Socks Squared

Ok. So the title says "socks" and yes... there are plenty of those to come but I also knit myself this lovely little 'knitted helmet' and I feel as though you deserve a little looksie. It's from this website and it's called the Amelia Earhart Aviator cap. Whether I'll wear it on a regular basis has yet to be decided... but it was a hoot to make. One of those obsessive little projects that you whip through in one sitting and take breaks only for the bathroom and to make more tea. I knit it out of Scheepjes 'Donna' and I do love it. 50 wool/50 acrylic. Lovely. Just like this picture. (ahem)


Now, here are my first pair of socks for this post for you. They are the Monkey Socks from Knitty and I had a great time with them. Recognize the yarn? It's my Sweet Georgia yarn in 'Blue Fig'. Sadly, it's hard to see the pattern in these photos but it's the best that my camera can do at the moment. Please forgive moi. Notice how differently the colour in both came out? Funny. I love them though.


Here's another shot for you... with a cozy dust bunny hanging off of my left foot.


And here is another pair of socks that were sitting on my desk for over a month... just needing a second toe. I finally got to it and they're done. I did them out of Trekking XXL in colour 131.


Wanna play 'spot the dust bunny' with me?
Er, just kidding.

Lynn did some dying.

So, I tried my hand at dying.
The result? Not quite as satisfying a final product as hoped, but a completely satisfying process, for sure.
I enjoyed it immensely. I did it last sunday evening and what a perfect project for a sunday.

I bought one of these Louet kits from The Loop a while back and finally got around to doing it.

I got myself the 'green' kit and was surprised to see that it didn't have various shades of green... but a deep blue, an olive green and a bright yellow. Now, I realize that together they are all 'greenish' but the website made it look to me like it was comprised of various shades of green. Well that is, before I had dyed the wool. Now, it makes sense.

So, I followed the instructions and squirted the blue dye on the wool first.
(please excuse the curious roomate in the background feeding George Bush his dinner)

And then followed the green.



And then, the yellow. (I'm using every ounce of maturity I have to refrain from making a very juvenile comment regarding what that bottle of dye looks like)

So... it was pretty insane looking.
Not the nice and tasteful green I had been hoping for to make myself a lovely lace scarf out of. I think now it's going to go towards some socks for someone. If I tell them that not only did I knit the socks... but also dyed the yarn... they will be forever impressed and not so frightened by the garishness of the colours.

Now in all fairness, I hung the yarn over my cupboard door so that I could stare at it everyday and now, a week later it has grown on me and I think I quite like it. It was just wildly colourful initially but now... it looks a little less loud.
I'm all for 'loud', but when it's not what you're going for, it can be a bit alarming.


See? Not so bad afterall. I would wear these socks.
Indeed.

Christmas Clogs...

I know... it's a month later here but I am just getting to posting pictures of Christmas knitting. I figured that I would save it for a time when I needed a bit of 'tying-over' in between projects. I seem to be in the midst of numerous 'almost done' projects, not to mention (ahem) school work.

Anyway, all of that knitting I was doing before Christmas was none other than felted clogs for my three siblings. I must confess... it got a little monotonous but at least it was kept even. It was also a bit of an experiment on my part. An experiment in felting wool that is... as I used a different brand for each pair. Now, I ran into a bit of a problem here... I panicked a wee bit and didn't felt them down as much as they needed to be felted. They were all given GIANT slippers for Christmas. I didn't get around to tossing them in the wash one last time before I took off for Halifax once again, so I left it in the hands of my poor mother to finish up the process. My one sister still wore hers around but I anticipate several tumbles down the stairs if she keeps that up.

Anyways, since they were never completely felted, I don't have any shots of them finished, felted and on feet. I would only have pictures like that if... I was a completely organized person. Which, I'm definately not. But, I did manage a shot of them after being knit.


The brown pair on the bottom were for my brother made out of Galway.
The coral and mauve pair were done out of Cascade 220.
And the dark purple and green (yes... that's what they are) were done out of Brown Sheep.

Which did I like better???
Ugh.
I don't know.
Tough call. I like... them all?
The pair that I did for myself were out of Cascade 220 and I must say that they have held up quite well. I initially liked the Galway the most but the fuzziness of the Brown Sheep was just so...enticing. Those ones ended up being the most expensive though, as I had to buy more yarn for those last few stupid rows... (the bottoms don't match because they were going to end up being $60.00 clogs which I provided the labour for).

Anyways, it was a fun little task and perhaps at some point in my blogging life I will get a picture of them all felted up and on feet.
Don't count on that until next Christmas though.

Mohair cupcake on me

Remember how I didn't want to divulge any information regarding my cupcake inspired project? Well... I feel as though now that the project is complete, I can talk a wee bit about it.

First, a photo.
Well, alright... maybe two.
I can't take the credit for it really... other than alright, I guess I did knit it. A customer at the store marched in wearing this vest over the holidays and I fell so in love with it because she had knit it out of the exact yarn I had been gushing over for ages but just couldn't decide what to do with it. She so kindly took the vest off of her back and let me try it on.
I cast on as soon as my knitting needles would behave.
Now, the only thing that I really did differently than the dear customer was go up one needle size (to a 6.5 mm) and pull it across to make the button and buttonhole. Her vest just lies open. I needed more... coverage?
The yarn is by Needful Yarns and it's called Piccadilly. It has that perfect blend of colour... fuzz and sparkle. Dress it up... or dress it down? I like the in between stages. You can go anywhere.

The pattern... was one from the customer's head. And you know what???? It couldn't be easier. Because, it's a rectangle!
Yup.
It's true.

Cast on 180 stitches. Knit 2, Purl 2 for 6".
Decrease down to 90 stitches.
Knit in stocking stitch for about 17" total (including the ribbing).
Increase back up to 180 stitches and knit 2, purl 2 for 6".
Cast off.
Sew the top and bottom edges of the ribbing together (this will be where the armpit is approximately).
And there you have a vest... For the buttonhole, I just left a little gap in the seam as I was sewing and there it was!

You could do this with pretty much any yarn and I do intend to experiment with others. If using Piccadilly though, it takes 4 balls.

It made it's big debut today and I am happy to report that my torso remained toasty even through this snowstorm of a Halifax kinda day.

Enjoy, and do let me know if you give it a go. I'm sooooo nosey.

Knitted neon

So... I got my act together and not only did I finish knitting something, I actually picked up a needle and sewed it together. That happens... rarely in my life.
I sadly decided to take some pictures of this creation late at night, before my departure from Toronto back to Halifax and these wildly vibrant colours desperately need natural sunlight in order to register on the beloved camera. So, I completely apologize for the terrible photos. I will get some nicer and clearer ones, someday.
Anyway... I'll share the details with you.
It's... a blanket.
Knit out of Manos del Uruguay.
I have spoken about it earlier in this little knit-blogging-diary of mine.
I had dreamt of it having a lovely fringe along the bottom of it, like a scarf, especially because I had oodles left over. But when the end came around... and my mom made the suggestion that tassles on each corner might be more practical... I embraced the idea, but ran out of time.
The blanket is not with me.
It's in Toronto, proudly displayed at my mom's shop. (as far as I am aware)
The honking huge tassles I have in mind are going to have to wait until I am reunited with the store, and the blanket.

So, here's a terrible picture for you to squint at. (sunglasses are strongly recommended)
And another one.

And another one.

This blanket started out in the summer as we were doing a workshop of sorts at the store which became known as 'the-block-of-the-month-club'.
Each month, knitters would come and knit a block.
The blanket, having 12 blocks total would ensure completion after one full year.
The pattern was the Four Seasons Throw and although it is knit in strips, we made an exception here.
I started late, and I finished early I'll admit, but it was a bulky project and I wanted to get it finished and home to show the group so that I don't have to haul it back in May when I return for goooooood.
When they day does come that I head back, I shall be sure to tack some tassles on there and haul it out on a warm sunny day for a nice photo shoot.

So, now I am working on designing a living room to go with the blanket. Surely there isn't one already out there.

My sweet tooth

As I sat in my first day of class today, allowing my needles to click throughout as we all dealt with the formalities that go along with the first day back... I happened to notice something completely stunning as my ball of yarn fell off my stupid little table-ette and onto the ground where my bag and latest indulgence was sitting patiently in a clear plastic box.



Notice anything?
Perhaps you have noticed that I am becoming entirely predictable.

I shall share more details on what exactly it is I am knitting as I get further into it.
It's still far too young a project to brag about.

Home, sweet home.

So, I'm home.
I've been home for a while.
And it's been nice.
Oh how I enjoy the comforts of home while I am here.
Someone here (who could it be?) washes all the clean socks so thoroughly and properly, making sure that they are taken extra special care of.
See?


It doesn't happen like that at school. Believe me.

Anyways, the comforts of home have been nice and I am sadly finding that I must begin to gear up for the trek back. Sigh... Sniff.
No more clean socks for me.

I had a lovely Christmas.
It was one filled with knitterly joy as much knitting was done and many knitted gifts were exchanged.
I shall show and I shall tell.

First though, things that weren't knitted... but that relate to knitting.
You'll see what I mean.

See?


HOW NICE! It's a sock blocker. Clearly, I like to knit socks and clearly, this is something that every sock knitter would want to own someday... even if only in their wildest dreams.


OH WOW! I can't tell you how grown up I feel! I have my own WOODEN swift and wool winder. No more borrowing my mom's or relying on the shop owners to do it for me. I am so independent now, and cleary viewed as a responsible individual as it is WOOD and not just the nice orange plastic kind.


Now, as adult as I may be now, I am not a very organized one. These should help.

I must say, it's almost as though the giver of these nice gifts (that being the yarn shop owner of a mother I so luckily landed) wrote that post the Yarn Harlot posted on December 23rd regarding what to give a knitter for Christmas. Wouldn't you say?
Close anyway.

So, these lovely accessories were muchly appreciated and will surely aid me in future knitting endeavors. There were a few other nice little accessories tucked in as well including a "Knitting Pattern a Day" calendar.
Wishful thinking...

Not only did I get stuff to use in my projects... there were a few projects that were knit FOR me!!! It's true.
By, my mother dearest.


Mmmmhmmm...
Fleece artist socks and Morehouse Merino Bearpaw mitts.
It just feels so good to wear socks that you didn't make yourself sometimes.
I gotta say.

So, I'm one happy/lucky/spoiled girl, I mean adult.
Not only because my mom wrote that book on "giving-gifts-to-knitters" but also because she has a yarn shop, which I have spent many hours loitering in. I just... love it. I'd take that over school any day.
Really.

Oh, one last thing you have to see.


Don't judge because it's crochet and this is a knitting blog... just admire the beauty of it.
A woman my grandma knows made it and my grandma bought it from her and so kindly gave it to me for Christmas.
I could drink those colours right up.
I'm telling you.
It has my name all over it.

Happy New Year to you.

By this time tomorrow...

By this time tomorrow, I will be standing in front of this wall with my head in one of these little cubbies, breathing deeply.


Why?

Because by this time tomorrow, I will be done my last exam, I will be back in Ontario and I will not feel the slightest bit bad about doing things like that.
Not one bit bad.

Where did these come from?

Honestly now... if one of you people were to say to me "Lynn, have you been knitting much lately?" I would response with a slightly sullen tone in my voice "Nooo.... (sniff) I've been writing crappy papers instead.(sob)"
But as I was digging through my bag after class today, I came across these.


Hrm.
I clearly made them as I do recall buying the yarn a while back at The Loop... but it's funny how all it takes is a string of student seminars and oh yeah...
these.


(Watching all of these is considered "work" if you decide to take a film class.)
And so before I knew it, I had an almost finished pair of socks just my size to show for.
If only I had just one more paper to show for it too, then things would be lovely and I could knit in a far more conscious state.

Oh, and for those of you non-Nova-Scotians wondering what the weather is like out here at the moment, this is what greeted me as I walked out my door this afternoon.


How I love this city.
And all of its snowy whiteness.

Knitting Roadtrips

It's wednesday, I know. But let me tell you about my past weekend anyway.
Some knitting goodness occurred.
It started with this being delivered to my door.


A nice, nice gesture indeed, made by parents. (I'm a lucky woman, I know.)
The perfect way to start any kind of weekend, but a knitting filled weekend especially.

It continued with me hopping in my car with two near and dear knitter-friends of mine and having a nice little knitterly road-trip to Gaspereau Valley Fibres about... an hour outside of Halifax.
What a treat.
And the company I speak of? Even more of a treat than a slice of cheesecake. Like I said, near and dear.


Sheep, chickens, alpacas...
See for yourself.


And of course, tonnes of wool.
All in one beautiful wooden room.
Don't be concerned though. It's a wooden room with windows of course.
With a stunning view of the sheep, chickens and alpacas.

I must confess that I have lived in Nova Scotia for three and a half years now... and this was my first time going there. Why did I wait? I guess I just found enough in Halifax to keep me busy.
And now... after that trip... I will be busy until... well, at least until I graduate.
That's not to say that I won't indulge in one or two more little 'road trips' as such before the planned date of graduation. I just... have more than enough to keep me busy. (for now....)

So, here are the goods.

Some Briggs and Little for felted clogs (a stellar Christmas gift if I do say so myself).
Purchased by Meghan.


Some Mission Falls 1824 superwash wool for a little neck scarf.
Purchased by Meghan.


Some NEON WHITE Blue Sky Pure Cotton.
To make this sweet-as-a-treat 'mini-sweater'.
For me.
(How cool is neon white?!?!?! Sadly... you will have to just believe me though, as the picture does now want to cooperate.)


And I also found myself with some of this in my bag at the end of the day as we felt that a perfect way to end the perfect day would to be to swing by Tangled Skeins and pick up some yarn there.
Sweet Georiga Yarns.
In colourway Blue Fig.
I see... a pair of Pomatomous socks for me out that.
But for now, it shall adorn my houseplant/makeshift-knitterly-xmas-tree.


So, in short, that was my weekend.
Next weekend, I plan on knitting.
And hopefully... I will have some knitting to show you as you are probably growing weary of me showing you all the yarn that I WANT to knit with.
It's coming friends, it's coming.
I swear.

Being a 'Knitiot'

I have been knitting.
I have been knitting a lot actually.
I swear.
I also swear that once Christmas has passed us by, this blog will be far more interesting.
Unfortunately, I have been cranking out various versions of the same thing... for people that read this blog on a regular basis (or so they say).
Thus, it makes it difficult for me to show too many photos of these projects.
Unless... they don't mind that the surprise will be ruined on Christmas day.
What do you think?

I have been good in that I have actually been finishing some of these projects for other people for Christmas. I have been giving myself the 'thumbs up' all week long for that.
I did happen to pick up the new issue of Interweave Knits on the weekend though, and this has made it incredibly difficult to stay focused.
I am praying that I don't crack.
It's been hard though.

I lent my friend Meghan my most recent issues of various knitting magazines which she so kindly returned to me today.
As we were standing right in the middle of a walkway, in the middle of campus, in the middle of that little 10 minute break that people get to run from one end of campus to the other for their next class... Meghan and I stood and spoke of our future projects.
Her next dream project?
A beautiful cabled cardigan.
My next dream project?
Several beautiful colourful cardigans.
As I became more and more exasperated with myself for everything that I wanted to accomplish in so little time (not to mention the schoolwork that I so conveniently forget about from time to time)... I exclaimed "I'm such an idiot Meghan!!!"
She so kindly corrected me by saying "No Lynn... you're not. You're a 'knitiot'".
How right she is...
It made me feel far less bad about myself and my complete lack of focus.
I don't mind being called a 'knitiot'.
Not ever.
Come on! Hit me with your best shot.

Since I can't seem to show you any projects that I have been making really... I would be happy to show you a pile of wool/yarn that I have been using to knit some of these projects with.
Will that do?
Perhaps it's not quite as inspiring, but it's something.


There. A pile of wool.
Some has been used, some not. I suppose it gives you a bit of a sense of how far I have left to go until I am done my knitting for Christmas.
I suppose not really though. I could be knitting intricate lace evening gowns with it (riiiight...) or I could be knitting giant felted fishbowls with it.
You just never know...

Anyways, stay tuned for some more knitterly love.
I have a knitting related field trip planned for tomorrow with two other 'knitiots' and I shall tell you all about it.

I'll get over it

It would unfortunately seem as though all of my knitting projects these days are causing my face to react in this sort of a way.


It's hard to make friends when that's what you look like.
I am trying my best to keep a smile on though and save this face for when no one is looking.

Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING is just not working for me these days.
Even the simplest pair of socks are making me rip them back four times before they decide that it's not funny anymore and they are willing to cooperate. Clearly, they are not afraid of this face.
If only they were...

I broke my own rules the other day and decided to cast on that lovely lilac coloured yarn that I posted last time. I just couldn't resist. I had it sitting on my bedside table and it was just taunting me. So, I caved and did what I had been dreaming and blogging about doing. I cast on my Rusted Root and knit like I've never knit before.
I was completely enamoured with it, considering breaking all previous commitments I had made for the weekend in order to hibernate with it.
I was IN LOVE.
And then do you think I did?
I realized that I had messed up the lace. That'll teach me to have conversations with friends while trying to establish a new lace pattern.
It's yet another project to be ripped back.
I just can't bring myself to do it quite yet. Especially not after I tossed it on my bed in a fit of anger and saw how beautifully it looked with my scarf and jacket.
I felt my heart being ripped from my chest.
For now, it will sit on the needles, waiting to be ripped.

I did however manage to get these socks done though before my streak of disasters set in.


And I have also been cranking out more and more things to clean dishes and bodies with as little breaks between all of my failures.

The moral of my story today is 'don't try and knit for yourself when Christmas is looming'.

My meeting with Debbie Bliss was lovely and lovely is completely and absolutely the best word to describe it. I bet that she never makes ugly faces like me. After I met her I went home and prayed that in my next life, I come back as lovely as her and with an equally lovely line of my own yarns.

I have big plans

Due to the large number of papers and absurd flock of quizzes I seem to be ploughing through these days, my poor knitting is suffering.
I am starting to doubt that I am going to make this so-called "December 25th deadline" everyone seems to be chattering about.
Sigh...
Since I have no actual knitting to show, I shall show you what is GOING to be knit.

About two weeks ago, I took my little car over the bridge and bought this.



From here.



To make this.



All this Christmas knitting is making me greedy. I want to actually keep something that I knit holy smokes! Don't count on seeing this cast on though for... quite some time.
I'll let you know when the day comes.

Oh, and before I forget.
Do you have any idea who I am going to be eating cheese and sipping wine with on sunday?
Here's a hint.

Well aren't I posh?

Swell Enough Socks

You know Christmas is coming, and you know that school is getting busy when I start to crank out the socks. I am just ploughing through them... Some, admittedly are Christmas gifts which I suppose I will not post for now (maybe sneak them in a little later and pretend they're for me) but most of the socks coming off the needles these days, are for me.
I just had this overwhealming urge to spruce up my sock wardrobe a tad.
Now, don't get me wrong... I have plenty of wool socks. Handknit no less and I'll give you a glimpse of them someday... but not today dear friend. Not today.
Today is for my latest accomplishment out of this yarn. (this is kind of like a "Where's Waldo")



I have found myself drawn to far more subdued colours as of late.
I was always the first to gravitate towards the electric pink and shocking yellow sock yarns, but I have come to realize that when I wear those socks, I have to coordinate my whole outfit around, MY SOCKS.
That's crazy.
I know.
I feel like... I could be the only one that does that, but maybe I'm wrong.
In any case, when I saw sock yarn that was simply black and white, suggesting that I could be sporting zebra striped socks... I went bananas.
It's a more subdued sort of zany.
Right?
Black and white go with everything. But it's animal print.
I love.
It's probably just a phase though.
I'll be back in my hot pink socks in no time.

And here you have it.
Zebra.


In the meantime, I have been chugging along on some socks out of this yarn...

That currently look like this.


In regards to the comment that Helga left asking what exactly a "Daddy sweater" is... I came up with this.


"Daddy sweaters" are what our fathers wore when we were wee tykes and we associate these sweaters with them. Just because they wore them when we were wee tykes does not necessarily mean that they are out of style, they are just what our dad's wore. They're classic. Those sorts of sweaters were also worn by our mothers, our grandmothers, our aunts, our uncles... but we just call them "Daddy sweaters". What kids want to wear to "be more like dad". At least, that's the kind of sweater I was aiming for when I knit it for dear Maggie.

Kind of like when my brother was a kid and he had a toy car that loosely resembled this one.

It was referred to as his "Daddy car" although my dad has never owned a red car and at least in my brother's memory, has never driven one that really even looked like that. It was still his "Daddy car" none the less.
Come to think of it... I don't think my dad ever owned a sweater that even really looked like the one shown above either...
You get the point though.

The Baby is in Brown

I marched on home to Ontario for the weekend from Halifax, Nova Scotia to see the loved ones, eat a decent turkey and not feel weird about loitering in a wool shop. My-oh-my am I ever glad I went. Weather was perfect... Turkey was divine... The company, always entertaining.
One little friend in particular.

Meet Maggie, in the "daddy sweater" that I knit for her before she even graced this dear earth. I had yet to see it on her and I am glad to see that it she is putting it to good use. It's that time of year when most everyone in Canada needs a "daddy sweater".
Please note the crispy leaves in which Maggie is posing in.

Yarn: Pingouin "Le Yarn".
Pattern: A King Cole pattern I've long since lost track of.

I was going to knit yet another pair of socks this evening, but I think that I have convinced myself that everyone really does need a "daddy sweater". I'd better cast on. I don't have one yet.

More on what I've been knitting recently soon, soon, soon.
Happy Thanksgiving to all. I hope that your turkey, weather and company was as lovely a combination as mine.