Laleli

When you're stuffed up, it's hard to pronounce.

But, that doesn't really matter, because I just need to see and touch this piece of loveliness to appreciate it.

*sniff*

The deets:

Laleli, by Jade Starmore, size Small. Knit on 3.25mm using 3-ply Hebridean. Started? *cough cough who cares*. Finished? This past weekend, so let's say October 3rd.

As stranded projects go, this was a fairly easy one. The pattern and charts were clearly written with no errors, and it all flowed nicely into place. The buttonband was a bit tedious at nearly 400 stitches, but ehn. What are you going to do. I really enjoyed this project, and what can I say? I loves her. She fits perfectly, and is comfy and warm. I think I may change the buttons though, they're a bit small. Which is a shame really, seeing how I only bought the same buttons twice, they were so perfect for this design.

Heh. Now it's on to finishing poor neglected Delores. Well, at least as for as colourwork goes. We shall not speak of the other poor, neglected projects...

Moving on.

So, I spent the better part of this week hacking and coughing and moaning. I came down with a cold late last week, the first one in a VERY long time. How long? Well, the only cold remedies I had in the apartment expired in 2005. Yup. I really shouldn't complain, but. I will. Damn cold. I'm still feeling kind of blah, but definitely better than I did earlier in the week.

I've said it before, and will say it again - not a good sick person. At. All. Sure, I may get some epic ear infections, but when it comes to colds, they are few and far between. And the flu? Knock wood - but I've never in my 40 years had the flu. Like I said - bum ears? I've got them. Colds and the flu? Knock me out and turn me into a snivelling, shuffling, snotty little child. Heck, I even fell asleep on the couch and missed Family Guy on Sunday night.

Now that is bad.

"Look, I fit just fine on this."

Somewhere under all of that...cat is my sock yarn. Obviously makes a comfy sleeping spot. He arm wrestled Mae for this spot; she had dibs on it until Atticus decided he was bigger and well, bigger.

"Wha'...?! Honest, Big Guido started it! He's sitting on the back deck and flippin' me the bird! Mom! He thinks he's such a tough kitty... Why should I get off the counter?! He should be getting off the deck... Lucky for him I'm not an outdoor cat... Oh alright! I'm getting down!"

A very happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends!

What I Woke Up To

I woke up on Sunday morning to this little squishy surprise.

"Oh...wow. Hey! Don't look at me, I can't quite make it up onto the counter..."

"What?!! Mom! WT... I mean! Look at what happened! How did...? Do you think they rolled off of the counter on their own? Whoa...that's trippy... Cherry tomatoes jumping out of the basket and rolling onto the floor... Now I've seen it all."

Uh huh.

Of course, that was after I stumbled out of bed, seconds before the Little Dudes jumped to the ceiling. I don't remember hearing it, I just know I woke up as it happened (a good 10 km away from me), and the cats definitely heard something.

Sunday was a trippy day, to quote Gandalf.

And it was all about the sleeves.

OK. So it's one sleeve... But, I have started the second one! And look how purty Laleli is...! (Well, I think so.)

And Loreli, my cute little cardigan from Fiddlesticks Knitting (now, why isn't there a Fiddlesticks Knitting group in Ravelry?). And probably a record holder for the fastest project in the "Lace Details Non-Wool" category. Heh. One bell sleeve down, one to go!

(No, I'm not a crappy photographer. It's "artsy". Yeah, artsy. As in "fartsy".)

(Oh, I really have to stop posting after crappy work days...)

Heh.

Memory Lane

In this installment...

Why, who is that? That would be me, in 1971. I would have been 3-ish.

I don't remember exactly where we were living (and if I did, boy would that be a loaded story...), but I do remember Sabrina, the cute little doll I'm holding. It was a gift from my grandparents for my birthday. I can still remember what she looked like - the pink bonnet, the soft face with the big "smiley" eyes, and the polka dot pink dress. And I remember she had little sewn-on booties, and a soft stuffed body. Oh, and the perpetual smile and oh yeah, she also had rosy cheeks and eyelashes, although I think they were painted on.

And, I also my sister trying to flush her down the toilet.

I loved Sabrina... I do seem to remember having her for a few years after that, but I don't know what happened to her.

She was the first doll I was attached too, and I still look out for one similar to this day. I'm sure there has to be one somewhere (have you seen Toys 'r' Us??). After Sabrina, I was in love with my Oscar the Grouch hand puppet. That's another memory though.

If you haven't already - drop by Carrie K.'s blog and wish her a happy birthday! She is a wonderful blogger I'm proud and happy to say is a friend, and I hope she gets the castle she so deserves for her birthday! And the Bentley. Oh, and Don Draper too.

Change Is Good...And All About Sleeves

Well, for me it is. A little change on the layout, and I feel as though I have a new wardrobe. OK, maybe not a new wardrobe...just a few new things. It's spring, what can I say.

Don't be deceived by her sweet, soft face and gentle disposition. Mae snores.

"Yeah, and sometimes she gets windy too, if you know what I mean!"

Gandalf on his "It's-Easy-To-Be-A-Tough-Guy-From-Up-Here" perch, looking out the window.

In my books, it's a good week when I actually make tangible PROGRESS on my WIPs. They may not be FOs, but they are that much closer to being finished:

Columbia is on the bottom. She's a Starmore design from "American Portraits". Marina has a completed one. We may have started knitting Columbia at around the same time, but Marina has considerably more discipline than I do when I comes to sticking to one or two projects. Because, you know. I'm not known for doing that.

And if I had, my Gingko Leaf tunic from Fiddlesticks Knitting would have been done sometime in 2004 when it was started. I really don't know why it's taken me so long to finish it up. Oh wait, I do actually. Lace. On both the right and wrong sides. And knitting with the Ecoknit cotton. It's incredibly soft yarn, but it tickles the nose... The finished sleeve is on top.

Laleli and I have decided to kiss and make up. I started work on the first sleeve yesterday. Every time I start knitting stranded/Fair Isle after having been away for awhile, I'm amazed I stayed away for as long as I did. It's love, kids... I made it through the day without messing up the chart or the colour placements. AND I remembered the differences between right and left, up and down, and how to count.

And the Mork socks? No, I haven't given up on them. I'm actually enjoying them, funky weird colour stripes and all. Um, they've actually been frogged (again...) and restarted. I tried to do a slip stitch on the top of the foot as well as the leg, but decided I didn't like the way it was turning out. So...once again. At least I know this is some pretty tough yarn. Despite all the pulling (and swearing) I've put it through, it's holding up quite nicely, with hardly any splitting.

So...have you heard about this? A new (to english North America) knitting magazine out of Europe - Verena Knitting. I haven't seen it yet, but as soon as I do, I intend to pick it up. Has anyone seen a copy yet?

Have a good Sunday everyone!

Earth Hour

What were you doing between 8 - 9pm Eastern time last night (March 29th)?

"Wow, it's so dark out! That's cool..."

The Little Dudes and I participated in Earth Hour, doing our part by turning off all of our lights, and the TV/radio/computer etc., for a full hour. Doesn't sound like much? Well, every little bit counts, and the city of Toronto actually decreased it's power consumption by 8.7% during this hour. Although knitting by candle light isn't very efficient, I certainly did enjoy watching the stars come out in the night sky. My neighbourhood went quite dark, except for one lone house visible from my back yard, and as a result, the light pollution was very low. It was an interesting experiment, and it did make me think about what I can do to decrease my energy consumption at home...

What about you?

"I did my part! For a full hour I didn't run around all looney and weirdo-like, conserving my energy! Does that count?"

The above shot of the beginning of Laleli's first sleeve is proof that I can neither read, nor count. Because picking up and knitting ONE round, and knitting the first pattern round took nearly 3 hours. Because I read "127 stitches", and just took it to mean "each side". Because I didn't seem to think it was important to continue reading on, I missed the very important "total of 128 stitches". I just zipped right past that, deciding that if it says 128 in the same sentence, well it must mean pick up anther 128 stitches on the other side. Couldn't figure out why it just wasn't working out. Then I realized that I had in fact, had had a major brain fart because 260 stitches would make for uh, a pretty big armhole. Once I figured that out, I was then able to successfully pick up 127 stitches, plus the centre stitch for a TOTAL of 128 stitches (amazing what READING the pattern notes can achieve...). Not the first time I've picked up stitches for a Fair Isle sleeve, but you know...I also couldn't read or count yesterday.

Once I managed to do that, I of coursed messed up my colour symbols on the chart, couldn't tell the difference between right and left, forgot to turn the chart upside down, and by the time I did figure all of that out (again with the reading and counting) - I'd managed one round. I then realized - because I forgot once again to READ THE INSTRUCTIONS - I cut the wrong colour yarn for the next round and therefore joined in the wrong colour yarn. That's when I called it a day...

At least Columbia is going much better.




A couple more chart repeats, and I'll have completed the front.



Atticus would also like to thank all of his friends and admirers for all the good wishes and cyber-scritches. He's fine now - it was just a little reaction to the new wet food the vet has him on now, and thankfully not crystals.


And - guess who turned all of 9 years old last week?!

Baby Mae!

Snow. And A Winner!

What Gandalf thinks of the endless round of snowstorms... Can you blame the little guy?

That would be a (at least) 3' snowdrift resting on the flat roof of my neighbour's kitchen.

The little path on my deck I shovelled for myself this morning...

*sigh*

Spring is what? Eleven days away? Sure. OK.

*big sigh*

OK. On to more exciting stuff!

We have a WINNER! All the names went into a bowl, and one was chosen -

Chaos and Mayhem's Mom Chris!

And the chosen design? Kimberley, hands down. Thanks to EVERYONE who voted, wow, I received a lot of entries... And, it was great fun going through them all, and discovering some really cool blogs in the process.

I also want to thank you all for your advice on the neighbour situation. It is a sticky situation, and it seems to have settled itself for now. I've decided that I will look into getting a locked mailbox, as it seems to be the best solution. Although I really am hoping that it won't happen again, deep down inside, I don't have a warm and fuzzy feeling that it won't. So, instead of waiting for that to occur... May as well nip it now.

And this week in knitting...

Well, you may not believe it. Western Seas? The Never-Ending-Gansey-From-Hell? The body. Completed. Yes. Completed, including the collar. I did take a picture, but being navy blue, it just shows up as a big dark blob, so you'll have to take my word for it. And although I'm supposed to be knitting the Adult Petite size...this sucker is HUGE. Because my tension - WAY off. A whole 3 sts per 4" off at the top. Not sure why. Oh wait, yes I do. The tension when I started was spot on. I, uh, must have "loosened" up as I progressed along...that's what you get for knitting a gajillion stocking stitches in spurts over *cough* two years *cough cough*. But, I have more than enough yarn to finish the entire sweater. And I really, really don't want to know how tightly you'd have to knit this gansey yarn to get the finished fabric any denser than it already is. Besides, it was meant as an outdoor sweater... Oh well.

The sleeves. Oh right, I still have to do those... Wait for 'em.

Hey! Laleli has a completed body!

Tension on this baby is EXACTLY as it should be. Now on to finish Delores' body. And you know... with all this snow, I hope you'll understand why I felt the need (despite my other WIP's, oh shut up!) to start this:

"Endless Summer" from Fiddlesticks Knitting, in a yummy, warm green that's actually a bit "greener" than it appears in the picture, with blue accents. AND - it's lace. But never fear! Fiddlesticks Knitting charts are Lousy-Lace-Knitter-Brigitte proof! She takes the guess work and the head scratching decrease/increase calculations out of my dorky lace hands, and tells you exactly when, where and how much to work. Ah, it makes me feel good just to look at it...

So, I leave you with this, to hopefully inspire you to keep shovelling and slip sliddin' away, knowing that spring cannot be too long off...

A Long Post But Worth It!

Someone put up such a fight on Friday, we didn't make it to the V-E-T.

"Go. Away."

I gave up after one scratch, a few kicks, and a tinkle or two.

So we try again in a week. I need a new strategy.

(Oh, and please bear with me through this looooong post. It'll be worth it in the end!)

We have updates! It's been awhile since I showed off some of them, which doesn't mean I have been neglecting them - just neglecting to update you on them.

"Lalalalalala...doodeedoo...lalalalalalalala..."




Mmmmm...Laleli. I had hoped to have the body completed, and I'm around 10 rounds short of that. It WILL be completed today!



Once I've done that, I want to finish Delores' body. Then I can work the sleeves on both, and the button bands. I was pleasantly surprised (more like a "right on!") when I realized that I have around 15 rounds left until I start the armhole shaping. It seems kind of short... but then I remembered that the buttonband continues all the way around to hem the body. Now that is going to be a LONG, LONG knit... Oh well... Probably shouldn't get too ahead of myself.


And a new kid on the block! I alluded to her briefly last week.

"Lalalalala...oh, a pointy thing...lalalalalalala...I wonder if playing with it would have the same outcome as "running with scissors" Mom always tells me not to do?...Hey! Wait a minute! Hey! Are you taking a picture? Wha' the..."

This would be Columbia, from the Starmore book "American Portraits". I did have a picture of the lower edge of Columbia last week , however I wasn't too happy with how it came out, so I didn't post it... This is much better. I'm using some of the Jamiesons Aran I just stocked up on - this is the "Chartreuse" colour - and it's perfect for this design.

Oh...and my little Nordic Sweetheart hat? Um. I kind of forgot to block her... Got caught up in other stuff and she remained unblocked (although not unloved!). But, I WILL block her today. Yessiree.

What Would You Have Done?


OK. Bear with through this.


I'm really fortunate that I live in a great apartment, in a very nice area of town, close to everything, and painless to get to and from work downtown. It's my home, the longest I've lived anywhere in my life, and has been my home for almost 10 years. I've always had wonderful neighbours. And I still do. My neighbour in the apartment downstairs is great; she's always been considerate, and besides - she has a cute dog! She's not the issue. The issue is her adopted sister, who lives with her.


Now, she's also very quiet for the most part, works hard (the girl gets up at 4:30am everyday for work) - and has special needs (she was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome).


However. There was a time last spring or early summer where I went a period of time where I received no mail. I asked next door to see if it had maybe been delivered to the wrong house, and it hadn't. I had my suspicions that the sister may have taken it (Lorraine, remember me telling you about that?), but I thought - nah, that's just paranoid. And besides, after a couple of weeks or so, it again started showing up, and I received a pile in one day. And that was that. The odd time I would find some of my stuff in the flyers pile next to the door to be recycled, but didn't think much of it. Then, about a month or so ago, I got home from work and went to put my newspaper in the recycle bin, and found some mail addressed to me in the bin! It was my book club catalogue, and although annoyed - I didn't say anything; I just didn't think about bringing it up. About 2 weeks ago, I came home and found one of my magazines thrown on the lawn, in a spot where the wind could not have blown it. I have a big front porch that's pretty much protected from the wind due to the construction, and even if it had been windy - no way it could have been blown there.


Now for this past week. A week this past Friday, a couple of people at work who live in the same neighbourhood as I do told me that they had received their T4 slips in the mail (for non-Canadians - this is the summary of your previous years' income that your employer puts together for filing your taxes). I figured - cool, I should be getting mine. Nothing came on the Friday. I was a bit concerned, I figured by Monday for sure it would be there. I got home from work, and there was NO mail for me. I had a sneaking suspicion... The recycle bins were by the side of road for our next day pick up, so I went over to have a look.


And what do you think I found in the recycle bin? A magazine, my KnitPicks catalogue, my cell phone bill. And my T4 slip.


I was LIVID. Rumaged through the bin, and didn't find anything else.


Went into the house, calmed myself down, and called my neighbour downstairs. I talked to her for a good while, and she herself was not impressed that her sister had been doing it (because we both knew it was her). To her defence, she made no excuses for this behaviour. And she confirmed that she had placed my mail that morning by my door - so she knew it had arrived that day. She said it was her sister's "passive-aggressive" mind, and once she gets a bee in her bonnet, she obsesses over it. Now, I was very nice about the whole situation - I like her, and she's always been a good neighbour. She said she'd talk to her about it, and she did. I understand completely about her sister - I know she has special needs. She's had a rough go of it (their adoptive mother is a saint for having raised her to the level she's at), and her way of thinking is not like yours and mine.


I'm not a vindictive person, I'm very much someone who can look at the big picture in a situation like this and say - what's it worth? Sure, it's my mail, my IMPORTANT mail, but I trust it won't happen again. Oh, and WHY did she do it? She said I make noise. ??? Which I dismiss out of hand, as my neighbour has told me that this is the first time she's lived outside her mother's house, and doesn't understand the concept of daily activity. She takes it personally.


Now. Sure I have 3 cats, but they are 95% of the time very quiet. If Gandalf and Atticus roughhouse, it never lasts more than 15 - 20 minutes at most. And - this is an old house, built in 1892. The hardwood floors are old and creaky. It apparently bothers her to hear this noise. Well, as I told my neighbour - if she can't understand that walking around will make the floors creak in spots, she may not be ready to live outside her mother's house. It's life - and it's going to happen. I will say - I am a quiet person, I'm very considerate, and after all, I've lived here for 10 years in perfect harmony and NO problems or complaints with others below me. And our mailman? It's been the same guy for the past 6 years. It's not him.

Anyway. I'm going on, and you get the picture.


If it happens again, my options are to call the owner, which I'm reluctant to do at this point because it would result most certainly in both of them being evicted (they are NOT on good terms with the owner), and to report this as mail theft to the police. I am on very good terms with the owner - after all, I've been an excellent tenant for 10 years, and her parents who owned the house prior to her taking it over, were wonderful people and very good to me.


Being the person that I am, I'm not keen on either option. But, at what point do I kick my tolerance level aside, and do what is well within my rights to do? If it happens again...

They are walking on eggshells right now, and deep down inside I'm not convinced it won't happen again. I understand my neighbour's sister has special needs, which is why I'm giving her this second chance.


Should I have given her a second chance? Or should I have just told the owner of what's been happening, and let her deal with them?


Anyway, thanks for lending an ear...

Moving on to more exciting stuff!


Guess what?! IT'S A KITTY-COUNSEL APPROVED CONTEST!!



I swapped some Campion in my stash with a lovely lady on Ravelry for some Dunedin she had hibernating. I now have 15 skeins of lovely Dunedin in Mulberry.

Mmmmm, nice... Notice how someone keeps injecting himself into *every* picture I try to take...

Your mission. What should I make with it? Because I can't decide.

Here are your choices (the links are to projects on Ravelry):

1. Elizabeth of York, from "Tudor Roses",
2. Kimberley, from "A Collector's Item's",
3. Spanish Knight, from "A Collector's Item".


Send me an e-mail (bdepocas at rogers dot com), giving me your choice, and very importantly - why. Or, leave it in the comments. If you do leave your choice in the comments, be sure to include your e-mail address! Blogger doesn't record it unless you put it in.


Which ever gets the most votes becomes my Dunedin project, and from those who nominated the winning design, a winner will be chosen.

Contest closes at midnight, Saturday, March 8th, and the winner will be announced next Sunday.

And you will win a most fabulous winter pick me up box with some of my favourite comfort foods, yarn and other fun stuff!

Anyone, anywhere is eligible! Just remember to include your e-mail address.

Thanks again for listening!

First FO of 2008!

I have a lot of yarn. I don't pretend that I don't. I plan on using most of what's there at some point during this lifetime...the rest? Who knows... I have it all somewhat organized, in bins and those big XXL Ziploc bags that make me so happy. It's all pretty much piled in one area of my spare room. I've been lucky - it didn't seem to attract too much attention. However, Gandalf has discovered that it's kinda neat to climb all over Mom's yarn, to get as high as he possibly can, and then get stuck. Over. And over. And over. And over. Again. I'm hoping that it's just one of those phases he goes through, much like the tip-the-water-bowl phase and look-the-ringer-volume-button-on-the-phone-rings-if-you-put-your-paw-on-it phase. Oh, and the wheeeee-magnets-on-the-fridge-ooops-now-on-the-floor-fun! phase.

"I can't help it. Really, I can't. It's a brain thing."

*sigh*

But look! Look at what I have! Why, it's something completed!

It's not easy to photogragh, but say it with me anyway! Yay!

The deets:


Debbie Bliss "Cricket Cabled Sweater", a free pattern I received while I was a member of the Debbie Bliss club. I used Fleece Artist Woolie Silk 3-ply, on size 4mm.

Started: Obviously
Finished: January 12, 2008

An easy knit, with very little PITA factor, if any. It looks more difficult than it is, but the pattern doesn't change at all throughout the entire design. And, the instructions are pretty clear as to picking up the neckband stitches. I would have made it a bit longer though, but it's not too big of a deal. It looks small, mainly because of the cable/rib combination. It fits perfectly!



I have to say, I've been pretty good at cleaning up my WIP's up to now. Next in line is Mermaid, which had less to do than I'd anticipated. So, I have a bit of the right front to complete, and then it's on to the sleeves. Mermaid is nowhere near as complicated as it looks. I'm not even following instructions at this point - I'm just mirroring what I did for the left front, and reversing the shaping.


Arangenser on the other hand, has a lot more to complete. Unlike Fulmar and its crazy size 3mm needles, Arangenser is much more sensible at 5.5mm, and a much thicker yarn. So, even though I'm roughly 50% completed, it won't take me as long to finish. I'm hoping anyway.


And in between all of that... My lovely Laleli. Moving along quite nicely. Here's a progress picture (as promised).




It may not look like much, but I have approx. 25 rounds to complete before the back neck shaping, and then the body is complete! Then it's on to the sleeves, and the button band.


No progress picture of Fulmar, 'cause there's really not much more to show...


And hold on to your knitted hats ladies and gents, because I have a WIP that I keep forgetting to mention - and it's lacey too... Ooooo...



This is the Seaweed Scarf from VY. I'm knitting it in Selkie, which is a bit dark, but that's ok. I think the shock of me knitting lace is enough for you for to take in anyway. :D


I'm not sure when I started it, probably last year sometime. The pattern says to do 50 repeats of the 12-row repeat (which no doubt threw me in a tizzy the first time I read it), and I have approx. 32 repeats done. I will probably stop at around 40, mainly because I won't have a surface to block it on if it's any longer, and also to stop me from wanting to chuck it out the window.

When it is completed it will not only be a) a miraculous occurance, but also b) a bonus FO. I actually want to wear this one.


And before you ask (Marina) - devote ALL my time to finishing it up? No. I can no more devote my entire knitting time to knitting lace than Gandalf can stop being a wienie.

Speaking of wienies. So, I've been up since 3am, supporting a switch upgrade for work. Part I went according to plan, and I settled in to wait around for Part II to complete so I could start the testing. I waited. And waited. And decided to clear up some old e-mails to pass the time. First one I opened? A note telling us that Part II was to be postponed. Sent at 12:30am.

Nice.

It's That Time Of Year

"...hey wait...where you...gonna catc...catch you...wait a sec...stop going so...hey...hey...hey...stupid leaves...wait...a bird...gonna ca...gonna...catch...you...hey...oh I'm dizzy now."

It's that fun time of year when Gandalf and Atticus plaster themselves next to the windows, and try to make friends with the birds and falling leaves. Many a "bonk" against the window has been heard. Mae? Not so much. She figured it out after her first autumn.

It's also the time of year when I start my covert Christmans knitting, and my charity knitting for the Annex Cat Rescue, Gandalf's foster care organization. So even though it makes for fun and enjoyable knitting for me, it's not something I can post about. Well, the kitty knitting I can - and I will. Other stuff, um no. At least not until after Christmas!

(Wow, is it that time of year already?!)

But, I do work a few nights a week on my WIP's, and I'm happy to report that I'm finally up to Laleli's armhole steeks! I know I said that a few posts ago... (never report you're near something before actually getting there - you will grow extra thumbs and have a mushy brain just so that the Knitting High Priestess can put you in your place. Mere human. Don't toy with me.)

Look!

Pretty, pretty Laleli flowers! I love her. Once I've cast on the armhole steeks, I work for another 25 rounds or so and then I start decreasing for the v-neck.

Last year I picked up a kit for Alcea, from Anne at She Ewe Knits. Now, beautiful as the design is, the sizing is pretty bizarre - the smallest is a 36", and the next one up is something insane like 45", which is wider than my St. Brigid, and that's a bulky sweater. I bought the smallest size, thinking that I would figure out a way of increasing the width without compromising the overall design. I think I'm going to make a vest out of it, but I'm still not quite sure how. So, anyone have any ideas? I'm not too keen on a button up vest, I'd like to make it into a pull over v-neck type. Also - I'm wondering what going up a needle size would do to the overall design? I know, I know - "swatch".

Look what the mailman brought me!

Just the coolest sock bag! Sent in stealth-mode by sneaky Chris to replace the one I lost! She purchased it from Karen's Heavenly Creations on Etsy (click on the link at your own risk!), and let me tell you, it's heavenly all right! Nicely padded inside, tasseled drawstrings and very nicely made. Awww, thanks Chris! It's almost too nice to put into my back pack, but it's in there, with a new sock I should finish in oh, 2009 at the pace I knit my socks these days...

"I can get a date with Daisy? No? I see her on TV in all kinds of commercials. She's a cutey alright! What? I am so NOT stalking her, c'mon!" - Cousin Finnegan

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!