look who came to visit!

Thursday night, to my surprise and delight, I had a special visitor.  Edward!  And I thought I would have to wait until Friday night at the movie theatre to see him again!

We had a nice chat about the world, the quilts he had seen in him many years on earth, and a bit about that Trampire Kristen Stewart.   Then he set about to make me dinner.  He made a lovely pasta with garlic sauce.  Garlic and vampires, you say?  Don't worry, I brushed my teeth thoroughly before we made out.

Then he got right to work doing the dishes.  "Let me help," I exclaimed, but he insisted I sit and relax.  "You give me everything just by breathing," he said.  So I put my feet up and let him go about his work.

After dinner, it was the Twilight hour, so we took a romantic walk in the park.  I know, as a vampire, he doesn't get cold, but I still offered him my latest cowl, the Big Herringbone Cowl by Purl Bee, knit in Madelinetosh chunky wool in Cove.  He loved the intricate herringbone pattern and said the soft texture of the wool was even soft to his stony skin.

All too soon he had to go.  But luckily, I had a date already planned with him for Friday night.  It is a tradition for the girls at work to go and see each instalment of the Twilight movie on opening night. It did not disappoint!  Loved it, though sad for it coming to an end.

On the way home, I spied someone peering at me through the window of my office.....

(Gotta love the sense of humor of my staff :)

Are you a Twihard?  Did you see the movie??  What did you think?  Discuss.

p.s.  as someone will invariably ask....yes, I do own a life-sized cardboard Edward.  I bought it in a small town in Minnesota several years ago, and it was worth every penny.  It led to an interesting encounter with the Canada/USA border control on our return....

"What did you buy from the USA to bring back into Canada?"  
" A 2-4 of beer, and a life sized Edward."  
"A whaaat?"  
They then proceeded to search our vehicle.  :P

The Sweater worthy of a parade

I can't even tell you how giddy I am about finally finishing this sweater. The fact that it FITS and, no modesty here, looks AWESOME, is just the icing on the 10 Layer Cake of Incredible.

My journey/whining about this sweater is well documented: started it back in November, had to restart it 3 times for reasons I won't bitch about (again) now, so it has been a learning process for sure. Basically I could have easily whipped off 4 quilts in the hours it took me to knit this thing. Then there is the little matter of cost....knitting is in no way a cheap hobby, and the yarn, buttons and shipping/border duty charges for the supplies for this were....brace yourself...about $180. Would I ever BUY myself a sweater for $180? Hellz NO! If I were to add up the hours spent in manual labour and add that to the cost, this would be a FIVE THOUSAND dollar sweater.

Good thing it looks like a million bucks :)



What do I love about this? Oh, so many things! First off, the pattern. It is called the Golden Wheat Cardigan, by Veera Valimaki. It was so well written (all the previous mess ups were entirely my bad). Sizing was perfect. Then there are all the little details. I love the asymmetrical shape, and the collar....



......the cute little "side seams" that are not seams at all, but stitched in along the body and sleeves......



.....and, this baby's got back!



While the pattern only calls for a few buttons at the top so it is always worn open, I opted to do buttonholes all the way down. I like that I can wear it closed on chilly days.



And I love the COLOR! The yarn was Madelinetosh Chunky in the candlewick colorway. So vibrant and warm. And so soft! Worth every penny.



The buttons. Dang, I love buttons, but these are perfect. I found them after a quick etsy search, at a shop called shop4craft based in Thailand. Great service!



I can basically go on and on about all the things I love about the final sweater. And I am so RELIEVED that after all that time and effort, I have something that I love to show for it. I didn't even block it because I had to put it on immediately. I plan to wear it every day until it is stinky and smelly, probably even longer. Then I will peel it off for a quick wash and wear it some more. Just call me the Lady in Yellow.



If you want to learn more, there are even more details and ramblings on my Ravelry page.

Perfect fall sweater (for a perfect little girl)

I think about 2.3 seconds elapsed between when I cast off The Middle Child's sweater and when Last But Not Least started whining, "But where is miiiiiiine???" And as I worked on it over the past couple months, the kid was like a slave driver. "Aren't you done yet, Mommy?" "Knit faster!"



Anyways, I am so happy that I was able to crank it out in time for her to wear this fall....and to capture the gorgeous color of the yarn amongst the gorgeous colors of nature!



Knit it a couple sizes big....you can bet if I am going to knit it, I am going to make it big enough to last awhile!



Tested and approved for running and frolicking purposes.....



Had fun walking through the park and snapping photos. The Middle Child was the "director" of the photo shoot and would swoop in after each shot to rearrange hair and offer suggestions to her sister about hand placement, etc. Suggestions were usually taken graciously. Ah, sisters!





More details on my Ravelry page here, for those who would like to know :)



Linking up at Rachel's Celebrate Color contest :)

Knitting conquests and WIPs

This summer, knitting was my craft of choice. We had such a hot, dry summer here that I didn't want to miss a minute inside at the sewing machine, so knitting was the perfect solution to satisfy my crafty urges while keeping me in the great outdoors. I brought it on car rides to the lake, to the playground while my kids played, or for just lounging in the back yard. It may have looked a bit odd, knitting up toques and mittens in the blazing heat, but it was all good to me!

So- here is what I have been weaving together. First up is a pair of mittens!

These little lovelies were made for a friend, to go with the purple hat that I showed you last month:
I looked high and low for a pattern in the same seed stitch as the hat, but nothing came up. So, I decided to make my own pattern! My first knitting pattern, and they turned out really well! I am planning to whip up another pair to double check a few things and then I will make the pattern available here on zee blog!

In progress: tiny tea leaves, take 2. An orange version of the blue sweater I had made for The Middle Child. Naturally, Last But Not Least started whining for one the second I cast off her sister's. It is my first time using Madelinetosh vintage hand died yarn, and I am IN LOVE. Cost a bit, but, like the "good" quilting cottons, is so worth it. I have to remind myself that, while I would never spend this much to BUY a sweater for my kid, the cost is really part garment and part entertainment for me ;)

Also making up a really cool new slouchy beret-style hat using some gorgeous Malabrigo Rasta yarn. The color is called laguna negra, and has some really beautiful shades of grey and amber.
I have kind of sworn off buying more fabric for a bit while I catch up on my stash, but yarn? Game on! This shade of Madelinetosh Chunky, called Cove, with its greys, browns and blues, has to be one of my all time favorites....


I also added a couple more skeins of Malabrigo Chunky to my stash, in Hummingbird. Likely for another set of seed stitch hat and mittens!
Soon, soon, soon, I will succumb and knit a sweater for me. Looks like I will be spending a lot of time in hockey arenas this winter again, so I think my needles will come along for the ride!