Cold feet

This past Saturday I spent the day with an friend who was visiting from Quebec. We went for tasty Korean lunch at SAN, coffee and giant cookie at Le Gourmand and dress shopping at H&M. We saw the frigid sites of Queen west and then finished the day off with an experimental Australian theatre experience at the Eaton centre and then supper in Chinatown. During our wandering we stopped into Type- a book store where I have never been (due in part to the fact that I thought it was a "fancy stationary and thank you note" store as opposed to literature) and I picked up a book I have been eyeing for several months:




Reviews have been mixed for the book. There is the "this book is awesome, Viva la revolution" side and the "OMG thats so ugly, I'd never knit that, why did I waste my money on this book" crowd. The book examines the link between craft and art; form verses fuction, and the artists who have bridged this gap... and anyone who buys this book just for the patterns is missing the point because really, who has the space for a 2 ton teddy bear made of fiberglass. Personally I don't think my floors could hold it.

Knitknit does have interesting bios of knitting designers/artists and giant teddy bear aside, it does have some make-able patterns, some of which I may consider trying myself at some point. But really, I'm hoping the book will inspire me to get off my giant can and get my "art" on. SRSLY. I'm going to do it, as soon as my laundry is done.


A link to the Knitknit website



In other news, I'm worried about She-ra. I think I saw her with about 4 or 5 inches of yarn in her mouth (before I shouted at her and she ran out of the room) and I'm worried she ate it and it is doing horrible things to her digestive track. She seems ok though, she is just napping and grooming and grooming and napping. Plus it was most likely Patons Kroy and so is probably not that strong. EDIT: She seems to be fine, perhaps I was panicking for nothing.


socks.



I bought this yarn at the grand opening/re-opening of Alterknit (now called In the Loop Cafe). I had a lovely time and it was packed with Knittas and their ilk. Wine and yarn are a few of my favorite things, however, of the two I am currently only allowed to buy wine since I really am on a yarn diet now. Really. Knit from the stash, that's my plan. Especially since I bought 2 balls of Cascade fixation-effects in 9939 varigated murk colourway at Lettuce Knit on Thursday, with the intention of knitting another pair of Broadripples... if I ever finish the first pair.

Speaking of Broadripples. They (well it, I haven't started the second sock yet) are coming along pretty quickly considering I usually just knit them on the TTC.



I wonder if I should make it taller, I definately have enough yarn...



I think she's fine

Yes, people (which people you ask? well there are people... myself, my mother and a woman called Alice, to name but 3) are amazed I have taken to sock knitting with such vigour. There are many reasons for this.

1. I'm not very good at the ol' sock knitting and wish to improve and it will help me work on my terrible tension. (in every sense of the word)

2. Socks are fairly quick to knit and finishing things make me feel better about myself. I like having new things but I'm feeling a bit scattered at the moment, my work and personal life are kind of ass-y and my not finishing the 2 sweaters I've got languishing make me feel like a big fat failure, but by the same token I don't really have the focus right now to undertake such large...undertakings without disasterous results.

3. Portability, I spend a lot of time on the TTC... alot. Too much really. I like to use my time wisely.

4. Price. One doesn't need that much yarn to make a thing.

5. My feet are cold.


Speaking of socks.

Bellatrix knee socks... they are getting there. I decided to do the heel and toe in navy blue. they look a bit funny in the photo but better on the feet.



Please forgive the foreshortening and strange calf action.



Ditto.




I'm about an inch and a half away from the toe on the second sock. Wheeee!. Although it will probably be months before I can wear them outside, also they do make my shoes a little tight, but I'm blaming that in part on my swollen winter feet. So first a little foot binding and wait for the snow to melt and then... the socks can hit the great outdoors in all their glory

Pretty puffy slouchy post

So I just realized that the images on my last post weren't showing up due to something weird going on in the HTML. hmm, I blame firefox.

This is the scarf I actually made for my Aunt for Christmas before deciding that drop stitches were too easy and something she could figure out herself, so I had better make something more complicated. I was going to give this scarf to someone else, but I wasn't sure who, so I decided to keep it because I am selfish like that.




I made it to the Purple Purl- which was awesome. I got some dpns and a gorgeous crochet hook



*pictured with Pretty Puffs Slouchy Beret in progress


and *cough cough* some yarn- even though I am not allowed to buy yarn. In my defense, I don't have any lace weight yarn. I loved that they had such a diverse selection of yarn with a variety of price points, and with a real focus on Canadian products. Also Jennifer and Kate and Miko were so awesome and welcoming. My only complaint: the store is not closer to my house. Maybe I'll move.







see- she likes it too.






speaking of crochet. I made
the Pretty Puffs Slouchy Hat. I actually started crocheting this in rowanspun dk- light grey tweed, (doubled) and got about 85% of it done before deciding that it really looked like congeled oatmeal or papier mache paste. (finally, because I've been trying to figure out what to do with that yarn for almost a year- I think it's going to be made into mitred squares for my 5 year mitered square blanket plan... I have about 8 squares done so far)
Anyway I frogged the damn thing and started it again in Fleece Artist country wool (which I got in the Romni basement and according to the internet, doesn't actually exist) This got me thinking about my yarn stash. I have a tendency to buy yarn on a whim because its pretty and then not use it because I want to save it for the perfect project- this just results in me buying more yarn for projects that I actually plan to make and just hoarding the other yarn. So it's good that I dipped into the yarn stash. Which frankly isn't that big. It's like maybe 85 balls/hanks/skeins.. and 1 cone... and that's counting WIP yarn. That is nothing. I am practically a yarn pauper.


and then there are the Belletrix socks. Some of the knittas scoffed at the hugeness, but look.




They do in fact fit over my calf... so knee socks it is. I have 50yds more than the specified amount of yarn, so I'm hoping it will be enough. Perhaps I will do the heels and toes in black just to be sure. It will be a sock adventure. Wheee!

socks and gift yarn

So I made this scarf for my Aunt for Christmas. I don't know if she liked it. But it was a fairly quick and easy knit. Unfortunately it does have a tendency to curl due to the cable.



Speaking of Christmas, some of you may remember that I bought my cousin this Fleece Artist sock kit





but her mother informed me that said cousin likes bulky yarn (probably because she is a fairly new knitter) so I decided to buy her some Manos del Uruguay and *cough cough* keep the sock yarn for myself. Although I am not completely in love with the colourway. The purple just isn't "dead" enough for me.


Still speaking of Christmas, I got the gift of yarn. Although it is from the dreaded Mary Maxim, it is still possible to get some decent things there.



I'm not sure what to use this for. Flip top mittens perhaps?



Austermman step yarn, with Jojoba and Aloe action. I'm not sure how I feel about the fushia stripe but I'm trying to find an interesting sock pattern to enhance the striping action. It would be great if that pattern wasn't Jaywalkers.



I'm pretty excited about this yarn. It's from Estelle, it has alpaca and has 400m per hank. I'm tempted to get more. They have a nice dead lavender colourway but I am determined to knit from my stash this year. In any case, I already have a project in mind for it: snicket socks... which would also look fabulous in a dead purple colourway.... hmmm.



Speaking of socks. The Sea wool Seduction socks are finished. YAY!. I actually got a good portion of them done over Christmas Eve and Christmas day, in between eating and opening presents. I actually have alot of yarn left over and could have made them much taller. Then again because it's Fleece Artist, I'll probably need the leftover yarn for darning. Also these socks are really effing warm.






Speaking of again of socks, I started a pair of Belletrix socks using the Fleece Artist merino which seems to work better than the Austermman Step. I'm worried they are going to be giant though. I cast on and did the ribbing using 2.75mm, switched to 2.5 for the top part of the leg, 2.25 for the bottom but I think I need to track down a pair of 2mm needles for the foot. I am also trying to get a pair of knee socks out of this yarn, If I run out, I'll just do the toes in black.





Speaking of the languishing sweaters. I have picked up the Airy Wrap Sweater again. Speaking of picking things up, my picked up stitches look pretty ass-y. I'm hoping that blocking will help. I'm also thinking of stretching it lengthwise when it's finished. I will probably just wet it and hang it off my dressmakers dummy and hope for the best. If I even finish it. I'm at the really boring stage of the thing and I don't particularly enjoy the yarn, so I can only do a couple pattern repeats at a time before screaming and throwing it back into my knitting basket.




The pink sweater is still waiting to be sewn together. Perhaps I'll do it on Saturday.

And because I don't have enough projects on the go, I started crocheting a hat.
I'm not sure how it will look though. I am using Rowanspun DK doubled, which is making a fairly crunchy fabric. Then again, apparently this yarn softens up and "blooms" with washing. I have been trying to figure out what to do with this stuff for the last yarn or so. I plan to make mitered squares with the leftovers.

In other news, I wonder if the blurryness of my photos is due to my camera, or due to my eyes.

Because of the fact that I accomplished the 3 things on my to-do list today, I'm thinking of heading out to the Purple Purl to check it out, and if I happen to buy yarn... well I guess I will have already broken my resolution.