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‘cuz i need more stash in my life

During the SP12 run I surprised my downstream pal with a skein of the new Noro sock yarn.  I knew which colors she preferred, but it was hard to tell which of the colorways would be best judging solely by their on-screen photos.  A Ravelry search showed some knitted samples, but I still needed a better look.  So- I bought both.  Seeing the yarn in person helped me decide right away which skein would be best for my pal…and luckily (for me) the other skein was best for…me.

I really love the colors.  The skein is upstairs and I’m feeling lazy, so I don’t have the colorway handy.  I took the photos in sunlight without flash to try and get the colors as accurate as possible.  They’re pretty close (on my monitor)- a deep gray-ish purple that fades through to a silvery mauve and is shot through with a soft moss green.

These will become socks for me.  Not just yet- too much on my plate right now- but as soon as I can cast on I will divide the skein into two balls and work the socks toe-up to make sure I have enough for a matching pair.

p.s. I’d love to know why 80% of the time my flash-less photos come out blurry.


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cuteness knows no bounds- now in videogame format

I know I keep telling Yannick that we don’t need Playstation 3.  We don’t.  We really don’t, we already have a classic Nintendo, a Dreamcast, a Playstation and a Wii (not to mention the controllers and all the games from the Gamecube we used to have until we gave it to his nephews).  We DON’T need another game system.  Not even if it plays Blu-Ray DVDs.

But….if I were to get one…it would be so I could get the (upcoming) game Little Big Planet.  It stars Sackboy, in all his knitted glory, and you HAVE to check him out.

Did I tell you?  Did I TELL you?  How cute is he???

p.s. if the embedded video doesn’t work for you, you can view the trailer here.  Totally worth it!


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i’m ashamed it has been so long

I kept waiting for a sunny day to photograph my last package from my SP12 secret pal.  Let me let you in on a little secret, folks… I don’t do sun.  I know I’m supposed to take flash-free photos.  I know that the photos are supposed to look better, more professional, and true-er.  Well, guess what?  That’s part of the reason I sometimes post infrequently.  I have some nice yarn or a finished item that I want to show off, but it’s 11:30 at night.  I tell myself “I’ll take a photo tomorrow during the day” and then I don’t.  I work during the day, and often leave while the sun is still rising (or at least not bright enough to give good light).  I get home once the sun has set (most of the year), and on weekends I get busy inside with Jakob and house stuff and forget to run outside and take a cute picture of my baby sweater on a park bench.  If I take flash-less photos indoors then I end up with really dark, blurry images that I delete right away.  So until I’m on maternity leave again and can actually be home during the daylight hours, photos with flash are all you’re going to get.

All that being said, sorry for the delay Secret Pal, and here are the photos:

In what is (sadly) the last package of SP12, my pal really spoiled me.  I got some beauty supplies, some yarn, a funky fabric bag, and a magazine.  That is the exact issue of KnitScene that I was reading about on Knitting Daily recently, and admiring some of the sweaters inside it. 

Some really yummy-smelling, vanilla-scented body whip that looks as thick as marshmallow fluf, and a bar of body exfoliant in the same scent.

The best part of the package is this GORGEOUS Estelle yarn called Cadenza (Rav link).  It’s 80% Superwash Merino and 20% Tussah Silk, and the sheen on this thing is just stunning.  Not only that, but it is in blues! My favorite color!  I have no idea what to make with it (am I fancy enough to wear socks with silk in them?) but it will definately be something special!

Thank you so much Secret Pal!  (Who, by the way, it turns out is Andrea, who blogs here and who knit Jeannie, which is still one of my big “want-to-knit”s that I even have the yarn for already.


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How to Magic-Loop (video)

I was discussing the Magic-Loop technique with my cousin Amy the other day, and I realized that it is a technique I use quite a lot.  In fact, with the exception of 2(!) projects I can think of in my years of knitting, I have always used a longer needle than called for.  Only twice (my stalled “Perfect Knitting Bag” and the Spiral/Pinwheel Baby Blanket) did I use a needle smaller than the circumference of the knitting so I could knit around uninterrupted.

That being said, I know some people are mystified by the whole “Magic-Loop” idea.  I taught myself by following a photo-based tutorial online, but without needles in hand, even photos can be hard to figure out.

I put together a little video to show how I work Magic-Loop.  It’s not the best as I filmed it myself while knitting and talking, but at least the house was quiet and I think there is enough light to see what I’m doing.  I hate my voice in videos, but there’s nothing I can do about that!

 

If you have any questions, please ask!


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goodies

Last night the Montreal Knitting Guild was treated to an appearance by Molly Ann and Mary, the lovely ladies from Ariadne, here in Montreal.  They brought yarn to fondle, and they were gracious enough to give each guild member a loot bag with some samples inside.

 Let’s get in a little closer, shall we?

8 luscious little mini-skeins of yarn!

Frog Tree – Pima Silk (85% Pima Cotton/15% silk, 50g/140m each)

Lorna’s Laces – Swirl DK (85% Merino/15% Silk, 50g/137m each)

Estelle – Young Touch (100% Cotton, 50g/100m each)

Jo Sharp – Silkroad Aran Tweed (85% Wool/10% Silk/5% Cashmere, 50g/95m each)

Butterfly – Cotton (100% Mercerized Cotton, 125g/230m each)

Lang – Silk Dream (50% Merino/50% Silk, 133g/313y each)

Cherry Tree Hill – Cascade Fingering (100% Silk, 150g/608m each)

There were 2 of this one in my bag…not sure if everyone else got only 7 mini-skeins and I got an extra one, or if everyone else got 8 and I received a duplicate by mistake so I’m missing one.

One of the cool things about Ariadne is that they carry a lot of the yarns you hear/read about online but don’t often find in our usual LYSs.  Cherry Tree Hill, Koigu, Lamb’s Pride, Reynolds, Classic Elite, Jo Sharp, Frog Tree and Lorna’s Laces, just to name a few!

Not only that, but since Mary is one of the founders of Twist Collective, another fellow Montrealer, Kate Gilbert, came by to talk about the online magazine, and to give us a trunk show!  We got to see, first-hand and up close, most (all?) of the wonderful clothes from the TC Fall issue, and even get a little sneak peek at some of the items in the Winter issue.  It’s going to be a great issue, let me tell you!

They even did a little cross promotion, and in our Ariadne goodie bags we were given TC tape measures and a little booklet with advice on substituting yarns Ariadne carries for the yarns required in the Fall TC issue.

It was a fun night, and I even got some knitting done on Jakob’s costume.


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good news

I just got some great news!

Long-time readers will remember that I had to be followed for my sugars when pregnant with Jakob.  I had Impaired Glucose Tolerance, which is treated the same way as Gestational Diabetes- many, many visits to the perinatal center at the hospital (paying for parking each time!), monitoring my sugars daily with a finger-prick kit, and, in the case of my pregnancy with Jakob – taking nightly insulin to control the first-thing-in-the-morning sugar level- the one I couldn’t control with diet.

When you have sugar issues in one pregnancy, my hospital’s policy is to start monitoring you almost as soon as you hit the second trimester in your subsequent pregnancies.  (This is starting to sound familiar…have I typed this up before?)  In any case, they’ve been keeping an eye on me since my 14th week.  My sugars have been so perfect, that instead of pricking 4 times/day as usual (first thing in the am, then 1 hour after each meal), they said I could simply do a morning test since it was the morning I had problems with last time, and only test the rest of the day every 2-3 days.  Also, instead of going in for weekly visits with the perinatal center nurses, doctor and dietician, I was able to go every 3-4 weeks since they trusted me to call if the numbers ever started to look funny.

The biggest issue to me right now, in terms of the sugars, has to do with the baby’s size.  I had a c-section with Jakob, and would like to not have another one, and if the new baby is too big, a VBAC* wouldn’t be recommended, and with IGT or GD, it is very likely that one would have a large(r) baby.

Last week I saw my ob-gyn for my regular monthly pregnancy checkup, and she said that since my sugars have been normal to date, that she might as well send me for a glucose test to see if I was testing for nothing.

I got my results today- my sugars are normal!  Absolutely perfect!  She told me to go ahead and cancel my next appointment with the perinatal center, because I won’t need to check any more!

I’m so thrilled, you have no idea.  I will still probably check the morning sugars once a week or so, just to make sure nothing pops up.  (As the pregnancy progresses and the placenta gets stronger, it isn’t uncommon for the sugar issues to commence).  But barring anything suprising, my doctor says checking any more than that is overkill, since I’m fine!

This is such good news for me, since no sugar issues=smaller odds of having a large(r) baby=better odds of having a successful VBAC, should the rest of the pregnancy go ok and dictate that a VBAC will be safe to attempt.

Whew!

Tonight I’ve got the October Montreal Knitting Guild meeting, so I’m looking forwards to a nice night of relaxing with some knitting…Hallowe’en is creeping up fast!

 

*Vaginal Birth After Cesarean


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what i saw today

Today I saw a few things that made me smile.  I saw some old friends of Yannick’s who had moved away and have now returned, and they live only 10 minutes away.

I saw some new yarn: 

Berocco Comfort and Lana Gatto Cucciolo- both yarns for Jakob’s Hallowe’en costume (should I get around to designing and knitting it by October 31st).

And I saw this face.  A lot of this face.  All day.  Seriously, how could this NOT make you smile?


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fo: clapotis

Holy cow I’m on a roll!

I took advantage of some free time between Thursday and Friday nights to finish up another long-lingering unfinished object.  I doubt I’ll get all my ufos completed before the end of the year, but even having some of them done, off my slate and project Ziplocks put away makes me feel great!

Pattern: the ever-popular Clapotis by Kate Gilbert.  I had previously knit an oversized Clapotis shawl for a young family friend with leukemia, and had always wanted a scarf version for myself.

Needles: 5mm

Yarn: James C. Brett’s Marble, in the Berries colorway.  1.75 balls.  I still really like the colors, although if I would be casting on for this project today instead of 2.5 years ago, I wouldn’t be choosing an 100% acrylic yarn for a scarf for myself.

Dates: March 20 2006 – October 10 2008, due only to my own laziness.

My Ravelry project is linked here, as well as on the page of 2008 finished objects, in the “projects” tab, above.

Up next: I need to work up a slightly different swatch to photograph for my sock club kit pattern, then I just might try to squeeze in a Hallowe’en costume for Jakob this year.


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fo: suede baby cap

I forgot to share photos of this when it had been knit.

The pattern is the Suede Baby Hat by Vickie Howell, I got the free pattern from DIY Online.

Yarn: Berocco Suede (beige) and Lionbrand Homespun (white)

Needle: 4.5mm

Dates: July 6-10 2008

Modifications: Whoo boy.  I don’t even know that I can consider that I knit the same pattern.  I converted it to be in the round ‘cus I didn’t feel like seaming.  I changed needle size from the pattern as a Ravelry search led me to believe it would turn out too large.  I wrote the pattern for the lining because the Homespun is so much thicker than the Suede, had I followed the same diretions the lining would have been larger than the hat itself.  The same thing goes for the ear flaps and the faux front flap.  I also worked all the flaps attached instead of sewing them on later, and worked icord instead of garter strips for ties.  But other than that, it was the same pattern.  🙂

My Ravelry project link is here, as well as in the 2008 finished projects gallery under “projects”, above.


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cutting it close!

Last night I finished the socks I’ve been designing for Robyn’s Robyn’s Nest November Sock Club kit.  I was worried at the end there…look how much yarn I had left over:

Luckily I was knitting the largest size, so I’m not worried about the other sizes having enough, but wow, was it close!  All I kept thinking was how thankful I was I hadn’t added a few extra repeats of the pattern, as I’d been considering!  (Oh, don’t adjust your monitors.  I turned the photo into black & white so as not to give away anything about the yarn or the colorway).

Since that photo is rather boring on its own, I’ll share some I took this afternoon of the Summer Lace Shawlette.  I’m going to give it to my cousin tonight, so I unpinned it and took a few photos before wrapping it up.