Huzzah for the shopkeep!

I want to knit all of the baby things.  When I search around on Ravelry for projects, I'm drawn to the itty bitty little baby things, and the cute little stuffed animals and dolls.  I'm really into these crochet dolls right now:


They're by lalylala designs and there's a whole series of them.  I'd like to get one of these under my belt before nugget is born so I can hopefully make a whole fleet of them.

Enough of that pie in the sky knitting stuff.  Let's get down to brass tacks.  I made a trip to Shall We Knit? at the beginning of the month to buy yarn for baby soaker pants, knitted pants, and also to support my hexipuff addiction:

Mostly Sirdar Snuggly (with a Wendy Peter Pan thrown in for colour variation) for some baby pants:



 The ol' standby, Cascade 220, for diaper covers:

 

And a little something pretty for me, some Madeline Tosh Light Unicorn Tails for hexipuffs:





























I whipped up my first diaper cover in a couple nights of knitting.  This will be an easy and mindless knit to plug away at.














These are Milo Soakers by Kristen Rengren from Vintage Baby Knits.  They are knit flat and then sewn at the side seams.  Easy peasy, and a very satisfying little knit.  I have enough leftover from this green pair to hopefully combine it with another colour for a striped one.



What do you think, blue and red for one and yellow and green for another?  I'm trying to keep the colour combinations as baby gender neutral as possible.  I chose bright primary colours instead of blah and boring "baby" pastels.  One, because they're more fun for me to knit, and two, because they are meant to soak up "liquid", which we all know is not bottled spring water.  I can only imagine how disgusting a light-coloured pair of these would be after one wearing.  Gross.

I have to hunt around for lanolin to lanolize these puppies.  That will be a fun adventure, I'm sure it will be sticky or greasy too.  I'll bring you along for the ride when I get to that point.

I also made some baby pants.  As of this morning, I bound off that second leg and grafted the crotch hole.  I still need to weave in all the ends from my colour changes and stitch on the monster face.





The red mouth on the bum is soon to be a monster face, with eyes and teeth and everything!  These are Das Monster by Hronn Jonsdottir, to fit a baby who is 9-18 months.  I have no concept of baby sizes, so I will present these to Tam Tam and she can put them on nugget when s/he is the right size for them.

These were a quick knit too, nice and mindless once you got passed the monster mouth.  I totally have enough yarn in each colour to make another one.  A friend of mine from college just announced that she's expecting a baby in August, and I think she would really love these.  She might get a pair too.

Aside from finishing up these projects, I'm getting back in to spinning.  The speaker at the Guild meeting on Tuesday was telling us all about natural dyes for yarn, which she happens to use almost exclusively on her own hand spun yarns.  When she passed around sample of her yarns, it tickled the spinning itch inside me and I immediately went home and dug out my wheel for a little action. 

I haven't touched my wheel in almost two years, ever since we moved and my flyer got knocked against something and a piece of it snapped off.  It was still hanging on by a tread, so I very gingerly clued it back in place this week, and it worked like a charm!  To be extra safe, I also contacted Gemini Fibres (they're north of Toronto, I've seen them many times at the KW Knitters Fair as a vendor) to ask if a replacement piece can be ordered.  My wheel is my mom's, which she purchased in the 80's.  It's an Ashford wheel, but the ones Ashford sells now aren't a perfect match (the closest one looks to be the Ashford Traveller).  I sent a picture of my flyer to the kind folks at Gemini and told them all I know so they can hopefully make a recommendation. 

In the meantime, I spun some yarn yesterday!  I took a 50g hank of roving that I bought on a knitting field trip years ago and finally turned it into something.

I spun it, plied it, niddy noddy'ed it, washed it, and hung it to dry (weighted down by a Star Wars coffee mug). 



Isn't it pretty!?!?



I think this may get turned into some delicate and pretty fingerless mitts for Tam Tam.  She loves pink more than life itself.

And also while I was at the Guild meeting, I borrowed a book for my next project.  Doesn't everyone need a knitted cat?  Spoiler: these may or may not be your Christmas gift from me.



Did you know yesterday was Pi Day?  I made butter tarts to celebrate.  You better hurry up and ask for one, they're getting all cold and eaten.

Which is your favourite cigarette brand, doctor?

Hey kids!  I've been overwhelmed by knitting in the last few days, and not in the way that you probably think.  I've been thinking of all of the yarn I have sitting in my stash, and thinking of ways to use it, and being completed stuck on what to do next, even though I have at least 5 potential projects I could latch on to.  Potential projects include a shawl with my Viola Fibres lace weight in "Wild Rose", either a hat or fingerless mitts or small shawlette with my Viola Fibres fingering weight in "Bruised Plum", dishcloths out of plain-jane crochet cotton for G-ma's birthday in July, a french press cozy for Fuzzyhead (to keep is coffee toasty on WoW raiding nights), a camera case for Fuzzyhead's new camera, and a tablet cozy for me.  I don't know what to do first, I don't love any of the patterns I'm finding, and I'm strapped for cash right now, so paying for a pattern is out of the question.  I originally had both of the Viola yarns listed above pegged for specific projects, but I need to buy both of those patterns and simply can't afford it right now.  I don't really love any of the other patterns I'm coming across, so I'm tempted to leave it for a bit until I can. 

All of the other ho-hum potential projects don't catch my interest yet - they would be fine side projects to have alongside something more challenging, but I don't know what to do with that.  I want to work on everything and nothing at the same time, argh.

In the meantime, this is what I cast-on on Friday night over the long weekend, and this was my progress update picture a few hours ago:

This the the Laurel sock pattern from Wendy D. Johnson's Toe-Up Socks for Every Body (one of my favourites).  The yarn is The Black Lamb merino/nylon sock yarn, which came from my Woodstock Fleece Festival purchases in the fall.  The colour is called "Olive Drab" and it's a pretty close match for the colour used in the book.  It's a very cool green, with flecks of blue and an overall grey-ish tone to it, and the leaf-ish pattern works really nicely with the yarn. 

These socks will be for me, and I'm hoping I have enough yarn for the pair.  Unlike the last socks I made for Poppa (the Java socks from my last post), I weighed out the yarn and split it into two balls so I know exactly how much I have to work with for each sock.  The ball is a solid 104 grams, but according to the label, only has 350 yards.  It doesn't seem overly thick yarn to me, so I'm surprised at how little is supposedly there.  I've turned the heel on the first sock and things are looking OK for the leg (I weighed what was left of the ball and had about 30 grams to play with still).  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't have to settle for a short leg.

I also finished more yoga socks.  I'm down to my last ball of yoga-sock yarn, which is the other half of the very bright yellow yarn that Catherine gave me.  I'll probably start up another pair of yoga socks to keep on the go, although these pink pretties took 3 months to finish because I just wasn't motivated.  If people start buying them up in droves from the yoga studio, I'll think about caring more.

 Posie pattern running up the front of the sock

I made a little pair of something for me too recently, with the last scraps of the original yoga sock yarn, the green ones I made to match my yoga mat.  These are the Ballet School Dropout Sockettes, which were finished over a couple days last month.  

They're fairly loose on me by themselves, but when pair with my French Press slippers, they are a perfect liner:

I don't know about you, reader, but my feet sweat more than I would like, and felted slippers (or any slippers for that matter) without socks is a nightmare.  Thinking about wearing shoes without socks makes my skin crawl for the same reason.  Also, don't judge if your feet don't sweat, you're just not human and we can't all be as awesome as you.  In conclusion, I'm really loving these as a dainty liner for my slippers - my foot topsies are still exposed to get the most out of the ballet flat style shoes, and I can wash the sockettes without any trouble.  The designer originally made the socks for her ballet flat shoes, but when I tried these on with my flats, they made my feet to squished.  I'll stick with using them with my slippers, and I think they would make a fab gift for the gal-pals in your life.

And now a blast from the past - remember when I learned to spin?  Refresh your memory here, here, and here.

When we last left our hero, she was working on her final project from Kit's spinning class, where she was supposed to do something with all those sample skeins she spun.  Quick recap, she didn't do anything with them.  For two years. 

I turned the red and red-orange into balls, but the rest were waiting for a long time to be touched again, until my restless knitting mood took over and turned them all into balls in a week:

 These little pretties are stuffed with old plastic shopping bags (what's up 3 R's, re-use anyone?), and for now, they are back in the box where I had them for the last two years.  I will be turning them into a sheep wreath, as inspired by Not So Sleepy Sheep.  Each ball will get a little sheep face, and little sheep ears, and four little sheep feet, and I'll firmly attached them all to a wreath base of some kind.  Until I get my second wind on this project, they'll be in the box. 

Also, it's Easter weekend, did Break and Enter Rabbit visit your house last night?

G'night all!

Onward,

vrock

You’re turning violet, Violet!

It’s August.  It’s hot outside.  And I’ve been knitting.
First up, my adventures in stranded colourwork.  I bought a whole bunch of cheapie KnitPicks Palette yarn earlier this year, in order to make my cupcake mittens.  By MY cupcake mittens, I mean these adorable little things that SpillyJane designed, which I just had to make.  I was originally thinking about making a go at the pattern without buying it, but it seemed messy and tricky, and I decided to support a designer while also getting myself a set of guidelines that are tested and proven.  I’m a pretty good little mitten-maker, but I didn’t want to chance it.
These are the colours I bought, not exactly the ones that the pattern suggests, but pretty damn close:

I used Palette DK yarn in (from top, clockwise): cotton candy, bison, cream, custard, bark, serrano, and mist as the main colour.

Voila!  One left mitten, made in just under a week.  I really think my colourwork has improved since my first attempt at stranded knitting in 2008 with the Let it Snow mittens from Vogue Knitting.  While I love them dearly, I didn’t have the knack of my tension yet, and there are puckered spots that just won’t quit.  So far, my cupcake mittens are looking good!

But as I’m sure we all know, stranded colourwork where the colour changes every two rows will mean mountains of spaghetti to weave in later.  Ugh.  I haven’t even thought about tackling this yet, I’m waiting until they’re both completely done.

Why hello pretty little slippers!  These are my new wearin’-around-the-house slippers, since Fuzzyhead doesn’t think that Birks are appropriate for indoor wearing.  I made them up in one evening, and felted them in the machine (top loaders are still good for something, thanks landlord Corey!).  I bought a slipper bottom patch kit from KnitPicks forever ago and now the bottoms won’t wear through like my last slippers.  Even with super thick felted material, you’d be amazed at the damage your feet will do to a pair of slippers – the pair I made last summer only lasted until Christmas.
Remember that adorable owl sweater for an August baby?  Baby was born yesterday, but looks way too tiny for that sweater, what a disappointment.  I think I’ll have to wait until winter to get a baby-in-sweater shot.  But here’s a baby to tide you over:

I also whipped off another pair of slippers, these ones are for Slim Jim for Christmas, shhh!  Don’t tell her I put them on my feet to model them either.

Do you remember this dear readers?  My very own handspun, the most I’ve ever done?  Refresh your memories, and then prepare to be amazed!

I made a whole garment!  It’s a shrug, your basic rectangle turned into a circle deal, with a pretty ostrich plume lace pattern.  Love it, and totally worthy of the handspun.  I have yet to wear it, as you may have noticed, it’s not sweater weather yet.  I’m jonesin’ for fall.

And my last knitting update, my newest on-the-go project started this morning – another pair of yoga socks.  These ones come from the yarn that was generously donated by Fruwho.  I hope someone will love them and want them and give me money for them.  I like that part most of all.

I decided on a flower lace pattern to go with the cheery colour.  My yoga sock process has been refined to keep it simple and quick, I only do the pattern on the front of the sock, and I do the back in simple stockinette.  If I stick with it, I can made a pair in a about two weeks.
In my personal world, Fuzzyhead and I have put together a blog about our adventures in trying to buy a house.  Shameless promotion, go check it out!
That’s all I got lovies.
Onward,
vrock

Dog pee is good for plants, right?

Happy spring readers! Submitted for the approval of the midnight society, I call this tale: Adventures in Gardening...with a splash of knitting just to keep it real.

Fuzzyhead and I don't plan to stay in our current house for more than a year or so. We're saving for a home of our own, so our gardening plans this year are unfortunately not long-term or permanent. We made a short list of the things we wanted to accomplish this summer so our little backyard could look its best.

Our list:

-Move brick pathway so that is actually leads to the gate, not to a random patch of the fence
-Make a small vegetable garden
-Plant flowers along the side of the house
-Keep a selection of fresh herbs
-Fix the bare patches of grass in the backyard
-Cover the pathway in gravel to keep the weeds away

Fuzzy already took care of the first one, he moved the path all by himself when I was at work about a month ago. The bricks have settled back into place now and you'd never know it used to be different.

The others got tackled by me today while Fuzzy is out on the town with his friends. We both took a trip to Belgian Nursery earlier in the day, initially just thinking we would price things out and head home to plan some more. I love this place, it's so full of exciting ideas and things I want to buy. We're leaning toward gnomes for the garden by the way.

First up, this is what I accomplished today:

Our baby herb garden! We had dill and parsley in seed form, so I planted those in the boxes along with the more mature and ready-to-eat herbs we picked up today. I love the boxes, they were on sale and they look very rustic and natural.

Box # 1 - rosemary, oregano, parsley, and dill

Box # 2 - cilantro, thyme, and basil

We also bought some shade-loving plants for the side garden. I chose not to plant them today because I spent so much time prepping the soil for the vegetable garden and I was worn out. I'm also a little afraid that it's still too cold for them to be outside without parental supervision. Momma Vrock is very protective of her plant babies.

The beginnings of our vegetable garden. We had tomato seeds, and the packet called for starting the seeds inside before putting them out in the big wide world. I will track the progress of my wee little tomato plants for ya'll.

Have you ever seen such patchy grass? I scattered some grass seed down today, after diligently digging up the top 10cm of patchy soil so the grass will have somewhere to go. The trick now it to keep Oscar from patting it all down with his little dog feet.

The worst patch by far, this is between the porch and the fence, right next to the house. Essentially a no-sun zone, we'll see how the seed does.

My pride and joy of the day! I prepped our little garden for planting - turned over all the soil a good 10" down, pulled out the grass that was starting to grow there, and fenced it all in to keep Oscars and bunnies out. I worked up a good sweat doing this, you better appreciate it!

The little rock pathway was added after I realized that I couldn't use the whole space for a garden because I need access to the compost bin and the far side of the laundry line. Also, if I ever wanted to pick any of the veggies I grow, I would have to go traipsing through my nice neat garden. Pathway solves all of those problems! The rocks were sourced from a wicked pile of big-ass rocks that used to be stacked up against the tree in this picture. I found even more when I was turning over all the soil.

And finally, we're going to put out our bird houses this year! They're all lined up and ready for a coat of paint.

A post wouldn't be complete without a knitting recap:

Fuzzyhead's teatime socks, originally started during my business trip as something to do at the airport. I've ripped these little babies out twice, and I've decided to just go with a written and established pattern instead of being adventurous with my own design. Le sigh. Once I finish these, I'm hoping to get cracking on some yoga socks. I want to have a few pairs knitted up and ready to sell so I don't have to do custom orders for everything.

The very best knitting-related purchase I ever made! I bought a personalized rubber stamp for all of my knitted giftables. It says "Hand knitted with love by ". I got it from an etsy shop that does custom rubber stamps. I highly recommend it if you have $14 + shipping burning a hole in your pocket. I'll be putting this stamp on all of my yoga sock care instructions tags, and also any knitted gifts I feel like making this year.


I had a spinning fit a few weeks ago. I spun 100g of roving that I bought at the knitter's fair last fall, all in 2 days. And then I got really crazy and did the other 100g the next weekend. Now I have 200g (about 680 yards) of roughly DK weight yarn to play with. Any ideas?

Onward,

vrock

A coat to dream about

It’s picture time!
First up, pictures from my trip to 7th Heaven Alpaca Farm in June 2010.  Fuzzy Head came with me to watch the annual alpaca shearing. 
Holding down the first alpaca as they are finishing up and ready to flip the table back over.  We missed the real action, we came in just as they were finishing.

The yarn selection available to purchase.  Fuzzy Head is blocking the view of the yarn I ended up buying, pictured here:
This is a delightful alpaca blend.  The tag was mega confusing on these because the two skeins were tied together with one tag that says 245 yards and 4ish oz, so I assumed that between the two skeins, that’s what I was getting.  I weighed them only recently (when I got my yarn scale from Knit Picks, eeeeee!) and together they weigh just over 8 oz, so the tag was only for one of the skeins.  I’m not sure exactly how many yards I have, but I’m hoping to make a pair of mittens and possibly a hat, but we’ll see.


This little baby alpaca was available for petting, but kids kept getting in the way.  Kids ruin everything.

These fluffy ones were waiting in a barn for their turn, we left before we got to see them sheared.

This is the alpaca from the first picture, all naked and romping around in the field.
My newest baby:
Hello spinning wheel.  I love you.  You’ve easily doubled my spinning speed.  I powered through the rest of the bag of my rust coloured wool, which I have been working on since I learned to spin earlier this year.  I carded the last of it over a couple days when I saw how quickly I was going through it with the wheel.  Also pictured above is my yarn scale, on the little table next to the wheel.

This is my Alpaca Acres roving from Vixen, spun up over a weekend with my wheel, being turned into:
My very first handspun project!  I’ve got a few skeins of my other hand spun yarns, but this is the first thing I’ve made with something I made.  This will be a spiral cowl – a perfect little project for the amount of yarn I have.
Thinking about Christmas presents now.  Last year I was all about making gifts for everyone, and it nearly killed me.  I had to plan all year to get everything made in time, and I had no time to work on my own projects.  I would love to do that again, but I don’t have enough time now this year.  I’ve got a few small projects picked out for gifts, but not for everyone.  I’m trying to think of projects that are easy, that I could make for everyone, that they would get some use from.  My first thought was felted potholders, but I’m still thinking about it and I wouldn’t be doing it for this year’s gifts.  Any suggestions?  Christmas presents for extended relatives this year will be home made red pepper jelly.  I bought the canning jars last week and I’m just waiting for red peppers to come into season.
Happy knitting everyone!
Onward,
vrock