My final finished project for 2008

TaDah!! After 1 year and 7 months, I finally finished Hubby's Steelers Afghan.


~Daughter #1

My obituary..

...because I dyed today LOL I crack myself up*G*

Today, was my first foray into the world of dyeing yarn and I now understand what the big deal is. It was a lot of fun. Mum got me a kit as a prezzie. I was going to wait until she came to visit before I made it up so she could help. Patience might be a virtue but not one of mine. I couldn't resist. Really how bad could I mess up. Turns out it was much easier then I thought.

Soaked it first and then did the blue colouring in stripes on both sides. The colour said magenta but this is very blue to me.

Next, was the olive colour. Not a personal favourite shade of mine so I just did a little bit. I figured it would add a stitch here and there for depth.

Last colour was Daisy. I did thicker lines and also went over the blue a bit to make more green. I purposefully left a bit of white here and there for contrast. Figured it would be like a fourth colour.

Here is the finished product after nukeing it in the microwave and burning my fingers unwrapping it. Hanging to dry. Not as much of the white is left as I originally planned but I'm ok with it. For a first attempt I think I did ok.

As for what my future plans are for this....

Over at Alive and Knitting (author) Deborah Cooke is doing a casual, bring your own yarn and pattern, KAL starting January 1st. After much looking, I found a pattern I liked called Elfine Socks. "Leaf-lace socks, grown from the toe-up, the season’s ‘must have’ hosiery for style-conscious dryads." How could I resist that? *G*

So, I'm going to attempt to make some toe-up socks on itty bitty needles. *gasp* 2.5mm!! We'll see if I last or go insane. I have to get a couple circulars because there is no way I'll survive using DPN's.

~Daughter #1

Kittens and their mittens

The granddaughters and their freshly made kool-aid mittens.

Amigurumi

I recently bought a copy of the Knit.1 magazine because I saw the cute little Chinese zodiac animals inside. Thought the girls would like one. BTW you can get the pattern free on their website. CLICK HERE


I think I might be one of the last people to hear of this new crafting trend. Amigurumi is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals and anthropomorphic creatures. When you work on them you use the spiral method as opposed to 'rounds' that we use here in North America. I had no idea what all of the fuss was until I did a bit more research. This could be the future of a major time suck for me.

They are so cute and would take no time at all to make up. Not to mention that it is a great way to use up all those left over bits from other projects. If that wasn't enough I even found a "How To" on YouTube!

Have fun!

Let us know in the comments if you have made any. I'd love to hear what creative creatures have come to life from this. I'm off to make a Rabbit and an Ox, then I might make the Dragon just for fun.







~ Daughter #1

Jaffa cakes..drug of choice

All knitting should be accompanied by some sort of stimulant. Jaffa cakes are bite size and soooo yummy. For the uneducated I include a picture:
Nummy....



O.K. I am on the kool aid dyed wool kick again. Not dyeing but knitting up the "fruits of my endeavours" so to speak. ( I read WAY too much Jane Austen)



This is dragon fyre:


( por moi)






Tropical punch (red)

strawberry kiwi (pink)

mango ( gold)

tangerine ( orange) on

undyed wool ( neutral beige colour)

and this is the Christmas Elf: to my favourite chanteuse: Raichelle



lemon lime

tropical punch (red)

neon green food colouring

and mango on white wool



O.K.back to the needles


~MuM

Rocking the 'IN PROGRESS' pile!

Finished off another quicky just in time. My itty bitty crochet hook arrived and they work!! So I am going to start back on my shawl just as soon as I finish off one more project. Poor hubby has been waiting for a year and a half for his Steelers blankie. I have promised him I will not work on anything else until it's done....(the hooks arrived about 15 minutes later AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!)



This is a tunic vest that I made for Teag. She liked the pattern but said she didn't want the turtle neck. No problems. I'm not a big turtle neck fan my self.

Then she asked if it could be a 'v-neck'. Again no problems...

A while later she asked if she really had to have the arms...


Ta Da! Finished tweeked and make to specifications LOL

Roomy enough to wear over a t-shirt and jeans. Nice and cozy to keep her chest warm during the winter months.

Now I have to get back to a certain football blankie...

As a side note: This is the best knitters T-Shirt I have ever seen!!! I think it would make an excellent present for the obsessed knitter in your life. Just click HERE and your favourite knitter will keep you warm all year under a nice hand knit blanket with your favourite football team enblazoned across the front. (Hint, Hint, Wink, Wink, Nudge, Nudge)

~Daughter #1

Slippers and Booties

Baby Slipper’s and Booties are quick and easy with any yarn on the right needles. Simple garderstitch is fast when waiting for the tyke to visit. The Gramma Booties are done in a doubled stitch to make them thicker. I have the other foot done and plan to take the stocking right up the calf. Please note that knitted foot wear should be worn as a second layer with a cotton sock underneath.

~Daughter #2

Evolution of an idea

So I had yesterday off and had grand plan on what I was going to accomplish. There was laundry, bathrooms, kitchen floor, litter box ... you know fun stuff. I sat down and thought to increase my anticipation of all these joyous objectives by looking over a pattern I had just gotten. The Tattoo Kimono Shrug.
Hhmmmm I'll just quickly have a coffee and look for a design to go on the back.

Hhmmmm I still have lots of time to clean.... Found the design and then poured myself another coffee



I like this. It's a Triquetra. A symbol that represents the 3 aspects of the feminine life cycle, the maiden (the young virgin), the mother (pregnancy and motherhood) and the crone (old age and immense wisdom). Yes, it is the same symbol that was used in that tv series Charmed. They used it because they were afraid that using a pentagram would get them banned or boycotted or get some other mono-deity religion's panties in a knot. (no pun intended)
Hhmmmm It can't be too hard to graph this out....maybe I shouldn't get my heart set on it. What if it can't be done?

I didn't get a damn thing done yesterday.

Started out by drawing a graph over a copy of the figure, and then transferring the dots onto a plain graph so I could see a cleaner image of the graph. No matter how many times I redid parts it just wasn't turning out even on both sides. Remember Celtic knots are cleverly disguised mathematical equations. Ok so this calls for Excel...


On to the computer where I spent a couple hours making sure that it all matched and that every part of the figure was balanced. Then I started getting a little too anal and creating multiples of 3 in everything but that had to stop or I would still be at it. When I was done I had this colourful blob. Blob not good.


Lines! I needed lines and then that started the deleting of squares but making sure that all deletions were even and equal/symmetrical on each side. I almost stopped there because it looked cool as it was but I had my heart set on interweaving the symbols. Sure why not make it a bit easier on my self. LOL

Interweaving wasn't that difficult. In fact it was a easiest part of the entire process. Then I changed the colours to black to get a better feel for how it flowed. I'm still on the fence, whether I should do the symbol solid or interwoven.


Stayed up late working on a swatch just to see how it looked. Not too bad. I can see a couple places that I will tweek the graph but all in all I'm happy with it. This was knit out of some leftover Artio, which is what I want to make the sweater out of. I love this yarn so much. 50% Merino, 30%cashmere, and 20% silk. It knits like a dream. I couldn't bring myself to throw out the little bits I had left so I stared crocheting a border around my swatch LOL. I'm sure it will end up being adopted as a blanket for some one's webkinz around here.

Reindeer Hat

The “Kid’s Knits for Heads. Hands and Toes, By Debbie Bliss. They are very happy with the gift. Thank you Sister for your help.

~Daughter #2

In the intrum

Tis the season for craziness…

I work retail which means that at this time of year it feels as though the world goes insane. What better line of defense is knitting? I can relax, zen myself, and if the customers are really nasty and grumpy, I can poke them with a spare needle.
(Okay, I don’t ever poke the customers. But if I have a big grin on my face while dealing with someone infected with scroogeness, you know I am visualizing it.)

I ordered some very tiny crochet hooks and am waiting for Canada post to get them too me. That way I can get back to work on my Hallowe’en mystery shawl. Using the needle and thread method of putting them on is driving me nuts and counter productive to my need for relaxation. So in the meanwhile I have been working on a couple small projects that are easy to lug back and forth from work.


This is the set I made for Rly’s to wear during the Christmas parade. Originally it was going to be a cast cover but the cast came off a couple days before so she got to wear both mitts. The pattern is really interesting and the mitt ends up almost woven. For example on one row you slip all the green stitches and work the black ones across and back. Then you work the green stitches and slip all the black ones across and back. Sounds confusing but really it’s not. The pattern can be found HERE. It turned out perfect because the windchill was -15 that day and she said her hands never got cold.



This is Teag's second shrug. The first one she said was way too scratchy. I wasn't surprised. Originally, I was playing around with a design and was using some cheapy acrylic crap and she insisted that she wanted it. This time I picked up some Bernat Cot'n Corn. Great product. Very soft easy to work with. She wore this for an entire day and then asked if she could sleep in it. LOL It's soft enough. The pattern is one that comes on the label or you can get it from the website HERE.

~ Daughter #1

Mobieus Scarf

This is a project that I completed last summer. Interesting the way your wool grows from the center out. They outer edge is casted off with I-cord continuously circling the patterned piece. To end where you began.


Here is Elizabeth Zimmerman and Meg Swansen and Lorie wearing Mobieus scarves. Very good chapter in her book "Knitting Around".

Maple and I wearing the fairisle vest that is now felted.











~Daughter #2

Teaghan's Mitt

Pina Pineapple (yellow), lemon lime (green), tropical punch (red), jamaica (wine), ice blue (turquoise),

Floppy Pineapple Hat

This is a hat that makes you feel young. Pineapple Kool-Aid from Mexico is a favorite colour for 2009. The wool was hand dyed and a gift from mum.

See that the hat hasn’t been felted and fresh off the needles.

For the days when your lost in buttercups.




The Lockness Monster Sweater and Reindeer socks, mittins and hat(N/A) were all from a Mary Maxim kit. My sister helped me buy at the Creative Sewing Show. They were a gift for Daniel's 1st birthday.





~Daughter #2

debbie bliss Knitting Magazine.

Now that I refuse to buy the Vogue knitting magazine any more....some of the reasons......
1. The patterns are full of mistakes.
2. Corrections are waaay to slow in coming ...when and if ever they do.
3. Vogue customer service sucks.

......I have been looking for a replacement.
Now I know Vogue is publishing this and if there are any booboos I will email Debbie directly.
I like most of her patterns but I am mystified why a designer who is a "normal size" woman would claim that a 40 bust is X Large?? I see the hand of Vogue in this.

Some of the patterns are pretty outlandish.. my observations:

Pattern 14..retro 1950 my man wouldn't be caught dead in this.

Pattern 20... says "Hello, see my big behind?"

Pattern 21...shudder, the model looks as if she is being consumed by a pile of green slime...ugh

Pattern 22..sweet scarf, just what I want to wear with a see thru-blouse.

and for those of you with nothing to do..

Pattern25 ...sweaters for eggs! I kid you not.

Anyway I did find a sweet little bolero for my grand daughters in here. Page 34 design #10. I think I will start that on Christmas day for the February birthday girl.

~MuM

My, how the colour’s glow vibrant and variegated. Love the mish mash of flavors. These mittens are all the sweetness without a calorie. They remind me of elements in nature.

The sampler is a vest I knit this time last year. Turned out nice and philosophers wool is a perfect match to the folk pattern of the vest.





















~Daughter #2

Ryl's mitt

Tropical Punch ( red), Strawberry Kiwi (pink), neon green food colouring, Scarey Blackberry (black). *Carl likes this one best of all*
~MuM