knock, knock...

Whose there?

Kitteh, that's who! Sorry for the extended absence, but my mum forgot how to use this blog thing! My life is sooo boring lately - too much typing and angst, not enough playing, catnip, and napping in the sunshine.

Maybe 2008 will be a bit more inspiring for the crafty bird? There has been knitting, and travel, and the acquisition of a new home. All good. However, overall 2007 wasn't the best on the record. But change is on the wind and the stresses of the past year will soon (soon!) be over. Then...catnip for everyone!


See ya next year folks! I think I'll go scratch the stairs now :)
~Oscar

The egg has hatched

You know, I just love reading all of the blogs out there. Unfortunately, that can take a lot of time out of my day! Especially bad when I am trying.to.write.my.thesis! Ah well. I have been busy with other things.

As I hinted in my last post, I've been working on a secret project. I've become a first time home owner, with my lovely guy (and Oscar too, of course)! I am so happy to have the opportunity to purchase my own place - especially in Victoria. We are now living in a wonderful 3-bedroom townhouse on a quiet little street close to downtown. There is lots of work to be done, but we are looking forward to making the place our own. Very importantly, I have my own craft room/office! Yah! Finally, place to put all of my various yarn, fabric, paper, and ribbons (and to work in peace and quiet). I have been designing the room in my head, but it will have to wait until later this year to be painted as I just don't have the time right now to tackle such a project. I'm thinking robin's egg blue for the walls ... any suggestions as to what paint/colour I should use? Oh, these look like pretty colours:

Yes, I've finished my scarf from Victorian Lace Today, but haven't had an opportunity to block it out. Actually, I haven't been knitting much at all these past few weeks. My wrists and arms have taken a beating with all of the cleaning (new place), moving, cleaning (old place), typing (thesis), and computer use (that blog reading again) I've been occupying my time with. I am itching to finish my Icarus shawl and start something new though!


Here's a pic of the unblocked VLT scarf - I'll list out the details in a later post once I get a pretty picture.

Victorian Lace in Amsterdam

Hi bloggy world! How are ya? Better yet, how am I? Since I read blogs every day, I really feel I know what everyone is up to, but I have to remember that I must post as well! Lots of news to tell...

Ok, well I have been a bit busy traveling. At the beginning of June I went to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, for ten days to attend and present at a conference and also for a few days of rest and relaxation. This is my second visit to Amsterdam and I it confirmed that I really love this city.












I even had a chance to meet up with a knit group and meet some bloggers (Sorry, didn't get everyone's name - but if you visit here, please say hi!). How awesome is it that you can travel half way around the world and feel comfortable enough to go socialize and knit with people you have never met before. Knitting rocks.

My special travel project for my trip to Amsterdam was the "scarf with the open and solid diamond lace edging from Weldon's, 1904" (phew); p. 90, Victorian Lace Today.

I didn't really get a lot of knitting done on the trip and I am now a lot farther along than this photo shows. I love how the border is attached on this scarf by knitting the end section and then picking up stitches along the straight side and continuing up the body of the scarf. The middle section is fairly straightforward and knits up quickly. I really am enjoying knitting with the Addi Turbo lace needles as well as the Handmaiden Sea Silk yarn - the colours are so amazing!

A warning about this pattern though: the photos show a scarf with 3 points, however, the pattern instructs to do 4 repeats of the border chart. I actually did the four repeats and found that the scarf would be fairly wide, so frogged back and continued on with 3 points on the edge. I'm glad I made this decision as I wanted more of a long scarf that I can wrap around my neck several times.

In other knitting, I have progressed a bit on my Icarus shawl, but haven't put much time into it lately.

I'm also working on a pair of pink socks in Regia yarn. I'm not one to wear a lot of pink, but I love it when the pink is vibrant and paired with so many other colours. And a bright pair of socks perks me up when all I seem to wear in the Winter are jeans and t-shirts.

My other projects, well, they are collecting dust...

I recently had a chance to see the Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl-Mcfee, when she was in Victoria during the Victoria Knit Out weekend (June 9th). She was fantastic! Very entertaining and inspiring. I had her sign my copy of her book and got the obligatory nerdy blogger picture. Oh, and I am holding the sock! See it there at the bottom of the pic!


I also had the chance to meet a lovely fellow blogger, Alyson of The YoYo Knits and her husband, Travis. What a nice couple - I felt so bad for them as the weather was not the best while they were here on their honeymoon. What can you say about west coast weather!?


Speaking of the Knit Out...I have a fibre purchase confession! Well, at least one that I am going to tell you about (yes, there have been a few other accidental yarn/fibre purchases lately. Chock it up to stress). I found some beautiful hand-dyed, lace weight silk in a rusty coral colour from Indigo Moon on Gabriola Island:

And some fingering weight merino in pumpkin (yum). As well as a wrap counter hand-turned by Edward Tabachek of Winnipeg, Manitoba (hmm, can't find a web link), in a beautiful Ash wood.

More exciting news (well, for me), but I'll save that for another post ... soon ... I promise!

Take care!

Ravelry!

I have been hearing about this fantastic new web-database system called Ravelry for a while now - I signed up for a beta account - and guess what! I got one! Soooo excited. This just appeals to the inner (and outer) organizer in me. And, as someone who organizes their closet by colour and sleeve length you know this is perfect for me.

Ravelry is just full of useful ways of cataloguing and organizing your stash, needles, works in progress, knitalongs, potential projects, etc. You can see who is knitting a project, or using a yarn you are interested in...very fun.

Have you heard about it? Go check it out!

Unfortunately, I have to work work work for the next two months and can't dive right in. But I will be taking breaks to work on my Ravelry site-no doubt about it. You can find me under username: Craftybird.

Ciao!

Hedera!

I really loved making these Hedera socks.... I don't know if it was the easy-to-memorize lace repeat or the beautiful Fleece Artist sock yarn, but I enjoyed every minute of them. The pattern can be found at knitty and is by the wonderful sock designer, Cookie A. I have a few more of her patterns I would like to knit (especially the knee highs - what is it about knee highs? Love them).

I find every time I make a pair of socks I get a little bit better at fitting them to my feet. These were knit from the top down with 2.5 mm addi turbos - magic loop style (my fav). For my size 7 feet, I used 84 grams of the generous 105 gram skein of Fleece Artist. I made sure to add a few pattern repeats to the leg to make them nice and long. As well, I decreased a few extra times on the foot to compensate for my narrow arch.


They are still a bit loose as the yarn stretches a bit with wear, but sometimes I don't want to wear really fitted socks. The heel is a bit high and I would reduce the rows on the heel flap if I were to make these again. Don't they look fabulous in my Dansko's though?

And who is that trying to get in on the picture?


Of course, my most photogenic kitty, Oscar.

Ummm... hi!

Ok, phew, glad I finally started a post! Talk about procrastination to it's extreme! I think my usual school procrastination spilled over into my crafting life, causing me not to post for over two (two!!!) months. The funny thing is all of the guilt that goes into *not* posting - very crazy. Well, I didn't mean to be away for so long and, now I have a few things to post about. Maybe not all at once though! School is crazy busy right now and will be for a few more months, so please excuse my continuted sporadic posts. I am finishing up my semester right now with a paper to write and exams and essays to mark. And I am trying to get a draft of my thesis in to my supervisor. Really, I gotta get this thing done this summer! Wish me good writing vibes and extended periods of intense concentration please...

I have been knitting on a few things over the past few months. I finished my pair of Fetching gloves and have worn them quite a bit during our cool spring days.
Pattern: Fetching from knitty.com
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino - just over 1 ball of the yummy dusty blue
Needles: 4.0mm rosewood dpns
Modifications: I knit a few cable repeats at the knuckles for length. As well (not pictured) I sewed in some elastic thread around the finger opening as the edge was curling back and driving me nuts! Much better with the elastic. Oh, and I accidently left out one knit row between the cable repeats on one glove - very handy for identifying which glove is for what hand.

I'm still working away on the Icarus shawl from Interweave Knits and have started with chart #2. I won't bore you with a picture of the green blob yet. The yarn is Sweet Georgia handdyed lace weight and it is really beautiful.

And Jared...oh Jared. I'm developing a love-hate relationship with you. I.just.can't.get.gauge. My guy will just have to wait until next winter before you are ready for him. For you shall not defeat me! I just need easy knitting right now!

Oh, and I finished my Vogue Embroidered Stockings! Very nice.

And my Hedera socks - also completed and worn quite a few times. Love them.

I shall return ... soon ... with pictures of finished items and those still in the works. Thank you for your patience friends, and your kind comments during my absence. I'm still lurking around your blogs so I really don't feel as if I've been gone at all.

The long-awaited River post

Well, I think it's about time I posted about the long-finished River Shawl! I really love my finished River and have worn it a number of times. I did manage to finish it for my partner's Christmas party in December, which was my main goal, and have worn it as a scarf on other occassions. The yarn, Kid Silk Haze, is so lovely...not scratchy at all! It is wonderfully warm as well so I'm sure I'll get much use out of this knit!

The pattern is fairly simple, but took me forever to finish (due to many stops and starts on my part). So my start date was sometime in early 2006 and my end date was December 2006. The pattern is from Rowan Magazine no. 38 and was designed by Sharon Miller. I used a little less than 2 balls of Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Black and the shawl was knit on 7mm Aero needles (no I don't mind the cheap plastic needles!).

I did not make the little scrunchy thing, but might in the future with the remaining ks haze.

I just wanted to thank those of you who patiently drop by here looking for a post...so sorry for the long pauses between postings!

The lack of light when I am home has prevented any decent picture of current projects, but I have been working on my Hedera socks (turning the heel on #2); Icarus shawl (slowing plugging along in chart 1); Jarrett sweater (yeah! I started a sleeve to see how the sizing will work out); Fetching gloves (yes, I started another project!). It looks like the forcast this weekend is for sun so I hope to get some fab pics of my knits soon!

I wanted to give a big heartfelt Yeah! to Ellen and Dana and Ruth-anne who have come together to form our own little Victoria knitting group! I just love getting out for an evening to chat and knit with these wonderful women!

And Happy B-day to Kathy -- all the best to you dear!

Take care all!