What it is that I have been up to TWO - and, Dreaming the Dreams of a Knitter Heading to the Frolic

I've been stitchin bees,



and bitchin about my Ester,


and now finally the time has come to dream, to plan, my long-awaited forray into the lovely, lovely world of The DKC Knitter's Frolic!

I was scouring the internet for new (free) inspiration. Here's what I've come up with so far:


Belle Paquita
This one is actually a maybe. I like the delicate-looking edging around the neckline, but the V shape may be a little much.

Petit Chou
A cute bra top from Knitty. No, I wouldn't wear it like that. I did say this was inspiration. I like the lacyness of it. I'd make it a little more substantial, and turn it into a wee halter for the summer.

Good ol' Razor Cami
This one has been floating around in me brain for a bit of a while now.

Top Down Sweater with Crazy Collar
So very pretty. I only hope I can live up to making this one.

Ballet Top from Magknits
Cute. Possibly do-able. I'm mostly intrigued by the gather at the neckline.

No Gauge Swatch Top
The name sounds good - and the pattern has potential. Looks sort of corset-like.

Do I dare dream?

Swappees Beware: Spoiler! -or- what it is that I have been up to

For those of you who have been wondering at my silence, here I present one of the reasons: my high-gear swap production.

First is the Historical Swap, for which I made three hats. The theme was the 40s and 50s, and so I made a little feathered cap, a tie-on hat, and a snood (which I must say I'm rather proud of. Not that I think I'd ever wear one, but the cuteness of it made me want to make one for myself).



This one shows the colours better:


Snoody Goodness:





The second swap I've been working on is the Jane Austen swap. So much fun! Here you see the loot:

Stitch Markers (made to spell out the author's name!) and magnetic bookmark:



Soaps I made (which have little polymer clay pieces in them that say "Mr. Darcy", "Emma", "Mr. Knightley" and "Hartfield".



And another soap that has the initials J.A. imprinted in it (the pink one is for me!)



And finally, the item I wish I could keep for myself: Jane Austen, amigurumi style!

Her we see her in full:



and her she is with her "quill" (really, a feather dropped by my good friend and pet birdie squawker, Butters, pictured below):




And here are her shoes, which I must say, I am rather proud of!:



To make Austen, I used some good ol' Red Heart acrylic, a pretty pink crochet hook, and adaptions of this great little pattern at RoxyCraft. I just elongated the pattern for the body, and winged it for the limbs and clothing. I hope my swap partners enjoy their goodies!

The Angel of Death

All my plants die. Wanna see?




Rather sad. I didn't even photo those sprouts I was oh-so-happy about the other week. They've now bent under the pressure of living with the world's best plant killer.

Here is the only plant that I've succeeded in not killing.



Ah, bamboo. All you need is water. No sun, no feed. Any suggestions on plants that need no care, I'll be happy to take them. Oh yes, and limited sun.

Lady E Le Deux Makes her Entrance into Polite Society

Several weeks ago I completed my second Lady E. Here's the specs:




Pattern: Lady Eleanor from Scarf Style
Yarn: Noro Kureyon, #149
Needles: yummy Lantern Moon circs
Skills: Lesson learned on my first Lady E: DON'T use straights when you can use circs. The project went much faster on the circulars.

LADY E vs. LADY E

Now that I can directly compare the yarns, I'll have to say that the Silk Garden is worth the extra few bucks per ball. It's much softer (not that the Kureyon itches me mad. Maybe I need to soak it longer in some conditioner).

Too all of you out there, wondering if it's possible to three-peat a pattern, I think I just might have to prove that it can happen. Don't ask when, with what yarn, but it will be done!

No Knitting, Just Baking

Settling in to a new place brings great changes. My yarn gets a new home, my crafting time has suffered, and my baking time has increased. Exhibit A: streusel from a package -

You may or may not notice the "core sample" I had to take for quality assurance purposes in the bottom centre muffin. I'm just good that way.

In other news, I have been working away on swaps (which for obvious reasons can't be discussed/posted) and have been feeling dreadful in my lag-time shame of not posting specs on Lady E II (yes, I do realize I could do it right now, at this very moment. The mood doesn't strike me as yet).

I will say that I am greatly looking forward to the Knitter's Frolic in Toronto (in just under two weeks!) and am slightly panicking because my usual list of wishes remains empty for this yarn enhancement endeavour. Any suggestions? I believe all the choices in my "Next on the Needles" list are covered by stash. Should I be terrible and just buy skeins as the impulse hits me?
Weigh in, my loyal readers! I clearly can't make such a weighty decision myself.

ps: The streusel were decent. They were particularly decent when dipped in the lovely chocolate fondue that I tried for the first time this very evening. Mmmm, chocolate and strawberries... and bananas... and blackberries....

Sprouting, Sewing and Stitching

You see here before you the evidence of my plant-nurturing, and possibly the reversal of an historically black thumb (or, the touch of death for plants).
My Marigolds and Assylum are growing!



With north-facing windows shaded by an over-hanging balcony, these suckers have got to be hardy. I only hope I have pretty blooms to make my outdoors more pleasant than the nasty flying, cooing rats make it now.

I've been up to more than plant-growing. Here be my first homey sewing project. A throw pillow case WIP:



WIP in that I've yet to sew up the final edge. I was fighting with my sewing machine
last night. It may not look like much to you, but I've the feeling of pride swelling in me heart, and now a pretty place to rest my head. One side of the pillow is just a lucky shade of yellow that matches the front quite nicely. The front you see pictured here was a piece of fabric I received in a swap from Portugal. I love the fat little birds on it - they remind me of my Butters (who is yet to join me in Les Digs Nouveau). Terrible French, I know.

Another product of fighting with said sewing machine (who has yet to be named, but I'm afraid a distinct personality may be emerging) is this guy:



May not look like much yet, but I be tres proud indeed of my rotary-cutting, seam- sewing and instruction-following skills! More to follow because, hell, that quilting is absolutely addictive! I was up til midnight working on that star.

It's good to be back baby!

New Digs

I've been so silent because I've just moved - a new apartment for me!

I've also been keeping busy with swaps, and my second Lady E (which is currently blocking - hopefully finished pics to come soon).

Here's a pic of a current swap I've received - a beautiful grey pencil skirt with cute bee details. I love it!



Here's one of my new neighbours.


Updates soon!

I shall quickly tell you...

Here be my first sad, sad attempts at a mini quilt block. Much more fun to follow (and perhaps more successful if I had followed the pattern!)

Progress Negative on Wee Spencer

How comes my spencer? Very slowly indeed.
The above picture demonstrates my newly formed doppelganger at work, displaying my mostly-done WIP. I've still to CO for the sleeves.

Happily I blocked the nylon/acrylic mix (which actually blocked out nicely), only to find that the "knitting pins" I used left me a nasty rust stain behind! See pic below:

Luckily, the discoloured bits will go on the underside of the button edge.

Very quick update, my readers. I must be off now to work on another WIP which has caught my attention: Lady E le deux. (in Noro Kureyon 178, just in case you were wondering).

Bonjour Fair Isle!

At long last, I've completed the Fair Isle U-Neck.


Specs:

Pattern: Fair Isle U-Neck from Vogue Knitting, Fall 2006
Yarn: Knit Picks Elegance
Time to complete: October 2006-March 2007
Things I'd change: The sleeves. I hate them. They're way too loose and baggy compared to the body. I'd also change that, too. The body's about 2 inches too big.

Despite what my "what I'd change" list says, I really do like the way the sweater turned out. The yarn is wonderful, very soft and smooth against the skin. The colours worked out alright as well.
When I make a second one (yes, I will! and I already have the yarn for it!) it's going to be smaller, and the sleeves will be 3/4 length instead of full-length.

This second photo shows the colours a bit better.

Gone Shoppin'

And oh how wonderful a sale is. My sale-sniffing bud over at Foxy and Crafty wrangled me a 40% discount on Rowan. Yes, Rowan. And here it be:

This Rowan Summer Tweed (which is very soft indeed) will transform, through a bit of knitting magic, into this.
And, I haven't just been spending money.

Here be one of the fastest turnarounds, craft-wise, that I've ever had:
Not only did we go to Serendipity Yarn, we also went to their tres lovely bead store, just doors down. Looky what I made.

And, lastly, here be my doppelganger;

A little off, I know. But I'm a beginner at sewing, and until I prove to myself that this'll last, this is all I'll get.

Knit Picks Arrives to Great Enthusiasm

My happiness levels skyrocketed when I got that promising wee notice in the mail that I had a package to pick up at the PO. Indeed, it was the Knit Picks order (unfortunately, not in time before Spring sprung - it's already 3 degrees today, and heading ever northwards over the next week. I just might be one of the only people who are lamenting the warmer temperatures).

Here, you see my impatience to work on the FI:

I decided to weave in all the ends and sew up the body. And block. Check and check.
Then I decided to weave in the ends on the sleeves. Half-check.

Now I need to finish them up, sew them in, block them out, and add the neck.


Cute update: here are two amigurumis I made for a craftster swap.

Mr. Raccoon and Zebra dude are made from online patterns, and various shades of Bernat Satin. I think Rocky has something of an attitude.

The Story of the Little Spencer Continues

Here it be: since this photo was taken, more progress has been done, but I had to update you all (yes, all three of you who read this blog), as to the wee Spencer situation.

I'm working the two front panels at once, and just sort of eye-balling it up against the actual Guess top. I'm using this yarn, "Wendy" by Peter Pan - I just found it in the baby yarn section at the good ol' Lens Mill Store. It's a tiny gauge, with tiny needles (2.25 mm, I believe). I truly almost stabbed my leg with one last night - vicious things, they are.

I've also discovered that I love tiny gauge. It creates a fabric that's entirely beautiful, fascinating (and I hope) entirely wearable.

Makin' Plans

At a much-needed knitting knight yestereve, the topic of dressforms came up, and a wonderful idea was brought to my attention. Methinks I'm buying some duct tape and having a tape-up-the-knitter-night tonight!

In other news:


Here is the previously mentioned sketch for my fair isle halter top with the Rowan cotton.



I've yet to decide on what, exactly, the fair isle bit will look like. I've never designed any fair isle before, so this might get a little messy.

Elann has arrived at the sanctuary:


This, my friends, will hopefully become this:

Or, more accurately, this:


Why it always looks so different on the models than on reality is quite a puzzle.

The wonderful stretch capabilities of this Elann Esprit yarn are demonstrated below.

Pre-stretch


Stretch

I've purchased enough (if my calculations are correct) to make two little Spencers (which, I promise, will have a creative name once I've finished designing and transcribing). I've also purchased enough to have another go at the Molly Ringwald (this time in cotton, and not handspun!) and something that I couldn't resist - baby alpaca and silk in an olive green. God knows what I'll do with it. It's too pretty (and reasonably priced) to pass up.

And now to conclude this monster post.

Happy knitting, all!

Shedir (and matching mitts) Fini!

Here is the completed Shedir (and matching mitts I made with the leftover yarn).

Specs:
Pattern: Shedir
Yarn: Rosarios 4 Solisticos (this is some yarn I received in a swap from Portugal)
Things I'd change:
nothing about the Shedir pattern, just my stubborn yarn choice. I wanted to knit from stash yarn, and this was just about enough for a hat (and mitts, obviously). This was a larger-than-called for yarn, and after several false starts, I got the right gauge.
Unfortunately, I neglected to notice that when I was finishing the top, it was getting a little, uh... pointy. Very elf-like. I'll still wear it, and I could fix it, but I'm knitting-lazy.




Mitt:
same yarn as above, pattern from my head (other than the cable, to match the Shedir).

On to the next hat!