Seems I missed my third anniversary as well as 6 fo's. Sigh. I need to think about the future of this project. Clearly I am not really as excited about it as I once was, and even though Ravelry is fun and super-easy, it's not quite the same. Maybe I should do the unthinkable and merge with my real diary - about half of my readers are knitters these days anyway, so it's not like I'll automatically bore them to tears.

118: say it with a fried egg

Blake's Valentine's Day present was an amigurumi-style fried egg from my go-to pattern set by Ana Paula Rimoli. It's made out of white Cascade 220 superwash & yellow Headwater Marupe (which you may recognize from the bee hat). Super quick and super fun. A lady at work asked if I made it in the shape of a heart. "No," I said, "I made it in the shape of an egg."

majesty

119: February is for bunny slippers

My first goal for this year's February is for Finishing was these long-suffering bunny slippers from the Happy Hooker. One has been made for a year and a half, just waiting for a mate. So here it is. It's made out of Naturally Yarns "Sensation" which is an angora/merino blend and plenty fuzzy without the mohair strand. I added extra rounds to the ankle piece and changed all single crochets to half-double crochets to get some very needed height. These slippers will not stay on my feet as originally written. The other weird thing was that the second slipper came out too big, so I had to rip back the upper and sole until it fit my foot.

I know the eyes are crooked. I don't care.

120: another hat for the Nic

This is Nic's birthday hat, Swell, a sturdy confection of Patons Classic Merino. After the first set of pics were taken and the hat was gifted, Nic complained that it was too small, so it was ripped to the crown and reknit with an extra 1 1/2" above the colour work. It fits! And it covers his ears! Yay! There's not a lot of contrast in the colour work, but this is what he wanted. And I kind of like the idea of this black wave sneaking up on everyone. As Arcade Fire likes to point out, "there's a big black wave in the middle of the sea." Alright.

I think he likes it

121: chocolate cookie

I think this pattern is a crutch. This is the second time this month that I've used it before a children's birthday party. So: Tiny Ami by Ana Paula Rimoli in Lily Sugar and Cream (brown) and CoolSpun Cotton (white) in honour of Hestia's third birthday party. I like the naturalness of this cookie compared to my grey attempt this summer.

tiptoeing through the kalanchoe

122: eternity cardi

I started this cardigan in March 2006, driven by a desire to take the edge off Sockapaloooza and a low price for Lana Gatto Ontario that promised a full cardigan for $30. It took maybe three months to knit the pieces - I seem to remember knitting and marking essays, and I definitely remember doing one of the fronts during a Meet the Teacher Night. Then, once it was done and summer arrived, it lingered. I put all the pieces in a bag for safe keeping. I got a new job. I bought a house. I moved. I sewed one whole seam right before a crazy-hot Thanksgiving that had me putting away the wool for awhile. And now, goaded by NaKniSewMo and my desire to CO for a Noro vest, I finally finished this simple little cardi.

Now that it's done, the collar kind of looks like a tumorous mass. I can't tell if it's my sewing or the fabric to blame. Also, I didn't put on the ribbon closures because it seemed dumb. for now, I'm using a 1" Bridesmaidmania 3 pin to close it, but will come up with something more dignified shortly. My knitsibs can't believe that I've never finished a sweater before. I'm just glad that I finished this one.

blurry but more-or-less accurate

pay no attention to the muffintop

123: loopy hemp pillow

When I asked Sister Silver what she would like me to knit her, she quickly decided on a loopy pillow. As it was beastly hot in the valley, I found a beautiful hemp (All Hemp 6) in the exact colour of her couch throw. What I didn't realize was that hemp is rough as hell on the hands, especially if you're fiddling with it to make loops. The knitting dragged. My hands chapped. I started to watch episodes of Lost while knitting it, thinking that an hour a week was enough. And then, once I got a square, I figured out that I didn't get gauge and my square didn't match the pillow form. Grr.

I ended up picking out the cast-off, knitting more rows, then binding off and picking up stitches along the side, log-cabin style to make this panel fit the pillow form. Exhausting. I threw it in the washer/dryer to soften it up, which it did, beautifully. It’s backed with fabric from Ikea because i couldn’t face the idea of buying a third skein. True to form, handstitching the back to the front took more than 6 months as it went hibernating for a long time.

Now that it’s done I have the damndest case of Stockholm Syndrome: it looks so good with my colour scheme that I may need to make another. But not of hemp, goddammit.

a front and side view of my new master

Labels: crochet, fo, knitty, naknisewmo, repeats, snb

Remember when I used to finish items one at a time? Yeah.

This latest Urchin is made from Manos del Uruguay for Alleen. I finished the knitting right before my dance class on Monday night. I grafted it over two nights, as I made a mistake with the first try and had to rip it all out. And just when I was congratulating myself on being able to kitchener stitch in hockey bleachers, too.

More news: soon there will be matching wristwarmers. Fun!

Labels: fo, friends, knitty, repeats

finished: June 11

More booties, because Poppy's twins aren't going to be able to knit for a while. I finished the blue pair by raiding every left-over scrap from every skein of Koigu I've ever bought, including the wee bit leftover from when Annie Modesitt came to Drunken Knitters without yarn or needles.

(Nota Bene: They are blue and orange because I like those colours, hear? I will not hear any bullshit about gender colour coding, thankyouVERYmuch. Mama don't play that.)

These were done for a long time, awaiting for notions and finishing. Once they were done, I popped them in a brown paper bag and took them to school. "Hey, Poppy," I said, barging into her office first thing in the morning, "I made some extra lunch, ya want it??"

"You're so sweet, I --oooohhhh."

Quite possibly the best reaction ever.

now to get them on the twins...

Labels: baby, fo, repeats

completed june 3.

The house insanity continues with the newest addition to the washcloth family! I love the nubby feel of these washcloths, so I made another one to match the Blake's bathroom. Leftover cottons were "carefully" selected for only the finest decor-matching schmatta. But seriously, folks...I shouldn't find it odd that all these colours were hanging around my stash; of course I'm going to buy colours that I like. The Boy gets credit for the pastel variegated and for pressing the completed cloth into service immediately, Mason-Dixon Knitting gets credit for the pattern, and I get credit for making it in the first place.

action shot!

Labels: fo, house, mdk, repeats

I finally knit up the Cotswold Handspun I bought at GVF this summer. It is an absolute dream - single-ply undyed goodness, with wee bits of twigs every once in awhile for perspective. While I was in the store, the boys were outside, making friends with the livestock. I love that I'll be wearing a hat made of yarn that came from a sheep Blake met.

This hat was cast on at the Brampton Indie Arts Festival, and ribbed to the soothing sounds of Ultra Magnus, Raised By Swans, the Diableros & Geoff Berner. The main body was worked during other days of the fest, and carries fond memories of Laura Barrett, The Nihilist Spasm Band and Giant Killer Shark (the Musical).

The pattern is the store freebie, a simple combo of ribs and cables that I've already done twice to some unsuspecting balls of Noro Kureyon. I think I may even have enough in the second skein for mittens, if I'm really careful!

Labels: fo, repeats

This is why I need deadlines. As soon as I decided to give Blake his robot for Valentine's Day, it went from completely knit, no finishing to completely finished in 2 nights.

check out the love between boy & robot!

It's the Jess Hutch pattern in Lamb's Pride Worsted. I had a brainwave during finishing, and instead of knitting, felting & attaching appliqués to the front, I dug through my buttons to find some excellent remnants. The heart button is my absolute fave - the Boy used the name Heart Shaped Robots for a music project once, and I knew that our robot would have to have a heart on it somewhere. I also used some of the safety eyes I ordered a few months ago, since Blake is past the swallowing everything phase (I hope).

His name, Ro-Bert (or more formally, the title of this entry 81:Ro-Bert), is a reference to our imaginary second son, Bert.

This was such a satisfying project to finish. When the Boy saw it for the first time he said, "our family is complete." Hee.

bert watches the snow day develop

Labels: blake, embroidery, fo, naknisewmo, repeats, toy

After more than a year of having the yarn in my stash (and knitting it into a Peruvian, which I hated & frogged), I finally made good on my promise to Opera Sarah and knit her a gnome hat for Big Girls. The best part is that I did it in a week once it was started. Hee.

Pattern is the now-thoroughly-tested blend of Kim's Hat from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, Garter brim flavour (for CO numbers, measurements before decreases, and ear flaps) and Hello Yarn's Gnomey baby hat, which has excellent pointy decreases. My only real mods other than the pattern blend itself is to knock about 1/2 to 1 inch off the body of the hat and maybe add in an extra decrease set right at the end before BO because of the larger CO numbers.

Yarn is Manos del Urugay, in a colour called (I believe) Fire. Worth every penny and more. Photo to come when Opera Sarah gets it!

Labels: fo, repeats

Another pretty Noro cabled hat from the Gaspereau Valley Fibres pattern, for the boyfriend of the one who ended up with the first. (That would be my sis Scout, if you're keeping track at home.) This time, in "manly" colors! Because I can play that game if I have to. I bought these balls at Knitomatic and I l-uh-ve them. Most of this hat was completed during (what else?) professional development.

this is the boy's "serious thinking" face. not to be confused with the face he makes when he's seriously thinking. this is just the photo version.

Labels: christmas, fo, repeats

My second kim-gnomey hat is DONE! I was feeling ill this past weekend, so I was doing a lot of compensatory knitting. I whipped through a button hole bag in less than 24-hours, and giddy with my success, I immediately cast on for this hat.

This has been in the planning stages for a long time. I made a red one last year for Demi, and it turned out so well that I bought another gnomey colourway of Manos del Uruguay within the month. It's been sitting in a lovely little cake since then, waiting for me to get cold.

We still have a few days left before he'll need this hat; until then I can admire my own ability to protect my son from the elements with only a few sticks & some string.

the gnome in a tree, with his awful clashing jacket & sesame street scarf

Labels: blake, fo, repeats

For the church's annual Christmas Bazaar, I thought I should share some of the knitting love. And when I got Last Minute Knitted Gifts, I knew that the mini stocking & sweater pattern was going to be my chance.

These were knit over the last three weeks or so out of odds & ends. The yarn for the big stocking is Patons Classic Merino that first appeared in Henry Rollins' pants & the Anarchy hat respectively. The yarn for the little stocking is Patons Kroy that was purchased for Little Spider's zombie pulse warmer. The biggest sweater is Anarchy Hat Classic Merino yarn with Peace Fleece embellishements from the Blake's in-progress sweater. The middle sweater is green yarn (DGB Confort) from the turtle placket-neck sweater with white & black Patons Kroy for embroidery. And the littlest plain sweater is the Koigu PPPM sock yarn I love so much.

I hope they sell. I hope people like them.

Labels: christmas, fo, repeats

For a co-worker. Whom I will miss, even thought I've only known her for 7 weeks.

These are exactly the same as the ones I knit for Nigel & Stacey; the only notable feature of these booties is the speed at which they were completed (I knit one last Saturday at the TTC Knitalong and the other the next day, when I should have been doing work).

Booties: boring but big returns on your investment.

knit protection program

Labels: baby, fo, repeats

DSCN1772
Originally uploaded by Palaver Primus.

Labels: birthday, fo, repeats, snb

This is a project I've wanted to do for Stacy ever since I saw this pattern in February. I'm glad I waited; if I'd started this when the need first became apparent, I would have used the black n' grey acrylic recommended by the clerk at Lewiscraft. The Sugar n' Cream Cotton (in Summer Splash and Hot Blue) was so much more suitable both as a fabric and as a match to Stacy's love of turquoise.

This photo was taken at the end of Pride weekend, so Stacy might not be as thrilled about the cozy as she is thrilled that the hot thumping party is about to end.

Labels: fo, repeats, snb