New Yarn! Maybe?

My Blue Moon Funky Sock Monkey kit (I got 3A Thistle and Cockcrow) is here!

Sort of.

Mom was out today, so no one was home to sign for it and thus my sock monkey kit is currently sitting at the post office. *sobs*

So tomorrow, before I go to knit night, I go to pick it up! Yay!

I decided to go with this instead of the Moroccan Days/Arabian Nights kit as my tax return splurge to myself. Partially because I have a lot of laceweight and many patterns I wish to do (*coughs* Year of Lace, and other things) and because I decided I don't like the purple as much as I thought after all, and I never really liked the yellow. So if I DO do that pattern, I think I'd just buy the pattern and pick up some Knit Picks Shimmer in Spice once it becomes available.

Maybe. We'll see. I have other things to spend money on, and most of it has been tucked away for a rainy day.

I'm back to where I need to take the sleeve stitches off for Mr Greenjeans, working steadily but slowly away at it..

ETA: And dare I say it.. but has Spring finally arrived?

Packing..

Why am I packing?

We finally got notice that they were going to replace our windows this week, weather permitting.

Looking at the weather forecast, I don't know if they'll get to it this week (downturn, supposed to snow again and it's durned cold so if they plan to do it when it's like this they better do it fast so we don't freeze).

But we have to pack up and shift everything beneath the windows, move stuff off the walls etc.

So now all the yarn that was in my plastic drawer thingy (which I was thinking of getting rid of anyway as it doesn't work as well as I'd like) and on my bookshelf in baskets (what, you don't decorate in yarn?) is stashed in two large tubs. Not counting active projects and another, smaller, tub for needles and notions.

That is just tonight's work, I still have to box up books and shift breakables down or away, probably pull out one whole bookshelf from my bedroom.. it'll be worth it though, when I can finally put my bed beneath my window and I won't freeze because the cold seeps through. It'll be REALLY nice in summer, when I can leave the window open and not have bugs sneaking through the gaps in the screen (I stapled tulle to the frame to act as a proper screen. You read that right, the windows must be from at least the early 80's because wood was common in windows then, I doubt I'd be able to do that with new windows).

I'd had wanted to go to knit night, but that obviously fell through due to packing.

I'm dreaming of a white spring..

Not really.

It sucks, things were starting to warm up, I was seeing spot of green.. heck I even had a couple weeds in my front yard and now?

For anyone reading who does not live in this area (probably very few of you I think) this is the forecast:



This of course makes it a good weekend to stay cozy inside and knit, which I don't mind too much because I have been horribly sick with a nasty head cold this past week and I planned to stick in anyway to be sure I am rid of it.

I may even have to knit myself mittens because I seem to have lost all my gloves since the last time we had snow. It's horrible, but at least they were cheap ones I bought. Maybe I should make mittens with a string for myself..

What's on the needles.. well Montego Bay is coming along. I work at it in odd times and it'll be done soonish (I think). The socks have all gone by the wayside, as has Mystic Waters, because I got stuck on the first Year of Lace kit. It's a lovely kit and I am finding it isn't a bad bus knitting project because it is repetitious enough that I can do most of the row by rote. It's turning out lovely so far, and I've completed one body rep and started on the second.



I also picked up some wonderful cotton/bamboo yarn at Make1. It just struck me and I drove Amy and Sandra crazy for a little bit before I finally took off with it and the Green Gables pattern (a little after the store closed.. sorry ladies, I try not to do that!)

So I knit a swatch and it came out close so I figured I'd try it and see how it works though this yarn is a lighter weight than what the pattern calls for. This is what I've done so far:



I love how it is knitting up, I love the feel of it and I think the pattern will be perfect to wear around the office at my new position. But I think it is a bit too small. The gauge is definitely off from my swatch, and yet when I hold up what I've done so far it looks like it will fit. So I am thinking of putting it on string and pulling over my head to see if what little I have will work as a start and adjust as I go, or will I have to frog it and cast on more. I already did the math, I should measure myself again though just to be sure, try on what I have and we'll see. I'll probably have to get Amy and Sandra to order in more of the colour I bought, I bought an extra of a slightly darker shade because my math came out to 11 balls that the pattern called for but since I am tall and this knits on a smaller gauge I'll probably need extra.

Thank goodness this is a top down right? I've never done top down before but then I've yet to complete a top of any kind for myself.

I'm planning to do a quickie project this weekend also. My MP3 player needs a cozy, before it gets too battered in my purse (it's not an ipod, I've had MP3 players for about 5 years now but I don't want an Apple one).

I'm also going to the retreat, because I really really want to. It'll be fun and yay the Yarn Harlot is coming! Besides I need a small vacation of my own. Otherwise, I wouldn't get one.

I'd better go pop in Pride and Prejudice (watching for the first time) and grab the yarn and needles for the cozy I want to make!

Y'know..

Blogger isn't bad but one thing that annoys me crazily is that I when I get a comment on a post I can't email back to them, or post a reply easily to a person. I'm spoiled by livejournal I guess. Does Wordpress do something like that? I can install it on my hosting, which I need to do something with anyway since I am paying for it.

It's scary though, blogger is easy peasy. (And I claim to be a geek sometimes *snorts*)

But to answer Raining Sheep's question (and one I am sure all of you who read my blog* have) is what is that yarn from my last post?

That would be the Wasonga sock yarn from Curious Creek in colourway Birches in Norway and bought from the lovely ladies at Make1.

I did start the sock, but I need to finish other socks so I haven't gotten very far. And anyway, I had spinning class last night. I'm enjoying it, and a wheel is tempting but I am sticking to a spindle because a spinning wheel is definitely out of the budget this year, and a spindle is more likely to get used not stuck in a corner and forgotten (like my poor sewing machine most of the year).

No pictures again. I need to work more on my shawl, and finish those socks, but for now I think I'll have a mug of tea and go to bed. Getting back to my usual sleeping pattern after it being whacked by illness is always a treat.

*I can't be the only one who is surprised when she gets comments, right? I'm not very amusing or witty like the people I read and I often feel like I'm shouting into the wind off a mountaintop. So who would read MY blog?

On my feet..

Amazing what one day, a long sleep and a dose of cold meds will do for you.

I finally feel.. normal. Or not normal, you know how you feel when you're finally well after being sick? How the world is your oyster and you have SO MUCH ENERGY and you are WELL so you can take on the WORLD!?

Then reality sinks in, the laundry and the dishes haven't been done properly for a week (the only plus side is there isn't many because you hadn't cooked much in a week either) and you need to stock up on groceries and shovel out the kleenex.. but for a couple hours this afternoon I was high on LIFE.

Then I am confronted by this:



This was taken with my cell, so the quality sucks but I think I get my point across. Ugh. This is Calgary in the midst of a warm spell during winter (+11 today! I don't think there was a Chinook though, usually I freeze anyway cuz of the wind.. I dunno, I'm not a weather person). It looks like blah. Brown and nothing.. you didn't see the grey everywhere too (from the dirt that had coated the grass after spraying up in the form of slush).

So I did what any knitter would naturally do. I bought this:



Green, yellow, joyous green! I was surfing around at work and spotted it on the blog.. so I got curious and looked and just could NOT help myself. So now I have to finish a pair of socks tonight/on the commute/at lunch (for my BFF's birthday tomorrow night!!!) before I will allow myself to cast on a pair of garter toes in glorious spring-like GREEN.

Don't remind me of all the OTHER projects I have on the go, and planned. I think the order of the day is green.

And for those who missed it, a slightly blurry attempt at night photography of a lunar eclipse by moi:





PS. Can you tell I'm just a TAD bit hyper now that I feel better?

Mmm yarn

That was great. I made it to the store (and I was first in line, don't listen to the people who showed up and then left again for breakfast ;) ). Chatted with some wonderful people and bought up some really cute yarn.

I even managed to stay ON BUDGET and not go totally crazy. I think the reason I was able to, was because I knew that I have enough for 2 sweaters at home and that is enough. For now. Until they are knitted up.

I did do a silly thing though. I bought a spindle, and some roving.. and I don't know how to spin. And watching the video I found on YouTube and reading the instructions and I'm all nervous. So I may just have to go take that spinning class. :p

But I got some more cute sock yarn, and some worsted weight. Enough for two of those Squatty Sidekick bags on Knitting Daily, in different colours. I think one for me and one for my cousin (for Christmas.. planning ahead, see?).

I also took a bit of a walk around Bridgeland, and since it's so nice I think that when Velociraptor wakes up we may just have to go check out all the noise at the Greek festival. I have a hankering for some spanakopita and ouzo.

Finally! A finished sock!

Or not..

I finished a sock. I truly did. Thing is, once I finished the kitchener stitch and tried it on I realized.. it's too small.

Ok, not TOO too small, just my feet are big (since I am 6'1, and inherited high arches and wide feet from my Mother).

So that got ripped out and frogged back to where I started the toe decreases, so I can add.. oh, say another couple centimeters. I could have worn it, but the heel (specifically the BACK of the heel) was pulled under my foot and it was pretty stretched out. I figure a couple of centimeters, then the decreases and the heel will sit properly and it won't drive me batty.

Then I just have to knit the next one.

Once I've got them done, I will post a picture of them. I have to show off finished socks!

Oh, and I bought some new sock yarn. Didn't get to the store for stitch n' bitch (and thus missed out on the Oceanwind) but when I went the next night I got some real nice stuff that they haven't put out front yet. Or hadn't really planned on.

I already wound it into a ball, and it's such a pretty blue (they had some wonderful greens and a rust and reds there too, but I kept myself to one skein). I'll get the name later, I left it downstairs in my bag and I'm a little lazy at the moment (considering I should already be asleep..) but it's nice. I like it, and I'm looking around for a pattern to use with it. Maybe this one?

But now I'd better get some sleep.

Me + extra money + yarn = crazy

When I've got extra money (like, say.. my tax return) do not let me loose in the yarn store.

Yeah, I wandered over to Make1 the day I got my tax return since I had also seen on their blog that they had this new yarn from Sublime, an Angora Merino in DK weight that is ohhh so soft. It looked so yummy in their picture that I just had to check it out.

So of course I went over, and ended up spending lots of money since I bought enough for a cardigan, and needles for it (because I buy as I go and I knew I didn't have that size at home yet). You see me and.. uhm the one I talked to at the store (I'm so bad with names, forgive me) figured that it would work beautifully for the Dollar and a Half Cardigan in Spring Interweave. I also bought yarn to make this for my uncle, whose birthday is coming up. Actually the guy who designed it looks a little like him, only younger heh.

And of course I bought a new bag, by a local designer. It was just so cute and spring-like that I didn't want to put it down. So I didn't.

I was shaking when I bought the stuff lol. It was like a yarn fix. That happen to other people? Or maybe it's just because I was spending so much. I was shaking like that when I bought myself a a Jone New York suit (because it was the only one I could find that fit me right at the time.. but worth it).

I really really want to start on one of my sweaters, but I promised to finish my son's before I start on one of mine. That way I'm not distracted and he'll get his sweater before he grows out of it lol.

You figure I could finish most of it this weekend? I only have the top of the second sleeve and the hood to knit (I finished all the decreases last night during Top Chef, we're a season behind up here). I figure finish the sleeve and watch a movie tonight and knit.. then I can block it and do the finishing in the evenings (when not doing homework of course). Hmm need some buttons too.

Boxing day sales, knitting & you..

So I DID get to Make One for the boxing day sale, and I went crazy.

As did several other people! I've never seen the place that busy, but everyone was polite as we scootched our way between the furniture and people eyeing skeins as we all stuffed our bags that had been handed out to us as we stood in line. (Who'd have thunk? A line up outside a yarn store on boxing day!)

I spent over three hundred dollars, but from what I've figured I saved well over a hundred from if I'd gone shopping on a non-sale day and I got all that I wanted needed plus a little extra.

What did I get?

I got enough yarn to make myself A Cardigan for Arwen from Interweave Winter 2006, plus needles since I have been buying as a project needs (unless I already have them of course). I also bought a pattern to make a hooded sweater for my son, along with the appropriate yarn and needles and more row counters since the ones I have are already on projects. The only thing I need are buttons for that.

I have also promised myself two things.

1. No more yarn shopping until I finish the majority of the projects I have everything for (which, all together includes seasilk scarf, Harry Potter scarf, mouse mittens, 3 hats, fingerless gloves and now two sweaters, one adult and one child). That is more than enough to keep me busy for the next long while, I don't need to buy any more. Oh, and two of those hats need to be done in the next four days. The fingerless gloves have just a few more rows and a thumb and finishing.

2. No casting on for Arwen until I've finished the hats.

Guess I'd better get knitting hmm? Because my hands are VERY itchy to start Arwen.

ETA: I guess I should add my socks in that list too shouldn't I? Oy, too much!

The first day of fall.

So I did make it down to Make 1, and I bought some stuff for my slowly growing stash.

Not that I want it to grow too big, instead I try to only go when I have definite plans in mind. This way, I get stuff that I know I will use (at some point) and don't have too much excess floating around.

Ended up spending $80, so I am glad for the sale! I should've grabbed one of those little bags they had to hang off your purse or beltloop and stash your yarn in. Would've been perfect to tuck into my backpack for work. Ah well. Maybe I can do something with my sewing stash. (Another reason to go with definite ideas in mind, no multiple stashes.. I have one for sewing, one for knitting/crochet and one for cross-stitch. Only knitting gets pulled out regularly because I know what I want to do with it. Well, so do I with the others so I suppose that's not an excuse.)

So now I have one ball of Trekking XXL in deep berry (I want to try making socks, and if they turn out well I can make a pair for my sock fanatic pal), 3 balls of Cashsoft DK in sweet, black and kingfisher and Rowan kid classic in glacier. I also bought 3 new sets of bamboo DPNs in sizes I don't already have.

So all in all it was a gorgeous first day of fall, spent checking out some nifty little stores and creating a small stash for myself.

Just lovely.