Resurfacing

Working for yourself is often a great gift and a great load on your shoulders.  These last weeks, I have been experiencing the latter.  Evening with the little guy go quick and then it is back to work the next day.  On the weeks he is with his Dad, I have been trying to cram every bit of time in on projects that at the end of the day (8 or 9 PM) - the most interesting activity is sleeping.

So - suffice to say - there has been very little knitting activity.

Well, except for this....

What is it you ask?  Well, I had some unspent Christmas GC's for Chapters and treated myself to....

A KOBO!  I could not justify spending $40 on their lame excuses for cases, so I found a ball of yarn and went to work.  Knit it in Moss Stitch so it would be nice and thick.  The BF laughed at my crafty-ness and said that it looked like a robot.....

I have already loaded a few of the knitting patterns I am using and like that I don't have 12-15 loose pages in my knitting bag - half way through The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman, and really love the E Ink display.  Also the fact that it comes pre-loaded with 100 classic books (most of which I have NEVER read).  

I did a bit of research on Kindle vs. KOBO, and just liked the simplicity of this interface and that there is not a GIANT keyboard at the bottom that I will not use.  It's no iPad, but I current own 2 Macs, 2 PC's and an iPhone - so another computer was not in the cards :)

OK - enough slacking..... back to work!

New Project - Lila's Cardigan

I was very happy to get some fantastic yarn for a Christmas Gift that I wanted to use.  I HATE itchy yarn and when I was gifted 11 skeins of Patons Angora Bamboo, I wanted to find a project to knit ASAP.  11 skein of this wool seems like a lot, but at a low yardage I only had 880 yds to work with.

Off I went to the trust Ravelry site and searched for patterns under 900 yds.  I came upon this great pattern...

Lila's Cardigan

Love the detail on the arm

Being a girl who loves layered looks, this is perfect.  The make-up of the pattern is top down with some really cute finishings to make this an easy but very modern looking fit.

Love the halo on the yarn - looks cozy already!

My Project Bag

For someone who generally had many WIPs on the go, my current project bag is VERY light.  I have only 2 projects on the go, and I am trying to keep it that way - so...

"Dear Ravelry:

Please stop posting fantastic patterns on your website.  I am like a crow with a shiny object, I get distracted and look away.  Next thing I know - there is another WIP in my knitting basket and NO finished projects...

Sincerly, Lisa (one who cannot control her startsis)"

Hoodie for Carson
My Own Pattern
Patons Classic Wool - US 8 Needles

The Hoodie for Carson is going really quick.  It is so strange that there are so few hoodie patterns online - even really simple ones.  I plan to post the pattern when it is done - actually am looking for some test knitters - so if there is anyone out there wanting to knit a unisex top town hoodie the sizing will be 6 months, 12 months, 2, 4, 6, 8.

Blanket for Chloe
Chasing Rainbows Pattern
Berroco Baby Bamboo - US 5 Needles

No - this is not a GIANT HAT!  It is a super cute baby blanket pattern on Ravelry - wanted something modern and different - the end result will be a bog round circular blanket.  If you haven't knit with the Baby Bamboo - it is SUPER soft ad Machine Washable for my (overworked / two-child / bad with washing instructions) little sister :)

Off to the couch and some Food Network PVR!

Technology Extravaganza

Getting sick of my LAME iPhone photos?

I sure was, so I took a trip into Staples yesterday and got a FANTASTIC deal on a easy point and shoot digital camera.

I got a Canon Powershot A490 - the best part was that it was marked down to $129, and then at the till it was marked down to $79.  DEAL!  It is a nice super portable camera to use for quick photos at home and at work.  I have no real interest in getting to in-depth with photography - so this definitely fits for me.

The other new techy pick I have been playing with is the Flip HD Video Camera.

I picked it up over the holidays for $99 on Chapters.ca with some Christmas Money.  I was disappointed that I did not have any great video of the "crazy boy" opening his gifts and I have found that the digital camera/video option is a little lame, so after reading some great reviews I picked up the Flip.  It takes and hour of video in HD with great image stabilization, easy download to a Mac and a really nice little emailing app so that you can share the video with family.  Since all of my family is across the country, they miss the fun little things a 2 year old likes to do (perform) for everyone - so I figured this would be great.

Add to that I picked up the latest iLife for my Mac which has a great video editing program that anyone can use to string together lots of little videos into one DVD.

Ok - enough nerd-talk..... back to work!

Cedum Completed

Sedum from Jane Richmond

Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Chunky

US 10 Needles

Cedum is now complete and super cozy.  The moss stitch made for a great bulky jacket texture that I am sure I will get a ton of use of.  No modeled photos as my camera has gone MIA and taking a self porttrait with an iPhone is not too simple barring the standard "I am in the bathroom standing at the mirror" shot.

Here are the modifications I did:

• Increased an additional 20 stitches to make it a little larger
• No Decreases for the waist
• Did the collar then the button bands
• No Buttonholes - I did 6 stitch single crochets for each button, which works well for the fit

Love this pattern - worked great, nice and quick with 15 sts per inch!

Ten Stitch Wave

So part of working on a computer all day is managing distractions.  Something I am not great at after 10 days of stress free holidays.

While talking a break from my email - I came upon this fantastic scarf...

Ten Stitch Wave Pattern

If you are a member of Ravelry, you can get it for free here....

In bright colours, it totally reminds me of something that a Who from Whoville would wear, or Willy Wonka or someone with a crazy personality.  But then done in simple colours could be very modern and chic looking.

Seriously, how fantastic are the designers on Ravelry - I always find some sort of inspiration there...