Here’s day 1 of the Thanksgiving (or rather, the “we have an excuse to pig out!”) feast… the damage done by only 3 people, minus the salad and the bread. Dessert pending. Ham and scalloped potato dinner also pending for tomorrow (requested by JJ).

Of course, I’m still enjoying some long weekend cheer…

And, in my usual fickle fashion, I’ve backtracked on yet another knitting plan (see post below, earlier today) and have decided to start do the Tuscany from NSFY instead. Unfortunately, I haven’t quite yet figured out this new camera, so here are some rather odd photos of the first pattern repeat:
Overexposed Version

And my special little addition: beads! (in two colours, gold and teal… not sure that they show up here too well):

Yarn: Handmaiden Silken, of course. 1 skein rainbow (my name), I skein blue/purple. Working name is the Pride Tuscany.

Finished knitting the Intoxicating, but can’t block until my mother vacates from the spare room which is where I block stuff. Hopefully I’ll have finished it off this time next week. 😉

I have been unusually slack about blogging this week. Lots to do at work 😉 and didn’t have any FOs to show off.

Still don’t. However, I thought I’d show off perhaps the worst ID photo taken:

I dare you to find and send me a worse one! All the coworkers and colleagues are in agreement that it is the worst of this (typically bad) genre of photos ever. Some think that I will not be allowed to leave the country with this on my passport.

This is what happens when I try to grow out my hair!!

And now for something (hopefully) prettier: I am pleased to announce that I am almost finished the second sleeve of Intoxicating (in SWTC Oasis bamboo):

This is pre-blocking and the sleeves will require some intensive blocking according to the pattern. I have also learned that I am not as much an expert at lace as I had decided… the usual legend in my own mind after 3 past tries! Lots of frogging went into the first sleeve. The second (touch wood) is fairly uneventful.

Although this has been a great project it is suffering my lack of attention for some reason… maybe because I’m mentally preoccupied with this fabulous Alchemy yarn:

After I finish Intoxicating (hopefully today), I’m going to start the Oriel Lace blouse from the Summer 2007 IK mag.

And now, in parting, for a blast from the past. My mother is visiting us for the Thansgiving weekend and brought this sweater I had made her many years ago with her:

I am quite impressed that I managed to pull this off so long ago… I don’t know I’d have the patience today.

So – happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends, and “nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah I get to pig out all weekend on chicken, ham and salt and vinegar ruffles” to those from south of the border! 😉

Vests rock!

This one, I think, has a bit of pizzazz – thanks in large part to the semi-sparkly yarn! I’m not sure how well the pics point it out, but there are little sparkly bits in the yarn.

Specs:
– pattern: modified from the Back to School Vest, Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel
– size: 35 1/2″ (second size in the pattern)
– yarn = Colinette Lasso, 100% polyamide 2 skeins (100g each) in Forest colourway
– needle size = 4.5mm and 3.75mm
– started: 29 September
– finished: 1 October
– made for: my mother

Thanks to Natalie, who sent me this yarn in a swap!

Notes:
– I didn’t think the waffle stitch in the pattern would be too noticeable with the variegated yarn, so I did stockinette stitch instead above the ribbed waistline. I like the result together with the fancy yarn.
– WARNING: if you buy this yarn, buy a yarn winder and/or swift to go with it. It took me quite some time to wind this by hand as it tangles easily and sticks to itself!

Now for some more pics:

Waist Detail

Neckline Detail:

Best thing is that I have enough left for a small tank or T for ME. Because that’s who it’s all about, isn’t it?

Well, maybe not. I’m proving to have an altruistic streak after all (sort of). I offered to make JJ a vest for the big trip to the UK this December. He could have had the fancy tweed vest from No Sheep for You but due to his classic (read: pedestrian) tastes, has chosen this one instead:

(the white one in the bottom left corner. What is it about 80s patterns, anyway, that compelled everyone to put in 4″ of ribbing knitted 2 sizes smaller than the rest of the sweater! Is this supposed to be some kind of slimming feature? Sheesh! JJ has been advised that the ribbing and trim will not have this time-dishonoured shrunken look.)

Don’t you love the half-eaten Jersey Milk bar in the right corner of the picture? The pattern should come with a warning: “Do not eat chocolate while knitting with white Paton’s Astra!”

But I digress, surprisingly enough – I’m usually so pithy! 😉

After long deliberation over the appropriate material, I decided that Knitpicks CotLin was in order – price is right, and it is the desired fineness and softness for HRH JJ. So, in my typical altruistic spirit I checked out Knitpicks and allowed JJ to pick out his colour. He wanted two colours, so I even offered to knit him a matched set – eventually. But not before I knit something with the lime green I managed to order for myself, of course – together with two books, A Gathering of Lace by Meg Swansen and The Natural Knitter by Barbara Albright. As I told JJ, with the Canadian dollar as high as it is, it’s almost like Knitpicks are giving him money! (His response was “Don’t push it”. Sometimes I do know when to shut up).

Here are the colours:

CotLin

13 skeins Nightfall
13 Skeins Linen
10 skeins Key Lime (for – guess who!)

All in all, a good start to the week.

Hi all: I think I’ve finally acheived knitting nerd-dom (you may well think I was there a long time ago).

In my complete enthusiasm (nay, obsession) for all things handmaiden, I sent them some photos of my finished Handmaiden works. And lo and behold, they were posted on the Handmaiden blog!

Handmaiden

Check out the dandelion colour just below my post there… sigh.

I’m in rapture.

😉

I got a new camera yesterday… so we’ll see if my photo-taking ability will be miraculously improved overnight!

Here’s a snap of the (just finished!) River Rock scarf with the old camera:

And here are some snaps with the new: (a) Pewter:
and (b) Peridot:

Hmm… looks as though I will have to read that booklet after all! More pics tomorrow of the completed River Rock as modelled on the balcony by Aphrodite.

Here will be my October proect for the Do Something New KAL: the task will be learning to knit cables without a needle:

From the Twilley Denim Freedom booklet:

I got the Twilley Denim yarn on sale last month! 😉 in two colours.

Now, back to the Intoxicating sleeves, then the Tuscany, then… AUGH! Too many choices! Must also come up with a vest for Pieheart’s Vest KAL on the Knittyboard – probably the Back To School vest in Fitted Knits. Hmm.

(Sometimes it strikes me that I would have an excellent career coming up with cryptic crossword clues – despite the fact that I couldn’t get more than four or five answers in one to save my life!)

When I went to find my latest work-in-progress, the River Rock scarf, this morning at the unheavenly hour of 5:30 a.m. (the clock, after all, is ticking on my KAL deadline of 30 September!), it was not in its usual place on the living room table. I searched underneath the piles of newspapers ON the table… no joy. I then hunted throughout the apartment in my usual careless storage spaces – the vegetable crisper, the top of the toilet tank, etc. etc. No sign of my River Rock. I couldn’t help but think that perhaps my mother had driven down from Kingston in the dead of night and absconded with it…! Until I thought to look on the balcony.

Well, here’s what I found:

Apparently Quack enjoys the slippery sleek properties of Handmaiden Silken as much as I do!

Luckily I was just in time to rescue him from the inevitable devastation of rubber hitting concrete – I wouldn’t want his battery mechanism destroyed, after all! (Don’t ask…). After a stern scolding, I took him and my precious UFO inside.

But not right away – I did have time to snap a couple of photos first. Sorry to bore you in the event that you are not as fascinated with Handmaiden as I am!

I have introduced a second colour into the scarf, although I’m not sure that these photos quite pick up the full glory of both colours. Here are both of them together:

This is the (new to the scarf) Peridot colourway:
…and this is the lovely Pewter.

I must say that this will be the finest piece I’ve ever knitted. I’m in love with it already. Am tempted to wear it to work as is… but I don’t know how well the Addi lace needles work as a fashion accessory. Besides, knowing me I’d probably manage to put an eye out while struggling to stay standing on the subway.

Wishing you all a wonderful day.

Cheers,

Kristina

PS. Another stressor to start the day off right: I just learned that Nutella might not be health food after all… see the new food blog hosted by Jennifer and me!

PPS. the answer to the cryptic clue in the subject line is “crazyKB”. 😉

Another food-obsessed colleague and I have just set up a foodie blog. We don’t quite know where this will go, but if interested we’d welcome any comments/topic ideas.

Check out Legal Eagles Who Lunch if interested. If you know others who are equally obsessed with food, perhaps you could send them the link as well?!

There, you can see lots of lovely photos like this:

…and maybe even grab some dinner ideas!

I can’t resist in progress pics for this one!

Yarn is Handmaiden Pewter. Beads dark gold 6/0 from Earthfaire.

Amazingly simple so far – the only chore is shoving the beads along as I strung them all on right at the beginning. SIGH. Should have used a crochet hook! Oh well.

I can tell already that I will have to hide this one when my mother comes to visit… 😉

Well, here are the fruits of my weekend labours, starting from worst (but since improved) to bad to good to knock on wood!!

1. Village Idiocy

This is the end result of a disastrous attempt of a beret I tried to make this morning – perfectly good pattern by Monahan on Knittyboard. It was supposed to look like this:
Flemish beret and I’m not sure how I managed to make my version look like something that some old rummy troubadour was strolling around with in the 1400s. It is at least 51 sizes too big for me. Made using perfectly good Jo Sharp Desert Cotton. Time spent – 2.5 hours approx.

I’m in the midst of trying some controlled shrinking right now – I have washed it on hot in the machine and it’s now in the dryer (not recommended). In the worst case scenario, I now have an idea for my Hallowe’en costume!!

ETA: here is the post-shrinkage result… a lot better.

Now I just look as though I work at Michel Baguette. 😉 I suspect part of the issue is that I just cannot carry off berets with any panache.

It is a very cool pattern (thank, monahan!). Think I’ll try it again with a stiffer yarn. Ideas?

2. Another experiment gone, er – so so

This is a pair of felted slippers I made for myself using a pattern out of Knit One, Felt Two. You will see what the original pattern looked like below. I tried slip stitch straight lines on this version realising that this would make the pattern narrower – but I was hardly able to get them on! I have managed to stretch them somewhat – the other problem is that the heel didn’t felt for some reason! SIGH. Made with Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride – main colours Limeade and Blue Boy, 8mm needles.
Time spent – 3 hours approx.
3. Moral of the story: be less selfish

The slippers I knitted for JJ, by contrast, have turned out quite well (they’re still drying in this photo):

His shoe form fits in them so I’m hoping they will be as cozy as they look! This was the original pattern from Knit One Felt Too – I think they were called “vintage chequerboard slippers”. Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted, 8 mm needles. Colours are Red Hot Passion and Loden Leaf. Time spent – 3 hours approx.

4. Onset of River Rock Scarf!!

Finally I’ve managed to start the River Rock Scarf, my September project for the Do Something New KAL. The fancy necklace is actually all the required beads strung onto the two skeins of yarn. Maybe I should just leave it like this!! Will start knitting this evening after finishing a bit of work I brought home. One week to go…!

And – another photo of the very fancy beads!!!

After this is done, it’s back to the sadly neglected Intoxicating – 1 1/2 sleeves to go on that, then I’m not sure what quite lies ahead.

I just came across this one the other day when excavating (ahem, cleaning) my bedroom:

A saltire g-string!! (made for – guess who! Mr. Scotland)

Where did I locate it? In the back of a sock drawer, buried underneath some “I should throw these pairs of underwear out but they cost good money and are not falling apart yet” detritus. Ingrate. Hmph.

(mind you, I guess that a g-string made out of Lamb’s Pride Bulky might not be the most comfortable thing to wear…and you may have noted that there is not a matching one with the greek flag).

If anyone comes across one of those annoying greeting cards which play music when you open them that has a scottish tune, please think about buying it and sending it to me. I’d like to take out the mechanism and sew it into the front of this beauty 😉