WIP Wednesday (Adriana)

This is my first WIP Wednesday and I think I might be a little too excited about it.

I haven't made any progress on the knee socks since I showed them to you last. I haven't knit on Flannery recently either, but I do think you're owed an updated picture.


Look at that cool cable! I really should pick this project up again. It's a seriously fun knit.

A few days ago I alluded to having cast on something new to break my knee socks monogamy. I randomly decided that I needed a new shrug, and that I should use the Mission Falls yarn from my frogged Tempting. I wandered over to the shrugs section of the pattern page on Ravelry and #4 (the Ribbed Lace Bolero) on the list was perfect for my needs (something quick and easy to memorize). I've been too busy to give this shrug much attention but it's still moving along quite quickly (I knit on it today at working during my occupational H&S training :P).
It doesn't look like much just yet but here it is:


Thanks for all the comments on my colour post yesterday. After putting together all those collages I started to second guess some of my choices. I still love red for a fall wedding but if circumstances dictate a spring wedding then I'm starting to lean towards light purple with blue accents. This way I could put the attendants in purple but the blue would keep it from seeming like we're advertising our Alma Mater. Who knows what tomorrow will bring but that's the plan for tonight :)

Colourful Thoughts (Adriana)

My friends, I am exhausted! Today at the museum I assisted with a children's party, ate way too much cake, worked as security for a press conference with the attorney general, and got hit on by a very creepy guy. My feet are so sore and I'm daydreaming about pretty but expensive shoes that make my feet feel great after a long day.

I had a feeling that I would be tired tonight so I prepared some pictures to show you. As most of you know, I'm engaged!! It is terribly exciting and I am so happy. We haven't set a date yet because I've been busy with school and my placement, and Pete is freaking out over his multiple Fringe shows this summer. We haven't even settled on a time of year yet, though it will be either spring or fall (I dislike hot, muggy weather and our fathers have forbidden a winter wedding). I can't plan anything yet but I can daydream and I've been thinking a lot lately about colour schemes. If we get married in the fall it's easy; I want to work with the colours in fall leaves.
Here is a collection of random pictures that caught my eye:

The top picture is my inspiration for the colour scheme. Also, I have my heart set on a bouquet of red roses.

If we decide to get married in the spring my thoughts aren't as clear. I love the beautiful green of new buds on trees, but green doesn't always look good on people.


I also like yellow, which also doesn't always look good on people.


I have also thought about navy blue with yellow as an accent but I couldn't find any pictures as examples.

So, some help please. I'm totally waffling on this whole spring colour thing. I know that blue would be an obvious choice but too many of my friends used blue as their colour scheme (which was lovely but I want to do something different). Pete is morally opposed to brown in weddings so that's off the table. He's not a big fan of pink, and our Alma Mater's colours are purple and white so purple probably wouldn't work, except that maybe light purple and blue might look nice.
Thoughts please! Advice from people who have chosen their wedding colours would also be greatly appreciated.

Clothes May Make the Man... (Adriana)

But all a sweater needs is buttons!

Do you remember way back in February when I made Trellis for my friend to give to her friend who was having a baby? Well the baby was born in March but the sweater wasn't officially finished until recently. It needed buttons, and not any ordinary buttons would do. They had to be uber cool buttons (says me).

Want to see some magic?

Watch a nice but somewhat boring baby sweater


Become the cutest sweater on earth!

I am so in love with those little bumblebees I even put one on top of the hat.
I didn't want to stop there. I wanted to bedeck this little sweater with millions of bumblebee buttons! Instead I settled for taking some cool pictures of them.


Close up on the buttons lovingly framed by the hourglass cables


Super duper close up on the buttons

Well that's all for today. See you tomorrow! Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Various Bits of News (Adriana)

I have various bits of news to share today. For one, I am done school! (Well, sort of.) I'm done the classroom portion and I am one week into my second placement. This one is at the local museum and is very promising. I will be learning a lot about marketing, PR, event planning, and fund raising. I'm very excited about it.

Another piece of news: I am officially dropping out of Mission Possible 2008. I was totally into it until I got sick. A month later, I am just not feeling the love for these projects, and really, what's the point of knitting if you're not having fun.

I have been inspired by Phoe who blogged every day for the month of May. There is no way I could manage a full month of daily blogging (not to mention the logistics are impossible since I'll be out of town for half of June) but I would like to try to blog every day for a week. Today is day 1.

I didn't finish my final essay for school until near the end of last week so I haven't had much time for knitting lately, but I have been strangely monogamous to one project for what little knitting time I've had:

This is Regia Kaffe Fassett sock yarn that my brother gave me for Christmas. I thought it would make perfect knee socks so I got an extra ball. I'm trying to figure out the math to keep them matching perfectly while maximizing yardage.

I couldn't stay monogamous for too long and I started a new project last night, but I'll hold off on showing it for another day (I don't know what I'm going to have to talk about for 7 straight days).

One last bit of news, for those of you on Ravelry I have changed my username. I was never really happy with aphrodidee. I picked it in a hurry in my excitement to get on Ravelry. I've been trying to come up with a new name for the past couple of months but nothing felt right. Last night Pete and I were watching the movie Clue and inspiration struck me. I love that movie. I used to watch it over and over again with my friend Calli. I can still recite parts of it along with the characters (which Pete tolerates). Anyways, to make a long story short ("too late!") my new username on Ravelry is MissScarlet.

I think that's it for now. See you tomorrow!

More Than a Yardage Sale... (Heather)

It was a mob scene!

I wish I had taken a picture of the scene outside of the Textile Museum yesterday, but my camera ran out of juice. Those of you who have gone before will know of what I speak. Those of you who haven't? Just imagine every crafty person in Toronto mobbing one large tent (fabric), one small tent (yarn), and the entrance way (odds and ends).

Here is my haul:



Not too bad for $6, eh? I was expecting to have tons of stuff and need to use credit, but the crowds were too much for me alone. I think this is more of a team adventure, requiring mutliple scouts and better use of elbows.

The only fabric I ended up getting was this bundle of remnants for $1:



They are serged at the edges, likely samples meant for designers. Four pieces are about 12" square, and then two more pieces (both dark blue) are 12" x 16". I like the colours and the feel, and have not yet decided what they will be.

And then there is the yarn...



All fine, mostly coned. If anyone has plans for some monster laceweight project involving any of these colours, let me know. I don't really 'do' laceweight, but this was the only wool I saw (tons and tons of acrylic and some blends, though) and the price was certainly right (all of this for $5). I may save this towards the distant day when I take up weaving...

There has been some apathetic knitting and some considerably more productive sewing, but Gen's Anthropologie-inspired capelet has me somewhat inspired, so I may take a stab at that. And now, as everyone I know seems to be moving, it's off I go for a busy weekend! Have fun, everyone!

Back! (Adriana)

Sorry for the hiatus in blogging. I've been quite sick for the past three weeks. At first the doctor thought it was a throat infection and put me on antibiotics which didn't do anything. Then she thought it was mono since one of my classmates has mono and I had all the same symptoms, but the tests came back negative. Finally she decided that I had an anonymous viral infection that mimics mono. The good news is that I'm now definitely on the mend. The bad news is that I've been sick for most of the last month of school so it's been hard to keep up. I am now in the last week of school and I am done everything except for my major paper (which I have barely started and which is due in less than a week. I'm going to ask for an extension).

Unfortunately for much of the time I was sick I was too tired to knit. I did manage to do a little knitting this past week but it's just a stockinette sock so not very interesting. I do have some pictures of my knitting to show off, though.

Long-time readers of this blog will know that one of my favourite people to knit for is my wonderful Granny, who is celebrating her 91st birthday today (Happy Birthday Granny!). This past weekend the whole family gathered to celebrate her birthday and just to be together (it's kind of sickening how much we love each other). Even though Granny had told everyone that she didn't want any presents I wanted to give her something anyways. I decided to give her the River Shawl I'd knit this winter for two reasons: 1) because it's too dark to go with my wardrobe, and 2) because when I showed it to her last month she couldn't stop petting it. Also 3) because I love my Granny and want to keep her warm in luxury fibres.


Here she is looking happy after I wrapped it around her


Here she is admiring how fine it is


And here she is proudly telling my relatives about it

Time for me to stop playing on the internet and get down to some serious work. I can't wait to be done school (soon, so very very soon!).

Yarny Pictures (Adriana)

I've been sick with a nasty flu all week. Not fun. I'm still not fully recovered.
This is literally all the knitting I have managed to do:


It's a swatch in Hempathy for Kate Gilbert's Camellia. I'm hoping to cast on sometime this weekend (if my body starts behaving itself. I wanna be better NOW!!)

Although there's no knitting to show off, I do have some pictures of yarn. I realized today that I have been negligent in photographing recent additions to the stash so I decided to do it today (instead of homework).


This is the good-enough-to-eat Handmaiden Cashmere from B.


Sunshine Yarn in Poppy (also from B)


Sundara Sock Yarn Pine over Gold (thanks so much, B!)


B also sent me one skein of Malabrigo in Amoroso. I managed to get my hands on two more on Ravelry. I'm going to use this to make a Clapotis for my granny.


Also for my granny is this gorgeous skein of Handmaiden Casbah destined to be her Christmas socks (I think I'll do it with contrasting heels and toes to prolong the life of the socks and to make them a little longer.)

Thanks for all the suggestions on yarn dyers in my last post. I'm still having trouble deciding what I want. There are so many gorgeous yarns out there. I promise to report back when I do get some.

I now have 3.5 weeks until school is DONE! (Hopefully forever) Between now and then I have a total of 10 projects to do, and that includes a 4000 word essay. If I don't blog much for the next little while I hope you'll understand.