Knitting In The North

FO: Couvercle

I love hats, and have been told many times that I am "a hat person", (whatever that means).  Even though I know they flatter me, I still tend not to wear them very often, probably for the same reason I don't often wear jewellery, even when I have a piece I love.  I just don't think of it, and don't bother with the extras.  Who knows, maybe this is the finished knit that will change that?

Particulars:

Pattern - Couvercle, by Kira Dulaney

Yarn - Araucania Nature Cotton, 1 skein, green

Needles - 5.5mm

Size - Adult Small

Notes - I added a bit of length to this hat, knitting a few extra rounds in the straight section, before beginning the decreases.  Although I didn't add extra length to the brim, I wish that I had knit it just one row longer; I don't think it has the same brim-feel as in the pattern's pictures.  I was very worried that this would be far too small for me, but it grew a lot during blocking, which was a relief. 

 

Sadly, I'm the first to admit that although I love the hat, it looks better on Katie than me.  She just has that cool factor, that je ne sais quoi...  (Plus, she's beautiful, so how can stuff not look wonderful on her?)  It's still my hat, but I have a feeling it will turn into a joint custody kind of thing in time.  And I don't mind - too much.

Spring Fever

Even though spring is barely showing it's face around here, I'm so feeling spring fever these days.  Just like one of the kids, I'm filled with creative energy, and I want to do everything.  I want to cast on for new projects, spin, sew, sketch, watercolour, garden, hike, run, swim!  Heck, I even want to cook!

It may be, in part, that Liam has recently started sleeping through the night (Praise the Maker!!), and so I'm getting big chunks of sleep rather than the little naps I was experiencing all night long.  It may be all the sunshine we're being treated to, or the green outside, or the rising temperatures... whatever it is, I'm thankful for it.

Now, we'll just have to see if there are enough hours in the day!

Sweet Sunday

 Going for a Sunday afternoon walk with the family is one of my most favourite things to do, and this was the first weekend it's been nice enough to comfortably take the crew out.

 We packed Liam up into our trusty baby backpack - he loves going along for the ride, and if he should happen to get bored or need attention, there's always mom's hair to grab!

 If we try really hard, we can get everyone into the same photo frame - but man, you should see the outtakes.

 About halfway into our walk, we had a new friend join us.  I'm never sure if these guys know what they're doing, but this one followed along beside us for quite a while, driving our poor dog crazy.  I always imagine them chuckling to themselves as they scamper around in the leaves, and chatter at us.

  Of course we had to stop and check out the ducks on the pond...

 But most of our time was spent running, and running, and running some more!

S-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g

After writing the other day that I very much want to learn to sketch, I decided that I had waited long enough, and dug out my copy of The Creative License, by Danny Gregory.  I read the first part of it this morning, and then sat down to make my first attempt at a drawing.  The writing in this book inspires me and fills me with enthusiasm - for the first time, instead of telling myself that this is something I just can't do, I'm deciding that drawing is definitely something I can learn.  And I am going to!  Even if it feels strange, and completely outside of my comfort zone.  Stretching is good, right?

We're getting ready for Mother's Day here - what do you think these will become?

Green

At this time of year, all I want to look at is green.  My eyes feel starved, filmed over with grey and brown and dirty white, and I long for some sunshine and new growth.  In honour of Earth Day, here are some green things in our house right now:

Brian came home from Scouts the other night with this carrot - he's very faithfully making sure there is water in the dish, and is thrilled to see the green shoots coming out of the top.  I love how even a super-cool six year old (and his even cooler big sister) can be delighted to watch a carrot grow.

Brian's been asking me, for longer than I care to admit, for a pair of green socks.  We're calling these his Earth Day socks, and he's very pleased to see me turning some of my creative focus to the benefit of someone other than Gwenyth. Of all of the kids, Brian is the one most appreciative of knitted goodness, which makes him an absolute joy to knit for!  These are plain vanilla socks, knit on 48 stitches from Patons Kroy, and are coming along nicely.

 

A tomato plant!!  There is absolutely no smell that says spring to me like the smell of a tomato plant.  At the moment, this one is living on my kitchen counter; whenever I'm in the kitchen I can't resist giving the leaves a little squeeze, releasing the scent.  I found this one at our local farmer's market, and the man selling them tells me it's a Sub-Arctic, so surely it should do well here.  It's not quite warm enough to plant, but I shall enjoy it inside until it is!

What do you see that is green today?

TCT: Celebrate the Small Moments

I love blogging, and I love reading blogs.  I find it very interesting to see a repeating theme or idea running through seemingly unconnected sites.  I've been thinking a lot lately about the little moments in life, and how lovely they really are.  How thankful I am for them.  I was pleased to come across this post at Chatting At The Sky, about the gentle art of thankful noticing, and even more pleased to see that she is hosting a link-fest of observation today; you might like to check it out!

This morning, I was up early with Liam.  After the essentials were done, Liam went off to play and I carried on with the rest of my morning routine.  I was in the kitchen making Stuart coffee, singing "Feeling Groovy" when I looked up - Liam had "found" me!  The sound of my singing had caught his attention, and he was peeking around the corner, head bobbing along with the song.  

One of my most favourite things at this stage of babyhood is being found - Liam follows me around as I go through my day, and the delight on his face when he comes across me making beds or cleaning the bathroom or folding laundry is like a ray of sunshine piercing my day.   

Precious, and fleeting. And again, I am so thankful.

So Random

Arianwen tagged me a million years ago for one of those 6 Random Things things and I thought it would be fun to share with you on this cold, wet, wet day.  Here are some Things about myself, which you may or may not know.

1) I just finished knitting a super secret present for my Mother, and I feel so terribly clever, I can hardly wait to show it to you!

2) I often feel so terribly clever, but it seems very full of myself to tell you, so I don't.

3) I like doing laundry, from making our own laundry soap, to folding the nice clean stuff at the end.  There is something deeply satisfying about seeing all those piles of clean clothing, ready to go.

4) I hate vacuuming, and can count on one hand how many times I've used our vacuum (purchased 1 1/2 years ago).

5) I have a copy of The Creative License, and want very badly to learn how to sketch and paint watercolour.  I haven't tried it yet, because of the whole "I'm afraid to be imperfect" thing.

6) I still don't know what I want to do, professionally, when I grow up.  Do you know what you want to do when you grow up?

Because I never tag anyone for these, I thought today I might!  How about  Sheri, Sarah, Marce, & Denise?  (I'm sure I should do 6, to be all matchy, but Liam's hanging on my leg, so I gotta run!)

FO: Peacock Sweater

It's only taken a year and a half, but I FINALLY finished this little sweater for Gwenyth!  Just in time, it looks like, too!  I was lulled into thinking I had lots of time, forgetting that even when it doesn't look like it, those darn kids keep growing.  Gwenyth, of all the children, has had the hardest time adjusting to the idea of me working, and accepting the changes in our daily and weekly schedule.  I've been trying to focus on her a tiny bit extra, just to let her know I still love her and all that.  Funny girl, though - spending the time with her getting her dressed and taking these pictures was, I think, more meaningful to Gwen than the actual sweater.  I guess I know what her love language is!

Particulars:

Pattern - Peacock, by Holli Yeoh

Yarn - Opal sock yarn, 100g ball (I'm sorry, the ball band is long gone, so I can't tell you the colourway) and 2 balls of Phildar Preface

Needles - 2.75mm & 3mm straights

Size - 4T

Buttons - 6 shiny navy blue plastic buttons

Notes & Modifications - I picked this pattern because I had this random ball of sock yarn lying around.  It was sent to me in a sock club package, and couldn't imagine knitting it into socks, but liked the colours and wanted to do something with it.  This colourway just screams "Gwenyth" to me, and when I happened across the Peacock pattern in a LYS in Jasper I knew it would be a perfect match.  Because I had so much of the patterned yarn, and wanted as much bright colour for Gwen as possible, I knit quite a bit more of the fronts in the patterned yarn than the solid.  I took it as far as the armhole decreases, knowing that the change in width would change the striping action, and not wanting to get into that.  I really like the change, and I'm glad I made it. 

I also significantly decreased the length of the body - the pattern called for it to be about 6" longer, and not only did I not have enough yarn for that, but I didn't like the idea of this cardigan hitting upper to mid-thigh on Gwenyth.  The finished length, after blocking, is about 7" to the armholes, and 14" from the shoulder seam.  This makes a waist length cardi for Gwen, great with "regular clothes", and even sweeter over a dress.

While I love this on Miss Gwen, and am sooo very happy that I finished it after all this time, I don't think I would rush to knit this one again.  Knitting a sweater out of sock yarn is simply too long a process for this FO-gratification-lover, and I found the finishing quite fiddly.  Because of the scalloping of the lace pattern, sewing the shoulder seams and inserting the sleeves was a bit of a nuisance.  I had to sew in a straight line, ignoring the points formed by the fabric, which doesn't sound very complicated, but was not at all pleasant for me.  Still, it's a very sweet pattern, and a really great use of sock yarn that you know you don't want to knit socks out of!

FO: Almeara Gloves

 

I knew as soon as I saw these gloves on Jared Flood's blog that I would have to knit them.  I was feeling the need of a challenge, and this pattern was a perfect fit.  There is something so immensely gratifying about trying something new, and having it turn out a success!

 

Particulars:

Pattern - Almeara Gloves, Vogue Knitting Winter 08/09

Yarn - Patons Classic Wool Tweed, Black Tweed colourway, 1 ball (!!)

Needles - 4.5mm bamboo DPNs

Notes - I made no modifications to this pattern, although when I was almost finished the first glove, I came across this blog post, which made me wish I had added some length to the cuff.  That same post shared some errata as well.  I was a little disappointed in the number of mistakes in the pattern - none of them were insurmountable, but I know Jared Flood is very careful to test the patterns he releases on his own for errors; I wished several times that he had just put this one out himself, instead of publishing it in Vogue.  I heard someone say they call this magazine "Vague Knitting", and I can see why - I understand mistakes happen, but it really is annoying. 

This pattern had several new things for me - I hadn't knit such complicated cables, nor had I ever followed such a complex chart.  In preparation, I enlarged the chart in the magazine, and used magnets to fix it to a cookie sheet.  I would sit and knit, metal pan on my lap, holding the chart with key, a highlighter to cross off each completed round, and my cable needle.  At one side was the magazine with all the cable crossings spelled out, and I would knit, holding myself so stiffly that my toes would be lifted off the floor and pointed at the ceiling!  By the second glove I was much more relaxed, and quite enjoyed the process.  I am very happy with the finished product - the gloves are soft and warm and squishy, and the yarn was a very good match for the pattern.  I had originally purchased two balls, thinking I would need to break into the second, but now plan to knit a hat to match for next winter.  I knit this pattern in a mini-KAL with Denise from KnittingDen - if you're interested, check hers out, too, they are so lovely!

TCT: Gratitude, Always Gratitude

I feel like I talk a lot about gratitude - here in the blog, around the house, with my friends.  But I have to say, I've been thinking about gratitude in a new way, and it's changing the way I look at so many things.  I've recently re-read the book The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule, and was especially struck by the way the author deals with gratitude as a part of preparing the creative mind.  She comments, "When we feel grateful, we feel full - full of love, full of inspiration, full of ideas, and full of creative spirit."  What a powerful emotion! 

I can tend to be a pretty negative person.  A complainer, even.  It is easy, so easy for me to look at all the things wrong in my home, my community, my government, my world.  In the past, I have kept what I called my "thankful journal", a book that I would write down things I was particularly thankful for.  This journal was instrumental in bringing me out of the baby blues after Gwenyth was born, and I have turned to it many times over the years as a way to keep me on track, keep my mind wandering down the right path.  Over time, though, this journal has become almost a means to an end.  You know, "Oh, I'm feeling a little dark, better get disciplined and pull out the thankful journal."  But what I've been seeing of late is the JOY and ENERGY that is in gratitude.  In giving thanks - to God, to my family, to those who have input into my life.  The peace that I find in thanksgiving is a great and awesome thing, but even more so is the joy that is filling me as I make this a part of my daily life.

Will you share with me?  What are you thankful for today?  Me, it's all about Liam's chubby fingers.  He's reached that stage where he's always into something, and I spend a great deal of time cleaning up after him, and cleaning him up.  Today, as I was washing those sweet hands - again - I stopped and looked.  And am so very thankful.