Today has been sort of stressful. I did some number crunching with my loans, expenses and resources, and things are not looking good. So I am going on a debt diet until the last day of classes - April 2. I will not buy anything, including yarn, for this whole month. I will still allow myself to buy groceries and necessities. I am alloting $20 a week for going out with friends, but other than that - no spending. I think I can do it, my main strategy is going to consist of just not going in any stores, so I can't be tempted.

However, today I was allowed to spend money. And I finally managed to find a nice dress for the Occupational Therapy Ball. I got a good deal on a black strapless number. It's nice and simple, so I can wear it more than once.

I am making some progress on thermal. I split the neckline and I am working my way up the back. I have about another 4 inches to go before I am done the back. Here is the sweater with my very cranky looking cat. She's not cranky in real life she just squints when the camera flashes!


I passed in my Grad School application today. That was a thrilling moment! Now all I have to do is wait and find out if I get in!

Lastly here is a picture of me and the cat that Mike took, I thought it was cute:

I am actually making progress on thermal. After I finish this pattern repeat, or maybe the next repeat I will be able to divide for the placket neck. Exciting! I have included a horrible picture of me wearing the sweater so you can see the progress. It;s blurry because I have to use the landscape setting on my camera in order to turn the flash off. I can't even express how much I love this sweater, if there was a way for me to legally marry the sweater, I would.

I have included another picture of Sage with the sweater, again for scale. As you can see I know have enough sweater to make a kitty blanket. The whole thing measures about 12 inches right now. Speaking of the cat, she stayed at my parent's house last week while I was on Spring Break, and for the six weeks before that I was in Saint John and she was here with Mike. Well I think she has abandonment fears now because since she got back to the city she has had intense, constant needs for love, seriously there are not enough cuddles in the world to make this cat happy. In the above picture she is actually purring she is so happy! It's all very cute, but she makes it hard to knit when she's always in my lap.

Books I Own

Ok, so this won't be a very interesting post for most of you. I am simply going to list out the knitting books that I own. I have wanted to do this for a while, and I think it will help my family members and friends who have said to me that they would like to get me a knitting book, but don't know what I already own. So here goes:

1. Last Minute Knitted Gifts - Joelle Hoverson
2. One Skein - Leigh Radford
3. Vogue Knitting - The Ultimate Knitting Book
4. Natural Knits for Babies and Moms - Louisa Harding
5. Sensational Knitted Socks - Charlene Schurch
6. Knitting without Tears - Elizabeth Zimmerman
7. Knitting Around - Elizabeth Zimmerman
8. Knitting Workshop - Elizabeth Zimmerman
9.Knitter's Alamanac - Elizabeth Zimmerman
10. 45 Fine & Fanciful Hats to Knit - Anna Zilboorg
11. Knitted Toys - Fiona McTague
12. Dogs in Knits - Judith L. Swartz
13. Knitting Fair Isle Mittens & Gloves - Carol Rasmussen Noble
14. Hats On! - Charlene Schurch
15. The Little Box of Knitted Throws
16. Arctic Lace - Donna Druchunas
17. A Treasury of Knitting Patterns - Barbara G. Walker
18. Victorian Lace Today - Jane Sowerby
19. One Skein Wonders!
20. Knit Hats (can't remember the author and my mom has the book right now)
21. Knit Mittens (see above)
22. Knit One, Felt Too - Kathleen Taylor

I have a couple others lent out right now and I can't quite remember their names, but that's the bulk of it. Pretty impressive eh?

I havn't updated in a little while, mostly because my knitting has consisted of knitting and then ripping out Ryan's Swell hat. I finally managed to get it right though! I added two extra pattern repeats, used a standard 8 stitch every second row decrease and voila! I couldn't finish it while in Maine because my dp's in 3.25mm were back in Halifax. I got home last night though so I really don't have any excuse to not finish it now.




I have made a bit of progress on Thermal. I don't usually knit in the car because I get car sick VERY easily, but this project was great. I wasn't able to do a ton, but I managed to do about 16 rows or so in the car. Here is a picture of my progress, doesn't look too different eh? I have included the cat for scale.

When I was in Maine the two books I ordered from Amazon came! I didn't think that they would arrive until after I left, so I was thrilled when they got there. I received EZ's Knitter's Almanac and Victorian Lace Today. I was a little disapointed with the Knitter's Alamanac, I bought it because I thought it would have some detailed instructions on knitting aran cardigans and picking up the cut edge. It tells you that it's a good idea to knit cardigans in the round and then cut them, but gives no info whatsoever on how! Does anyone know if any of EZ's books give directions in this?

As for Victorian Lace Today, oh wow. I am so very in love. The whole book is so beautiful and colorful and amazing... Oh I don't know what I am going to knit yet but it is going to be amazing!

Yesterday I started knitting a Swell hat for Ryan. I discovered though that the yarn I bought was actually sport weight and not worsed weight. I guess using the fingering weight for my Thermal sweater has distorted my normally very acute sense of yarn weights. I had just finished the color work on the hat when I realized that it was way too small, even though I was using the largest size. My new plan is to add about 2-3 more pattern repeats to the hat. That should make it fit, I am just worried I will run out of yarn. I only bought two 50 gram skeins. I am also unsure how big the earflaps should be. What I may do is cast on for the body of the hat first, and then add the earflaps afterwards, then if I run out of my main color I can do the earflaps in a contrasting color. Genius!


My Thermal sweater is coming along nicely, but I havn't done much work on it since I was working on Ryan's hat. So I won't bother posting a picture of the slightly longer body. I am into the second skein though! YAY!

While I am in Maine there are two Japanese girls staying here. Mike and Ryan's mom and dad take in two girls every year around this time for three weeks. They go to the UMaine campus every day and take an intensive ESL course. It's a neat program and the girls are always very nice to have around. Last night the girls showed me some Origami, here is a shot of my creations.

So, I am not super skilled, but it's coming! The girls gave me some extra paper to keep practicing.

My KnitPicks Gloss was in Maine as I expected when I arrived here. I attempted to do a gauge swatch, got annoyed with it and cast on. I kept getting different measurements from it everytime I measured it, so I gave up and figured I can block the sweater to whatever size I want. I also discovered the Thermal KAL, which I have requested to join. I enjoyed seeing other people's progress, and I share with them some feelings of "holy hell this is never going to end". But I shall remain optimistic!!


Two books that I ordered from KnitPicks were here too, Arctic Lace Today, and Barbara Walker's first Treasury. I am loving the Barbara Walker book, but I am less hooked on Arctic Lace, it's a nice book but it is pretty skimpy on patterns, focusing more on the history of Qivuit in the arctic and how the down is harvested. Interesting enough, but not really what i was looking for.

I found some pictures of the tea cozy that I knit my aunt and uncle. Here it is from one side:


And here is it from the other:


I love how Noro Kureyon changes so much that the teapot looks so radically different from each angle (and yes those are the unwoven ends sticking out). I should have taken a picture of the tea pot naked because it is a work of art in itself. My aunt is a potter, and she made the tea pot. Her work is beautiful! You can see more of it here.

Yesterday I discovered a new yarn store, right here in Orono. It's called Fiberphilia, and it is a very sweet cozy little store. They have free coffee and encourage people to bring their knitting and stay a while. They have a nice selection of natural fibers. Mike's brother Ryan came with and picked out some Blue Sky Alpaca worsted weight so I would make him a hat. I promised him I would make him a hat if he bought the yarn. I also got some Blue Sky Alpaca sport weight to make a design a Mobius shawl.

I have completed two double flower facecloths, knit in wonderful soft Blue Sky Alpaca's Organic Cotton. If only Blue Sky wasn't so expensive, there are so many things I would love to knit with it, expecially a cushion cover. I bought a cushion form from fabric ville and now I am brainstorming what sort of cover I am going to knit for it. I think cotton would be best, it's a pillow so wool might feel a little itchy on the face.

But in the meantime I have a bit of knitter's block. I know that I will have something to knit tomorrow when I go to Maine, so I don't want to start something big and still have it on my needles when I get there. But what to do with my fingers in the meantime? I guess I can work away at backing up my computer. I have a strong feeling it is going to die on my soon because it keeps turning itself off and giving me the blue screen of death.

I forgot to mention, I also ordered a Barbara Walker Book, her first I think, I plan to make an EZ pi shawl. Another goal of mine for 2007, design a lace shawl... can't be that hard right? RIGHT? Ok so I am a little intimidated by this one, but I can do math, so as long as I can do math I can stick in some lace patterns. I just might have to make my first one very very simple.

I have been thinking about Julie's question on her blog: When did you learn to knit?

I learned to knit when I was in grade 3. My mother set me up with some red acrylic yarn and some plastic needles and cast on for a garter stitch scarf. I loved it right away, I couldn't wait to get home from school everyday so that I could work on my scarf. I would frequently make mistakes and then have to wait in agonizing anticipation until my mom got home from work so that she could fix it for me. My finished scarf was about 12 inches long and had about a 4 inch hole in it. I gave it to my step sister Lisa for christmas that year.

Funny, my mom taught me to knit, but my knitting skills now far exceed hers, and she often gets me to help her out when she wants to knit something (which is not very often).

After that I didn't knit very much until about junior high when my Nanny showed me how to make a hat and mittens, and how to do two color knitting. After that I took off, almost always having a project on the go, usually hats or mittens. Other than being taught how to knit and how to purl from my mother, and learning a few things from my nanny I am self taught. Most of what I learned I have picked up from books, and occasionally asking other knitters for advice.

Almost all of knitting is cabled patterns or textured stitch patterns in one color. The sad reason for this is that I am a little afraid of mixing colors. I really should pick up a color theory book and figure this whole thing out!

I am totally comfortable making up a hat or mitten pattern on my own, but I knit dozens from patterns before I was able to do this. I hope that before 2007 is out I will knit and design a sweater.

I havn't picked up my needles in about 5 days, until today when I started another Double Flower Facecloth, which has been my standby lately when I don't know what to knit. I don't want to get started on anything too big because I have a very overwhelming project that I am going to begin on Saturday.



I have ordered the yarn to make Thermal. I ordered it to be sent to Maine, cuz it's cheaper, and I am going to Maine on Saturday. I am pretty intimidated by the small gauge though. However, I have made several worsted weight wool sweaters in the past and I almost never wear them because they feel so bulky and itchy. This time last year I had an epiphany when I realized that using sock weight yarn to make socks was not THAT time consuming. So perhaps I will have the same revalation with this sweater. Then again, a sweater is a lot larger than a sock, so lets all hope and pray it isn't too awful!

This time of year I tend to get into a bit of a knitting slump and I feel really uninspired. I hope that by undertaking a large project I will have something satisfying to keep my fingers busy.

So guess what? I have in fact not died, lost my computer or dropped off the face of the planet. I am just very very lazy, thus the blog was neglected when I was on fieldwork. The house that I was staying in did not have highspeed, just very slow dial-up. So I couldn't be bothered to update when I knew it was going to take so very long.

I didn't get very much knitting done while I was gone. And of the knitting I did do I took almost no pictures. So unlike after Christmas I am not going to have a amazingly long post with lots of things to show off.

I am back though, and I will be updating regularily again.

It's a knitter's dream!! A baby in the family!! My cousin is pregnant! I FINALLY have an excuse to knit baby clothes and I couldn't be happier!! HURRAH!!

Today is my last full day in Maine. Tomorrow I am headed to Seeleys Cove, New Brunswick. I will be commuting from there to my fieldwork placement in Saint John. I am sad to be leaving Mike, and Halifax but I am excited to start my placement and to spend some time with my uncle and aunt (I am staying with them in Seeleys Cove). While I am there I am not going to have high speed, just dial up. So my blog updating will be sporatic at best. But I am going to try to keep updating as much as possible.


I finished my Turtle a couple of days ago, but before he was even fully finished he was adopted by some friends of Mike's parents who were over for a dinner party. He is being shipped to their son in North Carolina who has the nickname turtle and apparantly collects them. It was great to see Sheldon go to a nice home, especially since I know no children or babies that I could have gifted him to.

I am almost finished these wonderful mini cabled socks from Sensational Knitted Socks. I am actually almost to the toe now (I took the photo yesterday). The only flaws in the sock are that
a) I suck at grafting and accidently grafted the toe in purl
b) the heel is really shallow

BUT I am going to follow some EZ advice here and remember that this is MY sock, and I can make it how I like. Since they are not being sold or gifted I can make them however I want.

This is the first pair of socks that I have made in pure wool without a reinforced heel, so it will be interesting to see how long they last. At least since they are for me I can easily darn them whenever needed.

Don't you think my feet will be as warm as can be in bubblegum pink? Seriously, how can you be cold in socks that bright?

Ok I have finally gotten up off my lazy bottom and decided that I need to update. I have had a great Christmas break and it is not over yet, but right now I am in the first place in a while that has high speed internet. So I can finally upload my pictures. I have not gotten a ton of knitting done because I spent a significant portion of my break weaving. I have this amazing bird's eye maple loom, but it is pretty big so I can have it in Halifax with me. So it currently lives in Tatamagouche with my Mom and Step Dad. I am very beginner at weaving which is weird for me since I have been a highly competent knitter for so long, but I am slowly improving my skills. This Christmas I made 4 scarves, two for my Nanny and Grandad and two for Mike's parents Tom and Lenore.

I have finished a number of projects, most of which I have pictures for. The only one without a picture is Mary's Hermione Hat, but you can image what it looks like, picture the white one in a previous post only in burgendy and you'll get the idea. I am really happy with how it turned out, but it doesn't look like much unless it is on someone's head. Sadly I have no model right now and I am certainly not doing it because I have developed an eye sty in the last couple of days and there shall be no pictures of me taken until it is totally cleared up.

For Christmas this year I made my brother Niall a pair of Breakout/Space Invader Mittens. I was very pleased that he instantly recognized what they were because I was worried he wouldn't be able to tell. It was really tricky doing a pattern on the round for such a small piece, I probably should have worked it back and forth in intarsia, but I despise seams on mittens. Anyway he liked them enough that he has promised to cut back on his making fun of my blog by at least 20%.


Also, I finished Lionel and Julie's Blanket. It was very well recieved by them, but I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. That will be on my to do list.

I recieved many wonderful christmas presents this year from everyone around me. The most exciting knitting related present though was the Elizabeth Zimmerman books. I asked Tom and Lenore for one EZ book and they went out and got me three!! I am overwhelmed by EZ's wisdome and I am busy ploughly my way through her books. It's interesting though because quite a few of her suggestions I had figured out all ready but it took quite a few horribly disfigured projects to do so, oh how I wish she had been in my life sooner!

I finished a Baby Bolero from One Skein. I wish I could post it one the one skien knit a long, I have recieved and invite for the KAL but I can't figure out how to sign up! ARG.


Very exciting news, when I got to Maine my package from Knit Picks had arrived! So much yarn for such a small price, I am very pleased. I cast on for a pair of chevron self striping socks right away and so far I have ripped it out about three times and I am thinking about ripping it out again... too big, too small, too big, too small.... maybe I should follow EZ's advice and start checking gauge... the project was not a total loss though, I did my first short row heel and perfected the art of the wrap and turn! Also note the very long needle I am useing, this was my first project useing the magic loop. I am enjoying it, I have not yet decided if I prefer it to using DPs, I think I need some more practice first.


I also cast on for Sheldon the Turtle. I actually have much more of him completed than this picture shows and I should be finished him some time today. He is a fast and fun knit, which is good because I got enough yarn to make three.


And lastly here is a photo of my remaining knit picks yarn. So many possibilities! Of Socks and Turtles! The only disapointing thing was that in my excitment of ordering I forgot to make sure the wool was superwash. I don't mind handwash, but I had intended to make some gift socks and most giftee's do not appreciate having to hand wash their socks... so perhaps it will be three pairs of socks for me, which would not be half bad at all.

I have a huge amount of things that I have to put on here, there has been much knitting and yarn related news, but I don't have time to put it all in now. I will try my very best to update tomorrow... it's been a while, I know...

I only have one exam left, hurrah!! So excited for Christmas I really can't even express it. I am leaving to go home to my mom and step dad's house on thursday, where they have dial up and then I am spending chirtsmas with my Dad and step mom in PEI where the internet is unpredictable. So to make a long story short although I will likely be knitting a TON over christmas I will probably not be able to update very often, or at all until after Boxing Day.

I don't have any new knitting pictures to display because I have been doing Christmas knitting. After Christmas I can publish a slew of the gifts that I have given people.

So in lieu of pictures of knitting here is a picture of Sage "helping" me pack. I think maybe she wants to go to Saint John with me?

I am really looking forward to my fieldwork placement, but of course I have some anxiety as well. I hate being away from Mike, the cat, my apartment and all my friends here in Halifax. I am glad that I am staying with family though (my aunt and uncle in Seeley's Cove), so at least I will have some familiarity in it all.

Well, I hope that I will be able to update before Christmas, but if not, Happy Holidays!

This morning Mary and I went to the Hydrostone to go to one of Halifax's fine LYS, L.K Yarns, we went so that she could get some yarn for her Hermione Hat. It will probably be a little while before I get to it, but I hope that I will have it done by New Years. See I am not coming back to Halifax in January, I am going to Saint John for my clinical placement, but Mike will be coming back, so if I can give it to him by New Years he can deliver it to Mare, so she can be warm and fashionable. She settled on this color of Paton's Merino, she's a little allergic to wool so I think the Merino will be a good choice.


I also picked up the brown for Chad's hat, I used that and some of the leftover from Maureen's hat & mitts to make him his hat. It's sort of a skull cap style, which I hope he likes. I was going to make a flip brim style but I messed up with the strands on my striping so it ended up being a beanie. If he doesn't like it I know a certain boy that I live with that would very much like the hat for himself.

I knit it with Paton's Merino on 4.5 mm needles. I made up the pattern, I just cast on 96 stitches and worked in a knit 2 purl 2 rib for 35 rows and then decreases 8 stitches every second row until it was done.

I have also cast on for this project. This is a sneak picture and there shall be no more pictures of it until after Christmas as it is a surprise :)


And lastly I picked up this pattern. I really don't need any more knitting patterns, especially with all the things I am inspired to make right now, but they had an example of these mittens in the store and they were BEAUTIFUL. So I must must make them.

I have reached totally new levels of brain fatigue, I wrote two exams today and I think my poor brain has climbed into a cave in the back of my skull and won't be coming out again for a while. Which is why I really shouldn't be packing rash yarn choices right now... but somehow I am anyway. Whilst browing the new issue of knitty, I stumbled across this little fella.


Isn't he cute? I love him! I went to the Knit Picks website which I have never been to before and ordered enough yarn to make 3... I told you I was making rash choices....

While I was on the website, I noticed how freakishly low the prices were. Like, holy crap that's cheap, and I saw that there was free shipping on orders over $40, so naturally I had to order over $40 worth... that's just common sense. It was actually HARD to rack up a big enough order! I ordered enough yarn to make three pairs of socks, and a book by Charlene Schurch, called Sensational Knitted Socks. It looks great and I have her book "Hats on!" which is fab, so it should be pretty good. I am having it shipped to Mike's house in Maine, so I can skip the duty and shipping fees.


Overall I am very happy with the new issue of knitty, to be honest I found the last couple of issues kinda disapointing, but this one is pretty fab. Anywho I am gonna go rest my brain.

I am tired. Really, really, truly tired. I wrote my Pharamacology exam today and I have exams in Novice Consulting and Health Law tomorrow. Too... many... exams... Ah well, it will all be over soon enough and I can catch up on sleep and "me time" over Christmas break.


Good news - I finished Maureen's Hermione Mittens, here she is with her complete set, she looks quite trendy and fabulous if I do say so myself!


And so I am back trudging away on my afghan, this is square number 11 in progress. I have to have it done by December 21 because Julie is flying from December 22 - 26 (she's a flight attendant). But I think I am gonna have to put a hold on it because my wrist is starting to bothering be again (Damn DeQuervain's).

And lastly, the token picture of my cat attacking the yarn coming off of my afghan square...

A few hours after my last post all that gross rain turned into fluffy snowflakes, our first real snowfall of the season, and fall it did! We got a good couple of feet on the ground that night and we also got our first power outage of the season. The power turned off when I was about 15 minutes away from completing a tasty meal of my world famous pork, bok choy, beansprout and mushroom stirfry. It was heart breaking. All was not lost though! We trudged down the street with Mare and Manda, to the Ardmore, where we gorged on their awesome greasy spoon food.

The snow has actually stayed around, and we have a pretty layer on the ground and on all the trees. It is truly mitten, hat and scarf weather. I love gawking at everyone else's winter wear and trying to figure out how to steal the patterns :)


Maureen's mittens are coming along well. Mary and I are going to the yarn store on Saturday so that she can pick out yarn that will look as close as possible to what Hermione wore! So I am going to try and finish Maureen's mittens for Saturday. Under normal knitting conditions this would be very easy, but with all this damn exam studying getting in the way, my knitting time is seriously compromised.


I wore the hourglass sweater that I knit from Last Minute Knitted Gifts today for the first time since I knit it over a year ago. I used Brown Sheep Superwash, and 3.75 mm needles. I am thinking about reknitting it with smaller needles, I like the sweater but the sleeves are really baggy. I am contimplating playing around with the pattern, maybe adding some emblishments or something. Also, I would like to express how hard it is to take a picture of yourself in the mirror, next time I will just wait until my photographer aka Mike gets home.

Hey! Look! A picture of my cat! For the record all of you DSU people, the blog will not be renamed to "Pictures of my cat" OR "Pictures of my naughty cat" The cat simply adds a bit of flair and adorableness to my blog :P

It's horrible and rainy and cold outside today. So I am very happy that it's my last day of classes, and now that I am home I can stay here, curled up in my sweat pants with a nice hot cup of tea, and all my studying...


I finished Yvonne's Double Flower facecloth that I was knitting for my Mom for Christmas, I bought a little handmade soap to go with it. I think she'll love it, especially since I knit it with this very soft, natural, organic cotton. It's called Eco-Knit. I have never used it before but I liked it, the plys were a little loose but other than that it was very nice to use. I used Crystal Palace 3.25 double points, and my addi turbo 3.25 round needle to make the cloth, and I think that size was perfect.


Here is Sage, looking very innocent and cute... this was BEFORE I tried to take a picture of Maureen's Hermione Mittens to match her hat.


Here she is vicously lounging after an inncent strand of yarn...

And finally here she is with a death grip on the yarn. She sat there holding the yarn and everytime that I tried to take it from her she flipped out and attacked something else. I finally managed to distract her with a scrap of yarn and managed to salvage the yarn before she ripped any holes in it. She's a very naughty kitty.