Katie's Devil Hat

I seem to be having some trouble with Picasa today. This is the third time I've tried to post these pictures!

This is one of my latest projects. I finished it two or three weeks ago. It's the Devil Hat from Stitch 'n Bitch, made from Lamb's Pride Superwash Worsted.

This hat is a going-away present for my friend Katie, who is leaving for BC in about a month. A few years ago, Katie's sister made her a kitty hat for Christmas, but Katie lost it not long afterward. I've been wanting to make her a hat to replace it, without actually replacing it. I thought this toque would be a great way for Katie to keep her head warm during those cool mountain evenings, while still being cute and a little funky, just like Katie!

Now I just have to get the hat into the mail... which is always the hardest part for me! And I have to remember not to send Katie a link to this blog until she's got her package!!

I'm going to miss Katie... :(

Twenty-Five

So... last Tuesday, March 14, was my 25th birthday. It was also Pi Day, and the birthdays of some other very interesting people.

These are the very pretty flowers sent to me by my wonderful parents. I thought I should share, since they're just oh-so-pretty! 

My first SOCKS!

As requested by Tracy, here are my first SOCKS! They were built using "Knitting Socks in Plain English" (a.k.a. "The Sockinator") by Tracy. I don't have a link for that yet, but eventually it will be released as an e-book or PDF download. This great step-by-step leads the knitter through the sock process based on a chart, ankle circumference and stitch gauge. Easy easy easy! I will never be afraid of knitting socks on double pointed needles again! 2.0mm needles... well, that may take a while.

These are knitted on 4.0mm needles with Snuggle yarn from Salt and Pepper Textiles (no website, as far as I can tell). I found Snuggle at The Knit Café. I followed Tracy's Sockinator with some help from KnittingHelp.com. The pictures below were taken throughout the process to get the step-by-step views. I won't bother with a commentary... but I'll point out that I managed a killer kitchener stitch!




 

Maple Leaf Mittens

Some cute little mitts I made for James to go with his Toronto Maple Leafs hat. The pattern is from Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick (I added the ribbing). I used Lamb's Pride Superwash Bulky, which didn't really give me the structure I wanted, but is still really pretty! I found the iron-on patches at my local yarn store. The iron-on part didn't work so well - I'll have to stitch them on eventually.

Great thing about a project like this is that, although they didn't turn out the way I would have liked, James thinks they're awesome and is more likely to wear them than he would a sweater that didn't turn out right! 

Canada Blooms 2006

James (the b/f) and I went to Canada Blooms here in Toronto on Saturday. It was a lot of fun, although I'm not sure if I'll go back next year. There were a lot of neat stores there, but there were a lot of companies selling gazeebos, conservatories, irrigation systems, chemicals... all things that I'm not really interested in; although I must confess that I did hum a little bit of "If I Had a Million Dollars" while walking past some of the greenhouses and conservatories. What I'm really interested in, however, is vegetable gardening. Yes, I can use a greenhouse for that. But the degree of fanciness of these things reached the excessive.

This picture is a portion of the Toronto Parks and Rec. display in the "artsy garden" area of the show. Trust me to freak out about the only 20 sq. ft. of the whole show with veggies in it!!! I don't have much of a garden here (I have to use my balcony and plant in containers), so I liked this example of efficient use of space! Although this looks crowded, it's actually possible to make a garden like this produce a lot of veggies. Some day I'd like to make my roof look like this... or maybe I'll just buy a house with a decent yard!

Speaking of plants, my garden is starting to grow! James' mom (a.k.a. "The Landlord") is adament that I use all the growing space here for grass and flowers. This is because (as far as I can tell) she thinks our tomato-growing Italian neighbours are going to think less of us if we also grow tomatoes. Anyway, my crocuses (crocii?) and a few other bulbs are starting to grow. They'll probably get hit by frost a few times before they bloom and end up with funny deformed leaves, but at least the squirrels didn't get them!

Grandma Hat

I've been officially knitting for about 18 years, since my Grandma taught me to knit while I had the chicken pox when I was 6. I picked it up again on and off until about 5 years ago when I started knitting on a more regular basis as an outlet for university stress.

This is the first project I've taken a picture of, although I've made dozens more things in that 5 year period. It's also the first thing I've made for my Grandma in the nearly two decades since she first taught me to knit!!

This hat is a Stitch Diva pattern called Girly Couture. I used Lamb's Pride Superwash Worsted in Rose Quartz. The pattern didn't come out quite as I would have liked, but my Grandma still thought it was pretty!!



I called this my unofficial Knitting Olympics project, although I never signed up, started with only three days left, and finished a day late. But the little two-stitch cables were a new challenge for me, so I guess it still counts!

The Second Post... a month later!

I've spent a lot of time thinking about what I want to post on this blog, and no time actually posting anything. I've sent the link to a few friends, but haven't really been inspired to write anything.

I've decided that - for now - I'm going to use this to keep track of my knitting projects. Over the next couple of days I'll post pictures of my last few projects (I only have pictures of a few), along with links to patterns, yarns, and stores. I hope that will get me into the mood to start putting up regular posts, and perhaps then this will expand into something more interesting!!