As I said, I finished last night. I really wanted to block, because there are a fair number of slightly wonky stitches. But I couldn’t wait (and have yet to figure out where to block, in our entirely-hardwood apartment), so I wore them to work. Oh! So, so warm. Got a few weird looks, but I am from the warm part of Canada, and many people don’t seem to understand how COLD it is here.

Pattern: Eunny’s, it’s everywhere.
Needles: 3.0mm Addi Natura, 2.5mm Addi Turbo
Yarn: ArtYarns UltraMerino4 (green) Fortissima Socka (blue)

EDIT: How could I forget the exciting knitish thing that happened today?
A co-worker came up to me today and said that some time over my days off, a lady came in, and as her purchase was being rung through, she complemented the store on their ‘wonderful selection of knitting books, very impressive!’. That’s my job! I order the craft books! I’m so proud, because this wasn’t just any customer… she owns a yarn store!! Unfortunately, we don’t know which one, she said it was in the south, and there’s at least 3 in the south of the city.
In talking to this coworker about knitting stores, I found out the most amazing thing: There is a YARN. STORE. no less than 6 blocks from here. It has never shown up in my googling of Calgary yarn stores. It’s called Pudding Yarn, and I will visit on my next day off. So sometime in February.

I finished my mitts! I’m wearing them right now, and oooh are they nice.

They are slightly different. On the first, I used the cast-off recommended by Eunny (kitchener rib bind-off). I couldn’t get it to look even, and it isn’t stretchy. The second, I used EZ’s sewn bindoff, which is lovely and stretchy. The tight one isn’t too restricting, except when I’m typing. Which is sad, as I was hoping to wear these at work. I can always push it just past my knuckles too I guess.

Pictures tomorrow, it’s late now.

Oh, and I finally bought Jennie Atkinson’s Romantic Style today. 40% off, no less.
I think I smell another project. At least, I would, if I had any appropriate yarn in the stash. Need to knit from the stash. These mittens weren’t and I still feel bad. I think next I make Odessa, followed by Shedir. My head will be well-hatted.

D&D went well, although it turned into a two-day campain, rather than the one we were all expecting. I knit through most of it, and have enough done to hopefully finish Endpaper # 2 tomorrow. I’m halfway through the last repeat of the pattern. I could be done the whole thing, but I thought we’d go late and I didn’t have the needles for the ribbing, so I kept putting it down between rows so I wouldn’t run out.

Pictures tomorrow, when done. Hopefully.

It snowed today, yay. But boo on snow when you have to drive.

I went Boxing Day shopping today. The boyfriend was getting up early (ish) to be at Best Buy at 8am. I got up too, and got the two things I went for: a Bluetooth USB dealie for the MIGHTY MOUSE I got for Christmas (I love my boyfriend), and the M*A*S*H Martinis and Medecine Collection for (get this) $219! That is 37% off! And I may already have Seasons 1-4, but this big hulk of box is still less than buying the other 7 individually. I’m going to sell them somehow. Ebay? Pawn shop? Something.

I made myself a deal, so I wouldn’t go spending every cent I own, that if Best Buy had M*A*S*H I wouldn’t go to the yarn store. Now I have lots to watch while I knit up my stash! Hopefully starting a new job in February, which should give me some more spending money. mwahahaha.

Knit more on Endpaper #2 today, I’m up to where the thumb increases start. Tomorrow is going to be a marathon of D&D, so I’m hoping to possibly finish, or at least get to the end of the thumb shaping.

Thursday I have to go back to work. bah. But, only three days before the weekend! Then the craziness of work + rehearsals start, so I’m not expecting much knitting or blogging time for that whole month. Also not much seeing the boyfriend time, which is very sad. But come tech week, he’ll be getting paid to spend time with me. (the show I’m working on is going into his theatre, just like in October).

Look what I finished last night!

I finished it last night (Christmas Eve), and immediately cast on for the second. I want to finish these this year, which I can hopefully do. Although, I am only halfway through the ribbing on the second one.

I tend not to measure gauge for small things, figuring that the mitt itself is a swatch. Thing is, I forgot to ever measure my ’swatch’. In total, it is about an inch longer than Eunny’s. Not a bad thing, really. And according to the scale, I have plenty. The mitt is 0.8oz, the leftover yarn is 2.0oz. Then I realised that doesn’t tell me if I have enough of each colour, but I figure that if I have enough for another two mitts, there should be plent of each colour.

Christmas was wonderful, my only yarn related gift was a hank of sari silk yarn from my auntie in Manchester. She knits too, but is more into lacemaking. Not knitting it, but the thing with all the pins and the tiny thread. Beading too. She’s really crafty, and (unlike me) finishes all her projects.

After some intensive Googling, I got my progress bars to work again. The fix for Blogger Beta is here.
Other question… oh wait. Duh. Just answered own question, never mind.

Having those progress bars up is interesting, because I only have 3 projects going! I suppose some would say that that is enough, but I have seen sidebars full of these things. I don’t think more than one project is wrong. Sometimes you are just in a mood to knit something different. Can you tell I really want to start a new project?
I want to make a sweater, but I don’t feel like working on my Bubbly Jacket. I’m still kinda worried it will make me look like a gorilla.

I’ve been looking at a lot of Rowan patterns. We just got Rowan’s Vintage Knits in at work, and I had a lot of fun leafing through it. There’s lots I want to knit in there. Also, I’ve been browsing the Rowan mags on the internet (at work… shh) and I’ve seen lots in there too. Rowan 40 has lots, and there are even a few in the much-reviled Rowan 39. And I own 38, which has stuff too. And Denim People. Oh, and I want to make something else out of Kidsilk Haze. For me this time.

I have a sweater’s worth of Katia Dianat that I bought way back when. I’m not so in love with it anymore. I’ve been thinking about eBaying it. It is perfectly good yarn, a lovely red, I’m just not feeling the love anymore. Right now, I want tweed, I want semi-solids, I don’t want something that is just RED. A very lovely red though it may be.

Oh well, I should wrap prezzies before Christmas jumps out at me from behind the tree.

This is the book I bought myself a couple days ago. I was once very in to beading, I have a whole fishing tackle box full of seedbeads to prove it.
We’ve had three copies of this book in the store since I started 3 months ago, and no one (except me now) has bought a copy. I’m starting to wonder about this city, because we’ve had 10 copies of Craftivity just sitting there, and I’m the only one to have bought that, but I digress.

I thought I was over beading and jewelry, I really did. But then I looked in this book. Maybe I like it because it doesn’t use those teeny-tiny demon beads. There are two projects that convinced me to get the book:

They are called ‘Little Yellow’ and ‘Green Goddess’. I’ll let you figure out which is which.
The yellow one I find is just such an inspiration. It’s so simple, making a loop for a big bead to go through as a decorative closure. I can just imagine it in so many different styles and colours.
The green one is just fun and exciting. It was this book, and especially this necklace that made me finally see the point in those crimp beads.

The book overall is very well photographed, the are clear photos of everything, and some fun photos of all the bits for a piece in a nice divided tray (I’m a sucker for those) before making it up.

The instructions are clear, and have fun little schematic drawings. I scanned part of one, so you can see the style (but not make the project for free!)

(the teardrop thing is a blob of glue! So cute!)

This book is getting me so enthused about jewelry-making, I can’t wait until I have some time (and supplies) to really sit down and play.

The projects are simple, yet stunning, and as I have said over and over: Inspirational.

I leave you with a few more projects I like.

(anyone know where I can get buttons like that?)

ISBN: 0307345726 (bring this in, your booksellers will love you!)

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

505447 people with my first name, 0 with my last name (but 570 with a common mis-spelling of that name). heh heh heh, mum always said I was special!
Mum is special-er though, 0 people have her first name, and only 720 have her last (maiden) name. I’m honestly surprised even that many do. So if you put her married name in there… she’s the only one!

I wonder if there is a similar Canadian site? Or British, it would be interesting to see what my last name brings up in a British version.

I bought the right needles today!

I bought Addi Naturas; I decided I still wanted to go with the Magic Loop, but thought that metal would be too slick. I have heard that bamboo is better for colourwork, and I think it works.

I’m having a great time doing the colourwork! Really enjoying it, and very happy I ordered a copy of Anna Zilboorg’s book, Marvelous Mittens a week or two ago. I’m looking forward to that arriving.

The green I’m using is slightly variagated, I really like the way it looks. Although, there are some bits that are a bit too dark for my liking. They’re not as dark as the blue, but they’re still quite noticeable. Anyway, I like the overall look.

The only thing is, I’m slow. The progress (of the colourwork, the ribbing was already done) you see took me 2 hours. That’s only about 12 rows. Granted, there was putting laundry in the dryer, a quick phonecall, and stopping to admire, but still, SLOW.
I can’ figure out holding a colour in each hand, so I’m doing it the way I normally knit; dropping each colour as I don’t need it. As the colour changes at least every 3 stitches, it’s a lot of pickup/drop/pickup/drop.

I’ve been getting bored at work lately, and so have been surfing knitting books on the web. If anyone complains, it is work related, I am in charge of the craft section after all.
The downside is that I’ve been adding more and more things to my ‘to knit list’, and I’ve also had to resist buying a lot of knitting books. Time to share a few new finds of mine:

Lush, from Rowan’s Denim People. The upside is that I do have this book already! The downside: not only is it a tunic (more fabric to knit), it’s in yarn that shrinks 20% after washing, so you have to knit it 20% longer to begin with (even more yarn)! But it sure is pretty. Still undecided as to which shade of the denim I’d use. I really like the super-dark blue, and the cream is also nice, although I hear it is scratchier to knit with.

Glad from Rowan 39
I don’t have this Rowan yet, sadly, so that would add to the cost of the cardi. I liked working with Kidsilk Haze for mum’s scarf. But again, lovely garment that is made up of entirely too much fabric. That’s a whole lot of knitting. For this one, I’m thinking Kidsilk Haze in either Trance (blue), Hurricane (different blue), or Jelly (green). Oh, or Candy Girl (bright PINK).

Silk Sleeves from One Skein
I have this book, so that’s good. Also, the whole project is only one ball of KSH. I think I’d be more likely to wear these in the colour ‘Jelly’, than a whole sweater. I like the colour, but it is a bit… loud.

I haven’t actually done any knitting because I don’t feel like the Bubble Jacket, and I need to buy some needles to start the colourwork on the armwarmers. And all I really feel like doing is napping.