Oh, that's right.... I've been doing some knitting

I was talking to someone the other day about how much the internet has changed knitting.  I remember even as recently as 2004, spending hours searching the internet for knitting patterns - now you just go to Ravelry, and you have everything you need in one easily accessible place.  (The old lady in me now wants to start whinging about how kids today have it so easy!)  ;)

Anyway, it occurred to me the other day that my so-called knitting blog rarely features any actual knitting.  Again, Ravelry has taken over that duty, and since anyone really interested in the details of my knitting can log in and see it there, I kind of just forget to post things here too.  So, to rectify that, here's a summary of some of my recent knitting projects! :)

My little nephew Max is about 15 months now, and is starting to live up to his father in the wild child department.  So I decided that he needed his own Wild Things outfit.

I had intended this to be a birthday gift back in July, but it took me ages to get the ears right, and then it seemed much more appropriate as a Halloween costume.

 Do you remember the socks I made for Mike last christmas?  They have been so well worn that they were starting to get a little thin in the heels.  A skein of tapestry wool later, and you have a new set of sock heels!

I can't say I'd do this to every pair of handknit socks, but really this yarn is just so soft and squishy that it would be a shame to let them go to waste!  If you're wanting to do this yourself, make sure you do it before there are any actual holes in the socks - then its just a matter of swiss darning over the thin spots (I did the whole bottom of the heel just to be safe).   As for me, I think it may be time to start knitting moccasin socks for Mike!

Last spring I fell in love with the Tuckernuck cardigan from Interweave Knit, and decided to try and up-size the pattern so it would fit me (which reminds me... where are those pattern notes?!).  Its a very craftily designed pattern, so I figured it would be easier to knit a test version of it before adjusting the pattern.  How convenient then, that I happened to know a little girl who would fit the existing pattern sizes just perfectly!

(Speaking of that little girl, I think may have something else in my not-quite FO collection which will be perfect for her this winter!  What did I do with those buttons?)

The last one I'll show you is the little gargoyle I made to help ward off bad ghosties from my friend Darcy's place.  She had been talking about wanting a gargoyle at a house-cleaning party she held back in July, and then I happened to come across this pattern.

His name is Gargy, and apparently he has a tendency to move about when you're not looking at him! :)

I have lots of other projects, but I think I'll share those another day... sometimes its very difficult not to let knitting take over everything!  :)

A new addiction (or two)

Did I tell you that Mike got me a new sewing machine for my birthday a few months back?  Anyway, he did, and since then I've been making a collection of random items with it.

 Fist was a picnic blanket, seen here in progress, and below, in use by Felix.

That was a project I've been thinking about for a while - waterproof, gortex-like fabric on the bottom, and fun patterned fabric on top.  Perfect for the beach, damp grass, or anywhere else you might want to sit in a city that sometimes gets a lot of rain.  Plus, if it starts to rain, you can always put it over your head as a makeshift a poncho!

Next up were some little drawstring backpacks, which I made for the nephews' birthdays... but genius me forgot to take photos of them, so I'll have to wait for Tara to send me photos before I can show them to you.  :)

My most recent project was another one I've been thinking of for a while - and my friend Amelia's wedding shower seemed the perfect opportunity to make them up!

 These are little lingerie bags for when you go travelling - put all the clean ones in the "Wear Me" bag, and then move them to the "Wash Me" bag after you put them to use.  Aren't they fun?!!  :)

For the lining of the bags I used this pretty rose fabric that Tiffany gave me as part of a "you have a fun new sewing machine, now you need supplies!" gift.

For the fronts - which require close-ups, because they're just so cute - I found (and modified) vintage embroidery patterns, and then stitched them in by hand.This embroidery thing is really fun - I already have LOADS more ideas for what to make next!  I should be careful though -between this, sewing, and knitting, I may never have time to do anything else!

Just to show you that I'm still knitting, here's a pic of the other gift I made for Amelia:

Handknit, pure silk knickers - the perfect wedding shower gift! ;)

And so it goes...

I've really not been keeping this blog up recently, have I?  Things just keep trucking along as usual, and there doesn't seem to much that is blog-worthy among it.  But let's see if I can catch you up a little...

My ski injury turned out to be less well, different than originally expected - the ACL didn't tear at all, but was stretched out enough to make it pretty loose (hence the initial misdiagnosis!).  After an MRI, it was revealed that the force of the fall managed to bang all my leg bones together, causing significant bruising on the tops of my fibula and tibia (and a little on the femur too, if I remember right).  The plus side of this is that i won't need surgery.  The (slight) downside is that bruised bones can take 6 or more months to heal!  But I can still walk and stay fairly active (as long as its all low-impact!), so really its not all that bad.  For now I'm just looking forward to 'graduating' to once-a-week physio!


There has also been loads of knitting going on (as usual) - but only a couple of UFOs:

I made this little guy for Max for Easter (obviously), because you're never too young for a visit from the Easter Bunny.  Last I heard, he was clinging desperately to his ears as Max happily flung him around.  Frobisher assures me that he'll let me know as soon as he gets the SOS text, notifying us of an ear-ectomy!

Amidst all the swatching, I managed to sneak in this little cardigan for me - I made it out of the Teeswater wool I bought at Woolfest back in 2008.  I was hoping it would use more of the 490g, but I still have just over 160g left.  I thought about making it into a little baby garment of some kind, but its a little on the itchy side.  (I think its back to the Ravelry pattern search for this one...).

On Saturday we head to San Francisco (and area) for a little over a week - I promise I'll have much more interesting news to share when I get back...  for now, I have to go watch the end of the  replay on the goal that the Canucks just scored against San Jose!  Go Canucks!  :)

...out like a lamb

How did it get to be April already?!  This year is passing by far too quickly.

Despite today's rain, I wanted to point out that the weather gods listened to my knitted plea and March really did come in like a lion and go out like a lamb.  Yesterday was bright and sunny and warm - I think I counted 4 people wearing flip flops!

But of course, since Vancouver weather inevitably turns wet in the spring, we decided that this little guy had best not be without a coat to keep him dry.

Block(ing) Party

For the last couple of months, Darcy and I have been knitting Jared Flood's Guernsey Wrap, as part of a Ravelry Knit-along.  We finished them this past week, so of course it was time to block them out.  Blocking is never a great one-person job, so we decided to make a deal: the use 46 square feet of my real estate and (very few) blocking mats in exchange for Darcy's extra mats, blocking wires, t-pins, and lessons on how to block 'properly' (there is no one way to do this...).  Overall, I think I got the better end of the deal, especially since I'm pretty much incapable of crawling around on the floor just now!!

Aren't they pretty all blocked out on the floor like that?  :)  My GW is the green one in the front here.- knit with 2 strands of Rowanspun 4-ply that I bought ages ago for about £1 a (25g) skein.  I have 13 skeins of it, and this used up just over 7 skeins - I'll have to be creative to find a use for the rest of it!  Using the 4-ply made this a mini-GW - after blocking, its about 69" x 16.5" (175 x 44cm).

This blue one is Darcy's GW - she knit it in Cascade 220, so its much closer to the intended size of the wrap - that's why it got its own stretch of blocking mats off in the corner (this one is 84" x 19")  The yarn blocks out so well, and the texture of the fabric is just amazing!   The little purple guy is Darcy's creation as well - but you'll have to watch her blog if you want more info about him!  :)

Presto-Change-o!

This guy was on my swatch blog a few days ago, but I thought I'd put him over here too...  My friend Darcy recently loaned me Knitting Block by Block, by Nicky Epstein.  The premise of the book is just 150 different blocks (made of lace, colourwork, cables, i-cord designs, and more), along with a number of ideas on how you can construct garments, bags, and other items by simply sewing a number of blocks together.  Its a great resource for my swatches as well, although some of the blocks seem a little more like finished products rather than samples of a particular stitch pattern.  Anyway, this is one of the cuter, but more involved uses for a block.

Start with one 10" square of stockinette:

Fold it, sew some edges, add a few bits and pieces, and voilà:

A little lion!

I think this square-to-critter is most often done with a rabbit, but this book mixes it up a little and shows you how to make a cat, a lion, and a turtle.  I think the rabbit would probably be most effective though, because from a certain angle, even this guy looks a bit like a rat in a fancy costume! (don't tell him I said that!)   :)

Now I just have to find the guy a home (and a name, actually)...  anyone know of a good safari park?

ETA: I forgot to mention that at the end of the month I will be knitting a little lamb (pattern yet to be determined), and I fully expect the weather to be cooperating with this scheme!  That means you Mister Weather Gods!  I've had quite enough of these wind, rain, and thunderstorm warnings, thank you!

An FO!

Our friends Rachel and Colin had a little boy in January, so I decided to make him a little blanket.

I made it out of Lion Brand Cotton-Ease which, in their new selection of bright colours, is one of the squishiest, kid-friendly (ie: machine washable, and super-durable) yarns I've come across (the paler greys and pinks are noticeably thinner and less squishy).  Its a shame these colours are so hard to come by in Vancouver -  Michael's doesn't carry them, so you have to order them directly from the Lion Brand site, or one of a handful of re-sellers on Amazon.  (you can get them at the Lion Brand Studio Store too, should you happen to be in NYC sometime!)

I backed the blanket with this fun purple and teal amoeba-like flannel - ideal for a doctor's kid, I think! :)

Here's what the blanket looks like when spread out - I knit the squares in six vertical stripes, to make the sewing up a little faster. (Mike made up the design - he was showing me how to use PowerPoint to make a template I could play around with, but I like the first "sample" design he came up with!)   If doing it again however, Who am I kidding?! WHEN I make another one, I think I will make a collection of separate squares, and then take the time to sew them up one by one - you can tell that this was knit in strips, and personally, I quite like that quilted look you get with all the seams.