stack of waffles.
Made a couple pairs of fingerless mitts this week.
One for me, one for Leigh.
I hope you like them Leigh!
ripped.
Another one bites the dust.
Evidently short row heels and I do not see eye to eye.
Bye-bye ‘Periwinkleberries’.
Until we meet again…
it’s a doozie.
What’s new in your world these days? Are you longing for Spring as much as I am? Where I live we had about one week’s worth of nice warm temperatures and since then, it’s been below normal – chilly winds, rain, even snow. Come on sun! I’ve been thinking about making a pair of ‘Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers’ from the Stitch ‘n Bitch Nation book in hopes of hurrying spring the f**k up already. Pardon my french, but it’s almost May. Hurry up spring! Sheesh.
In non-weather related events, last week my Dad finished up the last of his intense chemo & radiation therapy appointments! He is literally pooped. And quite relieved (as well as my Mom!) to have this part of the process complete. Now we go back to waiting, while my Dad’s body recouperates, and while the team of doctors & surgeons plan out what the next steps are. We hope that it will be surgery, as the main point of these treatments was to shrink the tumour to a more ‘operable’ size. Dad says despite the constant pain, he feels less pressure on his insides – let’s hope the doctors have that same prognosis. For now, he’s enjoying the freedom of not having his chemo pack attached to his hip, and is nursing his ’sunburnt’ bottom.
I was tickled pink to find a message from Karen in my Ravelry inbox today. She wanted to let me know that she’d charted the lace pattern on her fabulous Baby Chalice Blanket pattern (ravelry link). How excited am I? Can’t wait to cast on that project again. Might even make it an adult sized blanket and keep it for myself, since I love the pattern so much – hah.
I’m not much of a drinker. In fact up until a few weeks ago, one could say I was a definite non-drinker. I thoroughly enjoyed alcohol in my late teens, pretty much up until I turned the legal drinking age in my province. After that alcohol was gross and I hated the way people acted when they got drunk. I’m still not a fan of drunken lunatics, especially large crowds of drunken lunatics, but I’m trying to get a taste back for alcohol – to enjoy and appreciate social drinking. So for the past 4 or 5 weeks, mister random and I have been testing out wines. You may have noticed me twittering about it:
wine+cheese+baguette+@voulesrandom=happyfriday.
He’s into the reds. Me, being a noob, am trying out whites. We started out with a pinot grigio from Italy which I downed. It tasted not-so-fantastic to me, but I drank it anyways! The next week I moved up to a sauv blanc from New Zealand. Uber yuck! That was a messy night… The next couple of bottles were pretty forgettable, but last Friday I discovered a gem from France in the way of Cynsault Syrah. Yummers! With hints of strawberry & blueberry, it was right up my alley. And I picked it out myself (*pats self on back*). I so look forward to Fridays now. Not sure I’m ready to drink in public again just yet, but in the comfort of my own home, with my fiance…anything goes.
On the needles I’m currently working on finishing up a pair of fingerless mittens. I wanted to knit something that would go with my Purple Thermis! I found this pattern which also uses a waffle stitch – I think they will go together nicely.
And for him, I’m pretty sure I’ll knit up a pair of these babies, double stranded with the same yarn used for his random request (Ravelry link). I’m so in love with all things green right now…
Two more projects have hit the frogpond recently: my Seascape Stole and Lace Ribbon Scarf both got the boot. Been doing some ’spring cleaning’ in my knitting corner and realized that I will likely never finish these guys. So rip-it, rip-it, rip-it I go and both patterns are going back into the Rav queue. I definitely want to knit both patterns again, the Lace Ribbon Scarf will be with a softer yarn – maybe I’ll indulge in some Manos… Oh the possibilities.
Tomorrow is Wednesday which means it’s Stitch ‘n Bitch night! Last week I played hooky and stayed home nursing a headache. I don’t plan on missing out on the fun tomorrow. Sounds like we might have a pretty decent crowd of crafters coming out – some newer faces, some older faces – a great mix. Now if only the weather will hold out and permit us some patio time… I’m crossing my fingers!
One more thing before I sign off for the night. If there are any musical fanatics out there, and you’re going to be in town next Monday or Tuesday, then I’ve got a great offer for you! The theatre I work for is producing a new Andrew Lloyd Webber/Ben Elton musical called The Boys in the Photograph. Over the last few weeks I’ve had the pleasure of watching the enormous set being built, painted, and transferred onto our modest little stage; hearing the giant cast’s enthusiastic rehearsals; and just feeling the buzz of energy that’s been floating around our theatre. This production is going to be HUGE! We’ve got some great seats still available for two of our previews next week and I’d love to extend a ‘friends and family’ offer to all of my cyber-friends. We’re selling all available tickets for our April 27th and April 28th previews for only $45 each – that’s up to $30 off per ticket!! Simply login to our website using Promo Code 1111 to take advantage of this super deal. And even if you can’t make it to one of the previews, I still recommend trying to catch one of the regular performance – it’ll cost you more than $45, but in my opinion seeing a new AWL musical is well worth every penny.
Thermis.
I will bind off tonight. I will bind off tonight. I will bind off tonight. I will bind off tonight. I will bind off…
*insert cute & witty title here*
All I can focus on right now is the fact that my belly is full of garlic cheddar biscuits – a la Red Lobster. Now that I’ve stated that fact, let’s carry on.
I’ll start with the least happiest piece of knitting news – the big bad baby blanket is gonzo. Evidently I was not meant to knit a blankie for my nephew. After failing on attempts #1 and #2 on the baby chalice blanket, I gave attempt #3 a try with the big bad baby blanket pattern (read all about that here, if you’re interested). I’m such a slow knitter, so it took me what felt like eons to finish just one ball of yarn. After joining the second ball and knitting about one third of it something became glaringly obvious – ball #2 was a whole lot more blue than the first. To quote Mos Def’s character from Be Kind Rewind: ”what the duck”. What the duck, man! Maybe the difference in colouration is not so noticeable to you, but it was enough for me to wave my white flag.
I surrender. I will not knit a blankie for my nephew. I will find some other cute toy/sweater/hat, etc to work on and hope for a better outcome. Suggestions?
Thankfully just before the baby blanket incident, I finished an awesome cowl using some awesome yarn. It’s Balsam by Ilga Leja and I used just over one skein of Fleece Artist Woolie Silk 3-ply. I so rarely block my knitted garments, but in this case it was necessary to widen the shoulder portion of the cowl. In doing so I totally stretched out the neck part as well and when he tried it on it was just flimsy and lifeless. I had no idea whether re-blocking would fix that mistake but I went ahead and tried it anyway, soaking only the neck portion in hot hot water, then pinned it back onto my blocking board.
It worked! And he modelled it for me too. I still have just under one skein left of this yarn and am stumped as to what to make with it. Matching fingerless mitts maybe? But which pattern?? Again: suggestions anyone?
Now that the baby blanket project has been squashed and his cowl is finished, I’m free to work on whatever I want – plus my March Sockdown! challenge socks; my periwinkleberries. I worked on those at stitch ‘n bitch this week and got about 3 or 4 pattern repeats done.
And yes, I lay the sock in progress on top of the soon to be frogged baby blanket for this photo… Anyways, I’m pretty sure I’ll have to knit more than the 8 pattern repeats that Twinkleberry originally calls for – otherwise these will be more like ankle socks. The yarn is super nice. Soft and silverly blue. Nummy.
Ooh I finally bought the Thermis pattern a couple weeks ago. Trouble is, now I’m not sure what colour or type of yarn I want to use. I’m trying to be good and not buy and new yarns, so I think it’ll have to be knit with something that’s already in my stash… But even then there’s too much to choose from! I’ve narrowed it down to two choices:
I’m leaning towards the lilac colour. Also want to make some *somewhat matchy* fingerless mitts for me too, to go with the cowl. Oh gawd, and I have to choose buttons yet! Dare I ask for your opinions again? Geez, I’m super needy and indecisive today aren’t I? LOL.
One final thought: must dig out my spinning. She has inspired me – what an amazing crafter!
