New Year Plus Blogiversary! (Adriana)

Happy New Year everyone! I hope that 2008 is filled with fibery joys.
Tomorrow is our Blogiversary (and my brother's birthday. Happy Birthday Neil!) but I'm going to be in Windsor visiting the one and only Spillyjane so I thought I'd post today.

I found our inaugural post from a year ago complete with a to-knit list. Here was mine:

Tubey (in Mission Falls 1824 Wool) - done
Tabachin (yarn unknown) from Eternal Noro - didn't happen
Shawl (Rowanspun 4ply) in an undetermined pattern - I made Birch!
Socks for my Granny's 90th birthday! - Did those plus another pair for Christmas
Lotus Blossom Tank (in Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy) - I looked into knitting this but upon closer inspection didn't like some aspects of the pattern, although that was before I saw Rachel's beautiful version.
Finish my Swallowtail Shawl (in red Misti Alpaca laceweight) - yeppers!
A Scarf (in RYC Cashsoft DK) to match Odessa - still no matching scarf for my Odessa
Greek Pullover - didn't happen either
A special gift for someone! - I have no idea what this was referring to :)

I think I did pretty well overall. I have made up a new to-knit list for 2008, of course.
Back to School Vest - which I started a month ago but gauge lies and it's too small.
Ms. Marigold in Silky Wool I got for Christmas
Knit the second Naive Sock and Pomatomus
Muir in KP Shadow (part of a swap with Jane)
Make a summer top that I will actually wear (Leela hasn't been worn once!)
Make a dent in the sock yarn stash (specifically the gorgeous yarns dyed by Rosemary and Heather)

I think that's a pretty manageable list for the upcoming year. I don't have any specific knitting resolutions, just to continue to knit from the stash whenever possible and to make things that are functional, also whenever possible.

Since no blog post is complete without pictures I thought I'd show off the project I was working on yesterday and today:


Bubby from Knitty
This was knit with no specific recipient in mind, I was inspired by the love shown to Tommy the Turtle and I wanted something quick. I used DB Cashmerino Aran with some white acrylic for the eyes and nose.


Here he is meeting Cleo


And here they're snuggling (I did not include the picture where she tries to smother him. Cleo lacks a mothering instinct)

A FO on January 1st? I think 2008 is off to a great start :)

Christmas Part 1 (Adriana)

I hope that everyone had/is having a great holiday. Mine was different than previous years but it was still enjoyable. This year not only were my parents in a new house, but Pete was there with me and we spent Christmas Eve and part of Christmas Day with his family.


The beautiful Christmas tree at my parents' house. Decorating it is one of my favourite part of the holidays and I was so happy to have Pete's help this year.

After making sure that the cat was settled safely with my folks we were off to Pete's parents' house. Since this was my first Christmas with them I came bearing a pie (apple) with Julie's patented star top crust!

The pie was a big hit.

Pete's mom is a knitter so I knew that she would appreciate what I had made for her

Dayflower Scarf made with Silky Wool


Doesn't it look great on her?

I'm so glad my parents moved because their new house is only 90 minutes from Pete's parents which made for a very pleasant drive on Christmas (before the move it would have been more than 4 hours).
As always, my granny loves her socks.

Regia Silk Color in Roma (from Yarn 4 Socks), my own pattern (available here)

I wasn't sure what to give my uncle Peter so on a whim I decided to make him Sheldon. It was a great choice because I think he likes it better than anything I've given him before.

Pete and I had fun with the wrapping


Uncle Peter has named this turtle Tommy and apparently he and Granny have been fighting over it. I think I might need to check out more knitted toy patterns in the future :)

It's such a great feeling to have something you knitted with love be so well received. Christmas is much more fun now that I'm a knitter. More posts to come in which I will show off the yummies I received and the present which made my parents cry (in a good way).

One more thing, I made a little hat for Bertha's daughter June to celebrate her first Christmas. You've got to check out the cute pictures!

Miscellanea (Adriana)

When I was visiting my parents at the beginning of the month my mom and I made a pilgrimage to Mary Maxim, conveniently located 15 minutes from their new house! I was quite impressed with the non-acrylic selections which included Cascade 220, TOFUtsies and even some Noro! There wasn't anything I needed so we just left with yarn for mittens for mom and socks for dad.


Mom's mittens were a quick knit. I hadn't heard of this yarn before (Wisdom Yarns Poems) but it was nice (for a single ply) and had cool colour gradients. I used what is becoming my go-to pattern for quick mittens, Yarn Gear's Mittens from the Top.
I have christened these Mom's Mittens of Wisdom which is a play on the yarn name but is also very appropriate if you know my mom.
I like the striping effect so much that mom has even agreed (it took a lot of arm twisting, let me tell you :P) to allow me to knit her a multi-directional scarf like the beautiful one Gen made.

Dad had requested some socks to wear while he freezes in the workshop/garage. Since I'm the one who has to knit these enormous things, I picked yarn I would enjoy working with, Patons Classic Merino in variegated browns and blues with solid blue for contrasting heels and toes. The yarn pooled fiercely at the beginning but has split up nicely when I decreased a few stitches after the ball of the foot. (Not pictured because I forgot to get a more recent picture and the sock is still at my parents'.)

Here they are posed with the Christmas cactus and the iron dog which for the purpose of this photoshoot mom has named Angus.

Don't think I'm neglecting knitting for myself these days. I got some STR a few months ago and I nervously cast on for Marigold socks at the beginning of December. I've heard such horror stories about pooling so I was absolutely delighted when this yarn behaved itself. I really love this pattern because the purl rows look like garlands!


It's a little tricky to photograph properly but I love it and am thoroughly addicted to STR.

This weekend I got to see Heather, Mike and Sam for some Christmassing before Heather and Mike head off to Vancouver to spend the holidays with his family. I had dyed some yarn for Sam for her birthday but hadn't had a chance to give it to her until now.

I call this colourway Five Alive and it turns out that Sam used to live on the stuff to ward off scurvy in high school (after pirates, high school students are the most susceptible to scurvy, didn't you know)

Heather was the recipient of some of my stealth knitting

Sorry for the terrible picture. This is what happens when you try to photograph lace at 10pm right before you have to wrap it. Hopefully Heather will get a picture of her modelling it (it looks so good!).
For those of you not obsessed with lace like I am, this is Wisp in Misti Alpaca laceweight. Believe it or not, it was actually a fun and fast knit. I carried it in my purse for a few weeks only knitting on it on the bus (often while simultaneously studying for an exam). I definitely see more Wisps in my future.

Well, that's it for now. I am very excited to be revealing more Christmas knitting in the near future. I'm not sure when I'll be able to blog next since I'm going to be heading home soon. This Christmas is going to be different for my family; not only are we in a new house but I'm going to be spending the 23rd, 24th and half of the 25th with my boyfriend at his parents' house. At 1pm we're going to hop in the car and (safely) make our way to my family. This is the first time we're going to be attempting this so I am nervous but excited. I think it will be worth it in the long run.
If I don't update in time, Happy Holidays!

Finished Log Cabin Blanket (Adriana)

Thanks so much for all your kind words on my Gallery Jacket. Unfortunately I left the sweater at my parents' so I haven't gotten much use out of it yet. I'll get it back next week.

While I was home I was finally able to get some pictures of the finished log cabin blanket. It's really hard to photograph an entire blanket.

With flash so it's a little brighter than in real life.


See how much my mom loves it :)

I'll have more pictures after my mini-Christmas party with Heather, Mike and Sam tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you guys!

Gallery Jacket (Adriana)

The Gallery Jacket is ready to be revealed! Sorry for the delay, there was the little matter of finishing off the semester which required my attention :P


Here it is posed with my great aunt's gorgeous painting which belongs in an art gallery :)


I like how versatile this sweater is. I can wear it closed (as above) or open. I also tried pinning it higher up like Julie did with hers. It looks good no matter what I do with it :)

Details:
Pattern: Gallery Jacket from WEBS designed by Cirilia Rose
Yarn: Valley Yarns Colrain (coincidentally also from WEBS)
Date started: early November?
Date finished: December 1, 2007
Modifications: the biggest one is that I made it with long sleeves. I knew I wouldn't wear it with short sleeves so I just kept knitting. Oy! Sleeves take a long time to knit. It felt like they went on forever. The 1x1 ribbing got tiring pretty quickly as well. But I am so happy with the end result that it was all worthwhile.
The Colrain knit up gorgeously. It's soft and shiny (due to the tencel). I don't know how well it will wear but I definitely want more.

By the way, I seem to have mislead you in my previous post. I don't have classes until March but I don't have three months vacation. I will be doing an internship at the local orchestra for January and February as part of my program. I'm very excited about it. I'm sure that it will be a fantastic experience.

I'm at my parents' right now and I was finally able to get pictures of the finished log cabin blanket, but that will wait for another day (I'm trying to draw out the blog fodder :P)

Done! (Adriana)

This is what being finished looks like:


Here you see the completed Gallery Jacket posed with my marketing campaign which signifies the end of school! (until March)
(You can also see the toes of my Trekking Socks which kept my feet nice and warm on this freezing cold day)

I am now off to celebrate school being done by visiting my parents for 4 days, leaving Pete to wrangle the crazy cat (who has been especially nutty tonight). I'll try to blog soon with pictures of the Gallery Jacket in action (maybe even at a gallery!).

Almost There (Adriana)

I am currently one assignment away from being done school for the semester (squee!) and one sleeve away from being done the Gallery Jacket (all that 1x1 ribbing got boring really fast). I'm currently regretting my decision to give it long sleeves but I knew that I wouldn't get any use out of a short-sleeved sweater in this climate. Naturally I've also been engaged in a little Christmas knitting (I said I was done but little things always pop up) so I can't even show you pictures of those.
Instead I thought I'd share the next two projects in my queue.

Remember my first sweater Tempting? Way back in July I decided that it was time to frog so that the yarn could be reused for something I'd actually wear.
I'm going to use this yarn:

to make Stefanie Japel's Back-to-School U-Neck Vest (Ravelry link)
After slogging through the Gallery Jacket this should be a quick knit.

The other project I am itching to cast on are socks using my one and only ball of STR:

in Jingle Bell Rock.
I wanted to find a pattern that would make it look like garland on a Christmas tree. I need to swatch it to see if it actually will give it the desired look but right now I'm leaning towards Marigold Socks.

I'm off to my parents' house next week where I am hoping to do a proper photo shoot for the Gallery Jacket. Now I'm off to the gym to sit on a bike and force myself to brainstorm for my marketing assignment. Why is it that the last project is always the most challenging?
Happy Almost-December everyone!