See Sophie Knit

FO : Hat attack hat

2012-01-12T07:30:00.002-05:00

A simple yet cute hat designed for my mom as her requests

I used about a skein of Knit Picks Comfy bulky in Ivory.

Needle : 5mm

Easy easy as I used the same pattern all around to keep it simple. Since last year she wears it a lot and the yarn is still beautiful !

If I have a little time ahead I will find my notes and released the pattern I hope before the end of the month.

Another project not knitting but I'm proud of it

2012-01-11T07:30:00.001-05:00

I talked in my first post of 2012 that we are renovating the house...one of my accomplishment in 2011 is this :

I remove the ceramic tiles of the entryway and replace it all by myself !

I don't have a FO picture yet because we changed all the molding and we had a lot of friends and family over for Christmas plus all the family of my husband from France so I need to paint a final coat and add some deco and voila I'll be done, but I was too excited to show you !!!

Better than before don't you think ?

FO : Retro Rib Socks

2012-01-10T07:30:00.000-05:00

A few days before his birthday (actually his birthday is December 8th), my father told me that he loves his knitted sooooo much that he sleep with it every night. Ok I get the point he want some new socks !

Fortunately I had begun Retro Ribs sock back in July...2010 so I grabbed them with only the foot of one to do and both toes. So it went quickly and my father had the gift he wanted !

Pattern Retro Rib socks by Evelyn A.Clark from the book Favorite socks

Needles : 2.25mm DPN
Yarn : Knit Picks Stroll solid in Pine color about 1.5 ball I guess

Easy I don't know why I did not finish right away last year...probably I had a startisis crisis !

Now that's clear that my dad will want some more next year for his birthday again, maybe I should think about them and knit them ahead of the time... :)

Our wedding in a few pictures...

2012-01-09T07:30:00.000-05:00

As I promise to do last year, better late than never... a few pictures of our perfect wedding !

Happy new year !!

2012-01-08T19:29:00.000-05:00

Yes once again I discover my blog after a while, needless to say it's been a lot in my life since last May !

My baby is already 17 months, I moved to our dream house in July and we are renovating our house since then ! And big news s that I am pregnant again ! Due July 19th, we are excited to be parents again !!!

So I'll spend next few day to blog about latest project and as asked by some I'll post some picture of our wedding day back in April...

Happy new year 2012 to all of you knitter and fellow crafter, may this year filled of beautiful crafts :)

What I'm knitting right now

2011-05-29T20:48:00.000-04:00

Hello,
not much to say these day...too busy with the new schedule of work. I am back to work since 2 full weeks and it's a whole world of adaptation for baby and me. She's now going full time to daycare and it's been a bit of stress for me. I was worried about her being there for such long period of time and 4 to 5 days a week but she surprised me well. She's doing giant step in her development while watching other kiddos and she's doing well. She's really tired at the end of the day and need time to relax at home, but we all do after a day out of home.

The bigger downstep of being back to work is having less me time and time to knit ! At least I have bigger pay check and will be able to buy some yarn in the future... :-) which is always good news.

Meanwhile I am still knitting two projects :

first a very boring black ribs sweater for my husband that he wanted for so long... umm I said it before but it's boring !

and a very pretty and soft shawl/scarf made of pure silk which is a joy to knit

let's just call it balance.

I do love swaps

2011-05-12T10:53:00.000-04:00

Yes I did again and participate in SOAB 10, read swap on budget 10th edition. It's my fourth time I think that I do it and will certainly do it again in the future. It grows so big since my first time and it's fun. My only complain is about how small amount of time I have to chat on Ravelry now, with a baby almost walking at 9 months I'm very busy watching her !

So here my fabulous swap box that I receive from lebou1sa on Ravelry and I am so lucky to got her as my spoiler !

She sent me local yarn and soap from Michigan, a assortment of black tea that I adore, pretty buttons plus the best of all two hand made items (!!!) : a crocheted market bag and a very very cute sheep pouch since I love everything sheep.

I feel spoiled and I really enjoy being her spoilee... Thanks again !!!

FO : Baby ruched cardigan

2011-05-11T07:14:00.001-04:00

After a very good trip to Cuba (which I will talk about in a couple of days) I way up to some knitting time. I choose to knit a pattern I bought for my baby, whose is already 9 months olds !!! I make it just in time because it fit her, ok it's still big enough but we always need layers for a baby.

No more chat just look at the spec

Pattern : Baby Ruched Cardigan by Terri Kruse

Yarn : Knit Picks Stroll Tonal 370 yards in color Queen Anne (about 80% of a skein)

Needle : 3.5mm and 3.75mm circular needle

Size : 2T

Mods : I didn't increase on the row 11 as written and I just knit forward. My final cardigan is a big 18 months or a small 2yo size. Also I did not add any closure of button and prefered to let it open

I really really love the yarn I used and I already have it in mind for my next order to Knit Picks ! It's so soft and I like the smell if it too. Maybe I can plan a sweater for me with it...but just after my Thermal that I going to dig out of hibernation soon.

I am very happy with the result and even more because my daughter say "da!" when I made her to try it which mean something like "yes" to her. Knit from stash and more I knit the pattern I had in mind when I bought yarn ! Wow I'm getting better to this...

FO : a swap friend in the mail

2011-05-10T18:45:00.001-04:00

Just before I left for my wedding in Cuba I knitted a little friend to send to my swap spoiler, now he is somewhere between my home and his new home in a box, I just hope his travel will be safe !

Here are the info of my little friend

Pattern : Sock Giraffe by Bobbi Padgett (free pattern)

Yarn : Knit Picks Palette in main color red and contrast color petal under 60 yards total of yarn

Needle : 3.25mm dpn

Use a black yarn to make him a face.

Note and comment : a lot of person are complaining about the pattern because the designer used unconventional techniques to make him but I am very pleased with the result and the pattern and I consider that it's very unkind to complain on a FREE pattern, good job to the designer. Already 155 of Giraffe like mine in Ravelry so I just hope now that my spoilee will like him and give him a name... :)

A quick knit to knit my mojo back

2011-04-15T19:24:00.001-04:00

Yes again I leaved you for a very long time, I don't know what I have with Spring time but I never have time to blog frequently. I have to say that I have a LOT going in my personal life a little topo would be :

- Final exams at the university on April 21st
- We are going to Cuba on April 23rd and getting married out there :)
- Our condo is on sale
- So you imagine we bought a new home we are moving into this summer
- I'm going back to work on May 16th...unfortunately

and I have to run after my daughter now that she's crawling around and climbing on every piece of furniture low enough for her to grab !

Plus I lost my knitting mojo after hitting a wall with my latest project I was doing in March, a cardigan for me that turns to be too big and I was disgusted to find out only after I did the whole body and a sleeve...

Tuesday I was browsing on Ravelry and I found my mojo back when I saw the pattern of Celestine Sox, I had to make it right away !

So here are my knitting results :

Pattern : Celestine Sox by Berroco Design Team
Needle : 2.75mm
Yarn : Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome in color Gypsy Rose about 192 yards

I did no mods out of stuffing it also with a plastic bag to make noise when my daughter grab it and a bell inside for more fun. So far I don't know who have more fun my man or my baby girl... :)

PS... I only used material that I already had at home !

Thinking about Japan...

2011-03-18T12:28:00.000-04:00

It's horrible to think about the disaster that just happened in Japan, my thoughts are with them and I hope that they will recover soon and rebuild everything.

This video from Black Eyed Peas was videotaped one week before the tsunami...

FO : from 2010 finally got pictures

2011-03-04T12:00:00.002-05:00

Yay another FO from 2010 made it to the WEB !!!

I am proud to present you my nephew Zachary wearing is very cool hoody ! Go boy and enjoy...

Spec :

Pattern : What a Character Hoodie by Kerin Dimeler-Laurence (bought as a kit on Knit Picks)

Needle : 4.5mm

Yarn : Knit Picks Comfy Worsted in color Jalapeno, Peapod and Fedora.

Notes : forgot the character part of the pattern I wasn't pleased and thought it would be more wearable without. Made the 4 years old size and it's big enough and he have plenty of room to grow into (I was afraid of making again a sweater too small for him!). I hate the way the hood is attached to the body, if I do it again I would simply go on from the body to the hood instead of knitting in 2 parts. I add bias tape inside to solidify and used a zipper.

The yarn is simply soft and can go through washer and dryer which is very good ! Loved working with it and I already bought some more.

FO : the rebirth of a UFO

2011-03-03T11:00:00.001-05:00

Yay !

I pick up a old UFO (cast on July 5th 2010 during my nesting time) and kick myself to actually finish it ! It wasn't that hard after all and didn't took so much time. Sometime we only need a little push to work on a UFO and mine was that the size of the dress is a 12 months and it will fit Florence very soon.So had to finish it soon to be able to dress her with my knit...

Here are the specs and notes :

Pattern : 04 - Cardigan, Robe et Chausson by Bergère de France (from the magazine Tricot baby)

Needle : 3.5mm and 3mm

Yarn : approx. 400 yards of the violet yarn (unknown yarn bought from Wal-Mart in clearance section) for the cache-coeur and approx. 412 yards of the white (bernat baby sport solid).

Notes: the pattern is the first french pattern I ever used in my knitting life... even if it's my mother tongue I hate how the pattern are written in french. It seems clearer in english and easier to read too. And my other concern about this particular pattern is that it involved a lot of seaming (they don't know about seamless knitting in France ?) and also way too much finishing (embroidery, seaming, grafting, etc) endless !!! That's why this project was a UFO since last July. I decided to go simple and abandon embroidery, bottom seam and the buttons for the cache-coeur. It took me less than 3 hours to finish everything.

Important : the strap for the dress are very short and I make 1,5 inches longer on the back. The booties are cute but unusable. They don't stay on feet and they are too short. And another important thing is that you don't need to seam the dress too high to let your baby move the way she like!

Finally I am happy to be done with this project and happy to be done in time to be able to put it on Florence and enjoy her wearing it !

FO : one day project...

2011-03-02T11:09:00.000-05:00

Yesterday my day was filled with helping out my daughter to try move forward (still not done) and knitting while she was sleeping. The best part is that I used up every little bit of yarn left from the 2 bubble cardigans I made for the girls and the pattern was free ! :-)

Ok let's talk about my new project :

Pattern : Leafy Accordion Hat by Charlotte Bouchet (avalaible both in english and in french)

Needle : 3mm

Yarn : Knit Picks Simply Cotton Sport all every yarn left from both cardi.

Notes : since I ran out of the main color (malted milk) before having completed enough ridge I only used up the leftovers of the other color to continue in simple stockinette stitch.

The pattern is very stretchy and it may fit over my head if it was longer ! Good to know if I ever want to make another one. I was worried because I used smaller needle but I wanted to have the same size of stitches than the cardi. I am very pleased with how it turned out and ever more because Florence decided that she like it and wanted to keep it on her head (for now...)

FO : Little Bubbles for Florence

2011-02-26T16:45:00.000-05:00

Yay another FO and this time I took pictures right away... good me

Second time I knit this pattern and with the same kit I only switch colors to fit my leftovers. I have barely 30 cm left of the purple and almost nothing of the green yarn too ! Yay 2 points for using leftovers :-)

So here are the spec of my brand new FO who made it the same day to the blog...

Pattern : Little Bubbles Baby Set Pattern by Nina Isaacson (unfortunatly no longer sold as a pattern alone or a kit, it's now part of a ebook on Knit Picks website)

Yarn : Knit Picks Simply cotton sport in haze heather, camel heather, malted milk, green tea heather, duchess heather.

Needle : 3mm circular

Notes : I really enjoyed knitting it for the second time. Since the pattern is made very small I decide to go for the biggest size but with some addition here and then to lenghten and widen it a bit to fit a real 12 months size. And compare to other clothes in my daughter closet is closer to a 18 t-shirt in popular brands. So she have a little room to grow in it.

First for the body I made one more bubble pattern at the shoulder. Then 17 rows of green, 12 rows x 3 of one row stripes, 6 knit rows and cast off. I pick up 70 sts at each side and k for 6 rows, for the button row (at the 3rd row) : k4, yo, k2tog, k8 repeat 6 more times and k4.

For the sleeve : pick 7 sts under the arm on each side instead of 5 (making the kimono sleeves). K for 7 rows, decrease row on row 8 (k1, k2tog, k til 3 sts before the end, ssk, k) and on row 16. k one more row (17 total). Then one row stipe 12 of each color combo. k 1 row in purple, p 1 row repeat 3 times and bind off all sts.

I highly recommand to weave in ends a few times while knitting this if you don’t wanna be frustrated at the end of it… :-)

FO : Latrigg

2011-02-14T10:00:00.001-05:00

My latest FO to date : the test knit I did for Lily Kate from Joli House blog the cute little bag she designed and I am so glad I test knit with her again ! The pattern is very clever - no sewing at all - only have a little of ends to weave and voilà ! Done !

It took me a long time to knit because life hit me with a few issues : the first cold of my little one, I got Lasik for my eyes (Yay!), school is very time consuming. At least I have found a daycare for Florence in time and I did not miss any courses because of that. Finally we are shopping for a new car to replace the one my boyfriend is driving for a little over 2 years, a old 2002 Elantra without A/C... which is necessary to carry our daughter around and he's working as a sale representing on the road so we don't have choice. Oh! and what about the wedding, we are getting married in Cuba on April 26Th so a little to take care of here too...pff. Maybe I can ask for days of 26 hours ?

Okay let's get back to knitting

Pattern : Latrigg by Lily Kate France

(soon to be release)

Yarn : about 150 gr. of Red Heart Super Solids in light gray and 50 gr. of each green color and variegated green as contrast color.

Needle : 3.75 mm

Notes : It's my first bag - and second test knit for Lily - and I really enjoy knitting it ! Clever and simple but not too much to keep it very interesting. I love the texture and the colors I choose. the very best part is that there is no sewing involved in it, only a few ends to weave in at the end ! If you are looking for a cool and cute little bag it's the one !

Busy busy...

2011-02-13T09:44:00.001-05:00

Life is full of activities, baby entertaining, knitting and school... pfff and I wonder why I don't have time to blog these days! I have 7 FO to show in the next few weeks, including 2 free patterns coming and tomorrow the FO about the latest test knit for Lily Kate from Joli House blog will be online and you will see the result of my hard work on this cute bag of her : Latrigg.

Here a little preview picture for you to enjoy...

My daughter is now 6 months and after 3 full weeks of saying «maman» all the time now she learns «papa» (dad) and say it all day long, keeping the mama calling when she's crying... :P She's so funny.

Another WIP, another stash busting project

2011-01-28T08:26:00.002-05:00

Yes another stash busting project : Sourwood mitts to finish using the yarn I dig out of my stash while last test knitting for Lily my Kirstone. Not only it will goes beautifully with my brand new hat but it will be the perfect spring hat and mitts !

Pattern is really fun and it's knitting only when my daughter is sleeping,I don't know why, maybe because she want me to look at her which is very hard while doing this...

Bubbles again

2011-01-27T23:00:00.001-05:00

I am knitting a Little Bubbles cardigan for Florence with the leftovers of the one I knitted for my niece Rosalie (2 points stash busting + using leftovers). I am only the color in a different order to make it look completely different from the first one. I hope to be done soon to be sure it will fit her... if you remember the size 6-12 was barely fitting her at 4 months and a half, now at almost 6 months I hope that the bigger size (12-24 months) will be just right for her.

I am already in the fourth of fifth bubble row when you read this so quick knit and this time I remember to weave in end not only at the end of the project.

Just need to shop for cute button... they don't count as stash huh?

I am addicted to yarn...

2011-01-26T13:06:00.000-05:00

Do you know how much yarn you have hiding here and there ? Do you have plans for it or you buy without a idea of the pattern you would like to make with ? I am a serious knitter since somewhere in 2006 so close to 5 years of knitting for me ! I have a little under 100's projects listed on Ravelry (the few first one aren't listed since it's before Ravelry). I just wanted to know how bad my stash was and made some resolutions :

Here is what my stash look on my queen size bed

A lot, ...too much I would say... I definitely need to reduce my stash before we move later on this year.

Here is the plan :

1. List everything on Ravelry to know exactly what I got (almost there just need to upload my big bucks store purchases).

2. Knit from stash only with two exception I can buy yarn for a knitted gift but need to knit every bit of yarn now of for a test knit.

3. Finish WIP (project touch within 3 months).

4. Finish UFO (project untouched for more than 3 months).

5. Find project to knit for leftover.

I need to be completely honest it won't be easy as I love to buy yarn, but I have no choice, it's sleeping money in boxes ! Plus with a moving ahead it will only make a few boxes less to carry around.

The first box is full of fingering weight

I have a plan to help me out with that box...

Then box number 2 full of worsted, sport and bulky yarn

Then a third one is again full of brand new yarn... different weight

Then a box full of WIP and UFO

My big box's store bought yarn

The last box is very very full of leftovers

Whoa it's a lot !!!

and a little something left... a bag full of WIP and UFO...

OK be honest too and tell me that you also have an uncontrollable stash. I am not the first member of the YAA (yarn addict anonymous).

Hello, my name is Sophie and I am a yarn addict. I will work hard to reduce my stash and buy no more yarn until we move out of here and that I will have more place to store it. Plus I also promise not to buy yarn without a pattern in mind and find stash buster projects to use my leftover quickly.

First FO of 2011 !!!

2011-01-17T12:00:00.001-05:00

and it's a fresh start for 2011 FO's, still I didn't finish blogging about last FO of 2010...but I am too busy to do all I have to do at the same time ! It's my test knit hat : Kirkstone by Lily Kate from Joli House. I had a good time test knitting for her and I really enjoy the final product too, clever construction and cables, all I need to be happy while knitting. Not much of a challenge but enough to keep me interested while knitting.

Here are the specs of my latest creation :

Pattern : Kirkstone by Lily Kate France

Yarn : Classic Elite Premiere in pale lavender colorway (maybe not the best choice to knit with cotton but I wanted a hat to wear at spring time) about 1.75 skein used.

Needles : 4mm

Mods : not really mods but a little error in the original pattern (that she corrected after)... I ended with different cable at the crown of 2 sts knit instead of 3, but it's look gorgeous anyway like that so I didn't mind rip it off and do it again. I said it's my personnal touch... they are not supposed to know anyway how it was mean to be huh?

I really did enjoy test knit for this cool designer and it was a charm to knit one of her design too ! She kindly offered me another of her design so I will be able to present another creation of her "collection" this year. Thanks again for choosing me to help you out with your new pattern !!!

Happy Birthday to me !

2011-01-06T07:00:00.002-05:00

Yeah today it's my birthday and I wish to myself a lot of yarn and knitting time and also a healthy baby for all the year of my 27...I already had my birthday gift from her on January 2nd she said "Maman" for the very first time !!! I love her so much.

She already enjoy wearing handknit cardigan !! How lucky I am !

Working on test knitting

2011-01-05T17:00:00.001-05:00

I have a new quick wip on needles since yesterday night : I am test knitting the new pattern of Lily France from Joli House : Kirstone. She is one talented young designer and I am very proud to test knit one of her design !!! I am already almost done with first repeat of the pattern and I truly enjoy this knit. I will also wear proudly the final product : a cute slouchy hat just how I like them.

Here is my progress so far with my little helper

Hopefully it will be soon my first FO of 2011 ! :)

FO : Proverbial Cap

2011-01-04T16:00:00.002-05:00

Another FO that didn't make it to the net... bad me ! I did not even talk about all the yarn acquisition or anything like that. I was asked by my mother for a winter set to match her new winter coat, so here is the first item : this cute cap. Since we have barely no winter here in Quebec this year, it gives me time to knit her the other items... hahaha!

Sincerely, I have to admit that I am very behind on many points in the past few weeks and knitting is one of them ! The Christmas and New Year parties went in and out so fast I have not even realize it's already over for the first Christmas of my daughter... she have been totally spoiled! and she love to unwrap presents,that was very funny to let her rip out paper. I am not sure if we will be able to have a Christmas tree next year but since she still small we went crazy (especially my lover...) and bought a tree that is almost touching the ceiling !

Look this out

We all had a lot of presents and I got all I need to practice on my painting skills, which I am very very happy about. I wanted to do it for several years and N. got me the perfect kit to play with colors.So maybe I will present not only knitting but painting this year !

Back to the knitting concerns of the day : Proverbial Cap Specs

Pattern : Proverbial Cap by Meg Swanson (Interweave Knit Fall 2010)

Yarn : Wool of the Ande worsted by Knit Picks in Fairy Tales colorway (about 1.2 skein)

Needle : 3.5mm DPN

with my favorite model...

Comments : This hat is intended for a child of small adult, be careful to read about this to avoid making a hat too small for you ! I knit this for my mom and it have the perfect size for her. It doesn't cover the ears totally but since I said earlier I made this set according also to the mellow temperature we got this winter. When I saw the hat in my magazine I had to knit it anyway because of the cables. I love twisted stitches too. I used the second skein only for the crown decrease and made it a little longer because it was too short for my liking. I would have appreciate a bigger size explanation to be able to make one for me, but I think about doing one for my daughter by just making it shorter... :)

A new WIP ...

2011-01-03T14:45:00.000-05:00

Back in France, I went to Bergere de France a few time (once a week to be exact...) and bought a cute little story book with 8 personages in it who take action. The best part you must have guess well : they are knitted !!! So I went a bit crazy and bought the whole thing to make all the dolls and I just begun the first one between Christmas and New Year holidays.

My first doll is Alice, a little pink princess, she is so cute and I truly enjoy knitting her. My plan is to make them all for my daughter first birthday on August 7Th. Yes she will be 5 months old on Friday ! My god, where times goes ?

Here a little preview of Alice

For those who want the same the book title is : Doudous au pays des merveilles.

FO : Little bubles cardigan for Rosalie

2011-01-02T10:00:00.002-05:00

Last September, on the 17Th to be exact I became an aunt for the second time of a charming little girl named Rosalie. This little one is the second child of my brother and they have everything for her. So it was pretty difficult to find an idea of gift for her birth. I am a bit late with my post and gift too but I manage to knit an adorable little cardigan for her.

I choose from Knit picks in sale the Little Bubbles set in purple, it was under 10$ when I got it, just perfect ! I quickly cast on for the cardigan itself but since I did it just before we left for France,I didn't bring it so it slept in my knitting bag for about 5 weeks and at the beginning of December, I finally went around and finish it in a breeze. Super cute and adorable, but TONS of ends to weave in which is a bit annoying to me.

Here are the complete specs :

Pattern : Little Bubbles Baby Set Pattern by Nina Isaacson (available on Knit Picks website)

Yarn : Knit Picks Simply Cotton Sport

Needle : 3mm

Here it is modeled by Florence

I adore the buttons my mother found for the cardigan ! Rosalie is much smaller than Florence (she was born 40 days later) so it fit her just perfectly, I am very proud ! The 6-12 months size is barely a 6 months in regular clothing size, so be aware of it if you plan to knit this. I will try to see how much yarn I have left and maybe do the cardigan or the hat for Florence. Just repeat to myself weave in end often during the process to avoid procrastination at the end in finishing ! :)

Happy New Year 2011 !!!

2011-01-01T10:00:00.001-05:00

Hello 2011, good bye 2010,

I had a fantastic 2010 and I hope to have a year as good this year. I wish you all health and properity and good luck in your knitting ventures. I hope you didn't think I was out of blogging with my lack of posting for the past weeks. I have to say that taking care of a little one, going back to university and keeping myself knitting and having somekind of a life is really hard ! So blogging went at the bottom of my todo list unfortunatly...

Thanks for the comments during this period and all your littles messages kept me in the mood for knitting so I will post in the first days of this new year all my FO of 2010 and also my UFO and WIP. I have so muchof those three that I have enough content to keep posting for all January.

For now a little picture of my best FO of 2010 : Florence

She is almost 5 months old now. She's growing very fast and she talks a lot ! I hope to hear the first "Mommy" very soon!

Back at home

2010-11-08T09:56:00.000-05:00

Hum home sweet home... :) Glad to go and glad to come back for sure ! But we all got a cold in France and being sick with jetlag is not a good combinaison especially for a little one of 2 months and a half ...

Anyway we had a very cool trip here some pictures for you to enjoy

Cute view of Kaysersberg

Showing my Rose Red beret in Strasbourg

Cathedral of Strasbourg

Freiburg in Germany

Of course I did knit with my daughter help !

Kaysersberg again

I will need some more time to update my blog with my knitting project, I am really busy with my 3 months old and all my Christmas knitting but I will try to do as fast as possible.

Happy Monday everyone!

Good bye Canada

2010-10-09T20:30:00.002-04:00

at least for 3 weeks ! We are leaving today for 3 weeks in France. It's the first time that N. is back to his country since he leave in January 2009. The funny thing is that he came here single and he comes back less than 2 years later with a "wife and kid" (I know we are not married already but with a kid it's almost the same).

Paris here we come !!!

FO : Secret Cobblestone

2010-09-23T10:00:00.000-04:00

Yes I made it !!! The surprise was perfect, he never had a single though about my plan in his back... Let say with the pregnancy it has been quite easy to hide while on maternity leave, and before that I cast on and work on it when I was on lunch time at work, while waiting for him when he's playing tennis or soccer... I am pretty proud of my surprise ! :-)

Let's see the spec of my new FO.

Pattern : Cobblestone Pullover by Jared Flood

Needle : 4.5mm

Yarn : 10.5 skeins of wool of the andes worsted weight (KnitPicks) in mist color

Cast on May 21st

Cast off : July 22nd

The Man love his new pullover and wears it a lot in the past few days, I am already thinking about a number 2... maybe for Christmas ... ;)

Already 46 days for my little princess

2010-09-22T09:18:00.000-04:00

Hello !!! Already 46 days since I gave birth to my lovely princess... the time goes so fast since she's in my life ! ...and it's wonderful. She kept me busy and away from my knitting but I do enjoy taking care of her so much that I don't mind. She's a very calm baby and as you can see she's now smiling for about 10 days !!! This is the mommy's and daddy' paycheck for rough moment don't you think ?

I just begun knitting again yesterday so I will be posting more again ...

SOAB swap box

2010-08-21T09:46:00.000-04:00

Finally I got around posting about the fabulous swap box I received in SOAB swap from lakeside (on Ravelry) and show you all my precious gifts !!

I receive a fabulous kicking bag for my baby, 2 balls of super soft Teddy print yarn, a little angel, a notebook with a sheep on it (!), the cutest clothespins ever, a magnet from Germany , an assortment of tea and most of all : Weleda products for baby and I (how did you know that I could walk miles for them !!!)

Thank you so much lakeside, I am totally spoiled :)

FO : Tri-Peak hat

2010-08-20T09:53:00.000-04:00

Yes I actually had time to knit since I gave birth to my daughter... awesome ! :)

Let be honnest, she was sleeping on me and that was only stockinette but I am still very happy to be able to knit a bit, let's see the specs.

with my proud father

Pattern : Baby Tri-Peak Hat by Woolly Wormhead

Needle : 4.5 mm

Yarn : Lana Grossa Teddy print in a lovely varigated color (received in my last swap box) about half a skein (80 yards)

Cast on August 15th and cast off August 17th

Super cute and neat project, perfect to keep a small baby warm outside or inside. the yarn is very very soft and I really enjoy knitting with. I still have about 1.5 skein so I will find another cute project for baby Florence to match, maybe a cardigan ?

with great-grand-mother

Welcome to the world Florence

2010-08-15T16:06:00.000-04:00

It's been a little time since I posted here, you may excuse me when I present you my newborn daughter : Florence...

She was born on August 7th at 16h05, weight 8 pounds and 52 cm.

2 socks at the time but not really...

2010-07-27T14:48:00.000-04:00

...not really using the regular method on circular. No I wanted to knit simple socks on DPN but knit them at the same pace to avoid the second sock syndrome of having one bigger than the other.

It's my first cast on project for Christmas 2010, not telling for who they are ! Even if the persons concerned have no chance to read my posts or very small chance I prefer to keep the secret for myself only. The only one that will know my every little secret for those Christmas gifts will be my little belly baby daughter, lol!

I choose Stroll yarn in fingering weight because it's Superwash and since those are intended to be socks, I find it useful. Plus the beautiful Pine color suits the pattern perfectly...

...more progress soon.

Almost FO post

2010-07-22T14:58:00.000-04:00

Finally cast off the Cobblestone pullover for my fabulous boyfriend's birthday. Actually it's been kind of hard to keep it secret and keep on knitting other projects enough that he won't know what I am knitting while he's at work. Plus the fatigue due to my pregnancy I am pretty happy to be done one week before deadline.

Still have to give it a good bath and block it in the only place he don't go too much : the laundry room and keep my fingers crossed that he will not have the brilliant idea of helping me out on laundry task without prompting by me !!! Or just that baby girl will finally comes out and keep us busy until my lover's birthday on July 29th.

So FO post to be done with my Nicolas wearing it after July 29th !!! So excited !!!

Update on Friday

2010-07-16T11:06:00.000-04:00

Yes already a week without posting, but I was just so busy and not much to post about on knitting avenue...

So last week end I end up going to the lake with my extended family on my dad side, that was fun and I wasn't the only preggo belly out there since my sister in law is also preggo, she is due for October so showing too. We had a blast enjoying swimming in the lake, taking boat ride and laughing a lot too ! My boyfriend played with the kids since he still one himself and went in all the mothers heart because the kids were tired at the end of the day ! I can tell he will be the best dad ever !!! :)

This whole week has been about three things mostly : cooking (I filled the freezer with so many food that I have no more place in it!), cleaning and doing paperwork for the immigration of my love, since he will change his job soon and we need to change his work permit. I can't wait to have answer about his permanent residency. Life will become easier when he will be permanent resident I hope and the only little step to do in a few year will be Canadian citizenship...

On the knitting side, I am doing great progress on my last post project that I will have a FO very soon, just a lot more of stockinette to do and hours of seaming too ! Also going fast on my birthday sweater for my boyfriend. I need to finish soon enough because baby is coming soon too and I won't have that many time to knit after birth.

at least I took lovely pictures too...

Sneak peek on a wip

2010-07-09T14:29:00.002-04:00

A little preview of my current project...

FO : Cloud bolero

2010-07-07T07:30:00.001-04:00

Yes another one again ! So fun to bust quick project like those one. I am super productive these days with my knitting and also with my cleaning, must be close to end of my pregnancy I am super active in cleaning too!

This one was mostly knitted while watching Wimbledon and being so proud of Nadal !!!

Here are the spec

Pattern : Cloud bolero by Ysolda Teague

Size : medium (36-38)

Needle : 8mm

Yarn : Mano del Uruguay Cotton stria in pink color that I love, just under 2 skein (approx. 220 yards)

Cast on : June 30th and Cast off July 2nd

Mods : none I just for sure didn't use yarn called for but was right on gauge (for one time a year that I check...)

Errata : there is a little errata in the pattern in the first section at row 20, after you place the second marker B it says (k1, yo) 3 times, but it must read (yo, k1) 3 times. It's not fatal and doesn't compromise your knitted bolero if you don't notice but it's always fun to know that we made the best we can to achieve the best knitting in each piece.

___
18th FO of 2010, already have knitted 6496 yards so far

FO : Capitan hat

2010-07-06T12:34:00.001-04:00

Another FO in no time was done! Cool huh ? I am quite a bit behind on my blog because of the bad weather we had last week, that was not fun to take pictures in my condo, so I waited until today to take the coolest pictures with the big bright sun !

I also use leftover of yarn which is always a good news and I had fun too. Bonus point, it fits me well too even if it's not for me...

Pattern : Capitan hat by Rosi Garmendia

Needle : 6mm

Yarn : Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Bulky in wine color, about 1 skein (137 yards)

Cast on and cast off : June 28Th

Mods : Umm it wasn't enough long after 3 repeats of the cable repeat as stated in the pattern, so I added one more repeat before the decrease. I also improvised a bit in the decrease as I don't really like to follow pattern for that, I know what to do anyway to make a cute decrease.
First hat with a brim, I must have to admit that I like it and it makes me smile. Did you see the perfect buttons I had in stock for this hat ?

===
6276 yards knitted so far in 2010 and this one is my 17th FO of 2010 !! not bad...

New header

2010-07-02T15:33:00.000-04:00

...as you can see I just receive my photos from my photo session and create my first custom header. Let me know how you like it...

FO : Baby stroller blanket

2010-06-28T17:23:00.000-04:00

Yes I finally finish THE blanket for my daughter and I am very proud of it ! So I also decided to publish my pattern, not that it's so complicated but it may be useful for any knitter that what it and likes my work on this one. So here are the instructions for my first free pattern ever !!

Pattern : Stroller baby blanket by Sophie Bergeron

Needle : 3.5mm

Yarn : Bernat Baby Sport in white and popsicle blue about 150 gr of each color (478 yard of each color)

Pattern :

The blanket has been created to be perfect size for a stroller, a car seat or also to carry around in little hands. I choose acrylic yarn to be easy on care and mom budget too ! Contrast colors are also great for our kids eyes and are easy for them to focus on. Also with two different texture it will be a great exploration for the little hands as well.

The little story behind this blanket is that the day that my love, Nicolas, and I found out that we were having a little girl at the ultrasound, we bought the stroller in a turquoise color that we both love and then my boyfriend came back from the end of the row at Walmart with two huge balls of Bernat Sport Baby and his best smile asking if I can do something for our daughter to go in the stroller. So I cast on for a blanket without any other though and I finally made something from my mind completely.

Finished size is : 24 inches 1/2 by 24 inches 1/2

Squares instructions :

Using 3.5mm needles, CO 72 sts

Row 1 : k 36, place marker, k36

Row 2 : k 2 sts before marker, ssk, k2tog, k til the end of the row (70 sts)

Row 3 : k all sts

Repeat row 2 and 3, 2 more time (66 sts)

Attach contrast color

Stockinette section

Row 1 : p until 2 sts before marker p2tof, p2tog, p til the end of the row (64 sts)

Row 2 : k all sts

Repeat row 1 and 2, 3 times (58 sts)

Continue with main color

Garter section

Row 1 : k 2 sts before marker, ssk, k2tog, k til the end of the row (56 sts)

Row 2 : k all sts

Repeat row 1 and 2, 3 times (50 sts)

Repeat stockinette and garter section one after the other alternately until there are 10 sts left on needles. Using main color.

Row 1 : k3, ssk, k2tog, k3 (8 sts)

Row 2 : k

Row 3 : k2, ssk, k2tog, k2 (6 sts)

Row 4 : k

Row 5 : k1, ssk, k2tog, k1 (4 sts)

Row 6 : k

Row 7: ssk, k2tog (2 sts)

Row 8 : k2tog

Leave a long tail to sew squares together later on.

Using any color contrast you like, make 16 squares and sew them together. I begun with 4 bigger squares together and then I assemble the 4 big squares together and weave all ends in too.

You can add a liner to hide the wrong side, personally I will buy white polar fleece to add some comfort to the blanket and made it easy for me to wash it as often as needed... :)

Let me know if you do this little blanket for your own little kids !!!

Only thing left for me now...have my own bundle of joy and be super hot with my matching blanket and stroller ! Hip mama, watch out I'm coming !

FO : Citron vert

2010-06-22T11:12:00.000-04:00

Yes yet another FO in my knitwear collection 2010, already have completed 15 projects in 2010, not so bad ! :) Here are the spec :

Pattern : Citron by Hilary Smith Callis

Needle : 4 mm

Yarn : Malabrigo yarn Lace, almost exactly one skein, less than one yard left after stretchy bind off at the end in color Verde which is a very deep green.

Cast on : June 13th

Cast off : June 19th

Mods : I did add 2 rows in the ruffle section of the fourth and the fifth repeat and then follow the pattern but use a yarn over bind off like for my last FO Haruni shawl/scarf.

It was fun and mindless, perfect project to begin my maternity leave without thinking too much in a complicated pattern. Yes you read well, I finally took my maternity leave and it's a real joy to be able to relax at home and enjoy my free time before being a full-time mom in a few weeks.

Destash project : 4301 before this project before reducing stash before 2010 level minus 470 yards today, have 3831 yards left.

First day of summer 2010 !!!!

2010-06-21T10:00:00.000-04:00

Today it's the first day of summer and I am thankful for many things :

- Perfect weather
- Being 34 week and 4 days pregnant
- Having great plans for tonight with my love (cooking together a wonderful strawberry cake- picture to come later on this week)
- Seeing my fine herbs growing and gosh it's smell so good
- Being on maternity leave (Yippee!)
- and so many more...

Have a wonderful day everyone !

travel contest

2010-06-17T19:04:00.002-04:00

Little contest to travel around the world...

I just suggest you to participate in a contest that can makes you fly around the world to a dream destination with 7 of your friends...tempting no ?

I personnaly choose India as my dream destination, what's yours ?

Travelalerts.ca

WWKIP day in Quebec city

2010-06-17T08:36:00.002-04:00

Last Saturday we had our WWKIP day on the Plaines d'Abraham here in Quebec city and it was so much fun !!! Last year I missed it because I was busy moving but I made my family came with me even if I was the only one knitting and we add a little picnic to enjoy the beautiful weather we had.

Here my belly at 33 weeks and 2 days

I wish everybody enjoyed it as much as we did and you all showed the world our talents in knitting and how proud we are !!! :)

FO : Haruni

2010-06-16T08:35:00.001-04:00

Yes finally presenting my new addition to my collection of knitwear 2010, here are the spec

Pattern : Haruni by Emily Ross

Needle : 3.5 mm (with a needle broke on my harmony set so sad)

Yarn : Malabrigo Lace in an unknown colorway, about 70% of the skein (329 yards), will confirm when I get my scale!

Cast on May 22nd and cast off June 13th

Mod : none but I wish I made it larger to use most of the skein and made it more like a shawl than a scarf/shawl.

Anyway I still love it and enjoy knitting it, I did great knitting and un-knitting many time the same row ! I knit the row 17 of Chart B 4 times, after that I put work aside and continue next day and made the whole knitting part except for cast off.

For the cast off, I used the yarn over cast off to have a stretchy bind off while having no need to use a crochet as suggested in pattern. Since my crochet skills are not so great I wanted to avoid a mess on finishing and It's perfect cast off for a shawl, stretchy and neat too.

About my cold sheep goal : I said I have 4630 yards to knit before reducing my stash from what it was before 2010...

So after this project I still have : 4301 yards to knit before being in the target !!!

Progress on secret knitting

2010-06-14T07:30:00.002-04:00

Still working on my secret project, I need to work on it more and more because it have the same "due date" as my growing belly : July 29th. So far I am at 15'' on 16'' before working on sleeves and I love it ! I was smiling today because Nico kept asking if I was doing him a sweater soon and that he would like to have a dark gray one !! LOL I think I took the best color for him and I know him well.

And so far I used 4 balls on the 12 I bought originally. I think I will have plenty and maybe a little leftover too. I will kept you posted when I am home alone and since I still work it's not that often, almost 34 weeks pregnant I will be more than happy on maternity leave, soon, very very soon...

Almost FO...

2010-06-13T19:30:00.000-04:00

Almost done with my Haruni shawl/scarf... it's currently blocking in my living room. I am pleased with it but it's a bit too small and I have plenty of yarn left on my skein. So I will find a way to use it as well and I will take a note to myself about these kind of pattern : listen to myself when I want to make a shawl larger : just do it ! They do sell yarn anyway if I run out of yarn and even I had made one more repeat I am pretty sure I would had enough and leftovers too.

This project was a bit of pain sometimes because I couldn't knit it while tired or not concentrate on my knitting or I would mess everything also I broke one of my needle tip in my Knit Picks Harmony needle set, so now I need to order a size 4 needle to replace it but again... little problem : I am currently in a yarn diet AND it cost the same to order for 5$ or 50$ in shipping from them :( Will think about it and maybe wait to combine my order with other items.

At least I have my almost FO to comfort myself on my knitting habilities...

Stash management

2010-06-02T07:38:00.000-04:00

Do you ever bought yarn without knowing what project you are going to make with ? It happens to me everytime I buy yarn in a LYS unless it's sock yarn, not too difficult to choose a project after buying. When going throught my yarn I do discover yarn that I have no idea what to make with and it's a little problem when you try to reduce the amount of yarn waiting to be knitted.

So in my reduce that stash year, I have more time to think about yarn management and also with my little one on the way I also needed to move my stash from his previous emplacement (now converted from a office/craft room to a girlie baby's room). After 5 months this is how it goes...

New additions :

- 14 skeins of Cascade 220 that I bought myself (3080 yards)

- 2 big balls of Bernat baby sport from my BF (2228 yards)

- a big bag of unknow fiber from my BF (approx 1200 yards)

- 7 balls of Bergère de France Merino from my mother-in-law (798 yards)

- 2 balls of Bernat Cottontots from mother-in-law too (300 yards)

- 2 skeins of wool from Laine douceurs from my BF (860 yards)

- 1 skein of Kiss and Curl (Fleece Artist) from my BF too (547 yards)

total of 9013 yards

and that's all... I made not so bad if I look at what I pay or not, but the 3 last skeins are totally on my head because even if he insist and pay, I did choose the yarn myself and enter in the LYS by myself too !!!

I did use :

- 476 yards for the Trellis toddler sweater

- 626 yards for my February Lady sweater

- 1144 yards for my Tilted for the Olympics

- 93 yards for the Hodge Boy

- 70 yard for the Hodge girl (I made them smaller)

- 303 yards for the Easter's BSJ

- 176 yards for my Rose Red

- 231 yards for my Bird in hand

- 287 yards for the Pea Pod baby set

- 460 yards for my dad's sock

- 363 yards for the Baby girl jacket

- 88 yards for the Aviatrix hat

- 66 yards for the Flakey socks

not counting the WIP I have on needle I used up : 4384 yards so far in 2010

So if I want to be cold sheep by the end of the year I need to knit at least 4630 yards of FO by the end of 2010 to be reducing my stash...at least with my 3 current project I will used more than 2000 yards so as usual, just keep knitting.

Happy knitting dear readers

Mister I do accept your excuses

2010-06-01T09:10:00.002-04:00

My lovely and tender boyfriend went on a business trip to Toronto last week and came back soon but with empty hands. It didn't matters to me, it was way more important to have him back in my arms than having any kind of gift but on Saturday he wanted to make apologies for his lack of time to shop on his trip for a little skein of yarn... did I ever mention this man is PERFECT... he think about buying me yarn on a business trip. Even though he hadn't the occasion because he was too short on time...he thought about it.

So we went for a little walk to bakery on Saturday morning and it happen to be next door from a LYS and he bought me 3 fabulous skein of yarn all Canadians products. The first two are from Kamouraska, Quebec. The barn's name is Les laines douceur and it's the first I saw this yarn so I bought 2 skeins one black and a turquoise. They don't have color name and strange weight it will be fun to work with. The third one is from the well known Fleece Artist, Kiss and Curl.

Let just say I am one happy girlfriend !

Happy Happy Joy Joy

2010-05-31T09:00:00.002-04:00

For once, I like this Monday morning even if I had a hard time to get up and was too happy to get a coffee to help me open up my eyes. But, with my daughter playing and dancing in my belly I cannot resist to have the most beautiful smile every morning... even on Monday !

Now 31 weeks and 4 days pregnant, my belly is full of life and of love, thanks to life!

FO : Pea Pod baby set

2010-05-30T21:10:00.000-04:00

Yes finally got buttons and time to put them on too...

Specs of my new creation

Pattern : Pea Pod Baby Set by Kate Gilbert

Needle : 3.75 mm

Yarn : Cascade Yarns Eco + in kiwi green about 0.6 skein

Cast on November 28th 2009 and cast off May 4th 2010 (doh!)

Size : 6 months

Mods : none except using very cool buttons... :)

Pattern is very clever but once more I think than arms a little strange and makes a bulky seam to attach the arms too. Anyway I'll have my own model to play and make adjustements soon enough now...

WIP : summer knitting is HOT

2010-05-29T13:36:00.000-04:00

It's not even summer yet, but it's almost the same with the weather of the last 2 weeks here in Quebec city... it's damn hot and hard to keep a big knit on my lap. So I cast on for a light shawl project with the perfect and adorable Malabrigo lace I had bought back in 2008 when my friend Shannon came in visit from Calgary. Part of my "work in that stash" project in 2010 to reduce my stash it will also be a nice addition to my wardrobe too.

I choose the Haruni pattern by Emily Ross, a free pattern.

I love the colors and again with Malabrigo it's love at first touch... soft and so cool to work with even it's still hot in my hand to work with wool.

Anyway, almost done with Chart A, about 16 more rows to go in it and then the fun begin with Chart B... :)

Secret boyfriend sweater...

2010-05-28T16:25:00.000-04:00

No I am not affraid of the sweater curse !!! (I do consider than being 31 weeks pregnant is almost like being married anyway). I did it, finally cast on for the secret project for the 31st birthday of my love : the Cobblestone sweater in the perfect "man yarn" Knitpick Wool of the Andes (worsted) in mist colorway.

So far I did almost 7 inches and I can only knit when he's not here because it's a complete surprise to him I would like to offer him at his birthday which is also my due date for belly baby. So I don't think he will get any birthday party this year and he deserve a sweater to show him my love and appreciation.

Already 2 balls in it, fast and mindless I will be done in time no problems... :)

FO : Flakey socks

2010-05-27T18:25:00.000-04:00

Another quick FO in 2010, cast in and cast off on May 21st, perfect to work on my colorwork abilities and quick enough to make a pair in a few hours...

Here are the spec ...

Pattern : Flakey socks by annipurl

Needle : 4 mm

Yarn : leftovers of Cascade 200 from my own Tilted Duster and my daughter's jacket I recently made

Mods : none except using a bigger yarn and it makes me end with bigger socks, fitting a 2 or 3 years old I think... but that's ok she will grow soon enough anyway !

Can't wait to see her now... less than 9 weeks remaining before my due date.............................

Double FO : Baby Jacket and Aviatrix hat

2010-05-16T22:40:00.000-04:00

Had this little Cascade yarn coming by the mail 2 weeks ago and I made a promise to myself : use it as soon as possible to make the baby's jacket and also use those uber-adorable buttons receive from South Africa in the favorite thing swap last year. (by the way thanks again to my spoiler if you read this) So mission accomplished and double accomplishment by also making mods on a pattern AND made a second project to match the first one and use the last button.

Specs of the jacket :

Pattern : Seed Stitch Baby Jacket by Elinor Brown

Needle : 4.5 mm

Yarn : 1.65 skein (165 grams) of Cascade 220 Heather in color Aster

Size made : 6-9 months

Cast on May 4th and cast off May 15th

Mods : First of all the most obvious....no hood, I preferred to make a collar instead. Also opted for a regular button placement one under the other one to make adjustments easier and to facilitate my life too with baby girl.... Then I made a little brodery of a cat on the sweater to embelished it.

Can't wait to try it on my girl :)

Then specs and pics for the second part of the show...

Pattern : Aviatrix baby hat by Justine Turner

Needle : 4.5 mm and 5 mm

Yarn : 0.40 skein (40 grams) of Cascade 220 Heather in color Aster

Size : 6 months

Cast on May 15th and cast off May 16th

Mods : I made the worsted weight instructions except that I had a repeat of the 12 rows section because I found that was a little on the short side and I prefer to be sure that the back of the head will be well covered too. The only comment less positive about that pattern was the cast on suggested (cable cast on) not enough strechy for a hat so next one will be in a strechy cast on and cast off.

BUT my overall comments are : superb, cute and addictive pattern ! I am already planning making one for my nephew. :) It was also a very good refresh on wrap and turn too.

FO: Rose Red

2010-05-09T16:21:00.000-04:00

Yes another belated FO...

Spec

Pattern : Rose Red by Ysolda Teague
Needle : 4.5 mm
Yarn : Blue Sky Alpacas 100% Alpaca Sport Weight in Red, approx. 1.6 skein

Cast on April 10th and Cast off April 11th

I loved that quick project, was very fun to see it grow before my eyes... Also the yarn and the pattern were both offered to me in swap I did last year so extra happy to use it and enjoy it ! Yarn was from Amy in the Warm Ewe Up Winter Swap. I knew I had to make myself a little treat and my friend Robyn offered me the pattern in Swap on Budget so I only had to knit it then... :) Super super happy !!! Still have another leftover of yarn that I will please to find an use to.

Little note to myself : buy more of that yarn when I have money to make something else next to skin like a bolero or a scarf...

Also do you like my new hairstyle ? Super short and fun to dry now !!

FO : Daddy's sock of doom...

2010-05-05T15:23:00.000-04:00

Finally just cast off these never ending socks for my dad... remind me to choose my project accordingly to my level and also to my taste. I made two important mistake before even casting on for this project : choose a project that I dislike and too easy for me AND choose a project I don't find cute anyway. I knit to make beautiful projects and see my knitting like an art, this piece will be the weird one in my museum, or maybe the piece of conversation... lol.

Spec

Pattern : Basic sock formula

Needle : 2.5 mm

Yarn : Regia sock yarn

Cast on : somewhere on August 2008

Cast off : 2010 May 5th

Mods none, enjoyment factor below zero and satisfaction to finally get myself to finish it : priceless. It's the thing I am proudest about this pair of sock, I did finish them after all...

Best part of my day to finally be zen about this :

I made a little fire with the leftovers of the yarn and the pattern !!!

Now I can truly enjoy my vacations...

Day 7 (umm maybe more like day 10...)

2010-05-04T09:44:00.000-04:00

Subject for today : talk about a yarn

Ummmmmmm yarn....what kind of knitter I would be if I wasn't yarn addict ? Since my love for knitting grew with the year, my stash also grew in reasonable proportions I think. I am almost cold sheep now (no yarn bought since a certain time for non-knitters). My last purchase was in October 2009 from Knit Picks when my knitting group made an order and I had some needs, like yarn for the sweater of Zachary, my nephew. I was doing great almost 6 months without any addition to my stash...

but last week end, I was visiting a web site that I like and saw they had a sale on Cascade 220 !!! I argue with myself for about 5 minutes and then decided to go smart and choose projects before yarn. I ended spending 85$ for 14 skeins of Cascade 220, no shipping fees. Not bad huh ?

Here a little proof of my new babies

The 2 others colors are saved for a vest for me (bright pink and dark brown) after I am back to my normal weight, I am too big now with my preggo belly/body to take measurements anyway ...

The green yarn will be for a Central Park Hoodie for me

and the purple for a Seed Stitch Baby Jacket for my daughter

and I know since my last uses of Cascade products why they are loved so much by knitters : they come in many many colors, they are affordables, easy to knit, easy to wash and they stay well shaped and in good conditions even after wash. They are also super good to felt.

Day 6

2010-05-02T09:17:00.000-04:00

Subject yesterday was : revisit a past FO

I just think about it for the whole day for then forget to take picture along with my last FO... oops ! So I figure out this morning what to talk about on this subject : it was so obvious that I did not even think about it yesterday when cuddle in in the evening... My Lady Eleanor shawl !

Finish in November 2008, I wore it so many time they are countless... I love to cuddle in it on my couch, wear it as a shawl at work when it's cold, use it as a big scarf a good part of the winter with my brown winter coat. So many uses and so many good comments on it everytime. I had at least 15 persons asking for the same and I always said, ok for 400$ I'll make you one... I don't know why but the order never went further :)

Noro yarn isn't the softest at first but with a few use and a good wash it's soften the yarn and now it's perfect even to cuddle my little one in it...but no I will keep it for myself.

Happy Sunday !!!

FO : Birds in hand

2010-05-01T16:21:00.000-04:00

New FO to add in 2010...cast on April 17th and cast off May 1st : a pair of mitten ! Yes you read well, I did a pair of mitten at springtime, why ? Just because I wanted something to play with colors and also because I really wanted to try that pattern for a really long time.

Here are the spec :

Pattern : Bird in hand by Kate Gilbert
Needle : 3.5mm
Yarn : 0.25 skein of white Palette by Knit Picks and 0.75 skein of red Palette by Knit Picks

I am proud to knit those, colorwork is not really my thing usually... I did great when we think that I did not did any since the Endpaper mitts a few years ago. So not so bad and I'm pleased with the results. I need to improve my floating system and learn to keep more length for the contrast color in small section like the thumb. I had to cut some to leave me more space and I block the cut ends. Not the best solution but I will learn as I do more projects of the same type.

I also found that it's a quick project and fun to see it grow before my eyes. It was also fun to see my coworkers eyes growing too when I work on this project... They are used to see my knit before my work at my desk since I'm pregnant and they know what I knit. I got many many comments about those puppies.

I have to admit that the pattern is almost perfect but I have no idea how you can knit this type of pattern with a worsted weight and not ending with giant mittens... ok mine are on the thin side but I made them to walk outside in Spring and Fall time (I'm thinking about stroller ride already with my daughter!). I also needed to had 2 stitches on the inside of the thumb to have more ease and 2 more rows of plain red before diminutions for the same reason. I have pretty long fingers so it's not unusual.

Let just end saying, I love my new mittens and I hope to use them only in about 5 or 6 months...

Day 5 of the knit and crochet blog week

2010-04-30T14:59:00.000-04:00

Location, location, location...

my favorite spot to knit ever in the world is here ...

Just in front of the lake at the cottage, it's the best place to really relax and knit comfortably installed in a chair outside or inside depending on temperature. This is where I will be next week so it will be perfect for my vacation to relax, sleep and knit of course !!!

My second best place is in my couch at home, with my hubby close to me and my hot chocolate, it's really nice too.

In third position I would say : in the car (while not driving...)

Here is a pair of sock (still not completed yet) that I knitted while travelling along last summer. It reminds me that I must finish some UFO...

Happy knitting everyone ! :)

Knit and crochet blog week

2010-04-29T20:35:00.000-04:00

I just found out on Maryse blog, a knitter from Montreal, this cool event

The Knit and Crochet Blog week since it's held from April 26th to May 2nd I will do a little more today to get back on track about it :)

Day 1

How and when did you begin knitting/crocheting?

Umm... I already talked about it a bit here a few years ago but I will do it again. I first learn to cast on, knit and purl after seeing knitting in a craft book that my mother has in her library. It was a old and dusty book from the '70. I kept asking for days then she finally install me with string and sticks to knit. I was about 5 years old if I remember well. I knitted 2 or 3 "squares" of knit and purl all messed up. It was colorful and probably artsy in my mother's terms.

No one had ever knitted in front of me before that moment. I have truly no idea why I wanted SO much to learn. My mom knit a little and know the basics but that's all. She was oblige to learn it at school as a teen.

That was almost that before the few years...

Then in 2006 I had a lot of time on my hands and I wanted to do something creative and went shopping for yarn (acrylic..!!) and knitted...

THAT

That was not so cool and I never wear it as well as the assorted scarf that took me weeks to do. The yarn is itchy and I hate it !!!

Day 2

Blog about a pattern or project which you aspire to.

Umm hard one because I have decided that I tried every single thing to be fearless by the end of 2010. I am currently working on my color work skills and ordered yarn to do a project with my first steek !!! So we'll see by the end of the year but I have great confidence in me that I can accomplish anything.

Day 3

One great knitter

Gosh ! Only one... I love Ravelry for that reason because I discover many and many great knitters everyday. I love to watch FO and look at my friends work too. So every knitter can be a great knitter and just knitting something harder and achieve it makes you a great knitter too !

Day 4

A New Skill

A new skill that I would like to know. I would say crochet in general... as knitting I did crochet a bit when I was young. My grandma was a crocheter and knit simple crochet some other stuff more complicated. I would like to sit and actually take time to be comfortable with a hook. I already bought the Babette blanket pattern and just need to crochet now !

TGIF !!!

2010-04-23T10:44:00.000-04:00

Today I was just happy to be alive and see the wonderful sun outside when I woke up in the morning with my love... I thought about doing a short list of 10 reasons to be happy today !

1- I'm in love and I am love in return too
2- 26 weeks and 1 day pregnant, my belly is full of love too :)
3- no work for me today !!!
4- beautiful weather outside

5- tomorow my parents are a making over in the baby's room (picture after that for sure !!!)
6- one more week and I do have a week off at the cottage to relax before third trimester
7- making progress on the baby blanket
8- doing great on my return on colorwork (post tomorow about it)
9- planning a trip to France to visit Nicolas's family and present baby girl in October

10- TGIF what else to say...

Happy today everyone!

I must be crazy... or just preggo...

2010-04-17T17:35:00.003-04:00

Just after we bought the stroller (bright turquoise !!!) the future father went shopping at superstore and went back home with 2 big skeins of Bernat Baby Sport in white and turquoise and a big smile. He was so proud to buy yarn to match stroller and ask me if I want to do something for our girl...

Sure I want !!!!

But I had a crazy idea : a baby blanket with color changing blocks and too much ends to weave and sew in to make all those block an actual blanket ... but if I can transfer my love for my daughter into that blanket, I know that she will understand that not even born I love her so much and so her father.

Here are my progress so far :

7 squares so far (one missing on the picture) and another almost done on the 8th square too. They are not hard to do but just boring, I need other project to keep my knitting mojo alive and kick my a** to do one more square again...

If I make a stroller blanket I will probably make a total of 16 squares plus a border all around the blanket but we'll see after I sewed first 2 big square soon...

Let see how crazy a mom to be can be...

From a time to another

2010-04-16T17:35:00.002-04:00

Recently just after we found out that it's a little princess in my belly, my mom went totally crazy (lol I love you mom!!!) and went shopping for a whole lot of baby clothing and she washed everything and then delivered it to me...

In the bag there was a cute pink sweater... hand made for me by a friend of my mom back in 1983 before my birth !!!

Now I imagine my own daughter wearing it next Fall in my arms at the cottage, and I have tears in my eyes... my own mom kept it for those 26 past years. She moved 3 times, she did not know if I ever had a daughter myself neither but she care to keep it.

Thanks mommy, I'll try to be as good as you were, you are and will be as a mom. I love you

FO : Easter'S baby surprise jacket

2010-04-15T17:35:00.000-04:00

Yes I did the most classic baby's sweater for my daughter... but so cute and modern colors I couldn't resist. Most of all I was dying to try out the yarn I received from my swap parthner in South Africa and also the uber cute buttons inclosed in the swap package too !!!

Here are the spec of my Easter pleasure...

Pattern : Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann

Yarn : directly from South Africa (I called it my world cup project because of it... lol) Bambi Yarn from Vinnis colours made of 70% Organic cotton and 30% Bamboo. 3 colorway : the bright orange is Tangerine, the yellow is Sunshine and the red is Tomato. Yarn is perfect for baby knitting and I would totally came back from South Africa with a full trunk of local products if they are so cool and well made.

Needle : 4 mm

Size : This is the charm of this pattern : the yarn and needles you used made the size of the pattern, with a Dk weight and 4mm needles is says that the sweater will be about 9 months in size, which is about true in my case when I check on other pieces of clothing I have. Hopefully it will fit my daughter next winter...

The other super cute feature are the buttons star-shaped made by hands by south african woman too... really if baby wasn't planned for July, I would book my vacation over there to discover this wonderful country and buy a bunch of local products...for now I will follow up the Football World Cup with my love and find some place on Internet to restock on those cool yarn and buttons... :)

Last detail about my FO : machine washable and unisex so our next creation will also be able to wear it...

FO : Tilted for Olympics

2010-04-14T17:35:00.002-04:00

Over a month ago during the Olympics I did challenge myself to knit not one but two complete sweater during the event and I did accomplished the whole thing but I never posted about sweater number 2, the proof that I knitted like a crazy to achieve my challenge !

Here are the specs of the Tilted for Olympics

Pattern : Tilted Duster by Norah Gaughan (published in Interweave knit, Fall 2007)

Needles : 6 mm

Yarn : 5.2 skeins of Cascade 200 in white

Size : 40.5 medium size since I grew from everywhere with pregnancy...

Cast on : February 16th

Cast off : February 28th during curling finals

With my 24 weeks and 2 days belly ...

I love, just love this sweater and it's a perfect fit for a maternity sweater since you can wrap it around the belly if you are cold or keep it open with buttons attached... The only thing I am glad to had thing before casting on, planning on growing breast too, I knitted a little bit more ease for breast and now it's full !!!

Also second time with Cascade 220, it went smooth again and I still understand why it's so used : not expansive, impressive choice for coloways and also fun to knit with. A must for your stash and your future projects !!!

The final post about my Swallowtail shawl...

2010-04-13T17:35:00.002-04:00

I don't know if you remember but I did a Swallowtail shawl last Spring and I never got any time to take a good picture of it... well I presume now is better than never... ;)

Baby fever

2010-04-12T17:35:00.002-04:00

Hello !!!

again a long interruption of service in blogging... but I had busy needles and I will update all my projects in the next few days...

First of all, about baby in my belly, in order to wait to know gender I knitted the same pattern twice, once in boy style and the second one girl style...

Spec X 2

Pattern : Hodge by Stella Lange

Needle : 2.5 mm

Yarn for the boyish version : ONline Supersocke 100 Holiday Color (leftovers from my very first pair of sock back in 2007 about 20 gr.)

Yarn for the girlish version : ONline Supersocke 100 color Savanna

They were very fun and cute to make, that was the perfect project to wait until we know gender of baby...also a good way to use leftovers from previous projects. Baby items are made just for that I presume... ;)

So what are your predictions, boy or girl ???

Now I can tell everyone : we are having a GIRL !!!! :)

First picture of the cutie a few weeks ago...

FO : Knotty but nice, the tale of a hat...

2010-02-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

My last FO of 2009 never had it's picture taken to this blog because of a simple reason : we though for weeks that my boyfriend lost it at the border when we head down there at the end of the year...but no, I was doing some changes in my condominium and I just found it !!! So finally here are my FO post and pictures...

Spec :

Pattern : Knotty but nice by Nathalie Larson

Needles : 4.5mm

Yarn : .75 skein of Cascade 220 in dark gray

Cast on : December 16th 2009

Cast off : December 29th 2009

Mods : none

Comments : Umm if I ever do a hat with heavy cables, I'll remember to do it a bit bigger or knit looser because I think it's a bit thight. Fortunatly I have a very good nature and I will knit again for my man... :)

FO : February Lady Olympic sweater

2010-02-20T17:33:00.000-05:00

Yes I did another attempt at this pattern and it worth it totally... :) I had a blast knitting this and I knit in a record time... let me tell me the story of my new sweater...

First of all, it is part of Ravelympic SO I had to cast on during opening ceremony last Friday February 12th and my hands were anxious to begin. I had make my balls out my skeins and check my gauge prior to event which was allowed. And I knit like a crazy one to cast off on February 15th, Monday night with second sleeve. I just slack on putting my buttons on it and take pictures but during week it's kind of busy right here so I had to wait before to show to you all.

Here are the spec :

Pattern : February Lady Sweater by Pamela Wynne

Needles : 6.5mm

Yarn : just under 3 skeins of Malabrigo merino worsted in color Verdes, receive in December 2008 in a swap... let me show how much left I have :

That was VERY close from running out of yarn !!!

Mods : a few... I followed directions for a small but I remove 2 sections of 7 stitches to get a less swingy cardi and before I was aware of running out of yarn. I arrange the stitches where it suits me best in order to be confortable in it.

Here are some shots of it :

while blocking

front view

from the back

some proof of the baby belly

So glad to be done with my first sweater of the year and also have a sweater completed for Ravelympics !!! My challenge is now to complete another sweater for me before closing ceremony... I'll show you my progress tomorow.

FO : Trellis, well not really a Trellis but a cute toddler sweater...

2010-01-16T16:32:00.000-05:00

Yes done done and done with my modified version of Trellis by Britta Stolfus Rueschhoff avalaible on Knitty Spring 2005 for free.

Before showing my version of the thing.... let me show the "real" one as by designer

Here we are, cute cardigan with buttons and everything.

But here is what I done with that inspiration :

a sweater with buttons on shoulder to accomodate head easily and also not the real sleeves neither.

Here are the spec of that little creation (with lot of work...)

Original pattern : Trellis by Britta Stolfus Rueschhoff

Needles : 4.5mm

Yarn : Knit Picks Swish Worsted in color Marine Heather, about 4.33 balls

Size : 18 months

Mods... be take a confortable seat because there are a lot of them;

First,

BACK === I did add 6 rows of seed sts on the right side before binding off to be able to reinforce the shoulder and accomodate the buttons later.

FRONT === since I didn't wanted a cardigan but a sweater, I followed the instructions for the back again until the armholes decreases; after binding off 13sts on each side(armholes) I did continue to work in pattern as set for 15 more rows ending with a RS row. Work 22 sts, BO 3, knit in pattern til the end of the row. Nezt 17 rows, I decrease one at the neck edging every other row. Then BO all and right front is done. Do about the same thing on the other side. At the end, I add 3 rows of seed stich then work 2 buttons holes and knit 2 others rows in seed sts and after BO all. Front is now done.

SLEEVES === CO 39 sts as set in pattern. Work 20 rows in seed sts. Then, add one sts at beginning and ending of the row every 12 rows (7 times). While doing those instructions also add the biggest cable from Chart A in the middle of the sleeve. After last increase row, work 5 more rows in seed sts and BO.

After just have to sew every pieces together.

At the shoulder, I did sew the extra rows of seed stich on the shoulder and sew buttons on for reinforcement.

Note : I also decide not to add any other collar because anyway it doesn't show a lot and it's clean like that. About the yarn I choose : I may buy myself a whole truck since I love it so much !!! it's soft and superwash, what else can I ask for ?

Yeah ! done and I will send it by mail to his little owner, my nephew Zachary.

Happy Knitting in 2010 !!!

2010-01-12T17:21:00.000-05:00

I begin the new year while I still knit my old WIP from 2009...but I will keep knitting on them for as long as they took to complete them all, finally !

So take a look on those projects one by one :

First the highly modified Trellis sweater for my nephew Zachary...

I think that a button vest is not really well suited for a little boy who just want to play and run all around, so I decided to turn the vest into a sweater with a bigger head opening and I also modify the sleeves. I found the originals one to be too busy and distracted my attention from the body which I want to avoid. I will post all my mods with the FO post (soon enough I hope). I will finish the first sleeve today hopefully and cast on for the second one right after.

Then what about the Pea Pod Set for my own little one to be

I did finish the second sleeve yesterday and I still have to sew it on the body and then make the matching hat. The whole thing will need a good bath and blocking to open up the lace part. I already have many button in sight to finish the project perfectly...

And my last project in my current WIP bag are the plain man sock for my dad that I begun in *sigh* August of 2008... bad me ! At least he still want them and will be very happy in those socks. I turned the heel on the second sock and going great on the foot part, just have to sit and knit a bit everyday because it's not the most exciting knitting for sure !

Target end of project for the Trellis and Pea Pod are before the end of January, and the socks... right after I'm done with previous two, wish me luck !

Keep knitting, just keep knitting...

2009-12-20T08:00:00.003-05:00

....yes just keep knitting and maybe I will be able to finish knitting all my gift for Christmas. *crossed fingers* The longer one is the cutest one : a Trellis vest for my 16 months nephew Zachary.

Trellis is a pattern from Knitty Spring 2005 with only 890 projects on Ravelry, but that was before Ravelry and for sure there is a LOT of work involded in this one so not everyone with little one have the time to do it !

I also have 3 others projects to finish before December 24th at night.... just keep knitting, just keep knitting...

Last swap of the year

2009-12-19T16:25:00.001-05:00

Just received my last swap package of the year... but not the least fun ! I was again in Faves things swap (round 5 now) and I was matched with a pal from South Africa !!! Rozan did an amazing job spoiling me and I am so lucky to have her as a swap pal :)

She sent me gorgeous things very local for her : a shopping tote (I love the handle), 2 cards of buttons handmaidens by south African women, 4 balls of Vinnis Bambi cotton yarn (!!!), a South African calendar, chai black and green tea and ....

a wonderful pair of fingerless gloves in a soft soft, very soft yarn and look at the color !!! Little something in the picture above... did you see that I am poiting out South Africa ? :)

Travel to Riviera Maya part 2

2009-11-30T08:00:00.001-05:00

Umm looking to these pictures makes me wanna quit everything and get back to Mexico !!! We had such a wonderful time over there and I wish we can go back soon enough...

I wanted to share some more pictures with you about what we can see over there and leave for a moment in my memories of sun, sea, farniente....

I told you we went to Tulum but we all saw some pictures of Mayan ruins one day or another so I decide to introduce what we did after visiting Tulum ruins. We hire a tour with Mayan Xtreme adventures and we had 3 activities in the afternoon : flying in the sky over the rain forest in a canopy,

let our self go down from the sky using ropes and rappel techniques and finally swimming in a cenote (pure water that is found underground in Yucatan peninsula).

On the Hotel site we had the chance to see a lot of wildlife including those swans.

What I miss the most is the ocean and the sound of the waves on the beach... watching boat, go for a little swim and dreaming all day long in front of it...

But back to real life, we needed to head back home and we found out snow and a little surprise : my mom had decorate our christmas tree in our apartment and now we are sure our neighbour think that we are crazy since we had automatics lights on our tree since October 15Th... LOL

I hope that I will be able to travel again soon and next time I will bring knitting and find a LYS to buy local yarn too... !!!

FO : Owl baby vest

2009-11-29T10:00:00.000-05:00

Yes another FO, my current projects are just so quick that I don't even have time to picture then as a WIP and they are already FO in my Ravelry page and here on my blog... :) I love that and it's very rewarding to look at those FO!

Here are the specs of my new FO :

Pattern : Owl baby vest by Jodi Haraldson

(it's a gift for a mom to be in my entourage, she may read this but since she is not the only pregnant woman... wait to see if you are the lucky one !)

Needle : 3.5mm

Yarn : Rowan Calmer in a navy blue color about 1.2 ball

Cast on : November 20th
Cast off : November 21th

Mods : none except for the bind off : I used EZ sewn bind off for the arm holes and I forgot for the head but it still big enough. If I made this again I would had button in the back or at one shoulder to facilitate the work of the mom to change clothes on such a little baby...

Those are for ME !!!

2009-11-28T16:00:00.001-05:00

Yes my new FO is for me... not quite for me to wear but it will be for my .... child... I am pregnant for now 5 weeks and I already started to knit baby stuff for the little wee one that will enter in my life around July 29th 2010...

Here are the spec :

Pattern : Two tone-socks by Debbie Bliss (Simply baby book)

Needles : 3.5mm

Yarn : Rowan Calmer (navy blue) and Classic elite Wish (pale blue)

Size : 0-3 months

Cast on and cast off : November 21st

Comment : I love baby sock but this pattern is not my favorite, yes it's cute with 2 colors but there are way too many ends to weave in after the knitting part is done. Also the shape is a bit strange : the socks are pointy and too thin at the feet. I don't think that I will use the pattern again, I hope I will have more success with the other patterns in the book.

Christmas gift number 2

2009-11-27T20:00:00.000-05:00

Yes another Christmas gift is ready : fingerless mittens for my brother.

Here are the specs of my new creation :

Pattern : Dashing by Cheryl Niamath, Knitty Spring 2007

Needles : 4.5mm

Yarn : Wool of the Andes bulky by Knitpicks in color wine, about 1.2 skein

Cast on : November 7th
Cast off : November 14th

Size : medium

Mods : none but I wish I had made them a little bit shorter after the cables at the wrist but since he have bigger hands that me, it will be fine for him (I hope). Fun and quick pattern, even if it took me one week to finish them it was because I was sick with influenza but the knitting itself doesn't took too long and I am very happy to be done with them !!!

Travel to Riviera Maya part 1

2009-11-13T15:35:00.000-05:00

Hello !, here as promise, my pictures from my latest trip to Riviera Maya, Mexico in October...We had wonderful time and meet great people and we have a party we them tomorow night, that will be a lot of fun seing them again !!! No knitting trip, I had to rest from that too, but I will bring at least a little project on my next trip because my fingers were itching too much back home, I play with my yarn and pattern before to go to bed and I was exhausted... ;)

We left on October 9th from Montreal in the early morning so we could go to the beach on our first day out there. Here is a quick shot over Florida on our way to Mexico...

Riviera Maya is well known from tourist from all over the world and it's about 45 minutes from Cancun airport. Our hotel was Iberostar Paraiso Beach and we really really enjoyed the resort. We even consider going back next year for our wedding. Needless to say that it's a 5 stars hotel and it was so cool. Huge resort, a lot of walk but we enjoyed to walk to go to the beach and coming back to our room was a pleasure and we used to go the pool after the sea to take another drink in the pool.

We were very pale when we arrived in Mexico but we worked hard on that and now everybody seems so white to us back at home... lol !

Finally arrived at the hotel at 14h30 and we immediatly went to change in bathing suit and run to see the sea !! It was so cool finally being there after daydreaming about this travel for months !!!! I ran into it and finally felt in "vacation" and that last for 3 weeks.

Then we spent our time between having fun, meeting new friends, take cool colored drinks and enjoy the sun and the sea...

There are a lot more to say and must talk to you about our little aventure to Tulum Mayan site, that was awesome, stay tuned for part 2 soon enough !

First Chritmas gift is done !

2009-11-08T16:16:00.003-05:00

Hello !!!

i'm back with more knitting, I had a busy month in October and since I've been 2 weeks in Mexico, I did not had time to update here, I hope you still read me...

So, on a special request I knitted a second pair of Fetching, almost like the one I did in 2008 for my sister-in-law...but since my brother used them so much she really need another pair. I followed the instructions but I had a repeat of the cable on the wrist and also one more cable on fingers because I found them too short last time.

Don't worry about me spoiling the surprise...she doesn't read this anyway !!!

So here are the spec of my new pair of Fetching

Pattern : Fetching by Cheril Nyamath from Knitty summer 2006

Needle : 4mm DPN

Yarn : Michell and CIA Luxury fine merino superwash DK, about 1.2 ball

Cast on : November 7th
Cast off : November 8th

Was fun and I'm going back to knitting right away Christmas gift #2....stay tune... oh! and as soon as I have time I'll post pictures about my trip to Mexico and tell you how it was !

FO : Habitat

2009-10-05T06:00:00.000-04:00

Oh yes I am way behind on blogging and since I am constantly out of home for many reason it's hard to keep up...

So here is my latest creation :

Pattern : Habitat by Jared Flood
Yarn : Malabrigo Merino Worsted in color Azul Profondo 150
Needle : 4mm and 5mm

Cast on September 20th and cast off September 26th
Mods : none

Comments : I love love love love, adore and love again the yarn !!! Why didn't I knit before with Malabrigo ? It's now my favorite yarn ever ! It's soft, fun to knit and the colors are gorgeous, did I say that I LOVE Malabrigo ? ;)

On the serious side : pattern.... Jared Flood is a genius with cables and did a great job designing this hat. The S/M size is too short to cover my ear but that's ok because I will use it mostly in fall season here and in Swiss this winter so not too cold. I was planning to do a M/L for the Man but I think it will be a bit short because he have a bigger head than me. If I do I will use a color that both suit us to be sure... And I am so happy to finally had knit a hat for ME and no one else ! :)

What about a close-up on the cable to finish ?

Hat war is ... over for me...

2009-10-04T18:09:00.003-04:00

I told you yesterday I was behind on blog posting.... Almost 10 days ago I receive a weapon by mail... and that was the end of my war. My assasin did an awesome job and I love the hat so much that I am almost happy to be already out !

Check out the cool weapon :

Hat war was fun and I will do it again next year for sure !!! :)

Frog pond

2009-10-04T17:55:00.000-04:00

A long time ago, on February 2ND 2008, to be precise, I cast on for a lovely project : Cherie Amour published on Knitty... I choose the exact same yarn that the pattern called for at once and I even made a gauge of the lace and a gauge of the ribs... but I don't know why it doesn't came out gorgeous as I hope for. Body was too short and the sleeves a mess. So yesterday morning I took my courage and decide to pull out the project from the hibernation and try it a last time and finally frogged the whole thing...

Sometime don't you think it's the only thing to do !

Now I am feeling GREAT and he good new is that I have a lovely yarn in stash to use for a cool new project. I originally bought 5 skeins but I gave the 2 news one to my best friend for her birthday with cool patterns so now what can I do with 3 gorgeous balls of yarn.... Future will tell soon....

FO : Thrum mittens

2009-09-22T08:02:00.003-04:00

Yes yes yes !!! My hands will be toasty this winter to play in the snow with the Man and throw snow balls in the back of his head when he's not looking at me.... ;) lol !

Specs :

Pattern : Thrum mittens kit by Fleece artist, color is Mineral I think... but not sure it wasn't written on the pattern.

Needles : 3.5mm

Size : adult medium

Cast on : September 12Th

Cast off : September 18Th

Mods : none

Notes to myself, don't be afraid about pulling on fleece and pay attention to my hands and wrists, I don't know if it's the thrumming but my hands were very painful at the end of this. But quick and fun pattern will certainly make more.

Tonight is Stitch and bitch with the group of Quebec city ! Yippee !! :) See you tonight girls :)

Hat war is on !!!

2009-09-21T08:48:00.003-04:00

Yes I am in war !!! In hat war... for those who don't what I am talking about, before you think that I am totally crazy read this : hat war is a competition in knit and crochet world. I found the event on Ravelry and I sign up. We must knit or crochet a weapon, a hat, and send it as quick as possible to our target. Once the target have the weapon the target is "dead" and must send her incomplete weapon to the assassin who will have to try to kill the second target. Last one standing win a big prize of yarn of course...

The patterns were available at midnight on Friday morning but I was sleeping and when I woke up I decide to finish my thrum mittens (which I will blog about tomorrow) and then choose a pattern and knit it up. I choose the pattern then I knit it up quickly...
Specs :

Pattern : Boy hat by Elizabeth Heath-Heckman

Needle : 4.5mm

All knit up last Friday went fast but 2 x2 ribbing is really boring, fortunately I had great movies to watch !!! ;)

Weapon is now in the mail to my target... BANG BANG !

Thursday night knitting

2009-09-17T19:14:00.004-04:00

Oh yes it's finally week end for me !!! I had a big week and a very great week end before but I am so glad that it's over and well behind me now... I recently booked my vacation for Riviera Maya and we are leaving in only 3 weeks from now.... I am so excited and I did not even start to think about knitting for the vacation... Really have to take note about that I can't go to a vacation resort for 2 weeks without yarn and needles ;)

Here is a little picture of me playing on the "Muse" statue in Carre D'Youville in Vieux Quebec...

On the knitting side I put the sock on the side for another project that I just bought at the new LYS next door to my place : Thrum mitten kit by Fleece Artist. I really enjoy the project and I knit the first mitten straight in one day and I had almost no time to knit on the second one this week and I am almost done now. That how quick those mittens are !

Here is how the kit look like when I first brought it home. I paid 29$ for the kit, including yarn, roving and the pattern. It's ok since I will use pattern again for sure.

Then I did not stop to take any picture until earlier today. You can see the first mitten all done in the back, the roving left to put in thrums in the second mitten and my wip on the second mitten.

You can see the needle holding live stitches for the thumb placement later but I kept on knitting before coming here to talk about it. I already told you but it's really addictive when you are knitting thrums !! :)

Winter be ready, 'coz I am now !

One down, one more to go...

2009-09-04T15:00:00.000-04:00

First sock is done as you can see, I've finished it on Tuesday night and I already cast on for the second one since I was watching TV and didn't want to find my yarn and notions to begin a Christmas project. I enjoyed the feeling of one feet in a warm wool sock and yes it's close now the moment where I will wear them and appreciate them as well. I always wonder why I do not knit them two at once, but I love dpn too much for sock knitting to abandon that practice... or maybe I could try at least the circular needle Robyn sent me in previous swap to knit socks soon.

I love love love love the colors and the yarn is heaven ! Kangaroo Dyer is one of the best yarn for sock I ever used, it's soft, smoochy and feel like a charm while knitting. Aren't it's lovely ?

My sock number 2 is on the way already, first chart done and I'm still going and going. It's always faster on the second one because I do not have to read the pattern again, I know it by heart.

So for now I will enjoy my 4 days week end and hopefully, I'll have plenty of time to knit and continue my sock...

Oh, almost forgetting... there is a new LYS right next to my condo in St-Augustin, will talk about it soon and get some pictures for your eye pleasure... with lot of fiber to please your mind! It opened yesterday and yes I am already a customer..... ;)

Sock on the go

2009-08-28T08:40:00.000-04:00

What was I doing in the past 2 week on the knitting side ? Since we had temperature over 40 Celsius for many and many days I thought about knitting wool socks was just the perfect thing to do. After all, when it's so hot outside I can only think about frilly night and a good pair of knitted socks while watching a movie with a hot chocolate...

So I wound my Kangaroo dyer yarn in the color Mango Reprise that I bought last summer(right one skein on the picture), I found my 2.5mm dpn and I searched my queue on Ravelry to find a pattern to please my mind, my hands and later on...my feet. And looking to my work so far, I must say happy feet!

I choose the pattern Shur'tugal by Alice Yu to begin my first pair of sock since a very long time, actually if you remember my last one were my Bellatrix socks in mid-January. Just before I change all my life ... so I was kind of worried to knit socks again but everything is alright fortunately for me !

I cast on for those little one on August 13Th and I don't knit a lot these days so my progress aren't the one I am used to. But on August 15Th I went to my nephew birthday to Boisbriand and came back in the same day so a lot of road knitting was done on that day. My BF was more than happy to drive my car on the way back anyway !!

Those socks are kind of slow knitting and I love seeing the hand painted colors swirl around the sock, some may call it bad pooling but I love it and since they are for me anyway it doesn't matter !!! So far I am almost done with the feet and I will toes soon now on my first one... the last picture was taken a few days ago.

The best story about me knitting this pair of sock happens yesterday after work. I was at my head office for the afternoon and I went out of my meeting at 4:30 just on time to hit the traffic and with all the workers coming out of office plus the work on the roads of Quebec, it took me one hour to make a simple 12-15 minutes trip back at home... So at some point I was completely stopped for 2 or 3 traffic lights and I don't my car these day (yes again BF is driving my car but that's another story) and the one I am renting is automatic so I pulled my knitting and I had time to knit 5 rows of my sock before being able to move again !!! The man in the car probably thought that I am a bit crazy but at least I didn't spent 15 minutes of life in a negative feeling about traffic but I enjoyed a good moment of car knitting... ;)

I must now begin Christmas knitting also so I will finish sock #1 and then I will knit a Christmas gift and then I will be allowed to finish my pair of sock. I think I will have a lot of Christmas knitting this year.... the best moment to start is probably as soon as possible.

Last FO, non knitting but still crafty !!

2009-08-16T07:20:00.000-04:00

My last FO is absolutely non knitting but I wanted to share because maybe it can help someone that want to transform old furniture from "bof" to "vavavoum!!"

I bought those old furniture because I had not enough storage in my bedroom but I did not wanted to send too much money on it. I also wish to have something unique and special in my bedroom. It also have the second usage of decoration now, I will tell you how I made my way through this weird idea I had of using wallpaper to cover old furnitures and gave them a second life...

First here the before pictures of the small one, pretty ugly uh ?

The bigger one was as ugly but just bigger and ugliest in the same time... lol...fortunately I had them for a cheap price from a coworker ;). I bought a roll of pre-glued wallpaper and spray paint in a silver color for place I do not want to cover with wallpaper. I begun to check on the smaller one the size of paper needed and I cutted and glued the first section as I would have done on a wall. I also make sure there was no air under the paper and cutted excess paper with a cutter.

Here you can see that I choose a paper very forgetful so I don't have to match perfectly to make the project look gorgeous, which is good because I would still be there trying to match and glue the whole thing...Halfway done on the little one and I gain experience and also discovered that I need to had more glue to solidify my work. So I went out to buy "No more nails" glue and I lifted the corners and had glue under them.

It is very important to let the paper dry fully before to glue with the second glue or that makes a weird look under the paper and you have to redo the whole thing anyway.

I was pretty exhausted at the end of my project, I spent almost 8 hours on and off of it to make myself a very cool product of which I am very proud ! It was worth the work and for sure if I ever do something like that again I will know how to this time and spend less time thinking about how to and more time doing it !!

Almost done, only the door still drying.

Small one all completed

The bigger one finally complete with doors on

It's important to work on your ideas and now, I am so proud of my work, that I will maybe transform my next TV table too..... to be continued....

SOAB5 : my box is here !!!!

2009-08-15T19:30:00.005-04:00

I just receive my box from Robyn yesterday... I was not home when the mailman came so I had to wait and I could only gets it by the end of the afternoon and as soon as I saw the "Robyn nest" tag as the return address.... I was confirmed in my idea that you were my spoiler for the swap Robyn !!!! I knew it from the very first email... and I am SO happy with what you sent me, I am spoiled totally! I may sleep with the yarn if that wasn't so hot these days (36 degrees today if you want to know).

So here are the very cool goodies I received from Robyn aka knitpurlmama on Ravelry and this time we had a color theme and I said green like Happy forest green colorway in Dream in color smoochy... you can say you are a true knitter when your favorite color is a yarn colorway !!!

First of all before the parcel itself she sent me 6 patterns in my wish list !!! Yes 6 and she even gave me the opportunity to also give me one of her own design (link to her shop : Robyn's nest btw because she deserve a little publicity please visit her shop).

So in my box I had a lovely card she wrote to me, 2 pencils, assorted teas, gum, lipstick, mints, candies, healthy snack (fruit to go that did not make it to picture), individual sachet of lemonade and so cool notions : 2 labels that says "my own design", 3.25mm bamboo DPN, 2.5mm 32'' circular (!!!), bamboo cables needles and a mini bamboo crochet hook.

Handmade stitch markers in green colorway and also some in gold color, they are butterfly so my knitting will fly off the needles so fast now ;) and also 2 pairs of lovely handmade earrings, wow and you know how much I love earrings !!! A green pair on the upright and a pair of scrabble one with the "S" of Sophie, so original. I will wear those this week at office :) there will be comments from coworkers for sure...hihi!

And yummy, yummy yarn goodness....... Zen Garden Bling Yarn in Olive twist color and it's sparkly !!! The yarn really wear it's name well there are little bling bling in the yarn and that will be a lovely and washable pair of sock for me soon !

Robyn I only have a few words to say to you, first I love you, you are an awesome spoiler and I can't say how much I wish to thank you. You made my day by sending me some patterns I wanted for a long time and then the parcel itself is beyond expectation : thank you so much you made that swap over the top !!!

Great Saturday....

2009-08-09T13:00:00.000-04:00

Simple story of my super awesome Saturday, on August 8Th....

First of all I went to vieux port de Quebec ta take a walk on the morning and we visited "Plein Art" an exposition of handmade stuff from people around Quebec and I got a lot of compliment on my Shalom sweater.... ;)

So we spent a great morning walking around and going to the market buying some local stuff and also tasting fresh jam and blueberry chocolate !!! Look on the next picture the pretty little hat I found at Plein Art, I love it so much !

Then on the early evening we head to l'Ange-Gardien to join the group of aventurers to go on the fireworks at the Montmorency waterfalls using kayks ....We even had dinner on water !!! So cool I can tell to eat watching the sun falling down into the water....

I took a few pictures of the spot where we stopped to eat, enjoy the view....

and then the bouquet final, the Grands feux loto-quebec from the water.... I had a fantastic day !

FO : Foliage for a swap

2009-08-08T08:08:00.000-04:00

Yes another one FO, I am on fire these days... LOL I had to make a handmade item for a swap I am involved in. So here it is Foliage from knitty, fall 2007 in bulky version.

Specs.

Pattern : Foliage by Emilee Mooney, Knitty fall 2007

Needles : 6.5mm and 5.5 mm

Yarn : Knitpick Wool of the Andes bulky, about half a skein in color wine

Time : about 3 hours, yes really !

Mods : none, I knit it straight on Friday afternoon

I really like the rustic feeling of this hat if I don't block and when you wear it all the lace pattern opens up like a fantastic surprise... I don't think I will block and I will let my spoilee decide if she want to block or not one day. I will for sure make a hat for me now after one for the Man and one for a secret spoilee, when it's going to be for me ? Next one for sure !

Modeled by me and the the pretty red flowers matching... ;)

FO : KOOLHASS for the Man

2009-08-07T14:00:00.000-04:00

Yes not even a WIP post about this one since it was so fast and fun to knit !!! I just hope that 5993 stitches isn't enough to call the "sweater curse" lol... Here are the spec of my new creation ...

Pattern : Koolhass by Jared Flood

Close-up of the lattice pattern

Yarn: Vermont Organic Fiber company O-Wool Classic 2
(it is supposed to be a fingering weight but it's more a dk in my hands)

Needles : 4mm and 5mm

Size : Man size

Mods : none, was way too cool the way it is already !!!

Enjoyment factor : HIGH !!! I may knit myself one too before winter :) and I think the Man also enjoyed it next winter ! :)

Fo : Shalom cardigan revisited

2009-08-03T20:00:00.000-04:00

Sometime you look at a pattern on Ravelry and he speaks to you and Shalom Cardigan told me, I want to be a sweater !!! I told, speak... not it yells at me to do it that way only... so I listened and I was knitting all the way down to the end of it. Here is how I did it my own way.

First of all as it's an FO post, the specs of my little baby :

Pattern : Shalom Cardigan by Meghan McFarlane

Yarn : Cascade Eco + in color Baked apple that I bought at kitknit last year. I used about 90% of the skein and I still need to figure out was to do with the leftovers.

Needles : 6.5 mm circular needles

Time : Cast on July 20th at night and Cast off on August 1st in the early morning

Mods : I did knit the yoke as intended by the pattern it's after that it comes interesting for us fellow knitters...I did not wanted to have any sewing involved after the knitting so I knit in the round after the yoke adding one stitch in the middle and using it as the middle of the round. I used the leaf pattern of hapichick as Nordly did (Ravelry nickname). Then after it was long enough I had another stitch and 5 rows of twisted ribs and I cast off using EZ sewn cast off and voila !!! I have a new sweater and it's 27 degrees outside, very practical ;). I did plan some buttonholes but finally I like it better without buttons.

Happy one with a new cool sweater !

Sweater on the way off the needles

2009-07-31T08:43:00.004-04:00

Yes my Shalom sweater is almost off the needles now !!! I only need to try on one more time and decide on a way to cast, a few finishing touches and voilà !! :) I am so proud of this and it will be a pleasure to wear and show my new little treasure of yarn to keep me toasty in a few months... not now for sure we have so much heat these days, it's perfect.

I will only leave you this incomplete picture to keep the surprise for the FO thread very soon !! ;)

On another subject, I just got a brand new car Thursday and I am in LOVE LOVE LOVE !!!!!

Mazda3 Sport GT

Yummy.... what else to say that I even consider to sleep in while it was too hot in my home... ;)

Work in progress

2009-07-26T21:08:00.005-04:00

I am currently working on a new wip : the Shalom Cardigan, but that little one did not wanted to be a cardi but a sweater with a leaf pattern on the front. I was inspired by the one Nordly (on Ravelry) made last year with the leaf pattern that hapichick made on hers...

So this one was for a long time on my "to do" list and I bought the yarn months ago, good for me I am currently doing it at a very good pace. I cast on Monday night and I am almost done with the body... and I keep going !

Here it was on Friday night

and now on Sunday night

I did resolve my blocking problem yet so no FO pictures for Swallowtail project and I will work on it by the end of the week to present FO pic as soon as possible !

On another theme I was invited to a beautiful wedding yesterday night and that was awesome ! How it cannot be, dress with a gorgeous dress, being with people I love and having a very good night :) Thanks guys for being there with me !!!

Tuesday's travelling

2009-07-21T10:00:00.000-04:00

You all know my great interest in travelling all around the world and since I am looking to do 2 trips 'til the end of the year I thought about making a weekly chronicle about cities in the world that I would like to see one day or another...

Today to inaugurate the whole thing I will talk to you about Colmar, France which I will visit in December. If you follow the "Tour de France" they just went through the city a few days ago and it's a beautiful city.

Colmar by night

Colmar is in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace (northeastern France). It is situated along the Alsatian Wine Route and considers itself to be the "Capital of Alsatian Wine"

Along the Alsatian Wine Route...

Colmar have a great history as in Alsace they are right next to Germany and Sweden. It was firth founded in the 9th century. It was granted the status of free imperial city of the Holy Roman empire in 1226. Then during the "Thirty Years'War", in 1632 the city was taken by Sewden armies and they helds the city for 2 years. In 1697, under LouisXIV the city was then conquered by France. In 1871 another annexion, after the Franco-Prussian War, Alsace is now part of the newly form German Empire. And finally it's returned to France after World War I in 1945.

Little Venice

Colmar is 64 kilometer from Strasbourg (which I will talk about in another chronicle) and directly to the east of the Vosge moutain. The secret of region for wine it's the perfect climate they have...about 550mm of annual precipitation, the driest city in France.

I will keep some interest point to talk about when I will be back from the city myself... ;)

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