Lila's Cardigan

A rare modeled version of I believe to be the first sweater I have TOTALLY loved!

Lila's Cardigan
Patons Angora Bamboo - 10.5 skeins

Need to find a shawl clip - I grabbed an old piece of my grandma's costume jewellery I got found recently to show off my project.  Would normally wear it with grey or black underneath (not teal), but thought about taking a modelled shot while I still had hair/makeup done from work.  With a home office these days, the dressed to be in public look is a little more rare :)

To Blog or Not to Blog

So, my last post about Resurfacing was clearly a GIANT lie!

With a very bustling new business, the knitting world had been pretty neglected.

This weekend, I was left to my own devices for most of the last 2 days and have spent the evening hours knitting up a storm.  I have a very soft, perfect fitting Lila's Cardigan drying on the back of the couch.

Will grab a nice closure for that sweater tomorrow and think I might have the very first new knitted object that I cannot WAIT to wear!

So photos to come!

Having some issues with keeping up with the blog.  With Ravelry being such a great option to share and see what other people are doing, I am starting to re-consider going back to the blog.... thoughts from others?

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...

Sedum

Sedum

My Sedum jacket is working out great.  I have been knitting up a storm over my little holiday and am happy with how this is working out.

I did a few modifications

• Made it bigger by 10 stitches
• Did the collar first and then the button bands
• Knit the sleeves flat (for some reason when I go from knitting in the round to flat, there is a noticeable difference in the stitch definition) 

So far so good.  Hoping to have this done on the weekend - just have to find my steamer - haven't seen it since the move....

My Elf on a Shelf Brilliance.... or so I thought!

Almost one full week of no work has been FANTASTIC.  The fact that I still have another 4 days... even better.  Well there has been lots of knitting and relaxing and movie watching.  Not much else.

I had the best idea this Christmas, and I have since found out that my brilliant idea was already thought up.... sad.

The Nutcracker - a.k.a. Santa's Spy

My little guy picked out this nutcracker when we were getting decorations before the holidays.  I of course agreed to bring him home and he decided that he should sit on the mantle so that he could watch everything.  That gave me an idea.  Thinking I was brilliant, I told him that the nutcracker watches kids for Santa and would make sure that he was being good over the holidays.  Of course this worked like a charm on everything from eating dinner, to cleaning up toys.

Thinking I was the smartest Mommy on the planet, I told one of my friends with an equally unruly toddler.  She quickly said "oh ya - like Elf on the Shelf?"  I quickly was brought up to speed.  

FO - Bubby

Bubby Pattern from Ravelry
Us 5 Needles - Patons Classic Wool

Wanted to whip up a little extra something for Carson's Christmas Stocking and found Bubby!  It was a super quick and cute way to use up some yarn.  I actually stuffed "Bubs" here with some other yarn scraps instead of stuffing.  Worked great!

My little guy is 2 and is all about his "stuffies" - mostly all 6 - 8" plush toys that he can easily carry around.  Hope he like this little guy - I am sure he will :)

FO's - The Caelum Sweater and Hat fit for a Boyfriend

Caelum Sweater & Boyfriend Hat

My reluctant model shows off his new hat and the sweater for his cousin...

Wanted to try on the sweater since the two boys are the same size, and I plan to make one for Carson in blue.  The hat was to be for the Boyfriend, but clearly was made too small and is a perfect fit for Carson :)

New Project - Chasing Rainbows

Chasing Rainbows
Yarn:  Sirdar Baby Bamboo

I cast on another project last night and it is already got me hooked...  I have been looking for a great and fun baby blanket pattern for my sister.  She is due in April and is having a little girl, so I wanted to get started right away as I know that projects like this tend to get started and left.

I am using Sirdar Baby Bamboo - which I love - since it is super soft and machine washable - which is paramount for a new Mom.

I have one more colour to be added to it, a red-pink colour - so I think this is going to turn out really pretty and bright!

New England Knits

New England Knits

It is not very often these days that I will shell out $30+ for a knitting book - I was really bad for that in the past - A.K.A. - would buy a book for just one pattern.  I am getting cheaper more spend conscious and tend to buy a lot of patterns that I can download.

But I came upon this book on Ravelry and was totally blown away by how many patterns were in this book that I would knit.  Here are my favourites!

Advertising on Ravelry

Wondering if anyone out there has done any advertising on Ravelry?

Thinking of putting a small notebook ad out for one of my patterns and seeing what comes of it - there were 2 that sell well - which do you think I should post...

Option #1 - Abbey Cabled Hoodie - DK Knit for 6 mos - 2 years

Back of hood detail

#2 - Essential Baby Cardigan
Pattern includes 3 weights of yarn (Aran, DK, Fingering)
 and 6 sizes  (6 months - 3 years)

What do you all think???

But why would I read the pattern???

Please tell me this happens to others?

I was knitting away on Sedum last night and was all happy with myself when I got to the armholes.  I went back and counted how many stitches I had - what?  How could I be way over on stitches in one area and way under in another?

Back to the pattern to investigate.  Turns out one little sentence "Increase at the beginning and end of each row as well as before and after each stitch marker" - well I missed the increase at either side for like 40 rows.....

Suffice to say, I ended my night ripping 6 inches of sweater out.... boooo!

I am back at it tonight with hope of better results.

Lesson learned again.... read the DAMN pattern :)

Big Update - some FO's, WIPS and Christmas Decorating

It has been a little slow in updates on the blog lately, but I have been busy! Here are some completed projects and new ones I have gotten started on!

Completed Caelum for Lucas

This is a Christmas Gift for my sisters little boy - just in time to get in the mail for Christmas without having to pay more for postage than I did for the yarn.  

Used the Caelum Pattern from Ravelry and plan to make another one for my little guy with the same yarn soon!

I have also finished my resurrected Mondo Cable Cardi and made it into a short sleeved vest that will fit Carson's Grandma perfectly  - just working on some seaming and button closure for the top!  Pictures to come!

New WIP's - Boyfriend Hat and Cedum

I cast on 2 other projects as well:

#1 - the Boyfriend Hat - from the Hat Fit for a Boyfriend Pattern - here is my project link!  So far have been knitting on it last night and will tonight while the Boyfriend is working in the evening.  Good thing it is a hat and not a sweater or I am sure he would catch me :)

#2 - Cedum - wanted something quick and comfy.  We just had a week of crummy weather not that long ago which made me want to cast on something warm.  The pattern used Seed Stitch which in bulky yarn makes for a very "skwoooshy" (in loss of a better word) fabric that will be nice and cozy!  The pattern is knitting up quick at 12 sts per inch and I already love it!

A little Christmas Decorating

Picked up a new "fake" tree at the Depot this weekend - the new condo is of course real tree un-friendly - so I found a cute fake one to do the trick.  Gingerbread house preparation with the boys starts tomorrow night - I am preparing for a mess and a candy-high 2 year old!

My decorating assistant!

Here is my decorating assistant that thinks that the plant behind him looks much better with lights!

New Stash

Before Dyepot

After dyepot

I recently got some fantastic yarn from a stash on Ravelry - when I got it, I loved the colour, but didn't think it would work well on me.  I was set on a specific project for it, so figured I would take a shot at re-dying it.

I skeined up the yarn (it took forever as I had a 2 year old assistant) and soaked it in warm water with some white vinegar.  Then I fired up the slowcooker on low and added some Wiltons Icing Dye.  I put the wet yarn into the water and let it sit in the dyebath until the water was clear - about 30 minutes.  

Love the end result!

New Project - Caelum

Caelum
Yarn:  Aracania Nature Wool
Needles:  US 8 / 5 mm

Well I have been a busy little bee over the last few days and got the majority of the body done on this Caelum Sweater.  It was originally going to be for my little guy, but think I might sneak it into my nephew's Christmas Gift.  He is 6 weeks younger than my son and totally adorable.

I have also cast on a baby blanket for my sister - she is due in the Spring and I am notoriously slow lately and have been frogging projects left and right - so figured that I better get a start on that :)

My Knitting is Bossing Me Around

Well - me and my Mondo Cable Cardi are taking a break from each other.  After ripping out the sleeves twice and the neckline three times, I tried it on and went - YUCK.

I have fallen out of love with this sweater and need to put it away for awhile.  I find it interesting that I knit cardigans all the time, even though I never wear them.  I have gifted 4 of my sweaters (all cardigans) to family or friends, yet I keep the sweaters - maybe I should catch the hint...

So in effort to not lose my mind and throw my project out the window, I am casting on a new project to keep my hands busy.

Caelum

I have not knit anything for my little guy in ages - so I figured - he was due.  Will start tonight and see how it goes :)