Monday, January 18, 2010

It's been a while

Distractions have been keeping me from blogging lately. Obsessive knitting and a trip out of town have been filling my time.
Last weekend Tiny, Mackenzie and I took a trip down to the coast. This was Mackenzie's Christmas present: a trip to Saltspring, a day in Vancouver and a Canucks game. Kenzie is an avid hockey fan, loves visiting her Froggy, Grandpa Abraham and Uncle Tim, and had never been to Vancouver before. We had a blast. The original plan was to go to Science World, but when we arrived there was a paper sign stating that it was closed for a private event. We went to the Vancouver Aquarium instead.
The Vancouver Aquarium is hugely changed from the last time I was there (probably about 15 years ago). The change is for the better. The animal habitats are much larger and more natural looking than they were before. It is greatly expanded. The BC Coast section is incredible, it makes the undersea world of our province look incredibly mysterious and exotic.
My favourite section was the jellyfish!

I was pleasantly surprised at how good a photo my crappy little camera took!
Kenzie found some kindred spirits at the aquarium...

We got put on the giant TV at GM Place which was pretty exciting (click to embiggen)
I am now knitting the ultimate project...the Luminen Jacket is one I have been thinking about knitting for a few months now. A month ago I bought the yarn neccessary for the project. Some incredibly soft Malabrigo Merino Worsted in a fabulous colourway called Red Mahogany. The yarn is actually a little bit of a heavy weight for this project (despite "Worsted" being in the actual name for the yarn it is an Aran weight yarn). So I dropped a size and am using a larger needle (4.5mm instead of 4mm) mathematically the gauge worked out that it should be the right size a month or 2 post baby (a good goal for after the baby is born! I have to fit that sweater!!). I have already modified it a bit, I really did not like the sleeves so I knit a cabled cuff and picked up the stitches ont he edge and started the sleeve from there. I think it will fit wiht the overall design of the sweater better (hehe sweater better). I also plan on NOT doing all those snowflakes. Mairi Muinonen is one of my favourite designers EVER but she often has at least one design element in a project that really doesn't appeal to me. I could have lived with the sleeves...but definitely not the snowflakes...so I won't be doing them-this means using less yarn (and my yarn overage is a little tight) and I won't have to sew them on (I HATE SEWING).
I love this sweater so far. I love how it looks. I especially love the construction of it. The cabling above the pocket is GENIUS!! I find the whole construction of it intriguing and interesting. Mairi Muinonen is brilliant! (Hopefully I will continue to enjoy this sweater towards the ends as much as I do now!)

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Genius!!!

I just had to show the finished product...these socks made me feel like a GENIUS!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

The benefits to Pregnancy Insomnia

Yes...some good can come of it!


These pictures are pre-blocking so they will look even better soon!

I learned that it's really difficult to take pictures of your own arms!

These gloves knit so fast and were a lot of fun to do! My first attempt at gloves! I love them and this first one took just over a day to knit!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Speedy Gonzalez

I finished the other Tree of Life sock and am waiting for one of my yarn needles to magically appear so I can weave in the ends and block it! They look fantastic and were a fun knit! Even better I used Dream In Colour Starry (Rav link here) which is a fantabulous yarn that is squishy and soft, easy to knit and from the States so the skeins are 113gms...I used 51 gms of the black and 46gms of the green. Tree of Life socks fit fairly high up the leg, so I enough for another pair of largish two-colour socks, or mittens or maybe 2 pairs of solid socks. Dream in Colour is not cheap but if I can get 2 or 3 projects out of 2 skeins I will definitely get my moneys worth!!

In continuing with my Dream in Colour obsession (and my obstinate insistence on using the Canadian spelling for a proper noun) I am now knitting the Farinelli gloves by Ysolda Teague. Ysolda is one of my favourite designers. I am knitting a shorter verison of the gloves and I am going to make them "fingerless"-but rather than make them like "fingerless mittens" (aka handless mitts) I am going to make them like hobo gloves with the tips of the fingers bare. I can't stand wearing full gloves or mittens so I figured I should make something I would actually wear. I have never knit gloves before so I am looking forward to learning (and possibly swearing).
I started these this morning and have finished the arm already!


I couldn't do this post with out adding this pic of Tiny with Fingers (Tiny is the person, fingers is the cat)