Knitting In The North

TCT: Retail Therapy

 

Generally, I'm a pretty frugal person.  I've even been called things like "tight" and "cheap", but I deny this fiercely.  I like to think of myself as a mindful spender - before I spend money, I think about it, and ask myself a few questions.  You know, like, "do I really need this?" or "do I have something already that could meet this need?" or "can I find it on freecycle/at the thrift store/borrow it from a friend?".  That kind of thinking.

This weekend, though, I felt the need to treat myself to a few goodies.  At my local SnB, someone showed up with the new Debbie Bliss magazine, and I knew this is one I just had to have!  Lots of pretty things in there, I just love Debbie Bliss.  Also thanks to my SnB, I have developed a new love for tea lattes.  I had tried my hand at making my very own London Fog, but it just wasn't the same.  This week, a friend suggested that I needed my own milk frother.  I found one at a little kitchen store in the mall, and it has made all the difference!  Now I can make my very own (Decaf Earl Gray, skim milk, spoon of honey, splash of vanilla) latte, any old time I feel like it.  I also treated myself to the new cup, on the sale shelf at Starbucks in the post-Valentine's day stuff.  It has a double wall, so my drink stays warmer a bit longer - I can really nurse a cup of tea, especially when I'm knitting.

  

Speaking of knitting, I'm almost finished my Almeara Gloves!  I'm just at the fingers on the second glove, and hope I'll have a chance to enjoy them before it gets too warm.  Up here, I don't think I have much to worry about!

It Works!

 

This vest was finished up the other night, and blocked yesterday.  After giving it a soak, I took it downstairs to lay out on a towel to dry.  I saw the dress form hanging up, and thought I'd try it on.  It was a perfect fit, which is very encouraging!  Even better, I think I've found a way to show off finished objects, without trying to convince Stuart to do a photo shoot of me modeling.  (It can be a long wait, and I get impatient.)

 

The Particulars:

Pattern - Back-to-School U-Neck Vest, from Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel

Yarn - Briggs & Little Regal, in turquoise heather, 3 skeins

Needles - Denise interchangeables, US 7

Notes & Modifications - I thought quite a bit about changing the double row of purl stitches, but couldn't think of a better alternative, so left it as written.  At the bust darts, I only increased three times, instead of five - I just didn't need the extra room, although I love the shaping!  I added about 2 inches in length to the upper body -it was important to me that the double line sit firmly under my bustline, not part-way up or right across the middle.  I may have gone a little too far - the waffle stitch stretched a bit more lengthwise upon blocking than I was expecting.  It looks okay on the dress form, so I'll have to give it a test drive to be sure.  Still, I'm very happy with it, and think it will be a funtional piece of my winter wardrobe.  I was concerned that the yarn I chose (from stash, hip, hip, hooray!) would be a little on the rough side, but it softened  considerably after a Euculan soak. 

TCT: The Looove Edition

 

By now, the dust from Valentine's Day 2009 has settled, and I'm still enjoying the lovely pink rose bush Stuart brought home for me.  Although I love flowers, I hate how quickly they fade, and Stuart has found the perfect solution.  He brings me little potted plants or bulbs, that can eventually find a home in our garden.  They last much longer than cut flowers, so I can enjoy the blooms for many days.  We had a peaceful, family Valentine's - we watched a movie together, ate at the coffee table in the living room, and each child had a little present to open from their Grandma & Grandpa.  Stuart & I celebrated in bits and pieces all weekend long - we snuck out for coffee on Friday night, and I made him a romantic breakfast, including heart-shaped toast for Sunday morning. 

Love has been everywhere the past week or so, and here's something else I'm loving!  I call it brain candy:

 

What you see in the picture is actually a double whammy - I love to read, and my favourite way to relax and recharge with a book is a good murder mystery.  I have recently discovered the author Laurie R. King, and am slowly working my way through her books, rationing them out like a special bit of chocolate.  I also came across Death by Cashmere, which was pretty cute.

As you can see, the books above are all library books.  About once every week or so, I take off to the library as soon as Stuart comes home from work.  I love to wander around the adult section all by myself, no small child in tow to keep track of or shush as I delve into new subjects and authors.  Our local library has been excellent in the last year or so at building the DVD collection, so I often come home with a good movie, as well.  Naturally, this form of entertainment is a big budget helper, as well.  During the weekdays, Gwenyth, Liam & I like to head down for Story Time, which is a fun outing for all of us - educational, lots of singing, other little people to visit with...  all good things.

Things are feeling pretty good on the knitting front this week!  I finished my U-Neck Vest last night (which I will show off once it's finished blocking), and am almost done the first Almeara Glove.  Currently, I'm debating either casting on for the Aleita Shell vest from Interweave Knits, or the February Lady Sweater...  What to do next?  What new project are you dreaming of?

Blushing and Basking

In the past week or so, I have been doubly honoured - first, by Cornflower with the Premio Dardos Award which "aims to acknowledge the values that every blogger shows in their effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values every day. These stamps were created with the intention of promoting fraternization between bloggers, a way of showing affection and gratitude for work that adds value to the Web.  Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person that has granted the award and his or her blog link. Pass the award to 15 blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgment".

As if that wasn't exciting and special enough, Judy let me know that she has named me a Kreativ Blogger!  These are simple little things, but so very meaningful to me - blogging is a funny thing.  Even though I - of course - blog for my own benefit, the people I have (virtually) met, and conversations I have had have become so important to me.  Like most bloggers out there, I love reading the comments left, and at times, wonder how many people are actually out there reading, or if I'm making any sort of impression at all.  These awards remind me that you are all out there, and I am thankful to hear that you enjoy reading the things I have to say.  I know both of these awards are meant to be passed on, but at the moment, I'm just going to bask...  I hope that's okay!

Ironically, I've never thought of myself as particularly creative, and even the knitting is often more about therapy and stress relief and sanity than it is about creativity.  The spark is there, though, and it's so nice to know you see it.  I have struggled over the years to find my true voice, and authenticity is something I strive to project, (especially now that I'm, you know, imperfect and all...).  In the spirit of full disclosure, I'm going to show you something. 

I mentioned some time ago that I wanted to make myself a duct tape dress form.  I got together with a girlfriend for a girl's night a while back, and had great fun being wrapped in shiny silver strips.  We followed the instructions in Custom Knits; it was a very sculptural sort of experience, and after I brought it home had to try it on to show everyone here.  (At that point, it felt a bit like one of those xray aprons you wear at the dentists' office, but somehow, it was still fun.)  It took me a bit to get motivated and set aside time to finish it up, and then halfway through that process realized that I didn't have enough stuffing, and needed to wait for another trip to the store.  Sigh.  Anyway, on Sunday the kids all came downstairs with me to finish stuffing and taping it up.  This morning, I got out my camera to show you, and what did I see?

 

Grrr.  All the tape I had used to seal it up had come loose, and my seam had burst!  How's that for authenticity?

This afternoon, I spent a little more time, and and used a bunch more duct tape, so that I can show you...

Ta Da!  A real, not-live Duct Tape Dress-Makers Dummy, complete with built-in hanger.  I've promised the kids that when I shrink so much that I need a new one, they can keep this one as a punching bag.  Suddenly, the whole family is involved in my "lose weight, get healthy" plan for the year!

TCT - Challenge Yourself

My sister has been on a big kick lately - figuring out personality types.  It turns out (after having her ask me questions over the phone), I'm a blend of Type A & B, which sounds about right to me.  The little blurb at the end of the test commented that I can be mellow, but appreciate the spice of a challenge in my life.  This really does hit the nail on the head for me; one thing that I find important in my life is to live peacefully and accept what's going on around me, but also to find ways to challenge myself all the time.  If I go too long without a challenge, I get restless and feel stagnant.

This, of course, is one of the things I most love about knitting.  I love that there is always something more to learn, something new to try.  Over the last year, I've kept busy with comfort knitting, but have recently begun to feel the need to push myself a bit again.  With that in mind, I've cast on this week for the Almeara Gloves in the latest Vogue Knitting.  

 

    

I chose a yarn that I thought would be hard wearing, and suitable with both of my winter coats; I ended up using Patons Classic Wool, in Black Tweed.  This is a charcoal-ey yarn, with flecks of every bright colour you can think of.  The yarn itself is very nice to work with, and I think will make soft, warm gloves.

This project involves several new-to-me elements.  I have not tried knitting gloves before, nor have I ever knit such complicated cables, and especially not from a chart.  Whew!  I need kid-free knitting time to work on these, and find myself flexing my ankles and pointing my toes at the ceiling when I sit working on them.  After an evening long session the night before last, I drove Stuart crazy tossing and turning in bed, dreaming about cable crossings.  Still, the challenge is invigorating, and I love diving deep into a project like this.

What are you doing to challenge yourself this month?

PS - Just wanted to give you a heads up on a yarn giveaway - While Tangerine Dreams lives here in BC, and spins beautiful art yarn.  She's giving a lovely Valentine-ish skein away right now!  (She also has a scrumptious baby boy, if you like that sort of thing.) 

The Many Faces of Liam

Liam is 8 months old already!  Why, oh, why, do the baby days pass in such a blur?  It feels like the first six months were such a slog of no-sleeping, nursing and crying, and suddenly, they're gone!

 

 

The kind of shot everyone likes to see!

 

 

I wish I could add a sound bite - this boys likes to growl!

 

 

He's not always such a ray of sunshine, though.

 

 

But I think he'll be happier once he can get around on his own.  So far, he can only go in reverse!

 

 

There's still lots to see all around, though, even if he can't get there yet.

 

 

Bathtime is one of Liam's favourite parts of the day.

 

 

His toy lobster needs some special attention every night...

 

 

... and there's lots of splashing to be done!

 

 

My favourite part - big belly laughs, and lots of giggles!  My, what a big boy!

Take Care Tuesday

It's finally here - Vest-uary!  I've been excited about this for a while now, and was thrilled to cast on for my February project - the Back-to-School U-Neck Vest, from Fitted Knits.  I have also had a great deal of fun checking out all the other vest patterns out there, and adding new ones to my Ravelry queue, and reorganizing the queue, and searching through the stash...  All kinds of great knitterly entertainment!

 

Here is my vest - I will admit, my enthusiasm was slightly dimmed when I thought about the inches and inches of 2x2 ribbing that I'm in the midst of now, but still.  Lots of fun.  If I manage to finish it in a reasonable amount of time, I just might cast on for another - I was thinking the Aleita shell from Interweave Knits.   That's me - much happier planning all the wonderful things I could do, rather than actually doing them!  As long as I'm having fun, right?

So, I have a question for you - how much water do you drink in a day?  I've been thinking a lot about my water consumption, and have ramped it up somewhat.  I definitely find that the more I drink, the better I feel all 'round - how about you?  I think taking care of yourself is about making the small changes, and this is one that is working for me.

Do you ever get the feeling that someone is watching you?  You know, you're working away on something, and suddenly, you feel eyes on you...  I was shoveling the deck off yesterday (taking care of myself through daily exercise, dontcha know), leaving Stuart & Liam in the house, when I had that particular feeling, and looked up to see this: