Monday Funny

A day late....

Maureen

Sunday Funny

It's a grey, rainy Sunday morning.  Good time for a cup of tea and my current project!  Hope your Sunday is a good one!

Maureen

WIP Wednesday

Happy Wednesday!

I have a couple of works in progress this week.  The first is a sock that I started on Sunday.

I'm getting close to starting the decreases for the toe.  For some reason, patterned or self striping yarn always goes quicker than solid coloured socks.  I think I keep knitting in order to see what's going to happen next.  Here's a closer look at the pattern:

This yarn has a really long repeat.  It's Regia yarn, Design Line by Arne & Carlos.  The colourway is Moon Night.

My other WIP is a scarf that is a very belated birthday present (hi Val!).  The yarn is Ancient Arts Hat Trick, in the Calgary Flames colourway.  River City Yarns in Edmonton gets the yarn exclusively made for them.  They have several other NHL teams as well.

I'm not happy with the way the colours are pooling.  I think I'm going to have to frog this, and start with a different pattern.  Maybe a triangle shaped scarf.

The yarn is wonderful to knit with, but in this pattern it's just not 'calling' me to work on it.

Maureen

Sunday Funny

And think of all the yarn storage space!

Have a great day!

Maureen

Sunday Funny

Have a wonderful day!

Maureen

Sunday Funny

Happy Sunday!

Maureen

Some Friday Finishes

Nothing new finished this week, so I thought I'd post some pictures of some socks I've finished over the last few months.

I've been enamoured of self striping sock yarn lately.  I love the look you get without having to change yarn colours all the time.  I'm even happier when I get the stripes to match on both socks!

These rainbow socks are a favourite of mine.  I love the way they turned out.  So bright and cheery to bring warmth to a cool day!

Due to a flaw in the colouring of the stripes, this pair didn't end up matching in the foot.  Doesn't matter; they'll be nice and soft and warm anyway!

There were other pairs completed over the past four months, but I don't have pictures of all of them.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Maureen

WIP Wednesday

I've only got two active WIPs this week.

The first one is a pair of socks made from Knit Picks Stroll fingering weight in the Country Fair colourway.  One sock is done, and I'm on the leg of the second.  This pair will go in my Etsy shop once I've got it opened.

Here's a better look at the colours:

Aren't they gorgeous?

The second WIP is also socks (surprise).  These ones are made from Knit Picks Felici in the Teacup colourway.  I'm working on the heel of this sock.  I'm still using the Basic Ribbed Sock pattern, but I've modified it.  Instead of the heel used in the pattern, I'm using a modified eye of partridge heel.  It makes the heel denser, and hopefully more resistant to wear.

These ones are for me, and will get added to my sock drawer for the coming winter.

Maureen

Sunday Funny

Hope you're having a great Sunday!

Maureen

Happy August!

Have a wonderful day!

Maureen

Sunday Funny

Since tomorrow is Star Wars day....

May the fourth be with you!

Maureen

Monday Funny

Since I missed posting yesterday, I thought I would post the funny today!

I've been busy knitting the last couple of weeks.  I think I've decided what I'm going to do for an Etsy shop, and have been working on that.  As well, I've taken on a commission from an old work friend to make three pairs of socks for her.  I'll try to be better about posting though!

Maureen

Sunday Funny

Seriously, what happened?  We were having lovely warm days, and the snow was melting.  The first day of spring comes along and it starts snowing again!

I haven't accomplished much this last week.  I finished the first sock of my March pair, and have cast on the second.  I'm looking at the calendar and wondering if it will get finished before the end of March.

The yarn is still in timeout.  I'm thinking that I'll frog the scarf and start over again.

I went to a workshop yesterday about setting up an Etsy shop.  Lots of wonderful information, put on most excellently by Lindsay and Susie.  I don't know if I'll start up a shop, but now I have some idea on how to do it.

Hope the week ahead turns out well for you!

Maureen

St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here's a pint of Guinness for you!

Maureen

The Battle with the Yarn Continues

Happy Sunday!

Remember the yarn that didn't want to be socks?  I started knitting it into a Hitchhiker scarf, and it was very happy.  It knit beautifully. Until Friday night, when I was knitting on it while I was watching a movie on Netflix (Romancing The Stone...it didn't really age well).  I noticed that I had dropped a couple of stitches a couple of rows back.  Unfortunately, it was in a place where I couldn't just use a crochet hook to fix the stitch.  So I tinked (unknit) in order to get back to the spot so I could fix it.  But stitches started dropping off the needles all over the place!  And I couldn't find my small crochet hook to catch them.

So I gave up for the night, with a resolve to fix it in the morning.  Except in the morning, I found that one of the dogs had pulled the scarf around and managed to pull more stitches off the needles.

The yarn is now in time out, until I decided whether it will be better to rip back a few (many?) rows to fix it, or to just rip the whole thing out and start over.  Right now, starting over is winning.

And how was your weekend?

Maureen

In The Mail

I got some new pretties in the mail in the last week.

First there was this sock yarn I got from Webs.

They're both Mrs. Crosby Train Case sock yarn.  The one on the left is Toucan colourway; the one on the right is Winter Wheat.  The yarn is 55% superwash merino wool, 15% nylon, and 30% outlast which is a rayon fibre.  It's supposed to moderate temperature to keep from becoming too hot or too cold.

Then I got this on Tuesday:

Like it says on the box, it's a software program to design quilts.  It's a very basic program, but that's good since I don't have any desire to design or make complicated quilts.  I haven't loaded it on my computer yet, that may happen this weekend.

Hope your week is going well!

Maureen

Sunday Funny

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Maureen

Personal Sock Club--March Edition

My friend Lindsay introduced me to this.  The idea is that you make your own sock club by taking the sock yarn you already have, put the skeins into individual boxes, and put them away.  At the beginning of each month, you pull out one of the boxes, open it, and that's your sock yarn for the month.

I didn't have boxes, so I used paper bags instead.  I chose 11 skeins from my stash, put them into plastic sandwich bags, and then into paper bags which I stapled shut.  The bags were then put into a bin for storage.

I finally finished my February socks this morning, so this afternoon I put my hand into the bin and chose a bag at random.

And this is what was in the bag!

Lorna's Laces Solemate yarn; the colourway is called "The 'L' ".  It's now wound up and the first sock has been started.

I just flipped channels, and Star Trek IV is on.  So I'm going to be knitting, sipping a cup of tea and toasting to my favourite Vulcan.

Live long and prosper!

Maureen

Ok yarn. You win.

I bought this lovely yarn from a fairly local (the next province over) dyer last month.  It's from Yarn Ink, who has a shop on etsy.

I love the colours!  I immediately wound the brown and blue skein into a ball and used it cast on socks.

It's so lovely to work with.  It feels so nice and soft and silky. The yarn is 75% merino, 20% nylon, and 5% sparklies.  There's just one problem.  The yarn doesn't want to be socks.  It wants to be a scarf.

I've tried to ignore it.  I love the way it's knitting up as a sock. But every time I pick up the needles to work on it, the yarn just nags at me.  "Make me a scarf.  Make me a scarf."

So, I'm giving in.  I'll be frogging the sock, and making a scarf out of it instead.

BTW, the lovely yarn bowl was part of my Christmas gift from my friend Val.  Isn't it lovely?

Have a great week!

Maureen

Sunday Funny

It's a snowy Sunday here. We had a storm yesterday that dropped a lot of snow here.

So today is a good day to stay inside, drink tea, watch a movie and knit!

Hope your Sunday is a wonderful one!

Maureen

Sunday Funny

I haven't accomplished much this week.  I haven't been feeling well, and haven't had the energy to work on any big projects.  Thank goodness for socks!  They're the perfect project since I can pick them up and put them down easily.

This is my second pair of socks for 2015.  I'm going to set up a make-your-own sock club later this week.  I'll have pictures and an explanation later!

Have a good week!

Maureen

Sunday Funny...and there goes that resolution...

I made it past January 11th, though.  On Friday I ended my fabric diet by buying a half metre of this:

It will likely be made into a project bag or two.

I haven't touched my sewing machine for a while.  That strippy quilt is glaring at me, demanding to be worked on.  But I just want to sew my bags!

Have a wonderful week!

Maureen

Sunday Funny

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Maureen

Sunday Funny

The first one for 2015!

I've been good (so far) on this resolution.  I've managed to avoid the year end sales without buying anything.

Maureen

Welcome 2015! Time For New Resolutions

Like so many others I'm making new resolutions today.  Some are the common ones (lose weight! exercise more!), but most are crafty.

1) Finish the neverending strippy quilt.  Yes, this one again.
2) Put my loom together and weave something on it.  This is the year for it!
3) Finish the Mary Engelbreit cross stitch project that's been hibernating for a few years.
4) Finish a knitting WIP at least every two months.

There will be other projects done, but no resolutions made around them.

Oh, and the common ones?  I'm doing those month by month (or maybe even day by day).

1) Get back on Weight Watchers
2) Exercise at least three times per week
3) Use my stash before buying any more yarn or fabric.

There's my resolutions for 2015.  Have you  made yours yet?  Do you make any?

Happy New Year!

Maureen