The Things I Do.

Like try something new. Well, sort of.

I've done a Norwegian design before, but I've never done a Dale of Norway design before. Above is my Sapporo (if you click on the link - I'm making the same design as shown in the last picture)! I've only been labouring on the black stocking stitch part for 2 years (ok, to be fair to me, I did go months without even thinking about it, let alone work on it), but I brushed off my Continental knitting skills, and zipped through the last 4" or so, and *finally* reached the chart. Yay...! At first, I wasn't too sure if I like how it was looking. Probably because the colours of the lice design at the start of the chart looked a bit too confetti-ish to me. I like all of the colours - deep red, burnt orange and yellow, but together, they just looked...funny (and not ha ha either)... against the black. But, now that I'm working the chart, and the snowflake design is starting to show up, I'm liking it much more. And you know what? I guess I'm used to the very symmetrical motifs of Fair Isle, where it begins and ends quite sensibly. Norwegian designs? Free for all. The front ends where it ends, and the back starts where it starts. And if it doesn't match up at the sides? Oh well. I have my magic centre stitches marked, and that is apparently as important as your future retirement plan.

Oh. And the yarn I'm using (Dalegarn "Falk")? All I can say is that this sucker better block out and nicely. If not (to quote Lorraine), you may just read about a giant fireball seen in the east end of Toronto.

Look what I've got goin' on this morning!

No. Not cooking with chocolate. That ain't chocolate, let me tell you. It's a big hunk of henna for my hair. I haven't henna'ed my hair in years; I've been a slave to the caustic chemical stuff for awhile now. Lorraine told me about the Herbatint she started using, and that started me thinking on using something different to cover my greys. My many, many greys.

So, auburn henna it is.

"Oy, that stuff smells funky..."

She's got that right. I have another hour and a half to go with this stuff on my head. And it is no exaggeration when I say that I smell like a latrine.

The things I do to cover those greys...

"Why do you have cling film on your head? You'd better not be going outside like that."

"So anyway, I told Guido that no way was I going out with him if he didn't at least brush himself and that he'd better not be thinking of getting fresh with me because I have 3 brothers who would not hesitate to give him the beat down of all beat downs if he even tried getting frisky with me and even though there are times when it seems that I don't like being around Gandalf and Malcolm I really do it's just that you know. They annoy me."

"...uh huh..."

And in other knitting news. The things you go through to give an Aran the justice it deserves.

I was so happy, and all ready and psyched to report on a finished back, but when I put Fulmar down on Friday night, I saw that a couple repeats down - I'd messed up the centre cable. I might have vomited just a tiny bit. You can see it, on the left side of the middle portion of the centre panel. *sigh* So. Looks like it's one step forward and two steps back for Fulmar, as I remove the needle and painfully frog until I reach that row (should be oh, about 25 rows, but really, who's counting). And it's not just the centre panel. There are a total of 3 of those panels along the back, and I messed up all 3 of them on that row.

Ouch.

At least Malcolm isn't bothered by it.

"What is this "Fulmar"? Do I know this project? OK, later. Sleepies now... *yawn*"

Somewhere...

...in Ohio, last night, Marina must have picked herself up off the floor, and wondered - ow! now why did I fall to the ground??? Well, that would be because I felt the sudden urge TO WORK ON WESTERN SEAS!!!

Yes, the long neglected (but not forgotten) and little known Starmore gansey (it's the adult version of a gansey from "The Children's Collection") was pulled out and worked on last night. And, I am this close to having the back finished. You know what that means? Two sleeves, and a collar.

*oooooooohh*

Baby steps. That's all I can ask for with this project. I love it, but I certainly question my sanity in working it in the first place. And I don't even remember when that was. I think it's pushing 2 years...

Speaking of baby steps...

She who does not photograph well because of the pale colour aka Fulmar. I love her. She's just taking awhile... You know, 236 stitches will do that. But, Michele mentioned how she's going to shorten hers, which is what I think I'm going to do as well. I'm not sure of the finished length yet. It's still a waaayyyy off. What you see above is 2 full repeats. It's just so fascinating to knit up! There are so many different cable motifs.

Let's see...what else have I been doing... I spent the day with Lorraine on Saturday! As always, a great time. She had me model Guinivere, her latest Fair Isle design. Again, I contemplated making a run for it, but I had no clue where we were (I don't know that area of Toronto...). Oh, that and the fact she would have had my St. Brigid, which I wore to the location. Plus I was getting hungry, and Lorraine's a good cook. OK, so I wouldn't have gotten far. But let me tell you, it's another excellent design, and I think it should be out soon.

I've been working on little things - a bit of Mermaid, a bit of some stranded Norwegian mittens, and far too many incarnations with my lovely pumpkin Fleece Artist yarn I picked up at the Knitter's Fair in September. I think I'm on my 4th try, and I'm pretty sure I'm good now. I think. But if it does stick, I'll post a picture the next time around.

And look at what was waiting for me at my door yesterday!

All sorts of goodies from Chaos and Mayhem's Mom! There's a mixed cat-themed CD, some PJ's with black cats on them, very cute socks with a black cat on them, a kitty fridge magnet, a note pad (pink!), some pink highlight tape (which has already replaced my pesky Post-It notes on small charts - what a great idea!), a black cat measuring tape, a bumper-sticker, AND - some very soft and snuggly pink sock yarn! Dyed for MOI!!! AWWWW, thanks Chris! It was such a wonderful goody box! (Canada Post decided to keep it at the border for close to 2 weeks. What is up with them???)

"Aww... I was expecting Mayhem to jump out of the box. She said she'd try, but I guess her Mom caught on. *sigh*"

So - how much time are you spending on Ravelry?! Can I tell you? Me? A lot. But wow, am I ever seeing a lot of great stuff. I guess that's the beauty of it all! And it certainly is organizing my life for the next, oh, 25 years, with all the stuff I have lined up in my queue. You know what's really great? Seeing all the finished designs made up of yarns/kits in my stash. It is a lot of fun.

(My ID on Ravelry (wait for it, 'cause it's a tough one to remember) is "Brigitte". Wow. So, if you haven't already, pop on by, drop me a line, I'd love to see more stuff!)

Small Gauge Knitting Can Be Fun!!

It's been a busy week here at the Little Dudes abode in Toronto. They continue to enjoy the good, well rounded life, complete with sleeping, eating and cuddling.

Gandalf is quite oblivious to the fact that it takes two hands to type.

Knitting has been all small gauge, all the time. I've been working on Mermaid:

"You're lying all over it...I'm telling! Mom! Gandalf's lying on Mermaid and he's playing with the yarn!"

Um, don't know if you can tell with the furry little animal draped all over Mermaid, but what you see represents the left front, back, and right underarm section. I'm now up to the first right front gusset. The end is near! And for you ladies doing an unofficial Mermaid KAL later this year - nowhere near as complicated as it may seem. The worst part will be having to weave in the stray bits at the bottom. You need to clip the main colours when changing to the medium blue for the gusset. The part I'm least looking forward to? Figuring out how that i-cord is attached on the last row of the body. You start with an i-cord on the left front, easy enough, and then you end it all with an i-cord on the last row. Still got to figure that one out...

And Laleli! Ooooo! How I love her! The colours are so vibrant, and the design so addictive. The above picture represents the first 40 or so rounds of the main pattern, and around 8 short of the completed chart. Very, very lovely... I'll say this much about Jade's designs - they are colourful, imaginative, and brilliant. Whereas her mother is more "traditional", she takes the traditional and makes her own splashy mark on it. Despite the 10 different yarn colours, I don't think this one could be classified as a true Fair Isle (Lorraine, Marina or Anne could probably say for sure); this seems to me more of a stranded design due to the lack of Fair Isle motifs.

Moving on.

What else?

Now, this is going to be difficult to photograph - but for now, that's all you need to see. 'Cause that's all there is. Fulmar! My dream Aran, finally. After having the yarn in my stash for what seems like forever, I took advantage of a Fulmar KAL that started up on the 1st of October to get her going. OK. I have a bit of a secret here. She's not as difficult as she looks. Seriously. There is nothing too complex as far as the cabling is concerned. But, I'll say this much - at 236 stitches a row (yes, 236) on 3mm needles, she won't be done in time for Christmas... And that's what makes it seem overwhelming. But, AS separates each chart, and gives you the chart sequence you need to follow. All you do is follow the charts (with my trusty Post-It notes), and that's it. There are no charts with more than 20 stitches. I always say that the best way to tackle what seems to be a complex project is to break it down into smaller bits, so that it doesn't seem so overwhelming. It's just going to be looooong knit. The ribbing? Done on 2.75mm needles, at 196 stitches a row. Took around 7 hours total.

*sigh* I loves her too...

Now, if I could only apply the same principle to lace knitting... Thanks for all your support re. the debacle that was Grace! Ugh... I don't want to even contemplate the simplest of eyelet patterns at this point.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day here in Canada, giving us a nice long weekend. I'm thankful for a lot in my life, and particularly happy this year that Chris came out of her surgery just fine! Yay Chris! So, if you haven't already, go pop by and say hey!

To all my Canadian friends - Happy Thanksgiving!