Happy New Year !!!

Hey ! Happy new year 2009 to everyone !!! 2008 has been fabulous and I hope that 2009 will be better for me and all of you fellow readers :)

2008 was the 400th anniversary of my city : Quebec and it was a blast having so much activities and event, I wish it could be the same every year but 400 th years is once in a lifetime event... Even if I did not participate a lot, I enjoyed watching most of the biggest event on TV like Sir Paul McCartney, Celine Dion and some other. We are very lucky to have such a big event and now Quebec is somewhere for most of people since we had a lot of media covering.

My 2 favorites event in 2008 are : the new year in Dubai with all the fireworks...umm sweet memories...

and the return of my BF after 99 days away in Algeria !!! (sunset in Algeria)

For sure I appreciate the trip in Spain... so let say it's my top 3 events in 2008 :)

In knitting, my faves are on Lady Eleanor (see this link for the FO post) and

my Green Gable (see this link for the FO post)

I wish for myself I will have more time to knit in 2009 and plenty of FO to show you all around the year. Also I would like to be more consistent and finish faster what I start before starting 12 other projects...

2 cowls and a Merry Christmas !

It's what happens in my life in the past 4 days. BF is finally home from Algeria for 3 weeks, yipee ! and we had a wonderful Christmas together and we had been very spoiled as usual ! :)

I only have picture of the first cowl, I need to go back at my mom's house to get decent pictures of the second one.

The first cowl is for my grandma, who request a thin,blue, not to big, not to special kind of scarf to keep her neck warm. So with all the specifications, I came up with the Bainbridge scarf pattern and the Silky wool (Elsebeth Lavold) in Periwinkle color. I first intend to knit her a clapotis out of this yarn but that was not right for her finally...

In progress using my new stich markers

So here the final results :

Specs :

Pattern : Bainbridge scarf by MintyFresh

Size: one size

Needles : 3.75mm circular

Yarn : Elsebeth Lavold in Periwinkle color, about half a skein

Oh ! and I have to tell, I got a skein of sock yarn at Christmas !!! I am SO much amazed to receive it !!! Yippee !!! It's a skein of Trekking hand art by Zitron cie in color Atlantik 506 and 2.5mm DPN, so I'll stop running to get some :) Thanks Josie !!!

Why did I started to knit ?

This is the first bi-weekly question for Warm the eve up winter swap, and I have to tell this is a hard one to answer under 100 words... :) I first learned as a child about 5-6 years old I think. I bother my grandma for hours to help me out with the book I found in the basement about learning to knit. Since I didn't know how to read at that time, I figure out mostly with the pictures but I did not really know how to do it. So when my mom came back from work she taught me how to knit and purl but I never stick to it. It was way too long for me to knit a single row !

So in 2006, I had a jaw bone surgery which requiered me to be quiet for several weeks at home. So I bought some yarn and needle at the nearest big box store and I head to Internet to learn again how to cast on, knit, purl and everything. And a few weeks before my surgery I bought myself a book or patterns and some wool to make myself my first scarf and hat set.

This is how I am addicted to knitting since over 2 years now !

Spoiler alert !!!

Pirates are in town, stay safely in your homes and ... knit ! :)

I just received the very best angel box from Jollypyrate in the Swap on Budget on Ravelry and let me say, she went way over budget for me. I can't say anything but THANK YOU !!!

Here is the haul :

I'll go step by step to prevent the shock...

First the pirate sign !!!

Then I remove it to found all the little packages under !!!

and a wishing card from Jollypyrate with a cool pirate tattoo :)

I started unwrapping and I was all in "Oh" and "Ah" and "Oh my god !" and my first find was 2 books of Elisabeth Zimmerman !!! Wow ! Knitter's Almanac and Knitting without tears are now in my hands, I wanted them for so long.

Here are all the yummy stuff : chocolate, pop corn, chocolate cookies and dried fruit snack

If I want an hot drink, I am now serve : Hot chocolate, Coffe and Tea !!! with cinnamon chewing gum. I love cinnamon !

There's more : 2 magnetic frames and a notepad, stich markers, Apple cinnamon candle (did I say I LOVE cinnamon scent), funny napkins, cameo button and heart ornament..

Here a close up of the stich marker, yes they are little bombs !!!

Then yarny goodness, beware, really good yarn porn ahead ...

3 skeins of Malabrigo Merino Worted in color Verdes !!!!

AND 3 skeins of Manos Cotton Stria in the prettiest pink !!!!

*****

Sorry I just faint....

Thanks again Jollypyrate, I am very lucky to had you as my angel and I hope that I can send you the elevator back one day or another...

Warm up for eve swap questionnaire

Here we are, it's my questionnaire for the warm ewe up swap on Ravelry.

Do you knit or crochet, or both? I do knit and I also do a little bit of crochet.

How long have you been at the craft? I learned when I was around 5yo to knit and purl, but it was too long and I played on and off till the age of 12 and I started over in 2006 just before I had a surgery with 2 and a half month to spend at home quietly. About crochet, I did more because my grandma was crocheting and she taught me how to but the same story, I stoped as a teen and I am back to it slowly. But I am way better in knitting now....
Do you spin? Nope
What yarns/fibers are your favorites? Merino, Silk blend, Wool blend for socks and also just Wool but I am really hoppen to try anything soft.
What yarns/fibers do you not like? I did not tryed a lot of stuff that I dislike because I tend to read comments if a buy on internet or touch a lot if I buy in LYS... so I may say that I dislike itchy stuff.
What yarns/fibers would you like to try but haven’t? Cascade 220, Manos del Uruguay and a real lace skein in a soft fiber...
What are your favorite colors? I Love blue, green, purple, pink, red, brown, black ... and so many more ! Look in my stash page, you will have a good idea ! Colors that you don’t like? yellow and pastels.
What are your favorite types of projects to knit/crochet? socks, hats, mittens, and mostly anything with a little challenge !
What are you currently working on? I always have a sock or two on the needles and some UFO sweaters, a pair of mitten that I need to finish soon.
What is your favorite FO? (Please post a picture if you have one.) I have 2 favorites for 2008

Lady Eleanor

Green Gable

Are there any techniques that you want to learn? improve my colorwork-intarsia skills
Do you have a yarn winder and/or swift? nope unfortunatly... but I plan to buy one maybe this year (2009) if a have money....*crossed fingers*
How do you store your needles/hooks? in a cute box for crochet, DPN and notion and in a wine bag for straight
Do you collect anything? not really, but I love anything with sheep !
Do you like sweets? oh yes, chocolate is always good for me !
What are your favorite scents? citrus scent and chai tea kind of scent with a lot of spices like ginger, cinnamon, etc.
Are you having a birthday during this swap? my birthday is on the very begginning of the year on January 6th !! I'm going to be 25
Do you have any online wish lists? (Amazon, Loopy Ewe, etc.) Please include a link for your pal. No, but would love any EZ book
What is your living situation (Are you married? Do you have kids, pets, or both?) I am with my boyfriend for now 7 years, we are not married, no kids or pets yet.
Are you allergic to anything? no
Is there anything else that you would like your pal to know? Send me secret email, I will have fun trying to know who you are !!!

The run before Xmas

That was 10 days before Xmas and that was crazy for her. She was running and running. Don't forget, the food at grocery store, the gift for the friend, the family and don't forget the special exchange gift too ! 10 days before the BF is back for 3 weeks and 1 week and a half before the holiday to begin... that was the running week end.

So she ends up after the shopping part to make food for the co-worker sweet tooth...

Here is the results

Chocolate mini-fondants

Cookies

So not much knitting time is the past few days... oh and I almost forget, we had 2 snowstorm this week... CRAZY I must say. Off to bed :)

FO : Baby Cardigan

Yes it's done : the little baby cardigan :) Hip hip Hurray !

Specs :

Based on the pattern of Simple Hooded Cardigan of Lion Brand free online pattern

Size : 12 months

Needles : 6.5mm

Yarn : Knit picks Wool of the Andes in color wine, approx. 2 skeins

Mods : I did not do the hood because it's not for me I prefered to keep it simple and easy to use. I improvised a little cowl and I did also a difference on the sleeves, I did not sew them completly, I left approx 1 inch to be able to roll the sleeves if needed.

The only thing left is to find a button and sew it on it, I'll do it this week for sure.

About the yarn, even if it was the second wash, it still bleed a lot and it will probably bleed for a couple more of wash, I'll have the warn the mommy to whom I gives this to avoid any accident ! But I found the yarn really soft after 2 washes, I prefer it that way.

Once upon a time

In the cold month of march 2008, a cute jacket was cast on with great hope of being done fast and that it will sort out to suit me well. Unfortunatly, the evil witch of bad luck in knitting appears around the project and it came out with a fabric with no adequate drape and was too big for me. So the godmother of the knitter made that project sleep for months and month to decide what to do about it before to do the sleeve. Should I frog, should I keep going, should I ... ?

In november, the godmother whisper to me the best thing to do was to frog and use the yarn to create a cute baby gift for a coworker of my boyfriend. Since she was expecting her first child and do not want to know the gender before birth, it was the perfect color and a simple, quick little baby gift to cast on with.

So I brave the evil witch and begun to remove the seams and frog as I knit the cute little cardigan for the baby to be. I could hear the witch while I knitted it smiling and trying to bother me with some old knots I didn't remember of the bad counting of decrease but I bravely knitted throught and I cast off with a smile of victory.

Now it' all quiet and the peace is back again in knitting land around here. The evil witch is defeated and I'll be aware for her return...

Baby cardigan blocking

I'll show FO shots as soon as it will be dry.