Knitbug

Triangles Tam

2011-12-22T13:41:00.000-08:00

Three posts in two weeks! I'm guessing that by now it's pretty obvious that school is out for the holidays :) I sure have been enjoying all of this new found knitting time. I've been merrily knitting away on the couch, starting a new Christmas tradition: savouring every version of Pride and Prejudice I can get my hands on. I've watched four so far!

I'm sadly lacking in French posts, something I plan to remedy over the holidays. This will include a full translation of the Triangles! pattern, long overdue. Now that I no longer work in a Francophone environment, I'm starting to think in English a bit. I caught myself counting stitches in English this week, which is a first. (Numbers never came naturally to me in English, and I certainly can't count money or do any math in any language but French, so where does this this stitch-counting in English come from?!)

I'm getting sidetracked. What I'm supposed to show you is this:

Oops. That one's rather blurry, isn't it? I really should make an effort to time my self-portraits during the few hours of sunlight we've been having in the late morning...

It's a slouchy tam to match the Triangles cowl. I wanted to knit my paternal grandmother a hat this Christmas. She is the one who taught me how to knit when I was 7 or 8, these long, skinny, striped garter-stitch scarves that I never quite figured out how to cast off and finish... She kept them in pleather trunk by the television, where I was to leave them before I went home, but was always welcomed to pick up on our next visit. Over 20 years later, and I'd yet to knit her something. Shameful, I know. She looks beautiful in deep, bluish reds, so I dug through my stash and was really pleased to find two skeins of Louisa Harding Kashmir DK.

If you'd like to knit your own, I'm happy to share what I did!

Triangles Tam

Materials:

US 5 or US 4 DPNs or circular needles for ribbed band. I used US 5, but the result after blocking is a rather slouchy band. I think going down a size to US 4 would create a snugger band that would better keep the wind out.
US 6 4 DPNs or circular needles for the body of the hat
1.5 skeins (I used well under 2 skeins) of Louisa Harding Kashmir DK, or any other DK yarn that gives you a gauge of 22 stitches over 4” with a US 6 needle.

Sizes: Only one size, unfortunately, since this was knit to fit my noggin, which has a 24" circumference when measured from top of forehead, down one ear, accross upper neck where it meets my head, back up over the other ear, back to the top of forehead.

Mini triangles chart:

Using size US 5 (or, again, US 4) DPNs or a 16” circular needle (or longer, if using magic loop method), cast on 112 stitches. I used the cable cast-on method. Join to knit in the round.

Place marker to indicate start of row.

Work in 2x2 rib for approximately ¾ of an inch, or 7 rows.

Change to larger, size US 6 needles, and work the next row as follows:

Row 1: *Purl one stitch, purl in front and back of next stich. Repeat from * until the end of row. This is fiddly, it’s true, but you’ll only need to do it for this row, I promise!
(Here’s a good video on how to do the purl in front and back move: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPJCawekDfY)
You now have 168 stitches, which appears like a regular purled row.

Row2: Begin working from 2^nd row of triangle chart. (Chart reads from right to left each row.) Repeat these 6 stitches from row 2 of triangle chart until the end of row (27 more times).

Rows 3-7: Work according to chart.

You have now completed a full repeat of 28 little triangles!

Now work the entire triangle chart 3 more times.

You now have completed 4 reapeats of 28 little triangles.

Next row: Purl 11 stitches. For the 12^th stitch, work a double decrease: [slip 2 stitches from the LH needle to the RH needle as if to purl. Purl the next stitch on the LH needle. With the LH needle, bring both slipped stitches together over the purled stitch off the RH needle]. Repeat these 12 stitches to the end of row, 11 more times. 14 double decreases completed (28 stitches decreased).

Work rows 2 – 7 of triangle chart.

Next row: Purl 9 stitches. For the 10^th stitch, work a double decrease as described above.

Work rows 2 – 7 of triangle chart.

Next row: Purl 7 stitches. For the 8^th stitch, work a double decrease as described above.

Work rows 2 – 7 of triangle chart.

Next row: Purl 5 stitches. For the 6^th stitch, work a double decrease as described above. 16 double decreases completed (32 stitches decreased). 72 stitches on the needles.

Work rows 2 – 7 of triangle chart.

Next row: *Purl 2 stitches, work a double decrease. Repeat from * until the last two stitches, purl 2.

Next row: *Purl 1, work a double decrease. Repeat from * until end of row. 22 stitches left.

Next row: Repeat as above until last stitch, purl 1. 11 Stitches left. Break yarn and thread it through the remaining stitches. Pull gently to close hole, and weave in end.

The hat at this point fits rather close to the head, more like a beanie than a slouchy tam. I blocked mine over a mixing bowl:

Triangles!

2011-12-17T13:22:00.000-08:00

Arithmetic! Algebra! Geometry! Grandiose trinity! Luminous triangle! Whoever has not known you is without sense!

- Comte de Lautreamont

I’ve been a little bit obsessed with triangles this year. As 2011 was coming to a close, I wanted to do knit something simple, reversible, and versatile featuring my favorite shape.

This pattern consists of small knit and purl triangles, the knit triangles receding into the background, the purled triangles popping to the fore, creating a subtle texture. The equally subtle tones of the MadelineTosh Pashmina add a little extra depth shimmer to the fabric.

Materials:

US 8 32” circular needles

2 skeins MadelineTosh Pashmina, held double

*or* any other yarn with a gauge of 19 sts/24 rows over 4”

Triangle chart:

With US 8 32” circular needles, and holding the MadelineTosh Pashmina yarn doubled, cast on 204 stitches.

Join to work in the round, being careful not to twist work, and place marker to indicate beginning of row.

Row 1: *Work stitches 1-12 (reading chart from right to left). Repeat from * 16 more times to the end of row.

Row 2: *Work stitches 1-12 (still reading chart from right to left). Repeat from * 16 more times to the end of row.

Continue knitting 12-stitch triangle pattern chart as above for rows 3-13.

You now have your first row of triangles!

Now repeat rows 1-13 five more times.

You now have 6 rows of 17 little triangles.

Cast off!

You’ll probably want to block it. I used my industrial clothes steamer because I was far too impatient for wet blocking.But just a warning: unblocked, it looks a bit like corrugated cardboard.

Here it is when worn as a long loop:

And I think it can be worn as a hat:

Or a wimple:

Ok, maybe the wimple looks a little silly.

My favorite way to wear it is still looped over on itself:

I'd like to wish everyone who celebrates a holiday around this time of year a chance to relax with some needles and yarn, and happy times with family and friends!

Spinster

2011-12-07T22:05:00.000-08:00

Now that it’s *finally* dry, I just couldn’t wait for daytime to photograph my new sweater. Never mind that it’s dark out and that the only room remotely illuminated is our tiny bathroom. I just set up my tripod and clicked away.

My first original sweater! I’m so incredibly surprised it actually turnd out ok!

I’m afraid I don`t really have much of a pattern to offer, but I did keep notes of the process and drew up a chart for the reversible rib cables in case someone wanted to knit something similar. However, I have to stress that I’m putting out a huge "attempt at your own risk” disclaimer on here… Much of this was made up as I went along, my memory is shoddy, and I would really hate to frustrate and disappoint a new knitter :(

Keeping in mind that it’s not really a pattern, and that what follow are convoluted transcriptions of many scribbled little pieces of paper, feel free to use the notes below if you’d like!

Click here for PROJECT NOTES

Mon chandail étant *finalement* complètement sec, je ne pouvais plus attendre pour le prendre en photo. N’importe qu’il fait noir et que la seule salle bien illuminée est la salle de bain!

C’est mon premier design d’un vêtement pour adultes et quoiqu’il soit loin d’être parfait, j’en suis complètement ravie. C’est le mien! Je dois admettre que je suis également complètement renversée du fait qu'il est plus ou moins réussi - jusqu'à présent, mais efforts dans le domaine étaient plutôt insatisfaisant. Toutefois, je regrette de ne pas avoir écrit de vrai patron. Ce que j’ai à offrir ce sont mes notes écrites en anglais et transcrites ici à partir de petits bouts de papier gribouillés, au cas où quelqu’un se demandait comment je me suis prise.

Fields of Gold

2011-12-04T20:43:00.000-08:00

It's nearly midnight and I need to be up at 5:00 tomorrow morning, so I'm going to make this really quick.
Guess what I did?
I made up a sweater.
With a pad of paper, some measurements, and a couple really wonderful Youtube instructional videos.
As it knit up the sweater kept surprising me and going in different directions than I'd planned for, but instead of frogging I just erased my note and wrote new ones. It's delightfully imperfect. None of the techniques I used were the most efficient for the job.The cables at the sleeve cuffs make no sense at all. It might be laughable in the world of Knitting Design, sure, but to me, right this minute, it's practically a vision in gold. I'm positively giddy! I'll take some modeled photos on Tuesday.

Text-to-Speech Software for Knitters

2011-11-08T14:41:00.000-08:00

Since the weather has gotten nice and crisp all I want to do is knit. Or do anything crafty, really, while enjoying a cider and some buttered rye toast.

Depuis qu’il fait frais dehors rien ne me tente, sauf le tricot. C’est pas vrai – je prendrais bien un bon cidre aussi, avec des rôtis complètements imbibées de beurre!

But there is so, so much to read. I’ve tried reading and knitting at the same time but my eye wanders and when the text is particularly dense (or when I am, ha!) I just don’t absorb the info the way I should. In comes text-to-speech software to save the day. While I need to hunker down to research and write a paper now and I don’t see a way around putting the needles for that, I got an hour of knitting in today. AN HOUR. Sure, Walsham is already a boring read when it’s not narrated by a robot, but what do I care. I’ve got 6 new inches of 2x2 rib!

Mais il y a tant à lire. J’ai bien essayé de lire et de tricoter en même temps, mais j’ai l’œil vagabond et lorsque qu’il s’agit d’un texte (ou de mon cerveau) plutôt dense (ha!) j’ai de la difficulté à bien comprendre ce que je lis. C’est alors que je me suis tournée vers la synthèse de parole à partir du texte. J’aime beaucoup Ispeech, mais il a plusieurs compagnies qui offrent le même service. C’est hyper utile pour l’artisane polyvalente!! Quoique je vais devoir faire de la recherche et rédiger une dissertation ce soir (sans mes aiguilles, évidemment!), j’ai abouti à tricoter pendant une heure aujourd`hui! C’est plus de six pouces de côtes 2x2, ça!

Prêt-a-porter / On Faking Season-Appropriate Knitwear

2011-10-28T11:46:00.000-07:00

Going back to school after a pretty long hiatus has its perks: my time management skills have improved over the years and I’ve developed a tougher skin, so the late nights and hours of commute don’t faze me all that much. I do however spend far too much time sitting down, and when I’m done my work and given the choice between exercising and knitting, I chose knitting every time. So while my muscles are turning to mush, I’m seeking challenge in others ways: I’ve set a goal to design a sweater before Christmas. And you know, it’s coming along nicely! I’m working on armholes right now, which is trickier than I’d thought it would be. The alpaca-wool yarn I’m using is old, long-discontinued, full of hay, burrs and stray tufts of fluff, but it was from a local farm with handmade labels and the colour, oh the colour… Here, check it out for yourself:

Pretty rich, eh? It reminds me of wheat fields at sunset…

Être de retour aux études après une longue pause de travail a ses avantages: j’aménage mon horaire beaucoup mieux qu’avant et mon niveau d’endurance s’est amélioré – je peux fonctionner ayant eu que 6 heures de sommeil par soir. J’admets que je passé beaucoup plus de temps assise et que je choisis le tricot avant l’exercice. Mais si mes muscles sont devenu de la compote, je me trouve des défis ailleurs; par exemple, je me suis décidée que j’aurai créé mon propre pull tricoté d’ici Noel, un design que je suis en train de travailler peu à peu. Ça avance, il me reste le col, les épaules et les manches. La laine est un mélange d’alpaga qui provient d’une ferme des environs. J’ai touché plus doux, mais la couleur est tellement riche! Ça me fait penser à un champ de blé au crépuscule!

Anyway, while I’m working away on this lovely golden yarn, I’m trying to make an effort to wear the handknits that generally never see the light of day. Exhibit A: the bamboo tank from the summer of 2010. I haven`t worn it since, well, summer of 2010. I’m hoping it will work layered over a poplin shirt for the fall and winter. Looks more like a vest this way this way, doesn’t it?

Entre temps, je fais un effort de porter les vêtements tricotés qui sortent rarement de la commode, tel que cette camisole de bambou de l’été 2010. Qui n’a pas été portée depuis, et bien, l’été 2010. Je pense que combiné avec une chemise, ça parait plus automne-hiver, hein?

Cha-cha-changes

2011-09-16T17:19:00.000-07:00

Love that Bowie song.
Anyway, I'm sad that it's been so long since my last post and finished object, but it's been such a crazy summer with some life changes that made crafting a little harder to squeeze in than usual. In May I signed up for both levels I *and* II of Olds College's Master in Spinning courses. It did occur to me that it might not have been the best idea to try and complete both levels in a single year, but I figured that my evening and weekends would suffice for the homework. But then in July the Mister and I realised that we need to move in order to accommodate his employer. I quit my job (!) at the university in July , and we set off on a number of renovations that are necessary in order to put the house on the market. During all of this I received an offer of admission to a grad program and decided to return to graduate school for the second time. Now that the first week of classes has come and gone, I'm seriously questioning not only my ability to do it all, but even to do just a little! But I'm staying optimistic! My commute to school is a little over two hours each way, which is not only useful to catch up on my readings before class, but (more importantly?!) to knit! In fact, I was able to finish this infinity scarf for my sister-in-law thanks to the commute.

The pattern by Sarah Hatton and Rowan Pure Wool 4-ply was part of a kit available to Rowan International members.

I opted for using size 5 needles instead of the size 4 that were called for in the hopes of speeding the knitting up a bit and widening the scarf a touch. I stopped after the 5th ball since it seemed long enough. I'm glad I did, it's just the right length to loop twice for a pretty cowl!

RAV link

Il y a quelques temps depuis mon dernier projet, hein? Mais c'était tout un été de changements qui m'a empêché de faire beaucoup d'artisanats. En mai je me suis inscrite aux cours de filage Master Spinner niveau 1 *et* niveau 2 de Olds College. Ça m'est venu à l'esprit que c'était peut-être une mauvaise idée de combiner les travaux des deux cours à mon horaire déjà chargé, mais bon, j'avais les soirs et les weekends pour mettre le pain à la planche. Mais en juin le monsieur et moi avons réalisé qu'il sera nécessaire de déménager bientôt, car son employeur s'installe ailleurs. Alors j'ai quitté mon emploi en juillet pour commencer les rénovations nécessaires afin de vendre notre maison. J'ai ensuite décidé de retourner aux études supérieurs une deuxième fois.

Mais le temps m'est échappé, l'été est plus ou moins terminé, par contre la maison n'est pas prête pour le marché immobilier. La rentrée scolaire était semaine dernière et ça va me prendre un peu de temps à m'habituer a cette nouvelle routine bien plus chargée que la dernière. J'ignore comment je vais continuer les travaux des deux cours de Olds College en plus de mes quatre cours de maîtrise, mais je demeure optimiste! Je peux tricoter sur la navette chaque jour - en fait, c'est ce qui m'a permit de terminer ce dernier projet, une écharpe pour ma belle-soeur. J'adore ce principe d'une énorme boucle que l'on peut replier en capuchon!Le patron de Sarah Hatton est disponible à partir du site web Rowan International, mais il faut être abonnê.

Voici le lien au projet sur Ravelry.

J'ai utilisé des aiguilles de taille 5 (malgré le patron) dans l'espoir que le tricot irait plus rapidement et je me suis arrêté après cinq balles et non six. Toutefois, le projet m'a prisz plus de deux mois à compléter. Mais cela valu la peine! J'espère que ma belle-soeur va aimer porter l'écharpe cet hiver!

handspun, alpaca, and donuts - oh my!

2011-07-04T05:45:00.000-07:00

In early April I spun up some gorgeous Pigeonroof Studios roving into a skein without the slightest idea what to make of it. But the weather got warmer quickly here in Southwestern Ontario and I knew that instead of a shawl, a short sleeved cardi might be just the thing to throw on in the cooler evenings on our back patio. I found Cecily Glowik MacDonal’ds Goodale pattern to be the perfect little cardi to use up about 200 yards of handspun for a sweater yoke yoke! The sweater would have fit just fine if I’d finished it three months - and twenty pounds - ago, but now it’s a bit small. Darn my procrastinating tendencies! And darn those honey cruller donuts! If only knitting were a workout, right? Then I’d stand a better chance at slimming down a bit this summer :p

The body is knit up in a lovely baby alpaca yarn I picked up at the farmers market in Ottawa.

En début avril j’ai filé environ 200 mètres de mérinos et bfl teints par la talentueuse Krista de Pigeonroof Studios, sans plan spécifique pour le produit final. Tout ce dont j’étais certaine c’est que j’avais le goût de tricoter autre chose qu’un châle. Il fait déjà pas mal chaud au sud-ouest de l’Ontairo et plus j’y pensais, plus je voulais quelque chose à manches courtes que je pourrais mettre en soirée avec un jean short et une camisole. Ce patron de Cecily Glowik MacDonald est une recette parfaite pour profiter de ces petits bouts de laines filés au rouet! La laine de grisâtre provient de jeunes alpagas, achetée à un petit marché à Ottawa. Si seulement je l’avais complété au mois de mai, la veste m’irait mieux – j’ai pris dix kilos depuis le printemps! Ah, si seulement le tricot pouvait être un exercice… Alors là je serais en forme :)

Spinning. That is all.

2011-04-10T13:02:00.000-07:00

*No French translation for now, but I plan on adding one early next week*

Handspun lends itself so well to the perfect simplicity of Nikol Lohr’s Pebble baby vest. There are so many beautiful examples on Ravelry that I thought I might have a go using my own 3-ply handspun. I swear this design is like a potato chip. I am utterly unable to resist casting on another one. I probably will, in a week or two. Good thing this design is so addictive - between my own coworkers and the hubby's, there are enough babies on the way for me to knit a half dozen!

This handspun yarn is my first attempt at Navajo ply (turning a one ply into three, a neat trick that even piqued the hubby’s interest!). I love how this technique preserves the colour changes in the variegated roving and leaves self-striping effect intact. It also gives the yarn that bouncy, squishy feel I *LOVE*. There are many fluffy, uneven bits of yarn in there, but I'd like to think that they give the tiny vest a rustic appeal. Sometimes I mind these quirks, other times not at all - they remind me of that Amish tradition I've heard of, where a mistake is sewn into every quilt, because “only God is perfect”, or where Arab rug weavers would weave in a mistake because “only Allah is perfect”. Admittedly my reasoning is nothing so spiritual – I just want to love the look and feel of handspun :)

This was spun from a Lorna's Lace wool top – sadly I can't remember the fibre content!

Click here for the Ravelry project page

While this particular yarn was spun on my modern Lendrum folding wheel, I'm really, really excited to mention that I now have two new (although much, much older) wheels for my tiny craft room, which is already filled to the brim with yarn. So while I try to convince myself that I'll make space, I'd like to brag a little about my recent finds!

This is my Canadian Production Wheel, Evelyn. She's French-Canadian like me, and while she'll need a little bit of TLC for a gap in her drive wheel, we get along swimmingly!

I found her in the classifieds for $60 while on a trip out north visiting my parents, and she's in rather good condition for being well over 100 years old! Mom is keeping her at her place for the moment because she was a bit too fragile to ship her home, but I'll be picking her up by car in a few weeks.

In the meantime, I get to work on refurbishing this lovely Norwegian- style wheel I found at a garage sale near Toronto.

She was even cheaper than Evelyn, but in great need of cleaning! It was nothing a little bit of oil soap couldn't handle, and she's just glowing now. I call her Jenny. She's made of a number of different woods, my favorite being the birds eye maple of her uprights, and the burled mother-of-all.

See what I mean? How could I not fall head over heels over that craftsmanship??
I plan on dismantling the MOA this evening and cleaning our the tensioning system.

And just to bring this spinning post to close, I thought I'd share some of of the fluff that I just finished plying. The fibre is from Pigeonroof Studios, my current favorite indie dyer.

This is about 4 oz of Blue Face Leicester in « Modolva », plied with a Superwash merino base in the same colourway. I have special plans for these two skeins (about 350 yards, unknown WPI, I really should get around to measuring it!). Hope to have something to show in the next two weeks!

Springtime Mara

2011-04-02T18:53:00.000-07:00

While it's finally spring here in Ontario, you wouldn't know it judging from the flurries at night and the frost I have to scrape off the car at 6:00 every morning! It's going to be woolly knits for me until summer comes in a couple of of months.

I've been making an effort to knit from the stash I've accumulated over the last decade (ok, ok, December's MadTosh Pashmina didn't count. There was a sale!). The Silk Garden was from around 2003, I think, so it was well time I knit it up. I'm so smitten with shawls lately, thick ones, light ones, texture, lace, you name it!

My project page on Ravelry
The pattern: Mara by Madelinetosh

I alternated the Silk Garden and Cash Island every two rows to start, then every 6 rows, then finished off with the silk garden only in an effort to gradually dissolve the stripes. I had very little of the Cash Island left for the contrast-coloured border, so I swapped the ruffles with 2 rows of garter followed by a picot bind-of

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C'est le printemps ici en Ontario, quoiqu'il serait difficile pour moi de le prouver, avec la neige soupoudre les toîts nuit et la givre que je dois gratter du par brise à 6h su matin!

Ça va être des tricots de laine et pour le cous jusqu'à l'été pour moi.

Ces jours-ci je fais un effort pour utiliser la laine que j'ai accumulé au cours des derniers 10 ans (et il u en a beaucoup!!). Je pense que j'avais acheté le Silk Garden en 2003 sans projets en tête, alors il était temps d'en profiter. Je suis complètement ensorcellé par les châles à l'instant – épais, délicats, textures, dentelles, je les aime tous!

Mon projet sur Ravelry

Le patron : Mara par Madelinetosh

J’ai alterné les laines Silk Garden et Cash Island à tous les deux rangs pour commencer, ensuite tous les six rangs, et finalement seulement le Silk Garden pour le reste du châle, jusqu’à la bordure. Puisqu’il ne me restait que quelques mètres de Cash Island pour la bordule, j’ai substitué les volants avec un rabattage des mailles en picots.

Délicatesse

2011-02-17T12:06:00.000-08:00

Version française en bas de page

I think I’m stuck on shawls. I haven’t wanted to knit anything else since December, and this little one here is my third in a row. I currently have one in my knitting bag that’s well over two-thirds done. I can’t stop! I mean, they allow me to use spare balls of yarn that had been swallowed by The Stash, are incredibly portable, are interesting to knit without taking a year to finish, what’s not to love?
Will 2011 be my Year of the Shawls?

This one was meant to use up a spare ball and a half of Kidsilk Haze, paired with a ball of Kidsilk Spray that I’d purchased long ago when a LYS closed its doors for good. Wanting something striped in a delicate way, yet simple enough for TV knitting, I settled on knitting Kirsten Kapur’s Andrea’s Shawl. Again. It really is that much fun!

By my calculations I barely had enough yarn to knit the medium size, but I wanted the width of the large. So I cast on for the large, but knit only half of the border’s 16 rows and then decreased 6 stitches every second row instead of 4. The result was a wide, but shallow shawl. While I’m pleased to get the result I’d been aiming for, I still had TONS of yarn left when I cast off.
Most likely enough to have knit the large.
A definite sign that math still isn’t my strong suit!

* * * * * * * *

Je pense que je suis coincée. Depuis décembre tout ce que je désire tricoter ce sont des châles. Ce qui est utile c’est que ça me donne la chance d’utiliser la laine que j’ai déjà, ce qui compte une chambre entière! J’avais environ une balle et demie de Rowan Kidsilk Haze qui me restait après un de mes premiers projets ainsi qu’une balle de Kidsilk Spray, achetée à rabais dans une boutique qui fermait ses portes. Je me cassais la tête pour trouver un patron qui ne nécessitait que ces deux balles et qui mettrait en valeur la qualité hyper délicate de la laine. Finalement, trop paresseuse pour entamer un projet dont le niveau de difficulté m’empêcherais d’écouter la télé en même temps, j’ai décidé de tricoter le Andrea’s Shawl une deuxième fois!

Je craignais de ne pas avoir assez de laine, mais je désirais quand même atteindre la largeur de la taille la plus grande afin que le châle puisse faire le tour de mes épaules. Alors, j'ai commencé en tricotant la taille la plus large, pour ensuite accélérer les diminutions. J'ai diminué de six mailles tous les deux rangs au lieu de quatre et j'ai réduit la bordure de 16 rangs à huit. Le résultat est un châle qui peut faire la circonférence de mes épaules, mais qui est bien plus court et nécessite moins de laine.
Je l’aime bien, mais lorsque je suis arrivée à la pointe il me restait tant de laine que j’aurais pu tricoter la plus grande taille après tout! Oups!

A shawl for dancing

2011-01-30T11:10:00.001-08:00

English version at bottom of post

Chaque année j'organise un bal pour le département universitaire auquel je travaille. Le thème demeure toujours le même, « La nuit en rose », faisant en sorte que les robes et les cravates roses sont les bienvenues. Cette fois j'ai porté mon nouveau châle rose fluo, sa première sortie en fait et j'ai pu apprécier ce modèle génial (Moonlight Sonata Shawl de Shui Kuen Kozinski) comme il faut – la forme ressemble à de ailies, ce qui assure que le châle a moins tendance à tomber, un avantage important (et fort apprécié!) lors d'un bal.

Le blocage était vraiment essentiel pour que les « bulles » apparaissent bien ronde. Avant son bain, le châle ressemblait vraisemblablement à une vieille guenille avec des noeuds étranges un peu partout!

Je me suis vraiment « payée une traite » avec cette laine... la MadelineTosh Pashmina est encore plus douce et plus élastique que je l'avais rêvée. Par contre, j'ai utilisé seulement qu'un peu plus qu'une pelote, tandis que j'en avais acheté deux pour le châle. Je me demande ce que je pourrais tricoter avec les trois quarts de la pelote qu'il me reste......

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Each year I organize a bal for the students and faculty of the department I work for. Each year the theme remains the same, « La nuit en rose », and so pink coloured dresses and ties are both welcome and encouraged. This year I wore my brand new neon pink shawl, knit from Shui Kuen Kozinski's clever Moonlight Sonata Shawl pattern. Taking it for a spin during a night of dancing was a great test for the shawl's wing-shaped shoulders, which are supposed to increase the likelihood of it staying put. All in all, not bad!

Blocking was so essential to obtain the bubble shapes in the pattern. Before its bath, the shawl resembled little more than a hot pink rag with funny little knots all over.

I really treated myself to something special with the yarn – MadelineTosh Pashmina is even softer and squishier than I'd dreamed it would be! The colour, « Neon Rose », is just as bright and saturated as I'd hoped. Strangely, I only used a little over a ball of it for the shawl, whereas I'd bought two for the project. What to do with slightly less than a ball of this yarn, I wonder...

December - Décembre 2010

2011-01-18T08:50:00.003-08:00

Version française en bas de page

I’m not sure why I’ve put off writing this post for so long - I have new projects to show after all! Maybe it’s because of my semi-comatose state, caused by all the left-over sweets from the holidays, or maybe it’s because of the current weather (Ice rain. Blergh.) Anyway, here are the goodies that kept me busy in December:

The first is an improvisation of Sarah Hattons’ Unisex Scarf. I had the best intentions to knit the Mister the full length scarf, but I came to my senses a few days before Christmas, there just wasn't enough time left. So I doubled the Patons Classic Wool, increased the needle size to US9, and the minute the scarf was long enough to wrap comfortably around the neck, I worked 7 buttonholes and cast off. And true to my usual harebrained knitting, I failed to count the buttons I had until after I'd cast off! Thankfully I found 7 usable metal buttons from a jacket I was about to discard and I think they work quite well!

(rav link to project)
The second project is an alpaca-silk shawl, from Orlane’s famous Textured shawl recipe. This was originally going to be for me, at least that’s what I thought when I bought the yarn for it (LOVE that Earth Collection Mainland yarn), but as I became more and more enamoured as I knit I deemed the shawl good enough to gift away and finished it with my mom in mind. I hope she used is when she’s reading curled up on the couch with a cup of tea – I know that’s what I would do:)

(Rav link to project)

The third and last December project isn’t knitted, but I’m kind of proud of it so I’m going to post it here anyway. My grandmother requested a green apron for Christmas, so I followed Lotta Jansdotter’s reversible apron pattern in her book Simple Sewing: Patterns and How-To for 24 Fresh and Easy Projects. While one side is green, as requested, I had a ton of fun creating the patchwork side!

Next project will be for me, a shawl I’m close to casting off that reminds me of polka dots and cream soda. Can’t wait to show you :)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

J’ignore pourquoi j’ai fais traîner la rédaction de ce billet de blogue, j’ai pourtant plusieurs nouveaux projets à partager! S’agit-il peut-être de mon état quasi-comateux, inévitable après le temps des fêtes? Ou c’est peut-être encore symptôme du temps qu’il fait dehors (pluie verglaçante). En tout cas, voici sans tarder les projets qui m’ont gardé occupée en décembre :

Le premier projet est une improvisation du patron Unisex Scarf de Sarah Hatton. J’avais les meilleures intentions de tricoter une longue écharpe pour le Monsieur lorsque j’ai dû admettre que ce serait impossible à accomplir avant Noël. Alors j’ai tricoté la laine Patons Classic Wool deux fils à la fois avec de plus grosses aiguilles (5.5mm) et lorsque la longueur était suffisante pour faire le tour du cou, j’ai crée 7 boutonnières. Espèce d’imbécile, je n’ai compté mes boutons qu’après avoir terminé le col, mais heureusement j’ai pu recycler de vieux boutons en métal d’une veste que j’allais jeter.

Le deuxième est un châle qui devait être pour moi, mais qui m’a de plus en plus charmé jusqu’à ce que je l’ai estimé trop spécial pour mes épaules alors je l’ai terminé en pensant à son éventuel récipiendaire, ma chère maman :) Le patron est le Textured shawl recipe de Orlane, qui est aussi simple qu’il est brillant. La laine est le Earth Collection Mainland, un mélange somptueux d’alpaga et de soie. Il me semble le châle idéale pour de la lecture sur le divan avec une tasse de thé, je considère fortement en tricoter un deuxième!

Le troisième projet n’est pas du tricot, mais j’en suis un peu fière alors je l’affiche ici également. Ma grand-mère maternelle m’avait demandé un tablier vert pour Noël, préférablement fait à la main. Celui que je lui ai offert est réversible, avec un côté vert tel que demandé, mais l’autre est une mosaïque de plusieurs de mes tissus préférés. Le patron provient du livre Simple Sewing: Patterns and How-To for 24 Fresh and Easy Projects de Lotta Jansdotter.

Alors fini les cadeaux pour quelques temps!

A Foamy Thermis. What?

2010-11-24T11:23:00.001-08:00

English version at bottom in bold

Il y deux semaines (déjà??) j’ai eu la chance de prendre l’avion et rendre visite à ma chère famille qui habite à Ottawa. C’était l’anniversaire de ma meilleure amie (depuis la petite enfance!) et je me suis décidée, le jour avant de partir, de lui tricoté une petite écharpe triangulaire toute douce. Je l’ai terminé que quelques secondes avant de sortir au restau, le séchoir à cheveux dans une main (il était toujours trempe, question d’un blocage dernière minute) et le papier à emballage dans l’autre!

Le patron est Foamy de Gokce Baser . Je n’ai utilisé que 3 pelotes de ma laine Mainland (partie alpaga, partie merino, partie soie – tellement agréable contre la peau!), alors le tout n’a requis qu’environ 230 mètres.

Voici la belle Geneviève avec son nouveau mini-châle

Dès mon retour de voyage je me suis mise à tricoter un col (cowl?) pour ma mère, un cadeau de noël qu’elle m’avait « commandé » il y a plusieurs mois dans une laine qu’elle avait également choisie. C’est le Thermis Cowl de Kris Knits. Je suis un peu déçue du produit final, qui semble manquer de rigidité et donc retombe sur lui-même un peu trop. Une laine plus épaisse et une aiguille plus petite aurait peut-être fait l’affaire? J’ai utilisé la laine silky wool de Elsbeth Lavold et des aiguilles de taille US6.

Je pense que je vais lui acheter de nouveaux gants de cuir de couleur semblable, et les offrir ensemble. Heureusement que Maman ne lit pas le blogue!

* * * * * * * * *

Two weeks ago (already?!), I had the insanely ginormous pleasure of taking two days off of work, and hopped on a plane to visit my family in Ottawa. It was glorious. It also happened to be my best bud’s birthday and instead of packing like a good girl the night before the flight, I cast on to knit her mini-shawl. I finished it at the last second while waiting for the ride that would bring us to the restaurant, hair dryer in one hand (I was silly and thought I could block it in 20 minutes) and wrapping paper in the other!

It was a nice, quick, satisfying knit, and the Mainland yarn (baby alpaca, silk and merino mix) is so scrumptious I didn’t mind knitting nearly non-stop for three days. The pattern is Gokce Baser’s Foamy, and I’d recommend it! I had to skip the lacy edging for lack of time, but I wish I’d done it now…

Then the minute I came back from my weekend jaunt to Ottawa I cast on for the cowl my mom had requested for Christmas. She’d picked the yarn (Elsbeth Lavold’s Silky Wool) and the Pattern (Thermis Cowl by Kris Knits) months ago, so I was able to start right away while waiting for my sewing machine to get back from the shop.

The cowl is…. Ok. I’m a bit disappointed in the lack or stiffness, it’s a bit floppier than I’d hoped, but this isn’t an issue with the pattern at all since I have the same complaint about every cowl I’ve knit so far. I maybe should have used the yarn double while keeping the same needle size (US6) to get a stiffer fabric…

I also find that due to the stretchy sewn bind-off, the cowl flares in the "wrong" direction for me and therefore fits better upside down!

Love how Mom's favorite flower, the edelweiss, is featured in the pewter buttons.

I’m hoping to find a pair of leather gloves in a similar shade of spice/rust to pair the cowl with in a gift box… Wish me luck! (Good thing mom doesn’t read the blog, too!)

Totally Tubular Sock Yarn Eater

2010-11-11T05:43:00.000-08:00

This will have to be an über short post, I have a flight to catch in a few hours and am nowhere near ready (yikes!!).

So, in a nutshell: I had loads of sock yarn. I'm not a sock knitter. (What a non-sock-yarn knitter is doing with loads of sock yarn is not the point :p )

What I ended up with is this cozy contraption:

If you also are looking to use up a significant amount of sock yarn and are looking for an easy tubular pattern to knit while watching the tube (har-har), I wrote up the recipe and it can be found here:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/totally-tubular-sock-yarn-eater

Je prends du retard!

2010-10-16T13:08:00.000-07:00

I was wracking my brain for a gift idea for my grandma's birthday a few months ago. My mom, who wears her green Swallowtail shawl pretty often, hinted that my grandma has made many a comment about it's loveliness and that she would likely love one of her own. Hmm.

It's not that I didn't enjoy knitting mom's shawl, because I did, but knitting the same thing twice within the same year didn't have the same appeal as trying something new. Like Isolda Teague's Ishbel. And while I really, really loved the Misti Alpaca lace, I wanted to see a shawl knit with something else. Like silk.

I had been saving a skein of Handmaiden Sea Silk for a special occasion, which luckily enough was in the same colour range as the Swallowtail I knit for mom. Perfect? Maybe. But I'd be lying if I said a part of me didn't cry a little at the lost opportunity for some yarn shopping :p

Anyhoodles, I figured the Sea Silk would feel luxurious both for my hands while I knit, and eventually around my gran's neck. Sadly though, I’m not 100% in love with Sea silk. Nothing wrong with it, since it behaves exactly like a silk yarn should, but I think I’ve come to realize that I’m more of a spongy-wool-yarn knitter than a drapey-silk-yarn knitter, it that makes any sense. But Gran is always warm and avoids turtlenecks for this very reason, so I think this cooler fiber composition will suit her well.

And the colour, it just glows! The greens and yellows knit together create the most iridescent fabric! Now if only I'd knit it in time for her birthday - in AUGUST. Oops. Express post it is!

Il y a quelques mois, j'étais à la recherche d'idées de cadeaux possibles pour l'anniversaire de ma grand-mère. Ma mère, qui porte souvent son Swallowtail Shawl, a laissé sous-entendre que ma grand-mère en aimerais bien un elle aussi. Même taille, même couleur. Bon. Ce n'est pas que j'ai trouvé le Swallowtail moins qu'agréable à tricoter, en fait je me suis bien amusée à faire les petites boules dans la section dentelle. Par contre, tricoter le même patron, avec la même laine une deuxième fois en un an ne me donnait pas vraiment le goût de me mettre au travail tout de suite. J'ai plutôt choisi le fameux châle Ishbel de Isolda Teague et la laine Sea Silk de Handmaiden pour faire du nouveau.

Quoique je n'aime pas trop la texture glissante de la soie, ni sa température plutôt froide, ma grand-mère déteste les cols roulés et a souvent chaud alors j'espère que ce choix de laine fera sont affaire. En ce qui concerne la couleur, je pense qu'elle sera ravie - c'est un vert qui brille au soleil et qui garde sa lueur à l'intérieur - j'adore! Si seulement je l'avais tricoté à temps pour son anniversaire - au mois d'aout!! Oups. Heureusement qu'elle est aussi patiente qu'elle est belle, ma grand-mère :) Bonne fête Mémère!

Confetti Hodie

2010-09-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

Version françaises en bas de page

In mid-July my LYS announced it would be closing its doors for good. The owner decided to concentrate on her other retail projects and was in the process of liquidating everything at 50% off. I jumped in my car on my lunch break to see if there was much Koigu left, and thankfully I really had my pick. I fell in love with this confetti colourway and purchased 10 skeins with the hope of making a entire sweater out of KPPPM. Connie Chang Chinchio’s Austin hoodie was highly ranked in my queue and while I didn’t manage to get gauge even with US 7 needles, I knit the small size hoping I would get the xs measurements by the end - and I did!

This will most certainly not be my last Koigu sweater. I have sweater quantity of Koigu Mori I’m not sure what do to with and will save for a rainy day when I need cheering up :)

C’était avec beaucoup de regret que la seule boutique de laine dans mon cartier a fermé ses portes pour de bon. Toute la laine était en solde, à 50% de rabais ou plus. Je m’y suis précipitée pendant mon heure de déjeuner. Plantée devant le mur de laine Koigu (je m’étais déjà décidé que c’était une occasion rare d’obtenir de la laine Koigu en solde!), j’ai aperçu celle-ci et c’était le coup de foudre. J’ai acheté 10 pelotes avec l’intention d’en faire un chandail. Le patron est l’excellent Austin Hoodie de Connie Chang Chinchio.

C’était un plaisir à réaliser ce modèle! Je considère très sérieusement en faire un autre, puisque j’ai beaucoup de laine d’une épaisseur semblable à tricoter. Ce ne sera certainement pas mon dernier chandail en fil Koigu, c’est certain. J’ai huit pelotte de Koigu Mori dans le placard que je garde pour une journée de pluis lorsque j’ai besoin d’un p’tit quelque chose de spécial pour me remonter le moral :)

You put the lime in the coconut...

2010-09-12T11:20:00.000-07:00

French at bottom of post

Back in April I paid our new Anthropologie store a visit and fell hard in love with a mustard/lime-coloured cardi. I’m glad I saved a copy of the photo from the site as it’s no longer available:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20146744@N06/4593776278/

I decided I wanted slightly longer and less fitted version that would look cute with jeans, hopefully in a similar colour. I’d been wanting to knit Laura Grutzeck’s Essential cardigan since I’d received my copy of Interweave Knits Summer 2010, so I tried to merge the two together. I wanted texture but no cables since I only had 9 skeins of the Ella Rae Shibu (someone please stop me from buying more cotton/silk yarns! I dislike inelasticity so so much!).

So I brought a few mods to the pattern: I lengthened the torso, swapped the stockinette for (my favorite) seed stitch, opted for full-length sleeves instead of 3/4 to bring it into fall, and added some waist shaping to make up for the slightly baggier style, not to mention the new boyish haircut! There are many, many details that bug me, such as the obvious places where I had to join a new yarn (no spit splicing cotton and I for some reason I didn't think of using Russian joins). I was going to be cutting it so close with my 9 balls of yarn that I didn't want to waste any by adding new yarns solely at the beginning of rows. Turns out I have almost a whole skein left over, but c'est la vie :)

C’était en avril que j’ai aperçu cette veste au magasin Anthropologie (qui venait tout juste d’ouvrir à Toronto - youpii!!) et que je me suis décidée de tricoter quelque chose de semblable, couleur moutarde-lime, sans torsades et un peu plus décontractée. Voici la version d’Anthropologie (la veste n’est plus disponible sur leur site web mais j’avais sauvegardée un copie de la photo pour me souvenir du look). http://www.flickr.com/photos/20146744@N06/4593776278/

En feuilletant ma copie de Interweave Knits Été 2010, j’ai trouvé le Essential Cardigan de Laura Grutzeck plutot à mon gout. La laine choisie, Shibu de Ella Rae, est un mélange de soie et de coton. J’ignore pourquoi je continue à acheter la laine en coton et en soie lorsque je déteste son comportement inélastique... Mais en tout cas, ça ajoute au look décontractée de la veste alors je pense que ça ira.

J’ai apporté quelques modifications au patron. J’ai allongé le torse, j’ai utiliser un point de riz car le jersey de me tentait pas et j’ai rétréci la taille pour lui donner une silhouette un peu plus féminine (pour compensé pour le look détractée et ma nouvelle coupe de cheveux à la garçonne!).

Time's fun when you're having flies

2010-08-02T16:17:00.000-07:00

The last month has gone by so quickly! I'm not ready for August!

The last 5 weeks have been jam-packed and included a long weekend in Ottawa as well as 10 glorious days off work to visit the in-laws in British Colombia. Tonight is the last evening before I return to work after my 2-week vacation and boy have I got a case of Sunday Night Blues. I’ve opened a super-sized bag of Wine Gums to nosh on while I reminisce over the last few weeks.

Early on in July I managed to sew up a lap quilt for my little sister’s 23rd birthday. I'd hoped to finish in time in order to gift it during a brief (but precious!) 4-day visit to Ottawa. I’d somehow convinced myself that I could cut, sew, piece and finish the whole thing in less than two weeks, as long as I spent every spare moment outside of work working on it. I made it (but just barely!) – it was finished the day after her birthday, only a couple of hours before we had to hit the road for the 6-hr ride back home. Here are some photos of the just-finished quilt. I’m so glad we managed to take some photos before we left!

The backing is made up of Heather Bailey's Peonies print. I was saving the fabric for something special, and I'm so glad I'd held off - I find that it plays well with the quilt top.

The quilt is now in Australia where is will live with Little Sis during her last term of University. She sent me this photo of the quilt on her dorm cot:

The 2nd weekend of July was saved for an exciting trip to Shelridge Farms. I'd signed up for a hand dyeing workshop taught by owner and dyer extraordinaire, Buffy Taylor. (On a side note, up until that weekend I hadn't realized that both Shelridge Farms and Koigu Wools are just a short drive away from our home!). I dyed six skeins of fingering weight superwash wool in monochrome tones of pinks, purples and blue-greens.

Finished skeins:

This turquoise/lime/forest combo is my favorite and I couldn't resist winding it into balls so that I could cast on the minute I boarded the plane to BC...

Ah, BC. Definitely a top choice for that yearly vacation - 10 days of amazing food (my SIL is the most incredible chef!), adorable nieces and nephew, sweet MIL and FIL, and (ALMOST) no work-related worries. My packing job might be messy and inefficient, but I'm always meticulous when choosing the knitting to bring on a trip. Bamboo circs for the plane, an in-progress project that needs some attention and everything I would need for at least 3 new projects, however impossible it is for me to knit more than 10 inches of anything in less than a month! And that's how I ended up with two sweaters on the needles. As a most boring One-Project-At-A-Time knitter, I'm elated that I was able to break out of this silly knitting project monogamy. I realize that many knitters have many projects on the go, but I've always been a bit too obsessive-compulsive to achieve this. It's funny because I can start a craft (sewing, spinning, beading, clay modeling, etc), stop mid-way and start another craft right away, but not with knitting. But look!

Meet Cardigan 1

And Cardigan 2!

Crazy, I know :p
I'd love to throw in a shawl and a tam into the mix but the thought of working on four knitting projects at once still make nervous. Oh well, baby steps, baby steps...

Blue Bamboo Bateau - Bateau en bambou bleu

2010-06-01T16:34:00.000-07:00

French Version at Bottom of Page

RYC’s Bamboo Soft has received a lot of criticism for its tendency to split, its slipperiness (making joins rather difficult) and its lack of elasticity. But isn’t that just the fiber properties of bamboo? After reading some scathing reviews of the yarn I loathed that I’d just purchased 9 (discounted and therefore final sale) skeins of the stuff.

But you know what? I love it. I’m absolutely smitten with the feel and the drape and the hand of it. Since this is a tank and not a long-sleeved garment, I’m not overly worried about sagging at the shoulders. Instead all I feel is the most amazingly soft and silky fabric against my stomach and I honestly don’t want to take it off!

Pattern: Drawstring Bateau by Deborah Newton (from Simple Style)

Mods: I reduced the length between the ribbing and the first lace repeat because I was anticipating some stretching in the long term due to the inelasticity. It did indeed stretch the tiniest bit during blocking which impressed me. There’s plenty of room for it to stretch over time without becoming too long.
I omitted the I-cord tie under the bust for a few reasons, the main being that I was less than thrilled at the thought of knitting that much I-cord. I had planned on using a ribbon instead, but now I suspect that adding a tie under the bust would interrupt the draping effect too much.
Also, I knit the tank in the round up to the underarms (actually, that’s not true. I knit it up to the shoulders in the round. And then realized I had no arm holes and tearfully ripped back all that lace. Who’s a total tubesock? *me*)

It’s funny, I’ve always steered clear of tanks and other garments that screamed summer because I was convinced I’d get more wear out of cardigans and other cosier goods. But really, I think this FO will get the most wear of all of my finished knits!

J’ai lu les multiples compte-rendus négatifs de la laine Bamboo Soft the RYC seulement qu’*après* en avoir acheté neuf pelotes (non-remboursables). Les gens se plaignent que c’est une laine non-élastique trop glissante dont les fils ont tendances à se séparer. Bien que toutes ces plaintes sont justes, n’est-ce que des propriétés inévitables de la fibre du bambou? Tout de même, j’étais déçu et craignait le produit final n’importe le modèle.

Mais vous savez, j’avais tort. Je suis absolument conquise, folle amoureuse de cette laine. La sensation du tissu contre la peau est incroyable. Puisqu’il s’agit d’un modèle sans manches, je n’ai pas trop à m’inquiéter d’extension des coutures aux épaules (que j’envisagerais peut-être dans un pull).

Le patron: Drawstring Bateau de Deborah Newton (from Simple Style)

Mes modifications :

J’ai raccourcit la portion entre le 2x2 et le premier panneau de dentelle car je m’attendais à ce le débardeur s’étire et s’allonge à long terme. J’ai omis le cordon pour plusieurs raisons, entre autre parce que je déteste tricoter les I-cords. J’avais l’intention d’utiliser un ruban, mais en fin de compte je préfère le look sans serrage sous le buste. J’ai aussi tricoté le tout en un morceau sur des aiguilles circulaires jusqu’aux aisselles (non je mens, je l’ai tricoté comme ça jusqu’aux épaules avant de me rendre compte qu’il n’y avait pas de trous pour les bras! Merde que c’est gênant ça!! )

C’est drôle, j’ai toujours évité les débardeurs et les autres vêtements strictement «été », croyant qu’ils ne me seraient pas aussi utiles que les verstes et les pulls. Mais en vérité, j’ai adoré la rapidité de tricoter un modèle sans manches et je pense qu’il s’agira du vêtement tricoté que je porterai le plus parmi tous mes FOs!

Frankenstein

2010-03-26T05:55:00.000-07:00

Version française en bas de page

Finally dry after its third bath, my Frankenstein sweater is … wearable. Inspired by the Imogen Jacket designed by Adrienne Thomas , I decided to put my Lady of the Lake kit to another use.

I purchased the Imogen pattern and set to work. Instead of alternating the two yarns ( Kid Aran and Curly Locks, both from the Fleece Artist ) as is done in the Lady of the Lake design, I knit them together. That was mistake number 1. Not measuring my yardage was mistake number two. Mistake #3? Continuing on despite my resentment upon seeing the texture and rigidity of my gauge swatch. Recognising 2/3rds through that I would run out of yarn, I knit the sleeves last and added 2 1/2 inches of ribbing on each front around the collar, and an inch for the bottom hem. Thankfully, this inadvertently cut down on the itch factor on the back of my neck!

The good: I’ve leaved quite a bit from this project! For instance, I don’t think I like bouclé yarn at all!

The bad: I have about 20 balls of some Cleckheaton bouclé in the stash. Ugh.
The good: Doesn’t look half bad with a belt!
The bad: Can’t be worn without a belt. At all. Closely resembles a fuschia feather boa with purple trim.

Ma veste Frankenstein est finalement sèche et prête à porter après son troisième bain et blockage. Inspirée du Imogen Jacket d’Adrienne Thomas, j’ai décider de ne pas entreprendre le patron qui était compris avec le kit (Lady of the lake)

J’ai fait tant de mauvaises décisions avec ce projet! La première était de tricoter les deux laines ensemble au lieu de les alterner (voir le design Lady of the lake pour la belle texture à laquelle on abouti en alternant les deux laines). J’ai aussi fait l’erreur de ne pas mesurer le métrage de mon kit pour le comparer au nouveau patron. C’est pourquoi la veste a de manches courtes et du 2x2 d’une laine différente. Heureusement, j’aime l’effet contraste et le coton fait en sorte que le col ne me démange plus la nuque. Le tissu est plutôt rigide mais les trois bains l’on assez ramollit afin qu’il soit portable.
Point fort : J’ai beaucoup appris avec ce projet. Surtout le fait que je n’aime pas la laine bouclée du tout!
Point faible : J’ai au moins 20 balles de laine bouclée dans le garde robe. Merde.
Point fort : L’effet n’est pas si mauvais lorsque portée avec une ceinture.
Point faible : A l’air complètement ridicule sans ceinture. J’ai l’impression de porter un boa rose-mauve fluo à garniture violette.

Sweet, sweet spring!

2010-03-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

English version at bottom of post

J'espère qu'il commence à faire beau et chaud dans votre coin du monde! C'est certainement le cas au sud de l'Ontario, où le vent devient de plus en plus doux et les oies sont de retour (et se font entendre!).

J'ai terminé une veste qui ne me plait pas du tout. Même après trois bains/blocages, elle tire se plisse dans tous les mauvais endroits. La laine bouclée me démange le coup et donne à la veste un effet boule de poil. Frustrée à l'extrême, j'ai commencé un petit châle printanier.

Le patron est Andrea's Shawl de Kristen Kapour. Tricoté de Cash Islande de Noro et Georga de Walmart ( oui vraiment ! )
Lien au projet dans Ravelry

Je l'ADORE!

I hope spring has arrived in your corner of the world! It certainly has here in Southwestern Ontario where the breezes are warm(er) and the geese have come back (and boy howdy are they ever noisy!!). I've finished knitting a cardigan that is almost completely unwearable. The fit is all wrong (I MUST stop improvising perfectly good designs!), the yarn combo is itchy and the texture makes it look like a giant hairball. So those photos will be for another time. In the mean time I knit a springy shawl.

The lovely, lovely pattern is Andrea's Shawl by Kristen Kapour. Unlike that aforementioned cardi, I loved every single minute of this project. I combined some Noro Cash Island with a yarn found at Walmart, called Georga. Pretty darn soft for $4 a skein!

Ravelry project link

Two thumbs and ten toes up for this one. I LOVE IT.

Jack of all trades, master of none!

2010-02-12T09:03:00.000-08:00

(English version at bottom of page)

Ouf, ça fait un bon bout de temps que je n’ai pas posté, en dépit de tout le bricolage qui se passe chez nous de ces temps-ci!
En janvier j’ai terminé l’écharpe pour ma mère, tricotée d’une laine canadienne (Americo Baby Dehaired Llama), qu’elle avait choisie à la superbe boutique Wool N’ Things à Orléans (Ontario). Le patron est le superbe Gathered Scarf de Maryse Roudier.

Ce fil est si doux que j’avais surtout hâte de ramasser les aiguilles pour la sensation agréable de cette douceur entre mes doigts! L’odeur du fil mouillé m’a surprise, mais on m’a dit que c’est normal pour la laine de lama.
L’écharpe a à peine requis les deux pelotes, mais j’ignore quoi faire avec les restes!
J’ai ensuite formé un petit club (ou plutôt un cours) de tricot pour le département universitaire. J’aime bien mon affiche avec référence à Proust!

Des hommes se sont présentés!

Ensuite je me suis soudainement ré-intéressé aux courtepointes en me joignant à un groupe de couseuses de courtepointe. Voici le premier de deux carreaux qui seront postés à la merveilleuse Jocelyn très bientôt :

ENGLISH

I feel terrible that I haven’t posted despite having some finished projects to show (I’ve been busy busy busy)! In January I finished my mother’s scarf, from a wool she picked herself at the awesome shop Wool N’ Things in Orleans (Ontario). The pattern is Maryse Roudier’s Gathered Scarf and the amazing (Canadian!) wool is Americo Baby Dehaired Llama. This stuff is so soft, I was looking forward to working on the scarf just to feel the yarn slide through my fingers. Amazing, amazing yarn. Only drawback was the strong smell it has when wet, but I’ve been told that’s the norm for most llama/alpaca yarns.

The scarf only used 70% of the two skeins, but I have no clue what to knit with the leftovers. What do you do with 1/3 of a skein?

I then started a small knitting club/class for the department at the university. A couple of men showed up, which is incredibly encouraging!

Finally, I’ve fallen in love with sewing all over again by joining a virtual quilting bee. These ladies are SO AWESOME and TALENTED (trust me, the use of capitals is justified). Here is the second of the two squares that will be on their way to the most wonderful Jocelyn in just a few days:

Tutorial for a mis-matched version of this block can be found here

2010-01-15T08:05:00.000-08:00

The year I married was the year I received a spinning wheel for my birthday, a wonderful gift from my entire (extended!) family. Sadly, this was almost six years ago, and I’ve hardly knit anything with the handspun. I’ve been destashing quite a bit recently and was trying to justify keeping my beautiful wheel when the yarn I’ve spun isn’t keeping anybody warm. I have a few New Year resolutions for 2010 (amazing how quickly some resolutions fall apart, no? Walk the equivalent of 10km/day? Ha!) and one of them is to knit up my handspun, as lumpy and imperfect as it may be. I enjoyed knitting the first Spriral Cowl so much I was eager to start a second and the pattern seemed like it would lend itself to the Aran weight handspun that’s been gathering dust. The pattern is so easily memorized that I was able to knit it from start to finish during the six-hour drive to my mother’s . I honestly feel like this is the potato chip of patterns, I can’t make just one (or two!).

Quelques jours avant mes noces j’ai reçu le meilleur cadeau pour mon anniversaire, un rouet Lendrum. Malheureusement, il y a déjà presque six ans de cela et je n’ai encore fait quoi que ce soit avec la laine filée. Difficile à justifier, un rouet, lorsque la laine qui en ressort n’ai jamais utilisée, non? J’ai adopté quelques résolutions pour l’an 2010 (quelques-unes d’entre-elles déjà abandonnée - surtout celles qui compte de l’exercice quotidienne!), et je compte tricoter toute ma laine filée avant la fin de l’année. J’ai eu tant de plaisir à tricoter mon premier Spiral Cowl que j’avais vraiment hâte d’en commencer un deuxième et le patron semble idéal pour de la laine filée au rouet. Il est aussi très facile à mémoriser, ce qui m’a permis de le tricoter du début à la fin pendant un voyage en voiture d’environ six heures. C’est comme des croustilles, ce patron – impossible de s’arrêter après un ou deux!

2010-01-05T08:38:00.000-08:00

English version below.

J’espère que tout le monde a passé un très joyeux temps des fêtes! De retour des vacances en famille, le tricot quotidien me manque énormément. Heureusement que je refuse d’abandonner les chocolats! J’ai reçu plusieurs boîtes de truffes et de caramel et je m’amuse a en choisir plusieurs pendant ma pause déjeuner au travail :)
Je vous laisse avec quelques photos du béret des jambières offerts à ma petite sœur à Noël. Les jambière sont tricotées à partir de mon design Snowdrop et le béret, #24 Lace Beret de Kate Gagnon Osborn, proviens de la revue Vogue Knitting de cet hiver. J’ai utilisé la même laine pour les deux, GGH Merino Soft, que j’adore!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! Having just returned from a trip up north to visit my family I’m finding it a bit difficult to get back into the swing of things and feel enthusiastic about work (and our freezing weather!). I am, however, having lots of fun picking chocolates from the numerous boxes I received from coworkers. Nothing a like a few truffles and caramels to perk me right up. I already miss the daily knitting I enjoyed on vacation. Thankfully, I have a bit to show for it:
Yet another pair of legwarmers for the little sis, accompanied by a beret in the same yarn, GGH Merino Soft (LOVE!). The legwarmers are knit from my Snowdrops pattern, and the hat is Gagnon Osborn’s #24 Lace Beret from this winter’s Vogue Knitting. I think she likes them!

2009-12-26T19:20:00.000-08:00

Je vous souhaite un merveilleux temps des fête, rempli de gâteries et de tricot!

Pattern is the Tee-Tiny Raglan by Lori Bird from the Woolroom!

I wish you and yours the happiest of holiday seasons, filled with cheer, treats, and plenty of time to knit!

2009-12-23T07:34:00.000-08:00

English version below

Mon premier tricot des fêtes! C’est le Spiral Cowl de Keri McKiernan (lien Ravelry), un cadeau de Noël pour une collègue de travail à qui j’avais longtemps promis un p’tit quelque chose tricoté. J’ai tenté d’incorporer le plus de violets et de mauve possible, ses couleurs préférées. Plein de trous et d'erreurs, mais j’adore le rebord picoté! Je pense que je vais m’en tricoter un également, tant j’ai aimé l’expérience!

RAVELED!

My first holiday knit! It’s Keri McKiernan Spiral Cowl (Rav link), a Christimas gift for a dear coworker. I’d promised her something hand knit for the last two years now, so it’s long overdue! I tried to incorporate some purples, her favourite colour. It's full of mistakes but I love the picot edging so much I think it makes up for my clumsy fingers! I think I might make one for myself, it was such a fun knit!

Oups.

2009-11-03T06:00:00.000-08:00

English version below.

Il y a (bien trop!) longtemps, j’ai décidé de tricoter un châle pour porter avec une robe mauve à un mariage qui a eu lieu il y a déjà plus d’un mois. Je m’étais mise dans la tête l’idée stupide qu’il serait bien d’inventer le patron. J’ai passé plus d’un mois à tricoter quelques centimètres avant de les défaire, rayant mes notes précédentes dans mon calepin et gribouillant de nouvelles directives. J’y ai passé mes vacances au mois d’août et j’ai abandonné le tout lorsque je me suis rendu compte que cet objet devant moi, aussi doux qu’il soit, ne ressemblera jamais à un châle. Pendant le weekend je me suis dit qu’avec quelques modifications je pourrais peut-être transformer cette forme étrange en mini-veste. Tant qu’à moi, c’est l’échec encore une fois. Dites-moi : que faire avec cette… chose? J’y ai investi quatre balles de Malabrigo Silky Merino et je trouve que ça serait bien dommage de les gaspiller comme ça, non?

Far too long ago (July? August?) I decided to knit a purple shawl to match a dress I’d be wearing to a wedding. I also got it into my head that it would be great to design it myself. Hey, I’d be über productive! Once finished, I’d have both a shawl to keep me warm during a late-September wedding AND I’d have stretched my knitting boundaries a little by trying some new shaping techniques. As always, I stayed in my comfy bubble of denial too long. For over a month and a half I knit and ripped, wrote in my notebook and then scratched it out feverously, refusing to accept that I just couldn’t do it. The wedding came and went, and I wore a different dress, deciding the purple one looked silly anyway. Last weekend I picked up the wretched thing and thought that maybe, with a few mods, I could turn it into a shrug. Two more days in that lovely bubble of denial and I end up with this. Don’t ask me what it is. I have no idea. Please help! How can I turn this… THING into something wearable? I invested 4 skeins of Malabrigo Silky Merino for it, it would be shame to let them go to waste like this, no?

2009-10-02T09:17:00.000-07:00

Parmi les noces d'une collègue, une petite conférence et un voyage de plus de 500km, les dernières semaines ont été trop chargées pour me laisser le temps de tricoter (qu'elle horreur!). De plus, le disque dur de mon Macbook a décidé de m'abandonner en plein milieu d'une traduction hyper importante. Bref, je suis passée ramasser mon Macbook chez le technicien ce matin, donc me voici, sans tricot. Heureusement, je n'en ressors pas les mains vides :

A wedding (500km away), a mini-conference to organize and manage and a workload that made me a little weepy kept me away from the needles over the last few weeks. Then my Macbook died in the middle of an important translation (2nd hard drive to fail in less than 2 years - is this normal Macbook behaviour?!) and I was without internet at home for far too long. But all is well now, and while I don't have any knitting to show (bows head in shame) I did craft a little:

I'm in love with polymer clay. It’s super portable, you can make pretty much anything from it and for a bookworm of a girlfriend with a sweet tooth I thought these pastry bookmarks would make for a cute-yet-useful gift. Only downside is I get monster cravings while making them.

Je suis maintenant mordue de la pâte à modeler polyvalente Fimo! C'est portable, on peut en faire presque n'importe quoi et puisque je suis pas mal gourmande je suis plutôt fixée sur les beignets et les chocolats. Je me suis dit que ces bigoudis serait un cadeau pas mal mignon pour une amie mordue de la lecture et des desserts. La pauvre est allergique au chocolat, mais ceux-ci sont inoffensifs :)

My little sister chose a donut with pink icing, added a matching ribbon and was cheery as pie to have a new nifty little bauble to wear that night.

Ma petite soeur s'est choisi un petit beignet au glaçage rose, a ajouté un ruban de soie et voilà qu'elle était heureuse comme tout d'avoir un nouveau petit bijou.

I do have some fibery goodness to share, too! This is a 40/60 silk/merino blend by Louet (called "Golden Hibiscus" or something rather) that was so buttery it practically spun itself...

Faut pas oublier la laine! Une couleur intitulée "Golden Hibiscus" (ou quelque chose du genre), il s'agit d'un mélange mérinos/soie qui est d'une consistance tellement beurrée qu'elle s'est pratiquement filée toute seule...

And finally the only spinning I was able to do on the road:

Sans mon rouet, j'ai quand même filé un peu pendant le voyage:

The Perks Of Photography

2009-08-04T05:52:00.000-07:00

Environ deux semaines après avoir terminé la veste « Baby Surprise Jacket » pour le bébé d’une collègue, celle-ci est venu me rendre visite. Puisque sa visite était inattendue, je n’avais pas la veste au travail et j’étais navrée de ne pouvoir lui offrir tout de suite. Cependant, elle est entrée dans mon bureau avec un patron Sirdar à la main. Parait-il que sa mère lui avait tricoté ce patron lorsqu’elle-même était bébé, et elle aimerait bien habiller son poupon dans la même veste dès son arrivée. Habituellement je n’aime pas trop les commandes pour les tricots, surtout lorsque j’ai déjà un nombre d’items à tricoter à temps pour le temps des fêtes et les anniversaires importants. Mais c’est plutôt spécial tricoter un vêtement pour bébé identique à celui porté par sa maman il y a plus de 30 ans, non?

About two weeks after I’d finished the Baby Surprise Jacket, its recipient (or rather, its recipient lovely mother) came for a surprise visit to the office. I hadn’t brought the little cardi with me, and was just about to explain to her how I’d sadly left it at home when she took out a Sirdar pattern from her bag. Her mother had knit this very same little cardigan for her when she was a baby, and she really hoped that her firstborn could have one as well. While I’m not usually fond of super-specific knitting requests when I’m already trying to work my way through a knitting-gift queue (I hadn’t yet started knitting my mom’s Swallowtail), it seemed so special to knit this little sweater for a second generation.

Notice something?
Pouvez-vous identifier le problème?

How about now?
Et maintenant?

How on earth did I miss this while blocking?! It took an FO picture for me to notice the *complete* misalignment of the lace pattern. Thankfully it was nothing a little fiddling with button placement couldn't fix. Pattern here.

Incroyable que ça a prit une photo afin que je me rende compte que les panneaux de dentelle ne sont pas alignés! Heureusement que la solution se trouvait dans l’emplacement des boutons! Voici le patron.

Late to the Party

2009-07-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I'm a tad ashamed that although I learned to knit when I was 8 and have been knitting consistently since 2001, I have so few of the "knitting milestones" under my belt (I mean, I only just knit my first Clapotis)! I plan on remedying this in 2009. Yes, 2009 will be my catch-up year. I figure there are a million good reasons why the most popular patterns on Ravelry have garnered such fandom, such as Evelyn Clark's Swallowtail Shawl here. When a trip to a far away city to celebrate my mother and sister's birthdays was only a little over a week away, I decided I'd knit my mom a Milestone Pattern for a Milestone Birthday. Only I didn't finish it in a week. Or 2. My mother's Milestone Birthday is today, and while the shawl isn't quite on its merry way yet (what do you mean Canada Post is closed on Sundays??) I hoped that she could enjoy some photos of it before it lands on her doorstep next week.

Parfois j'ai un peu honte du fait que je tricote régulièrement depuis 2001 et que je n'ai toujours pas tenté les tricots les plus populaires sur Ravelry. En fait, je n'ai que tricoté Clapotis il y a quelques semaines! J'aimerais bien remédier cette situation très regrettable cette année :) J'imagine qu'il a de très bonnes raisons pour lesquelles ces patrons sont aussi célèbres, tel que le fameux Swallowtail Shawl d'Evelyn Clark. C'est l'anniversaire de ma mère aujourd'hui. Je voulais lui tricoter un patron impressionnant pour un anniversaire aussi important (le nombre exacte est un secret!). Quoique le châle n'est pas encore dans la poste (mais pourquoi Poste Canada doivent-t-il être fermés le dimanche??), j'espère que ces photos lui plairont.

Raveled here
Sur Ravelry

I have *never* tinkered so much on a project. I think I knit, unknit, knit again so many times that it was the equivalent of knitting two of these! No lifelines for my first ever lace project? What was I thinking?! Unraveling all those YOs, albeit slowly, was enough to convince me to never knit nupps without a few lifelines again. That said, seeing it take shape in a yarn I had purchased for my mom at least 4 years ago was so satisfying! I absolutely, undeniably would knit this again. And again. Happy very-imporant-birthday mom!

Je dois avouer que j'ai démanché et retricoter jusqu'à en grincer les dents. J'aurais dû utiliser un fil d'assurance (ok, j'invente un terme pour traduire - y a t-il déjà une traduction pour "life line?). Chose faite, par contre, c'était tellement satisfesant de voire la dentelle se former de cette laine achetée spécifiquement pour ma mère il y a au moins 4 ans. En fin de compte, je tricoterais ce châle une deuxième, même une troisième fois avec plaisir. Bonne fête maman!

Summer is here, and it's tweedy!

2009-06-25T08:32:00.000-07:00

L’été est finalement arrivé en Ontario! Il était temps - je ne me rappelle d’aucun mois de juin aussi frais que celui-ci a été ces dernières semaines. Puisque j’anticipais tant le soleil, je me suis mis à tricoter un p’tit quelque chose de soie et de coton (le Rowan Summer Tweed), des fibres plutôt rares chez nous. Mon premier regret est d’avoir tricoté le tout sur des aiguilles de bambou – quel travail!!

Le voici sur Ravelry

C’est le design Bianca’s Jacket de Michelle Rose Orne (lien Ravelry) qui a paru dans la revue Interweave Knits d’automne 2006. J’ai effectué quelques changements afin de créer une silhouette un peu plus amincissante que l’original aurait été pour moi, et j’espère avoir réussi. J’ai omis les augmentations de mailles qui auraient crées la forme de cloche, allongé le tout d’environ 20 cm, crée seulement que trois boutonnières (puisque mes boutons de bois sont tellement, euh… apparents), et crocheté la bordure puisque je n’avais pas assez de laine pour tricoter un rebord en point mousse.

Je le porte actuellement et il est super confortable grâce à la soie et au coton. J’ai toujours aimé la texture et l’odeur (un peu étrange, non?) de la soie écrue/naturelle, par contre je ne suis pas convaincu que j’achèterais cette laine de nouveau. Le manque évident d’élasticité et son poids élevé me donnent l’impression que ma veste ne retiendra pas sa forme très longtemps. Je comprends que c’est la nature des fibres, pourtant ca me fait de la peine tout de même. Il me reste environ 8 pelotes de Summer Tweed de couleur bleu-marin, mais je n’ai aucun projet en tête. En effet, je pense prendre un congé du coton pour quelques semaines afin donner la chance à mes pauvres mains douloureuses de se reposer 

Well summer is officially here, as the 34 degree whether today will attest. What is that in Fahrenheit? 93? It’s a about time too, because this has been the coolest month of June I can remember! In anticipation for the sunny weather, I starting knitting with cotton and silk late in May, two fibres which I don’t stock much of in my stash. My first regret was knitting the Rowan Summer Tweed on bamboo needles. It was slow going and a bit painful!

The cardigan is Michelle Rose Orne’s Bianca’s Jacket (Ravelry link) from the Fall 06 Interweave Knits. I made a few modifications: I omitted the increases that would have create a bell-shape for the body, lengthened it by about 7-8 inches, crocheted the border because I’d run out of yarn to complete the garter stitch facing and reduced the buttons to 3 seeing as my wood buttons are so, um, conspicuous.

Raveled!

I’m wearing it right now and it’s quite comfy despite the heat and humidity, probably due to the silk/cotton mix. I’m always loved the texture (and smell – weird, eh?) of nubby silk, but I’m not convinced I’d ever purchase the Summer Tweed again. I have another 8 skeins in my stash to use up, but my hands need a break from this stuff!

Speedy Gonzales Wears Clapotis

2009-06-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

Ok I only have 20 minutes to post, so I'll keep this as brief as can be.
I made the mistake of buying three skeins of Malabrigo Lace a few months ago. I say mistake because I wanted to use all three skeins in a single project (I tire of colourways quickly), and none of the lace weight patterns I like required three skein. Then I thought, what if I knit it double? The gauge turned out perfect for a Clapotis. Seeing as I'd been holding onto a (albeit crinkled) printed copy of the pattern for 5 years, I figured it was about time, too!

I've got a little bit left over because I couldn't be bothered to weigh my skeins against the three parts of the stole. Had I taken the time to do so I would have made it a tiny bit longer and used up what I have, but I figure I'll make little sweater ornaments for the holidays with the rest.

Je n'ai que quelques minutes pour faire une entrée, donc je vais le faire super rapidement. Puisque j'étais pratiquement la seule tricoteuse qui n'avait pas encore tricoter le fameux Clapotis, j'ai décidé qu'il était temps. La laine Malabrigo Lace est d'une épaisseur parfaite lorsque tricotée double! Il m'en reste un peu, donc je n'ai pas utilisé les trois pelottes au complet, mais les restes deviendront des pull miniatures pour décorer l'arbre de Noel cet hiver.

Une veste pour bébé

2009-06-02T05:08:00.000-07:00

Il y a quelques semaines je suis tombée malade avec une méchante grippe. Une bronchite et plusieurs antibiotiques plus tard, j'avais une belle petite veste terminée dans les mains. J'adore Elizabeth Zimmermann de plus en plus et j'ai hâte d'entreprendre un autre de ses modèles. Un gansey pour homme, peux-être? Une paire de mitaines? Peu importe le projet, je suis pas mal convaincue que tous ses modèles m'apporteraient autant de satisfaction.

A few weeks ago I fell pretty ill with bronchitis. By the time I'd recovered I had a pretty little (finished!) jacket in my hands. EZ's designs are growing on me more every day and I'm looking forward to my next project from her patterns. A man's cabled gansey maybe, or a colourful pair of mitts? If all of her designs are as satisfying as the Baby Surprise Jacket and Seamless Hybrid I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter what I chose, it's guaranteed fun.

J'ai ajouté un rebord en crochet dans l'espoir d'ajouter un brin de fémininité, au cas où le bébé serait une petite fille.

I added a crocheted border in the hopes of adding a touch of femininity in case the baby is girl. The yarn was looking awfully somber as I knit and I'm thankful this will be an autumn baby.

Sur Ravelry

Raveled here

2009-05-05T09:14:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I finished something. With the little time I've been dedicating to any craft at all, I'm pleased as punch to be able to post today. Around valentine's day I offered to knit the hubby a sweater of his choice, and while I was leaning towards Jared Flood's Cobblestone Pullover, he preferred Elizabeth Zimmerman's Hybrid Sweater. I needed the pattern, and I found a used copy of Knitting Workshop at a sweet little bookshop named Old Goat Books in uptown Waterloo. But this is no plain old edition. Oh no. It's a signed copy :)

So I picked up some Cascade 220 from my stash and cast on.
And fell head over heels in love with EZ. Her simple design genius and quirky writing made it impossible for me not to seek out 2 more of her books the following weekend. And before I knew it, I'd finished DH's sweater.

This baby's autographed!

Raveled here

While on my EZ kick I started a Baby Surprise Jacket for a sweet coworker who'se expecting her first this fall. Unfortunately for me, the sex will remain unknown until then and the colour I picked, what seemed like a brown/eggplant/teal variegated blend, is looking more and more masculine as I go. A dangerous mix of denial and wishful thinking kept me from frogging and now I'm passed the point of no return. Maybe a bright purple i-cord border is in its future.

I was completely spoiled for my birthday on the 25th, which included a trip to the Downtown Knit Collective's Knitter's Frolic, where DH sat and browsed patiently while I circled the centre at least three times, petting every skein within reach.

Knitter's Frolic!
Where only minimal damage was done.
A skein of my first lace yarn, and a few skeins of nubby silk for a summer cardi.
I was so good :)

Next post, baby sweater. With any luck, some time before the end of next week. I'm looking forward to a little selfish knitting after that. Would love to widdle down the Ravelry queue before it gets out of hand!

Layette

2009-02-28T05:50:00.000-08:00

DH recently had to teach a high school subject he had never taught before. The thought of coming up with a semester's worth of new curriculum was pretty overwhelming, but thankfully he had a wonderful mentor. While choosing a card to thank her for her help and support over the last 5 months, DH mentioned to me how this coworker was "VERY pregnant!" I thought that a nice way to thank her for her assistance and kindness would be to knit her baby a sweater.

L'automne dernier, Le Monsieur a dû enseigner une nouvelle matière au secondaire. Il se sentait plutôt débordé devant la tâche de créer tout un semestre de nouveaux cours, mais heureusement il a reçu l'appui d'une collègue hyper sympathique. Nous étions en train de choisir une carte pour la remercier lorsque Le Monsieur s'était rappelée qu'elle était "TRÈS enceinte". Mieux tard que jamais, j'ai commencé à tricoter un mini pull pour son bébé, en guise de remerciement pour l'aide qu'elle a apporté au Monsieur au cours des derniers mois.

The pattern is Debbie Bliss' Ribbed baby jacket
Il s'agit du Ribbed baby jacket de Debbie Bliss
www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ribbed-baby-jacket

I added a seed stitch border because the stockinette was rolling more than I'd like.
J'ai ajouté une bordure en point de riz pour éviter le roulement du rebord.

I also made Gudrun Johnston's Little Love hat to go with:
J'ai lui ai également tricoté un chapeau Little Love de Gudrun Johnston:
www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/little-love

Here is the hat and the jacket for scale:

I loved both patterns. The acrylic Bernat Baby Softy... not so much. It seemed even "squeakier" than your average acrylic, and the plasticy scratching sound against my needles was a unpleasant. Next time, I'm making both out of cotton yarn.

J'adore les deux patrons, mais j'ai détesté la laine Softy Baby de Bernat. J'avais constamment l'impression que l'acrylique égratignait les aiguilles et s'était une sensation fort désagréable. La prochaine fois, je tricote le tout avec une laine en coton.

On dit "jambières" en français?

2009-02-13T05:06:00.001-08:00

These were knit from my Snowdrop legwarmers pattern (can be found in the sidebar, originally published in the now defunct Magknits). So now I can finally cast on for something else! That is, after I finally weave in the ends and block them, and pack them up for a long journey to Australia to join my little sister (who kindly requested them for Christmas. Merry Christmas in February, sis!).

So now lets pretend that it's not currently mind-numbingly hot in Australia and that she'll get plenty of wear out of them :p

Raveled here.

Il y a quelques années ma petite soeur m'a demandé de lui tricoter des jambières pour Noel et c'est alors que j'ai écris ce patron. Cet hiver elle m'a demandé de lui tricoter une deuxième paire, mais plus longue cette fois-ci, afin que les jambières se replient sur elles-mêmes, à la "Flashdance". J'aimerais les porter demain, mais elles s'en vont rejoindre ma soeur en Australie, où c'est présentement l'été. Faisons semblant que ne n'est pas le cas, d'accord? Si non je risque de les garder pour moi!

Snow and shovels and sniffles and... penguins?

2009-01-28T19:33:00.000-08:00

There are few things I love more than being all cozy under my bed covers with a good book, preferably by 10pm. Tootsie Roll pops, Sarah Harmer, a freshly scrubbed kitchen floor, maybe... But shoveling a few feet of snow at 11pm doesn't make the list. Trying to pile it over snow banks that are as tall than I am, well, let's just say that I'm really, really enjoying my hot chocolate right now and mighty I'm mighty eager to climb under those bed covers.
Il y a peu de choses que j'aime plus que me faufiler sous mes couvertures avec un livre avant 22h. Les suçons Tootsie Roll, Sarah Harmer, une cuisine bien propre, peut-être... Mais pelleter de la neige à 23h, essayer de l'empiler sur des montagnes aussi grandes que moi, et bien j'aime moins ça. Disons que j'apprécie beaucoup mon chocolat chaud en ce moment et que je j'ai drôlement hâte de me faufiler sous mes couvertures avec mon livre.

Proof!

But before I doze off I thought I'd share one last wintery thought.
Mais avant de m'endormir, j'aimerais partager une autre image hivernale.

Meet Wilson.
Je vous présente Wilson.

Betcha this guy doesn't mind the wind and snow. Good thing, too, because those little wings are pure decoration. No Florida vacation for Ol' Willie.
Je parie que la neige et le vent ne le gènent pas une miette. Heureusement, puisque ses petites ailes sont purement décoratives. Pas de vacances en Floride pour le vieux Willie.

He also makes a great Hitchcock impression.
Pas trop moche son impression de Hitchock, non?

I think I like needle felting. Probably not the wisest choice of craft for an accident-prone gal like me, but the cute-factor potential seem so great, I just can't stay away.
Je pense que le feutre aiguilleté me plaît beaucoup. Quoique ce n'est peut-être pas le meilleur choix d'artisanat pour une fille aussi prédisposée aux accidents, mais bof. Le potentiel de miniatures les unes plus mignonnes que les autres m'attire tellement que ne pourrai résister.

Du nouveau!

2008-12-13T18:31:00.000-08:00

Lorsque j'ai recommencé à tricoter plus ou moins sérieusement il y a sept ans, c'était un peu comme le piano et le vélo - le corps a sa propre mémoire - et je n'avais pas tout oublié ce que ma grand-mère paternelle m'avait enseigné. Je pouvais monter des mailles et tricoter, mais je ne savais pas ce qu'était tricoter à l'envers ni comment rabattre mon projet. J'étais tout de même bien impressionnée que mes mains se sont rappelé (12 ans plus tard!) de ce que ma grand-mère m'avait montré à sept ans. Donc pour l'honneur de l'anniversaire de ma grand-mère, j'ai décidé d'apprendre quelque chose de nouveau, qui m'était étranger comme l'était le tricot à sept ans, avant qu'elle ne partage cet intérêt avec moi. Donc je lui ai crocheté un foulard. Bonne fête Mémère!
When I stated knitting again seven years ago, I was surprised that it was a bit like riding a bike or playing the piano - the body has it's own memory - and I hadn't forgotten everything my paternal grandmother had taught me when I was seven years old. I could still cast on and knit although I didn't know how to purl or cast off. Still, I was impressed that I didn't have to relearn everything as my hands remembered movements they hadn't done for 12 years. So for my Grandmother's birthday, I decided to learn something new once again, something as alien to me as knitting was before she shared her gift with me. That's how I came to crochet her this scarf, and remembered that it's important to keep trying crafts that I fear would be too challenging. Happy birthday grandma!

Craft show - Foire d'artisanats

2008-11-27T12:46:00.001-08:00

As I type I'm sitting behind this little table:
Je suis présentement assise à cette petite table:

And business is, well,... slow. Prices have long since been slashed, pins added to all of the cupcakes (which are made entirely of recycled materials - sweaters and pop bottles!), and I'm adding more owl ornaments as I stitch away...

Disons que les ventes ne sont pas....nombreuses. J'ai baissé les prix depuis, ajouté des cerises aux autres petits gâteaux, cousu d'autres petits hibous...

And still, 6 hours later I've only sold two pairs of earrings. The ladies selling chocolates accross from my booth are doing quite well, and I'm considering heading over there myself to drown my sorrow in a truffle or two :)

Six heures ont passées et je n'ai que vendu deux paires de boucles d'oreilles. Un groupe de femmes assises en face de moi vendent des chocolats, et je pense que je vais fréquenter leur table dans quelques minutes pour remonter le moral avec un brin de chocolat noir :)

Not knitting related, but still a project a year and a half in the making

2008-10-15T05:24:00.000-07:00

Sorry to post something non knitting related here, but as my family lives 6-7 hours away, I thought I'd talk about it here a bit.

Désolée de discuter d'un sujet autre que le tricot, mais ma famille habite à 6-7 heures de route et ils sont un peu curieux de me voir la frimousse.

This:
Ceci:was my hair in June. It was about two inches longer still yesterday. And then it became this:
était ce dont j'avais l'air au mois de juin. Mes cheveux étaient environ 10cm plus long encore hier:

And I did this:
Et j'ai fait ceci:

So a child could wear that:
Afin qu'une enfant puisse porter cela:

Now if the hubby can stop sobbing, I'm off to start crocheting a scarf now, I think my neck might feel a little cold this winter ;)
Dès que mon cher époux cesse de pleurer, je commencerai à crocheter une nouvelle écharpe puisque j'aurai un peu plus froid au cou cet hiver ;)

Mademoiselle Eleanor, vous êtes en retard!

2008-10-04T11:09:00.000-07:00

Could I be any slower? It's times like these that I wish I'd kept up with the knitting when I was eight years old. Can you imagine all the knits that I could have churned out during those summer vacations that were "soooooooooo boring!"?. What an silly child I was, devouring The Babysitters Club series in some awfully translated French when I could have been using that precious time for knitting?!

Alright, so the wrap looks a little silly on me when worn with a t-shirt. But then, look how organized my yarn is!

That's the only indoor photo because today I leaned that taking photos of myself with a ten seconds timer can be a dangerous thing. I kept knocking stuff over rushing around the thing to pose as still as possible before shutter went off. So outdoors I went, where there was little my clumsiness could damage.

Tada! I have not quit the world of knitting. Just demoted my position from daily knitter to weekly knitter. Ok, monthly knitter. On a good month.

Just to give you an idea of the weather in South Western Ontario these days, I was *freezing* taking these shots! So I’m rather happy Eleanor is wearable now, it's perfect timing. And did you notice, it just *happens* to match my winter coat? Not that's what I call a good kind of spooky :)

Here's a shot of the back, where it's pretty obvious I didn't finish with the elaborate knotted fringe. Well, elaborate to me anyway. (this is coming from somone who wasn't able to braid her own hair until recently!) Just a played crocheted edge for this gal, thank-you-very-much.

I used Noro's Silk Garden in shade 225 and knit on US 9 needles. I love jewel tones so it was going great, until I realized three months ago that the eight skeins I purchased wouldn't be enough, and my yarn already being at least four years old, I had little chance of finding more. But a sweet person on Ravelry helped my find a store, and two new skeins later things were going smoothly again. For a while, anyway. Until I had the marvelous idea that I could probably knit in a movie theatre. Who needs light, right? Well, aparently, I do:

THAT is what I found when I pulled out my project the next weekend. See now why I avoided the fringe? With my skills I'm lucky the wrap didn't sprout any more tentacles!

When you have nothing new to show, just Meme it!

2008-06-25T12:38:00.001-07:00

For the curious and the nosy (like, um me), I did the latest meme going around, as prompted by the lovely Anna at My Fashionable Life http://needleandhook.co.uk/journal/

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
Ten years ago I was 15 and head over heels in puppy love with my first “real” boyfriend, Stephen. He could drive! He was tall! His mom made pizza! Lots of movies, picnics on the beach, watching fireworks on the roof, sneaking in and out in the middle of the night to listen to sappy music (he lived a few blocks away). I remember a particularly funny image of him wearing his soccer cleats at 1 in the morning so that he could safely climb up our roof!

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?
1. Pick up car from mechanic number 3 (within 6 weeks).
2. Bring hubby to Vietnamese restaurant to celebrate the end of his teaching semester
3. Finish cleaning the office
4. Prepare tomorrow’s lunches (chickpea salad! Grilled veggie pitas!)
5. TRY to make it to bed before 10:00 to aim for 7 hours of sleep.

3) Snacks I enjoy:
Pizza. I will have it as a snack, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Cold, hot, thin crust, thick crust, … There is not a moment that pizza can’t make better.
Hummus, baba ghanoush and dried pita strips
Dry cereal of any kind (from All Bran to granola)
Honey mustard pretzel bits

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
- Make it so that my mother can retire now, 10 years early, and be set for life.
-Buy my mother a horse, a stable, stable help, and 100 acres to ride.
-Buy my mother a house in the countryside near said stable, and hire all the help she would need for the upkeep. I could fill the list with things I would buy my mother, so I’ll stop here.
-Pay for my little sister’s tuition.
-Start a transitional support program for young adults with special needs in order to provide them with the necessary skills for the workplace and to give them a better chance at independent living. Fund this program so that it survives me + 100 years!
-Install hardwood and ceramic floors in our home, get new cabinetry and pay someone to paint over the pink walls. You read that correctly. Pink. Walls. And build a glass greenhouse in the back for the hubby.
-I don’t think I would quit! I wouldn’t get much socialization if it weren’t for my job, and I get to speak my native tongue everyday thanks to it.

5) Places I have lived:
-Gatineau, Québec
-Ottawa, Ontario
-Oakville, Ontario
-Hamilton, Ontario
-Burlington, Ontario
-Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario

6) Jobs I have had:
- Sales girl at many a retail store
- Waitress
- Bagel-maker
- Camp counselor
- Graduate research assistant
- Office clerk
- Academic adviser
- Grad program coordinator

7) Bloggers I am tagging who I will enjoy getting to know better:
Elspeth!

Ok, and I guess I can post a photo of Lady E, she's almost done!

Sparkly - P'tite étincelle

2008-05-08T05:10:00.000-07:00

Just mailed the checker board for the little Guy yesterday, and slipped in a little extra something for his equally lovely mom:
Je viens de poster le jeu de dame pour le gamin, et j'ai ajouté un petit quelque chose pour sa belle maman:

Hand-made box
Boîte faite à la main

+ sparlky earrings
+ boucles d'oreilles scintillantes

= Craft fix for the day
= Ma dose de brico pour la journée :-)

King me! - Un jeu de dames

2008-05-01T04:44:00.001-07:00

Version française en bas de page

I finished the wackiest looking thing I ever knit yesterday. Wanna see?

It’s supposed to be a checker board. That's supposed to be square. But instead it resembles an amoeba wearing a gingham jacket. And that's why there's no photo from above, because its mystery shape would be revealed, and unfortunately, it resembles nothing square. There are many reasons for this, *all* of them my fault.

1. I did not use recommend yarn, or recommended gauge.

2. I used two yarns of *different* gauges. I don’t know what I was thinking.

3. I discarded the pattern 4 inches in and never looked back. And yet this is the same pattern that is described in Ravelry as “the perfect project to practice following a pattern precisely the whole way through”.

4. I was in complete denial that it could not *become* square during blocking. Never mind that it’s cotton, and that its 3 inches longer than it is wide.

So when I started the to knit the pouch for the board, you’d think I’d learn from my mistakes and actually listen to Melanie Fallick (Weekend Knitting). But instead I reasoned "I don’t have 6 DPNs in the same size. I’ll just replace one with a size bigger. No biggie." And then 3 inches in what do I do? Stop looking at the pattern. So why (oh why!) am I surprised when the pouch doesn’t close all the way?

I might frog the seam gusset that the braid passes through and knit another stripe, while decreasing dramatically so that there is less fabric scrunching at the top and keeping the bag from closing properly.
Or I might not. Because the recipient of this set is lovely little boy named Ethan who just turned 5, and he just might like the wackiness of it all.

But still, I needed a little pick-me-up after I acknowledged the messiness of the finished product.
So I made cookies. Yogurt cookies!

(I love my new white china!)

You can find the recipe these are based on here:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Yogurt-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies/Detail.aspx

I made so many changes (to make them a tad healthier) that I've included my version below:

INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup olive oil margarine
1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
In a medium bowl, cream together the brown sugar, olive oil and margarine. Stir in yogurt and vanilla. Combine the flour and baking powder; stir into the creamed mixture and then mix in chocolate chips. Drop by heaping tablespoon (I like my cookies big!!) 2 inches apart onto the cookie sheets.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges begin to brown.

I can't wait to try this version with soy yogurt. The yogurt allowed me to cut out the shortening from the recipe, and no eggs were needed. If this works with soy yogurt as well, I'll have myself a new favorite vegan chocolate chip cookie!

Je viens de terminer le projet le plus bizarre! C'est un jeu de dames. Du moins c'est supposé ressembler un jeu de dame. Le problème c'est que qu'il ne ressemble pas un carré. Pas une miette. Mon affaire ressemble plus à une amibe qui porte un manteau à carreaux. C'est vraiment triste! Et c'est entièrement ma faute car:

1. Je n'ai pas utilisé ni la laine, ni la tension recommandées.
2. J'ai utilisé deux laines d'épaisseurs complètement différentes!
3. Après avoir tricoté quelques centimètres, j'ai ignoré le patron. Même si on écrit sur Ravelry que ce patron mérite une attention constante!
4. Tout au long j'ai refusé d'accepter que je ne finirais pas avec un carré. Je me consolais en disant qu'un bon blocage arrangerait le tout. Même s'il s'agit de coton et non de laine, et même si j'avais 15 centimètres de plus de longueur que de largeur.

Ensuite j'ai commis les mêmes erreurs pour le sac. Le sac ne se ferme pas complètement car le rebord est trop bouffant, trop épais. J'ai tort d'être surprise et déçu du résultat, puisque tout aurait pu être évité si je m'étais servie d'un peu de bon sens. Peut-être que j'arrangerai de sac avant de l'envoyer, peut-être pas. Parce que le destinataire est un charmant petit garçon nommé Ethan, qui vient tout juste d'avoir 5 ans. Et les petits garçons aiment souvent les jeux bizarres!

Tout de même, j'avais besoin de me remonter le moral un peu donc j'ai fait de la popote! Des biscuits au yogourt et aux brisures de chocolat!

La recette originale sur laquelle je me suis basée se trouve ici: http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8199249198686918222
J'ai changé tant d'aspects à cette recette que je partage ma version ci-dessous:

INGRÉDIENTS

1/3 tasse de cassonade
1/4 tasse margarine à l'huile d'olive
1/2 tasse de yogourt nature, sans gras
4 cuillères à thé d'extrait de vanille
1 3/4 tasses de farine à blé entier
1/2 cuillère à thé de poudre à pâte
2 tasses de brisures de chocolat

Préchauffez le four à 375° F. Bien huiler une plaque à biscuits.
Dans un bol de taille moyenne, bien mélanger la margarine et la cassonade. Ajouter le yogourt et la vanille, bien mélanger de nouveau. Combiner la farine et la poudre à pâte dans un autre bol, ensuite ajouter au mélange. J'aime Incorporer les brisures de chocolat.
Déposer sur une plaque à biscuits par cuillèrée à table (mes biscuits, je les aime GROS) et cuire pendant 8 à 10 minutes.

J'ai hâte d'essayer cette recette avec du yogourt soya. Si ça marche, j'aurai une nouvelle recette de biscuits végétaliens!

Anastasia

2008-03-25T16:16:00.000-07:00

English version in blue below

Ce n’était pas très sympathique de ma part de bloguer uniquement en anglais la dernière fois, donc aujourd’hui je commence avec la version française. Ma belle soeur a donné naissance à une petite fille en janvier, Anastasia. Joli nom, n’est-ce pas? J’ai pris tellement de retard à lui tricoter un p’tit quelquechose qu’à la fin je me suis lancé vers la première boutique-bébé pour lui acheter des vêtements afin de calmer l’embarras de n’avoir rien à lui envoyer même après quelques semaines. Et bien elle va avoir ses trois mois la jolie Anastasia et je m’apprête juste ce soir à lui envoyer son tricot terminé. Il faut dire que ce n’était pas le seul bébé pour qui tricoter ce mois-ci, une amie 8 mois enceinte méritait elle aussi un p’tit quelquechose. Donc pour le p’tit poupon mystère de la belle Micheline (“mystère” car le sexe sera une surprise), j’ai premièrement tenté une couverture. Mon plan était de créer un cadre entrelac qui serait rempli d’un centre avec une texture à petite boules). Pas évident, mon truc. Après un tour d’autobus de 7 heures et seulement trois pouces de tricotés, j’ai abandonné le tout. Quatre jours avant le “shower” de bébé. Alors hors de panique j’ai commencé une paire de botines.

Je les ai cousu dans la voiture en chemin à la fête et heureusement que j’avais mon appareil photo avec moi sinon je n’aurais eu aucun vestige des petites botines (qui me font curieusement penser aux bleuets). Je pense que Micheline les aime, donc mission accomplie. Le patron s’agit de Two Needle Cable Baby Booties Knitting Pattern de Barbara Breiter. Une fois que j’ai compris qu’il fallait tourner le tricot au tout début de la rangée (et non à la fin! Oh, le mal de tête qu’une simple directive peut me causer!) elles sont super facile à effectuer ces botines. Je les ai tant aimées que j’ai décidé d’en faire une deuxième paire pour accompagner la tunique d’Anastasia. Voici les deux ensembles:

J’aime beaucoup le patron de Melissa Wastney pour Magknits. J’envisage en faire d’autres, surtout puisque la tunique s’ajuste à mesure que l’enfant grandit. La laine choisie, par contre, plus jamais!. Je déteste Bernat Baby. A force de passe mes doigts par dessus la laine juste pour les mouvement nécessaires pour tricoter, déjà elle a l’air vieille et usée. Triste qu’un item si neuf peut avoir l’air si âgé. J’ai bien peur qu’il n’y aura probablement pas grand chose à montrer dans les prochaines semaines, et ca me fait beaucoup de peine de ne pas avoir la chance de bricoler. Mais la thèse m’attend!

My sister in law’s baby girl, Anastasia, was born in January. I had planned to have something cute, something pink and as girly as can be on it’s way to her within her first week. Three weeks in however I realized it just wasn’t going to happen, I was only able to fit in a few minutes of knitting a week. So I ran to the nearest baby store feeling terrible and afraid of earning the worst-auntie-of-the-year award (Missed birthday? check! Missed phone call? check! check!). I was already desperately trying to make this strange entrelac-and-bobble design of a baby-blanket cooking up in my head for my friend Micheline, who’s baby shower was just days away.

After a 7 hour bus trip that resulted in 3 sad little inches of entrelac for Micheline's baby present (so much for my entrelac-frame, bobble-middle idea!) I came to my senses and started a pair of periwinkle blue booties that stood a chance of being finished before the baby shower. Just in time, too, because I ended up seaming them in the car on the way to the shower! Above is a photo I took of them on the way, feeling a little queasy from the motion-sickness induced by the seaming on the road. The pattern (Two Needle Cable Baby Booties Knitting Pattern by Barbara Breiter) was super simple once I finally got it into my noggin that I had to turn at the BEGINNING of my row. The beauty of short rows. In the end Micheline liked the booties, I think, and I liked the process so much that I started another pair for baby Anastasia and picked up the matching tunic I had started earlier. (Confused with the babies yet? That’s because my writing is *almost* as scatter-brained as I am). Here is a photo of the finished tunic and newly matching booties for baby Anastasia before I send them out tonight.

I’m happy with the tunic, but greatly disappointed with the yarn, Bernat Baby. Running my fingers over it, just the necessary movements of the knitting process resulted in a fabric that looks aged and worn, as though it had been through the washer and dryer a hundred times. I vaguely recall reading another blogger who had the same frustrations and I’m kicking myself for even keeping the skeins. No use crying over spilled milk though. I have to mail out the outfit tonight before Anastasia outgrows it!

Hermit Craft(ster)

2008-03-04T19:11:00.000-08:00

I've been busy and away from my craft room for a quite a while now, but I'm back with a vengeance. I just spent the last 4 days cooped up in a hotel room with my mom and gran along with 12 other crafters, just sewing and eating and sleeping in... Hadn't seen them since October so the time spent together was cherished.My mom is my sewing hero. She's been at it pretty hardcore for over 30 years and is every bit the perfectionist I should be (I, um, have no problems overlooking crooked seams and wonky edges).

Here's all three of us, 3 generations of craftiness. My gran is the craft *queen*. She taught me make pet rocks :p, embroider, and most importantly to sew my first hems on all of my pants when I stopped growing (the above picture is misleading, I'm barely 5'4)!

Because of the copious amounts of wine, access to a fabulous indoor pool and a delicious novel I couldn't put down, I didn't get quite as much sewing in as I could have. But the company of all of these wise women and the crazy laughing bouts that left me with sore abs made it the best weekend ever. I decided to try making the Garden Party Clutch from In Stitches:

Here I am sewing it all together, with my fave Kaffe Fasset print:

And here is the finished clutch:
Thought I'd sneak in a photo of my office/craft room too.
I thought the pattern was busy enough, and that the fabric flower would just disappear into the print. I'm not sure how much I'll use it, it's gigantic for a clutch, I might add a small strap so that it can tuck in under my arm.
I've got a knitting project pretty much completed but not yet blocked, so hopefully I won't go another couple of months without posting. A bientôt!

Pink is good...

2008-01-16T08:53:00.000-08:00

... my continental purling is not. (Version française en marron)

My paternal grand-mother taught me to knit English-style when I was 8 and it seems that was long enough ago to make it very hard to switch over to continental-style overnight. Here is a little pink swatch I worked on with my new pink needles from their lovely pink case (impossible to be grumpy with soft yarn in soft colours with pastel needles! ).

From the cast on edge to the purled lined I worked on my continental knit and purl, there is 60 minutes of work there. From the purled line to the needles I worked in my usual English-style, knit up in 12 minutes (ignore the k2tog holes there at the top). My tension is so wobbly in the continental bit! When purling, the yarn keeps falling off my left finger and I can’t get the tension right, wrapping the yarn around my fingers in every combination possible. Being a lefty I hoped I would get the hang of it quickly. But the purling is so frustrating I’ve lost most of my motivation to keep practicing. Besides the swatch was supposed to be practical, a tension square for the cardigan I’m planning to make for my new niece, a gorgeous baby girl born 4 days ago to my SIL. At my continental knitting rate I could finish the cardi before she turns 5 J

Christmas holidays were great; I enjoyed spending time with DH’s family in Victoria, BC. I knit a full item there, a pair of striped mitts for my boss that matched the scarf I gave him earlier in the year. I don’t have a photograph of either I was in such a hurry to wrap, so off into FO oblivion they go. For 2008 I vow to photograph my knitting, even the pathetic looking wonky swatches in the hopes of starting an FO gallery.

C’est ma grand-mère paternelle qui m’a apprit à tricoter, il y a plus de 15 ans, et il semblerait que mes habitudes sont plutôt enracinées. J’ai tenté le tricot continental pour la première fois hier et ma technique laisse à désirer. La partie cahoteuse de l’échantillon est le tricot germanique, ces 4 cm là m’ont pris un bon 50 à 60 minutes. La partie lisse bien sur s’agit de mon tricot habituel, à la britannique, et m’a pris 12 minutes tout court. Pas évidente, ma nouvelle technique! La maille envers est tellement frustrante à exécuter, le fil glisse et m’échappe, impossible à maintenir une tension constante. Tout ce rose est pour ma nouvelle nièce Anastasia, qui n’a que 4 jours. Par contre à cette vitesse elle aura ses 6 ans avant que je termine la veste que je m’engage à lui tricoter!

Mes vacances de Noel étaient superbes, en Colombie Britannique avec mes beaux parents, sur le bord de l’océan.

Pendant mon séjour j’ai tricoté une paire de mitaines entière, pour mon patron. Elles suivent le même thème que le foulard que je lui avait tricoté pour son anniversaire. Malheureusement je n’ai pris aucunes photo, donc c’est comme ces items n’ont jamais existés. En 2008 je compte photographier tous mes projets terminés avant de les offrir en cadeau. Sinon inutile d’insérer un album photo!

20 Things About Me

2007-10-22T22:44:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit intimidated by the "100 things about me" lists, I'm not sure I could think of 100. So lets start with 20 and see where it goes.

1. I'm a Taurus through and through. Especially the bad bits.

2. French is my first language, English was part of the French-Canadian curriculum starting in grade 4 and onwards. Although my syntax is still a bit wonky and can give me away, I think most of my accent has vanished.

3. I'm embarrassingly terrified of sharks when I go swimming. I live in Southwestern Ontario.

4. My favorite number is 53. No reason.

5. I collect (and use!) vintage and antique fountain pens. Totally random, I know.

6. My favorite food in the whole, wide world is Gulab Jamun. Edible happiness. I know it must be the least healthy dessert on earth but I honestly cannot keep my eyes open when I pop one into my mouth.

7. I have too many Roots leather purses to qualify as a sensible person.

8. Ditto for Offhand Designs bags, often placed within view on the window sill in my office so I can stare lovingly.

9. My favorite body part is my hands. They look just like my mom's and gran's. When I look down at them when I'm crafting it takes me back to when I was little and would watch their fingers carefully stitching or crafting away.

10. I make a darn good pizza from scratch.

11. I don't have cable and our television is almost older than I am. Sometimes I like this, sometimes not so much. Like when everyone is talking about that last episode of Heroes, or Lost.

12. I'm an introvert. People really have to coax me into participating in social events, even dinners out with friends. I guess that makes me a homebug-knitbug :)

13. I love to dance and sing to Motown tunes when I wash the dishes (only if I'm alone!)

14. I can't whistle.

15. I have crafty ADHD. I pile on the hobbies without taking the time to get really good at any one thing. Project wise I'm crazy loyal though. One knit at a time, and no UFO baskets for me, strangely.

16. I wish I lived closer to my mom. I see her about 3 to 4 times a year. I try not to think about it too much, otherwise I start to mope.

17. I can only count in French, and often only out loud. I've been trying to remedy that for a long time, to no avail.

18. I live for Christmas. Turkey, stuffing, pie, gingerbread, sugar plums, Christmas carols and Le Réveillon (French-Canadian tradition of HUGE meal after midnight mass on Christmas eve). I even start to hum xmas tunes in October. Except Santa Baby.

19. I showered, got dressed and did my makeup for my wedding all in 20 minutes. My skirt cost $10, and my mom and gran made the top. The guests were complete strangers who happened to be having a dinner party at the inn where we eloped to have the ceremony (and yet they cried and hugged us!). Probably the simplest backyard wedding and yet so much fun!

20. DH makes fun of my yarn cubby by sneaking into my craft room and placing yellow post-its on the shelves: empty cubby holes get an "out of stock" post-it, mixed colours get "odd-ball sale" and recent purchases get "new arrivals". He better be careful though; I read "out of stock" as "go buy some more" ;)

2007-06-02T08:51:00.000-07:00

My March 2007 submission to Magknits is up now (for link click here). Kerrie had to do some shuffling of patterns and my “Snowdrops” legwarmers just went live, ironically the first day it hits 36 degrees celcius here. The A/C is on and I’m knitting in the basement where it’s cool, some Barolo and dark chocolate at my side, a nice Friday night all around. I hope my little sister got to wear those legwarmers enough since Christmas, because it’s flipflops and shorts until September!

2007-05-30T08:44:00.000-07:00

(English version below)

Terminé le châle. Bof, pas spectaculaire, même que je suis assez déçue. J’ai du couper environ 40 cm à la fin, il était bien trop long, et en plus la taille d’aiguille suggérée, US 19, était bien trop grande, donnant un look plus « troué » que j’aurais voulu. Le blockage a aidé, mais rien de miraculeux. Matt pense que c’est un succès puisqu’il voit une ressemblance entre mon châle et la couverture de la revue. Je ne suis pas d’accord. Colinette fais de la laine magnifique, c’est certain, mais beaucoup trop dispendieuse. C’est plus une couverte portable qu’un châle, mais peut-être que qu’à la longue je changerai d’idée et le porterai en public.

Well, one down. I’m disappointed. I had to cut off about 2 feet because it was too long, and the needle size recommended (US 19) was way, way too big. It’s much more open than I wanted, and prone to pulls. I didn’t check gauge because it’s a shawl. And I thought the miracle of blocking would set things into place. It’s more of a fuzzy, stringy portable blanket than an elegant wrap. Matt insists it looks just like the cover of the magazine, but I disagree. I’ve learned that I love Colinette, but that even at half price it’s too expensive. I really hope it grows on me because of the time/$ invested.

2007-02-03T08:27:00.000-08:00

I disappeared for a while there, didn’t I? Unfortunately this Christmas was a sad one. My grandfather passed away a few days before Christmas, and so I unexpectedly packed mid-week to head home. My grandfather was so dear to me, and I hope to make a post about him some time.
Then 3-4 days later another death in the family, on my father’s side, so another funeral, this one on the 26th. I didn’t feel like making Christmas post. I did knit my sister a gift, and hopefully it will be on www.magknits.com sometime today. Then again, Kerry did just give birth to her gorgeous baby girl, so it might take a little longer. It’s all good.

It seems that working full time and writing my Master’s thesis hasn’t been the breeze through the park I thought it might be. Since I started work at the university on Dec 4th, I haven’tworked on 1/10th of the things I had hoped to attend to. Including this blog. Pooh.
But! There has been knitting, a couple started projects, and even more importantly (gasp!) some friends and family visits. I get to see my parents and sis only a couple times a year, and I made a special surprise trip a few weeks ago for my dad’s 50th b-day. So of course I tried to make up for some lost time and crammed a ton of activities in! I went to the US for the second time in my life (sad, I know) for a mini road/shopping trip with my sis. She’s the blond bombshell in the pic below:

Also precious, was my time spent with bff of 13 years, Gen!

It was my shortest visit to Ottawa to date, but just as sweet as ever.
I guess I should probably mention knitting a little, shouldn’t I? Fair enough.
While I’m finishing Elenore when I feel chilly, the few days spring peeked through I started this:

How I wish I could have started this 3 years ago before the wedding!
Oh well, maybe I’ll have an unexpected formal affair to attend this summer… I really hope to wear it at least once!!

MAGKNITS

2006-12-02T07:20:00.000-08:00

(Version française à suivre ci-dessous)

This is going to be a short post because there are less than 48 hours before I start my new job and making the transition from student to full-time employee is requiring some serious house work that I no longer will be able to do during the day.
I’ve been knitting, but only Chritmas presents for family so I can’t show any photos yet. But there is one Christmas set of gifts that won’t be a surprise:

For the pattern and some slight variations you can visit the MagKnits online knitting magazine (cllick here for link).
I’m afraid there will be no more posts until after December 25th though, so that not everyone knows what they’re getting!

Dans moins de 48 heures, je ne serai plus étudiante à temps plein. Quoique je continuerai ma maîtrise à temps partiel, je commence mon premier emploi permanent. Parcontre j’ai un tas de tâches à accomplir avant lundi, donc je garde ce message bref.
Bien que j’ai beaucoup tricoté ces derniers temps, il s’agit de cadeaux de Noël, donc évidemment impossible de vous les montrer. Mais je peux en effet vous en montrer un:
Pour le patron ainsi que pour quelques variations du patron veuillez consulter la revue électronique MagKnits au www.magknits.com
Afin d’assurer que les autres cadeaux demeures des surprises, il n’y aura plus de messages sur le blog avant la fin du mois. Je vous souhaite un joyeux temps des fêtes!

2006-09-22T06:31:00.000-07:00

(ENGLISH VERSION BELOW)

Non seulement les vacances rechargent-t-elles l’esprit, mais la créativité aussi! Depuis que j’étais de retour j’admirais un certain journal de tricot (http://store.nobleknits.com/knjo.html) mais heureusement, je me suis rendu compte de quelques détails qui me tracassaient, tels que le manque de pages (seulement que 36) et le manque d’espace pour noter les modifications apportées au patron. Donc j’ai pris mon courage à deux mains et j’ai bricoler pendant une bonne heure hier, et voici le résultat:J’ai crée mes propres cartons pour glisser à l’intérieur et puisque c’était un album photo aux anneaux de métal, je glisse une pochette photo entre les cartons pour me venter du produit terminé. Sauf que, euh, il n’y a pas de produits terminés. Seulement qu’un tas de projets finis à moitié. J’insère une photo de Lady Elenore, qui m’a accompagnée sur la plage la plupart du temps.

Mais bon, au moins c’était de la procrastination constructive… La thèse de maîtrise n’avance pas, je suis toujours en train de lire. J’ai du ramener quelques livres à la biblio lundi qui avaient plus d’un mois de retard, et c’était soit les ramener ou perdre mes privilèges d’emprunt. Donc vraiment je n’ai plus le choix, je dois au moins terminer la proposition. Non mais c’est honteux, prendre tellement de temps à soumettre une proposition…
Oh juste une autre idée avant de partir: je pensais que ca serait peut-être ne bonne idée d’ajouter une partie gastronomie au blogue – genre, je montre ce que j’ai popoté et je fournis la recette. Par exemple, ce soir ca va être des fajitas au poulet. Dites-mois ce que vous en pensez

****************************************************************

It seems that time off not only refreshes the spirit, but the creative juices as well! Since we’ve been back I’ve been eyeing this knitting journal :http://store.nobleknits.com/knjo.html. Unfortunately, it only has 36 pages and about 3 lines on each page for your knitting notes. So I made my own out of some old fabric in my stash (some really old - I bought the corduroy 7 years ago!) and printed some custom made cheets on cardstock. Because it’s made from an old photo album, I can insert photo sleeves in between the cardstock pages to show off the finished work. Only there isn’t much finished work around here lately. I worked exclusively on Lady Elenore during the holidays, but I’m feeling the need to start my x-mas projects really soon, so she may have to be put away for a few months. Zero progress on the thesis, I’m still in the reading stage. Sadly, I had to return some important books to the library on Wednesday as they threatened to suspend my burrowing privileges. Ok sure, they were due in July, but they came all the way from Laurentien U and I need them. Oh well. Anything that guilts me into getting back to work is a good thing One more thing before I go… I’m trying to get out of a cooking run and try new things, so I thought every once in a while if there’s something that really turns out, I could post a picture the recipe? Let me know what you think!