Angry Ives

Way too funny, here is Ives beaking off while sitting on Butter's cage. Beneath him, right at the bottom, you can see Butters looking up at Ives and wondering what he's all angry about!

Birds in Flight

Here's a sampling of the pics I took of my boys this morning. All are Hilts but the close-up at the top. They look so cool in flight!

Swap Angel

Here's a little bear I made for a swap. The wings are just tin foil wrapped around a couple of cardboard cut-outs. I punched holes in the back of them and secured them on the bear with some white thread (to match the dress). I also made a little Santa outfit, but didn't take a pic before I sent it off. I hope my swapee likes it!

Heavier on the Canary, lighter on the Knits: an explanation

As you can see, I haven't been posting much knitting lately, and have resorted to cute canary pictures. These two items are what I'm putting forward as an explanation. I've been knitting too much to actually post anything :p
So, here is a chullo with a personally designed maple leaf fair isle pattern (made with black Lamb's Pride Worsted and some hand spun, hand painted stuff I picked up ages ago on eBay).
Also, you'll see my WIP of a Lady Eleanor, from Scarf Style. It's in Noro Silk Garden, 208 on 4.5mm needles. I'm approximately halfway through. Can't wait to finish this one and block it out! Entrelac was on my list of "to learn" for quite a while, and I'm glad I started this pattern because it truly isn't that difficult. (can't wait to attach the fringe, that's going to be amazing) :)

Tribute to Trigger

Here is my very favourite canary - Trigger. He died a while ago. These pictures feature him at his dopey best, first eyeing me with fear and a bit of irritation, then happily sitting with seed husks on his beak like usual! He was a filth-pig :p
Then we see him soaking wet, after one of his very few baths, then sitting on my keyboard, unsure what to make of the situation! (you can see a drawing I did of him while he was asleep in the background). Finally, one of the last pictures I took of him, sitting on his seed dish, staring over his shoulder as if to imply "what!? I'm trying to eat here!"

Inter-species face-off

Just a quick note today: Ives inspects one of the items I got in my most recent "Autumn" themed swap.

The First Installation of the Fine Feathered Fellows of the Canary Sanctuary!

It's about time to introduce my great birds!
Here you see the proud Mats: the epitome of canary-ism. Here we see him with slightly spikey head feathers following a bath.


And here is (what is most probably) Mats' brother Hilts. Yes, he is named after Hilts of the Great Escape. Thusly named because he tried to escape the box we brought him home in.
Hilts is most probably Mats' brother because they were bought at the same time from the same breeder. They "argue" between the cages too - chasing eachother and generally engaging in sibling rivalries!



Here is Butters (and yes, he's named after the South Park character). He's quite a loud-mouth, and the biggest bird here at the Sanctuary! He and the next canary are in love :) They tweet at eachother all day, and if they're separated for any length of time they plaintively cry for eachother.



Ives: the tough guy. He's also named after a Great Escape character. He's very orange - a fiery one through and through! Here we see Ives right after a bath, in full spikey-feather mode.



Here's Moore, taking a bath. When he made a visit to the vet, he was weighed. When the vet came back into the room with him, the vet said "Here's the little Fatso!" Hahaha, he went on a diet after that! He loves his baths, and has the oddest tweet you've ever heard.

Happy Halloween!!

...says Sir Citrouille!

Knitting Questionnaire

While I usually don't dig the "answer a million questions about yourself" thing, I've recently found that it's an incredibly useful resource for anyone compiling a swap package! And so, here is my Knitting Questionnaire, for anyone who needs to know a little about me).
_____________________________________________
1. Am I a yarn snob? umm, nope. I think there's a time and a place for every (well, almost every) type of yarn.

2. Do I spin or crochet? I wish I spun! I already have a few too many things on my plate, and so limit the craftiness to knitting, crochet and sewing.

3. Any allergies? No.

4. How long have I been knitting? About 3 years

5. Do I have an online wish list? nope

6. Favorite scent? hmm, possibly vanilla. I like warm scents, vanilla, cinammon, sandalwood.

7. Do I have a sweet tooth? oh yeah

8. What other crafts do I do? see answer #2.

9. My favorite music? I like many types, so can't really simplify that here. Examples: Sarah Harmer, Sam Roberts, Beatles, Sloan, Oasis, The Murmurs, Le Tigre, Bikini Kill, Nirvana....

10. Favorite color(s)? Pink, yellow/gold

11. My family situation, including pets? Living at home, parents and siblings and 5 feathered friends (guess what type they are?!)

12. My favorite yarns to knit with? Wool, most definately. Cotton, at least 100% cotton, is stiff and causes my hands to cramp. Hopefully I'll meet a good one some day!

13. Any fiber I just hate? not the biggest fan of the highly acrylic yarns. I don't "just hate" them, though.

14. What is my current knitting obsession? sweaters! and argyle... in that, I want to knit a sweater with argyle, and hope to start my own design very soon!

15. My favorite thing to knit? tops - t shirts, sweaters etc... I also like a challenge, hence my desire to try my hand at fair isle and intarsia

16. What am I knitting right now? Hmm, got an hour? For the ones that I can remember: legwarmers, clapotis, Fair Isle U-Neck from VK, an army of little teddy bears, Bergere de France sweater from Craftster, purse...

17. What do I think about ponchos? wish I could wear them - I'm just too short!

18. Straight or circular needles? either or... I suppose straights (they really are prettier)

19. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? eww... aluminum hurts my wrists (yet I keep using them!) bamboo and plastic are good. Brittany needles = the best!

20. Am I a sock knitter? nope. I'm truly opposed to knitting socks - what's the point? They wear out so quickly, you have to put your dear, hard work on to stinky, sweaty feet... blah! (now, this does not mean that I'm opposed to sock yarn! There's plenty can be made with the stuff!)

21. How did I learn to knit? taught myself

22. My oldest UFO? that's got to be my intarsia bag, with a picture of my favourite canary

23. My favorite animal? canaries, of course!

24. Favorite holiday? Halloween! Candy, costumes, the beauty of autumn, sooo great :)

25. Is there anything I collect? yarn. In tremendous quantities.

26. Any knitting magazine subscriptions? nope (tried to subscribe to Interweave, they never sent any issues!)

28. Any books I'm dying for? can't wait til Eunny Jang's comes out - can't wait for Stefanie Japel's (aka Glampyre) either!

29. Any patterns I covet, but haven't bought? Orangina, hands down!

FO - Angora Neck Tube

My first forray into angora knitting, this is my very own angora neck tube.
I got the yarn at the Knitter's Fair in September, and the next day was finished the neck tube. It's so soft and it's got the greatest halo of fuzz floating around it.

What else could you possibly make with such a tiny amount of angora? :)

Knit Picks arrives :)

After only a week, my Knit Picks order of Elegance yarn has arrived! And, despite the many WIPs I have at the moment, I've indulged myself and started knitting my U-Neck Fair Isle sweater from the fall issue of Vogue Knitting.



The colours are based on the cute little sparrows that I see every day hopping around campus. (except for the rusty orange, that's just for flair).





Not too much progress yet, but it's so wonderful to knit with I'm sure it won't take me long at all (hehe, at least until I get to the fair isle bit...)
I'm sure this will test my patience, but I WILL conquer this sweater!

FO - Cleaves

This is my take on knitty's Cleaves. Great pattern - very creative! I had purchased 3 skeins of Lamb's Pride Bulky in white, cream and brown because I wanted to make myself a toque. When that didn't work out so well, I used it for my Cleaves! Unfortunatley, I only had 3 skeins and the pattern calls for four. I made a mod to the sleeves (didn't make them as wide as the pattern says), both for personal taste and in the hopes of extending the yarn. The top part could be a few inches longer, but I'm still happy with it :)
I'm so glad it's the fall now, so I can finally wear it.

Legwarmers Part 4

Gotta love the rainbow legwarmers! Just about the only garment I'll knit with crazy colours (since no one will see them but me!)
These ones have a great leaf pattern, that is shown off more so in the dark photo (sorry again!) and the colours are of course highlighted in the bright one (where I decided to turn on the flash :p)

Legwarmers Part 3

And here is installment three of my legwarmers. Sorry about the darkness of the pics! Why is it always late at night that I get a chance to take photos?
These ones are a wee bit short, because I made them from 2 skeins of 100% wool, handspun and dyed by Eweful yarns of eBay. I love their stuff. It's just that each skein is only approx. 100 yrds, and with the big-time celtic cable on the fronts, that eats up quite a bit of yarn.
I bought the skeins without knowing what to make with them, since the colours are so great.

Legwarmers Part 2

.... and after much procrastination here is installment 2 of my legwarmers. Oh so very usful and fun to knit - very easy to get creative with, and try out new cables :)
These ones were made with one skein of Victorian Pink colourway of NatureSpun 100% wool. Soft and comfortable. If you'll notice, one of the two bottom cuffs curls up. This was because I cast off using the usual, regular, plain-jane cast off. This was not good.
So, I tried out the backstitch cast off from my wonderful Knitter's Handbook by Montse Stanely (page 89, if you're interested).
I know other patterns for legwarmers don't call for you to sew in an elastic, but I've done so for all mine. I found that they were far too loose, and kept falling down. The elastic I used was just about 1/4 inch wide, and I just wrapped it around my leg, made a mark, and sew it one end to the other. Then I just used some of the left over yarn and stitched it into the top band of the ribbing.





Got to love the extreme close up!