A Long Term WIP

I meant to post this on Wednesday but work has been busy lately. I was asked to be the admin support for an operational planning team at work. It's been very time consuming but I've been learning a lot. Given the fact that I'm actually supposed to be the coordinator for Major Gifts Operations, it's good that I'm finally figuring out what operations is :)

But enough about work, you're here to see some knitting. A couple of years ago I knit a Log Cabin Blanket for my mom.  It was so much fun to work on that I immediately started thinking about making one for us. As often happens, I got distracted by other interesting projects and forgot about this plan. In January it was so cold that I decided to revisit the idea of knitting a log cabin blanket to have on the couch. The biggest stumbling block was that I just couldn't commit to one colour of Kureyon. They are all so gorgeous and I didn't want to pick one to match our couch since we will probably be getting a new one in the not too distant future. I really liked how Lizard Ridge uses many different colours of Kureyon but I didn't know if it was as fun to knit as the log cabin. Using some purloined Kureyon (mental note: give yarn to Heather) I cast on for Lizard Ridge but lost interest as soon as I hit the first short-row. I was starting to feel discouraged until I discovered the Paintbox Log Cabin (I'll wait while you go check out it's beauty). This is the perfect solution for me, a log cabin that uses many different colours of Kureyon! I was so excited that I immediately bought two skeins (they were on sale) and cast on right away.

Two days later the first two squares were done!

Square #1
Square #2

This is going to be a long term work-in-progress since Kureyon is pretty pricey so I'm going to try to buy it on sale. It also means that I can pick up a skein here and there without investing in the whole blanket all at once. I think it's going to be a lot of fun but there have been days when I've been shivering under the acrylic blanket on the couch and I've wished that it was done. Hopefully by next winter.

Mostly Pictures

I have a spectacular headache today so this post will be mostly pictures.

I've been promising photographic proof of my finished Clapotis for a while and here it is:

Pattern: Kate Gilbert's brilliant Clapotis 

Yarn: 4 skeins of Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Amoroso (thanks to Bertha for giving me the first two skeins)

Needles: 5.5mm 

Mods: I think I followed the pattern pretty closely. I used my adorable scale to make sure that I started the decreases at the right time. Somehow I ended up with about a quarter of a skein left but too much Mal is never a bad thing.

Sock in Progress

I raced home from work yesterday to get a picture of my sock in daylight before the sun set. And I made it too, except that the light was terrible because it was raining (something that I maybe should have clued in to when I was walking home).

Regardless, I was able to get one decent of the sock in progress. It's grown a little since this picture was taken. I did the gusset increases and will be turning the heel tonight (doing a sock backwards is fun!).

I've really been enjoying this pattern. I like the division between the fake cable part of the pattern and the beaded section. It keeps it interesting. 

In other news, I got my first knitting-related injury on the weekend. I'd been standing up to allow my yarn to untwist (the beads mess up the yarn) and I went to sit back down on the couch next to Pete. I guess I must have put down my sock first before I sat down because all of a sudden my foot really hurt. I just thought I had jabbed it with the needle and didn't think much of it until a few hours later when I realized that it still hurt. At that point I actually looked at the injury (my lovely Koigu socks were no protection from Addi's) and discovered that I'd broken though the skin and was bleeding.  I put on a band-aid and hobbled around for the rest of the night but by the next morning it felt much better.

My mom once cut her hand while eating a crab in Mexico. She said it was the best crab she'd ever eaten and she was sad when her cut healed because she had enjoyed the reminder. Maybe this wound will remind me of my lovely beaded socks ... and to always be aware of the location of my knitting needles.

Lucky Me

That was an unexpected hiatus. First there was no light for pictures and once I had pictures my work-life exploded and I've been struggling to get it under control. I have pictures of my finish Clapotis to show off (I'm wearing it right now and it's delicious!) but I decided to blog about something even more exciting (more exciting than a Malabrigo Clapotis? How is that possible?!?).

Way back in December I got a very exciting email. It was from the Yarn Harlot letting me know that I'd won one of the karmic balancing gifts from her blog for supporting Knitters Without Borders (she's still got lots of gifts to give away so go donate if you haven't already!). I would have been thrilled to have won anything but this was more than I ever could have imagined. I won a year's membership in the Rockin' Sock Club, the Socks that Rock club! I could not believe my good fortune and actually didn't believe it until last week when my first package arrived.


Here it is, lying all innocently on my kitchen table (full disclosure: I actually opened it on the streetcar with Heather but we weren't able to get pictures so I recreated the experience when I got home)

(Wow, this picture is dark. That's what I get for taking pictures in my kitchen. I promise there are better shots of the yarn coming up.) The package contained a beaded sock pattern (Queen of Beads) by Sivia Harding, a gorgeous skein of STR Lightweight, matching beads, an adorable mini-skein, a key chain and a button.

Here are some better pics of the yarn. I discovered that the light in my bathroom is more conducive to pictures of yarn. (Click to embiggen)


I got a little artistic while trying to capture the subtle beauty of the beads. Definitely click to see the larger version of this one.
I wanted to do this sock club thing right so I decided to knit the Queen of Beads pattern, beads and all. However, I always have to be different so I did it toe-up. I started this weekend and am about halfway to the heel as of right now. Pictures to follow on WIP Wednesday!

Presents for a Friend

Unfortunately the photoshoot of my Clapotis didn't happen this weekend, however, I'm going home this weekend so I should have many opportunities to get some gorgeous shots. Until then, I'll tide you over with some FO pictures.

One of the best things to come out of my most recent schooling (besides my fabulous job) is my friend Kristy. We bonded instantly as soon as we met, sharing a background in theatre and love of all things wedding-related. When I got engaged, she was always up for a trip to the wedding dress store, or the florist, or a bridal show. She's even more organized than I am and I am so relieved that she'll be coordinating our wedding. I call her my Wedding Fairy.

Her birthday was in November and I just had to knit something for her. I know how cold the theatre she works at can be so I made her a pair of fingerless gloves.

(My hands, her's are much daintier and she doesn't have my ring)
Pattern: Women's Hand Warmers from Last Minute Knitted Gifts (thanks for the suggestion Heather!)
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in plum, 1 ball (thanks for the swap, Heather!)
Mods: I wanted to make them longer so I added a full pattern repeat to the arms before the thumb.

Shortly before Christmas, Kristy mentioned that she needed a new scarf. Naturally, I couldn't let her buy something when I was happy to knit a scarf for her. I offered many different pattern and yarn suggestions to get a sense of what she'd like.

This is what she wanted:
Pattern: Just Enough Ruffles from Cosmic Pluto
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Emerald Blue (a gorgeous blue/green)
Mods: I was worried that the scarf would overwhelm her so I did 3 fewer short-rows than the pattern calls for.

Verdict: Kristy loves them!

My New Favourite Toy

Time for the second installment of Random Friday!
For a while now I've wanted a little scale to weigh my yarn. I figured that there were lots of reasons why I needed a scale, such as to make sure I'm using the same amount of yarn per sock. There's probably more reasons but I can't think of them right now :)
Shortly before Christmas, Heather, ever the enabler, pointed out this little beauty on Lee Valley's website. I asked for it from my parents and they were happy to oblige.

Look at how cute it is!

The inside view.

This scale is pretty teeny so my yarn cakes are too big for it. Luckily it has a tare function where you put a bowl on it and then with one click of the button it readjusts for the weight.

Here it is posed with my little yellow bowl and yarn cake.

This scale has been invaluable while working on my Clapotis. I calculated how much yarn I had for the whole project and then I figured out how much was needed for the increase and decrease sections (which each make up 1/5th of the total yarn needed). With this knowledge I knew when to stop increasing. Also, in theory I could tell by weighing my last ball of yarn when I needed to start the decreases. I say in theory because I finished knitting my Clap yesterday and I had tons of yarn leftover. I guess there were some flaws in my theory. For instance, I didn't actually weigh all 4 balls of yarn, I just weighed one and assumed that the others were the same. Oh well, it's definitely better to have too much yarn than not enough!

Next up, pictures of my Clapotis in action (mental note: take pictures this weekend when on the town with the girls.).

ETA: I'm getting married in 1 year and 4 months from today!

A Few Little Things

There will be no WIP Wednesday today. I've been working exclusively on my Malabrigo Clapotis and it doesn't look all that different from last week. Actually, it does look somewhat different as it has doubled in size but since I'm halfway through the decreases right now I'm hoping for a FO post some time this weekend. In lieu of a WIP to show you, I thought I'd talk about a few small projects I knit in December.

As I'm sure many of you would agree, one of the best things about Ravelry and the online knitting community in general is the ability to make friends with people all over the world. Tam is one such friend. We met in the wedding planning community on Rav and just hit it off. Last fall, when she told me that she was pregnant, I was so excited that I just had to make something for her. I couldn't even wait until she found out if it was a boy or a girl. I usually worry about the gender neutrality of colours and go with green to be on the safe side but this time I was able to be neutral and still have fun. 

This poor misshapen thing is actually a baby bear hat.  I'm sure it will look much cuter on a little one. Tam, make sure you take pictures!

Pattern: Bunny Tails from Itty-Bitty Hats

Yarn: Elann Superwash Worsted (which is totally misnamed since it knits to dk gauge)

Modification: shortening the ears

In December I was procrastinating from working on Granny's tall socks so I decided to whip off some Christmas tree ornaments for some of my coworkers.

I took this basic pattern and had fun with it. I don't know how well you can see it in this picture (clearly my idea of using the tree as a model isn't panning out so well) but the ornament in the bottom right has beads on it. My coworkers loved their presents and were so impressed that I'd made them. 

Next up, on Random Friday, I will introduce you to my favourite new toy.

My New Camera (Part 2)

Last week I told you about my new camera and shared some of the cool pictures we've been taking. Today, I'm going to show off some of the interesting features that we've been playing with.


This picture was taken in front of a bright window using a spot focus. Without the spot focus, I'd have been really dark in contrast to the window. This is such a cool technique that will definitely come in handy when taking pictures of buildings against a bright sky.




We discovered that the camera has a feature where you can replace one colour with another. In this picture, the towel on the table is actually blue and white stripes.




We also used it to change the wood tone of the little table seen in the above picture. I could see this technique coming in handy if you want to redecorate. I don't think I'll be painting this table green :)

Another feature allows you to select one colour and make the others black and white. I played with this with my Silk Garden Clapotis. The top picture is how it looks in real life.




Here it emphasizing the purples.

And here with the pinks.

And finally, here is a picture of Olde Tyme Cleo, taken using the Sepia feature on the camera.
Poor kitty, the things we do to her :)

Random Friday

I've decided to start a new weekly tradition, along the lines of WIP Wednesdays. I'm calling it Random Fridays (sadly, there can be no alliteration since no day of the week starts with "r" unless I call it Random (f)Ridays, but that might just confuse people). Anyway, the point of these posts is to get me posting more often by giving me an opportunity to blog about whatever I feel like.

Today I feel like telling you about a recent purchase I made. I logged onto Ravelry one day and discovered that a new shirt had been released, this one with a graphic of Ravelry mascot Bob peeking out from a pyramid of yarn. I was so smitten that I immediately called Heather to tell her all about it and see if she wanted to order one too. The excited shopping had to be put on hold when Heather's husband informed me that she was having a nap. But she called me back within half an hour and we joyfully squealed together over the cuteness that is that shirt. We could not resist and ordered it immediately lest it sell out. The shirts arrived a few weeks later and I wore mine for the first time when we put up the Christmas tree.  As you might recall, that was just after we got our new camera and I had to get Pete to take a picture of me showing off my new shirt.

I feel like Clark Kent revealing the superhero costume beneath the street clothes. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful and warm weekend (there, I got my alliteration in). I've been feeling under the weather so I'm planning on staying in and knitting on my yummy Clapotis.

WIP Wednesday

It's almost 9pm but it's still technically Wendesday so I am following through on my promise from my last post :)

I usually find myself in a bit of a knitting lull after Christmas. There has been such a rush to get everything done in time and often there is something that doesn't get finished until afterwards that takes top priority. Once the major gift knitting for the year is done, I like to knit something special for myself. A few years ago I made the Forest Canopy Shawl (rav link) which, while beautiful, doesn't get much wear. This year I wanted to make something fun for myself but which I would actually use. I also wanted to use up some stash yarn. I just happened to have 3 skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in Amoroso (thanks Bertha!) which was begging to be knit into a Clapotis.  After letting it languish in my stash since the summer, I finally gave in to its pleas.

This project is a double whammy: delicious yarn and stimulating pattern.  I have been knitting on it exclusively since January 4th. I've been dropping the stitches as I go along, a lovely little treat to break up the pattern. The Malabrigo is sticky so the stitches don't go very far on their own but the softness of the yarn makes knitting it a delight (though it does tend to get snagged on my poor winter-chapped hands). I did end up needing to buy another skein of yarn but that's ok. Knitting 3/4 of a project out of stash yarn is pretty darn good.

Enough with the chatter, you're probably thinking, show me the goods!

 This picture was taken last Sunday (darn the early sunset) and the Clap has grown substantially since then.

Now if you excuse me, I need to go put in an order at Ramwools (which is having a sale!).