The final post about my Swallowtail shawl...

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... ;)

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

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 : Owl baby vest

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 !!!

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

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 !!!

First Chritmas gift is done !

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

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 ?

FO : Thrum mittens

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 !!!

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 !

Last FO, non knitting but still crafty !!

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....

FO : Foliage for a swap

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

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

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 !

FO : Bellatrix socks

Yes done under one week, then went very fast because I did not spend too much time and they are complete ! Yay !

The pattern is very fun (and free) to work with and very easy, after the first one, I knew the whole pattern by heart with the always same 8 rows (6 time st st) it's quite fast and easy to remember the pattern...

Here are the specs

Pattern : Bellatrix by Monkey Toes

Yarn : Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in color Serengeti about 75 % of the skein

Needle : 2.5mm DPN

Cast on January 10th

Cast off January 16th

Comments : I find the sock a bit baggy on the leg, good thing that it has twisted rib at the top because if not they would fell off my leg and the heel is really too short in my taste but it goes well with the very stretchy pattern and the drops stitches. About them, this stitch pattern is really fun because you have to create hole into your knitting which is not usual at all and it had interest to the whole process. The yarn compliment the pattern well and the color combo is well choose with the story and inspiration behind the pattern (Harry Potter inspired).

2 FO in 2 weeks, not bad huh ? Be prepared, 2009 will be a big knitting year !

2009 is going too fast already !

Already January 10th and it seems like yesterday it was still in December ready for New Year eve's party ! It does sound like this year will be a good one, but a fast one again !!! :)

I only had a very little time to knit this year so far and only manage to do those little cuties out of sock yarn leftovers



The pattern is Magic slippers by Caroline Dlugy-Hegwer available for free on her blog. It's a very clever pattern to use leftover in fingering weight and I have another little ball in the same color, so I don't know what i'll do this time...