Not making it for Mother's Day

Well, it looks like I'm behind on that shawl. I'm almost done ball #2 of the kidsilk, and will be starting the third soon. However, my mom is leaving for China soon, so I won't be seeing her for Mother's Day. I saw my family last night for dinner, but of course I wasn't done the shawl yet. So, she's just going to have to wait until she gets back. And that means I have another month to get it all done! YAY!

But I should really try to get it done this week so I can at least say that I had it ready for Mother's Day...and then I can start on another project!! I'm still thinking about what to do with that awesome skein of Cherry Tree Hill that you sent me. I take it out to pet every now and then, it's so nice! ^_^

Totally not related to knitting

I figured this might be the easiest way to show you a picture of Yuki ^_^ I've only used...hmm...I think just over a gig. I'm a little lazy when it comes to ripping CDs onto it.



I realized that I didn't take a picture of anything else so it's hard to get a sense of scale, but oh well. I just love his pretty blue colour, and I'm obessive about keeping him clean! I hate it when I get fingerprints on the screen.

Spring has sprung!

Well, it must be something about the recent sunny springlike weather, because the Branching Out scarf is done! I swear, this must be some sort of a speed record for me. It must also have to do with the fact that the leafy pattern is so very addictive and so very fun to watch develop. Each pattern repeat took about 10 minutes to complete (15+ if I messed up the pattern, which happened far more often than I'd like to admit), so it became almost like a game of "let's see, how many pattern repeats can I finish before leaving for the lab?" This will be a fun little scarf to wear on breezy spring days. The Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool is a really nice yarn to work with, although I'm thinking that perhaps I need to make another version of this scarf in Kidsilk Haze? Could this be an excuse for me to finally purchase a skein in the Meadow colour? Hmm....



And because one can never have enough yarn, I've just ordered a Baby Bobbi Bear pattern + yarn from Jimmy Beans Wool, to make a birthday gift for my baby cousin Jayson. So darn cute!

After a long period of abstinence....

....I indulged in some stash enhancement! But more on that in a bit.

I finally finished the Caryl's Kerchief for my godmother, made from yummy 4-ply Chinese cashmere from Jade Sapphire. Mmm, cashmere! It was $27 for 175 yards, so totally affordable for a little neck scarf like this. I hope she likes it!



And here is a closeup of the beaded edge:



Now onto the stash enhancement! Woolcott was having an overstock sale today, everything on display in the store was 35% off, no exceptions. They moved most of the "good" stuff out of the way though, of course. =P There was a ton of funky novelty yarn and scary eyelash stuff everywhere, but still some nice yarn to be had. I found some Diakeito Diadrey that I've been coveting for months, it is a Japanese yarn, a wool/mohair/nylon blend that changes both colour and texture (smooth alternating with boucle). I think it'd make a really fun multidirectional scarf. Also some rainbow-coloured regia sock yarn, and a skein of Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool to make this scarf from the latest Knitty. Which I think will be my next project. After I finish doing my taxes. Can you tell that I love knitting lacy things? =)

Covet central

So, I head over to my fave little LYS with Carol (you remember Will's girlfriend, right?) in tow a few days ago, and saw the most amazing yarn. It's made out of...get this...100% Bamboo. But it's super soft! It feels kinda like a mix of cotton and silk. Plus it has this cool glossy look to it. I checked the Lettuce Knit newsletter, and she said that she got 31 different colours in (hello, Baskin Robbins!). They're all dyed using chemical-free dying too. The company is called Alchemy Yarns of Transformation, and I totally wanted to buy some. They have a pattern for a tank top that takes 4-7 skeins depending on size (I that would probably be 4-5 skeins for me). So, what's stopping me? The price. The introductory price is $24/skein. I'm wondering if that means that the price will go up the next time she orders it.

In other news, Carol bought a pattern for a felted handbag (Bags by Mags) and the yarn for it while we were on our little excursion. The pattern looks really cool, and I can't wait to see how the finished product looks!

99 bottles of beer on the wall...

Okay...so I finally got off my lazy @$$ and took some photos.

These are the beer cozies that I made for my friend Aaron. I think they're a little small though. I tested them on a bottle of Keith's India Pale Ale and they fit okay, but I don't know how well they'll do for fatter bottles. Plus it was hard doing the letters with pseudo-intarsia (at least I think that's what it's called). I never knew how much slack to leave. As a result, the middle part isn't all that stretchy. But oh well. They're mostly just a novelty anyway.


And here's that shawl I'm working on. As you can see, it's taking me quite a long time. But I'm happy with the way things look. Boy, it's SOOO much easier when I use stitch markers. Lace can be a bit of a pain though. Plus the Kidslik is so darn thin. On the upside, the shawl feels sinfully soft!

Getting back into things

Okay...so I've been away from the whole knitting thing for a while now. But I'm easing back into things. I recently finished a pair of beer bottle cozies for my friend Aaron. They were left over from Christmas...for my Secret Santa gift, I gave a small knit item to be commissioned by whoever received my present. So, Aaron picked beer bottle cozies that are in the colours of his dearly departed Winnipeg Jets. They even say 'Jets' on them. I'll take a picture really soon. ^__^

I've also gotten into that lacy shawl I've been knitting for my mom. I've only repeated the 8-row lace pattern about 3 times so far, so I haven't gotten all that far. But I'm starting to see it, and I think it'll be quite nice when it's all done and blocked (gee...who knew that a mistake in the pattern could make such a difference >_<). I'll take a picture of it when I'm further into it. It's so pathetically short right now that I'm too embarassed to put it up!

So, now that the beer cozies are done, I think my to-do list looks something like this:

• shawl for my mom
• Kyoto sweater (still need to finish the sleeve, block, and finish)
• Noro wrist warmers from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation
• fun socks out of the Koigu you gave me (need to get a pattern for this though...can you recommend any good ones?)
• pink mohair 3x3 rib scarf

And I guess that's in no particular order, though I'd like to finish Kyoto in time to wear it this spring/summer. Man...what am I doing I work? I should be at home knitting!! LOL!!