Frosty

A friend asked me to knit a child's hat for her grandchild, but she didn't want a Shrek hat (thank heavens)... so I told her about this hat that I knit for the nephews in 2007, and she thought that would be cute.

This is Frosty ... knit from assorted shades of Patons Decor, on 4 mm dpns. Started Dec. 2nd at Knit Nite, finished Dec. 6

P.S. I knit 2 more Shrek hats ... and now am working on numbers 26, 27 and 28 -- stop the insanity.

A little adventure

I don't think this needs many/any words, except to say that we had a great time with T's brother and wife and our niece A and nephew Spenny.

Oh, and we got our Christmas tree!

Forgotten FOs

Its been a while since I blogged about knitting, and I realized I have neglected to mention a few FOs (and why finish something if you don't bother to tell anyone? If a pair of socks is knit in by a solitary knitter, does anybody care?)

I made these

and am calling them "earthy" for obvious reasons (the clever naming of projects has gone to the wayside folks - I am way too stressed to come up with a clever name for a vanilla pair of socks!). The details are on my Ravelry project page, but for those of you who do not Ravel, they are made of Kroy Jacquards, in Rich Earth Tones colourway, and knit in my standard vanilla sock pattern, on 2.75 mm needles. Knit 'em in tandem for the matchy matchy effect. They have since been gifted by my MIL to a friend of hers who always admires the handknit socks my MIL wears (made by her most excellent DIL - me!). The friend loves them - I am pleased.

And those who read this here blog regularly will not be surprised that I have gone on a knitting stint again - In November, I knit 16 more Shrek hats (but have no pictures of the pile of complete hats - I'd knit 4, and they'd go, then knit 2 more, and they'd go ... they were a moving target!)

I am addicted, they are seriously too cute! A bunch went to the craft sale and to others who placed orders, and I have 2 left (my Shrek hat total to date in 2009 is 24 ... is that extreme? Am I fixated? should I see someone about it?)

I have a few more works in progress, but they are not done to a point I can blog them. I shoudl be back in a few days with some pictures.

Big Ole Moon

My House in the middle of my street

I figured there should be a before shot

and a during shot (Apparently, there used to be windows on the sides of my house! Who knew!)

Hopefully, soon, there will be an after shot. This reno is a little nerve wracking, making decisions, and wondering if it will look nice when it is all done - new siding and new windows to match the new roof and chimney we did last year.

A change in taste

I've noticed lately that my taste is changing ... I've never had an interest in, or even paid any attention to, anything with owls on it, but suddenly - totally taken by them.

I've been eying up fabric - (this one is from Spoonflower - scrumptious!)
(this one I found on Hartsfabric's site)
(and this fabric is from Harts too!)

Owl material isn't all I've been taken with. I am thinking of gettin' my craft on by making one of these - as Amy at the Leaky Lounge blog has so kindly listed a tutorial for, or one of these appliqued on who knows what?!

Yumi Yumi's etsy Shop has been getting a lot of looks from me -- love it! Go look-see!

There are over 62,000 owl related items on Zazzle - and I've been working my way through the site, page by page (some pretty adorable stuff here! Even Shoes!), and I've even found (and bookmarked!) a blog devoted to all things owlie - My Owl Barn.

I find myself searching Ravelry for cute Owl patterns - this is adorable, and this is too cute for words, I love this and this makes me want to grab the needles and go-go-go!

Whoo-oo'd a thunk it? An old broad can change her taste (somebody hide my credit cards!)

somebody - please take away my self striping sock yarn!

I can't seem to stop knitting vanilla socks with self-striping yarn! I have other knitting to do, things people have ordered, craft sale knitting and Christmas gifts that aren't socks -- and what do I pick up to knit? Socks. I just finished these tonight ... made of Socken Wolle yarn in colour 675 (which I am calling "A Conservative Walk on the Wild Side" because of the neutral, conservative colours that contrast so much with the vibrant orange and magenta pink).

They are a gift for a friend ... can't say who - surprise gift!

The details are the same as all my other vanilla sock posts - knit on 2.75 mm needles (bamboo this time. I started them on Oct. 31st as Halloween knitting, and finished them tonight.

I like 'em ... sometimes it is good to mix the conservative and the wild!

Christmas Knitting Progress

I have finished another Christmas gift ... they have been done for a while, but I neglected to photograph them.

Steps for my Step ... socks for my step mother, knit from Austermann Step in Brombur (colour # 3). They remind me of sock monkeys. Ravelled here, blogged here.

Vanilla ... not just for ice cream anymore

Yep - another pair of plain ole vanilla socks(but jazzed up with an Eye Of Partridge heel). Pretty dull, but I needed knitting to take to the movie last weekend ("Cirque de Freak:the Vampire's Assistant" - quite good,reminds me of "American Werewolf in London' from the 1980s), and the vanilla sock meets the criteria.

The Details:
Pattern: vanilla, plain, boring sock
Needles: 2.75 mm dpns, 1 sock on Estelle natural bamboo, the other on Harmony woods. I knit them in tandem to be sure they were very 'matchy matchy'.
Yarn: Patons Kroy Sock Stripes, colourway 'Cyan Stripes'
Time in: 6 days. Started - Sat. Oct. 24th, Finished - Friday, Oct. 30th
For: my baby brother (well, he is 23, so I guess he's not a baby anymore), for Christmas. He moved out West in the Summer to work, and has found a job he really likes ... but he says it is FREEZING (big sista to the rescue!)
Again?: yeah ... as dull as they are to look at and write about, I'll keep making vanilla's fairly often, as I can make them in the dark, I have a ton (literally, almost!) of self striping yarn which is great for stocking stitch, I can crank a pair out in about a week if I am working (and quicker if I am not), and they make a nice basic sock present (especially for a man) - although my husband T told me last night his favorite type of sock is one with a small rib top, and wider ribbing down the leg to the foot ... he likes the way it hugs his foot and calf. He is becoming so well versed in handknit socks ;)

Boo to You!

Well, another Halloween has come and gone ... and I had some pretty cute, err, I mean SCAREY visitors that came from everywhere!

They came from the land ...

A & S, our niece and nephew, came out dressed as a vampire and a pumpkin, and were among the first to arrive, followed immediately by our 12 year old niece V, as a gorilla, and then a few minutes later our nephews J & Baby O stopped in (they are visiting for the weekend from Halifax). J is a knight, and Baby O is Woody from Toy Story.

They came from the air ...

My sister and her husband accompanied the boys, and she was dressed as a witch (she's such a good mom - dresses up with the boys every year! She's been a farmer, a pirate, a cow girl, and now a witch!)

They came from the sea ...

Little Miss A the Lobster came by for a visit too -- she looked pretty darned cute on her first Halloween (kudos to her momma on sewing such a sweet costume for her!)

We had 43 kids visit the house ... not bad, but we usually get more. I carved a few pumpkins, but the wind kept blowing out the candles ... or was it the wind? Maybe a low flying witch!