The Ninja Knitter (Redux)

Time to move on up...

2009-08-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile, eh?

I've found that I'm a very seasonal crafter - probably has something to do with the fact that my sewing room is in the basement, and that wool is stinkin' hot to work with in the middle of summer.

Since I've been quite unfaithful to ye olde knitting lately, (seriously, my knitting output has been close to zilch for the past few months) I've decided that I can no longer limit myself to just a knitting blog. That, in addition to the identity crisis that I am starting to enter as of late...I need a new headspace.

thebuffaloherdtheory.blogspot.com is where you'll find me in the future. I'll be posting more varied ruminations there: snippets of my writing, book reviews, gaming stuff, crafty items, and lots of soul searching, I'm afraid. I'll try to keep the melancholy to a minimum but will still have lots of the snark lurking around.

Hope to see you there!

Hi.

2009-04-15T11:47:00.001-07:00

I'm still here.

Really.

I've just been sick. Really sick. "I should go get meds" kinda sick. Turns out the nasty flu that I picked up a few weeks ago was actually pneumonia. Yeah. I'm finally almost over it apart from the occasional involuntary coughing spasm. And now that my family is finally gone home (nothing to pick you up like hosting Easter guests while hacking up a lung), I'm recuperating on many levels.

I have a few of the dresses to show you, but not all of them as some are in the wash already. I admit to dillydallying with getting these all finished, as I have a hatred for gathering fabric that is comparable to that of a Trekkie for Star Wars fans. (Google it people...it's an epic hate-on.) Excuse the crap photos...I'm waiting to upgrade to a DSLR until the new Canon Rebel comes out. HD movie capability, baby.

This one is the Peasant Dress pattern included as part of the Portobello Pixie Claire pattern:

These next few are mods of the Portobello Pixie "Claire" - took the bodice and extended it to an A-line dress. Tried different methods of cinching the waistline.

These are from the halter dress tutorial from Just Tutes:

These last two are for a friend of mine and her daughter who are looking forward to a new summer baby. See? Same material, different results...it's just like genetics! The little one with the ties at the shoulder is an Itty Bitty Dress from Made By Rae.

And finally, a pirate princess outfitted and ready to set sail...

As for knits - I have one measly pair of mittens done. These are for Mr. Ninja, and he's happy to see them. Now that the snow's all gone, of course.

Starting a pair of Rainy Day Socks in Fleece Artist, as much to my knitterly shame...I have exactly two pairs of hand knit socks that survived the winter. All the others bit the dust. Ungh.

Dibble Dabble...

2009-03-21T17:06:00.000-07:00

And away ya go. So far this week, I've been sewing a lot, spinning a bit and knitting a bit. Here:

Autumn Walk in BFL dyed by Funky Carolina. Love this one. It's navajo plied, albeit poorly done. About a fingering weight, maybe? I've figured out why I don't like navajo ply, it's because I have to do it sloooowly and concentrate on it the entire time. Totally not my style, 'cause I like to ply fast. Yeah. I was the girl that your momma warned you about.

No knitting to show you - it's all UFOs at the moment. But lots of mitten action.

I've gone on a real sewing binge as of late, mostly gifts. I know of at least four babies that I'm sewing for (either REALLY recently arrived or expected this summer), including my VERY FIRST NIECE/NEPHEW! I'm super excited about this...namely because it takes the pressure off of us to propagate the family Christmas albums. The AT-AT only takes up so much room...

So lots of diaper sewing, one baby boy quilt, some wee dresses and some sewing for my munchkin:

Pattern is Claire from Portobello Pixie. LOVE this pattern, although it's a lot more fiddly than I'm used to. I'm setting myself a goal of sewing Miss E two weeks worth of summer dresses, as I am hoping to outfit her for the summer in just those. To that end, I managed to cut out 12 dresses today...now for the sewing up. To the batcave!

A mess of excess...

2009-03-15T06:35:00.001-07:00

So why'd I post the pics of my stash? It has to do with public accountability, rather than a lame ass attempt to brag about yarn. If you know me irl, you might have guessed that I don't really care about stuff - I have a tendency to give away yarn at the drop of a hat. I'm just mostly hoping that posting this pic will give people the freedom to berate me if they catch me sniffing yarn at the LYS...Couple of reasons that I have it all gathered in one spot:

1) I'm planning on selling a fair bit of it. But before I can do that, I have to know how much there really is.

2) Christmas gifts. (Yeah, I know.) I'm thinking that this is the year that I knit mittens for everyone. So we're looking at a minimum of 15 pairs of mitts of varying sizes. That's going to take some work, as I'm also planning on spinning the yarn for most of them.

3) It's a great baby amuser.

The Return of the Light...

2009-03-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

And not a minute too soon! I find that the winter really saps me of the desire to do anything but hunker down on my couch and eat my own weight in chocolate. But with Spring finally arriving, my energy is slowly returning. Honestly, if you think that my blogging's been delinquent...you should see my FO pile. I think that I've got about 4 projects in total to show for the entire freakin' winter.

A pair of "lobster" mittens, requested by Mr. Munchkin. (Use your inner 5 year old's imagination, people.) Peenchy peenchy.

A scarf out of some sparkly rainbow handspun.

A very pink baby sweater out of more handspun.

And a pair of plain vanilla ribbed socks for my MIL's Christmas gift. No pics, as I was too brain dead to remember to take pics.

In other news, I have officially reached SABLE. Really. No kidding around. Here, look.

Once it was all amassed, I was initially horrified that I owned yarn that I had totally forgotten about. Then I remembered my Mum's stash and felt slightly better. But still. I'm not allowed to buy any more yarn for quite a while. I'm going to have to start bigger projects, me thinks. Yoiks.

Making Lemonade...

2008-10-20T07:25:00.000-07:00

So, what's a knitter to do with a sweater that the recipient grows out of during the knitting process? A hat, of course.

It's a little big for her, but I think she'll get used to it eventually.

Seems that I had a more productive summer than I thought - I was looking at my flickr the other day and noticed that I had spun a bit this summer, and knit a little more. Check it:

Novalis colourway in BFL from Crown Mountain Farms roving. Crappily plied using the Navajo technique.

Man socks, in handspun - superwash merino in the Henry colourway.

The Hungry Caterpillar yarn - Corriedale and sari silk remnants.

Candied Rainbow - bamboo/merino blend from The Good Sheep. Triple ply, and a major PITA to ply in just such a way that the colours run together.

Twilight - Superwash merino.

There, I feel better about my slacking now. Nothing more to see here people, move along.

East, West...

2008-10-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

Home's best.

Well, that was a good summer. There's really too much to write about in detail, so I'll sum up.

Visitors: 5
Little boys who started school: 1
Little girls who started crawling: 1
Computers that bricked: 1
New computers: 1
Old ladies that got a year older: 1
Little boys that got a year older: 1
Husbands that stopped smoking: 1
Husbands that bought a big screen plasma & a PS3 to reward themselves: 1
Trips to Toronto for Dad's 65th birthday: 1
Trips to New York City for a surprise wedding: 1
Buckets of ice cream devoured during the summer: at least 5, but who's counting
Days at the beach: 20 or so
FOs: 2

As for the wedding - my big brother called two weeks ago and announced that he was getting married to his fiancee, pronto. So, last Friday, our little family got up at 4 am and got on a place to NYC (which was the smallest airplane that I've ever flown in, apart from a Cessna that I toured the Grand Canyon in) - it was a beautiful day. Civil ceremony at City Hall, and then pictures in Central Park. Dinner was at the swankiest hotel in town, and we were lucky enough to stay there as well (freebie!). The next day was spent shopping at Toys R Us at Times Square (three separate Star Wars sections, people), and eating lunch at White Castle (the food is quite possibly an abomination inflicted on the American people by terrorists...it's AWFUL.) Back home on early Sunday morning. Phew!

And the knitting? Dismal output. Two FOs - a pair of Uzume socks in Colinette Jitterbug (Fire colourway), and a Cupcake Hat for a sweet little girl that I know (not mine). I don't have permission to post the pic of the behatted wee one, so no go on that one, and I've been too lazy to take pics of the socks - it'll get done eventually.

I've also been sucked back into World of Warcraft, which probably directly correlates to the suck-ass knitting productivity. With the expansion coming out in a month, I kinda doubt that it'll get better, but who knows? Maybe I'll find a Time Warp and be able to knit all sorts of wintery things like mittens, scarves, etc. But one thing's for sure - no Christmas knitting this year. After the lukewarm reception of handknit socks for everyone last year, I have avowed to only knit for those who appreciate the effort, or who are too small to protest being clad in knitwear.

I'm hoping for a Time Warp like this one, personally.

The hills are alive...

2008-07-18T17:36:00.000-07:00

with the sound of a delighted geeky heart. Yeah, yeah. I know. Bad blogger. Anyway, really quickly, here are some of the things lately that have made my geekdom explode all over the place.

1) Took Miss E in for her shots - and she had one needle. And one FREAKING AWESOME GIGANTIC HYPOSPRAY. Dude, I kid you not...it was the size of my arm. But it was still a FREAKING HYPOSPRAY. I think that the Dr. was saying that it's a CO2 fuelled injector, but I was too busy nodding and totally geeking out (in my head).

2) Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog. Go watch. Now.

3) Bento! Yeah, I'm late to the party. As usual. But since Mr. Munchkin is starting school in the fall, I'm going to have to start making him lunch. And if I must make lunches...damnit, they will be awesome.

If you're not familiar with the concept of Bento, it's basically the Japanese way of making wonderful lunches. You take a box, stuff it full of healthy, delicious food and make it attractive at the same time. Check out this site for a more informative perspective on the topic. Anyhoos - here we have (from left to right): egg shapers, sauce cups with lids, a fork, holding cups, salt/pepper holders, soy sauce mini bottles, and picks.

4) My garden. :D

That's the mountain of dirt, contained by a homegrown wall of rocks. Every single one of those rocks were found in the backyard and moved. Also, note the tri-wheel wheelbarrow. We wussed out and bought one that had much less chance of someone trying to ride in it and tipping it over. The wall's about 8 inches deep, and there is tomato, kohlrabi, lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, carrots, and more lettuce growing there. We'll have to see if anything actually comes up this year.

5) Paint! Oh, those crazy-makin' paint fumes. The other day, Miss E was lying on her tummy, looking up at us with big eyes. She then flipped herself onto her back. She then giggled and then flipped herself over onto her tummy again. We took one look at each other and decided to start babyproofing. But instead of babyproofing the entire house (*cough* mission impossible *cough*), we've given up our TV room and have made it into a playroom which will be gated off. So, the vile orange (which the previous owners painted) is gone gone gone. And the room is now a serene white with a hit of rasberry.

6) Oh, and a gratuitious yarn shot. These are the skeins of yarn from the last post, wound into a CPB.

Also, I've finished spinning up the Twilight fiber, just need to get some pics (my camera battery is dead).

7) They Might Be Giants' children's albums. I Am Not Your Broom, indeed.

Lazy summer days...

2008-06-28T07:55:00.000-07:00

are a myth if you ask me.

Craft-wise, it's been all about the dyepot recently.

Mr. Munchkin in action, dyeing up another skein of yarn. We went all out and used acid dyes this time. (Don't worry, no children were in the room when I was prepping.)

From left to right: Carmen (red, violet, purple), Muddy Rainbow, and Mr. Munchkin's Special.

I had another skein of a rainbow yarn that I dyed, but Mr. Munchkin ran off with it and gave it to our lovely neighbor (who knits, fortunately) in lieu of handpicked daisies. He loves our neighbor and always runs off to pick flowers for her when she is outside. Today, he decided to bring her yarn. Will have to put the stash under lock and key. >_<

Lessons learned from this dye session - let the boy have no more than 3 colours at a time. Inevitably, one of those colours will be black. (His fave colour) Also, for the love of Pete...dye outside.

Superwash merino roving, in the Twilight colourway. (Sky Blue, Violet and Black) Twilight is my favourite time of day. Always has been, always will be. When I was dyeing this, I was so disappointed - the blue was so watery and pale before it went into the oven. But it turned out perfectly. Makes me happy just to look at it.

And the last reason that my blogging will be sporadic at best for the next while:

This is five yards of dirt...waiting to be transported to the waiting raised bed in the backyard. We're not really going to be able to get anything planted this year, but the plan is to put the structure in place in time for next years growing season. The plan is to build a square potager with paths from each corner, meeting at a circle in the centre. Inside the circle will be a bean teepee. Now I just have to move the dirt, build the paths and find a local ironmonger to build the teepee. Phew.

Well, crap on toast.

2008-06-19T11:47:00.000-07:00

A favourite saying of one of my university roommates. It's appropriate, trust me.

I've had a lousy week.

1) No sleep. Lil' Miss E seems to be a night owl, as she likes seeing the sunrise.
2) Fought with my Mum 3 hours before she got on a plane to go home. We're better now...but still.
3) Got into a fender bender backing out of my freakin' driveway, as there was a car parked illegally on the wrong side of the street - and I wasn't really paying attention 'cause I was still wound up from the fight. Guh. Everyone's ok, but it was my first car accident ever, and I'm still pissed off about it. My car is NOT happy looking - going to have to get a side panel and the bumper replaced. Grrrr.

Fiber stuff:

Wonderwool is pretty...but it's curse worthy stuff. This is the baby shrug from Debbie Bliss. Nice pattern, a little confusing, but the end product is very pretty.

Mr. Munchkin's kool-aid socks. Dyed by the young gentleman himself, and knitted with a standard top down short row heel and toe. I really liked how the yarn did a self striping thing...which gives me another excuse to let the munchkin loose on more fibre now that the weather is marginally warmer. (17 degrees in June? Madness.)

And finally...Julia. I love this spinning wheel. Love love love love love love love it. The take up is so freakin' light that spinning cobweb lace suddenly seems like something that I could/should/want to do. However, the bobbins are teensy compared to the ones for the S10. I finally understand how people can spin up a bobbin and a half in a day (the thought used to gobsmack the hell out of me before). At the moment, I'm working away on the Novalis BFL.

Also, you may have noticed a new widget on the side bar - the mixwit tape thingy. It's SO cool. As an angsty teen, I used to spend hours making the perfect mix tape for my beloved boy of the month. The mixwit mixes are limited to what you can find online, but it provides enough variety to keep me very happy. I forsee this becoming a popular little toy for bloggers everywhere.

Drive by blogging.

2008-06-05T16:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, don't have a lot of time to blog. (I do have a rather respectable level 31 Bear Shaman in AoC, by the way. And best not to ask what my Wii Fit age is if you want to keep all of your body parts.)

1) Lesley, I forgot to tell you - I found the project bag! Mr. Munchkin was evidently trying to help, and he put it into one of the stash baskets. I'm still amazed that it turned up in the same calendar year as when it was lost.

2) I hate Wonderwool.

3) I have almost 4 balls of splitty, clingy, obnoxious pink Wonderwool left. Anyone want it? (Why yes, I've never worked in retail. Why do you ask?)

4) My spinning wheel is gone. But I'm glad that she's gone to a good home. Thanks again Lesley!

5) I'm getting a new wheel for my (early) birthday present: a Julia! She's in the mail, and I can't wait to meet her.

6) According to my Ravelry project page, I clearly have a bad case of startitis. Five projects on the needles.

7) Yes, I have knitting in my bathroom. It's the only room in the house with a lock. (For me to be able to step away from the chaos for a minute or two. It's not like the knitting is at risk of getting out. Unless it's pink Wonderwool. Then all bets are off and I suggest that you read up on zombie apocalypse reference material.)

8) In a fit of apoplectic rage (is there any other kind, really) after finding the cat sleeping on all of the diapers that I had cut but neglected to sew... I went on a minor sewing bonanza, thanks to the fact that my lovely Mum is in town and is being the BEST grandmother ever. I now have 20 diapers in size medium to fit little Miss E's tush, which is enough. No more disposables for us! Pics may present themselves eventually.

9) Three month old humans are pretty much the epitome of cuteness. It's all downhill from here. Don't believe me? Check this out.

See, she's not always the screaming crying mess that she turns into the minute that we step into the Wired Monk. *sigh* It looks like it'll be a few more months until I'll be back at KOL, unfortunately. Until then, it's just me and the Wonderwool, and only one of us is getting out of here alive.

ZOMGZOMGZOMGZOMGZOMG

2008-05-21T06:34:00.000-07:00

Hi, short post.

Got Age of Conan installed last night. On the Damballah server, fyi.

Got a Wii Fit today.

Will promise to keep kids fed, clean and housed. Anything else is gravy for the next week.

Well, I'll be...

2008-05-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

Overheard earlier today:

Mr. Ninja: "Why's this clone trooper hiding behind the desk? With his head turned backwards?"
Mr. Munchkin, with a huge eyeroll: "Jedi Mind Trick. Duh."

Anyway. Mr. Munchkin and I were amusing ourselves yesterday with kool-aid and fiber. I set him up with some undyed sock yarn and let him loose. I'll show you the results later, the skeins are still drying. At the end, there was still some dye kicking around, so I shrugged and dumped it all into a pot with a bunch of superwash merino roving. I wasn't expecting much as it was orange, red and purple - definitely not my first choice of colours. This is what I got:

I sighed a little when I was waiting for it to dry and figured that since it wasn't really hitting a sweet spot for me, I would use it to practice my long draw technique with. Well, lo and behold:

I lurrrrve it. Can't wait to see what it becomes. Meanwhile, I've also been spinning some of the BFL that I got from Crown Mountain Farms - the Novalis colourway has been calling my name.

And yet somehow, I'm not nearly as entranced with the actual singles.

I'm not sure that I'm going to like the barberpole effect with these colours. I find it weird how different the two yarns are from what I was expecting, but it just goes to show that it does pay to push yourself out of a rut every once in awhile.

I'm a little bummed at the moment - I lost one of my WIPs and the lovely project bag that Lesley made for me while I was pregnant. So if you're walking around Fisherman's Cove and see a lonely bag of knitting, drop me a note eh?

Baby pic of the day:

Fear the Stormpooper.

Nebula revealed.

2008-05-06T08:31:00.001-07:00

I finished spinning Nebula last night. This yarn was SO much fun to spin. I would be going along, drafting and then all of a sudden, a gigantic slub of blue silk would appear. Or, I'd be just about to spin a bunch of silk, and it would be consumed by some black merino. It was like watching the birth and the death of galaxies. So cool.

Today, I tried a test ply...and didn't like it at all.

The two plies seemed to be cancelling out the prettiness, and making the whole yarn kinda greenish. So I'm setting the twist and calling it done as a single ply, lace weight. I'm already planning to use this for a spectacular shawl. Just need a pattern. The skein has about 880 yards, so it's enough for something really cool, I hope.

I just can't seem to get a good photo of this yarn - it's so pretty IRL. And it's a good thing that I finished Nebula last night, 'cause my Crown Mountain Farms order arrived today! One of the co-ops I'm in does an annual order from CMF, and every time I order some...I wish I'd ordered more. Check these out.

BFL and superwash merino. Hooray for sunshine! Hooray for pretty yarn! Hooray for sheep!

Arachne ain't got nuthin' on me...

2008-05-02T08:53:00.000-07:00

So, just about the only crafty thing that I can do with Miss E attached to me has been spinning. She has been having a rough week - first shots, poor wee thing - and refuses to let me put her down. Thank goodness for my mei buckle tai. I've been trying to knit with her in the carrier, but I have to hold my arms at an odd angle and it hurts. And forget sewing...the noise of the machine wakes her up everytime. But I can spin standing up, and the whirring of the wheel seems to soothe her.

I had some yarn that had been sitting on the bobbin for the longest time, and I wanted to finish it up. So I decided to give Navajo plying another shot. Let's just say that it wasn't pretty the first time that I tried the Navajo method, and that there was lots of alcohol and cursing involved. Sort of like a really good Colonel Tigh imitation. It went better this time, but not by much. (The lack of alcohol may have been a factor this go around.)

Superwash merino. Navajo ply, albeit crappily done. I think that it's Pansies colourway from Abby's Yarns.

And the next fun thing that I have on the crafty horizon is a spinning challenge. On DSD, they've started a spin-a-long. We all have this photo for inspiration:

And we're supposed to spin some yarn inspired by the photo. So far, I've made up some rolags on my hand cards.

It's black, blue and brown merino with liberal splashes of sparkly Angelica and blue/turquoise tussah silk. In retrospect, probably shouldn't have used so much brown. But it'll be interesting to see how it spins up. I have a sneaking suspicion that the brown will make the black just look dirty, but we'll see.

Thunder thighs.

2008-04-21T06:48:00.000-07:00

So. Miss E has the most gargantuan thunder thighs. Don't get me wrong, it's adorable to see baby thighs so chubby that it looks like there's three thighs where one should be. But it's making things painful in terms of figuring out how the hell I'm going to keep this child clothed and diapered. Needless to say, I've been amusing myself with testing various patterns.

More diapers in size medium. Being the lazy sod that I am, I made all-in-one diapers. Slap 'em on the kid, and she's good to go. Pattern: Very Baby AIO.

This is from the Hippy Hippy Snap pattern. I'm a little sad about this one, as I like the pattern, but I think that the elastic I used may not be working as well as I'd want it to...thereby rendering the diaper pretty much useless. Sigh.

And even in Atlantic Canada, summer is coming. Which means sundresses! I made this one for Miss E using this tutorial, and it was very quick and easy. From selecting the fabric to the final ironing, it look less than an hour to make it.

In knitting...no pics for you as I'm working on gifts. But I must say that once again Terra's ski beanie is saving my ass.

And I leave you with the baby picture of the day:

"Yay! I'm wearing knitted pants!"

May the Force Be With You...

2008-04-14T11:10:00.000-07:00

*Warning: Pic Heavy Post (PHP) incoming*

Like I said, this one's a bragging post about my Mum's awesome knitting skills. During the month that she was up here and helping out with the new baby, she made Mr. Munchkin some amazing knitted goodies. And helped fuel my son's OC infatuation with the SW universe.

Of course, there is some major credit due to the amazing Star Wars fair isle charts made by Knitting And dot com. But on the whole, my Mum made Mr. Munchkin's every knitted wish come true. You can see on his sweaters (the blue one's a vest, we ran out of yarn for the sleeves) an AT-AT, R2-D2, a TIE fighter, a Scoutwalker, and of course, a stormtrooper. I dunno why the pics are so pixelated, Flickr's being a booger. So far, the one knit that's received the most comments has to be the R2-D2 hat in the first pic. I want to find a baby hat in the same sort of pattern - Miss E needs a hat that even she can't object to.

As for myself, the past two months have been spectacularly unproductive. Mind you, I did spring clean like a madwoman. And managed to "out" my fabric/yarn stash in the process. Mr. Ninja decided to help with the spring purge, and he started in the storage/craft/office. All I heard from him during the entire 3 hours he was in there was muffled swearing, and lots of banging around. When he finally emerged, all he had to say was "Y'know, there are less expensive ways of insulating the house, dear." Anyhoo, here's the one FO that I have for you:

Remember this pair of pants and how I thought that they'd be too small for the new baby? Yeah. They were. Miss E has the most adorable thunder thighs, so the pants got deconstructed and reassembled into a diaper soaker. That's the best part of knitting, imo. If something doesn't work, you can just try again. It's a much more forgiving art than sewing.

Speaking of sewing, here's a pic of the baby carrier that I modded - I added a pocket for my iPod and a spot for the carabiner for my knitting pouch. You can also see the ugly unmatching knee-high baby socks - great pattern, I'll have to make another couple of pairs of these.

And finally, this sock in process is going back to the frog pond. Namely, because the tension is waaaaay off. Likely, that's got something to do with the fact that I tried to knit on this while in labour. It's knitted so tightly that the bloody thing could stomp off on its own. Guess I was a little stressed out, eh?

Wow...

2008-04-11T11:25:00.000-07:00

What a month.

I apologize to anyone I've been in contact with during this month (including the ever lovely KOLers), as I seem to have become one of *those* mothers. You know, the kind that are able to willfully ignore your eyes glazing over as they rhapsodise about their children's bowel movements. Yup, you know what I'm talking about. I promise that I'll be back to someone capable of adult conversation in a few months. Just indulge me during our babymoon, ok?

I left off promising that I would post photos of babyknits:

Jak in the box, thank you! I admit, I suck and seem to have lost the pretty ribbon that was holding the sweater together. I'm still looking, but with my luck, it'll turn up in five months and under the cat's sleeping bag. That's the only reason I don't have a pic of Miss E wearing it. Coming soon, I promise.

Steph, the baby loves this sweater. Don't worry, it doesn't really cover her face when she wears it. I just couldn't resist the look on her face in this photo.

Ms. Barnhill, I am in total awe of your knitting. When we took your gift out of the bag, I gasped a little at how perfectly lovely it was. Thank you so much for gracing my baby with your loving skill. I swear that she doesn't always look that disdainful when wearing it.

I love all of these sweaters - but Mr. Munchkin was most partial to the onesies that Steph specially made:

May the poo be with you. LOVE IT!

And Lesley, I don't have a photo of it - but the project bag you made me was sheer genius. I attach it to the mei tai and can knit while getting the baby jiggled back to sleep. Thank you!

Next post will be about the awesomeness that is my Mum's knitting. There will be much Star Wars content, be forewarned.

Falling asleep in my cheerios...

2008-03-07T06:04:00.001-08:00

I'd forgotten how intermittent snatches of broken sleep do not equal a good night's rest. We're in that weird newborn limbo where everyone is really tired, but equally wired...so it's like living with a pack of rather sedate zombies who are constantly muttering about supporting the Columbian bean economy. (If I could, I would totally take my coffee intravenously at this point.)

'Tis a bit of a wonder that I'm typing at all, as (TMI alert) I'm retaining fluid to the point where carpal tunnel syndrome has kicked in, big time. I can't close my right hand into a fist. The best I can do is this wretched claw type thingy, which is not earning me many brownie points with Mr. Munchkin, to say the least. (He calls it Mommy's witchy hand.) Which also means no knitting. No spinning. No sewing. *frowny face* On the plus side, I am being forced to take up other ways of occupying time. I've started teaching Mr. Munchkin how to play the piano, and I've been reading. I didn't realise how much I'd missed the feel of the ivories...and since Miss E is (miraculously) able to sleep through the very loud plonking of unharmonious keys, we shall play on.

I've been asked if I'll be posting Miss E's birth story...I'm not sure. Honestly, it was a very positive experience. I'm just a bit squicky about putting something so intimate in such a public arena. We'll see. Maybe I'll feel different when she's a teenager and I need some leverage.

Hope to have some crafty news eventually. Also need to post some cute baby modelling photos. I received the BEST baby presents, and they need to be displayed to the world. For now, you get this.

Sleepy baby. I love how she sleeps with her arms above her head.

Doesn't it look like Miss E is saying "Holy crap! DUDE, you just got smoked by Darth Vader. Maybe if you hit the X button a few more times to get some combo points, you can take him out this time..." They're playing Lego Star Wars on the PS2, fyi.

Aren't my boys handsome? Even 12 years later, I'm still all swoony about Mr. Ninja. (Those of you who know about my thing for hunky viking men may now chime in with a chorus of "Oh, well THAT explains that.") Also, there's your obligatory hand knit photo. Mr. Munchkin is wearing the second pair of Monkey socks that I've knit for myself...and then unceremoniously felted. They're his socks now. *sigh*

Introducing...

2008-02-25T17:28:00.000-08:00

The divine Miss E.

Finally home from hospital. Short blog post. Baby had medical issues, but all resolved now. Is good baby. Sleeps a lot. Eats a lot. (Was labelled an "aggressive" feeder. Poor breasts.) Poops a lot. Ninja is exhausted. Will post more later when brain reboots.

Hi ho, hi ho...

2008-02-20T13:10:00.000-08:00

It's off to induced labour I go.

Tomorrow, that is. Went to the hospital today for my 40 week checkup, and they took one look at me and my chart...and decided that this baby has to come out, pronto. I'm ok with it, as I figure that it can only go better than the first time with Mr. Munchkin. (Don't ask - seriously, it was definitely on the horrific side of things.) So, I'm doing laundry and cleaning the house like a madwoman. After all, who knows when I'll next get to do those mundane tasks without a small critter strapped to lord knows what body parts?

Uh...sorry about the visuals, I may be freaking out a bit about actually having a newborn again. We used to call Mr. Munchkin "velcro baby" because he would put up quite the hissy fit if he was not constantly cuddled and able to see what Mummy was doing. Funny how I'm just remembering these things now that the baby's arrival is becoming all too real.

Anyway. Am also knitting on a pair of knee high socks for the baby made out of handspun scraps. If I'd been smarter about it, the socks would match and be all cute and stripey. As it is, they're composed of two very different textured yarns and they look awful. But they will be warm, and that's what I'm going for. Or so I tell myself.

Also finished up some medium sized diapers:

The top three are from my own pattern, and the bottom ones are from the Fattycakes pattern. They're wonderfully squishy and soft...and ever so girly. I am LOVING the idea that I get to sew girl stuff. I've become quite the Ottobre worshipper, plotting cute wee dresses for the distant future.

But for now...I have more laundry to do. Send easy labour vibes please, would you?

More teeny tiny pants...

2008-02-15T07:25:00.000-08:00

So, I finished another pair of LTK Longies. Knit from some handspun BFL that I finished early in this pregnancy... Using the drop spindle, I made it into a deliberately thick and thin slubby worsted weight which made for an interesting effect. The plied yarn was very energized, and it definitely has that "homemade" look. Not really sure if I like it or not, but meh - the colours are very pretty. In case you're wondering why there's some tiny tufts of yarn next to the pants - that is all that was left of the entire skein of yarn. I was so desperate for yarn to finish the drawstring that I was scrounging the cast-on and cast-off tails and using them to finish up. Yeesh. That'll teach me to start planning ahead when choosing yarn for projects.

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's day - I got the BEST homemade Valentine's card from my boys and I made them Valentine Day brownies for dessert last night.

Today in the mail, I got another Valentine - my copy of the Emmeline apron. I think it's the prettiest apron pattern I've ever seen. And as I fully intend to bake more as soon as little Miss Munchkin is born (hooray for GESTATIONAL diabetes - it should go away as soon as the hormones settle down)...I need a couple of new aprons, non?

Still hanging in there...

2008-02-13T11:29:00.000-08:00

Still alive, still breathing (mostly through my mouth), and still pregnant. For those of you counting, I'm 39 weeks in. Yes, that's nearly full term. And boy oh boy, when I go down the aisles of the supermarket, it's like a cruise liner in full sail.

Since I posted last, here's how things have been stacking up:

1 - the number of times we've been to the ER at the children's hospital at midnight. Mr. Munchkin wasn't just sick with a cold/cough...it turned into full on croup, with a good helping of not being able to breathe. So, Superbowl Sunday was spent at the ER, with a very unhappy little boy. He's on the mend now with just the occasional hacking cough.

2 - the number of people still recovering: me and Mr. Munchkin. Of course, croup is viral in nature. And of course...when you have a little one coughing in your face when you're trying to calm him down, nasty viruses take advantage of a pregancy weakened immune system. I have the head cold/cough from hell...and not even a hunky John Constantine type around to exorcise it. (Mr. Ninja is working 12 hours days lately. He says that it's the masculine nesting instinct kicking in, as he wants to clear his schedule so that he can take paternity leave when the time comes.)

3 - the number of Little Comet Tail yoga pants that I finished. I'm displeased with myself, as I managed to botch them up with icky kool-aid dye jobs. But that being said, they're still done and ready. However, as I'm trying to take this as a learning experience, I got copies of the Three Irish Girls yarn dyeing tutorials (fabulous, btw - a definite recommend for anyone wanting to try dyeing) and will apply lessons within to next time I try dyeing.

11 - the number of prefold diapers that I dyed yesterday. I was SO underwhelmed by the beige...that I grabbed some Procion MX and did a couple of low water immersion dye jobs on them.

1 - the number of newborn diapers completed while Mr. Munchkin was spending some time in his room "thinking about what he did". The poor kid has been beside himself lately - and he's been acting up. My sister-in-law sent me some jawdropping pics of what they all did in Texas. And let's just say that he got away with bloody blue murder. Add that to the fact that he's not been well since getting home, and you have a recipe for disaster. Yesterday, things came to a head...and he cooled his heels in his room for a few hours while I calmed myself down and talked myself out of throttling him, Homer-style. Believe it or not, sewing can be very therapeutic. I think that it has something to do with all the cutting and piercing and smashing of snaps into position and well, you get the idea.

You know, I totally made a resolution this year to be more responsive to comments on my blog...only to be foiled by blasted Blogger. Since most of the comments come through the anonymous comment feeder, I can't respond to half of them. Anyone have any advice on circumventing this problem?

Am sick. Send pie.

2008-02-03T06:12:00.000-08:00

Blargh. I have a cough/cold. So does everyone in the house except for the clever cat who has been finding new spots to hide from the plague zombies. (Us.) This means that there has been much tv watching (boy), video game playing (man), and knitting that is accompanied by passionate wishes to curl up into a fetal ball (me).

Voila.
Little Turtle Knits Longies in handspun BFL. Roving is from The Sweet Sheep, handspun by me. I've been getting a sick sinking feeling that they'll be too small (they're knit in the small size), but we'll have to see what the princess makes of them.

As heard at KOL when I was working on these:
"You mean, you put these on the kid and let them POOP in them?!!??"
"... yeah. But there's a diaper underneath, eh?"
"Still! Poop!"
"..."

It's amazing how your perspective changes on baby stuff (poop included) once you've had to deal with it for prolonged periods of time.

I love Scrubs.

Where's the pause button?

2008-01-31T07:44:00.000-08:00

For my life, that is.

So, Mr. Ninja and Mr. Munchkin are finally home. Their return trip took two days longer than expected. They were supposed to be back on Monday, but ended up finally getting home yesterday afternoon. (In total, it was 52 hours of travelling to get home from Texas.) According to Mr. Ninja, it's very liberating travelling with a four year old who speaks his mind. My little guy is apparently very good at launching virulent tirades against "stupid fricking airplanes".

As a result of spending entirely too much time in the wretched environment of modern aircraft, my poor little guy's immune system is in total crash mode - he's got a fever, cough and cold and is currently voluntarily laying down on the couch and watching DVDs. If you've ever met Mr. Munchkin...you know that this is bad. I'm worried - he's usually never in one spot for more than 20 minutes at a time.

(Side note: I just asked him if he wanted more to drink - I'm slipping him a mickey of pedialyte and apple juice - and he said all he wanted was hugs and a nap on the couch.)

Wish us all luck getting through this...relatively unscathed.

I'm starting to freak out a little bit - I'm trying to convince myself that we're ready for the new baby...and yet, somehow failing miserably. Everything's in place, the linens and new clothes are washed, and the bags are packed. However, there is this looming shadow in the back of my mind that says "YOU NEED MORE KNITS". And dang it all if the spectre ain't bang on.

Of course, it's the nesting instinct that's driving me mad...while the boys were away, I kept myself quite busy trying to soothe the savage beast.

I hemmed three pairs of pants for Mr. Ninja, sewed seven pairs of pants for Mr. Munchkin (but I need to add pockets now - thank you *so* much for reminding me, Steph), sewed a tiny pair of footed overalls (Ottobre pattern), knit a pair of Little Turtle Knits longies (when I finish the second leg I'll post a pic of the FO), a pair of the ubiquitous Saartje's Booties, and then schemed, planned and shopped online for fabrics to make sweet girly dresses.

Also sewed up some wool and velour newborn pants from the Little Comet Tails Crescent Yoga Pants pattern - I'd show them to you, but they're in a strawberry kool-aid bath right now. LOVE this pattern. Once I had it figured out, I made a pair of these pants in less than 15 minutes from start to finish.

What I'm panicking about is newborn sized soakers. I've only knit one (the Curly Purly pattern in BFL) and I'm not terribly enthused about it. So, I'm trying to decide if I should sew up some or if I should knit...and I'm torn. Send help please? I think that I need at least three more to be safe. I have no more brain cells to spare on debating this subject with myself. The baby is going to be very smart, because she's sucked out all of my neurons.

Got some lovely surprises in the mail this week:

Stitch markers from Purly Whirly and a knitted new baby set from some friends in Germany! The stitch markers are lovely, and a totally unexpected thank-you for the Advent giveaway. Thanks so much, Amanda! As for the baby set - I hope that someday, somehow...my knitting will look this perfect. My stitch tension has always been off-kilter, and I long for the mad knitting skillz that would let me produce such perfect stitches. Oh well...everyone's gotta have their little goals in life.

Fun with kool-aid!

2008-01-21T12:54:00.000-08:00

So awhile ago, I decided to experiment with dyeing some yarn with kool-aid. I was intrigued by someone who said on the Ravelry kool-aid dyeing group that they had good luck in getting a gradiated effect in their dyeing by winding a ball of yarn into a centre-pull ball and then dyeing that. I tried it...and it wasn't so much gradiated as it was splotchy. (You can't really see that from the photo.)

So, I tried overdyeing it with another flavour (glacier ice berry).

Love the effect. And of course, knitting karma kicked in...and I ran out of yarn. So, I dyed some more...but of course, I forgot which blue I overdyed with, and which one I used originally. So, my toes don't match. Ungh. Oh well.

But the socks are warm and comfy. Love, love, LOVE this Henry's Attic stuff. Kona heavyweight rocks my world, and not just because it's superwash and knit up into a pair of socks in 4 days of knitting. It blooms beeeeautifully, and is uber squishy.

The cables are wonky, but I don't care. I'm planning on wearing these during labour...so I'm ok if they get a little scary.

My next experiment went much better - I wanted a red baby hat, as the rest of the new munchkin's "coming home" outfit is red and white. So, I grabbed some alpaca from Pacafiesta a few years back, and tossed it into the microwave with some tropical fruit punch kool-aid. Ewwww, the smell of cooking llama is unpleasant, to say the least. But it took very nicely.

And resulted in this:

Of course, upon finishing...I realised that I had cursed myself, as there was no way that a kid of Mr. Ninja's would have a head that small. *cringe* I grabbed one of Mr. Munchkin's mini soccer balls, and wet blocked the hat to within an inch of its life. Hopefully, it'll be big enough now.

In other news, we're all a little down right now. It was a weird day of ups and downs. Mr. Ninja's grandfather passed away rather suddenly this morning, so we're scrambling to get him and the boy down to Texas in time for the funeral. (I would go, but am not allowed to fly at this point in the pregnancy.) I will miss him dearly - he was one of my favourite in-laws and the sweetest man. We're thinking of using Jamie as a middle name for the baby (Grandpa's name was James)...I just hope that no one in the family objects to the idea, because I'd really love to remember Grandpa in that way. But we'll see, I suppose.

Also, I went for a "check-up" ultrasound at the hospital today. (I swear, I've been at the hospital so many times in the past month the receptionists at the prenatal desk already know my name...) Anyhoo. Turns out that we will be having...

a baby girl! It's a total surprise for all of us - we were convinced that the baby was a boy, but nope - it's a very healthy little girl! I'm a little in shock...but delighted that I get to knit and sew up sweet little dresses and other girly things now. Eeee! I'll get a chance to use up all of the ribbons in the house! (I, uh ... have a closet dedicated to ribbons. But my Mum gave them to me, I swear!)

So, like I said. A weird day.

Busy hands.

2008-01-14T09:49:00.001-08:00

I've been trying to keep my mind off of how out of control my life has been feeling by crafting like a madwoman. Here, take a look.

From the top - the Henry roving is all spun up. I just have to set the twist, and then I'll be working on making that into a kickass pair of socks. A couple of fabric snap boxes a la My Little Mochi (best tutorial ever), and a baby gift for a mama on one of the boards that I frequent.

There's a few other things that I haven't taken photos of: a pair of socks for me, a pair of Saartje's booties in some leftover Sweet Georgia in purple, and another spinning project is on the wheel. I don't know...I've just been feeling lost without something to craft for the past few days, hence the crazy level of output.

ETA: Oh yeah, forgot to take pics of it before I gifted it, but my new next door neighbors just had a baby girl. So I made an emergency diaper bag out of denim (your typical drawstring backpack out of denim scraps) and filled it with a turned and topstitched burp cloth out of flannel (with doggies on it), matching swaddling blanket, a decorated onesie (I made a little patch out of a scrap of the fabric that I used for the burp cloth/blanket and sewed that onto a store bought onesie), a trial tube of Weleda diaper cream, and some disposable diapers and wipes. (They're not into cloth, otherwise I'd have made a diaper too.) So....busy, busy.

Bleh.

2008-01-10T11:58:00.000-08:00

So far, 2008 is not boding well. This is going to be a somewhat random post, as my mind is completely scattered these days.

1) Was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Thank goodness I'm 34 weeks along...not much longer. (3 weeks and the baby's "ripe", but 40 weeks is where I'd like to be when I do eventually have this baby. Not bloody likely that I'll make it that far, as Mr. Munchkin was early and this baby is a little bigger than he was. Cross your fingers for us.) But I must say, I dislike the whole "making myself bleed" part. I need my fingers for knitting!!!!! And those lancets sting, man.

2) Knitting has been coming along slowly. I had to discard the idea of Anastasia, as all of the yarn that I want to work with at the moment just doesn't suit the pattern. I have an inkling that there are two reasons that my knitting output has dwindled - first, because I've been in panic mode trying to get things organized for the baby and the second reason is that I've started three different pairs of socks and ripped all of them out for one reason or another.

I've gotten one knitted FO done this week, though.

It's a Little Turtle Knits soaker, size small. It looks enormous, but maybe that's just me psyching myself out. (Yes, I am quietly freaking out over here. Thanks for asking.)

So at the moment, I'm knitting rather boring cabled socks - will post pictures later, as I'm using the yarn that I dyed twice with kool-aid, and I'd like to dedicate a whole post to that process.

3) I've gone on a bit of a sewing bender. As part of the process of getting ready for the new baby, Mr. Munchkin and I went through the several boxes and bags of his old clothing and diapers. We sorted by size and re-bagged and re-boxed everything that was too big. Mysteriously, I can't seem to find any of his old onesies (diaper shirts) or burp cloths. So, what better way to justify stash diving? So far, I've sewn up flannel 30 burp cloths and am slowly buying all of the cute onesies that I can get my hands on. Will post later, if I can get my fat ass up the stairs. No, I'm not being facetious...the stairs are a serious PITA, as my lower back has been threatening to shimmy out of place if I so much as bend over to pet the cat. Ugh.

Sorry about the grumpalicious nature of the post, but I'm just about ready to evict the squatter and reclaim my health back. That is all. Will be back eventually with sunshine and daisies. Ok, now I'm being facetious. :P

Not the best way to start off a new year...

2008-01-02T09:39:00.000-08:00

I was sitting around in the hospital today, waiting for them to take blood samples. (Pregnancy related - I needed to have a second glucose test done). But I did get a fair bit of knitting done. Note to self - make sure that the nurses take blood from the fingers that are NOT needed for knitting. Owie.

On a happier note, I love getting backlogged mail. This arrived today, as did some more diaper making supplies.

The Plumknit yarn is cashmere. I just want to drape the skeins around my neck and go out like that...it's beautiful, soft and lofty as hell. I was thinking of making myself the Bird in Hand mittens with it, but now that it's here...I've reassessed, and judged that it's way too nice to use for mittens. A scarf is a more likely target, methinks. And the Yarn Pirate is mine, all mine! Socks, socks, socks! I love the YP club. That and the Funky Carolina (which I flaked out on signing up for this session - doh) clubs were the best ones that I joined last year.

Here's my first FO of the year:

I started this around 1 am on New Year's Day. Insommnia sucks, but at least I'm getting good stuff out of the wasted hours. It's a cute little lined bag, based on the tutorial from here. Easy and quick, the only reason that I didn't finish it in the same session that I started it was because my ironing board was covered in cat hair. (It needed a wash something fierce, ever since my SILs cat adopted it as his favourite napping spot.)

Also finished off is:

The baby's small size diaper stash. (Well, finished as long as I can resist the urge to make more of these - they're so wee and little and cute and squishy and ... well, you get the idea.)

I whipped this up last night - it's for one of the ladies on the Diaper Sewing Divas board - it's a NB fitted from the Darling Diapers pattern. I think I'll be making a few of these for our babe, it's a good pattern. Holy snaps, though.

A heads-up about the giveaway - I mailed out all of the packages that I had addresses for a few days ago. I was hoping to avoid getting any of them caught up in the pre-Christmas postal madness, and thus to minimize the number of lost packages. But I'm still missing the addresses of a few winners: Kerry&Erin, Tara and Linda. Please contact me at theninjaknitter at gmail dot com if you're still wanting to collect your prizes, people!

Drum roll please...

2007-12-28T12:27:00.001-08:00

Hope you all had a great holiday - mine was rather peaceful, with only the occasional impulse to throttle someone marring the scene. The last of my gift knitting was completed on the 27th - a last minute request for a pair of men's socks. (Thuja - in Opal 6 ply...not a good choice. Should have chosen a thicker yarn. Blech.) But otherwise, I'm quite happy with the way that things worked out over here. Still munching on gingerbread too!

As for the giveaways, our two winners are:

The Opal goes to - Amanda! Congratulations, and I'm going to be slipping in some proper roving into your package for the next set of thrummed mittens that you make as an extra little treat. But the ones that you did make were postitively beautiful - go take a look, everyone!

And the BIG one is going to - Athena! Congratulations! I understand that you're a newish knitter...I just hope that I'm not going to make you into a yarn snob by starting you off with the good stuff. ;)

I think that I'm going to go and start on a new pair of socks for myself - Anastasia's been calling my name for sometime now. I've got more of that Crown Mountain Farms Sockhop handspun that I'd like to use up...here's hoping that it and the pattern get along. Also about to be started on the needles is a sweater for Mr. Ninja. I'm thinking of one of the ones from Son of Stitch n Bitch (I <3 that book) in some green Malabrigo. I figure that if I can get one sweater done for him each year starting now, we'll be set for Nova Scotia weather in about a decade of marriage.

December 23 and 24th.

2007-12-24T07:54:00.000-08:00

Made it! Tomorrow's the big day - everyone's settled in, the presents are wrapped, and I'm baking my third batch of gingerbread cookies. Apologies for the lateness of yesterday's giveaway...I was busy mediating between all of the family. It's kinda hard when there's only one grandchild between both families and EVERYONE wants some face time with him. I've been bugging my siblings and Mr. Ninja's siblings - telling them that I want some nieces and nephews for Christmas next year.

Since I missed yesterday's giveaway, I'm going to post the giveaway for the 23 and the 24th together, and since I'm not anticipating having much Internet time for the next couple of days, I'm going to draw two winners from all those who comment on this post - likely on the 27th/28th or so.

So the giveaway for the 23rd - the winner of the knitpicks is Lesley. Congrats! The yarn up for grabs is this:

Some very pretty Opal sock yarn.

And for the final giveaway of this little Advent Calendar...

Told you it was a big one. Heh. Someone lucky out there in blogland is getting an awesome Christmas present - this is 8 skeins of Malabrigo in the Velvet Grapes colourway PLUS one of Nicky Epstein's books. Eight skeins = 1720 yards of yarn. Good luck, and good tidings to all for Christmas...and have a happy New Year.

December 22nd

2007-12-22T13:28:00.000-08:00

Dashing through the snow...and through the mall. Quickie post:

Yesterday's winner - Geekzilla. Congrats, Lynne!

Today's giveaway:

It's some more Knitpicks Memories - but in the Red Hat colourway this time.

Good luck all!

December 21st!

2007-12-21T09:26:00.000-08:00

Time is flying! Unfortunately for my sis-in-law, much the same cannot be said for her plane from New Zealand. So, she's been delayed until late today - which means that I'm going to be making 4 trips to the airport today. (Mom, Dad, brother & GF, and sis-in-law). Ungh. Anyone know a good recipe for apple pie? I have a feeling that I'm going to need some pie-like fortification soon.

In yarn-like news, I'm currently simmering up a batch of DK weight yarn...experimenting with some kool-aid, a skein wound into a centre-pull ball and a crockpot. I'll let you know how it goes.

Yesterday's winner was Tara. Congratulations!

Today's giveaway is a faboo ball of Malabrigo - not the merino, this is wool - in what I think is the Oceanos colourway. I could be wrong, as this has been in my stash ever since Malabrigo started selling in North America...so what, something like 4 years now?

Good luck all...

December 20th

2007-12-20T06:03:00.000-08:00

Only 5 more days to go...

So the deluge begins today - both my brother-in-law and sister-in-law arrive today. I forsee much less knitting time in my near future, alas. But Eleanor is almost done! I just need to finish one pattern repeat and then the toe. I really wish that socktopia was up (I have a sneaking suspicion that it's a dead site now.) so I could link you the pattern...but it's a smashing design. I'll be knitting it again for sure.

Yesterday's winner was Linda. Congrats again!

Today's giveaway is some Knitpicks Memories sock yarn in Rocky Mountain Dusk. It's superwash merino and it knits up very prettily. Good luck everyone!

December 19th (Holy CRAP!)

2007-12-19T11:04:00.000-08:00

Only a week to go, ladies and gentlemen!

So, I'm thinking that I can totally do 3 sets of mittens. Easy peasy and I'll be done like dinner. As mentioned last night at KOL, if things should get too hairy around here with all the relatives...I'm putting myself on bedrest and letting them all sort themselves out by their grown-up selves. Mr. Munchkin can hide out with me if he so chooses.

ETA: Screw it. I'm making my BIL a pair of machine washable socks and the parents-in-laws are getting slippers from Old Navy or somesuch. Neither I nor the babe need the extra and rather unnecessary stress engendered by this weird holiday guilt. So there. And onto a more pleasant topic...

Yesterday's winner is Carrice. Congratulations!

Today's giveaway is:

Good luck everyone. Just as a heads up - since we're headed into the final stretch, I'm letting you know that the giveaway on the 24th is going to be MASSIVE...keep an eye out for it.

December 18th

2007-12-18T09:39:00.000-08:00

Had an OB appointment today - all's well with me and the babe. So to celebrate, Mr. Munchkin and I went and did something crazy. We cut his hair. I don't know about you, but wrestling a nearly 5 year old while simultaneously wielding a sharp pair of scissors almost never ends well for me. So, two bald spots later, he's more or less presentable for decent company.

So, I'm thinking about my Christmas list. My family is done, apart from a trip to Best Buy. (They're all getting something knit from me and something techy from Mr. Ninja.) My in-laws are sort of done...and the guilt of having knit just my sister-in-law a pair of socks (and no knits for any other the rest of them) is starting to weigh on me. So, I'm thinking of alternatives.

*Brother-in-law: I can totally knock off a pair of basic men's socks in worsted weight wool by Christmas. Right?
*Mother-in-law: This one's a little harder...maybe a scarf? From Old Navy?
*Father-in-law: Is this too mean? I'm thinking of a pair of pants and a new set of underwear. Click here if you want to understand where this idea is coming from...

On to the free stuff!

Yesterday's winners were Dorothy and Mom_of_Faith! MoF, please email me.

Today's giveaway is some beautiful Corriedale roving. I started to spin it on my drop spindle (please excuse the temporary bobbin), but stopped when I needed the spindle for something else...which has slipped my mind as to exactly what it was. Good luck all!

December 17th (and 13th)

2007-12-17T12:53:00.001-08:00

Wow...after a whole day of baking (and I'm still waiting for my gingerbread to chill in the fridge), I'm wiped out. But the house is starting to feel...ready. Our tree is up, trimmed and filling the house with the wonderful smell of pine. The mantle has stockings and garlands, Christmas music is sounding throughout and the house is blissfully clean for the first time in months.

You'd almost think I was on top of things...and so did I, until I noticed that I had missed the giveaway for December 13th. Doh. Righty-o, here we go with the updated giveaways!

Yesterday's winners were Barbara from Nova Scotia, Linda, and Jamie (please email me Jamie, as I don't have a way of getting in touch with you.)

Today's (and the 13th) giveaways are:

A ball of Lana Grossa sock yarn (Meilenweit Inca)...with extra strapazierfahig! (I think that means that it stretches.)

Another ball of Lana Grossa sock yarn (Meilenweit Magico). Both of these balls come directly from Germany, as they were part of my World Cup feeding frenzy. Good luck, everyone!

Also, thank you everyone who's responded to my notifications - I haven't responded to many of them yet, but it's on my list of things to do. Will get to them as soon as I've finished my gingerbread cookies...

December 14,15 & 16...

2007-12-16T05:02:00.000-08:00

Phew.

Still alive over here, sorry about the radio silence. It's just been that since I hit the third trimester, it's like I walk straight into a brick wall most days. I've spent the last few days napping (not voluntarily - I seem to pass out every time I sit down), and haven't been keeping up with my giveaway. So, to make up for lost time, I will be posting three giveaways today, and will enter anyone who comments for all three, but in separate draws.

In home knit news, finished a headband (I love Belle, but wanted something I could wear with a ponytail), put it on and promptly watched Mr. Ninja fall down laughing. Apparently it looks like one of those 80s headbands from a porn movie (his phrase, not mine). Gah. I have no luck with headwear, I tell you. Also finished a pair of mittens for myself...it's damn cold out there!

So, at the moment, I only have Eleanor on my needles. For some reason, I'm finding it hard to knit on this sock...despite the ease of the pattern and the beauty of its sibling. Bizarre.

Giveaways!

The winner of the Wonderwool was Kerry & Erin! Congrats!

Up for grabs:

Debbie Bliss Soho. Lovely 100% wool.

Trekking Pro Natura. Bamboo/wool sock yarn! This stuff is so much fun to knit with.

And finally, some of Lucy Neatby's BFL in the DK weight.

Good luck all! I'll try to stay conscious enough to post daily from now on. ;)

December 12th!

2007-12-13T07:29:00.000-08:00

Phew, it's only 11:30 and it's already been one of those days...misread the calendar and missed my OB appointment, been out grocery shopping, had to scrub Mr. Munchkin down as he was "helping" paint the baby's room, and am about to collapse on the couch because my hips are killing me. Anyway.

Yesterday's winner was Yvonne! Yvonne, please email me with your vitals and your good deed - I don't have any way of contacting you other than here.

Today's giveaway:

Wonderwool! At the moment, I can only find one of these balls...but I'm fairly certain that I have about 5 kicking around. As long as I can find them, they're all going up on today's giveaway. Good luck all!

December 11th

2007-12-12T08:11:00.000-08:00

KOL last night was heaps of fun - I hadn't realized how much I missed it. And for Julie - here is a picture of my sais. Yes, we really do have too much weaponry in this house. Although, I did like Shawn's (Elizabeth's wonderful knitting partner-in-crime) suggestion of putting all of the swords into an umbrella stand...

And here's a picture of what sais look like when they are used as improvised knitting needles:

(They weren't very good knitting needles...I tended to poke myself in the belly with them.)

And all hail the voracious third trimester - any excuse to make snowy castle cakes.

Onto the giveaways:
Yesterday's winner was FrozenExtremities. Congrats! And today's giveaway is a very pretty ball of Malabrigo, waiting for a good home...

This is in the "Shocking Pink" colourway. Good luck all!

HA! (aka December 11th)

2007-12-11T06:15:00.000-08:00

Hooray for eBay sniping! I've been researching my little heart out re: sewing machines. I decided to get a new one. While I'm sure that if I got this one serviced, it would work for a little while longer...but seeing as I've had this thing serviced twice in the past year, it was definitely time to see what else was on the horizon.

So, a new machine was in my future, I sussed. I knew that I wanted either a Pfaff or a Janome...but it was SO hard justifying the price. (Yes, I'm frugal on occasion...but prone to spur of the moment purchases. It's a mystery to me too.) So I was narrowing it down to two models - the Janome 423S or a Pfaff Hobby 1142. Was going to drive across the province to New Minas today to try them out (yeesh). However, I decided to give eBay a look before going to bed last night.

I found a NIB Janome 405 at a ridiculously low price...and sniped it in the last 3 minutes of the auction. It is SO basic...but it does everything that I want it to. Shipping included - it's $120. So, now I just have to wait for it to get here. I'm a little terrified of what Canada Customs is going to hit me with, but it's worth it if I'm saved driving to the other side of the penninsula. (I was getting disapproving glares from Mr. Ninja all night over this. Apparently, he wasn't happy with the notion of his seven and a half months pregnant wife and Mr. Munchkin driving solo on snowy roads. He's so protective these days.)

Onto the giveaways! I haven't been posting everyone's good deed - I'm saving them all up, and will post a summary post on the 26th. Spreading the holiday cheer all over the place, as it were. But I assure you...my heart has been well warmed so far from all of the winners! Speaking of which - yesterday's winner was Marti! Congratulations to you!

Up for grabs today is some pretty roving that I dyed myself:

This is superwash merino in the "Henry" colourway. See here for the model for my inspiration. I'm spinning up the rest of this roving and it's coming out nicely...very subtle, ironically considering who the colourway is named after. (Go and read Steph's adventures with Henry and you'll see what I mean.)

Good luck to you all!

December 10, otherwise known as Grrrr...

2007-12-10T09:24:00.001-08:00

Yeesh, what a day yesterday was. I was about to happily sit down and sew for a bit when my machine basically clunked out on me. The needle tension is shot to hell, and as soon as I had finished majiggering it so that it sorta worked...the bulb bust. Argh. I'm debating getting a new machine vs. sending this one into be serviced. It's a Brother, about 8 years old...and it's held up really well over the years. I'm just wondering if it'd be better to get it fixed, or if it's really just at the end of its lifespan. *sigh*

Add to that the fact that my fingers have decided to do some bizarre arthritic cramping up...and you have a ninja with itchy fingers and no way to alleviate said itch. I suppose that I'll try doing something useful like baking Christmas cookies...only problem with that idea is that ... well ... I'll eat them. And there's still at least a week and a half until the first of the incoming horde of visitors arrive. Maybe I'll try making a batch of Icebox Cookies. The thought of gnawing on frozen dough ought to put a damper on the ravenous monster that is the third trimester.

On to the giveaway - yesterday's winner was Tracy! Congratulations Tracy! And today's giveaway is:

This is my own handspun - it's Crown Mountain Farm's Sockhop in the Pink Cadillac colourway. It's a heavier sockweight, about the same as something like Sweet Georgia if you want something to compare it to. Good luck everyone!

December 9th

2007-12-09T06:19:00.001-08:00

Wow, time is just flying by...I don't know about you all, but I'm starting to get a little worried about making my deadlines for the holidays. (I have to get packages into the mail for overseas.) And only 16 days left until Christmas! Mr. Munchkin is very excited about the holidays and the impending stampede of visitors. He has an AWESOME advent calendar this year, courtesy of my MIL - it's a Lego advent calendar! Everyday, he gets a little bag of Lego doodads - yesterday, it was a little lego dude with a skateboard.

At the moment, I'm working on a last minute gift for a dear friend - he's very worthy of something knitted. I'm making a pair of Dashing out of some 100 pure wool - it was one lonely ball, so I was wracking my head as to what to do with it. Yarn Harlot to the rescue (as usual around this time of year).

Onto the giveaways! Yesterday's winner was ikkinlala. Congratulations!

Today's giveaway:

Two balls of Jojoland sock yarn! Good luck everyone. See you tomorrow, same battime, same batcave.

December 8th

2007-12-08T10:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's winner is mommy bean! Congratulations - I'm sure that the book will make for a nice evening's read when you're snuggled in against the winter's chill.

Today's giveaway:

More Yarn Pirate sock yarn - in the Butternut colourway. This is amazing Merino/Tencel yarn...it's soooo comfy when it's knit into socks. Good luck everyone!

December 7

2007-12-07T05:58:00.001-08:00

Yesterday's winner: AmyJ! Congratulations, and enjoy the roving - any batt from Abby's Yarns makes spectacular yarn.

Today giveaway is a lovely ball of Sockotta and a knitting mystery novel! Good luck to all.

ETA: I finished the second Baby Brain Slug Hat! This one is for our impending arrival...a few differences - it's in BFL rather than cotton, and I put wires in the antennae...they're posable. *snort* This tickles my fancy to no end.

December 6

2007-12-06T06:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's winner is Carissa! Congratulations!

Holy cow, time is flying! I don't know about you all, but I am starting to think about some serious Christmas sweet making. Yesterday, I found something at Linens N Things that made me very very happy. Check it:

CASTLE CAKES! Seriously, how awesome are these? Ok, now that my dorkiness is confirmed...I also snagged this:

A mini-bundt pan. I'm planning on making chocolate truffles for Christmas gifts this year anyway, this is just (hopefully) going to make the process prettier.

And for those of who who don't believe that I look like a dork in hats - proof is in the pudding, mes amies...

Belle, in all of her glory. It's just tragic that I'm only going to wear her inside the house. ;)

And finally, today's giveaway:

Some incredible roving from Abby's Yarns. I believe that it's superwash merino, Angelina (the sparkly stuff), and a little bit of camel down. Good luck everyone!

December 5th

2007-12-05T07:46:00.001-08:00

Yesterday's winner - jkleclerc! Congrats Julie. Enjoy the yarn, and the ensuing toasty toes!

Today's giveaway:

Some Handmaiden.

This is the yarn from the kit for the Angel Rumple Scarf. I've lost the pattern, unfortunately. But the ball on the left is silk boucle, and the one on the right is kid mohair. You knit the two of them together, and it creates this amazing texture...You can improvise any simple lace scarf pattern, and it'll be lovely, I promise.

In home knit news - I was playing with Mr. Munchkin in the snow yesterday, and somehow my ankle gave out on me...and I twisted it slightly. I'm fine (the ankle's all better after a good sleep), and the baby kicked me HARD after I picked myself off the ground - so he/she is also fine, if ticked off at my clumsiness. So, I sat on the couch last night, ate apple pie and knit. Finished off Belle. Final verdict? I love the pattern. Love the resulting hat. And I look dorky in all hats. *sigh* Oh well, at least my ears will be warm this winter!

December 4th

2007-12-04T05:05:00.000-08:00

Well, I've figured out why all of my knitted projects are stalling...it's 'cause between me and the boy, we seem to lose all of his knitted woolies! We were in the mall last night, picking up a few things...and I lost his hat. >_< So guess what I'm working on today? *sigh* Good thing that we got walloped with a snowstorm yesterday, and the snow is falling fast and thick today too - lots of knitting time, methinks.

So, yesterday's winner was Jaichan! I found this nifty little Excel trick yesterday to help me generate random numbers - it's working well, so far as I can tell.

Today's giveaway is:

More sock yarn! This time, it's some of Lucy Neatby's Celestial Merino Dream. Gorgeous stuff...this one is hard for me to let go of.

December 3rd...

2007-12-03T06:08:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I've run out of clever titles already. If I'm going to be doing this for a whole month, I'm going to need some way to remind me of the who whats and whens of this shebang.

Yesterday's winner - Berrit! Congrats Berrit, hope you enjoy the roving. I'll update the blog with what you write me about your charitable deed when I get it from you.

Today's giveaway:

A skein of Yarn Pirate sock yarn in the colourway Killer Bees. This is superwash merino and promises to make super funky socks...or even a shawl for the more daring. Oh and as an fyi, you can enter every day if you wish - just make sure that I have a way of contacting you (either via email or posting a comment on your blog), as I'm paranoid about that. :)

In home knitting news - the lost mitten has been replaced, I'm starting on another brain slug (this time for our little one...apparently it's going to be a coooooold winter, and a February baby will definitely need a warm hat, eh?), Belle is charging away (this time in Schulana Tweed-Lux), and Eleanor is stuck in limbo for some reason.

For anyone looking for something a little different in terms of holiday music, may I recommend the Butties? I love their take on Joy to the World...and the whole CD is pretty awesome - imagine the Fab Four doing all sorts of Christmas music. It's a nice antidote to the pap that's usually blasting on store sound systems this time of year.

December 2 - today's giveaway

2007-12-02T04:48:00.000-08:00

Good morning! I figure that I'll be able to get the daily giveaway up around 10 am (my time - Atlantic time), so I'll count whatever entries I get by then for the previous day. Yesterday's winner (thank you online random dice roller!) was Alison - congratulations! Up today for grab is a *huge* chunk of roving dyed by FatCatKnits on etsy. You don't have to be a spinner to use this stuff - you can needle felt it, use it for thrummed mittens, or even for knitting with (just separate it into pencil roving and chunkily knit away). Good luck, everyone!

In personal knitting news...Mr. Munchkin somehow lost a mitten in the grocery store last night. And you have never seen a sadder little boy. I swear his heart was completely broken by the way he was carrying on. But it's a good thing that he's got his mother and her stash - new mittens on the way now. Pictures to follow.

Gotta be starting something...

2007-12-01T07:13:00.000-08:00

Rant first.

I've (mostly) knit three different hats for myself this past week. And frogged every single one of them. 1) A slouchy hat of my own design - didn't like how the brim was shaping up. 2) A neko hat based on Piro's hat (from Megatokyo) - abandoned because I found Belle and fell in love with the pattern. 3) Belle - abandoned because I got within 3 rows of finishing...and ran out of the cashmere that I was using. Frack, frack FRACK!

Will be giving Belle another shot, but maybe tomorrow - I'm just too mad to knit anything for myself right now. Oh, and in other knit news, I was playing around with etsy and put some handspun in my store...didn't realize that it was a live posting, and came back the next morning to find that it had sold. That was a bit of a shock, lemme tell ya. Mr. Ninja was both dismayed and delighted...I think that his desire to see more room in the house was counterbalanced by the silly price that I'd put on the test sale. He's right of course, I totally lost money on the sale, but I was immensely cheered that someone liked my spinning enough to give it a shot and actually plunk down money for it!

Anyhoo, now for the Giveaway!

Well, it's officially the start of Advent. And while I'm officially not operating under any sort of organized religion, if there's a whole season where people are encouraged to act with genuine goodwill towards their fellow men/women? I'll take it where I can get it. And to that end, I'll be doing a sort of advent calendar giveaway from December 1st until the 31st. But with a twist...

Here's how it will go:

Everyday, I'll post a photo of a yarn/roving/something knitting related. I'll draw a random winner from the comments posted on that particular day. And then I'll email the winner. However, here comes the twist - I would like the winner to go do something charitable, and email me back with their snail mail address and a short blurb on what they did to pay forward the kindness of the season. Examples might include a small donation to a charity (I do prefer Doctors Without Borders, but you may prefer to act locally), knitting something and donating it to a local organization, donating to your local library/museum, supporting your local food bank, etc. It's up to you.

There will be no limits on how many times you enter - it's a daily thing. And as my statistics teacher tried again and again to explain, your chances of winning something are just as good today as they are tomorrow. Heh. As an FYI, I will be giving away really nice stuff as time goes on - brocade knitting needle cases, luxury yarns and rovings, project bags. So please feel free to post about this giveaway where ever you'd like, as the more people sharing the spirit of the season the better, eh?

And with no further ado, here's today's giveaway.

Love these colours.

With a sneak peek at tomorrow's...

I couldn't resist...

2007-11-29T16:23:00.000-08:00

I'm a sucker for a good music meme. Swiped from Jaichan.

How many total songs?
3981. It's not every song from every album I own...but it's pretty close.

Sort by song title - first and last...
About a Girl - Nirvana
99 Luftballoons - Nena (I guess numbers aren't as important as letters? Down with the hierarchy!)

Sort by time - shortest and longest...
Die Zauberflote: Atto Primo - Dialogo Teatrale - Mozart (Yeah...it's opera. Want to make something of it? Huh? Do ya?)
Come Around - The Salads

Sort by Album - first and last...
Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld - The Orb
4:99 - Die Fantastischen Vier (These guys make German rap work. Really.)

Sort by Artist - first and last...
A.R. Rahman
ZZ Top

Top five played songs...
Here It Goes Again - Ok Go
Tokyo Drift - Teriyaki Boyz
The Imperial March (From "Star Wars") - John Williams
Galvanize - Chemical Brothers
The Reflex - Duran Duran

(Don't ask. Let's just say that it's easier to bribe the kid with listening to the Star Wars soundtrack than to play Lego Star Wars until my brain bleeds out of my ears again.) >_<

Find the following words. How many songs show up?
Sex: 28
Death: 10
Love: 201
You: 365
Home: 58
Boy: 164
Girl: 94

First five songs that come up on Party Shuffle...
Tobacco Hand - Big Sugar
Drive - R.E.M.
We Have Explosive - FSOL
License to Confuse - Sebadoh
I Never Loved a Man - The Committments

Dye Party!

2007-11-27T09:31:00.001-08:00

Well, it was more of a get-together, but it was very enjoyable, nonetheless. I didn't have a camera with me (it was in Toronto with Mr. Ninja), so I didn't manage to document the happenings, but it was lovely having Steph, Alison and The Boy come and play. What I can show you is the resultant dye jobs. I did three things that day - black sock yarn (use your imagination - it's not showing up well on camera), a Henry themed roving, and a random skein of yarn with the leftover dyes.

Et voila.

As you can see, the random yarn is kinda sketchy, I think that I have to start tying the skeins together more loosely to avoid those blocked off white spots. It's weird, although my math is accurate, it sure as heck doesn't feel like 300 yards of yarn in that ball. The Henry roving is also turning out to be quite the experiment - the blue isn't showing up much, but the green is doing this fantastic shading thing. More photos to come of it as I go along. (FYI, it's all superwash merino - I'm not nearly experienced enough to try my hand at feltable base materials yet.)

I kept busy while Mr. Ninja was away...

A Diagonal Knot Scarf in Malabrigo Aquarella in the Paysandu colourway. Not as soft as their merino, but I couldn't resist the deep, rich colours. It's about halfway done at this point.

A Curly Purly soaker in newborn size. I'm a bit iffy on this pattern, as it seems like the legholes are ENORMOUS for tiny newborn chicken legs. We'll have to see how this fits.

Eleanor is also chugging along slowly - this is the first sock. It's a lovely pattern though. Just simple enough to be good TV knitting, but it looks so pretty when it's actually on the foot. I would link to the pattern, but Socktopia seems to be down at the moment.

And finally, a bunch of Very Baby Snug Wrap Covers in the newborn size. I love love <3 these covers. I don't know if they're really all that gender neutral, but I don't care. Heh. They're super fast to sew (1/2 hour from cutting to finishing each) and they let me indulge myself in a little bit of fabric therapy. So far, my favourites are the red dragons and the surfboards. And with these done, I'm ready for this kid (well, at least the diapering aspect - I'm all aflutter about the rest of it all...).

Next on the list is painting and decorating the baby's room, getting Christmas decorations up, and doing any last minute holiday stuff (like making truffles as gifts for the neighbors...but we'll see if that really happens). But I want to try my hand at baking Christmas cookies this year. Mr. Ninja's Oma made big batches of cookies when he was growing up and I think that he misses them. Guess I'll be hunting down good German cookie recipes soon.

Also, I'm going to be doing a sort of Advent give-away all through December. Still working out the details, but more info to come soon.

Kicked in the ass by karma.

2007-11-21T12:18:00.001-08:00

So...remember how I thought I was done with Christmas knitting? Yeah. I got a phone call a few days ago from my Mum with two pieces of surprising news. One, my elder brother had his girlfriend officially move in with him. (This is big, people. I'm hoping to go to a family wedding within the next decade, as the last one was ... uh ... ours.) And second, my younger brother's girlfriend would be accompanying him for Christmas.

What this means is that not only is my family coming to Halifax for Christmas, but so is Mr. Ninja's. Plus my brother's girlfriend. And we're hosting Christmas dinner. No pressure. (Don't worry, we're only having Mr. Ninja's brother stay at our place over the holidays, as the rest of the family is being accomodated elsewhere. *cheer* No early labour for me!) That equals something like 11 adults plus Mr. Munchkin for dinner. And the other thing that it means is that I needed some presents for the new ladies in my family's life.

So I got cracking, and whipped up two more hats.

The first one is the Yarn Harlot's Unoriginal Hat, and the other is a Cutie hat (a la Mr. Munchkin).

Add to that another Odessa, and this is the sum total of my Christmas knitting (don't worry, no one who is getting any of this swag actually reads my blog, thank goodness).

Yup, none of the ends are woven in. Soon...but not yet.

Add to that mass of craftiness - Mr. Ninja is headed to Ontario for some R&R this weekend, and he's going to be taking a baby shower present with him. I had the urge to make yet another diaper for the friends who are having the baby, and made these last night.

The first one is a shot of the diaper cover, and the second is the matching diaper. Yeah, I know...but I can't help it. This nesting thing is getting out of control. Someone send help?

Finally, Steph and I are getting together this weekend (while the man's away, the girls shall play) for two purposes: 1) We are going to make Henry into a Dolores look-alike. 2) To dye some yarn. Possibly in a Henry colourway.

Anyone want to join us? I give no guarantees to the state of my bathroom... I'm thinking Saturday, 2ish until suppertime. Bring your own yarn, kool-aid, facemasks and roasting pans. I have some acid dyes on hand and a niddy-noddy for skeining. I'm going to bully Steph into helping me pick up a big foldable table from Canadian Tire, so I should have adequate working space, I hope. Also, here's some homework for ya - how to dye roving with acid dye and handpainting yarn. I figure we can do the actual dyeing at my place, and everyone can take the wool back to their places to "cook".

Cravings...

2007-11-16T14:01:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting tea and hot cocoa recently. Constantly. So I treated myself to a new teapot. Lord, I love President's Choice - even their knick-knacks make me happy (let's not even talk about their wonderful frozen entrees). But the only thing about this teapot is that it's so fragile feeling that I did the only thing that I could do, as a responsible knitter.

I knit a tea cozy.

It's the Kureyon Kozy from Knitty. I'm not too thrilled with the fit on this pot, but what the hell, it's at least preventing the pot from shattering on my tile counters.

I was going to originally post with the news that I'm DONE my Christmas knitting (yes, you have my permission to hate me a little now) but Mr. Munchkin objected when I told Steph that I was done. "But Mommy, you need to knit socks for yourself! Then you're done." And damn if the kid wasn't right on the ball. I'm knitting Beatrix from socktopia - but I'm fairly certain that I'm screwing up the lace. Oh well...at least Seawool rips back well. Pics to follow.

Ay yai yai...

2007-11-13T09:30:00.001-08:00

(It's an expression I often hear from my parents - I think that it's a South African thing. I remember being delighted when watching "The Gods Must Be Crazy" and hearing someone say it.)

Long time no see.

Things have been busy here, as I've actually been crafting (as opposed to writing and thinking about crafting). Here's a quick run down of the works in progress.

1) Cloth Diapers - I only started sewing cloth diapers for Mr. Munchkin when he was in size mediums (we used a diaper service before that). So, I needed to get some newborn diapers made. Let's not talk about the fact that yes, the baby will likely outgrow all of these diapers in 3 weeks and that yes, I really should get cracking on making size small ones too. Shhhh.

Seeing as how dreary February is around this part of the country, I figured that I was going to need something to cheer me up - so I decided to make a diaper rainbow. I cut out squares of 15 x 15 bamboo velour (SO soft!), and proceeded to do a low-water immersion dyeing method.

As you can see here - it's a messy business. The main reason that I did it on top of my washing machine is that it is well ventilated in that room, and that it was one of the few flat surfaces in the house that isn't covered with clutter. Ahem.

The results were spectacular.

I'm very pleased, and a little surprised at how well some of the colour combinations worked. The green-yellow and orange-red turned out much better than I would have thought. Additionally, I was quite happy with how low-maintenance dyeing fabric can be - I suppose that I was used to the very messy and laborious process of dyeing wool, and was expecting something along those lines.

Oh yeah, here's a pic of the diapers that I made for my friend. For those of you who know (and possibly care) the pink one is a pocket diaper, the red is an All-in-one and the funky print is a fitted.

In other crafty stuff - I got around to finishing these yarns. I set the twist earlier today and they're drying now. Counter-clockwise from the top - merino/tencel from Funky Carolina (sockweight), BFL from the Sweet Sheep (worsted), Berry BFL from the Sweet Sheep (worsted), Pink Cadillac superwash from Crown Mountain Farms (sockweight), Abby's Yarns superwash wool/silk/firestar (DK), more BFL.

Also, Ravelry is wonderful! I found a kool-aid dyeing group, and was inspired to overdye some pink ghetto Malabrigo in my stash with grape. I'll let you all know how it turns out.

Also, as part of the ongoing efforts to get the baby's room ready, we revamped our storage solutions in the house. JYSK, I think I love you.

Not only are these dresser/wardrobes a heck of a lot sturdier than an IKEA equivalent, they're much DIY friendlier. Clear instructions, precise numbers of screws, and they include wood glue! WOOD GLUE! INCLUDED! Be still my heart.

Mr. Munchkin was not neglected in this revamp either. Since he got to reclaim his closet from Mommy's clothing, Mr. Ninja decided to build a toy closet. Thus, in one fell swoop, Mr. Munchkin gets all of his toys in one place, and the adults get back the rest of the house. Win-win, eh?

Culinary Delights...

2007-10-28T12:48:00.000-07:00

Well, not much news on the knitting front - still working away on that last pair of socks. Have been doing a bit of sewing though, making diapers for a friend that wants to try out cloth nappies. I'll post photos later - my favourite of the batch is a wild fabric, reminiscent of a Pucci print.

But as for the title, it refers to the fact that one of the local Chinese restaurants has started offering dim sum. Fan's is out in Dartmouth, and OH MY GOD is the food good there. I went there yesterday for the first time for dim sum (they've only been doing dim sum for the past 3 weeks) and I'm telling you...it was heavenly. Growing up in Toronto (where the chinese food is second only to Hong Kong), I know what makes for a good yum cha (= tea time, another name for dim sum). And Fan's has got it all down pat. For me, dim sum is comfort food - it takes me back to my childhood, as my family went for dim sum EVERY weekend when we were growing up. Not only was it an opportunity for our family to catch up, but it was also a way of connecting to our culture. I mean, who can pass up the little trolley deals that they've got going on?

I believe that the reason that Fan's has started offering dim sum on the weekends (Saturday and Sunday 11am - 2pm) is because they've hired a southern Chinese chef, whereas most of the chefs there were northern Chinese (BIG difference in the cuisines). So, I just wanted to say - GO next weekend to Fan's for dim sum. Hell, if anyone wants to go with me and get an insider's point of view on what and how to eat...gimmie a ring. I'll be there in a heartbeat.

Rounding third base...

2007-10-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

I'm on my last pair of Holiday socks!

It's Opal Elemente, very nifty yarn. And in the background, I wanted to show you all Mr. Ninja's FO for the summer - Mr. Munchkin's pirate ship treehouse. My handyman did *real* good. It's got a ship's wheel, a rope ladder, a couple of cannons - one of which actually has an acorn shooting mechanism built in - and a periscope. And it's also got a proudly Canadian flag at the stern. (I think it's the stern...nautical terms get me confused.)

So, I have this pair of socks to get done, and then a hat for my lovely Mum. Thank goodness for CSI marathons on Spike - I've also been knitting and watching all of the bad Hallowe'en type movies that have been airing on tv lately...who knew that there were THAT many of them out there? Holy crap, was Van Helsing ever a mess of a movie. Tragic waste of Hugh Jackman's abs if ever there was one.

Anyway. A hat! My Mum decided that she'd much rather have a silk hat than silk stockings, so I'm off to the LYS today to scout out some Artyarns Regal. I hope Tangled Skeins still has some nice colours left. Last night, I was scouring Ravelry for hat patterns and happily contemplating knitterly freedom from holiday knits...when the baby kicked my spleen. Really hard. Looks like someone wants a handknit layette. Gah.

Knitting = Deaf?

2007-10-16T06:43:00.000-07:00

What is with the number of people who make this assumption? In the past week, I've had two separate incidents of me happily knitting away in public and people commenting LOUDLY about that fact, as if the act of knitting renders me deaf. It's just bizarre. While the commentary wasn't offensive in and of itself...the very act of assuming that I can't hear what they're saying about me is rather rude, dontcha think?

It's been a busy week (hand's all better, thanks), as we had the 20 week ultrasound last Wednesday. Still don't know the baby's gender, but there were two arms, two legs, etc. So far so good. And ever since then, the baby has really started moving. I have a future kickboxing star on my hands, methinks. At least my poor insides feel that way...

As for crafting - made an emergency pair of mittens for Mr. Munchkin (holy crap, when did it get so cold in the mornings), finished spinning up some more BFL (Berry colourway from the Sweet Sheep), and completed another pair of Christmas socks. But I'm a little cheesed with these socks (Trekking Pro Natura - lovely bamboo to work with), as I've cast them off two times and yet the binding is WAY too rigid. I've tried casting off with larger needles twice (upping the ante each time), and that didn't work. So, I'm going to have to rip them back and try one of the methods listed here. Grr...

So far, am debating what to start knitting next. Hanami? Or the last of the adult sized socks? Hmmm.

The sound of one hand blogging...

2007-10-08T18:02:00.000-07:00

So, happy turkey day to my fellow canucks! Myself, I'm not terribly pleased at the moment. Was making cranberry sauce, and in a moment of baby brain fog (apparently, I do have a brain slug attached somewhere in the vicinity of my liver), I put my left hand onto the hot stove element. Three blistered fingers. No more knitting, spinning, quilting, sewing or anything fun for a little bit.

Poo.

Anyone have any good movie recommendations for me to recover to?

The things I do for love...

2007-10-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

Man, oh man.

So, one of Mr. Ninja's dearest friends is spawning. The buddy and his lovely wife are expecting a baby (they don't know the gender, as the kid was pole dancing with the umbilical cord when they did the ultrasound) in the early New Year. Late last night, I was thinking of them and wondering aloud about what we should send them for the new baby. I'm suggesting typical things like cloth diapers, burp cloths, etc. when Mr. Ninja suddenly gets an odd gleam in his eye.

Mr. Ninja: "A baby hat."
Me: "Oh, ok. That's easy." (starts humming happily as stash diving commences)
M.N.: "But not just any baby hat. A brain slug."
Me: "A what?"
M.N.: (excitedly) "A brain slug! A baby brain slug hat!"

For those of you not in the geek know, there once was a television show called Futurama. And lo, it was good. Alas, it was also cancelled after only 3 seasons. But it's one of the all-time favorite tv shows of myself, Mr. Ninja, his friend, and also of his wife. There were a few episodes featuring small creatures called brain slugs, which were parasitical organisms that fed off of brain wave energy. Or something like that. Here's a quote from a site selling toy brain slugs:

The Brain Slug is a parasitic alien life-form, consisting of a clear, carbon-based gelatinous material. This wily being requires a host body to survive, as it has no brain of its own (unfortunately, one attached itself to Fry's brain and subsequently died of starvation). Once attached, the brain slug controls all of its host's thoughts, turning them into a zombie-like creature incapable of emotion or intelligent conversation.

And here's a pic for you.

So, I sat myself down with a copy of "Ten Things I Hate About You" (delightfully fluffy and brain free watching), and using a base pattern from Itty Bitty Hats, I whipped this up last night.

Pattern adjustments include: picking up stitches around the base, and randomly casting off two stitches at a time. I then knit the flaps each separately (oy, the weaving in of ends). The eye is knit with a small short row to get the slightly puffy effect, and the pupil is a piece of wool felt that I had lying around and stitched on. I'm still debating whether or not to block the hat to get the flaps to lie down flatter.

I have a feeling that Mr. Ninja is laughing to himself when he thinks of the new parents putting the hat on the kid during a particularly drooly day and saying "Well, usually...we have a pretty smart baby. We blame the brain slug for the lack of coherent conversation." I can't wait to see his reaction when I show him this silly thing.

Magic Loop Tutorial!

2007-09-28T17:05:00.001-07:00

At the request of a dear reader (*waves to La Cabeza Grande*), I'm posting a quick and dirty tutorial on the Magic Loop method of knitting in the round. I apologize in advance for the protruding belly in the majority of the photos - seems that the baby's already a ham for the camera. Well, that or it's the Haagen-Daas. Sorry about the delay in the post - I had a sock sitting on the needles and couldn't stop procrastinating enough to finish them until today. Ahem.

Required materials:
Circular needle (I'm using Addi Turbos, 2.5 mm and 32 inches long)
Yarn (duh)
Patience (if unavailable, ice cream, chocolate or alcoholic beverages are acceptable substitutes)

Step 1:

Cast on. For the purposes of this tutorial, I'm pretending to cast on for a pair of top-down socks. Personally, I love magic loop for toe-up socks as it makes the cast on even easier. So, cast on the total number of stitches required, all on one side of the circular.

Step 2:

Shove all of the stitches to the cord end of the needle that you just cast onto.

Like so. Count the stitches carefully, and find the midpoint of the row.

Step 3:

Carefully grab the cord at the midpoint (between two stitches), and pull it out so that it makes a loop. You will have separated the stitches in half with this loop - one half on the original cast on needle, and the other half on the cord.

Step 4:

Pull the looped cord so that the stitches are all on needles - half on the original cast on needle, and the other half on the previously dangling needle. You'll have two very pretty parallel rows of stitches.

Step 5:

Pull the original cast on needle towards the right - which will push the stitches that it was holding leftwise, and onto the cord. The cast on needle is now your working needle. You will be working on the stitches sitting on the needle in the "front" (the needle closest to your body).

Checking carefully for twisted stitches (go on, ask me how I know to be careful with this part), join the stitches for working in the round. Go ahead, stitch away until the end of the stitches on the needle. Turn your work in preparation for working the other set of stitches.

Step 6:

You'll have something that looks like this after you turn your work.

Take the needle that is now closest to you (the long one in front), and shove it backwards into the stitches so that you get two needles holding stitches in parallel. You'll have a big loop on the left side of the stitches again.

It should look something like this.

To continue knitting, gently yank the needle at the back of the knitting (furthest away from your body) to the right and start using it as your working needle. Knit merrily along until the end of the row, turn work and repeat the needle pushing and pulling process.

Hope that was as clear as mud.

Here's the socks that I just finished today - only 3 big pairs left and 1 small one for Christmas. These are standard men's socks. Admittedly with hellish amounts of ribbing. Knit up in Opal Dreamcatcher (Thanks for the yarn info, Ms. Yes - I had no idea what this stash find really was.)

In case you've noticed that I'm not weaving in the ends of the socks as I proclaim them to be "done", it's a bit of silly superstition on my part. It has to do with an old Chinese legend of an emperor, a talented painter and a magical paintbrush - but that's another story for later. This post is long enough. Yeesh.

But how can I resist Captain Jack? Yes, I know I'm about a week late for International Talk Like a Pirate Day...but I just found this yesterday. Must, must, MUST share with you all. Enjoy it. Once it gets past the initial cheesy factor, this video makes me laugh so very hard.

Quick hit.

2007-09-21T16:35:00.000-07:00

Just checking in.

I finished the UFO Sheldon that I picked up at the KOL swap - and it was promptly claimed by Mr. Munchkin. He has been feeding Sheldon constantly. I did not know prior to today that stuffed turtles survive off a diet of fuzzy slippers. Amazing.

Second, ordered The Opinionated Knitter from Knitpicks, along with a few skeins of random yarn. (Apparently Sheldon needs a friend.) Holy crap - $30 for the book! Yeesh.

Third, documented my stash on Ravelry. I think that I need to stop buying yarn. I have so completely hit S.A.B.L.E. - but I blame my Mum...living with three (3!) yarn closets in my parents house may have skewed my perception of what a reasonable stash is. Harumph. I'm on there as bluenail, if anyone wants to add me to their list.

Over and out.

I am as a pebble in a stream.

2007-09-17T07:09:00.000-07:00

Have been a busy little bee for the past little while. I swear, it's a damn good thing that we got a new front door installed this week, 'cause it's been swinging open and shut constantly with the flow of visitors. First, my sister-in-law, then a week after she left, a college buddy swung into town (and who left on a bike trip to Cape Breton and will return soon), and my in-laws just left today. So forgive the slightly misanthropic tone to this post, I promise to be somewhat cheerier soon. For those of you who missed out on the madness that was last years in-law visit, (click here for last year's entry) let me sum up this particular visit with them in one single horrifying episode.

Late Saturday night, my father-in-law is konked out on the couch "watching" TV. (He does this every night. If you turn it off - he'll stop snoring, wake up and yell at you because he was "watching that". *rolleyes*) I turned off my computer and passed the living room on my way upstairs, headed for bed. Here's my thought process at the time.

"Huh, there's a pair of pants on the chair." (The chair is right next to the TV.)

*mental click*

"There are pants on the chair?"

*another mental click*

"OH MY GOD, THERE ARE PANTS ON THE CHAIR!!!!!"

With a slow and horrible realisation dawning on me, I slowly turn my head to look over at the prone and snoring figure sprawled on my couch. My father-in-law had planted his ass on my couch...clad only in his tighty-whiteys. I swear I threw up a little in my mouth. Then I went straight to Mr. Ninja and said "If you don't wake up your father and tell him to put his pants back on, I will. And it won't be pretty. I'm almost positive that there will be glowing hot pokers involved." Equally horrified by the situation, he went to wake up his father. Here's how it went.

Mr. Ninja: "Dad, put your pants back on."
FIL: "Why? There's no one here."
Mr. Ninja: (flabbergasted) "I don't sit on your couch in my underwear, do I?"
FIL: (mutters) "Fine."

Yeah.

So.

In the hopes that it'll help unsear the image of my FIL sporting only his gitch with his butt planted on a chesterfield...here's some knitting content.

This is Sweet Sheep BFL roving, all spun up. It's about a DK weight, but I'm hoping that it'll fluff up a bit after having the twist set. But we'll see. I'm still pissed about the soysilk that I spun up awhile ago - tried to set the twist with my usual shock and thwack method, and it went all stringy and limp. As for the BFL itself, it's beautiful and totally soft. I'm very impressed, as the BFL that I've fondled before in the LYS was kinda scratchy and rough...but this stuff is almost as soft as cashmere.

More Christmas socks. And speaking of gift socks, I decided to say 'screw this, I want to knit baby things'. And more to the point, not everyone on my list deserves hand-knit socks. So phbbbbt. I'm going to finish the socks for those worthy of the honor ... and then cast on for something tiny, sweet and utterly cute. So, I figure I need to make three more pairs of Men's socks, one Ladies pair and one munchkin sized pair. Then I'll be able to cast on something twee with one hell of a clear conscience.

As for the title of the post? It's a really good mantra. Say it to yourself and breath deeply while doing so. Visualise the water flowing over, under and around you. Good for the soul and the mind. It's let me hang onto the shreds of my sanity in more than one situation. Here's hoping that little bit of Zen will help make your worlds better places.

Sweet Bejeebus!

2007-09-14T06:32:00.001-07:00

Dude.

I am in shock. The magic loop method kicks major ass. Not only did I finish these socks in record time, but I also had enough time to finish a metric buttload of spinning. I am way ahead of where I wanted to be in terms of Christmas knitting. Of course, it helps that I decided (much like jolly old Saint Nick) that not everyone on my list deserves hand knit socks. Like the Harlot says - books make very nice presents too. Heh. But one set down, only a few more to go.

These are in Lana Grossa Meilenweit Tweed - acquired last summer in Germany - and it's just your standard toe-up, short row heel Men's sock. Fast, simple, very gratifying. These were more or less a chance for me to test out the magic loop method, so I wanted a simple pattern. These are unblocked, un-ends woven in, etc. I just wanted to take advantage of the amazing NS sun while I can. Speaking of which, I suppose it would be a good time for me to do a stash inventory...so I can post the true terror of the ever-growing stash on Ravelry. I can't get enough of the sunny days here...I'm saving up my Vitamin D for the winter.

Needless to say, since the majority of the gift socks are going to be knit out of self-striping yarn, I'll be using this rather boring sock template for awhile. But I do intend to treat myself to something fun, eventually. Thanks to Ravelry, I am getting to see pattern ideas that I never even knew existed. So, slight majiggering of plans - one of the lucky recipients will be getting a handspun, handknit shawl, methinks. Just cause I want to knit Hanami. Out of this.

Handspun Firestar roving. You can't really see it in this photo...but this yarn freakin' glows.
Me loves it. Long time. It's soft, and I'm pleased with the plying - for once I didn't overply. Took my time and spent three back-to-back CSIs just plying this yarn. I was going to try and spin some tussah silk next...but I'm getting cheesed off at how the dye is staining my hands. Will have to rethink that one.

P. S. Does anyone want to go in on some Lorna's Laces with me? I want to order some of it while I can (once in a lifetime opportunity), but I have to order whole bags in whatever colourway I choose. Any yarn in any colourway is up for dibs. My jaw dropped when I got the offer, so I want to take advantage of this while I can.

Squishy things.

2007-09-06T08:48:00.001-07:00

Like my heart these days. I swear that I bust out into tears at the smallest thing - was watching CSI last night and was crying because there was a little boy asking for his Mommy (murder victim). Mr. Ninja eyeballed me oddly, then gave me a hug. Even though he knows that I'm technically insane, he loves me still. Very reassuring. But onto the crafts.

Had a bit of a blast from the past yesterday - was possessed by the need to make some cloth diapers. Most of you wouldn't know this, but I came to knitting through a rather circuitious route. I started making cloth diapers when Mr. Munchkin was very young, and even had my own cloth diaper business for awhile (www.bubblebums.ca - now defunct, but if anyone wants a magnet with the logo, lemme know. I'd love to get rid of some of them.) I gave it up when I moved to Halifax, as I didn't have my sewing equipment set up for the longest time when we first moved here.

And the knitting, you ask? How does that figure in? Well. A little personal history first.

My Mum had a yarn store in a small town outside Toronto when we were growing up. So, many a Saturday afternoon of my youth was spent in the back of a yarn store. I think that the resentment from this involuntary induction into knitting (and living in homemade sweaters when I yearned for the storebought sweaters of my contemporaries - what? I was a fickle teenager and just wanted to fit in) made me swear off knitting for a long long time.

(Mom, if you ever read this - I just wanted to say that I still have several of the sweaters that you knit me and that they're amongst my favourites now. They are treasured because everytime I wear one, I know that you really are the best mother ever. No one would knit a sweater with intarsia roses with 8 shades of pink unless they really truly loved the person wearing it.)

Anyway, I started knitting again after Mr. Munchkin was born, because I was absolutely determined to keep him in cloth diapers. I would launch into a tirade about how bad disposable diapers are for babies and the Earth, but that's another post entirely. So. With cloth diapers, you need the actual diaper plus a cover. Enter knitted wool covers. If treated with lanolin, they are waterproof, breathable and pretty darn cute. I got sucked into knitting "soakers" (what the wool covers are called in the bizzare little world of cloth diapering), and it just all snowballed from there.

So now that I'm gestating again, I have an inkling that this time around it'll be a girl. (What is WITH Nova Scotia hospitals not telling you what gender the baby is? Last I checked, this isn't the medieval ages - gender doesn't mean squat.) While I know that it's silly to start making things for someone I'm not going to meet for another 6 months, I can't help myself. I had these diapers cut out ages ago, and finally decided to sew them up. Cute, no? I can't wait to see these on a squishy baby butt.

And as for knitting? Best knitting spot in the world.

On the deck, looking out over the ocean and enjoying the breeze. That's the second sock of the pair that I started last week. Christmas gift #1 almost done!

Geekdom is surprisingly relaxing.

2007-09-04T07:26:00.000-07:00

It was a lovely long weekend. We had Mr. Ninja's sister up for the week - it's been nice sending Mr. Munchkin to go and play with her at 6 in the morning. (Hey, we're not a Bed and Breakfast ... company's gotta earn their keep somehow.) I kept myself busy.

Made a geeky sample binder with all of the Ghetto Malabrigo colourways that I had samples of.

Spun a lot.

This is superwash sock yarn. It's ... very pink. I'm almost certain that this will get knit up into gifts. For whom exactly, not sure.

But this is for moi - it's the first bunch of roving from Abby's Yarns Batt Club. Not sure about the fibre content, but there's definitely firestar in there. The glitter soothes my soul.

Have also been experimenting with the magic loop method of knitting in the round ... with rousing success. Started a toe-up sock two days ago (cast on in Lunenburg of all places.) Am now almost at the cuff. This is staggeringly fast for me, and it's been definitely less stress on my wrists. I think I'll be sticking with this method for now. Have to justify the Addi Turbos somehow.

In other news, I'm going to flog some co-ops that I'm a part of:

1) Dharma trading company - If you're looking for dyes for yarn or other projects, Dharma's the place to go. They also have fabrics and blank clothes for dyeing as well. This co-op is being run by a Canadian group - they will be taking orders for the co-op until the 27th.

2) Malabrigo - This is the real stuff, people. Just the worsted at this point. The prices are good (wholesale rates), but I'm not allowed to post the group's information - if you're interested, email me and I'll get you the details.

That is all. Oh and quick question about Ravelry - why the hell won't it recognize my Flickr account? Grrr. I can't post the stash photos until it does...

Ready, set ...

2007-08-27T16:53:00.000-07:00

And we're off. Got my Monkey socks done - please excuse the flash photography.

Also got a quickie hat whipped up for Mr. Munchkin - the kid is growing out of everything, I tell you. He needed a new hat for the fall, and I had a need to see him in something with a pom-pom.

And for those thinking "awww, what a cutie", take a look at the destruction that he hath wroth ... in the time that it took me to take some leftovers out to the composting bin. (approximately 2 minutes flat)

And say it with me now... "Four year olds should not be given access to paint bottles." Needless to say, he spent some time in his room thinking about what he did and apparently of ways to placate Mommy. Who has never needed a drink more in her life.

And here's my pile of stuff ready for tomorrow's KOL stash swap. At the front, you can see my entry ticket - Fleece Artist Silk/Cashmere 2 ply. Other stuff there includes Sari yarn, a whack of Malabrigo, lots of sock yarn from the Natural Dye Studios, handspun Ayany yarn from an African co-operative (can't get it anywhere in North America!), some Knitpicks sock yarn, a few skeins of handspun, and others that I can't remember atm.

Many, many, many thanks go out to both Steph and Terra for their contributions to both the door prize bag and the goodie bag for each participant. It's going to be an interesting night, I think.

Back on Track.

2007-08-21T04:17:00.000-07:00

Alright, inspiration whacked me over the head last night (insommnia's a great thing). I've just been working on "make-busy" projects for the last little while to keep my hands busy. The crochet strip there is destined to be yet another of the ubiquitous ripple blankets infecting the blogosphere. It's been a fun project with which to refresh my crochet skills, but man does the kitchen cotton split. I can't work on this while Mr. Munchkin's awake, as I curse while working on this thing. A lot. In several languages. And with great vehemence and the occasional rabid foam-flecked spittle.

I confess, I'd forgotten how fast crochet goes...and how big it gets when you're not watching. The blanket was originally supposed to be just a throw for the couch, but it is apparently large enough that it fits a king size mattress. Whoops.

And here we have 1 and 1/4 of a pair of Monkey socks for me. It's like all of my handknit socks decided to commit seppuku simultaneously. I'm down to these and one pair of pink socks. Not sufficient for a Nova Scotian winter, sez I. So, I'm going to be knitting socks like mad. And not just for me...the inspiration that I was talking about earlier took the form of what I should be knitting = Christmas socks for all! (Well...immediate family. I'm not completely insane yet.)

I can totally do this. In total, I need to knit one pair of silk socks (wool allergies), five pairs of men's socks (hooray for self-striping yarn and boring patterns), one pair of munchkin sized socks and two pairs of femme lace socks. That's only 8 grown-up pairs and 1 kid sized pair... given that there's 19 weeks left until Christmas, I figure that I'll have to knit a pair every two weeks or so and that's plenty of time, eh? Of course, complicating things is that fact that I'd like to spin the wool for some of the socks, but we'll see how that goes.

The other fringe benefit of this decision is that I'll be working the stash...no new wool allowed into the house until a sizeable chunk has disapparated. And speaking of stash reduction - once Fall term starts, Mr. Ninja will be teaching on Tuesday nights. (*insert wailing here*) So I'll not be showing up at KOL until possibly after Christmas. So, with that in mind, I think that I'd like to organize a stash swap/giveaway for the KOLers sometime soon.

So, here is what I've got so far - on a designated KOL night, everyone brings stash and/or UFOs that they'd like to trade. Two stipulations though - 1) you have to bring one *nice* tradeable item (yarn preferable, I'd say). This would help to avoid the problem that the Loop apparently ran into with their swap - most people just brought their crap stash, and those who brought something nice got screwed over. 2) Play fair - don't take more than your share. That was another problem that was present at the Loop swap. But I'm not really worried about the KOLers in this respect - we all know each other fairly well...so reprecussions are totally a viable option (no scones for you!) (Kidding! Well...sorta. They're damn good scones.)

But other than that - bring half-balls, projects-worth of yarn, unfinished objects that just don't speak to you, whatever. We'll have four blankets spread on the floor (no half-naked rolling in the yarn please...yes, I'm looking at you Henry) - 1) good stuff 2) UFOs 3) partial balls 4) everything else. Hopefully, everyone will be able to find something that they'll be happy to give a new home to.

Sound good? I'll keep you all updated - I imagine that it'll be sooner rather than later.

Hooray!

2007-08-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

The socks from my Sockapalooza pal arrived yesterday! And they are stunners. I am totally overwhelmed at the generosity of my sock pal, eKNITabeth, you lovely knitting goddess, you. She is the moderator of the 52 Pair Plunge, and I'm very happy that I was lucky enough to have someone so dedicated to sock knitting making my pair. *grin*

See! They fit beautifully, and they're so comfy. And check this out - she filled the box to the brim with goodies too.

I feel so totally spoiled. I'm thinking that the burgundy is telling me that it wants to be a pair of Embossed Leaves socks for someone special. Thanks again eKNITabeth, I will be enjoying these socks for ages to come.

Itchy Fingers.

2007-08-14T07:58:00.000-07:00

Major case of startitis over here. I think that it probably stems from a lack of real project ambition...see, I was going to knit myself a sweater after I finished Mr. Ninja's beast. Buuuuut...what with being pregnant (and it's going really well! Week 12 and going strong. No more morning sickness but the poultry aversion still there), there's not really any point to knitting something for myself since my body's going to be changing so much in the next year or so.

So, what to knit? I made another dishcloth (mindless knitting) from this pattern, and I'm progressing nicely on the new Monkey socks. I would put in a pic of the socks, but natural light has been in short supply over here. But I want something to make that's new to my fingers! And exciting! Something to justify a lot of exclamation points!!! Christmas knitting? Baby items? Dare I say it ... a crochet blankie? I've been toying with picking up crochet again (I know the basic stitches, but my skills are how you say...ass-end rusty?)

I think that I'm just bored with my stash...hmmm. Maybe a stash swap is in order? That's a kind of project too. Sorta?

Gah.

Fluffer.

2007-08-12T09:26:00.000-07:00

Had a bright and shiny post all written up about the philosophical nature of knitting and it's relationship to time and space, but upon reading (while actually lucid) - it's steaming pile of doo-doo. Thus, a quickie post to catch up with.

Yarn Harlot was awesome - her Halifax visit has been well documented by the KOL crew (yay gang!) - and there was much rejoicing. I feel that I should apologize to the Harlot - I forgot to bring a WIP to the talk, so had to cast on (twice, oooh the shame) for a new pair of Monkey socks. Not a smart idea when you're in the front row. *cringe*

Have been spinning up a storm. In an attempt to rein in my yarn/fibre spending, I've joined three "of the month" clubs. Two fibre ones (Funky Carolina and Abby's Yarns) and one yarn. That, in addition to the occasional yarn co-op (speaking of which, Yumiko's co-ops kick ass - I'm very much looking forward to the Be Sweet co-op.) should satisfy my need to spend on yarny type objects.

This is what I made of the Funky Carolina one - it's 100% soysilk, and man did it ever leave me and the surrounding furniture covered in fluff.

But it's so purty...clearly, I need more practice spinning silky, slippery fibres, as the yarn's a bit on the uneven side. Now I gotta go and research how to set the twist on soysilk - I wonder if it behaves like wool at all?

Sockapalooza Done!

2007-08-03T08:54:00.000-07:00

Got the project bag finished. (Why yes, that fabric should look familiar - I made my circular needlecase out of the same stuff. My fabric stash is nowhere near as large as my yarn stash...I am a bit nervous about getting my Ravelry invite - I am not looking forward to actually cataloguing what is lurking in the corners of my craft room.)

Included the rest of the skein (should my pal decide that she wants to re-knit them or somesuch) and two beaded stitch markers for good measure. And it's in the mail! Phew.

Have been casting around for a new project to knit, and have been coming up at a loss. I have a lovely single skein of laceweight cashmere...I'm thinking scarf, but have not been able to find inspiration in form of a pattern. Anyone have any suggestions?

Instant Gratification.

2007-07-30T12:55:00.000-07:00

So, I have been at loose ends for the past few days - my Mum is up visiting, and has absconded with Mr. Munchkin every day around 8 am for the past week or so. (She wants me to rest and keep my strength up. Lovely woman, that. I know why she's so worried about me - and to be honest, I'm kinda worried about the same thing - but at the same time, I miss the company of my little boy.) Needless to say, this has given me oodles of spare time in which to nap, and craft.

I vaguely remembered today that since the Yarn Harlot is visiting, hats would be collected for a charitable cause. At least, I think so. That's been what's happening at the other locations on her tour, so...anyhow, my fingers have been itching to do something (fyi, spinning on a hot, humid day is so not a good idea. The resultant fluff that covers you leaves something to be desired re: the whole cooling-oneself-down situation.) so I knit a quickie project.

Based off the Harlot's own Ken's Duulan Hat pattern, with a few adjustments. Pom-pom instead of an i-cord knot, and it's much deeper to accomodate the dampness of Nova Scotia winter. Knit with 3 strands of ghetto Malabrigo (2 beige, 1 variegated in pink/purples), this baby took me about an hour to make from cast-on to pom-pom attachment. I tried knitting directly from the pattern without adjustments, but clearly I have gauge issues, as the resulting hat (while very cute) is size-appropriate for a 6 year old. So I have two hats to bring with me. Ninja representing, yo.

Next up, a sewn bag to house my Sockapalooza pal's gift package. Judging from her blog, she seems to like luxe yarns...I'm willing to bet that she'd like a silk project bag.

But I've got an excuse this time...

2007-07-26T11:53:00.000-07:00

Really!

But first, knitterly content to distract you...

The Beast. Done. I tell you true love isn't about doves and cherubs and all that jazz...it's working with a man-sized MERINO sweater in the middle of a sweltering summer. I'm not entirely happy with the neckline, as it's doing a weird puckering thing, but I'll be damned if I'm about to touch the accursed thing until the mercury takes a major plunge.

Sockapalooza socks. Done. Hedera in Natural Dye Studios...pure wool. Not entirely sure about this one, as I think that the stripes muck about with the pattern a little too much for my taste...but what the hell - they're not for me. (yay!)

More of the handspun silk/wool...in another pair of socks. These are intended for Christmas gifties...good thing that they're waaaay too big for me, as I'm sorely tempted to keep them for myself. (My socks in this handspun had an unfortunate encounter with the dryer, tragically.)

In other knit knews, I am down two pairs of handknit socks. (My Monkey socks bit the dust with a MASSIVE hole in the heel, and the aforementioned dryer felted my handspun socks. Sob.) So, my next project will be something slightly more amenable to this weather... I'm going to be spinning this lovely roving (superwash merino from Crown Mountain Farms - see, I can learn...superwash = good) into sock yarn, which will then get knit into new Monkey socks for me.

I figure at the rate that I'm crawling through projects these days, I'll be ready to start knitting with this stuff when the leaves start to fall. Also, I'm hoping that the spinning wheel will have a fan-like effect and will cool down my knees. I could be wrong...but onto the excuses!

1) Have been travelling. P.E.I. is possibly the most laid-back place on the planet. We stayed in cottages that were as close to the ocean as you can get, and ate lots and lots of potatoes.

2) Mr. Munchkin turned 4 years old.

He doesn't normally stand on tables...but then again, he doesn't normally get to jump head first into a gift bag either. Nice little party, it was awesome fun to get 4 kids loaded on a massive sugar rush and then send them home with their parents. I'm pretty sure that we're going to be looking at some karmic payback for that one.

3) I've been sick. In a good way though...I'm pregnant, and have the worst morning sickness. Blergh. The doctor (bless her cheery little heart) says that it's a great thing that I'm constantly nauseous and exhausted - after the 2 miscarriages last year, it's a sign that this is a strong pregnancy. I would have nodded in agreement, except that sudden head movement tends to send me running for the gravol these days. So, we're 10 weeks along now. Cross your fingers for us, please.

There, all caught up. Will be better about posting, as I'm intending on hiding inside from the blistering sunshine until the jack-o-lanterns start appearing on street corners.

Snippets of dinner conversation today.

2007-06-23T14:43:00.001-07:00

Me: "Honey, take that off. No armour at the table."

Later, during dinner.

Mr. Munchkin: "BELCH"
Me: *horrified look*
Mr. Munchkin: "What? I'm a boy!"
Mr. Ninja: *falls on floor laughing*

And even later.

Mr. Ninja: "You know those little holes on the sides of Darth Vader's mask? I bet one of them is for his soup straw and the other is for his apple juice sippy cup. And no, Darth Vader can't have jello - it won't fit through his grille."

*facepalms*

We are such a geek household.

Oh, and in yarny news - went to Gaspereau Valley today. Fiber filled post to follow. Also, I think that I may have angered the household gods in some pantheon somewhere...came home, and noticed that there was a spider spinning a web on my Louet. I'm guessing that the bad karma that I'm going to get for squishing said spider is going to seriously jinx any spinning I try for the next little while. I always feel bad about squishing spiders - does anyone else apologize to bugs pre-squash?

Catching up...but no rye.

2007-06-15T13:51:00.001-07:00

It's been awhile. Been coughing up a lung (that's why we have two lungs, kids) with a nasty cough. YAY for antibiotics! Have finally been feeling better. Anyway. Knit content, ahoy!

Two mini skeins and one jumbo one. The white skein is alpaca-silk with a bit of angelina tossed in. The raspberry-purple is unknown fibre content ... but it's damn touchable. Big blue is merino, and it's HUGE. Probably worsted weight, maybe around 600 grams. Spinning these was lots of fun - the original plan for the two mini skeins was to ply them together...but the resultant yarn was ooky. The raspberry one was dulled by the addition of the white, and the white just looked murky. So, plied them on themselves with the assistance of my ball winder.

Done one of my sockapalooza pals's socks...'tis lovely. Need sock blockers. Anyone have any suggestions for good ones? Haven't quite gotten around to finishing the second sock, as I've been distracted by Mr. Ninja's sweater (back to miles and miles of beige stockinette - someone put me out of my misery please) and more handspun socks. Toe down, reinforced heel flap. But I haven't finished these yet as I'm debating whether or not to make them into Christmas gift socks. The only problem with this concept is that I only know one person who *might* take care of these socks...and I'm not sure that she'd like them.

My Henry's Attic blanks from the co-op also arrived.

That's a big bag of several cones of Kona superwash - both the lightweight and heavyweight gauge and a one or two cones of various stuff like Andromeda and Licorice Twist. (Psst. I found out that Socks That Rock use Kona as their base yarn, if that tells you anything about this stuff.) Each cone should make me about 4 pairs of socks...I'd better get cracking. I'm debating whether to dye this stuff up and sell it in my etsy store (which is notably lacking in merchandise - *sigh*) or to just keep it around. You never know when you'll need 10 cones of sock weight yarn. Right? Right?

Henry's holidays - Episode II

2007-06-06T05:24:00.001-07:00

So, after a couple of days of recovery (and much encouragement to drink water), Henry finally felt up to the task of travelling. Tragically, I had made plans to visit my in-laws cottage in Kingston, ON at the same time as the Yarn Harlot's book launch. *sigh* Henry was not pleased. And oh my, the temper tantrums...I'm pretty sure that Mr. Munchkin was giving him pointers. But I managed to bundle all of them up into a car, and got driving. We stopped halfway from Toronto at the Big Apple. (Mr. Munchkin included for scale)

They had sheep there, and Henry took some time to roll with his homies.

However, we had no time to get misty-eyed and reminice about Henry's wild youth, and thus proceeded to the cottage.

Beautiful place. But cabin fever sets in awfully quick there. I'll spare you the photos of Henry's boredom...needless to say, it's a good thing that he's already a felted monster. And yes, red wine does wash out of his greeny goodness. Quick trip up, quick trip down. Back in Toronto after the weekend at the cottage, I needed to re-urbanize, stat. So Henry, my lovely SIL and I took in some high theater.

Yup, that's a honking big copy of the Necronomicon. We went to see Evil Dead: The Musical. And it delivered on all the gore and fake blood that it had promised...and more! If you're lucky enough to be in Toronto during this show's run, go see it. Btw, fake blood also washes out of Henry's tough outer shell, just as an FYI.

The next day, Henry, Mr. Munchkin and I all went for a visit at the Ontario Science Centre. It's a lot smaller than I remember it being when I was a kid. But they have a kick-ass area just for little kids and monsters.

Steph, take a deep breath. He's felted, remember? Anyhoo, we were all tuckered out after the OSS, so I went to pick up some dinner.

This, my friends, is a chinese BBQ joint. Yes, those are whole roasted ducks, a whole roasted pig (behind Henry), a couple of cooked cuttlefish, and assorted other entrails and fun things like that. Amid much gagging (from Henry) and stern looks (from me), we managed to get some roasted duck and scooted on home.

Another couple of quiet days playing in the big backyard at my parent's place, and we finally flew back home to Halifax. This greeted me when I got inside...I think may have finally reached SABLE. That's mostly roving, with a few skeins of sock yarn included for good measure.

Gah. Time for a yarn diet.

Henry's holidays...

2007-06-04T07:56:00.000-07:00

And lo, the continuing adventures of Henry are discussed.

Just before Mr. Munchkin and I left for a long visit back to Toronto, Steph kindly dropped by with some homemade cookies for the trip. Imagine my surprise when I was digging through my purse for my plane tickets and I found a stowaway. Needless to say, I let the boy have his way with the little green miscreant.

This is Mr. Munchkin enthusiastically showing Henry a close-up view from the plane window. You can almost hear the whimpering from here.

I vaguely remember Henry muttering something about no woman being worth this amount of pain and suffering, not even a Harlot. Too bad for Henry that I wasn't planning on being in Toronto for the Yarn Harlot's book launch. >_<

On landing, we were all starving. (6 am flights tend to do that to me.) So, I took the crew to a little strip mall around the corner and got takeout.

Surprisingly, Henry is quite the connoisseur of authentic Chinese food - he was trying to haggle with the woman behind the counter about the amount of bok choy in his dish. Unsuccessfully, mind you. I think it might have gone better, had Henry actually known Chinese. *shrug* Then again, he might have been distracted by the wall of Pocky.

The resultant sugar highs meant that the rest of the day was a write off for everyone in terms of sightseeing...so it was a lovely, quiet day.

Henry enjoyed this game, right up to the point where one of the checkers landed on his hand. Tears and wailing ensued. But a liberal dose of Pocky seemed to help. The next few days passed quietly as Henry and Mr. Munchkin amused themselves with the myriad assortment of toys that my Mum had collected and saved from the childhoods of me and my brothers. But on Wednesday, I decided to traipse down to Lettuce Knit and do dinner with some friends. Henry insisted on coming along to chaperone.

Frolicking in the sale bin at Lettuce Knit. Lovely store...but holy is it tiny. I may have gone a touch mad over the Koigu KPPPM.

Dinner was lovely - my friends took me out to Cafe Diplomatico, and we spent a fantastic evening sitting on the patio, eating antipasto, watching beautiful people go by and sipping adult beverages. Henry begged for a sip of my drink, as he said that Steph never let him try any of her "grown-up drinks". I cautioned him that it was rather strong, but what the hell - I was on holiday. He took to it like a fish out of water, Steph...

And it all lead to this...I have no idea what's going on here - I went to the bathroom, came back to a table of people and small green monsters looking very innocent. Apparently, this is the documentation of someone daring Henry to chug a Guinness. Which would explain the moaning and cursing that I heard from the guest bathroom the next morning. And on that note, I'll leave the remainder of the trip for the next post.

Reduce, Reuse...

2007-05-19T15:49:00.000-07:00

Recycle.

I had a silk satin needle case once. After using it for awhile, I realised that it didn't work particularly well - the needles kept falling out. While I'd like to attribute that to the fact that satin is slippery as hell, I figure that the design probably wasn't quite optimal either. However, I love love LOVE the fabric. And after window shopping for a knitting project bag (fuelled by envy of the beautiful Lantern Moon bags), I took an hour out of my day and made this.

You can still see some of the holes that scar the fabric from its previous incarnation...but overall, I'm quite pleased. And it seems that karma's trying to get me into the mood for a little bit of slink and a little splash of shimmy...

My pre-order of Knitting Lingerie Style came on Friday. It's actually a wonderful book, filled with far more wearable items than you might think, judging from the title. And this is the first knitting book that I have ever seen Mr. Ninja pick up and browse...of his own volition. While he's been dropping some not so subtle hints, I am sticking to my guns and working away on my Sockapalooza pal's socks.

Hedera. In Natural Dye Studios - Silver Bud colourway. The stitch definition created by this yarn is incredible. Must. Have. Own. Socks.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, here I come!

2007-05-17T07:09:00.000-07:00

So...I couldn't really let myself start another project (Sockapalooza socks) while I still had another pair of socks on the go. So I sat myself down with a bottle of Bailey's, a marathon session of Gil Grissom frowning at various corpses, and my handspun socks. Done like dinner.

They're squishy, slippery and thick. Perfect for the cold front that's just settled in. Totally mismatched, but I actually dig it. One of the socks is larger than the other - my tension was apparently affected by all the swooning that I did during the CSI season 3 DVD (Gawd, the men on that show are HOT) I'd like to say that the first sock was stretched by Henry's sojourn inside it...but I have to fess up that I think that my ankles are thicker than Henry's entire body. And since I only used the smaller of the two skeins for this pair, I still have enough to make another set of socks!

I wonder if I'll get another pair of mismatched socks - and therefore maybe possibly get 2 pairs of matching socks. What? It could happen.

ETA: Apparently...Bailey's + knitting = totally spaced out knitter. I just realized while looking at the photo of the socks together that I'm going to HAVE to knit another pair of socks. During the time between the two socks, I totally forgot that I did a mistake rib pattern on the first sock...and did the second sock in just a plain 3x1 rib. Man...I blow such huge chunks sometimes. >_<

In other crafty news, my package from Superbuzzy arrived!

I'm not too sure that I like the punch embroidery thingy...it sort of feels like cheating somehow. But the sheep clips are awesome for keeping track of where I am on a chart - well, I'm anticipating that they will be - and the car magnets make Mr. Munchkin very happy. So, now I've cast on for my Sockapalooza pal...let's see if CSI can weave some knitting mojo for me again.

Long Live Optimus Prime!

2007-05-06T09:06:00.000-07:00

Well, technically - they killed him off in the series ... but his memory lives on. After seeing Geekzilla's awesome Decepticon mittens, I was inspired to whip up an Autobots chart. However, the only problem is that Excel (which is where I do the charting) doesn't let me put in right pointing slashes. *sigh* So, I substituted the right pointed slashes with the vertical lines. Use your imaginations, kiddoes.

As for the pattern itself, if you're doing it in intarsia, just knit the X's, and put the slashes in afterwards with duplicate stitch. And if you're doing it all in duplicate stitch, you're laughing. Me, I'm thinking that I need some Transformer socks. Eventually. And the beast? Mr. Ninja is getting a vest for his birthday. I'm not even halfway through the first sleeve. Stockinette fatigue is starting to set in. Grrrr.

Soaker Stuff

2007-05-03T05:11:00.000-07:00

I've been getting a lot of hits lately from people looking for information on knitted soakers for cloth diapered babies. (Stop reading now, Geekzilla.) Thanks for the shoutout, Stacey! It's been awhile since I knit a soaker (Mr. Munchkin's been potty trained for awhile) but I'll try to recap the lessons that I learned when knitting soakers long ago.

Yarn - Choose a mostly or all wool yarn that will knit into a dense fabric. Worsted weight is fantastic as it knits up relatively quickly, and still provides the thickness needed. Preferably a yarn that is very soft to the touch, as it will be rubbing against your baby's tender skin. Definitely NOT superwash. (The superwash treatment basically nullifies the lanolinization that soaker has to go through to be effectively "waterproof".)

My personal favourites for soaker knitting included Malabrigo and 100PureWool. 100PureWool is the same quality as Malabrigo - possibly a touch thinner - but MUCH cheaper than Malabrigo. But I've knit soakers out of Noro (scratchy as hell), Cascade (nice, if a bit limp), and Manos del Uruguay (ungh, very bumpy) ...whatever works for the pattern, your baby and you. If pilliness is an issue for you - get a 2 ply as opposed to a single ply like the malabrigo.

Pattern - There are several patterns available online, such as the Curly Purly soaker, Fern and Faerie soaker, and the Down Under soaker. I have knit the Punk Knitter's Soaker and the Perfection Pants soaker...but by far and away, my favourite pattern was the Hybrid Rib Wrap from Little Turtle Knits. It was trim under clothes, very effective and just plain purty. Most of the soakers I knit were the hybrid rib, as it worked the best for us. Easy on, easy off and it holds its shape reeeeally nicely over time, unlike most of the others.

Washing and Care - Soakers need to be lanolized before they're initially worn. Two ways to do this:

Old School - Take some pure lanolin (you can buy tubes in the drugstore) and a small jar. A baby food jar works well for this. Fill the jar with the hottest water you can stand. Squeeze a pea-sized amount of lanolin into the jar, along with a small squirt of dishsoap. (The dishsoap is to suspend the dissolved lanolin in the water.) Close the lid, and shake the jar until the lanolin is more or less dissolved...you definitely don't want lanolin lumps. Add the concoction to a basin of tepid water, and swoosh it around to mix it all up. Put your soakers into the basin, and let soak for an hour or so. After that time is up, get the water out of the soakers - dealer's choice on either using the towel method or tossing them into the washer for a quick spin - and lay flat to dry. They're ready to use now.

New School - Use a lanolin spray like the ones from Naturally Luxe. Spray it onto a clean soaker, rub in, you're done.

Soakers need to be re-lanolized every once in awhile to maintain their effectiveness...but you can prolong the time between lanolizations (is that a word?) by using a nice wool wash, some of which are specifically designed for wool soakers with extra lanolin added. I like Eucalan, the wool soap bars from stores like Baby Blossoms, and the Organic Wool Wash from Naturally Luxe.

Just as an FYI - if you are prone to skin conditions like eczema, lanolin can trigger flare-ups. I have this problem, so I always wore rubber gloves when lanolizing Mr. Munchkin's soakers.

So...I can't remember anything else important about knitted soakers. (Short term memory loss FTL!) If there's anyone out there reading this that has questions, I'd be happy to answer them if I can. I would post pics of the soakers that I've knit, but I've loaned them all to a friend who's using them on her baby. That's the other advantage of cloth diapering - you can share the cuteness of a big ole squishy baby butt!

Bjork.

2007-05-01T13:36:00.000-07:00

As mentioned last night on the way back from KOL.

Apparently, Bjork used to knit - and gauging from the outfit in the photo here, has quite the mad love affair with crochet. I love her so very very very much. Especially when she talks about the visual nature of music.

Click on the picture to read the story...

Damn, I need a bigger house.

2007-05-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

So, as some of you know - my Mum used to own a yarn store back in the day. When she sold the business, she kept the yarn. As a result, I grew up in a house that had 3 or so yarn closets. Meaning that if you opened the door to said closets, you could end up bonked on the head by a bag or three of ribbon yarn. And the ribbons, oy. Mr. Ninja and I nearly got a divorce when he saw the "two or three" boxes of stuff that my Mum put on the moving truck...it was 6 large boxes of ribbons, and a massive chest of embroidery thread. Needless to say, the tendency to packrat runs strong in my family.

When Mum came up to visit a few weeks ago, she brought me some of the remaining fancy yarns.

Looks innocuous, yes?

I can't work with any of it. >_< It's all mohair or mohair blends. And uh ... the colours are very ... retro. I don't think that I have enough irony left in my body to sport a fuzzy, green and purple mohair sweater with any flair. Motherhood seems to have drained any insouciance that I could have used to pull that off. But some of it is just lovely. Anyone? Willing to sell this stuff fairly cheap - but only to a good home. No giving the skeins to the felines as cat toys...

In other news, I have my Sockapalooza pal! As she likes natural fabrics and lace...I'm set. Am thinking of either knitting her Baudelaire or Hedera. I don't think that my Cookie A. patterns will be arriving from the co-op in time, unfortunately. Of course...I still have the beast to complete. Only two inches left on the back of the sweater, and then it's off to the races on the sleeves! I am so close to finishing, I can smell it. Or that's possibly the brownies in the oven. Either one works for me.

Facebook = Evil.

2007-04-25T15:27:00.000-07:00

So, I caved. Set myself up on facebook...and was quite overwhelmed by the number of people who actually remembered who I am, despite my best efforts to be forgettable. >_<

Uhm...so...how does one turn this thing off, exactly? I think that I'd like to go back into my hidey-hole now...

Meme!

2007-04-19T15:43:00.000-07:00

I don't do memes, usually. But this one amused me. From Elizaboothy.

james brown or marvin gaye? James Brown! Hit mah! Ungh! Good God! The exclamation points!

chinese or indian takeout? Chinese. For obvious reasons.

fleece or knitted blanket? Knitted. I like the texture and the breathability of knitted stuff.

girls with makeup or without? Without. Easier to rub one’s temples and nose bridge when not worried about smudging something vital. Besides, I always feel weird when I wear makeup – like I’m smothered or something.

costco or whole foods? Whole Foods. Man, that was one of the BEST things about our trip to Austin a few years ago. It's just a very pleasant shopping experience.

wildflowers or arrangements? Huge, lush, exotic arrangements. Wildflowers just remind me of all the weeding that I’ve got to do. *sigh*

tradition or shakeups? Depends…but generally, I like trying new stuff.

cello or trumpet? Cello. Yo-Yo Ma is a god.

watch-wearing or no? Nope. I lose watches like clockwork (ha!), despite my best intentions.

salt water or fresh (for swimming)? Both! The one thing that I love about where we live is that it’s a 5 minute walk to a freshwater lake and a 15 minute drive to the wild open ocean. I keep wanting to learn how to surf.

pants or shorts? Pants. I giggle when I think of Bermuda shorts.

chatspeak or absolutely NOT? When gaming, wtfpwned is a very useful thing to know. However, as a recovering English major, it always makes me wince and die a little inside.

digital camera or old-school? I had my own photography lab until the chemicals did me in. So digital for me.

wireless or plugged in? Plugged in. We’re old school around here, none of that newfangled wifi…damn whippersnappers, get off my lawn!

waltz or tango? Sultry lustful Tango vs. straightlaced, poised Waltz? Gimme some hotsauce, baby. Tango all the way.

brian williams or anderson cooper? Brian Williams.

time or newsweek? Gah. Seriously? Those are my choices? Ungh. I read my news online, but if I have to read a news magazine, it’s the Economist.

waterbed or mattress? King sized mattress.

cream and sugar or not? Double double.

CNN or BBC News? BBC. I love how their human interest stories are so incredibly varied and international in nature.

iTunes or something else? iTunes, those mingy corporate bastards.

scented candles or unscented? Unscented. Due to chemical sensitivities, I can’t handle most of today’s chemically derived artificial scents.

prairie or mountain? Mountain. The prairies stir up madness – 6 hours of driving in the Alberta flats was more than enough sky and flat earth for a lifetime.

socks or barefoot? Barefoot. I don’t feel the cold after years of wearing a skirt in the Ontario winters of my youth, and will always maintain that one does not need socks unless it is beneath 0 degrees Celsius outside.

matt damon or ben affleck? Ben. Despite his smarminess, he’s still got more charisma than Matt.

brass or pewter? Brass? Maybe? I’ve always loved brass door knockers…and I've been told before that I have brass balls...

wool or cotton? Love ‘em both. Will work with both. Perpetually need more for the stash.

willow tree or pine? Willow.

gerald ford or jimmy carter? Barry White.

france or italy? I have some terrific memories of both places, but I’d have to go with Italy. The people are utterly fabulous, (I love the fact that they wear jean jackets lined with fur...so casually decadent) and marginally less snobby than the French.

electric or gas stove? Gas for esthetics, and electric for practicality.

thrift store or outlet? Make your own clothes. ‘Enuff said.

japanese garden or english garden? Both. Yin and Yang.

sophia loren or liz taylor? Sophia. Liz is just too American for my tastes, I suppose.

Man, I needed that.

2007-04-12T08:46:00.001-07:00

WARNING: Image heavy post...

Needless to say, I took a hiatus from writing. But now that the sun has started to shine, and I can hear things growing in my garden (in particular, the crocuses are shouting rather loudly) ... I think that I'm finally ready to start unturtling again.

I haven't been lazy, though - I put my time in purgatory to good use.

Spinning:
Alpaca /Silk mixed with some random FA roving that I found at LK Yarns.

Some odd remants of roving mixed with some sparkles - also from LK yarns.

Merino - probably around worsted weight...I'm calling this one Monsoon Wedding because it reminds me of a sari that my friend wore once.

The new home for all of my coloured rovings - the base rovings are stored under my knitting chair.

Sewing:
A cutie pie pincushion - the top is a cashmere remnant that I found in the stash.

My new knitting bag - it's my first lined bag of this kind. Let's just say that if I'd known that the zipper actually comes fully apart...my life would have been much easier that particular afternoon.

New footie jammies for Mr. Munchkin. They're ... uh ... too large. >_< I made the size 5, assuming that since he's currently in size 4 store bought clothing, everthing would be peachy. That will teach me to measure twice, cut once, that's for bloody sure. But the boy loves it, even as it sags around his knees. When he swaggered around the living room in this outfit, I had a momentary glimpse of what life with a teenager will be like. Pass the tequila, please.

Knitting:

Here we have the bane of my existence - a sweater for Mr. Ninja...due in time for his birthday. I am so screwed. I'm making up the pattern as I go along, and you can totally tell - hence the weirdo cabling going on. While I'm pleased with it (it's my first adult sized sweater), when knitting this beast, I often contemplate what life would have been like had I married a shorter man. Conclusion? Mr. Ninja is worth every mis-crossed cable and wonky dropped stitch...but I swear that if he asks when it's going to be done again, I WILL invoke the woman's prayer. Ahem.

Dear Lord,
I pray for Wisdom to understand my man,
Love to forgive him,
And Patience for his moods...

Because Lord, if I pray for Strength, I'll beat him to death. *

Socks from the handspun - one down, and the ribbing started on the second. It's travel and playground knitting at this point...I have no desire to haul around the beast.

Cleaning:

I tidied up my upstairs stash basket. Now I just need to find somewhere to put this stuff. Hmmm. Well, Mr. Ninja doesn't REALLY need an underwear drawer, does he? Hmmm. The possibilities!

-------------
*nicked from my favourite gaming board - www.petalsandthorns.com

Thanks All...

2007-03-01T14:44:00.000-08:00

For all the well wishes, kind emails and offers of help - thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I have to say, because this miscarriage wasn't as much of a shock (three days in the hospital kinda makes some things inevitable) ... it's a little easier to deal with than the last one. But it's still a punch to the gut. The only consolation (and it's pretty freakin' minor) is that if I get pregnant again, at least I'll be under more careful supervision.

I just wish that this nasty nasty virulent flu bug that has infected our household would go away. That would make the recovery a little easier...anyone have any tips on how to get one's body seriously re-hydrated?

Yarn news to follow once I'm back on my feet.

Oh, that's just swell...

2007-02-22T11:31:00.000-08:00

I have been buried in crap for the past little while. Both figuratively and literally, unfortunately. Long story short - on Tuesday, we had the plumbers truck parked outside our house. In the afternoon, we had the "Disaster Enviro-Kleen" truck. I won't go into details, but let's just say that we're considering sueing the previous owners for serious lack of maintenance...and that the plumbers RAN when they were done with our pipes. The upside is that after telling this story to some friends, we've had some guests cancel their impending summertime visits out of sheer terror of what possible calamity might overcome them here. So, the basement smells like thyme atm (the professionals use a cleaner derived from thyme, who woulda thunk it). And I've been playing catch with Mr. Munchkin's stomach contents since Sunday, so forgive the lack of chipper uppityness in the post.

Add to that the crushing news that Sweet Georgia is going on hiatus and will not be dyeing anymore sock yarn, and you have one seriously pissed Ninja. So, I'm going to be taking part in an upcoming co-op for Henry's Attic yarns, and will be dying my own sock yarn in the future. Self-reliant knitters of the world, unite!

Beware the Stair...

2007-02-07T11:19:00.000-08:00

So, last night - spun with a vengeance to get this baby off the bobbins. I tell you, anyone who handspins sock yarn is a special kind of crazy...it takes forever to ply.

As you can see - despite halving the roving (weighed and everything!), it still made for some whacked-outtedly different halves. Different amount of roving, different colours...I was hoping originally to have the two halves match so that the yarn would do this lovely gradual gradiated thing. But t'was not to be, apparently.

There are colours that plied together that make my inner interior decorator freak out (olive green and pink, for example - that particular combination reminds me of things that my girly-girl militantly lesbian ex-roomate would have screeched at me for even thinking of putting together - remind me to tell you about her sometime. She's the one who would spout ridiculous things like 'no white after labor day' and 'blue and green ought not be seen [together]' - but I'm slowly trying to eradicate such idiocy from the crevaces of my brain.) But there are other colour combinations in this yarn that just seem serendipitious and are just lovely. I'm not sure what the hell the socks that I knit out of this are going to look like, but what the hell...the wool's pretty as heck - how ugly could it be? (Famous last words)

Had a lovely morning coffee and cake with Ms. Frozen Extremities - and we had a nice long talk about spinning wheels and the vagaries of spinning silk and other such oddities. And it's a good thing that I seem to have gotten all that spinning out of my system...as I fell down the stairs today, banging and bruising a good portion of my back. No more spinning for me until I can actually reach for the cookie jar without wincing. *sigh*

Ready for a mid-winter nap...

2007-01-30T12:48:00.000-08:00

So, made myself another needle case - this one is for my DPNs.

Pretty - but I messed up on the sewing of the case - it's actually a mess when you look at it too closely. Will have to adjust the design to have a larger seam allowance, but it's all part of the learning process, eh?

Remember this roving?

It's spinning up like a dream.

I figure that I'll be able to get sockweight out of what I have here already and another ply of the same roving. Although wool+silk = uncertainty about sock usage...think they'd be too itchy as socks?

Finally, Mr. Ninja actually asked for a sweater. Seeing as we've been together for a decade, I'd say that I'm fairly safe from the sweater curse. Am going to borrow one of the cables from Viking Patterns for Knitting (Thanks Ms. FE for the lowdown on the book!) and will post a pic of the general design soon.

Biggest knitblog list?

2007-01-28T08:09:00.000-08:00

So, I was checking out who was hitting my blog...and it turns out that somewhere deep in the heart of Sweden, someone took a lot of time and catalogued a massive number of knitting blogs. Check it out at:

www.stickamera.se

There are blogs upon blogs there....let me know if you find anything good.

Seeking Light Therapy.

2007-01-25T10:43:00.000-08:00

So, it seems like there are babies popping out EVERYWHERE these days - my cousin is having one, and I'm on the hook for at least 3 more baby showers/gifts. So I started whipping up some booties. (pattern from Knitting For Baby)

After taking this pic, I started frowning when I realized exactly how much my messy house shows up in my photos. So, I decided to make myself a lightbox for photos. Instructions here.)

Of course, goofy me forgot to take the flash off initially, resulting in photos like this.

Blah.

But once I got the hang of it...I think that it will work nicely. Even took a photo of the Monkey socks.

I just have to figure out how to get the damn thing lit on the days that we don't have sunbeams throughout the house...

Enraged.

2007-01-23T12:11:00.000-08:00

Am currently concentrating on not letting my head spontaneously explode.

...

Y'all know how I just bought a new computer? Say...oh, 13 days ago? Last night I got to use a new addition to my vocabulary thanks to the Yarn Harlot - my new computer bricked on me. Stuck looping infintitely between the lovely soothing blue screen of death and a message that kindly informed me that "windows had failed to load properly."

*sigh*

So, for the second time in two weeks, I'm sitting here and installing and installing and installing and installing. Oh well. At least I have Justin and the lovely ladies of Victoria's Secret to accompany me during this time of tribulations....

(Don't ask me why, but this actually is soothing while I'm grinding my teeth and waiting for yet another application to install. Maybe it's my inner slut clawing her way out. Who knows. Don't think that Mr. Ninja's going to complain about this one, though.)

Oh and hey, before I forget - the MSC Napoli is beached about a mile off the coast of Devon, England...Looters have been "finding" treasure like BMW motorbikes, kegs of wine and have been leaving behind these. What is wrong with these people?

Knitter down...

2007-01-20T13:41:00.000-08:00

Scene 1

Fade in:

A pristine white room with several control panels on the walls and several more desks/chairs with white jumpsuited workers at them. Camera zooms in on one of the workers sporting a nametag of "Higher Brain Functions", clearly occupied with some paperwork and with an underling hovering at her shoulder.

Higher Brain Functions: Report.

Underling: Mr. Munchkin is currently occupied with his grandmother and is staying at her apartment for the day.

HBF: Excellent. (sighs) So what chores are left to be done today then?

Underling: Well.... (flips through some papers on a clipboard). Nothing. It seems that the Ninja decided to get everything done yesterday. Dishes, laundry, you name it...it's clean.

HBF: (pushes chair back in amazement) What? Everything?

Underling: Yup.

HBF: Well well well. Seems like we're ... on holiday!

White room erupts in spontaneous joy. Much backslapping ensues.

HBF: All right - everyone take the day off! Immune system (nods at another worker who has bags under her eyes and several cups of coffee littering her desk) - you've been working overtime since Mr. Munchkin was born. Get outta here and get some fresh air!

Underling: (in an under the breath muttering) Ma'am, are you sure that's a good idea?

HBF: (shrugs) What could go wrong?

Fade out.

Scene 2

Fade in.

HBF has her head down on the desk, moaning beside a massive pile of used tissues on her desk, sniffling and hacking away. Underling passes her a bottle of cold medicine and a thermos of hot tea.

Underling: Told you so.

Fade out.

All this to say that I'm sicker than I have been in a long time. I even missed Happy Feet at the Imax with my parents, Mr. Ninja and Mr. Munchkin. BLARGH. Did get some knitting done though. Pictures soon when I unearth my camera from under the tissues.

Cravings.

2007-01-13T15:15:00.000-08:00

So, what with the grim weather these days - I've been craving colour. (And chocolate, but that's nothing new.)

I've been haunting a few blogs like Posie gets Cozy and Yarnstorm, if only for the gorgeous quality of the light in the photos there. The pretty things to look at don't hurt either. Another way to drive the winter blues away is to virtually window shop - in my case, Etsy is my cuppa poison. In particular, I lusted after this hank of yarn...drooled over it...attempted to justify the price. Couldn't. Was driven to surf on over the Wool Peddler and placed an order to make my own sari yarn. Mine's merino and Millefiori.

Thinking of a scarf for myself - the yarn's got a wicked soft drape to it...and I could do with a dash more pizazz on Monday mornings.

Went to Gaspereau Valley Fibres a few days ago to pick up a new bobbin and driveband for my wheel, as the ones that came with it were starting to take a turn for the worse. Not to mention that the boy was thrilled to his toes by the prospect of seeing sheep. And a llama. (Mr. Ninja's given me a stern lecture or two about how I'm warping his son...) While there, Mr. Munchkin spied this.

Wool/Silk of unknown origins...but the colours are incredible. Here's how it's been spinning up so far:

This stuff freaking glows.

1 Monkey sock down - second one is halfway through the leg. I never would have thought that it would be such a quick knit, but I'm enjoying myself thoroughly - despite having to rip half of the 1st one back.

It's a New Year - It's a New Ninja!

2007-01-10T16:46:00.000-08:00

Well, not really.

Blogger's just being a prat and not letting me switch over to the new version. So I am virtually thumbing my nose at da man and making me a new blog.

Also, add the fact that my old computer decided to commit seppuku - just the video card to be specific... Mr. Ninja took one look at it and said "This thing is 6 years old. There's no point in trying to save it. Let's go to the store." So, I'm reinstalling, transferring over and generally purging my (electronic) systems. So, new 'puter to get used to. Have crafty news - will post as soon as my World of Warcraft patches decide to stop hogging all the bandwidth.

>_<