purple niko

Celtic Mitts

2009-11-01T16:44:00.003-06:00

Here's the link to my pattern for the Celtic Mitts!

Please let me know if you have any trouble accessing the pattern - it's the first time I'm using Google Docs to share a pdf!

Thanks for your interest, and good luck!

April Fools!

2009-04-01T09:49:00.003-05:00

And here we thought spring was actually around the corner....NOT!

I'm going to Singapore!

2009-03-26T16:00:00.003-05:00

I'm getting sent there for work, and since I only technically need to be there for 2 days, they're really encouraging me to go early, to help with the jet lag and to make sure that I'll be in top form when I get to the client site!
Which means that they're flying me into Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), where I'll stay and hang out with a friend for 4 days, before hopping over to Singapore. I'll have a day and a bit to myself in Singapore, spend 2 days with the client (and 2 evenings to myself), spend another day there writing the report and then fly back home again.
I'm SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And what with the weather we've had the past few days, we might even still have snow when I leave. Which will make going somewhere tropical that much more appealing! And if there is still snow, maybe, just maybe, it'll all have melted by the time I get back home.

Or maybe that's wishful thinking...

Had to share this...

2009-03-01T12:50:00.001-06:00

I saw this on a fellow blogger's blog, and I had to share!

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

Book List

2009-02-26T20:22:00.003-06:00

BBC’s Book List
The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?

Instructions: Copy the list into a Note and put an ‘x‘ after those you have read, count ‘em up, compare tallies. This should be easy. Strutting and preening is optional.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (x times a lot)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights (x)
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien (x)
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger (it's on my bookshelf, just waiting for me)
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame (x)

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis (x)
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (x)
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne (x)

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery (x)
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood (x)
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding (x)
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (x)
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61 Of Mice and Men- John Steinbeck (x)
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (x)
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno – Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White (x)
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom (x)
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (x)
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl (x)
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (x - the abridged version, in French)

Wow - the average person has only read 6? I guess 18 isn't doing too badly, then, hey? :)

Check it out

2009-01-11T15:36:00.002-06:00

I was going through some baby pictures with my parents today, and look what we found!
My dad used to work on a farm when he was younger, and this was towards the end of one of those summers.
This is me and my cousin being carried around by my dad at the cottage when we were about 2 years old!

It's Almost Christmas!!

2008-12-17T11:39:00.001-06:00

...which means that I've smuggled in my illegal Christmas tree!
Because I've mentioned that I have a purple theme going on with my decorations, I thought I'd take a photo and prove it. :)
While I love that we've finally gotten a decent amount of show (although I'd love to see more), I could definitely use a break from this cold snap. Here's hoping that the temperature warms up a little soon!
(It's been -3o (ish) for the past 4 days, with windchills between -35 and -45!!! Right now it's -22, sunny, with very little windchill...things might be looking up!)

SYTYCD Canada - Last Dance-off tonight!

2008-12-03T11:35:00.003-06:00

I can't wait! It's going to be awesome!!
I really hope they use the same format as the US show, and have each of the top 4 dance with the other 3 - I think it will be amazing to see Miles and Nico dance with each other, and likewise Natali and Allie.
I might even break out the phone and vote tonight!!!
:)

(image courtesy Winnipeg Sun)

100 things

2008-11-26T14:56:00.003-06:00

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'd borrow this meme making it's rounds through the blogosphere these days...

Things I've Done (In Bold)

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars - in a tent, yes
3. Played in a band - does concert band in high school count?
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world - Yes, EuroDisney in France
8. Climbed a mountain - a small mountain not requiring any special gear...
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightening at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch - does 2-handed knitting count?
15. Adopted a child - through Foster Parent's Plan...
16. Had food poisoning - probably, haven't we all?
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables - (herbs, yes. veggies, no.)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill - come on, we've all done this, right?
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon - a small marathon, the SuperRun
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (I've been to Venice, but couldn't afford €100 for a gondola ride)
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (ice climbing? yes. Rock, no.)
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater (I never did make it to the one here before it closed down...)
55. Been in a movie (nope, but I did watch them filming one. Or, 2, actually.)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business - sort of...I'm starting slow.
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason (Does buying them for yourself count? lol)
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma - althoughI can't anymore, because of having been in Europe for too long during the mad cow thing
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job - but it was a waitressing job that I'd had for only one month, and wasn't planning on keeping for very long anyway, and there was a pretty big personality clash
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous - I met Keifer Sutherland when he was in town for Canada Day a while back...we talked about how ride the table next to us at the restaurant was being (they were heckling him...)
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone - yup, and it's my only phone!
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Rode an elephant

42 out of 100 - not bad!

My Weenie came!!!

2008-10-30T15:51:00.003-05:00

Yes, the package from my weenie came today! (it's a knitty thing)

Check it out!!!

There's 3 different kinds of yarn, some mango tea, a few individual packets of hot chocolate and coffee, 2 project bags (handmade by my weenie!) and a Great Pumpkin notebook and post-it notes!
It's all awesome, and I can't wait for my next SnB to show off all my loot!
:)

I'm a Bette

2008-10-28T15:22:00.000-05:00

Considering the quiz only has 2 questions, it's surprisingly accurate!

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are a Bette!

You are a Bette -- "I must be strong"

Bettes are direct, self-reliant, self-confident, and protective.

How to Get Along with Me

* Stand up for yourself... and me.

* Be confident, strong, and direct.

* Don't gossip about me or betray my trust.

* Be vulnerable and share your feelings. See and acknowledge my tender, vulnerable side.

* Give me space to be alone.

* Acknowledge the contributions I make, but don't flatter me.

* I often speak in an assertive way. Don't automatically assume it's a personal attack.

* When I scream, curse, and stomp around, try to remember that's just the way I am.

What I Like About Being a Bette

* being independent and self-reliant

* being able to take charge and meet challenges head on

* being courageous, straightforward, and honest

* getting all the enjoyment I can out of life

* supporting, empowering, and protecting those close to me

* upholding just causes

What's Hard About Being a Bette

* overwhelming people with my bluntness; scaring them away when I don't intend to

* being restless and impatient with others' incompetence

* sticking my neck out for people and receiving no appreciation for it

* never forgetting injuries or injustices

* putting too much pressure on myself

* getting high blood pressure when people don't obey the rules or when things don't go right

Bettes as Children Often

* are independent; have an inner strength and a fighting spirit

* are sometimes loners

* seize control so they won't be controlled

* figure out others' weaknesses

* attack verbally or physically when provoked

* take charge in the family because they perceive themselves as the strongest, or grow up in difficult or abusive surroundings

Bettes as Parents

* are often loyal, caring, involved, and devoted

* are sometimes overprotective

* can be demanding, controlling, and rigid

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy

Halloween knitting!

2008-10-14T16:29:00.004-05:00

I know it's been a long time, and I'm not planning on updating this too often, but I thought I'd share some photos of halloweenie things I made for my knitty weenie!

First, a wee ghostie finger puppet!

And a skull dishcloth!

Also, a photo of my brother with his horse, Decker. Just because I really like this photo I took of him - he's such a cowboy! :)

New Stitch Marker Design!

2008-09-23T14:22:00.004-05:00

I've been experimenting with wire stitch markers, and this is what I've come up with!
They're selling for $3 (on average, although sometimes it could be more, depending on the bead I use), and I hope to have some up in my Etsy store soon!!!

My first SP package finally came!

2008-07-30T13:24:00.014-05:00

Man, the post office took it's sweet time in delivering this package! (And is taking even longer with another package I'm expecting, but that's another story.)

I got the first of 2 packages from my Summer Lovin' SP from the knitty boards!
I didn't even wait to get home before I opened it up, so I don't have any photos of the unopened package.
Here is what I got:

The backside of the note she (he?) wrote me (are the seashells a hint as to where she's from?):

Some super soft fibre samples:

Some handspun! What shall I make with this...something for me, for sure!!

And some samples of hand lotions, shampoo, conditioner and perfume!

I haven't used any of the lotion samples yet, but I think I'll save them for when I'm travelling. They're nice and small, and won't leak (unless, I guess, they get really squished...).
I have no idea if I'll ever do anything with the fibre samples - I just like having them to touch and rub in my fingers! (It's rather fitting that I grew up to be a knitter. My "thing" when I was a kid was lace: I'd use it as my "blankie", and rub it between my fingers. I really liked the texture, and I had a pretty big collection of lace bits!) I'm going to take the fibre samples to my Stitch n Bitch tonight and show them off to all the other girls. Mmmmmm...alpaca.

Thanks SP!

Moratorium on Blogging

2008-07-24T15:06:00.002-05:00

So, I think I've lost the oomph to blog.
I've liked sharing this with you, but I just don't have the time or energy to put into it right now.
I'll still keep the address active for things like knitty swaps and the occasional post, but Facebook and Ravelry have taken the place that blogging once did.

Ta for now!

Finally, a proper kitchen light

2008-07-23T15:11:00.003-05:00

Why is it that I'm always most productive after 10pm?
After 5 years of living in my apartment, I finally went out and picked up a proper fluorescent light for over my kitchen sink. I got home from the store at about 6pm on Saturday, made supper, and then started working on a present that I have to have done in early August. When it was tine for bed, I decided that rather than go to bed, as I should have, I would break out the drill and install that fluorescent light!
2 holes, and 2 screws later, voila!

With the light off:

With the light on:

Yay! Now I can see properly when washing dishes!

Folk Fest!

2008-07-07T23:42:00.002-05:00

I'm off to Folk Fest in a couple of days...!
I can't wait - it's the first time I've camped out and will be attending all 4 days of the festival since volunteering there 5 or 6 years ago! (wow - I hadn't realized that it was that long ago!)
I'll be sure to post photos when I get back next week!

Summer is here, and blogging is going to suffer

2008-06-29T11:54:00.006-05:00

Yes, it's been a while. It's because I've been busy - like, *really* busy.
I had a table at a craft show this past Wednesday night and I had so much to do to get ready for it. I didn't have any stitch markers made, since I had sold them all to local shops, so I had to make a bunch of those. And I had to finish up all of the project bags that I had bought material for (I ended up making about 12 bags), and make a bunch of pattern magnets. I did decide not to make any more photo cards, though, which was one less thing to do. I sold quite a few of those ones, though, and mostly the local ones, which means I'll have to make more of those soon.
I did fairly well at the show - I made back my table money, plus a little extra, so I'm happy about that. And now I have a bunch of stock, so that next show, I don't have to worry about rushing to get a bunch made, which is really nice. Especially considering I'm probably going to have a standing table at a local farmer's market this summer, and don't want to have to do more than play catch-up. Of course, I have a ton of beads, so I'm not going to stop making things, I just won't have to rush.
Check out my table:

I've also started spinning!!!
I got my first spindle in the mail on Friday, at work, which was perfect timing, as I have a 4-day weekend this weekend. This is the spindle and my handspun, made from pin-roving I bought on our SnB field trip to Sheeples, a local sheep farm and yarn mill.

And then, this morning, I got my other spindle in the mail! Yes, Canada Post delivered it to my door at 11:00 am on a Sunday morning. Wooohoooo!
This roving is the "normal" kind, which means I have to split and draft it before spinning it.

This undyed roving is supposed to be my "practice" roving, which is nice, because the fibre length of this roving is much longer than that of the pin roving.
Now I just have to decide about plying. Do I have to ply?
Everything I've read/watched on the interwebs has told me that I don't have to - in fact, pretty much all of the hand-spinning tutorials say to unwind your spindle onto a chair/niddy noddy and make a skein right away (to set the twist in hot water). But Kim, at Sheeples, said that we should be plying our handspun.
What to do, what to do.
I kind of like the pink/blue pin-roving spun as is, and am not sure that I'd want to ply that, unless I plied it with something like a charcoal or black roving. I think it would lose something if I plied it with itself.
But what about the plain white? Or the blue, or green, or handpainted roving that came with the second spindle?
I'll have to think about that...

Sad news

2008-06-23T15:31:00.003-05:00

Wendy just wrote on her blog that Carrie, the person that she was making the afghan for, passed away.
Wendy wasn't able to finish the afghan for Carrie, but is going to put it together for her grandchild/children, as she would like to give the blanket to the family as planned. It was intended to wrap Carrie in love, and now it will wrap her family in that love, which is what Wendy feels that Carrie would have wanted.

I haven't been online much lately - work has been a little busier lately (and I was in charge of the office last week, which meant that I had a few issues to deal with that I wouldn't normally), and in my downtime I've been preparing for the Cordially Yours Craft Sale and Rock Show, which I have a table at!
It's Wednesday June 25th, from 5pm to 2am, at the Cavern (the basement of the Toad in the Hole Pub in my hometown).
I'm super excited about it, and am looking forward to seeing what sort of crowd comes out. I just hope that I do better than the first craft show I was at (the spring show in Beausejour) and that it's enough to make my table fee back!

I'll post pictures of the show later in the week...

Another square for Dame Wendy

2008-06-09T16:34:00.004-05:00

This one was knit with yarn that came from my Grandma, and is the yarn that I wanted to use in the first place, but I was just too impatient to wait for my mom to get it to me.
I've already sent Wendy the first square, but I'm going to send this one too, and she can either choose one of the 2 to put into the blanket, or she can use both. It's up to her. This one is acrylic, and isn't nearly as nice a yarn as the merino (I think) that I used for the first one, but this one means more and has more history, so it's a toss up!

Field trip to Sheeples!

2008-06-09T15:45:00.011-05:00

I organized a field trip this past Saturday to a local farm-based yarn manufacturer called Sheeples Fine Fibres.
It was an awesome day!
Baby lambs (one only hours old!!), sheep, fibre and roving, yarn and spinning...

We started the day playing with the new lambs while waiting for the rest of the crew to get there (that would have been us...sorry, we were really really early, so we stopped for coffee, which then made us a little late. oops).
Then it was off to the farm for a tour and to meet all of the sheep!
First it was the young boys (up to a year old, if I remember right):

Then it was the older males (1-3 years, I think):

Finally, the moms and babies!

After playing with the lambs again, we headed to the workshop for a lesson on yarn-making. Kim, our hostess, and Joe, her husband, told us all about the yarn-making process, from shearing through to spinning (mill or handspun). We got to touch fleece fresh from the animal (holy lanolin, batman!), and got to compare washed fleece from a few different kinds of sheep. It's amazing what a difference in textures there are, even from one sheep to another of the same breed!

Once we learned all there was to know about the process, it was time for lunch, and what a lunch it was!! Thanks Kim!!!!!

After lunch, it was spinning time!! (Forgive me if I get the terminology wrong - I wasn't taking notes...)
We all got started learning how to draft the roving - getting it prepared and to the right thickness for spinning.
Once it was drafted, then we took our drop spindles and started spinning. First with a partner, so that we either just twisted the spindle, or we just spun the fibre. Then it was time to try it solo. I think I did alright, considering that it was my first try, we were using all sorts of different fibres, and that the spindles apparently weren't properly balanced, so they weren't spinning as well as they could.
Here's the yarn that I made, some on my own, and some with my partner, Holly:

And the swatch that I knit out of the yarn!

All in all, it was a great day, although the tics were in high form, and I had the creepy crawlies all night and all the next day. I think I'm over them now, finally. :)

Here's a slideshow of all of my photos from the day:

Finished Square!

2008-05-31T23:36:00.004-05:00

I've finished my square for Dame Wendy:

It's the cable pattern from Aileen (a purse from pieknits.com) that I modified and repeated, with a crocheted border.
I think it looks great, and I think my Grandma would love it!

Tee hee - I think we all knew this already...

2008-05-30T09:02:00.002-05:00

Although, I'm not actually OCD. But to be in Quality, like I am, you do need to be just a little on the anal/picky side!

You May Be a Bit Obsessive Compulsive...

Meticulous and detailed oriented, you have some irrational obsessions.

Maybe it's your super neat closet or washing your hands a gazillion times.

You probably know it's weird, but you just can't stop thinking about it.

In fact, the more you think about your quirks, the more you have to do them.

What Personality Disorder Are You?

Just for fun...

2008-05-29T16:55:00.000-05:00

It's actually not too far off...! Go figure.

What Nicole Means

You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people.

You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts.

You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.

You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.

You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily.

You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind.

A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable.

You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life.

You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you.

At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself.

You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.

You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily.

Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.

You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.

At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Knitting a square for an ill stranger

2008-05-29T10:53:00.004-05:00

I was browsing knitty today and came across this post.
Ok, so I can't find it anymore - not even a search worked, but this is the original post on Dame Wendy's blog, and this is the one with more details.

Her friend's mom, Carrie, an avid knitter, has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and can no longer knit, so she has decided to make her a blanket out of 9x9 squares. In order to get this done quickly, and to show Carrie some of the love and support that abounds in the knitting community, she's asked for volunteers to help her out by making a 9x9 square and sending it to her.
My Grandma, also an avid knitter, passed away from pancreatic cancer a number of years ago, and I've decided to make a 9x9 square in her honour. (Ok mom, you can dry your eyes now...lol)
As of now, Dame Wendy has about half of the squares spoken for, and I'm sure that she'd appreciate any and all of the knitterly love that she can get!

If anyone else wants to do this, and is local to me, we can arrange to put our squares together to mail to her in one package...

Check out what I've been up to!

2008-05-20T14:37:00.003-05:00

I've been busy!

I made a storage bag for my yarn swift, complete with a little mini baggie for all the little parts (centre dowel, yarn post dowels, pipe and washers):

I reorganized my gift wrap, because I finally got the gift wrap organizer that has been backordered since before Christmas! (And I loooove it!!!)

And I made my first project bag! I still have to get a toggle thing to attach to the cord, but I love it! I'm going to add it to the things I'm selling at the craft show at the end of June, and if the girls at my SnB like it, I may just add it to my Etsy store, too!

I also managed to get a lot of laundry done this weekend, including all of my curtains, which, while they were down, I actually finished hemming (they've only been hanging on my windows for 4 years...)! Plus, I vacuumed out my car and armor-all'd it and windexed the windows.
All in all, it was a great long weekend!

Change of Name

2008-05-17T14:45:00.002-05:00

So, I've thought long and hard about it, and I've decided to put all of my crafty business endeavours under one name:
Nicole Jeanette Creations.
This won't affect my knitting accessories, because they're already being sold under the Nicole Jeanette name, but it will affect my invitations and greeting cards, which I had been selling under "NJL Custom Papercrafts". I won't be retiring that name completely, as people already know me under that name, but I will be switching everything over from now on!
It just makes more sense, that everything I sell be under one name, and it will make the accounting/nitty gritty side of things easier in the long run!

Now to update/change the website!

Ram Wools too!

2008-05-06T15:38:00.003-05:00

My Pattern Magnets and selected stitch markers are now available at Ram Wools!!! (1266 Fife Street)
They're going to be putting them for sale up on their website, too, so here's hoping they do well!
Woohooo!

Swift Details...as promised

2008-05-03T13:26:00.004-05:00

Here's how I made my swift (photos in previous post):

Supplies:
- Two 4' lengths of 1"x2" (I used poplar)
- One 4' length of 7/16" dowel
- One 4' length of 5/16" dowel
- A short length of copper pipe (I used 4")
- Two washers with a centre hole of 7/16" (mine are 1/2", because those are the ones my dad had on hand)
- a Clamp
- a chisel
- a drill with 7/16" and 5/16" drill bits

1. Cut your 1x2 into the following lengths: Two 2' pieces for the arms and two 18" pieces for the feet
2. Mark the centres of each of those pieces and drill a 7/16" hole all the way through the 1x2 pieces. (We didn't have a 7/16" bit, so we used one smaller and wiggled the drill then used a file to enlarge the hole. It worked, but there are easier ways...)
3. Align the centre holes of the 2' pieces with the dowel, and square off the arms (the way the finished swift should be). Mark the 1x2's where the other piece sits, so that you know where to saw out the notch to fit the 2 pieces together.
4. Repeat step 3 with the 18" pieces.
5. Mark the vertical centre of all four 1x2 pieces between the marks made in step 3 (i.e. the 1/2" mark on the 1" side)
6. Cut out your centre notch using a saw on the two marks you made, and a chisel to remove the wood.
7. Mark out the holes for your yarn-support dowel (the 5/16") on the 2' pieces. I made mine 1" from the edge and 1 1/2" apart, four on each arm
8. Drill holes 3/4 of the way through the 2' pieces, on the 2" side.
9. Cut your 7/16" dowel to the length you'd like your swift to be high. I did mine 6.5", so that there is 1" of dowel sticking out the top of the arms.
10. Cut your copper pipe to the length you'd like between your swift feet and arms (mine is 4").
11. Cut the 5/16" dowel into 3" lengths. You'll need 4 pieces, but I cut 6, just in case I lose one along the way.

If I haven't missed anything, you should be ready to assemble your swift!
Fit the feet together, put your 7/16" dowel through the hole in the feet, and fit one of your washers on the dowel. Place your length of copper pipe on the dowel and fit your second washer on the dowel so that it sits on the top of the pipe. Now fit your arms on to the top of the centre dowel. Fit your 3" pieces of dowel into the holes along the arms, according to the width of the hank of yarn you have.

Ta-da!!!

Check out the yarn swift I made last night!

2008-04-30T15:32:00.002-05:00

For $12 CDN!!

General idea was borrowed from Crafty Diversions. Thanks!!!

Display

2008-04-25T15:07:00.002-05:00

Look at the display of my stitch markers at the store!!!
It looks so good!!!!!

And I went to the other LYS today at lunch, to pick up some yarn, and I got stopped by the owner, who asked me about the stitch markers, too! She asked me if I happened to have any samples on me, and when I said no, that I'd sold everything to the other store just yesterday, she seemed a little disappointed. She said that she would like to sit down with me sometime next week and work out an order!
I'm so pumped!!!

She bought them all!!!

2008-04-24T15:18:00.003-05:00

I took my stitch markers to the LYS today at lunch, and sat down to go through them with the owner, Mona. I fully expected her to pick and choose from among them, and maybe take 1/3 or 1/2 of my stock.
Nope.
She bought them all! Every. Last. One. WOW!!!
She was even worried that she'd be taking all of my stock, but I told her that I'd be more than happy to sell them all to her - I can always make more!
She also bought 14 of my pattern magnets, which is all of the ones that I brought, too!
I can't believe it!

I'm super excited!!!
I hope that they sell well for her and that this is the beginning of something great!

On another note, this is the weather here today:

Don't the tulips just look sad, all buried in snow?

I took a walk this afternoon, and it's already beginning to melt, but still. What a way to end April. (Almost, anyway.)

Some knitting, for a change

2008-04-23T13:29:00.002-05:00

I keep forgetting to post updates of my knitting here, because I keep thinking that if you want to see my knitting, you could just click on the Ravelry progress bar links on the right and see it all for yourself.
Silly me, I should remember that not all of you are on Ravelry!
And so, for your viewing pleasure, here is a photo of my Ribbon Scarf that I'm working on right now.

It's about 2/3 of the way done, and I can't wait to have it finished! It'll be done just in time for summer. Good timing. Although, if things keep on going the way they seem to be going, we're going to have scarf weather for a week or so to come. Apparently, we might even get up to 20cm of snow tonight!!!
It's the pattern from Knitty, but I'm making it out of Manos del Uruguay, and I'm only doing 2 pattern repeats instead of, what, 5 or 6 in the original pattern. I really like the way it's turning out!
I tried getting a better photo, one that would show the pattern off a little more, but it's really curling up, and I can't get it to lay flat enough to see the pattern without having both of my hands on it, stretching it out. I promise better photos once it's finished and blocked.

I've also cast on for Rogue, but I'm not working on that very much right now. I think it may go dormant while I finish my Ribbon Scarf, and while I cast on and knit a cotton tank top for the summer. Rogue can wait a few months; I just want to have it finished for August/September, when the weather starts turning again.

And in other news, I'm organizing a field trip for the girls in our local SnB! We started as a facebook group, and meet on Wednesday nights at a local pub. I was at a local conservation area a few weekends ago, and they had an "artisan and craft show" in their interpretive centre. One of the artisans was a lady who was spinning her own yarn, and selling roving, yarn and knitted/felted garments. I bought some yarn from her, and asked about spinning lessons and farm tours. Well, we're going to be going as a group on June 7th!! We'll car pool out there (it's about 2 hours from the city), have a tour of the farm, pet the sheep, have lunch, and then have a 3 or 4 hour spinning lesson. We'll be mainly working with drop spindles, but she'll have 3 wheels for us to share and try out. I really want to learn how to spin, and don't mind spending $20 on a drop spindle, but I can't see myself spending $1000 (or even just $500, which she says she could get us a wheel for) on a spinning wheel. Not unless I got really good, and could see myself being able to make some kind of money at it. Or got to the point where I really really enjoyed it, and had the room to store it. In a 1-bedroom apartment, it would have to become part of the decor!

Stitch Markers

2008-04-22T11:42:00.003-05:00

I'm going to link to this post in the side bar, so that I don't need to post every time I have an addition to my stitch marker catalogue.
Thanks to everyone for their support and interest!!

I got my findings!

2008-04-19T17:02:00.001-05:00

They were delivered yesterday, which means that I can start making the stitch markers that my LYS will buy from me!
I'm going to take photos of them all before I sell them, and will get them added to the album below as soon as I can.
Today is really sunny here, and while that's awesome in general, it's making a properly exposed photo hard to come by.
:)

Another LYS?

2008-04-14T21:54:00.002-05:00

I took my stitch markers to another LYS today, and it looks like they're interested, too!
Things are really starting to come along...!

Stitch Markers!!

2008-04-11T14:29:00.002-05:00

Check it out!!!!
Here's a link to some photos of my Stitch Markers!

Stitch Markers

I'm so excited that the LYS is going to be stocking them for me!!!
AND last night I donated some as door prizes at our Bobmas Eve meet-up, and everyone seemed to like them, which is awesome! Although I know that I like them, the same thing goes for these as for my photos - it's always nice to get some positive feedback from people "in the know".

I'm just waiting on a shipment of the findings, and I should have them in the store in 2 weeks!
Things are moving along nicely...!

Etsy!

2008-04-08T19:52:00.004-05:00

I'm starting to get some of my greeting cards up on my Etsy site!!!

Check it out!

Custom requests are more than welcome!
I'm not sure how many to post up there, and don't want to put all 50...that would cost too much for me just to see if people are interested.
I'm also not sure how to put sets of cards up without limiting which cards are in that set...that's something I still need to think about.
I'm going to try and get a "catalogue" pdf file up on my own website, and maybe honour requests through Etsy, but not post them up "just because".
I don't know...any of you have any suggestions?

On another note, sort of, the LYS is going to stock my stitch markers and pattern magnets!
2 dozen sets of stitch markers, and 1 dozen pattern magnets, all bought outright!
I've also decided to not go with a set price per stitch marker, but to price them according to what they cost me to make. That way, I won't be limiting my choices to ones that would fall within that set price, but will be able to explore new options, even if they're a little more expensive.
I'm thinking that I'll sell them in sets of 2 and 3, and have multiples of the sets available if people want a set of 4+.
I was considering putting them on Etsy, too, but so many people sell stitch markers on Etsy that I think the market is a little flooded already. I think I'll stay local for now.

Thank-you to everyone for being so supportive of my creative endeavours!!!!

And a photo to leave you with: a scan of my most popular photo card:

As promised

2008-04-02T22:45:00.003-05:00

Here is a photo of my finished Tree Jacket!
But first, a photo of the 2 different sleeves:

It's pretty obvious, but just in case, the right sleeve (left side of photo) is the huge one that I frogged, and the left sleeve is the re-knit smaller version.

This photo is a double-whammy: My finished Tree Jacket, AND my homemade Easter bread!

Pattern: Tree Jacket, by the Zephyr Girls
Ravelry Link
Yarn: Patons Decor in Chocolate Taupe
Gauge: No Idea
Size: Large (40" bust) with sleeve mods, and 0.5mm smaller needles for the waist-to-bottom portion of the body.

Love the sweater (now that it's finally finished)!!!!

What I would do differently: I'd knit more garter at the top so that the lace part started after my bust line. If I don't pull at it, the garter-lace line lies right at the middle of my boobs! Not ideal, but it doesn't bother me enough to frog and reknit, or to cut and knit and graft. It's done.

I'm getting there

2008-03-28T15:54:00.003-05:00

Well, I've taken the initiative and started trying to get local stores to stock my photo greeting cards!
First I went to a hair salon/shop, and she's going to take one each of my local shots (so 14 cards) and sell them on consignment. A good start.
Then I went to another local shop that sells more cards than the first. They seemed interested, but already have a person who sells them photo cards, and the owner wasn't in, so I have to go back next week.
Same with the third store I went into, minus the already-have-a-person thing.
The last place I went into yesterday was a framing place that sells art. My mom goes in there to get things framed, and suggested I see if they'd be interested. The owner was in, and we talked for almost 15 minutes! I took my cards out, and he went through them all, spreading them out on his work table. He said a number of times that they were really good, and a completely different style than the photographer he currently works with (he already had some photo cards in stock, but they were very different from mine). Although friends and family have been telling me that they're good, and that I'm a good photographer with a good eye, it's always nice to get some positive feedback from a professional. He told me to come back at the end of April with all of my local shots, too, and he'll buy them outright from me. With the kind of inventory that he stocks, he's not worried about tying money up in cards, not when compared to oil paintings and pottery and such.

So, now I'm going to get working on getting some of them up in my etsy store! I have the store pretty much organized, and I have all of the cards scanned. The thing that's holding me back is figuring out how to offer "custom" card sets for sale, or offering multiples for less money. I don't know if I'm going to be able to do that, so I think I'll just have to get some singles up and see how that goes.
When the store is stocked, I'll put the link up for everyone to see!!!!!

(And I promise that I'm going to get some photos up of my finished sweater soon!!)

It's Done!!!!

2008-03-21T18:02:00.001-05:00

It's done, it's done, it's done!!!!
And it worked and it looks good!

That's it. :)

(Pics to be posted later, when the light is better for taking them.)

Cursed Tree Jacket

2008-03-17T23:14:00.002-05:00

I swear, my Tree Jacket is cursed! (Link to pattern. The Original.)
Either that, or there's some kind of force in the universe that doesn't want me to finish it while the weather is still cold enough to wear it this season. Which amounts to the same thing: a curse.

I have now knit 5 sleeves-worth for that sweater. The first one, I accept as pattern-modification testing. I decided to knit the sleeves in the yarn-over pattern instead of the garter stitch, and the first sleeve was a test-sleeve.
Fine.
So the second and third sleeves got me a completed sweater! BUT the sleeves were WAY too huge. They dangled, and really annoyed me. So I ripped them out and re-knit them, decreasing 12 sts in the 24 rows right at the underarm. (See mod description on Ravelry here.) Now that was better.
And then there were 4 sleeves worth.
(Note: that fourth sleeve took me a few months to work, as I couldn't decide how I wanted to proceed with yet more pattern modification.)
Now that I had the re-modification all worked out, I figured the fifth - and last - sleeve should go by in a jiffy. Well, it did! And I got it finished tonight!
Alas, when I went to take apart my Denise needles, I realized that the needle tips I had been using were the (smaller) ones I had used to pick up the sleeve stitches at the underarm, and not the ones I was meant to use to actually knit the sleeve!!! GRRRRRRRR!!!!
And RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPP!!
Again.

Now my Tree Jacket is waiting patiently for me on my footstool, waiting for me to start knitting the sixth (and f*cking LAST) sleeve.

*sigh*

Note to self: double and triple check the needle tips on the cord BEFORE stating to knit, when using an interchangeable set.

Yay vacations!

2008-03-14T11:06:00.003-05:00

Yes, it's been a while. Sorry...!
I was on vacation for a week, visiting my sister in Pittsburgh for part of her spring break! She's taking her master's in clarinet performance at Carnegie Mellon, and I haven't yet visited her down there, so I thought it was about time.
I also....went yarn shopping!!! I googled yarn stored in Pittsburgh before I went down there, and there was one not too far from where she lives, so that was where I went! And I went 3 times in 5 days...teehee!
It's called Knit One, and it's an awesome store! I was looking for some yarn to make Rogue, but I had forgotten the pattern in my suitcase, so couldn't remember what weight or how much I'd need. I feel really bad, because I can't remember her name, but one of the girls at the store really helped me out! She went onto Ravelry and found the pattern, and got me all the details I needed in order to make sure that I bought the right yarn and enough of it! I went with Ella Rae (classic, worsted wool) in a nice steel grey colour. Hey - if I'm going to put that much work into making a sweater, I'm going to make it in a neutral colour so that I can wear it with everything!
I also bought my poor student of a knitter-sister some gorgeous Ella Rae Bamboo Silk. Mmmmmmmm. There's no way that she'd ever buy that for herself, and she's really enjoying making a scarf for herself with it. (My job as big sister is done. lol)

AND, I've finally made some progress on the sleeves of my Tree Jacket! I finished one last night, and I now have the alterations worked out, so the second sleeve should zoom by. That's what was really holding me up with the first sleeve...figuring out just how I was going to modify the pattern so that it would fit properly! In hindsight, I should have made one size smaller and used short rows to accommodate my bust, because it's folding a little at the underarms, but frankly, I'm just happy that I'm almost done! It doesn't bother me enough that I wouldn't wear it, so I'm leaving it. And my first sweater is almost done and wearable!!!!!!!
(pictures to follow. I haven't had time or daylight to take a photo of it yet.)

Upgrades

2008-02-28T16:41:00.003-06:00

So, while I've decided that there was nothing particularly "wrong" with my table display at the craft show, it is a little "busy", and I have decided that some improvements are required.
Namely, the following:
- make a 6' tall pegboard instead of 4'
- install lights on the top of pegboard to properly illuminate photos
- paint pegboard black to better highlight the photos
- make a table runner to draw more attention to the table (lace? bamboo placemats?)
- buy little baskets and/or boxes to put the cards in, in categories, rather than propping each and every card up on the table all meli-melo (that'd be a French expression meaning all "mish mash", or "at random", or "with no particular order"). This also means that as I add to my collection, I won't run out of table space. Or at least, not right away, anyway.
- get boxes to be able to sell packages of cards, whether "custom" or "themed"
- make some "other" photo products, such as jigsaw puzzles, coasters, calendars, etc. to sell, so that people have more choice in how they display my photography
- properly print and frame my logo, pricing, themes, etc.

I also need to put together a price/product list and an order for. Before I go to stores and try to get them to stock (or outright buy) my cards. Because a) it won't look very professional to use post-it notes on the backs of the cards they want to order and b) then I can have a comprehensive listing of all of my available prints and products! And how is that a bad thing, right?
That's my goal for the weekend - get a product/price list together, and finish scanning the sample cards so that I can upload them to my etsy site. Which I will then provide a link to! (And also so that I can pass them on to my web designer so that she can get my website designed and up and running!!!!)

Things are coming along...

Disappointment

2008-02-24T15:50:00.004-06:00

I had my first table at a craft show yesterday.
Everybody who stopped by my table (and that was pretty much everybody who came to the show) said that my photos were beautiful, or that I had a great eye for photography, or that such and such a photo was amazing, but NO ONE bought anything! One guy even asked to come around the table so that he could get a better look at one of my prints, and said (quite convincingly) that he'd be back, but I saw him wandering around for a while, and then he and his wife left!
Well, I didn't sell *nothing*. A friend came by and she and her boyfriend's son each bought a card, and I do really appreciate it, but that's almost like a pity-buy, you know?
It's so hard to put yourself and something that's so personal out there for the masses to either love or hate. And I almost think that it would have been easier if people *hadn't* liked my photos. At least then I'd be able to give up easily, admit that it won't work.
But having people say that they really liked my photos and then not buy anything, well, that makes it really hard to just give up. People DID like my stuff, but maybe it wasn't the right audience for buyers. I mean, for a 7 hour day, we only had ~450 people attend, and most of the day there were more exhibitors in the hall than there were buyers. And I do know that this show was a small show, and that it's not as well attended as the Christmas show in the same hall, which is why I wanted to get a table at this show, so that my name is on the list for the Christmas show.
But, but, but.
It's just so frustrating!! To get so many compliments, and no one buying.
Grrrrrrr.

Ah well.
Here's what my table at the craft show looked like. It's my first table, so I know that there are many things to learn, and ways to evolve to make it look better and attract more buyers, so I'd appreciate any constructive criticism that you readers have. (If there are any readers out there?? lol) The pegboard is 4' high, which is pretty much all that fits in my car's backseat. I'm going to see if I can fit a 6' length in my car with the seats down, but we didn't have time to work that out for this show. Oh, and the signage will be better and more professional next time. I actually forgot about making signage this time, and was rushing to get some made at midnight at my friend's place the night before the show.

I'm also working on scanning my cards so that I can list then on my etsy site. Maybe I'll get some interest there?

*sigh*

A probable hiatus...

2008-02-01T23:28:00.000-06:00

Good News: I have taken the first couple of steps in starting my own business!
Bad News: I won't have nearly as much time (or energy) to blog as I usually would (which isn't much to begin with.)

I have reserved my business name, have the name registration and home-business registration applications all filled out (will probably submit them Tuesday), have my table reserved at a local spring craft show, and have a domain and website hosting plan purchased. I've also got an etsy site ready to go, but that will have to wait until I have some samples to take photos of and post. And I've hopefully got an appointment with my accountant this week to get the tax crap all sorted out. No point in doing it wrong all year only to get completely stressed out in 1 year's time, right?
I got the e-mail set up and working with Thunderbird tonight, and am going to move onto getting a basic web site up and running next.
I also have to choose photos and get supplies so that I can get my cards made in time for the show!
And I have 3 weeks to do all this in!! (So I'm sure you understand why I might not be back here in a while...)
I will try my best to keep up with Blogstalking (although I couldn't see a post on what we were to post about this week), and keep you updated as to my progress in getting my business up and running.

Wish me luck!

3 for the price of 1!

2008-01-22T14:17:00.000-06:00

I'm behind on a few Blogstalking assignments, so I'm mashing them all into one post.

Behold all of my needles in one place (minus the ones in projects, of course):

This photo is missing my Denise set (because I forgot to get it to add to the photo) and there will shortly be more needles to add to this collection, because I just bought a set of 15 sizes of bamboo dpns on e-bay!!!!

And a photo of something in my favourite colour? That is, if the blog header above and the title of my blog didn't clue you in? Tadaa:

That would be my bedspread, with purple curtains at my windows. I live on my own, so there's no one around to complain about the overabundance of purple in my apartment!

I know that I haven't posted about something I'm thankful for, or my year-end assessment, but I've decided to skip those ones. (Shame on me.)

What I will share with you is just how cold it is up here right now. This is what my bedroom windows look like most days now:

Daytime highs have been between -25C and -30C, with windchill warnings most days for the past week or so (which means that the windchill has been at least -35C, and has been as much as -46C at night). Yay for Winterpeg! :) I don't know if many of you have experienced temperatures quite that cold, but it basically means that exposed skin will freeze within minutes, if not seconds. And yet, you still see people walking around outside with no hats, no scarves, no mitts. Me? I wear longjohns as a rule when it's this cold, as well as the hat, scarf, mitts, parka, and today am wearing a knit woolen peruvian sweater. There's not much shape to it, but damn is it warm!
Right now, it's 2:30pm and it's -22C with a 15km/h wind giving us a windchill of -32C. And it's supposed to be the same tomorrow or colder, with a windchill of -46C. Minus Fourty Six Celcius. Grrrr. Or is that Brrrrrr?

Here's hoping that you're in a warmer place than I am right now!

I'm not that bad, I swear!!

2008-01-02T15:25:00.000-06:00

91%DRUNKARD

Ultrasound diagnostic

Happy New Year!!

2008-01-02T15:02:00.000-06:00

Why is it that New Year's Eve is always so cold over here?
Dec 29th and 30th were so nice - warm, even, for this city (it was -5C) - and then the 31st hits and it's -25C again!
Ah well. It always happens, so I guess I should expect it by now.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-22T15:51:00.000-06:00

Or Happy Holidays...whichever you prefer.

I'll be taking a bit of a break this week, to enjoy some chill-out time and time with family.
Hopefully you all get to do the same!
See you in the New Year!

All Done!

2007-12-17T23:40:00.003-06:00

Just the photos for now...details will follow later.

Look what I'm making...!

2007-12-12T13:37:00.000-06:00

I took a basic mitts pattern and put a celtic cable chart that I found on the internet on the back.
The celtic cable chart is the Simple Cable Chart from The Girl From Auntie (my link tool isn't working right now, but google it - it's the first result), and the mitt pattern is one that I got from a LYS in Osgoode, Ontario.

If anyone wants the pattern, leave me a comment, and I'll try and get it posted in the next few days. I'm finished the RH mitt, but am still working out the kinks for the LH mitt.

(And I'm going to try and get to some of the blogstalking posts that I've missed, but I'm making no promises!!)

-27 and ice crystals

2007-12-05T13:37:00.000-06:00

It's an amazing winter day here today...-27C and "ice crystals", which only happens when it's really cold out, and really sunny out. It's like any moisture in the air freezes and shines in the sun. It's gorgeous, actually, and it made my morning walk seem like I was walking through fairy dust!
I wish that I could capture it on camera for you, but that's just not something that translates to photography well (or at all).

Knitting-wise, I've finished the Celtic Cap that I'm giving my brother for Christmas, but I don't have a photo to show for it, because I never have the time in the morning, and I never get home while there's still daylight. Cabling just doesn't show well with a flash, so I have to wait for some daylight to take a good photo of that hat.
I've started on some celtic cable mitts for a "handmade gift" exchange I'm doing with some girlfriends - I have a mitt pattern that has a simple 3x3 cable on the back and I'm adapting the pattern so that I can put a (way) more complicated celtic cable there instead - I think it's going to take up pretty much the whole backside of the mitten! It's looking really nice so far, so I'll post a photo when I get a whole cable section done.
I've also started a toque for my BIL - a simple 4x4 moss stitch (is that still called moss when it's that big?), with a 2" brim he can fold up, with the top few inches just in st.st. I'm making it with the black/grey SWS, and it's looking really nice. Plus it'll be warm for the -30 weather in which he'll be wearing it!

I haven't gotten to the last couple of blogstalking assignments - they're harder ones than the previous, so I'm going to think about them some more and hopefully get to them later this week...

It's Winter!

2007-11-28T13:14:00.001-06:00

This is the same shot that I've posted here in past seasons, just to give you some perspective. (Taken this morning.)

Look what I did this weekend!

2007-11-28T11:18:00.000-06:00

I finished one thing and started another!

Finished: the third Foliage, for a friend overseas. I hope it gets there on time, because I think I missed the official cut-off date for shipping things overseas from Canada.

Pattern: Foliage, from knitty.com (even though these photos don't really show the pattern too well...evening flash photography will do that - argh)
Size: "Worsted", even thought I used bulky yarn.
Yarn: Mystery bulky yarn from the dollar bin at Michael's in Edmonton
Needles: 4.0mm dpns and circs.
I must say, I really like this pattern. (If my knitting it 3 times in a few months didn't tell you that already!) This time, I used bulky stash yarn, but I didn't have larger needles to make the "bulky" size in the pattern. So I made the "worsted" size with 4.0mm needles, and decreased on the last knit round before doing the ribbing. I did the same decrease that the pattern calls for (Slip1, K2Tog, PSSO) without putting in the yarn over increases instead of a straight knitting round, decreasing 24 sts total. It made the ribbing band a perfect size instead of changing to smaller needles. (Frankly, since I was knitting on "too small" needles already, I didn't think that going any smaller would make a difference.)
It fits me perfectly, so I hope it fits her!

Started: my Christmas gift bags!
I've decided to make fabric gift bags to "wrap" all of my presents in this year. Why? 2 reasons. (Well, 3, really.)
1) It's more environmentally friendly - no waste paper after one use. (Yes, I know you can reuse gift wrap, but not with some people in my family. My sister especially still likes tearing into the paper like a little kid! She's not going to be happy with me this year!)
2) It gives me an excuse to use my (still relatively new) sewing machine that my mom got for me this summer!
And, well, I'm crafty. What can I say? :)
If I had started these earlier, I would have posted some up on my etsy site to sell! I'm pretty sure that it's too late now, though, to make the bags, post them to my etsy site, sell them *and* get them shipped out in time to be used for Christmas! Maybe next year...

On Parking Lots and Idiots

2007-11-26T13:55:00.000-06:00

Why is it that as soon as people drive into a parking lot, they forget all about the rules of the road????

I almost got into an accident this weekend because some fracking idiot decided that he was going to play chicken with me in the grocery store parking lot.
Let me just say this: whether or not you have an actual, physical stop sign, you're supposed to stop when you reach the end of an aisle before crossing the "road" (or designated thoroughfare, or whatever you want to call the "main drags" in parking lots). Now, if someone is coming at you down that "main drag", you don't GO!
This is what happened.
Imagine a "T" shape. The left part of the T is the access to the parking lot from the main street. No stop sign. The top and bottom of the T are the "main drags" of the parking lot. Both have stop signs. The right of the T is the actual parking lot, the aisle where cars drive between rows of parking.
So I'm stopped at the bottom of the T. Fine. No cars coming from any direction. Fine. I go to turn into the left part of the T to get out of the parking lot. All of a sudden this idiot comes screaming up the aisle (the right part of the T), doesn't stop at the end of the aisle and tries to cut in front of me, honking all the time.
Now, I don't know what the rules are in the rest of the world, but up here, that counts as an intersection. And at the end of an aisle in a parking lot, there's an "unspoken" stop sign. Plus, I was already established in the intersection, so whether or not there was an actual stop sign, he was supposed to stop!!!
Grrrrrrrrr.

That's why I don't, as a rule, go grocery shopping on the weekends, let alone on Saturdays.

(Thanks for letting me rant.)

Super-awesome cabling-without-a-cable-needle tutorial

2007-11-22T15:56:00.000-06:00

Check it out!

I think I may even try it myself!

Sigh So not satisfied with this result, but I got it twice, so I guess it's right.

2007-11-22T14:22:00.000-06:00

What kind of yarn are you?

You are Dishcloth Cotton.You are a very hard worker, most at home when you're at home. You are thrifty and seemingly born to clean. You are considered to be a Plain Jane, but you are too practical to notice.
Take this quiz!

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Progress on the Tree Jacket

2007-11-20T09:12:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it, but I'm finally finished the body of my Tree Jacket!!!
I haven't updated it yet, but project details can be found on Ravelry...
I'm really liking the pattern (good thing, since it's almost done!), even how the yarn overs are going in a spiral pattern instead of straight down (some of the other KAL-ers have modified the yarn overs to make them go straight down). It makes the sweater unique!
I would have a photo, but I didn't finish until late last night, which meant that the lighting in my apartment was crap, and which also meant that I slept in this morning, thus not leaving me enough time to take a photo before having to leave for work. Photo tomorrow - promise!

I've also finished one more Christmas present!!
Behold Fetching 2:

(On Ravelry here)

One last thing to leave you with...

Getting a little behind...

2007-11-19T12:04:00.000-06:00

Yes, I know that I was to have the contents of my junk drawer posted last week...I'll get on that soon, I promise! (Although it's not nearly as interesting as some of yours - even my "junk" drawer is pretty neat...)

It snowed here yesterday - the first "real" snow of the season, even if it wasn't really all that much, and most of it's gone now. It was a wet snow, just enough to coat everything and turn to ice when compressed my feet or tires, which is lots of fun to drive/walk on, let me tell you! Anything that's gotten sun is all melted, but places that are in shade are ICE!

I can't wait until we get 3 feet of snow! "Real" snow!!!

Only 35 more days to Christmas!!!!!!!

Yes, I'm late. (for blogstalker, that is)

2007-11-12T10:30:00.001-06:00

It's because I don't usually eat breakfast.
As it happens, I made muffins this weekend, so I brought them to work to eat for "breakfast". I'm one of those people who can't eat first thing in the morning, so if I do eat anything before lunch, it's at work, at my desk.
This breakfast is banana-raisin muffins and black, jasmine-scented tea (with milk and sugar). Mmmmm mmmmmmm.

Another Foliage Finished, and Tree Jacket Progress

2007-11-09T22:10:00.002-06:00

So I've finished another Foliage hat, this time in blue, for my Christmas gift exchange with my girlfriends!

Pattern: Foliage, from knitty.com, by Emilee
Yarn: Ram Wools Inca Silk, 80% alpaca, 20% silk
Needles: 4.0mm (The pattern calls for 4.5, but I didn't have any, so I tried my luck with 4.0 - they worked, and it turned out great!)
Time to knit: 2 evening and a wait at the doctor's office
Details on Ravelry here

I've also made some progress on my Very First Sweater, the Tree Jacket, by Zephyr Girls. I'm knitting this in the SKC KAL, which has been very cool - I love seeing how other people are knitting this, and what modifications they're doing to make it better fit their bodies. I'm going to be switching from 5.0mm circ to a 4.5mm circ at the point in the photo. I'm pretty chesty, and have been following the directions for the Large, but I'm thinking that it's going to hang too loose at the bottom, so rather than try and figure out some way of decreasing without messing up the pattern, I'm just switching to slightly smaller needles. I've put in a life line (thanks SnB girls!), so if it does end up fitting too tightly, I can easily frog it back and leave it on the larger needles. (Tree Jacket on Ravelry)

It's Snowing!!!!! :)

2007-11-05T15:43:00.000-06:00

One more down...

2007-11-04T23:10:00.000-06:00

I'm done!

Pattern: Foliage, from knitty.com (by Emilee)
Yarn: Briggs & Little Sport, maybe 1/3 of a skein?
Needles: 4.0mm (dpns to start, 16" circulars for main body of hat), and 3.75mm 16" circ for ribbing
Modifications: The pattern called for worsted weight yarn and 4.5mm needles, but my yarn came first, so I used smaller needles to make the pattern work. I added another leaf motif to the crown area (as per Emilee's instructions here) and another 1/2 motif on the bottom before doing the ribbing.
I LOVE the way it turned out. It's soaking just before blocking as we speak!
I sure hope my mom doesn't find this blog... :)

Happy Halloween!!

2007-10-31T10:15:00.001-05:00

We did get our requisite "Halloween snow" this year, although it was in the wee hours of the morning, and it was more of a slush. And it's not sticking - it's still +5C today, so it'll be a while before the snow stays.

Happy trick-or-treating, everyone!

Blogstalking...again

2007-10-30T14:59:00.000-05:00

Today's apparently going to be a productive blog day!
Here is the oldest photo of me that I can find. It's rather convenient that I still have my baby photo album at my place, and that I haven't given it back to my mom yet!!
Here is me, at 2 hours old:

Do I win?? Whose photo is the "oldest"??? :)

Ravelry!

2007-10-30T14:55:00.002-05:00

I'm on Ravelry!!! I finally got my invite Sunday night at about 10:30. What timing.
It's going to take me a while to get organized on there, but I'm really excited about the site!! It's awesome!!!!!!!

Blogstalking - week 6...

2007-10-27T22:32:00.000-05:00

It's not as exciting as I'd wish it to be, but it is long!

I decided to wait until Tuesday to take the photos for this blogstalking post, because that was the night of my SnB gathering (“meeting” sounds too formal) at a local pub, but wouldn’t you know that I got stuck at work late on Tuesday and wasn’t able to go to the SnB after all.

A typical day for me involves struggling out of bed at around 8:00am

(much as I’d like to be up and at work earlier, it never seems to happen; I’m NOT a morning person), getting dressed and ready to go, grab a glass of juice and heading out the door.
This is my apartment:

And this is the elementary school across from my apartment:

If I’m not running late, I walk to work, which takes me about 20 mins.
This is what I pass on my walk to work:

If I’m running late, or if it’s miserable outside (meaning pissing rain), I’ll drive, although I’m so close to work that if I get red lights all the way, it literally doubles the time it takes for me to get there! The only other time I’ll drive is if I have to go to a client site, like today. There are 2 reasons for this: a) they’re usually too far for me to walk to, as they’re mostly in the industrial parks of our city and I live pretty much downtown and b) I usually have to take my laptop and a bunch of reference material with me, and I’m not trekking that on my back.
This is the street my office is on:

This is my office:

Once I’m at work, I sit on my butt all day, working on the computer.
This is my desk:

That’s one of the things that I’m really starting to dislike about my job. Although I didn’t like the repetitiveness of what I was doing in my previous job, this monotony is worse.
If I happen to be at a client site, I’m usually sitting on my butt there, too, working at my computer or auditing them (their quality system, SOPs, other documents). There’s a very slim chance that I could be doing a walk-around audit, or executing a protocol, but that’s rare.

I’ve started bringing my knitting with me to work so that I can have a real break from what I’ve been working on at lunchtime.

After work, I head back home. Now, at least, the temperature on the way home is usually about the same as it was on the way to work, so I don’t have to carry a bunch of layers back home. The roof of the church next to my apartment building is frosting over every morning now, which means that the temp is going below zero (°C) overnights, so we’ll have snow soon. We usually have snow fall before Halloween, and it usually starts sticking around sometime in mid- November, although this year it might hold off until after Halloween!!
This is what I see on my walk home from work:

Evenings mean one of several things: going to class (I’m usually taking something if travel for work isn’t imminent – it was knitting up until a few weeks ago, photography last year; not sure what it’s going to be next), going to a SnB gathering, going to my parents’ place for dinner (and/or laundry), doing errands – laundry, groceries, etc. – or just hanging out at home, watching any one of a ton of TV shows that I seem to be addicted to while doing any number of crafty or cleaning-type things. The TV is usually on pretty much all the time when I’m at home – there’s either something I want to watch, or it’s on as background noise (when there isn’t even anything I want to have on in the background, I’ll turn it off and listen to music).

That’s it! That’s a typical day in my life. Booooring. :)
Weekends usually mean meeting friends at some point, maybe heading over to my parents’ place. I always seem to be busy, but when I go to tell someone just what I’ve been up to, it never seems like much!

My So-Called Scarf

2007-10-27T22:28:00.000-05:00

This is the front and back of my "My So-Called Scarf"...
(for the benefit of a fellow knitty)

There is a real post coming soon, I promise!

2007-10-26T23:34:00.000-05:00

I've just been so busy with work, and I've been out of the office on site a lot, and since I do most of my posting from work (naughty girl - the internet's faster there, that's why), I haven't done any posting lately.
I'll post one big long catch-up this weekend, I promise!!!

What a productive week!

2007-10-21T18:43:00.000-05:00

I have 2 (yep, 2!) FOs to show off this week! (And I promise to get blogstalking week 5 and 6 up soon...)

First up, the Neverending Baby Afghan!!!! Wooohoooooo!!

Pattern: Waffle Stripes, (from Leisure Arts book "Make One for Baby")
Yarn: Bernat Baby Coordinates, about 2 balls each of white and yellow
Time it took: Well, that's hard to say. I started it sometime in the spring (April?) but didn't work on it constantly. Crocheting an afghan in one piece, baby-sized or not, is a little discouraging.

And next up are the Hacho gloves I started at a workshop led by the pattern designer herself, Jane Ellison!

Love these - can't wait to wear them to work tomorrow!
Pattern: from Jane's book - I borrowed it, and forgot to make note of the pattern details before I gave it back!
Yarn: Marasol Hacho, Shade 301, 1 1/2 skeins (what am I going to make with 1/2 a skein of Hacho??)
Needles: 3.75mm (I didn't make a swatch, but they turned out great, sized a little smaller than the pattern. We had Jane's sample gloves to try on before starting ours.)
I started these Oct 8th, but again, worked on them sporadically. Finally resorted to taking them to work to get more done on them!

I love this series, and had to take the Quiz

2007-10-19T13:32:00.000-05:00

Which woman from the Outlander series are you?

You are Jenny Fraser Murray. You are a strong, motherly figure; loving and practical. You are good at being in charge of large groups of people of all ages. Your home is your castle and your family is the most important thing to you. You are also a good friend.
Take this quiz!

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Fetching - Done!

2007-10-19T10:15:00.000-05:00

I'm done!
Pattern and yarn info as below.
Modifications: added an extra cable to the top of the fingerless mitten, as it didn't come far enough up my hand. I just thought I had an abnormally long thumb-crotch to finger-knuckle distance, but my friends in the KAL all thought the same thing, so it seems to be a pattern thing. I also increased the number of rows on the thumb from 4 to 10.
Now they fit perfectly, and are going to be awesome for the fall walk to work!!

Look what I did this weekend...!

2007-10-14T23:15:00.000-05:00

It's only the first of the 2 I need to knit, but I'm sure the other one will knit up really quickly!

Pattern: Fetching, from Knitty.com
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in a dusty eggplant colour
Knitting time: Not long. 2 hours at the Stitch 'n Bitch meeting, plus maybe an hour at home this morning.

Can't wait to get the other one finished!!

bandwagon...

2007-10-11T15:57:00.001-05:00

You are The Wheel of Fortune

Good fortune and happiness but sometimes a species of
intoxication with success

The Wheel of Fortune is all about big things, luck, change, fortune. Almost always good fortune. You are lucky in all things that you do and happy with the things that come to you. Be careful that success does not go to your head however. Sometimes luck can change.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Ha!

2007-10-11T15:33:00.000-05:00

Love/Hate

2007-10-11T09:56:00.000-05:00

Well, this week's assignment is a little more challenging than the last couple.
It was really hard to narrow it down to 3 things I love, so I didn't!

Top of the list of "Things I Love" is my family. I come from a very close family, and even though we're spread over the continent now (sister at school in PA, brother in the west of Canada (AB), me in the middle with my parents (in MB), we remain close. I talk to my sister for hours at a time, every few weeks (when she needs a time out from school), and I see my parents at least bi-weekly, if not every week.
A close second to family are my friends. I have a great group of friends, and I really enjoy spending time with them.

Then, in no particular order, comes Photography, Crafting (knitting, crocheting, sewing, card-making and scrapbooking), books, cooking and baking, and Tea!! (That photo in the middle of the collage is my tea shelf in my cupboard. I have at least 15 different kinds, all of which are drunk on a regular basis, although my favourite is a jasmine-scented black tea, with jasmine flowers. Mmmmmmmm.)

Although I've done both knitting and crochet for equally as long, I used to lean towards crochet. Lately I've swung towards knitting - not sure why, although the "baby sweater that did not want to be completed" and the "never-ending baby afghan" may be souring me on crochet. Most (actually all) of my Christmas projects are knit this year, so I see that pendulum swinging back to crochet in the New Year...!

Photography is a more recent hobby of mine. My family has "milestone" birthdays. Grade 9 was a ring (mine was an amethyst with 2 tiny diamonds on either side, although the amethyst is now missing, and has been for quite a few years), 15 y.o. was a suitcase, and 12 y.o (if I remember correctly) was a camera, so I've been taking photos since I was 12. The actual "photography" aspect started a few years ago, and last year I actually took a few classes to refine my (apparent) "natural eye" for photography, and bought a better, more manual camera. I didn't quite get a DSLR, though, because I didn't want to be bothered with the lens-changing thing, plus I couldn't afford what a DSLR camera body and all the lenses would cost me. I've become the unofficial photographer in my family, and for a few friends, too. Landscapes will always be my favourite, but I also like the challenge of capturing a candid moment that truly reflects who someone is. I HATE being posed for photos, myself, so I don't pose people. I have been known to refuse to take a photo if the subject realizes what I'm doing and looks at the camera. Something about people's posture and mannerism totally changes when they realize someone's taking a photo of them. It becomes artificial, whether in a good "pose" way, or in a bad "awkward" way.

A friend got me into scrapbooking a couple of years ago, and although knitting has taken over recently, I still love paper crafts! I've made wedding invitations for a few friends, and that's something I want to explore the business possibilities of. I also got a box of my grandparents' old photos that I'm going to scrapbook - things like that need to be preserved for future generations.

Baking has always been something I've loved and something I've done well. I credit that to the fact that I'm a science geek, and a really analytical person. Baking, after all, is just chemistry, right? I teased my friends at my old job that they'd miss my baking more than they'd miss me! (Living on my own, if I ate everything that I baked, I'd be 400 lbs, so I share a lot. Tomorrow morning I'm bringing fresh banana-raisin muffins in for breakfast!)

And on that note, we turn to the "things I hate".
A big pet peeve of mine is people who spit - as in "hock a loogie" type spitting - on public sidewalks. Well, anywhere, really, but especially right in front of me as I'm walking on the sidewalk. That's just not needed and really disgusting.
What else do I hate...?

People who are nervous drivers - they're dangerous. I'd much rather be on the road with (or in the car with) a confident, slightly cocky driver than one that doesn't feel comfortable on the road. Especially in the winter here. Roads with ice and snow aren't a place for someone who isn't confident in their driving abilities, or who isn't comfortable with adverse driving conditions.

And smokers. Well, not "smokers" as much as "smoke" (cigarette/cigar/pipe/etc. smoke). It stinks, it's unhealthy, and when you are not given the choice as to whether or not you want to inhale that stuff, it's wrong. Go ahead and smoke if you want to - just do it away from my restaurant table, or the entrance to any building I need to enter, or to my seat at the stadium. You may be ok with having that crap in your lungs, but I really am NOT.

Oooh - and I hate brussel sprouts - the only vegetable I refuse to eat. :)

How I get from Here to There...

2007-10-02T16:15:00.000-05:00

Well, if you saw my last post you would guess correctly if you thought I walk to work. So this is one way I get from here to there:

If it's nice out, and I've slept in, I sometimes take this to work, too:

Being a consultant, though, it is sometimes impossible to walk to work as I sometimes have to get to client sites, thus necessitating one of these:

I only drive it after it's unburied, though! :)
(Because this may be pretty foreign for some of you, it's a photo I had to share! That's a Mazda Protege buried under there. This - meaning the amount of snow - happens once or twice a year, a few times more than that if we're really lucky! haha The first snowfall usually happens sometime in October. The first snow that stays on the ground is usually sometime in late November. And the snow usually stays until April - most of the Easters I remember as a kid involved getting to church with snowboots and changing into our fancy shoes inside.)

If I can, I try to walk places. I have a few little corner-store-type grocery stores within easy walking distance from my apartment, so when I need a few things, that's what I do. It's awesome that half of those stores are organic, "granola"-type stores! (I live in what people around here call the "granola belt" of my city...lol.)
If I have to get somewhere else in the city, though, it's by car. The public transportation system here isn't great, and it easily doubles the time it takes to get from point A to point B (quadruples or more on weekends!). I do however drive a 4-cylinder, manual transmission car, so that helps with reducing emissions and natural gas consumption. If I could have afforded a hybrid when I was looking for a car (my first!), and if they'd had any in stock, then I would have.

I also want to share a couple other photos with you.
The first is the view from a farmer's market I went to on the weekend. I'd love to live in a place like this!

The second I took on my walk home last week. There's something about seeing the bright white cross (of the hospital's chapel, I guess) against the darker sky.

Happy blogstalking!

I love walking to work in the fall...

2007-09-27T11:14:00.000-05:00

WIP Wednesday

2007-09-26T14:17:00.000-05:00

Well, I was going to post some photos of what I've been working on, but I realized that the only WIPs I have right now are all gifts! And I, not being one to tempt fate, am not going to post photos of gifts, thus avoiding any potential surprise-ruining.
I have gotten some more done on my baby afghan that I'm making for a friend (whose daughter will soon be my goddaughter - my first!), which is good. She knows that's what I'm making her, so talking about it won't ruin the surprise, but she doesn't know any of the specifics - pattern, colour, etc. - so a photo is a no-go.
There's a point during the afghan-making process when progress seems to stop, even when work on said afghan is still happening. It's like some magical thing - you keep adding rows, but the afghan doesn't get any longer! I should be on track to have it finished by Oct 13th, though. If not, I'll be giving what I call a "mom gift", so named because my mom is famous for giving people half-finished, or almost-done handmade gifts (one sock, mitts with no thumbs, the list goes on).
I've decided, though, that I have to start working on the dreaded second sock. I made the first one in August, and cast on for the second one, but only got about an inch done before putting it aside to start on my Christmas gift list. I think I'm going to make it my stitch 'n bitch project. K2P2 ribbing should be mindless enough that I don't screw it up in the limited lighting of the pub we meet at! I promise I'll take a photo of the "second sock" once I start working on it again!
The First Sock (of the pair, and "ever"!):

I also want to thank all of you blogstalkers for your comments! I've tried replying back to some of you, but unless I can figure out which is your blog from the list of stalkers, I have to reply to you on my own blog (which means you may or may not realize I've replied to you). Apparently Blogger only really lets you reply to a comment if that person has a Blogger blog, in which case you have to comment on their blog. (Unless I'm missing something?)
I've also realized that although I'm enjoying having these themes (and deadlines) to post about, and I enjoy reading everyone else's posts, I'm running out of time to read everyone's posts in the week the topic was given! I'm going to get to everyone, but that might mean a blog-reading marathon once every few weeks. Just so you know...

Some more fall photos

2007-09-24T10:01:00.000-05:00

Today I have 2 topics I'm posting about, so to make it easier for all you blogstalkers out there, I'm going to make 2 separate posts.
This first one is going to be photo-heavy...I'm showing off the changing of the seasons here at home.
First: the same photo as in the last post, but 8 hours later, on my walk home. There's a reason people around here say "wait 5 minutes and the weather will change"

And next, an addendum to the "who am I" post: I am a prairie girl, through and through.

And now for some other Fall photos:

These next 2 were taken out of my apartment window...they're not up to my usual standard (I'm picky about framing and such), but it was too gorgeous a sky not to take a photo, and it was too cold out for me to leave my cozy apartment!

And now for some taken at my parents' place this weekend:

Whew!
And now on to write the "purse guts" post...

In honour of Yarn PrOn Fridays...

2007-09-21T09:38:00.000-05:00

Even though I don't officially belong to Yarn PrOn Fridays, I thought I'd show you all what I bought on my impromptu vacation in Regina: handspun, Canadian wool! It's not that artsy a shot, but I think the wool speaks for itself. :)

I'm planning on making the leaf motif toque from the orange, although it's going to take some stitch count adjustments, because it's a sport weight, not worsted. It might take me a try or two!

In other news...fall is here. Summer is gone. :(

And look what I did last night!!

I'm re-knitting the thumbs, because I wore them out last year. (Thanks to the stitch 'n bitch girls for telling me about lifelines!!)

Tadaa...!

2007-09-20T09:17:00.001-05:00

Look what I did last night!!! (And yes, that would be the new blocking board you (sort of) see in the background!) I was always so intimidated by these techniques, but they're really not that hard...now to find an appropriate project to tackle to do something more complicated than a rectangle...!

Fair Isle swatch:

Intarsia swatch:

On another note, I did something last week that I still can't believe I actually did!! A couple of girlfriends and I went to the local fireman's calendar release party last week (all money goes to the local burn fund, so why not, right?). All required flirting ensued. And then I chickened out and went to hang out on the dance floor with my friend. Well, at the end of the night, I decided that nothing's ever going to happen if I don't make it happen, so I wrote my number on a piece of paper and walked up to one of the firemen (the one I was most attracted to, and who I thought was a bit of a goof!) and after a bit of small talk/more flirting, I essentially gave him my number, and told him to call me, that I thought we should go out. People, I didn't even know if the guy was single or not at the time! (They have to be unmarried to be in the calendar, but that doesn't mean they're all unattached.) Well, he called, and we're meeting for drinks sometime this coming week.
I'm so proud of myself...that is soooo out of character for me. Yes, I'm incredibly assertive, but that seems not to apply when it comes to guys. Maybe that's changing?

I wonder...

2007-09-19T15:23:00.000-05:00

If I made some blank greeting cards with some of my more spectacular (!) landscape photos and put them up in an etsy store, would anyone buy them?

In other news, my blocking board is done! Being an apartment dweller with no extra mattresses, and seeing as how ironing boards only come in the one size, I had to come up with an alternate solution.
Let me tell you, getting a 4'x8' piece of foamboard home in a Mazda Protege was an adventure in and of itself! Well, I actually had to crack it in half and take it home *on* my Protege (thank goodness for the bungee cords that live in my trunk!), but I only lost one corner chunk to the wind gods.

Behold the blocking board:

The teacher of my intermediate knitting class suggested that we take a ruler to the fabric store and try to get a gingham in a regular size (1"x1", etc.) to make laying out the FO and pinning it to size easier. Well, I managed to find some 1/4"x1/4" gingham in PURPLE!!! Score!

My latest craftiness

2007-09-17T11:41:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd post some of the latest things I've been working on, for the benefit of all the Knitty readers that will soon be linking to this here blog.

Here is my latest FO, the earband from Knitty:

I'm also taking an intermediate knitting class at a LYS; here are the swatches we made at our first class:
The Drop Stitch

The Cable

The Complicated Cable

I've also made a baby sweater for a friend (well, for her baby) - this one is crocheted:

One of many pairs of baby booties:

and a few baby blankets/burp cloths:

I've also been busily sewing away, and have made myself a camera case, seeing as how my camera is really small, and none of the cases in the stores were small enough for me to put into my purse without it taking up my whole purse:

And now to work on my "who am I" post...I made a draft this weekend, but it's a little depressing, so I have to rework it a little! :)

Falls at Fairmont (Natural) Hot Springs

2007-09-14T13:59:00.000-05:00

And now for something completely different...

2007-09-14T09:50:00.001-05:00

I don't know if anyone actually reads ("looks at?") this blog on any kind of a regular basis, but I'm going to be changing things up soon.
I'm getting my knit on, and have joined a blogstalk at knitty.com (is it blogstalk 2.0? blogstalk the second? I can't remember what official name we gave it...)
So basically it's going to be like a treasure hunt - there's a theme each week, given out on Friday, and we all have to post something that captures/describes that theme by the following Friday.
This week, it's "Who Am I?" Hmmm...I'm going to have to think about that one...

2007-06-27T10:41:00.000-05:00

Competing in the Work Climb

My brother competing in the Aerial Rescue at a local Tree Climbing competition

2007-06-27T10:34:00.000-05:00

2006-10-06T20:41:00.000-05:00

Rocket (Chantelle's Horse)

2006-09-22T23:26:00.000-05:00

Gnarly....

2006-09-22T23:23:00.000-05:00

Napa Valley

2006-09-22T23:22:00.001-05:00

Napa Valley

2006-09-22T23:22:00.000-05:00

Napa Valley, as seen from a moving car

2006-09-22T23:20:00.002-05:00

You know, the bridge isn't really "golden"...!

2006-09-22T23:20:00.001-05:00

"Worm's eye view"

2006-09-22T23:20:00.000-05:00

If only there were no cars on the bridge - this wold be an awesome photo. As if there would ever happen!

2006-09-22T23:19:00.001-05:00

Driving on the Golden Gate Bridge...what a "touristy" thing to do!

2006-09-22T23:19:00.000-05:00

Getting Closer...

2006-09-22T23:18:00.000-05:00

Golden Gate Bridge "on approach"

purple niko

Celtic Mitts

April Fools!

I'm going to Singapore!

Had to share this...

Book List

Check it out

It's Almost Christmas!!

SYTYCD Canada - Last Dance-off tonight!

100 things

My Weenie came!!!

I'm a Bette

You Are a Bette!

Halloween knitting!

New Stitch Marker Design!

My first SP package finally came!

Moratorium on Blogging

Finally, a proper kitchen light

Folk Fest!

Summer is here, and blogging is going to suffer

Sad news

Another square for Dame Wendy

Field trip to Sheeples!

Finished Square!

Tee hee - I think we all knew this already...

Just for fun...

Knitting a square for an ill stranger

Check out what I've been up to!

Change of Name

Ram Wools too!

Swift Details...as promised

Check out the yarn swift I made last night!

Display

She bought them all!!!

Some knitting, for a change

Stitch Markers

I got my findings!

Another LYS?

Stitch Markers!!

Etsy!

As promised

I'm getting there

It's Done!!!!

Cursed Tree Jacket

Yay vacations!

Upgrades

Disappointment

A probable hiatus...

3 for the price of 1!

I'm not that bad, I swear!!

Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas!

All Done!

Look what I'm making...!

-27 and ice crystals

It's Winter!

Look what I did this weekend!

On Parking Lots and Idiots

Super-awesome cabling-without-a-cable-needle tutorial

*Sigh* So not satisfied with this result, but I got it twice, so I guess it's right.

Progress on the Tree Jacket

Getting a little behind...

Yes, I'm late. (for blogstalker, that is)

Another Foliage Finished, and Tree Jacket Progress

It's Snowing!!!!! :)

One more down...

Happy Halloween!!

Blogstalking...again

Ravelry!

Blogstalking - week 6...

My So-Called Scarf

There is a real post coming soon, I promise!

What a productive week!

I love this series, and had to take the Quiz

Fetching - Done!

Look what I did this weekend...!

bandwagon...

You are The Wheel of Fortune

Ha!

Love/Hate

Sigh So not satisfied with this result, but I got it twice, so I guess it's right.