Now it's really been awhile...

My blogging has been like my knitting lately...nonexistent...
I have a really good reason this time!

Welcome Patrick Brendan Court
January 21st 2010
6 lbs 3oz


Patrick is (mostly) a joy to have around. He's a very calm and happy baby. even when he fusses he (so far) has a good reason. He sleeps well at night (except for the occasional sleepless night). Yes I know I have a lot of brackets with adjustments to my statements...but if he was quiet, calm, and non fussy all the time, he would be freakishly lethargic.

Our hospital stay was a long one (5 days) due to minor complications on both our parts, but we have been home for a week and a half and are settling in well.

I haven't been knitting or spinning much at all. I got half a stranded mitten done, and half a bobbin of blue merino/silk done in the past week and a half. I am having minor difficulties with my wrist due to the placement of the IV (not the fault of the nurse, apparently the fault of my curvy, bendy veins). I also find I am able ot sit and do nothing. This is new to me. I can sit and not make things or do things...I can sit and watch TV and ONLY TV. It's weird. I'm not even that tired. It's like I subconsciously believe I have created my quota for awhile and am relaxing. Granted it's not all relaxing with a newborn, there is lots of feeding and diaper changing and laundry and tidying up and holding baby...feeding can take up a huge chunk of time...he eats 2-3 times more than the average baby his age (and he was preterm!) which makes for long feeding times, but I am not complaining because apparently he is sucking the life force out of me...in a totally good way-I'm shedding pregnancy weight like water!

Hopefully I will get my crafting/knitting/spinning bug back soon, there's all kinds of baby stuff I could make...

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!)

Genius!!!

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

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!

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)

Out with the old and in with the new!

The Tree of Life socks are coming along well.



I don't particularly like the heel gussets,

if I were to do these socks again I would do "normal" gussets since I don't have feet shaped like high heels. But otherwise I love these socks and I love the pattern! 1 sock down, 1 to go!!!

We got some new furniture so things were a bit hectic with getting rid of old furniture and bringin in new stuff and generally shifting things around. Luckily a friend's son is moving out on his own so we were able to easily get rid of some furniture that way. Having three households worth of furniture (our old stuff, our new stuff and Tiny's brother's stuff) would have been a bit excessive! So now we have almost all new furniture and almost all "good" stuff! I was so happy to find furniture in a colour I (we) liked and a fabric I don't hate. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find furniture that is not microfibre, leather, or faux leather that cost less than 5 grand? I hate leather, it's cold, uncomfortable, and sticks to your skin. I don't like the way microfibre looks and I think it always looks kind of dirty and dusty. Finding this couch and loveseat set was a huge big deal!

I love the new furniture and the cats are under the impression that we bought it just for them.


I don't think they understand that they aren't actually humans...

Distractions

So...I started knitting non-craft show, non-Tiny Sweater stuff...
I am knitting a pair of worsted weight socks in a very bright green and black variegated yarn for a co-worker of Tiny's...he has size 11W feet...meh...but then I got distracted by the February Lady Sweater and I knit that for a while in a beautiful rich red-red. I almost finshed the raglan increases by the second day..but on Christmas Eve I picked up another skein of Starry (this totals 3) to go with the Black Pearl Starry I already have slated for the Tree of Life Socks. This sat in the basket for a full day before I had to cast them on...Christmas day evening I cast them on and started knitting away. I am trying out a 9" Hiya Hiya circular for this project. I love DPN's and I generally don't ahve any problems with tension with stranded knitting except at the bridges between DPN's. The circular was HORRIBLE for the first 3 rows...and all of a sudden SHAZZAM! It started working so quickly and easily. I love it! Except for having to use a stitch marker-that's really annoying. My tension is better, my knitting is faster. And the yarn is truly wonderful. After knitting Tiny's sweater in a scratchy icelandic yarn and all the other not buttery soft yarns I have been using-this yarn is almost innappropriate feeling on my hands, it's soft and squishy and yummy.

I LOVE THESE SOCKS!