time to fess up

So far i have posted pics of finished objects. I feel that in the interest of full disclosure I should come clean, lest you, my reading public, get the impression that I am a fast knitter or an avid completer (?) of projects.

Yes, I have completed projects. However, I have far more unfinished projects. So, today, I present:

(insert space-movie theme here)

The U.F.O.s

1.
Wrapped lace cardigan from Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2005.
Yarn: recycled yarn from a sweater my mom gave me for the purpose of recycling. Fibre content: some cotton, ramie (?) and who knows what else. I lost the content tag.
Cast on: The day I got the magazine. Whenever that was. A long time ago.

See that? I have about 2 inches left to do on the back. Why don't I finish it? Who knows.

What's that? You'd like a close up? Oh, okay.


Let's move on, shall we?

2.
Tank. Free pattern from Chicknits
Yarn: Bernat cotton.
Cast on: January? who knows.

It looks complete, doesn't it? Looks can be deceiving. I did too many decreases for the arms and it needs to be fixed. It would be pretty simple to fix, just ripback to the start of the decreases, but I haven't done that. Why? Well, there are just so many other projects to cast on and, er, not complete.

3.
Tank 2. Free pattern from Chicknits
Yarn: Filatura di Crosa: Millefili Fine
Cast on: February possibly.

It, too, looks complete, but it lies. lies lies lies. It lied to me while I was knitting it. "I will so love you and behave and fit you well and you will be cool and comfortable and stylish." Lies. Need proof?

see that neck opening?

yup. 6 inches across. I will NOT be able to get that over my head.

Can you hear the far off ripping sounds?

4.
Lace Leaf Pullover pattern by Teva Durham in the Summer IWK
Yarn: Recycled from a turtleneck I loved but never wore (can't deal with turtlenecks)
Cast on: April.

Hmm. That looks complete. What are you talking about Lori? This pattern was really interesting. The bottom is knit in the round to the middle, then the top is knit in the round to the middle where they are grafted together. The sleeves are knit separately (duh) and then grafted and sewn in. well, here comes the honesty:


!!!!
The body and sleeve were knit in about a day and a half. The second sleeve:

has about 15 inches done. Why is it not finished? Again, I don't know. I just peetered out and put it down. I seem to be easily distracted.

5.
Soleil from Knitty
Yarn: TLC CottonPlus in Kiwi
Cast on: April sometime.

close up of lace trim


I was going to frog this, since it seemed to be too narrow (ie tight) but I put it on waste yarn and tried it on and it seems like it will fit just right. So, we press on.

6.
Yarn Girls Tank from the IWK website
Yarn: RedHeart Cotton Twist that I dyed. Only parts of the yarn dyed so it has a ragg kind of appearance.
Cast on: May

WAY too wide. Why is it that i am SO bad at figuring out my size? I swatched for this!! It would fit 1 1/2 of me. Maybe I am smaller now than I was 2 weeks ago? who knows. FROGGIT!

7.
Lace poncho-- no pattern, just a loose idea
Yarn: Patons Brilliant in Crystal Cream
Cast on: Last week.

I discovered a MASSIVE mistake after about 5 inches. FROGGIT (Frogged, actually)

8.
Lace/net poncho -- got the idea from a book that I don't own... :)
Yarn: Patons Brilliant in Crystal Cream
Cast on: the day I frogged the above.

really dark pic!

So, what is the deal with these ponchos? I don't really like ponchos that much. I don't wear them.

My mom asked me to make her one. She has a couple of weddings to attend and wanted a poncho to wear with her outfit. She showed me a bunch of ideas, one of which was made with this:

Pretty, no? It SUCKS to work with. SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS. (sorry if you're a big fan of trellis type yarn)

So, I tried with the Patons brilliant and it is so nice by comparison. We'll see how this turns out.

So, that's about it. Think that's enough? Well.

On Saturday my friend Julie called to say she was going to Gina Brown's (LYS) and did I want to go? Well, let's see. I'm getting kind of low on yarn. (HA) I wasn't going to GET anything. Honest.


it followed me home!!!

I PROMISE I'm not going to cast on with it...


er. It's just a swatch. Honest.

Well, that's it. That's all of my UFOs.

No it's not. I lied.

9.
Sock.
Yarn: Bernat Sox
Cast on: January!!!

I know that i need to knit socks to have a knit blog. I know that. I'm trying. It's just the needles are SO small and there are so many stitches. Plus this sock is too wide for my foot. (do I sound like I'm rationalizing something?)

Okay. so, there you are. I'm going to hide my head in my yarn stash now.

aaaarrrrgggh

just a quick post to say aaarrrggghh. (no, i'm not channeling a pirate today).

(psst... come here, I'll hold my hand up and whisper. I don't want the computer to hear me.)

I have all of these pictures in my camera. Pics from my trip to saskatchewan. not terribly exciting but there are kids and dogs and a cat. oh, yes. a cat. you've probably been wondering where i get off having a knitting (etc) blog when i don't even have a CAT! sorry. i know i'm breaking the sacred knitblogger code, but i just am (ehem) not a cat person. I'm sorry. really. can i still have a knit blog? i'll post a picture of my mom's cat. will that help?

where was i? oh, yeah. right. stupid (shh) computer. my computer decided it was NOT talking to my camera. So, hours of therapy and mediation finally resulted in renewed camera-computer communication. It took a lot of patient prodding, but i think they are through the rough patch. plus the camera has a new battery, which i think will add some, er, spark to the relationship. So i was finally able to upload my pics from my camera to my computer (did i mention how aged my computer is? it was built in 1996. Yes. almost 10 years. It's ancient) So, i then tried to export the pics from iphoto to my desktop so that i could upload them to my picture hosting account. but iphoto was feeling very put out by the attention the camera received and felt like it was left out of the decisions made in that relationship, so it was holding the pictures hostage. in the meantime, my computer decided it was tired and shut down. when i finally got it restarted, i had to re-do all of my settings. i think it's early onset alzheimers. the hostage rescue team finally talked iphoto into releasing the pics. it was a long session of negotiations, but it was finally over. all that was left to do was to upload the pics to my picture hosting account. i was able to upload only a couple of the pics when my account was FULL!!!

So, as i said before. aaaarrrrgggh. argh.

so, dear readers. i'm not neglecting you. thank you for commenting and letting me know you are there. it is so encouraging to have people i don't know leave comments on the things i've made!

i'll be back soon, hopefully with pics. cross your fingers

p.s. why WHY can't i get the graphic for the knittyheads ring to load? why?? anyone? help! apparently html or whatever knowledge is needed has escaped me.

thank you.

Sunshine in yarn form

Is it just me or is EVERYONE having babies? Lucky for the knitter, this means lots of opportunities to knit fun baby things!

I loved Knitty's Anouk when I first saw it, and when I found out that my brother and his wife were expecting twins, I was hoping that at least one of them would be a girl so I could make this cute sundress. At this point (they are due in October) they "know" they are having a boy and a girl! Yippee!! In the meantime, a friend of a friend (it's more complicated than that, but I'll try to be concise) had a baby girl last week. I had wanted to make something for their baby, so when the baby was a girl, I decided to try Anouk.

I decided to use (don't judge me) Bernat Handcrafter cotton. It was cheap, it came in the colors I wanted and it was the guage I needed. It's actually quite soft, now that it's knit up.

So, I digress. Here, in chronological order: the knitting of Anouk.

Oh, yeah, I changed the pattern to knit it as a dress, rather than the open sided pinafore in the pattern. I cast on the stitches for the front and the back together and knit it in the round. When I got to the point in the pattern when the decreases were completed, I separated for armholes and followed the pattern the rest of the way.

So, here we are:

the skirt and the rest of the yarn.

It knit up really quickly. I used about 1/2 skein of the green, and about 2 skeins of the yellow.


I hate to swatch. I rarely knit a complete swatch, just usually start my projects and measure guage when I'm in progress. Lazy? probably. I like to think of it as Practical. Yeah, that's right. If the guage is right, then I'm already on my way to the completed project. If not, well, maybe I didn't want to knit that anyway! (you're right, it's lazy).

I think I'll hang on to this pic and use it as an example of a swatch. Yeah, right, a swatch. (it's not a swatch. it's a pocket. shh).


Look at all these ends. ugh.


The finished anouk. (why is this picture so DARK? must figure out the digital camera better... hmm...)


So, there it is. So cute. I will be knitting more of these. Very fun.

Tomorrow I'm driving to Saskatchewan for the long weekend. My sister and her boys are hopefully going to be there. I'm looking forward to being home for a while. Yay Victoria Day long weekend. Boo really long drive (5 hours). Yay time with my mom and my nieces and nephews and sister. Boo really long drive back.

Enjoy the weekend! (my imaginary readers... :) )

Good Job!! High Five!!

Saturday evening I went to my friend Cobi's house for supper with her and her kids. She has 3 year old twins who crack me up. My nieces and nephews live far away from me, so I have sort of adopted her kids as surrogate niece and nephew. They call me "Looie" or "Lolly" or sometimes, strangely, "Lori". They make me laugh. At one point while we were eating on Saturday, Noah saw something on the lawn through the open back door. He made a break for it to go get it. Kyra watched to see what he was doing, narrating his progress to us the whole time, speculating on what it was. When he got the toy and started back the the house, Kyra cheered him on "You got it Noah! Good Job!! High Five!!"

I wish I had someone to cheer me on for the most mundane of tasks!

I told this story to a coworker today and for the rest of the day we were shouting "Good Job!! High Five!" to anyone who came by. Have I mentioned that I'm a bit of a loser? hmm..

So, on to the knitting.

Past projects again today, with the theme being: Stuff I made for Kyra and Noah.
**not all projects are knit**

I made this teddy bear and bunny for the kids for Christmas (or a birthday?) last year (ie 2003/04 ish). The bear was knit with some sort of boucle from Bernat and the bunny, the dress and the bear's sweater were knit in cheap-o acrylic. The patterns are from the Fall 1999 Family Circle Easy Knitting.

He's a little squashed, which made me happy. He looks like he's been loved a bit.


Bunny also looks a little squished. She has a ribbon sash, which isn't so visible here. Her dress is actually crocheted, now that I think about it. The pattern was for knit short-alls, but I decided to make her a dress instead.


Then, last spring, after my job ended (contract position with the boss from hell. seriously. I think i saw horns on his head), I knit these animal sweaters. Both are in acrylic worsted. This was my first attempt at intarsia, and it was actually easier than I thought it would be. The sweater patterns are in the 2004 "Knit It!" magazine.

At the time, Noah was crazy about giraffes. I tried to get a picture of Noah in his sweater on Saturday. He had it on, but suddenly was, er, upset that he was wearing it and that we couldn't see his pajamas (at least I think that's what the problem was). So, the pic of Noah's sweater is from a year ago, and it's a picture of a photograph. sorry.


Kyra's sweater has a duck on it. I LOVED the expression on the duck's face and it was what made me want to make these sweaters. This winter, Cobi mentioned to me that Mr. Bunny, who has been with Kyra for 3 years, needed some clothing. Apparently 3 years as a nudist were enough and he was ready to be dressed. So, I found a pattern somewhere on-line for some miniature sweaters (sorry, can't remember where) and I made him this sweater out of the leftover blue from the ducky sweater. Then, in what will surely be described as a fit of compulsion should I ever be in a situation where someone is trying to commit me to an institution, I decided to double stitch the same duck on the front. Kyra liked it a lot, but was concerned that I hadn't made a giraffe sweater for Noah's blue bear.


**Intermission -- not for you. For me. It has taken me 3 (yes 3) days to do this post. My computer at home (Mac PowerBook G3 series, circa 1996 - a veritable antique) plays these fun pranks on me where it suddenly decides to randomly quit programs with NO warning at all! Isn't that fun? Then, sometimes it decides that it is TIRED! People, it has been working HARD! So it goes to sleep and WILL NOT WAKE UP!! (I might be a tad bit frustrated with the computer.) So, on my lunch break at work, on to the 3rd day of this post... ***

Our final exhibit in this past project post are these monsters. I was trying to think of something to make the kids for their birthday this spring. I had sort of set a precedent with the crafted gifts, and I like doing it, but I had NO ideas. I sort of had planned to get them a veggie tales DVD and was trying to think of something else. I thought maybe I could make them big floor cushions, but couldn't think of a pattern. Animals came to mind but time was running short and I didn't know if I could put enough detail in to do it justice. Then one day I was cruising through craftster (ehem, I may have been at work at the time) and I came across the thread on the felt monsters. I suddenly had the entire thing planned out in my head. Don't you love that? Going from nothing to fully formed idea in seconds. I was still at work ehem so I had to just wait and wait and wait all day.

I stopped at Walmart on the way home from work, searching for some fleece and stuffing. Turns out that buying a fleece blanket is way WAY cheaper than fleece in the fabric department. So, 2 fleece blankets, some fiber filling stuff and some fleece remnants for the face and I was on my way.

Before the gifts were opened, Noah was explaining to me how ALL green monsters are really scary. Um. I frantically tried to figure out something to distract him or convince him that just wasn't true. Suddenly I remembered that Mike from Monsters Inc was green and wasn't scary. Whew.

Anyway, they were a hit (yay 3 year olds!)

Here they are:


And one with Noah for an idea of how big they are:


Whew. Now I can go back to work.

weather or not

What is the deal? that's all i can ask. yesterday we had snow. i meant to take a picture of it. may 10, snowing, -1 Celsius at NOON!!! Today, it's sunny and 4 Celsius, tomorrow it is supposed to rain and be 20 Celsius! Stupid weather.

I blame all those Calgarians who gloated about the 20 Celsius weather we had in January/February. It's their fault.

Anyway, enough of that. Honestly, if talking about the weather is a sign of a boring conversation, what does that say about a weather discussion in my blog... no, don't tell me.

Past-project time. Today's topic: Crocheted afghans.

(yes, i crochet TOO)(not often)(mostly afghans)(i'm not a big fan of crocheted clothing)(no offense intended if you are a big fan of crocheted clothing)(it's just a personal choice)

This past fall I wasn't working. So I had lots of time on my hands and not so much money cluttering up my bank account. I decided to start thinking about Christmas presents EARLY for once, and decided to crochet an afghan for my nephew. I had made one for my Dad a few years ago and my nephew loved it. Then, I got the BRILLIANT idea to crochet an afghan for each of the nephews and nieces.

That's 5 kids for those of you keeping count at home.

It was October, so I had plenty of time. I started one afghan, then started another, then another. Then I started a knitting project (a gift for my friend -- tell you about it later) then I started a sewing project (a bag for my sister-in-law)... and so on.

Soon it was November.

I had several partial afghans, but no complete afghans. I had part of 2 completed knitted gifts for friends and the cut out pieces of the bag for my sister-in-law.

Then I found work. As much as i loved trying to find places to cram all the buckets of money they paid me (did i mention sarcasm in my initial post?) it was SERIOUSLY cutting into my crafting time.

Somehow I managed to get all of the afghans (it turned out to be 4, plus 1 fleece blanket for youngest nephew), all but 1 of the knitted gifts, and the sewn bag completed BEFORE Christmas! I'm amazing. And humble.

So, for your viewing pleasure, I present:
The Awesome Array of Afghans (sorry)
#1 - oldest nephew, Tyler

The colors/pattern are almost identical to the one I made for my dad. Tyler was very close with my dad, who passed away in 2003. (i will write more about my dad at a later time. I'm at work and while sobbing while typing on my work computer may be cool, it's just not appropriate)

#2 - oldest niece, Nichelle (random Lori's Family Trivia: Nichelle is named after an actress from the original Star Trek)

I originally started out making the stripes horizontal. I realized after a while that it was going to be huge. I was running out of time. What to do? So, I made the stripes vertical, and added a border on the top and bottom.

#3 - 2nd oldest nephew, Jesse

I crocheted large granny squares in shades that corresponded to the shades in the Bernat Camoflage yarn. Jesse is a "boy"... into sports, dirt, being tough. An afghan has to look tough.

#4 - youngest niece, Jordyn

I started by crocheting the green background. I found the flower pattern on the Bernat website (can't find the link at the moment). After the background was done, I started doing the border and did rows and rounds until it was big enough. Did i mention how completely girl-y Jordyn is? Her comment when she opened the gift was "MOMMY! It's a blanket and it's PURPLE!" She vaulted over the carnage (gift wrap and boxes) and hugged me. "Did you KNOW I like purple?" How could I not?

The final nephew, Talon, received a fleece panel that I made into a blanket. It was printed with a farm scene with a barn and a tractor. My brother is farming on our family farm and Talon, 3, is completely, unequivocally, a farm kid. For weeks now he has been talking about nothing but going seeding with his dad. He loved it.

If you have been keeping track, 4 crocheted afghans amounts to... Who am I kidding I have no idea how many stitches it was. SO SO SO many.

This concludes todays "Past-Project Post". Join us next time when we discuss little kids sweaters and how just because it's a little sweater doesn't mean it's a quick knit.

Do I have crafter's ADD?

Yes, I think I do. I have no less than 4 projects on needles right now. I have a couple of projects I want to sew. So what did I do this evening? I realized that I hadn't put the mehndi (henna) I mixed up on Saturday into cones yet, so I did. Then, of course, I couldn't just LEAVE it... (plus "Monsoon Wedding" had just started on CBC...)
So, I mehndi'd my feet.


Then I mehnd'd my hand.


Then, as soon as the mehndi on my hand was set,

I WASHED IT OFF!!!

I'm so impatient! Luckily my palms take color really quickly with mehndi so I think it will still be fairly good. It just made me realize why I don't really mehndi my hands much anymore! I can't NOT KNIT for hours and hours at a time! it looks dark in the photo but it's really a light orange. by tomorrow morning it should be a deep brown instead of the bright orange it is right now...

I have come to realize that this blog/digital camera combination is bringing out the chatty cathy and the "look at me" side of me that doesn't come out that often! I could easily go weeks without NEEDING to speak to anyone, not that i would avoid people really, just that if there was no one around, i wouldn't go crazy not talking to anyone. But, give me a chance to write endlessly about whatever i feel like, and give me a means to illustrate it, ... yikes. somebody shut her up!

Lace Panel Shrug

** Update at the bottom!

Last year's poncho craze (it was kind of crazy wasn't it?) didn't suck me in completely. I did make a few, only one of which was for myself and which i have worn out of the apartment a total of 2 (yes, that many) times. It is good for days when it's chilly and i haven't gotten out of my pajamas and i want to read in bed, or for when i'm watching a movie and want to have something wrapped around me but don't want to deal with a whole big afghan. That's my take on the poncho. I liked them on some people, not so much on others, but it just is not a practical garment for me.

However, the shrug! Oh, the shrug. Finally a garment that was designed specifically for me: practical, unobtrusive, can be worn under jackets, extends the wearability of summer tops... oh, the shrug.

My arms are ALWAYS chilly and the rest of me is often too warm to wear a sweater. I love the shrug.

I knit Shimmer from knitty and liked it, but I found the back of it a bit gape-y (that is TOTALLY a word... ). I'll post pics of shimmer later.

This is the first thing that I have designed that is wearable and that I am actually happy with! I thought I would share the pics and the pattern with you all (actually, I don't know who i'm kidding with the "you all" since i have no idea if anyone has been here or would even be coming by... but a girl can hope right?)

This is also my first attempt at writing a pattern, so feedback would be appreciated.

Front view:

I never know how to stand when I'm having my picture taken!

Back/Arm view:

it's a little wierd smiling for photos you are taking with the timer... isn't it?

Now the pattern:

Lace Panel Shrug

Materials:
o TLC Cotton Plus (51% cotton, 49% acrylic; 3.5 oz (100 g) - Approx. 186 yd (170 m));
o Color: Light blue which I over-dyed with dark blue Dylon dye.
o Yardage: approx. 550 yards/510 m – ish. (I am not 100% sure of the yardage needed, but it would be about 2.5 - 3 skeins, definitely not 4 for the size that I made for myself.)

o US9/5.5mm needles, straight or circular
**Update: o US7/4.5mm circular needles (at least 29" - or big enough to accomodate 168 stitches)

o Safety pins or similar markers to mark tops of sleeves

o Gauge: approx. 4.5 st/inch over stocking stitch; 7 stitch lace panel approx. 1.25 inches

Lace pattern (over 7 stitches)
Row 1: sl1, k1, psso, yo, k3, yo, k2tog
Row 2, 4: purl
Row 3: k2, yo, sl1, k2tog, psso, yo, k2
Repeat these 4 rows for the lace panel.

Abbreviations:
sl1 slip 1 stitch, purlwise with yarn in back
k2tog knit next 2 stitches together
psso “pass slipped stitch over” used in both “sl1, k1, psso” where you slip one stitch over one knit stitch, and in “sl1, k2tog, psso” where you slip one stitch over the stitch worked in k2tog
ssk “slip, slip, knit”: slip next 2 stitches knitwise, place both back on left needle and knit together.
M1 “make one” pick up the horizontal “bar” between the stitch on the right needle and the one on the left, place it on the left hand needle and knit it through the back loop

Right Sleeve
Beginning at right sleeve cuff, cast on 40 stitches.

Rib cuff:
o Row 1: k1, p2, *k2, p2*, k1
o Row 2: k3, *p2, k2* end k3

Begin working in stocking stitch and lace pattern (row count begins at this point)
o Row 1: Knit first 17 stitches, place marker, work 7 stitches in lace pattern, place marker, knit remaining 16 stitches.
o Row 2: Purl
o Work in pattern, decreasing 1 stitch each end of row 7 and every 6th row 3 more times (dec. 8 stiches total – 32 stitches)
o Continue to work in pattern (st. st./lace/st.st.) increasing 1 stitch each end of 8th row 13 times (inc. 26 stitches total – 58 stitches)
o Work 2 rows even (130 rows from beginning of lace)
o Place safety pins at each end of row to mark top of sleeve.

Back
(reset row count at this point)

Shoulder decreases & back increases
o K2, ssk, work in pattern to last 3 stitches, k1, m1, k2
o k1, purl to last stitch, k1
o Repeat these 2 rows 9 more times (10 dec and 10 inc made – 58 stitches)

Shoulder decreases & back worked straight
o K2, ssk, work in pattern to end
o k1, purl to last stitch, k1
o Repeat these 2 rows 9 more times (10 dec – 48 stitches)

Neck/back worked straight
o Work in pattern as established with no increases or decreases
o k1, purl to last stitch, k1
o Repeat these 2 rows 14 more times (30 rows total)

Shoulder increases & back worked straight
o K2, m1, work in pattern to end
o k1, purl to last stitch, k1
o Repeat these 2 rows 9 more times (10 inc – 58 stitches)

Shoulder increases & back decreases
o K2, m1, work in pattern to last 4 stitches, k2tog, k2
o k1, purl to last stitch, k1
o Repeat these 2 rows 9 more times (10 inc and 10 dec made – 58 stitches)

Work 2 rows even. Place safety pins for top of arm

(reset counter)

Left Sleeve
Working in pattern (st. st./lace/st.st) decrease one stitch each end of 1st and every 8th row for 13 decreases (26 stitches decreased total – 32 stitches)
Work 8 rows even in pattern
Increase 1 stitch each end of row and every 6th row 3 more times (8 stitches increased – 40 stitches)

Rib Cuff
o Row 1: k3, *p2, k2* end k3
o Row 2: k1, p2, *k2, p2*, k1

Bind off loosely. Block (or don't. your choice) according to yarn requirements.

**Update! or, "I can't believe I forgot the edging AND the measurements... d'oh"
After binding off, sew up sleeves from cuff to the safety pins you put in place while knitting.
With US7/4.5mm circular and starting from one underarm pick up 168 stitches around. Join and knit 2 x 2 rib in the round (k2, p2) for 4 rounds. (or more if you want a wider band of edging). Bind off loosely in rib.

There you go! If you (all of you there in the crowd who have rushed over to see me) decide to try this, let me know how it goes, if it works/doesn't work etc.

OOPS - i forgot... I have to add measurements when I get home (I'm TOTALLY working so hard at work right now)...

**Update:

my rough sketch of what I wanted the shrug layout to be. I forgot to take measurements when I had it blocking. d'oh.

So, here it is. I hope you can see the letters on the sketch. The measurements here will correspond to those letters. The measurements are pre-stitching, i.e. before you sew up the sleeves.
A - cuff measures 10"
B - sleeve measures 22" cuff to underarm (ignore the fact that the sketch does not go all the way to the cuff... )
C - underarm to underarm is approximately 18"
D - top of back 6" (approximate)
E - bottom of back 12" (approximate)
F - top of sleeve 14"

So, FINALLY that is it. Sorry for all of the mess-ups!

Ribby Cardis

I got a digital camera!! Woo Hoo. Welcome to the 21st century.

This is my second attempt at this post. I had a LONG post written and published it and there is NOTHING there!

I don't understand the computer.

So, here we go again.

For my first post with finished projects and PICTURES (!) I present: the 4 "Ribby Cardi"s I have knit. the pattern is from ChicKnits here: http://www.chicknits.com/catalog/ribbycardi.html

The first one I made was a couple of years (or so) ago. Made with Patons Canadiana and some sort of TLC acrylic. It has a roll collar and a 2-way separating zipper.


The 2nd one I made was a LATE Christmas present for my friend Julie, seen here in the classic Sears-type "I think i'll read this book in my fabulous sweater" pose:

I made the toggle buttons out of polymer clay and added a cable to both fronts and to the back. a close up:


The 3rd one I made was this 2 toned one. I used snaps instead of a zipper. That was quite an ordeal, including installing them wrong and having to re-do them. I don't like the way it turned out this time either so I will eventually re-do them again. However, I present for your viewing, well, for your view, 2 toned ribby in Bernat Lana in Stone and Denim


The 4th one is this one. Knit in TLC's Cotton Plus. I used snaps, this time using the tutorial on Chicknits for using a ribbon to make your own snap tape. I like this method. If/when i redo the snaps on the 2 toned one I'll do it this way too.


So, there you have it. My first picture post on my new blog. I feel like a kid with a new toy. Well, I guess I am pretty much a kid with a new toy.

mom

today is mother's day. my mom isn't home right now, which hopefully means that my brother and his family took her out for lunch. mom lives in saskatchewan, a 5 hour drive from calgary, so i'm not with her today. i can't be there so i'd like to tell you about her, however, so if you'll indulge me.

first of all, my mom is beautiful. i wish i had a digital pic of her to show you. i don't know what she would say to hear me say that she is beautiful, but she is. she would probably deny it or be humble and change the subject. whenever people have said that i look like my mom it is the greatest compliment they could give.

the amazing thing about my mom is that she is my adopted mom. she and my dad adopted me when i was 4 days old. i have 2 brothers and 1 sister and they are all adopted too. how amazing are my parents that they took us all and raised us and were parents to us and loved us when they didn't have to. they chose to be our parents. amazing.

i'm sure there were times in my life that my mom didn't get me (i'm not sure she always does now, but she tries), and maybe there were times when she didn't really like me much (deservedly so) but i have never, ever doubted that she loves me. because she loves us she was strict with us, she taught us to work (reluctantly), she worries about us, she cooked for us, did our laundry, listened to our piano practice (she should probably be sainted for that one), drove us to skating practice, taught us about God, made us clothing, taught me to knit... this could go on.

i'm sure i'm not the only person to realize as an adult that i didn't acknowledge or appreciate my parents' love enough as a child/teenager. i do want to say that i recognize it now.

now, as an adult, i am learning to be my mom's friend and to "let her in" more in my life. she talks about me with pride to her friends, a fact that always astounds me. she proudly displays things i've made her, bragging about my abilities. when i lived in pakistan, she braved the computer so that we could be in touch by email. i love her for that, among many many things i love her for.

one thing about my mom that i know is that my dad loved her with every bit of his being. he looked at her like he was the luckiest man in the world. i think that says something about how wonderful my mom is.

even though she doesn't have a computer and probably won't see this post, unless i print it off for her, i want to say i love you mom. thank you.

i don't understand the computer

i spent about an hour this morning trying to change the links on the side (over there. no, there on the right) and it wouldn't change. my changes showed in the gibberish section of the template (i'm almost positive that "gibberish" is the actual technical term) but wouldn't show on the page. i went away. cleaned up the apartment a bit. cast on for a new top. knit about 17 rows, decided that it wasn't going to work, pulled it off the needles. got a flickr account. uploaded some pics of projects i did in the fall and winter. came back here and my changes were there!

i don't understand the computer at all....

i DO understand hockey however. yes. i'm spending my saturday afternoon like any good canadian should: watching canada play sweden in the qualifying round of the world championships. and knitting, which is also be how good canadians should spend their saturdays, but i realize that one will be more difficult to pass off, mostly on the male side of the population.

did i mention in the previous rather lengthy post my near-obsession with certain televised sports? hmm... in the fall, there is (almost) nothing i would rather do on a sunday afternoon than watch football and knit. i have been going through hockey withdrawl this winter (stupid nhl/players/owners/league) so i have been happy now that there is some hockey going on.

in my defense, it is cool-ish and cloudy outside today. i would probably be spending my day outside if it wasn't (no. i wouldn't, i'd be here watching hockey but i WOULD go outside during the intermissions).

but, back to the knitting. at this point in time, i don't have access to a digital camera. i hope to rectify that in the next couple of weeks, but for now, i'll just tell you about what i'm working on. i'll try to post some pics of past efforts in the next couple of days.

Currently on the needles:
-i have most of the back done on the "wrapped lace cardigan" from vogue knitting spring/summer 2005. i started this cardigan when i got the magazine, about a month ago. i find it hard to concentrate on the lace for any length of time so it's slow going. i am knitting it with some yarn i salvaged from a sweater my mom gave me to recycle. it is a really natural looking cotton/acrylic/ramie (if i remember correctly) blend. i don't actually know what "ramie" is, but the yarn is soft and feels really nice to work with. it is kind of splitty though and i find myself frustrated more often than i'd like. hence the long knitting time.

-i have about 8 inches done on the "front slit tank" from the yarn girls tanks that i found on the interweave knits website. it can be found here . i am thinking that i will frog this soon, since it's kind of boring at the moment. i'm knitting it in the round instead of flat as called for in the pattern. we'll see.

-the top that i cast on for today (and promptly yanked off the needles) was the "cable eight top" from the spring interweave knits. i am thinking that i would like to make this with the yarn that i'm using for the yarn girls top. i think i'll start it again with the yarn i haven't used for the yarn girls tank and see how i like it.

-i have a partial sock that has been on the needles for a really long time. i love the idea of knitting socks. i love the idea of homemade socks. i just can't get into the teeny yarn and the teeny needles. eventually i will finish this one, i just can't work on it for long at a time. it lives in my bag that i take to work. i have knit on it while stuck in traffic and when i get to work early and there isn't anyone there to let me in. it could be a long time before the sock actually is a sock.

-oh, yeah, i forgot one. last weekend i knit the body and one sleeve of teva durham's "lace leaf pullover" from the summer iwk. fast knit. fun to graft the top to the body. i knit it in yarn that i recycled from a sweater that i had that i never wore because the turtleneck on it bothered me. the second sleeve is STILL only half done. why? who knows. the first 3 pieces went so fast and then i just ran out of steam. maybe it will be done today. i have a feeling, however, that this sweater will not fit me in the shoulder area, so i will probably end up giving it away. sigh.

so, that's what's goin' on 'round here.

oh no, not another one...

yes. another blog. yes. another blog that may possibly ... er... WILL contain knitting. yes. another blog in which the blogger will write about stuff that annoys her, stuff that she finds funny, stuff that she's made, stuff that is going on, and maybe one day when the blogger has enough money to buy a digital camera, another blog that will likely be picture heavy.

welcome!

i am hoping that this will motivate me to write more often and hopefully not just to whine about the annoying guy at work. (although, i'm sure that i will write about that guy because he is really annoying and there are so many stories).

so this post will be a "get to know you (i mean "me")" post.

my name is lori, i live in calgary, alberta. i work in an office and do not have a defined job description so i could be anything from receptionist to invoicing clerk to service coordinator to customer service representative. some days this variety makes my job more interesting, sometimes it just makes it more annoying.

my educational background is in youth ministry. why am i working in an office/service shop? it was a job that pays. i love working with youth but paying jobs in my field are few and far between, with the exception of being a youth pastor in a church, which doesn't really interest me at all.

i have worked in my field, just not in the past few years. i spent just over 2 years in pakistan working in a boarding school as a houseparent. that job was probably the most difficult and most rewarding of my life. i loved the girls i worked with (the senior high girls department) and i loved living in pakistan, but the job was very stressful at times and sometimes the interpersonal "stuff" with other staff made the stress worse than it should have been. in all, i loved that job.

i am a somewhat obsessed knitter. i sew and make all kinds of other stuff as well. i have only recently gotten to the point where i could embrace the term "crafty". it always seemed to me like "crafty" implied making things from kits or the stuff that we "made" in crafts at camp: painted plaster figurines etc. most of the things that i make are made from something else, i.e. i re-use items i find to make other things. i rarely buy new materials to make anything, cutting into "nice" fabric freaks me out. i love to sew things from old sheets, old clothing etc. the only exception to this is the yarn. i love yarn. i would happily go without food to buy the "nice" yarn i drool over, but my pragmatic side doesn't allow this. i am a yarn snob but in weird ways. if fun-fur makes you happy, that's fine. i just can't fathom it in any way for myself. i have no qualms about using acrylic though, so i guess i'm not as snobby as all that. i just don't understand all of the novelty yarn out there.

this is getting long for a first post. this will probably be an omen of things to come. when i was living in pakistan i would write emails about my adventures to my friends and they always turned into REALLY long epistles.

so, for now. thanks for stopping by. if i haven't bored you too much, stop by again. i'll probably have more interesting things to write about some day.