Closing Ceremonies

Wow, that went by way too fast! I did intend to post more during the Olympics but... I didn't. Things got in the way, which also explains why I didn't achieve my Olympic knitting goal either. I had my final project for my class, which I probably put a bit more into than was necessary but it was successful all in all. The Boy moved into his new house (and expected me to help. the nerve.)(haha)... and I got caught up in it all. I didn't get much knitting done the whole first week of the olympics.

I did finish one pair, one and 3/4 socks.

Pair #1

(also: no batteries for my camera so all photos are phone pictures... sorry)

Pattern: Skew from Knitty
Yarn: Jawoll Silk from Lang yarns
Mods: none. I love these socks. The whole time I was knitting the first one I kept trying to figure out how on earth the designer would even have thought of the process. The construction is so unique and, really, crazy. But good-crazy, you know? The socks fit great and the knitting wasn't difficult--just needed to pay attention now and then.


(you would not believe the contortions necessary to take a picture of the back of one's own foot with a camera phone)

Pair #2


Pattern: None: Basic top down ribbed sock
Yarn: Patons Kroy Sock
There is only one completed... um... not sure what to say about that. I started this one so I could have something mindless to knit while watching exciting Olympic events so I didn't have to worry about missing something on my Skew Socks.

Pair #3

Yarn: Knit Picks sock blank dyed during opening ceremonies. The red is a much deeper red than shown in this picture.
Pattern: Basic toe-up foot, the heel from the Glacier Lake Toe Up Sock, and a alternating rib (8 rounds k2, p2 and 8 rounds p2, k2)

There is a lot of yarn in the sock blanks! I'm going to keep knitting these to see how tall the sock ends up. I probably could have gotten 2 whole pairs from one sock blank.

So, I didn't meet my Knitting Olympic goals, but I think that is how these Olympics were for many athletes from around the world. You train and prepare and visualize your goal and still you can have a crash or the next skier is just that much faster or you end up having no time to knit for 5 days straight. For example.

I don't usually think or write too much about what it means to be Canadian. I appreciate my country and feel proud of my heritage and our history. I feel possessive of Canadian achievements or famous Canadians, like most of my countrymen do.

I have had times in the past when I burst into tears at our national anthem: when I was living overseas, or when I had just come home from living overseas, but this Winter Olympics I have been so overcome by National Pride it has been almost embarrassing. I'm Canadian. We don't do that! But something about this Olympics has brought out a sense of pride in most Canadians I think and we are finally being vocal about it. We tend to be too concerned about being offensive or being too big-headed. We tend to not even think of it as "Patriotism" but really it is.

But at this time, I think we can stand proud of what Vancouver accomplished and what Canadian athletes accomplished. And it was capped off with a nail-biter of a win in the hockey game this afternoon. And, we, as a nation, jumped up and down and screamed (and took to the streets, and honked our horns, and waved our flags) and enjoyed National Pride.

And we can wave our flag and enjoy the moment.

(Yes I took a picture of my TV.)

On one last Patriotic note please enjoy this video. My sister in law sent me the link just as the game was about to start this afternoon. This is quite old but it amuses me everytime I watch it.

Opening Ceremonies & Day 2

Before I get into the Opening Ceremonies I'll show you a pair of socks that inspired the challenge of the Knitting Olympic Challenge that I've set myself.



Yarn: Patons Kroy Socks FX. I don't remember the colorway but the socks are the same colorway and I thought they were the same dyelot but the 2nd one is much more saturated than the first.
Pattern: 2x2 Garter Rib (rd 1: knit; rd 2: k2, p2)
Oops moment: I knit the leg a bit longer than I normally do for socks and ended up having to finish the toes for both socks with leftover sock yarn. It's not very noticeable and, frankly, I don't really care... haha



I cast on the first sock at least 4 months ago. I knit most of the leg and then the sock lived in my bag where it stayed unless I was waiting somewhere and bored. I finally finished the first sock at Christmas and then the second sock took until yesterday afternoon. Hence the challenge: Finish at least 3 pairs of socks during the Olympics.


Note: this isn't the extent of the sock yarn in my stash. I may have a problem

Now to the Olympics:
As I mentioned I decided to go with the socks. I swatched for the sweater but realized I didn't have enough yarn, especially since I would want to add length in the body.



Just in time for the Olympics, Knitty published their Knitty Surprises, one of which was the Skew sock. I pulled a skein of Lang JaWoll Silk in Canadian-y colors from the stash and cast on. This sock is so interesting already. I can't wait to see how the heel is done...

During the Parade of Nations I dyed a Knit Picks sock blank to be knit later in the Olympics. At one point it looked like the set of Dexter.



The dye job didn't turn out exactly like I was picturing it but I wasn't really being as careful as i should have been.



Gotta go. Moguls are on. Knit on Knitters! Go Canada Go!

ETA: I think I figured out/remembered how to do the Ravelympics thing. Create your project and then tag it with the little "r" in the multi-colored circle. Then it will ask you what Ravelympics tags you want added. I think you have to sign up for the team you want to be in (For example, I'm on Team Canada) but I think that's all there is to it. We'll see when it's over.

8 hours and counting

It's almost here! I'm so excited. I have the CTV Olympic App on my phone and I've bookmarked the page on my work computer so I can follow events during the day... All that is left is to finalize my Knitting Olympics/Ravelympics project(s). It's not as exciting or suspenseful as the speculation over who will be the final torchbearer but I will keep it secret until tonight.

My goal is to post (fairly) regularly during the Olympics. We'll see how well that works, with helping the Boy move and all. If you are participating in either/both Olympic Knitting events let us know in the comments, I'd love to add you to my Google Reader feed so I can follow along with your progress too.

Let the Games (almost) Begin!

Better late than never?

So you know how sometimes you start on a pair of socks and then you finish the first one and then you set it aside and don't cast on for the second one for over a year? Yeah... me neither.



I finally finished my Spiral Boot Socks... Ravelry tells me I cast on for these September 2008... That is a looooong time ago.

They're not quite knee highs, but I wouldn't have had enough yarn to make knee highs anyway, so I'm happy with them the way they are. The 2 skeins were not quite the same shade which is odd but not unwearable.



Also odd but not unwearable is the fact that I followed the directions for the toe for the 2nd sock but apparently not for the first one. The first sock is a little bit shorter in the length of the foot than the 2nd.

I can't seem to get a decent picture of the actual color of the socks. It's a rich kettle dyed brown that I love.



Pattern: Spiral Boot Socks by Veronik Avery in Interweave Knits Summer 2007 (Ravelry link)
Yarn: Knit Picks Essentials Kettle Dyed in Oak
Mods: nothing intentional... One sock is shorter in the foot than the other. Oops.

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So, this coming Friday there's a little sporting competition happening in my country. In Vancouver, BC to be exact. You may have heard something about it. They call it the Olympics.

I'm such a dork. I could not be more excited about the Olympics! I plan to be glued to my TV for as much of the coverage as I can. I love (watching) winter sports and to have this huge event so close to home is really exciting for me and the whole country.

I had planned to do the Ravelympics this year but I'm not sure if I have to sign up for an event in advance or... ? I signed up for team Canada but do I need to declare an event? I don't know why this is so confusing to me! Are any of you doing the Ravelympics? How about the Knitting Olympics over at the Yarn Harlot's site? I did that challenge in 2006 and really enjoyed it. Maybe I should just do that. Why am I rambling so?

So this brings me to my next question: What Should I Knit for Ravelympics and/or Knitting Olympics? My first instinct is to knit socks. I seem to have developed a hole in one sock of each pair of my knit socks (not all of them, just the older pairs). I don't understand why it's in the same place for each pair but for each pair it's only one sock. I don't always wear the same sock on the same foot. How can that be?

I think I've begun to ramble. Knitting Olympics/Ravelympics: So I have all this sock yarn and a need for socks. I have a tendency to put off finishing socks or use them just as "travel knitting" or "in my bag in case I have to wait" knitting. I need socks, I like socks and I want to have more socks. It would be a challenge for me to finish not one but several pairs of socks during the Olympics. They would be on the plain side but that suits me fine.

(It should be noted that The Boy is moving house right smack in the middle of the Olympics and, barring some sort of broken limb or severe illness I can't imagine how I can get out of helping that I won't be helping him for at least part of the time, which will limit my knitting time AND my watching the actual Olympics time. Sob.)

A second idea I've been knocking around is a sweater. A cardigan to be precise. I'm torn between a true challenge like knitting the Tangled Yoke Cardigan (IWK Fall 2007 Rav link) or a plain round yoke stashbuster cardigan with some sport weight mystery yarn and the odds and ends of sock yarn I have... But I kind of think that a whole sweater in small gauge would be setting myself up for a lot of crying. But then again, if it's the only thing I'm working on? who knows.

Rambling again. A more reasonable idea is the Snowdrift Cardigan by Michele Rose Orne (from Inspired to Knit--Rav Link) which is at a larger gauge and would be much more manageable. It too would be a stashbuster and I think I would get a lot of use out of it. And, who doesn't love those Cabled cuffs? Come ON!

So... If you've made it this far, thank you... and please speak up. Are you participating? In which challenge (or both)? In which event(s)? Any thoughts on what you think I should knit?

New Cardigan

I finally got around to taking pictures of my new cardigan last weekend... and then didn't get around to posting them until today. Eep.



Pattern: Icelandic Star - Interweave Knits Winter 2009
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers for the main color and scraps from stash for contrast colors
Mods: Knit in the round & steeked. Made the body & sleeves a little longer than written and didn't do the embroidered stars.

I love this sweater. LOVE. I've worn it so many times already since finishing on January 7. I will probably make another one sometime in the future. The fit is perfect and... well, I love it.

**********

In other news: I finally got off my butt and signed up for a Continuing Ed class at Mount Royal University. I'm taking a certificate in Residential Decorating, which I've been thinking about taking for about 4 years and just haven't done it. I started January 15 and the first course, an overview introduction, is blended with most of the coursework done online with 3 in-class dates. I'm really excited about it, even though it may never lead to a high-paying career, it is something I've always been interested in and it's challenging. I just handed in an assignment that had me draft floor plan and elevations for a room-- i had forgotten how much I enjoyed doing stuff like that!

If nothing else it's good for me to push myself outside my normal routine and I will learn some technical skills to back up my creative interests. And maybe I'll be able to re-do my living room in the process.

Whew. 2009 is over.

I think the year was messing with me yesterday. Just to make me grateful it was ending.

I woke up late; it was -22C in the morning; I was very busy at work on what was supposed to be a half day. A crisis with a customer came up at 11:45am and I stayed to see it through to ensure the customer was okay so I didn't leave until 1pm. I had intended to stop at Ikea and then go pick up some groceries but when I got to Deerfoot Trail (a freeway/highway running through the city) it was completely backed up. When I finally got to Ikea there was not a parking spot to be found so I just carried on to the grocery store, which was equally busy. I found what I needed, finally got through the check out lanes and hit more backed up traffic. When I finally got home I started to make dinner (I had planned to make butter chicken, rice & garlic naan for new year's eve dinner). I had no trouble with the butter chicken until I pulled out the jar of minced garlic I had picked up and thought it smelled a little strange so I used the fresh garlic and press instead. Then the dough for the naan was a disaster for some reason (I suspect it had to do with my impatience or something) and had to completely restart it. Again I pulled out the jar of minced garlic and couldn't figure out what smelled so off about it. I was about to use it anyway, being lazy/impatient and wanting to avoid using the press again when I looked more closely at the label. It was minced GINGER.

The good news was that dinner was so so good. Canada won an amazingly exciting world Jr's game against the US (Sorry American friends) and then Calgary beat Edmonton (sorry Edmontonian friends) and then the Comedy Network was showing every episode of Corner Gas back to back. You may need to just trust me on how awesome that all was. It wasn't a traditionally exciting New Year's Eve but we enjoyed it.

I also finished the Boy's new toque last night, making it an FO for New Year's!



Pattern: Doubled Chullo by Kenny Chua from Interweave Holiday Knits 2009. The Boy picked this one out and asked for it specifically. What's a knitter to do?
Yarn: All colors are Galway Highland Heathers. I picked these up in Jasper last weekend. The Boy picked out the colors (they matched the magazine picture pretty closely). I always forget how much I love this yarn.
Mods: I did a round of single crochet for the edging rather than the pick up/bind off specified in the magazine.



He really likes it, which is always good. I plan to use the pattern to make one for myself. I love how it's constructed and the double layer is really nice and warm.

To be honest, this was the 2nd one I knit. I had started one in the size I needed (or thought I needed) and ignored the part of me that was trying to tell me it was too big.



After I decided to frog I checked my gauge and it was spot on. I'm not sure what happened. What matters, I guess, is that I learned something (one would think) and that he was happy. See?



Happy New Year everyone!

Brea Bag

Today when I was in the grocery store I picked up some of that Arm & Hammer carpet deodorizer, the stuff you sprinkle on and vacuum up. I sprinkled it around in my living room (where the carpet is surely older than I am! yay Rental carpets!) and was instantly overpowered by the scent. I was completely unprepared for how overwhelming it is in the time between sprinkling it on and vacuuming it up! Then when I went to vacuum it up i got halfway done the living room when the vacuum started to make a funny noise and there was a whiff of rubber smoke, which really added to the overall scent I had going. So I unplugged the vacuum and turned it over to find a whole wig's worth of hair clogging up the roller bar. (Sorry, you weren't eating were you?) So I finally got the vacuum fixed and got it all vacuumed up but now I forgot what I was going to tell you. I'm sure I had a really funny story or something but... gone.

So I'll just show you my Brea Bag instead.



Pattern: Brea Bag (free pattern link)
Yarn: Mystery chunky weight yarn bought in a mill ends bag years ago.
Mods: Knit with size 8 needles; subbed chunky weight for 2 strands worsted weight



I knit a little flap and used a magnetic snap for a closure instead of a button and loop.



Lined with some random cotton from stash. I sewed a patch pocket on the lining for my cell phone.



I cut 1/4 inch strips from the leftovers of my leather bag project and braided a 5 strand braid for the strap. I folded a rectangle of the same leather around a metal ring and sewed that over each braid end. Then I hand stitched the strap loops on the purse itself and voila!

The only thing I'm not 100% happy with is that the strap is about 4" longer than it needed to be. It's in that awkward length where it's not a long strap but it's not short enough to really just tuck under your arm either. Oh well. In all, I'm really happy with it.

Christmas

First off: (belated) Merry Christmas! (also belated: Happy Hanukkah! or any other winter celebration I may be forgetting) I hope you all had a great Holiday time however you celebrated.



The Boy decided I needed to get away from here with it being my first Christmas without Mom and took me to Jasper for Christmas. It was so beautiful there and a really nice get away. It didn't feel like Christmas, but it felt Christmasy, if that makes any sense. We had a very fahncy (read: small portions/confusing construction) Christmas Eve dinner at one of the restaurants at Jasper Park Lodge and then a less fahncy (but larger portioned/better tasting if I'm being honest) Christmas dinner at our hotel on Christmas day but no real turkey/mashed potatoes/gravy/fixings dinner. I think that's what makes it feel like Christmas for me. That and the million (well, 9) nieces & nephews opening gifts and playing. And the baking. And the leftovers. mmmm leftovers.


Athabasca Falls

We drove around, did a bit of wandering in the shops and just were lazy most of the time. Christmas Eve day we rented slip-on crampons (just mini-ones not the big ice climbing ones) and did the Maligne Canyon Ice Walk which was so amazing. I was very grateful for the crampons. The Dog wasn't as impressed with the ice as we were. He was so relieved to get back on snow that he rolled around for about 5 minutes once we left the ice.


Maligne Canyon Ice Walk


Maligne Canyon Riverbed

I even got to visit a great yarn/quilting store in Jasper: Stychen Tyme. I saw it listed in an information book we picked up and jokingly told the Boy about it. Next thing I knew we were looking for it (his suggestion!). I bought yarn for a toque for him (his ulterior motive probably). (I'll show you that another day soon).

In all it was a really nice, relaxing time. I miss seeing my family but it didn't feel like Christmas so it wasn't really that sad for me which was kind of a relief. I'm planning to do a turkey dinner this coming weekend just to get my fix. I'm mostly looking forward to the leftovers.

Selfish Knitting for the Holidays

Inspired by Marie I have cast on and completed the first side of a Brea Bag (pattern link).



This is like (almost) instant cable gratification. I'm using a chunky/bulky weight mystery yarn I got in a mill ends bag at Walmart years ago. I love how the cables and moss stitch are popping in it.

Knitting feels really really really good after all that crochet!

Breathing a little easier...

Thanks for all the encouragement! I was really glad that I had the forethought to wash the blankets beforehand. I would have been even more upset if this had happened after they had gotten home!



I'm done repairing the squares with pink centers and the rest of the squares seem secure, but I'm a little hesitant about them. I'll send a repair kit with leftovers of the yarn and a needle with my sister in law, just in case.

I have a few other gifts to make but I won't see those friends until after Christmas, so I'm breathing a little easier right now. I plan to work on projects for me this next week. That's my Christmas gift to me. Knitting time.

The sound of one heart breaking...

I finished the third afghan last night. This evening I threw all three in the wash to soften them up a bit. When I pulled them out of the dryer I was happy with how soft and cozy they are.

And then I saw this:


and my heart nearly stopped.

I used the "magic circle" method of starting each square. It held really well for all of the squares except the ones that were started with the pink yarn. It's shiny and slippery and ... all 40 squares that were started with this yarn have come apart at the center. I have started repairing them by running a piece of yarn through with a blunt needle and knotting it really tightly but it's taking a long time. I have repaired 8 or 9 of them in the last hour...

I see my niece and nephews tomorrow.

I might not see them again before Christmas.

This is the only present I have for my niece.

I have to be at work tomorrow.

I want to cry a little.. :(

I'm exhausted and going to bed now and will just have to find the time to fix it and get it to her before they leave the city on Sunday.

Looking ahead

The end of afghan #2 is in sight. I need to focus on afghan #3 for Logan... but...

I'm really really really looking forward to doing something else. I just read a blog post by Kate Davis of needled about cables and history. It got me itching to knit something cabled and woolen. It got me thinking about all of the awesome yarn my friend brought me from Ireland...

So, dear reader friends, any suggestions? I have 600 grams (i think, if I recall correctly) each of a light grey and a dark grey. I don't think I'd have enough to do an entirely cabled sweater or cardigan but I would love something with some cables. I'm open to suggestions. I'm leaning towards a cardigan just because I would get more use out of one what with overheated offices etc.

For now, I'll keep plugging away on the afghans but looking ahead to that wool...

Oh! Hi There!

So... how are you?



We had a blizzard this past Friday. A real, honest to goodness, blustery blowing wind blizzard. It was awesome. And a bit scary. There are meter deep banks on streets all over the place. Some of the communities on the edge of the city have so much hard packed snow on the street that buses are snowed in and can't move. Following the blizzard our temperatures dropped so now it's wool season. Whee!

I've been working on afghans for my nephews & niece in Houston. I made afghans for the other nieces & nephews for Christmas 5 years ago so I figured the newer ones needed afghans too. I don't often crochet but I've been on a crochet kick the past few weeks while working on these blankets.

First up: If you knew my nephew Nicholas, you would not be surprised by my choice here.



If you ever want to hear a really in depth analysis of Spiderman, taking into account aspects of Black Spiderman (Venom?) and all the ramifications of the changes in Spiderman, good vs. evil, ask my 4 year old nephew about Spiderman. Or just wait 5 minutes and something that is happening around him will bring Spiderman to his mind and he'll talk about it. We were joking that he can bring any topic back to Spiderman. I said that when he's defending his Doctoral dissertation he'll end up working Spiderman in there somehow.

(and if you think i used the word "Spiderman" too many times just now, that's a small small example of what it's like to talk to Nicholas)

Pattern: Superhero Dreamcatcher Afghan by AngelCrafts. Nice, simple pattern that works into a really interesting afghan.
Yarn: Loops & Threads Impeccable from Michaels (a nice, fairly inexpensive acrylic)
Mods: I left off the last band of blue as it was already 5' in diameter. And I wanted to die. I think I figured that I had over 600 stitches per round at the point where I stopped.

For my niece, Kaylee, I'm working on a granny square afghan in what I hope are sufficiently girly colors. She's a bit of a princess... haha



Pattern for the square: Summer Garden Granny Square from Attic24
Yarns: Purple: Bernat Berella "4"; Pink: Red Heart Soft Touch; Green & White are both Loops & Threads Impeccable.

My plan is for 121 squares to be laid out in an "Around the World" type pattern. I'm about 2/3 done. Woo.

I need to get working on an afghan for my other nephew (the boys are twins), Logan who is a BIG fan of Disney's Cars... I see charted picture crochet in my future and I'm a little scared of it.

I got a bit sidetracked by these on the weekend while it was snowing for real:



I've since made 6 more and hung them by threads in the hallway window in my office at work. (what's that you say? Did you just cough-speak "dork" at me? really? hmm).

Pattern: White Hooky Snowflakes also from Attic24.
Yarn: um... some acrylic I found lying around here.
I stretched them slightly and pinned them, then sprayed with spray starch. I then removed the pins and covered them with a cloth before pressing with a warm (not hot) iron to give them some shape and make them a bit stiff. It worked really well.

I need to get back to Kaylee's afghan. Surprisingly it's not crocheting itself!

Leather Purse

This past summer I got it in my head (as I tend to do) to try to make a purse out of a thrifted leather jacket. I didn't ever do anything about it (find a thrifted jacket for starters...) but the idea kept popping into my head. A few weeks ago I stumbled across Philigry's tutorial and I knew what I would be doing that weekend.

Value Village had a lot of leather jackets and coats but the prices were really high for a lot of them ($50 for a jacket at Value Village?). I was looking for a great battered brown jacket but couldn't find what I wanted for under $40. I ended up getting a beautifully soft black leather jacket with no shaping which would provide me with a lot of leather for $15.



Using Philigry's tutorial as my guide I cut my jacket (cut the lining out) and used the front pockets as exterior pockets for my bag. I made a very basic tote style bag. I cut handles and sewed them with raw edges exposed and attached them with rectangular metal rings. I lined the bag with some cotton from stash and included basic patch pockets in the inside.



In this picture you can see the rivets I tried to use for the straps. I could not get them to work properly. Well, they work in that they hold and I can't get them off but they wouldn't go on straight and really don't look very good. (in the pictures they look okay but up close they're really bashed in) I'm calling this an experiment (if anyone were to ask).

I used a leather needle that I bought at Fabricland and had no problems with sewing the bag on my mom's machine. The only issues I had were with the leather sticking to my sewing machine a bit. I have an idea for a cheap/easy fix for that which I'll try out with some of the leftover scraps.

Next up: a wallet with some of the scraps. And then the search for a brown leather jacket... :)

How do you solve a problem like...

my Deep V Argyle Vest?



As I was knitting it I kept thinking that I should have done more arm decreases than called for. I didn't. Why? Why didn't I? The vest looks very line-backer-y in the shoulders and gapes at the underarm. Also, I needed to block it more aggressively. I think if the lower body is a bit more roomy it'll sit better at the arms.



Sigh. I haven't had this much disappointment in a project i was really excited about for a long time. I'm steam blocking it to see if it makes any difference. I'm thinking I should undo a few rounds of the arm bands and maybe decrease a bit before binding off.

Any thoughts? Advice? For now this is my feeling about it:

Sigh.

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On the plus side I was super happy with the steeking. I was nervous about it but it went really well.


Pre-cut

And, after a really deep breath and some hesitation...



No matter how much I know that it's okay cutting my knitting will NEVER feel right...

Readjusting

I've been back from my trip to Houston for 5 days now and I feel like it was weeks ago that I was there. I love my family and was so excited to spend time with them. The kids are hilarious always and there was never a dull moment.

Now I'm back here and fighting to get over my souvenir from the trip: One of my nephews came down with some sort of flu on our second day there and he generously shared with us. Fever? Check. Cough that rips your lungs out? Check. Runny nose? Check. Fatigue, loss of appetite, aching all over? Check Check Check. Whee. Having to take half a sick day on your first day back from vacation is really awesome.

This morning I'm sitting in bed with my computer, knitting and coffee and just taking it easy. I need to start finishing some stuff around here (start finishing? excellent grammar lady). So, this weekend my goal is to work on just one (or two in the case of this morning) projects: My deep V argyle vest that I started a month ago (or more... I don't think I wrote down when I started) and for my bed knitting this morning: the second Not-cranberry biscotti sock. I'm recording these here in an attempt to hold me accountable somewhat. Let's see how that works out for me...

Now I need to get up and get some bread started. (Getting the bread started is a desire not a need but in order to do it I need to get up... oy enough with the over explaining.)

I have to say though, I wish I were here:


These pics are from my favorite day in Houston when we went to Galveston. I don't know what it is about beaches but it's like my entire body relaxes when I get to a beach. The sand, the water, I don't know what it is but my ideal vacation will always involve a beach.

It was really windy that day and the beach was pretty much deserted, since it was mid-October I guess. For us Canadians it was summer temperatures (around 27 Celsius! woo!) and we had a blast playing in the waves. Well, until two of us got stung by jellyfish. You'll be shocked to hear that one of them was me. Yes, accident prone me got stung by a jellyfish on vacation. Unprecedented.

(Also, I may or may not have bashed my upper lip somehow in the pool and had a swollen, scraped lip for several days).

In all, I managed to get a tan due to all the time spent in the pool/at the beach (yay! tan in October!!) and I had a ton of time with my family and got to see some of Houston and area. In all a very successful vacation.

Mustachioed Women

You know how sometimes when you're at work you start drifting and the next thing you know you're discussing the merits of a felt mustache and beard with your coworker? No? Hmm.

A few weeks ago I saw a felt mustache/beard on Craftzine Blog and showed it to my office-mate, Wen Shu. We thought they looked fun and decided to make some to wear at work for Halloween. I ended up making mustaches only but the idea was definitely inspired by the ones on Craft.


(Why, Hello double chin, nice to see you)

We felt silly of course but had a great time wearing them, pretending to be terribly stuffy important businessmen


(how cute is Wen Shu? Seriously)

or trying to twirl the ends like a villain.



One of the guys came in and once he had stopped laughing called me Lanny McDonald which was so fitting we couldn't think of anything else...

If you too would like a really quick disguise or have always wanted to look like Lanny (or an old timey villain) here's how I made them:

Lanny McDonaldOld Timey Mustache
Materials:
1 piece of craft felt 9" x 12"
20" ribbon or yarn for ear loops
needle
thread to match felt
scissors
Mustache template:
(click on the pic and then download the large 1024x873 size to print)

Choose a mustache and cut 2 from your felt. Cut your ribbon or yarn in half so you have two 10" lengths. Fold each in half and place on the bottom piece of your mustache. Cover with the top mustache piece and pin together. Hand sew or machine sew the 2 pieces together being careful to secure the ear loops but not to get them caught. Wear with pride.

Please don't make these to sell, but feel free to make them for yourself or your friends, random strangers on the bus or coworkers. Or anyone else who needs one. Just don't sell them or the template.

Monkeys!

This time Saturday evening I'll be in Houston on my first real vacation in a really long time. My brother and his family moved to Houston this spring and I'm so excited to go visit them. I miss my nephews & niece (and my brother & sister-in-law of course) and I'm really looking forward to going to visit and relax.

Now, those of you with kids are probably thinking "Relax? Who are you kidding? 2 four year olds & a two and a half year old? Relax??" but right now it sounds very relaxing to me. I won't need to be on a computer 8 hours a day and I won't need to answer calls from angry or cranky or just unreasonable people. I won't need to solve problems or investigate issues. All I need to do is play and swim and hang out. I can't wait. I love those little monkeys.

Speaking of monkeys, I made these for the monkeys I'm going to visit.



I used a few different tutorials I found online and I love how they turned out. I'm still thinking about whether they need clothing or accessories. I'm thinking about superhero capes for the boys and a skirt for the girl. I'll see how much time I have tomorrow.

I love these faces.



I'm really excited about our trip. If anyone is from Houston or knows any really fun things we might want to see while we're there I'd love some suggestions. For now I have to think about packing. First things first: knitting. I can knit on the plane right? I haven't flown internationally since 2002... Maybe step one should be the FAA rules...