. (As you can see - I haven't even managed to post the button to my blog yet.) Thursday night, I realized that I was supposed to start knitting on Friday, and I hadn't even finished swatching. That, and all of my stitch markers were already on projects. I did manage to sort everything out, but I didn't actually cast on until this afternoon. Now, a few inches in, I've decided to rip. I found a few mistakes, too many to fudge, and I decided that if this is the Olympics, I might as well do this right.


first try

Lessons Learned: Count decreases, don't just assume you've done them.

under the weather

I haven't been feeling spectacular for a couple of days now. Nothing specific, just headachy and sore. And everything seems to take more effort than it really should. So, I've been sticking close to home and finishing things up. (Although not entirely. I worked out this morning, just walking. I probably overdid it, since I already wasn't feeling well. My reaction to not being able to pay for all of my items at the postal counter at the Bay was entirely out of proportion. When I'm overtired, sometimes my inner two-year-old gets away from me.) I finished my tivoli T and my 'peas and carrots' socks (pictures to come).

I did want to write a quick post about my sock angel socks. I made these for someone from the Sockapal2za exchange whose sock pal didn't come through. These socks have caused me a lot of grief. I sincerely hope they fit her. I had measured out the gauge and they should fit, but then I keep reading different opinions from people on the amount of negative ease needed for socks. That, and stockinette socks always look big because I'm used to seeing socks that stretch more. Anyway, here they are.


socks

Project Specs:
Yarn: Lana Grossa Mega Boots Stretch, colour 707
Pattern: basic short row toe, short row heel, stockinette, with a picot bind off
10 stitches/inch

Akkk...

... So, my trip that has already been rescheduled many times has been postponed again. I'm understandably frustrated, but there are reasons. Anyway, I'll be around when I didn't expect to be; just in case anyone is interested.

SP package

This is a quick photo essay of the yarn I spun for my secret pal, Mel. This is the roving I bought at Rhinebeck in early October (yes, I'm slow... it took me until January to get it all spun, plied and washed.) She also got a pair of not-yet-felted fuzzy feet, but you'll see on her blog that she's an old pro at felting, so that shouldn't be a problem.


spindle


yarn drying


finished

I have no idea how much yarn this came out to. Hopefully Mel can think of something to knit with it.

Knitting spot

Oh right, and when I was talking about not being deserving of participating in SP7, did I also forget to mention that I just sent my last package to my spoilee, Mel? Yeah, its only a month late. Anyway, I have a short photo essay about the making of her gift, but I'll wait until she gets it to post that.


knitting spot

So, I've seen this meme around, and thought I'd throw mine out there. The couch is really the only comfortable seating option in my apartment, so that's where I knit. I have to use one of the plastic chairs when I want to spin or read blogs. Please note that it isn't always this clean (see pictures that follow, which are mostly for my mom, who complained that she didn't know what my place looks like. She'll notice that I haven't gotten any neater.)


view to left


front view


view to right

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

I know, I'm a bit slow on the draw with the good wishes and all. What can I say. I also think this will be a picture heavy post, because my back is being disagreeable, and typing only seems to aggravate it.


SP gift

First, have I mentioned that Kelly was a great Secret Pal? Above you see copies of both Yarn Harlot books, a cake of Hello Yarn in Maple, fiber post cards from Cafe Press, a Knitwhits cat toy kit, a 'Fuck off I'm Knitting' mug and a set of Zephyr stitch markers (shown close below). I've been so well spoiled that I felt I shouldn't even sign up for SP7. I will wait until SP8 when I'm feeling a little more deserving.


stitch markers


grey fairisle

And a picture of another modified Sophie bag. I've determined that I didn't end up getting a picture of the ocean-coloured bag I embroidered after felting, which is unfortunate. Or of the two hats I made for my dad and brother-in-law. Although Jose did say it was the only hat that has fit him perfectly, so I was pretty happy with that.

Also, work is frustrating. I'm supposed to be travelling sometime soon, and the departure date has changed at least 4 times in the last week. I wonder what happened after I left this afternoon to have a massage treatment for my back? I guess I will see tomorrow.

high/low

Hey all! I'm sorry to have disappeared for so long. I do have a lot of knitting content to post, but things have been a bit crazy. Somebody is committing fraud on my account (writing large cheques to themselves, I'm not certain how they got the cheques) so its been taking most of my energy to deal with that for the past week.

So, since I have a plethora of photos to post, I thought I'd start with some of my Christmas knitting, now that its been given. I made five felted bags, based on the Sophie pattern, with modifications to each. They are all knit in Patons Classic Merino.


red


cable detail

I increased the size of the red, added the cable up the sides, and had three strands for the handle with a flat section where they meet in the middle (so I could continue the braid on each side).


blue

This is the original size knit with one strand of mohair held with the wool. It didn't shrink as much during felting.


grey w/ eyelets

This bag has an eyelet pattern around the top, which is difficult to see in this photo but looks alright in person.

I made knit flower pins for the blue and grey out of white yarn from the stash. Sadly I forgot to photograph them before I came back to ON.

(Yes, I know there are only three pictures. I'll have to find the other three later.)

thanks

I have to give a shoutout to my Secret Pal Kelly! I just received my last package, and let me tell you, she is fabulous! I will try to post a photo and a proper description on Saturday (when its not pitch black), but given the amount of stuff left to be done before my flight Sunday am (early!), I'm not promising anything.

As well, I wanted to reveal my Secret Pal Mel. I swear, your last package will be on the way soon (although probably not until next week).

Hmmm... I think that's all for now.

standby

Sorry, but I think the blog is pretty much on standby until after Christmas. I leave for home a week today, and I have just realized that I have a lot of stuff to do before I my flight. I've also been preoccupied with a personal situation that I'm not quite ready to discuss here.

Rest assured, I have been knitting. The Ribbed & Fair Isle Vest is taking forever, and I have a whole post worked out in my head in which I complain about the construction and charting, but that will have to wait until I have time to write it all down. I'm also making another pink baby sweater. I know I already have one, but I know a lot of pregnant friends, and I wanted to see if I could improve on the pattern. After that I'll have to make something for a boy, because while I'm all for non-gender specific colours, not everyone would be willing to dress their boy in a bright pink cardigan. I guess those are the main things.

busy!

I'm sure everyone else is feeling it too! Sorry for not posting though. I haven't been home before 9 yet this week.

In knitting news, I've finished the baby sweater. There are also details of the yoke and lace bottom.


baby finished

I think it looks pretty good. I'll now be keeping a feeler out for someone to give it to (I do have some potential receivers, in mind). I'm now working on the Rib/Fair Isle Vest from the Vogue Knitting Fall 2005 issue. I've finished the ribbing for the back and haven't worked on it since Sunday.

So, did I mention that my Secret Pal is absolutely fabulous? Cause she is! She got real Grecian items sent to her for me! Cause I've always wanted to go to Greece! Isn't that amazing? I got postcards, a key chain, lavender soap, and perfume, lotion and body wash in a fragrance called Greek Waters! And it came all the way from Greece!


SP Gift

I don't normally get political here, but Tuesday was the UN day of solidarity with the Palestinian people, and I went to an event put on by CEPAL. I was quite impressed by the program they run in the refugee camps in Lebanon (they send teachers for the summer to provide English instruction and other activities).

Parcels

I love getting packages! First, I ordered this yarn from kpixie with the help of a gift certificate from my great secret pal! I'm thinking of making an Hourglass Sweater with this.


peace fleece

Then, I got this package from my favourite boy in the whole world!


giftee

I actually bought most of the movies from him (he had doubles) but he added surprises to make it that much more fun.

sitting pretty

coffee table art

1. I can't do a post without pictures lately, so when Hello wouldn't cooperate yesterday, I just didn't post (especially since I'd taken pictures especially to post).

2. I lose track of time easily. Whole days fly by without my realizing. This is my excuse for why I didn't stop in to either of the spinning workshops at the Ottawa Valley Weavers' and Spinners' Guild these past two weekends (Hi Daisy!) I'm not good enough to be willing to spin for a full day, but I really should have gone just to see what good spinning looks like.

3. I have been knitting away on the baby sweater, and surprise! Someone I know is pregnant! I'm curious to find out the gender. Maybe I have some kind of sixth sense?


baby sweater with sleeves attached

The pattern is interesting, although I'd make a few changes next time (like joining the sleeves before doing the raglan decreases instead of after)

4. So, I don't like winding yarn by hand. In fact, I sort of hate it, which is why my chair has been out of commission for almost two weeks.


winding by hand

Often in a situation like this, I'd ask Daisy (hi again!) to bring her swift and ball winder to knitting night, but she hasn't been coming and the coffee shop has been really busy the last few times. Anyway, I think I'm ready to spoil myself (although not until after Christmas). Any recommendations for brands/types?

5. I have been swatching. (This is mostly for my information, so if you're not interested, you can stop reading now.) First, there is Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk on size 6. I get 25 stitches and 26 rows to 4". Then, the wool mohair Duet from Rhinebeck on size 7.

Interesting

Has anyone else heard about this? It's a 101/1001 blog, where one must define 101 goals and then try to achieve them in 1001 days. It sounds interesting, and I was trying to decide if I wanted to try it too. The problems are that 1) my goals are often big and undefined and 2) I'm not necessarily ready to talk about them on the internets. I suppose it would be a helpful goal setting tool (since they are easier to achieve if they are more defined rather than less), but I would also want to have control over who could read it. Is there a way to do that?

In knitting news, I've come to a conclusion. Samus is too big.


(And don't I look dorky when I try to take pictures of myself? I never know what to do with my hands)
Or at least its much larger than it was before washing. The length is nice, but it goes halfway around me again widthwise. The arms are good to the elbow, but I can almost fit football pads in the shoulder area. I think its a combination of a large gauge change during washing and my slightly unrealistic expectations about the pattern. I knew that it wouldn't be fitted. But falling off me is a bit much. However, I've just measured it and my sweater is actually smaller than the schematic says it should be. I'm going with my initial impression that it needs a belt and two belt loops along with the zipper, and it should be good.

Sunday pm malaise

It's Sunday afternoon again. Tomorrow will be a little rough. It's been almost like a four day weekend for me, as I had (easy) training on Thursday to transition into the long weekend.

Well, even without a new project, I found something to work on this week.


baby sweater

I'm knitting this from some random nylon yarn from the huge stash of baby yarn and patterns I inherited from my grandmother on 3.25 mm needles (from my secret pal!). I don't have anyone in mind for this, I just needed something to work on. I have finished both sleeves to the point where the join the body for the raglan shaping. Now I'm working on the lace panel around the bottom of the cardigan. I'm having problems because I'm not really a conscientious knitter a lot of the time (see lace detail). I've had to fudge one row to make things line up, and I now need to frog almost two rows to do another fudge. Things aren't lining up because I somehow have two extra stitches.

I have knit a pair of fuzzy feet, which will be felted soon. I need to figure out how they fit once felted so I can make any changes needed to pairs that I will actually give away.

fuzzy feet

I have also been Kool-aid dying my Knitpicks Colour Your Own.

kool aid
The top skein was dyed with 1 package each cherry, strawberry and orange. I used my Deep Dutch skillet and heated the water to warm, and used warm dye solution in a measuring cup with spout and poured over the surface.

The bottom skein is 2 packages strawberry kiwi and 1 package orange. I used a similar dyeing technique except the dye solution was refigerated prior to pouring. The dye didn't disperse as much as compared to a warm solution, leaving more lighter and white areas.

Stash revelation

NY Yarn purchase

I bought this yarn on my trip to NY in early September, and am just showing it off now. From left to right: a Cascade Magnum (colour unkwnown, can't find the ball band right now) from Purl, 12 balls of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk (colours 26009, 26004, & 26002) and a skein of hand dyed kid mohair Expressions from Kaalund Yarns, both from the Yarn Co

I'm trying to decide what to do with the alpaca silk... any ideas?

FOs

So, my secret pal wanted to see what I did with the yarn in my last package. I made a scarf (don't mind the messy hair - actually, that's another wardrobe question I have. I'm growing my hair out, and I'm finding it difficult. Is the current in between style work appropriate? Know that I never style it in any way.)


secret pal yarn in action

Right now its a garter stitch scarf knit on the long edge, knit on a combination of 11s and 15s, with a couple of rows of double wrapped stitches. I think I may redo it to make the fabric looser to show off the ribbony quality of the yarn better. If I make it significantly shorter next time, I will join the short ends to make a drapey shoulder wrap.

Samus


samus done


sleeve detail

In other news, I have finished and blocked Samus! This was actually a quick knit, but the finishing took me ages (well, a couple of weeks, anyway). Now I have to find an appropriately sized zipper and ribbon to do the final finishing. Actually, the sweater ended up being a little bigger than I expected (I guess I could have made the small) so I think it needs two belt loops and a belt too. That might get done before the zipper installation.

Things I learned from this pattern:

1. Applied i-cord is not my favourite edging, although the blocking helped out some of the unevenness. I also should have used fewer rows around the cuff, as it flares out a little from the cable.

2. I would pick up a few fewer stiches around the bottom cable, because there are two bumps at the hip area, which isn't flattering to many.

3. As much as I appreciated the lack of side seams, I hated seaming the sleeves into the arm scyes when the shoulder and underarm seams were already sewn. It's six of one and half a dozen of another, though, so that won't really affect future sweater choices. Maybe next time I can try picking up stitches around the arm scye and knit know from there.

4. The Knitpicks Wool of the Andes is lovely and soft, although not quite next to the skin soft. It did bleed a lot on the first was, but the colour didn't fade.

let down

So, I finished Samus. After working on it for over a month, I finally sat down to work out the seaming and the finishing last night, and gave it a bath this morning. Does anyone else get this sense of let down at the end of a project? I've been at a loss all day as to what to do, since I didn't have another project waiting. I mean, I always have 5 or 6 little projects to work on, but that's not quite the same thing.

So, I've been scouting out new projects. I like the Hourglass sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, and the Jacket as seen on Claudia's blog. I've started looking for a copy of Rowan #27, and some yarn that goes well... But really, I should be using up some of my stash... but really, nothing is grabbing my attention right now.

Random

Apparently I mostly speak general American English, even though I'm not (American, I mean). They had a couple of questions I couldn't answer, so I guess there are some differences between Canadians and Americans

Your Linguistic Profile:

65% General American English

15% Yankee

5% Midwestern

5% Upper Midwestern

0% Dixie

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

sigh (of relief)

I feel much better now. I had a really good day. First training ended early so some of my classmates and I had a really good dinner at par-fyum, a bistro on the Gatineau side of the river. The food was amazing! I've decided that its worthwhile to pay a little more and go out less often to really enjoy the food. My favourite was the creme brulee trio. (I would put the accents in, but I can't figure it out right now...) They were tiny but delicious, in ginger, vanilla and citron. Then, just to avoid work for a little longer, we went for a drive in Gatineau Park. It was my first time heading out there, which reinforced for me that I need access to a car. I don't want one full time, but I've lived here a year and haven't seen any of the surrounding area. I'm thinking about looking into one of those car sharing things. I think virtucar has a drop off spot near my house.

After work, we had knit group. There were about 12 people tonight. I only talked to a few people because I have difficulty hearing in large groups, but I did get to have more in depth discussions with a few people. It was nice just to get out and be around others. I also made some progress on my fuzzy feet! I did the heel and the gusset decreases on the first foot in forest green Patons Classic Merino. It's a good thing these things are a fast knit, as I'm really slow when I'm chatting.

For any Ottawa located knitters/spinners, the Ottawa Valley Weavers and Spinners Guild Annual Exhibition and Sale, "Feel Your Fibre", will take place at the Glebe Community Centre (175 Third Ave.), November 4 (4 to 8 pm), 5 (10 - 4 pm) , and 6th (10 - 4 pm).

morose

This is all a bit 'woe is me,' so if you're not interested, come back another day. I'm currently fighting with the seaming of the sleeves to the armholes of samus, so I expect it to be done soon. And I have socks, scarves, and fuzzy feet in production too.

I'm feeling a bit like I'm disappearing. I moved to Ottawa a year ago, and I just haven't found my groove here yet. I know people at work and at knitting group, but I haven't really found a group of people I'd call friends. I recently realised that I went a whole month without talking to anyone from the group of people I hung out with during training last year (and we all work in the same building now), and not one of them really noticed. And as much as I love hanging out and chatting with the ladies at the knitting group, I don't think they would really notice if I stopped showing up either. And if no one would notice if you were not there, aren't you already partly invisible?

Not that this is anyone's fault but my own (and even that is somewhat arguable). I know that I'm the one new to the area, and that sometimes really building a community takes time. It just makes me a little sad when I realize I've spent (almost) the whole weekend in my apartment because I didn't really have any reason to go out.

Anyway things aren't that bad, as I'm easily able to entertain myself most of the time. And there are things to do when I make the effort to go out. There's another meeting of the knitting group tomorrow, and there will apparently be new purchases to see.