Unravel: Knitwear in Fashion

Image via Grey the Blog

My fabulous friend Stephanie was living in France for a few months just a short while ago and while there and before coming back to Canada she was able to do some traveling around Europe. One of her stops was in Antwerp, where she was lucky enough to catch a most wonderful exhibit at MoMu Fashion Museum. I was immediately intrigued when I saw her post, and by the end of it I was seriously amazed and drooling over the knitted avant garde fashion pieces. A huge part of me is aching to check out the exhibit myself in person. Unfortunately I don't see myself going to Antwerp any time before August 14th. Boo erns for me!

I seriously urge you to head on over to Stephanie's blog, which is Grey the Blog, and check out her post about the Unravel: Knitwear in Fashion exhibit. Here's two of my favourite pieces:

Image via Grey the Blog

Image via Grey the Blog

Completely ahhh-mazing, aren't they? I really wish I had gotten into knitting while I was still in fashion school...I think it would have changed everything! I think about all those days when I had to travel almost 2 hours to get to and from school on public transit, those times when I was bored out of my mind, the summers between school years...all wasted time that could have been spent knitting!! You mean I could have spent 9-12 hours in one sitting doing nothing but knitting?? Sorry, make that uninterrupted knitting time?? In a time when I had absolutely no responsibilities?? Grrrr...makes me so mad at myself for not taking knitting up sooner!!

Anyhoo, go here to see the rest of Steph's post about this amazing exhibit. It'll blow your mind. Seriously.

PS: I just want to thank Steph for allowing me the use of her photos...and for always keeping me up-to-date on what's going on in the fashion world!!

More Colours

First off, I just want to thank everyone who left comments and sent me messages about their thoughts on my colour combo possibilities from this post. A lot of people were digging the combo that you see above. It seems that not many of you were into the autumnal colours that I had further down the post, and no one liked the green combo at all. I have to admit, that one was my absolute least favourite but thought I would throw it in there, thinking that maybe it would grow on me. I'm not sure why I bothered with anything that didn't involve pink, cause seriously, that's all I can envision for this mystery shawl KAL. So that's why I'm still not sure if the above colour combo is for me. It's just...not pink enough.

Now, earlier this week I got some awesome packages in the post. Yummy yarny packages, to be exact. So with some of the new skeins I came up with even more colour combos and I got to see what one of my dream combos would look like:

Oh yeah baby!! That you see there is Wollmeise in Maus Jung, Maus Alt, and Fuchsia. I had mentioned it in this post that my ideal combo would be black, grey, hot pink. Now the Maus Alt isn't exactly black, but it sure is dark. It would obviously be my anchor colour. Yet seeing them together I'm still not so sure. I know, I'm freakin' crazy!! What will it take to satisfy me? It's not like this is going to be the last shawl I'll ever knit. With that said, I went ahead and managed to trade for a skein of Schwarz (Wollmeise in black) to replace the Maus Alt. But I have a feeling that it's not going to arrive in time.

So I came up with some more pink colour options that also make me quite happy:

#2 - Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Lite in Cherry, Posy, and Tern. This last colour would be the anchor. I think the Tern really makes the other two colours pop more.

#3 - Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Lite in Cherry, Posy, and Gossamer. I think this lighter shade of grey mellows out the pinks a bit, compared to the darker grey.

I know these three new options don't really look all that much different to one another (according to Brett I'm just switching the skeins around "card trick styles" in order to confuse him), but for some reason I still can't make up my mind! Again, what do you guys think? At least this time you only have 3 photos to look at and choose from! Please, help me decide!!

Sugar High

My local grocery store (it's Thrifty's for those of you who'd want to know) has been doing an ongoing Bogo event, so far I have stocked up on not only the essentials like fresh chicken breast and beans, but on stuff that I know I'll use sometime down the road...like ice cream and marshmallows. We like our treats to be homemade around here and so a package of marshmallows have already been immediately used to make pan of Rice Krispie squares. I was hoping to save the other bags (yes, I said bags...with an "s"!) for when fall/winter rolls around and the hot chocolate is flowing. Or when another pan of Rice Krispie squares are in order. But thanks to my baking idol, Joy the Baker, I've been making a ton of Toasted Marshmallow Milkshakes!! You can find the recipe here. But let me forewarn you...these are highly addictive!! I've been making them all week...and I'm lactose intolerant!

The first few attempts at making this milkshake didn't result in milkshakes at all. Why? Look at these bad boys!!

Freakin' yummy!! Yeah, these marshmallows didn't go anywhere near ice cream, that's for sure! Instead they went from the baking pan straight into my mouth!! I'm not ashamed to admit this. Really, I'm not. Anyhoo, I'm not as fortunate as Joy to have a gas range (although, I did have one in my last place...and boy, do I ever miss that stove terribly. Along with the convection oven that made my baking turn out in pure perfection) so I had to toast my marshmallows in the oven. I'm definitely not a fan of this method, since the marshmallows can't keep their shape after the toasting process but it's definitely faster than having to toast them one at a time. Another thing I didn't do: I didn't use my blender. It's so heavy and such a hassle to wash that I decided to save the trouble and just use my trusty hand-held immersion mixer. Man, I love that thing!

When I finally did stop eating the marshmallows long enough to make the milkshakes, the first attempt was a little iffy. I got really impatient (and was sooo tempted to shove the marshmallows into my mouth!) and didn't let the marshmallows cool down enough before dropping them into my bowl. Note to self: warm marshmallows will clump up into a sugary mass when it hits the cold ice cream! I let it sit for another minute and tried again. The results? Pure heaven. In a glass!

Next time, I think I'll give this recipe a try...

PS: I promise there will be some yarny goodness in my next post!

Jam

I can't believe that it's Tuesday already! How fast the weekend goes by! It was a beautiful weekend here and a lot of time was spent outside. Well, kinda...when the Munchkin would let us. You see, the Munchkin has really bad eczema and right now he's dealing with a pretty bad flare up. So sun and heat exposure is making him quite uncomfortable and down right crabby, and regardless of how much sunscreen we put on him or how much we try to cover him up the sun is making his eczema worse. To make sure that he at least gets some fresh air we've been having balcony picnics and playtime throughout the day and I've been taking him out around dinner time, when the sun isn't hot enough to make him a miserable toddler.

On Saturday there was a big exception. Since the James Bay Community Market is literally right outside our front door, we decided to take advantage of the live music, the kids tent (which the Munchkin absolutely loves!), and...the major tent action throughout the entire market. Yay for coverage from the sun! The hardest part of it all is trying to get the Munchkin to go back home for nap time. Most people I know think he's too old to have a nap or that skipping a nap here and there won't do any damage. Well, trust me when I say that the Munchkin needs his naps. If he doesn't have one he becomes quite the grumpy terror! I'm talking tantrums galore where everything and anything can set them off. Believe me, it's not worth it to let him skip/end his naps!!

Anyhoo, ever since the market opened up in May I've been meaning to look for homemade jams but for some reason never got around to doing so. I think it's because the market is open every Saturday until October and I figured I would have plenty of time to get jam. Then a few weeks ago I noticed a stall selling nothing but jams. I immediately recognized the stall set-up and got excited. At Christmas I went to a craft fair and had bought some amazing Blueberry Cherry Jam from Whimsical Preserves (sorry, they don't have a website) and had wished I had bought more than one jar. So when I saw their stall you better believed that I high-tailed it over there and got some! I also picked up a jar of peach jam cause I love homemade jams that have chunks of fruit, and boy, this jam did not disappoint!

I'm going to have to remember to pick up some more before the market closes for the season. Not that I'll forget...it's only been 3 days since I bought these jars and already one of them is half empty!! I definitely must learn how to make my own jam...and fast! If you're in the area, you should definitely hunt down Whimsical Preserves and give their jams and chutneys a try. They're so yummy!!

On a non-jam related note: a little bit of knitting did happen over the weekend. Sadly, there was also a lot of un-knitting going on too. I kinda don't want to talk about it cause it makes me a little mad, but basically I picked up a project started months ago and was determined to get it finished by the time the weekend was over. I underestimated how much yarn I had left and tried to keep going and now I've run out. I tinked back and tried to bind off, only to discover that the recommended bind off uses a helluva lot of yarn. I was a quarter away from the end when I ran out of yarn. Again. I seriously want to rip out my needles and drop kick this project as far as I can. I should really take a step back and take a breather, but I really want to get this project done. Cause I'm done with it. I'm hoping the next time I talk about this project it'll be an FO post.

Or it'll go back to being a ball of yarn. Shoved into the darkest corner of my closet.

Mystery Colour Combos

Ok, so I tossed the stash a bit earlier this week. I really didn't dig that far into it cause I kinda knew what I was looking for - the Wollmeise and the Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Lite. Just so that this post doesn't become pages long, I'll just talk about the first batch of Wollmeise colour combos that I'm thinking for the Westknits Mystery Shawl KAL.

Some background info before I start throwing colours at you: Mr. West has requested that 3 colours be choosen for this shawl. One of the colours will be the "anchor" colour. As in it is the colour that will "frame" the shawl, and will be the colour used the most. The other 2 colours could be 2 shades of one colour, or they could be the colours that pop out from the anchor. I studied some of the previous Westknits patterns like Daybreak, Creekbed, and Spectra (sorry, this one is a Ravelry link!), to try to get a feel as to how colour could possibly play in this mystery shawl.

When I first started thinking up colour combos the first one that came to me was black, grey, and hot pink...naturally!! That has to be one of my utmost favourite combos ever! A super duper close second would be light pink, dark pink, and chocolate brown. Unfortunately I don't have much for greys, don't have black or even a true chocolate brown in my Wollmeise stash. Although, that could be remedied next week...yes, I was weak in the face of a Wollmeise update and could have possibly purchased a grab bag or two...or three. But hey, who's counting??

*Ahem* Carrying on...I pretty much played around with the semi-solids/tonal skeins that I currently have and was quite surprised as to how many combos I came up with. Some of them are drastically different from the others and from my usual colour palette, and some are a little off from the next combo by a skein that is slightly lighter or darker from another shade. So that's where you, my dear Blog Friend, come in. Help me narrow down the search!! Eeeek!

So here we go...the first colour combo...

#1 - Fuschia, Fliederbusch, Graf Ratz. The Graf Ratz would be my anchor colour, and yes, that is a streak of blue in there amongst the grey. The Fliederbusch is a bright pinky purple. The fuschia was super hard for me to capture properly, especially when placed with the other 2 skeins.

#2 - Fuschia, Lavendel, Admiral. The Admiral would be my anchor. Yes, not a huge difference than the combo above, but the Admiral makes the other 2 colours really pop, and using a darker purple makes the fuschia even hotter. You can't really tell in this photo, but the Admiral is a really dark navy blue, and this shade of purple is a bit deeper and slightly darker than the one shown in the photo above.

#3 - Chim Chim Chimney, Graf Ratz, Fliederbusch. I would be using the Graf Ratz as my anchor.

#4 - Lavendel, Chim Chim Chimney, Admiral. Not too much of a difference than the last combo, the Admiral would be my anchor and the darker purple makes the blue look lighter.

#5 - Taube, Fliederbusch, Himbeere. Jewel tones that make me smile! I have no idea which colour I would make my anchor, and the photo doesn't do it justice but the Himbeere is more of a reddish pink in real life.

#6 - Tollkirsche, Campari Piccolo, Golden Pear. This combo is soooo out of my usual colour comfort zone, but would be fabulous for fall, don't you think? The Tollkirsche, which is a dark reddish brown, would be my anchor. Not sure if your monitor will let you see it, but the Golden Pear actually has flecks and some streaks of a subtle orange in it.

#7 - Campari Piccolo, Dunkle Kirsche, Tollkirsche. Substituting the Golden Pear with the deep red Dunkle Kirsche. This combo reminds me of an autumn sunset.

#8 - Campari Piccolo, Dunkle Kirsche, Admiral. Not really a favourite now that I'm looking at it for the millionth time but thought I would throw it out there. I don't think I have to, but I'll say it anyways...the Admiral would be the anchor colour.

#9 - Golden Pear, Dunkle Kirsche, Merlot. At first I thought I would use the Merlot as the anchor, but looking at the photo again, I think the GP would be an even better choice. The DK and the Merlot are within the same colour family that it would be better to accent them with the GP than mess with the colour wheel.

#10 - Versuchskaninchen, Pistazie, Golden Pear. Actually, now that I'm looking at this photo again, I'm not sure why this is even an option. But it is nice eye candy, no?

So what do you guys think? Stick with my usuals and go with something pink? Or live on the wild side and do something completely and totally different from what I'm used to?? I've also considered breaking into my most cherished stash of Limone (a bright yellow) and mixing it with the orange and either the Tollkirsche or Golden Pear. Arg! The possibilities are endless!! How am I going to decide on just one combo??

Who else is doing the Westknits KAL? Have you decided on a trio of colours yet? Do share!

July Obsessions

It's a month of C's! The 5 things that I'm currently obsessed with this month:

1. Capes. There's a ton of cape action that I've been seeing lately. I like how Vogue Knitting dedicated their early fall issue to knitted cape patterns. The summer issue of Knitscene even has a pattern that I am dying to knit. Question is: can I pull off wearing a cape? Even a small one? Man, I want to make that and wear it so badly!

2. Chromeo. Brett introduced me to the Canadian duo years ago and I was all, "they're ok" about it. When I went to the Kootenays my cousin had a playlist that included one of their songs that made my ears perk up a bit. I've heard this song before...but where? When I got back to Victoria I kept hearing snippets of songs that I really liked. All from Brett's playlists. Curious, I checked out what we've been listening to. Yup. Chromeo. Brett only had a few songs but I quickly changed that! And now all the albums are in very high rotation on my iPod. Some songs are even on repeat. You know you've been listening to something too much when you're dancing to the music and it's not even playing!! Oops!

Image via Pitchfork

3. Caprese salads. With a balsamic vinegar reduction drizzled all over it. Pure heaven. I know I've mentioned it a few times on this here blog my love for this salad. Especially when the warmer weather rolls around. Sure enough, when the basil plants started appearing at Thrifty's Brett brought one home and I started chowing down. I seriously think I need to invest in a few more plants though. I'm eating the basil faster than it can grow! This salad always fills me up, and yet keeps me wanting more. Before I know it I've already gone through an entire carton of grape tomatoes and a container of pearl bocconcini...and in one sitting. Yikes!!

4. Coffee. More specifically, coffee from Oso Negro. Whenever I go see my family I always have to stock up. And when I say stock up, I mean I'm packing at least 6-7 lbs worth of this black gold into my luggage!! All other coffee beans have nothing on Oso Negro. Mmmm...I think I might go make a cup of it now...it's so freakin' good!!

5. Castile Soap. But not just any kind of castile soap. It has to be Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap. A cousin of mine had introduced this liquid soap to me ages ago...like, we're talking early 2000 here. Although, back then she had presented it to me as more of a shampoo than a soap that has a million uses. So I tried it on my hair. I didn't care for it. I kept the bottle though and had used it to wash my makeup and hair brushes. Then at the beginning of this year I was talking to the same cousin on the phone who was telling me to try Dr. Bronner's again, but this time not as a shampoo. So I did. I absolutely love it as a body wash AND as a face wash! It make for a fantastic all-purpose travel soap (during my trip it was my body and face wash in the shower, my hand soap when I went anywhere, and I had even used it to quickly hand wash some clothes!), but I also carry a little squeeze bottle of it with me for when I'm out and about cause I find the hand soap that you find in restaurants and public bathrooms to be extremely heavily scented and super drying. Sometimes I even use it to wash my delicates. And shhhhhh! Don't tell anyone, but the Tea Tree Oil version makes for a great household cleaner!

I wasn't sure if I should have added the Westknits Mystery Shawl KAL as one of my July obsessions, then decided not to since I haven't been obsessing about it all month. Just recently. But now you know what I will be obsessing about next month!

Finished: Blue Maile Baby Sweater

Yay! I can finally show you the very first baby sweater that I had knit for one of the babies that will soon be born in the coming months. I've never knit a baby item before and wasn't quite sure what to expect, other than for it to be a somewhat faster knit. For the record, WOW! What an utterly satisfying knit!! Not only can it take just a mere few days to knit up, but in the end you have an entire cardigan done. Yes, yes, I know...it's for a baby and therefore is a wee little garment. But still. It's satisfying cause you've knit up a garment in a few days! How awesome does that feel?? Yeah, mighty awesome. And you know what makes this pure awesome sauce?? This project counts towards my 12 in 2011 goal cause the pattern was free and I've had this yarn in the stash since last summer. Ooohhh yeahh!!

I did run into a few problems though. The pattern wasn't originally written specifically for other knitters to peruse. The designer (the talented Nikki Van De Car, who's blog you can check out here) had wanted something special for her little bundle of joy and so designed this sweater with not only love, but with a background story to it. She had such a fantastic response to the design when she was done that she was generous enough to share it with the rest of the knitting world via her blog. Now, there's absolutely nothing wrong with her pattern, but you definitely do need previous knowledge of how to knit up a seamless cardigan from the bottom up. And if you want a different size from what is given (there's only one size) then you need to figure that one out yourself. The pattern isn't broken down as to what section is what, other than the sleeves, and no stitch counts are given. If you do have sweater knitting experience then this pattern will be easy peasy.

My problem wasn't with the pattern, but more like I didn't bother to count my stitches after joining the sleeves and starting the yoke. I know, I know...what a rookie mistake! But get this, I was almost ready to start the neck band before I realized that my stitch counts were off! Way off. I should've known quite a few rows back that they were off but I was totally in knitter's denial and just wanted to get the project done. When the realization finally hit me I was really hoping that I could just fudge it all, but on a garment so tiny I could tell that fudging it would be completely noticeable. Darn. This was reinforced by my friend Jennifer, who bluntly (and lovingly) told me that fudging was not an option here. Double darn.

So I ripped back to where I joined the sleeves and discovered that the yarn I used doesn't like to be ripped. This was my first time knitting with Araucania and I have to say that really like how define and clean the stitches look, and how it's not splitty at all. The yarn itself is a bit on the thinner side and I did find that it’s quite a “sticky” yarn and doesn’t like to be ripped back without taking bits of fiber with it. I got fed up with the yarn and decided to start a new Maile with a different yarn to see where I could have gone wrong, just in case I needed to keep knitting and ripping and I wanted a smoother yarn to do that with.

With the second Maile sweater I discovered that had I counted my stitches in the first place after I had joined the sleeves to the body, then I would have known that I was only off by 2 stitches at one of the sleeves!! I don’t know if it was knitter error of me putting a stitch marker in the wrong spot or if the pattern is wrong in telling you were to put it, but I got it wrong twice by following the pattern to a T.

Anyhoo, I had originally knit the sleeves flat, thinking that they are so small that sewing them up wouldn't be that much of a hassle. Yeah, who was I trying to kid?? I hate sewing up knitted pieces!! So why was I trying to convince myself that this was any different?? Call me crazy but I decided to re-do the sleeves and work them Magic Loop styles in the round. Oh yeah...sooo much nicer, quicker, AND would be less irritating for a baby to have a seam there. Knowing my luck, it would’ve been a bulky seam at that!

Once I got the sleeves done and everything was back on track, the rest of the knitting went by quick as lightning. I can't say that for the blocking process though, cause that took me forever to do! Don't know why since it's such a small sweater and doesn't require any pinning. Oh yeah. I forgot. I'm lazy.

I really hope that Natalie likes this little number and that her wee one can get lots of wear out it!

Baby Sweater Details:

Pattern: Maile Sweater by Nikki Van De Car

Yarn: Araucania Ranco Multy

Colour: #494 (blue and brown variegated)

Needles: Knit Picks Harmony Wood Interchangeable in 3.5mm (US 4)

Ravelry Link: MisoCraftyKnits' Blue Maile

Showers

Two types of showers happened over the weekend, the first type being a baby shower! My lovely blogless friend and fellow knitter Natalie (hi Nat!) is patiently (or impatiently? Any feelings on that one Natalie?) waiting for her son to arrive early next month. So my knitting group had a baby shower for her, hosted by fellow Bitchy Bee Ursa (hi Ursa!). The afternoon was filled with great company, yummy food, delectable treats (uh, can you say chocolate zucchini cake and homemade turtles?? Swoon!), and knitting, of course!! Natalie's baby was definitely spoiled with a lot of knitted garments, a stunning Umaro blanket, and an equally beautiful quilted crib blanket. What a lucky baby!

The other type of shower was of the rainy variety. Yeah...not so much fun. Unless you are Brett:

Who thought the torrential downpours were awesome. And sometimes they are. Just not for an entire weekend in the middle of July. If I hadn't taken that photo myself, I would've thought it was taken in the fall. Yeah...no. This is how summer has been so far for us West Coasters.

I wish I could say that a lot of knitting has been happening during this crummy weather, with it being cooler out and all, but sadly...no. I'm really not a fan of taking the Munchkin to the park or the playground when it's wet out, and so I've been spending all my time trying to entertain the kidlet that doesn't involve watching TV. By the end of the day I'm so incredibly exhausted that I've been falling asleep either on the couch or at the computer desk by 9pm! But don't worry, I do have a few FOs to share later on in the week!

In the meantime, I've got dishes calling my name. I hope y'all are having more fun than me!!

Done Deal

Ok, shortly after writing the last post I thought about the Westknits Mystery Shawl KAL some more. A few hours later (oh, who am I kidding? It was minutes later) I was on Ravelry purchasing the pattern/my spot in the KAL.

There. It's done. It's a done deal. I'm taking part in the KAL. Yep...another project to add to the list.

This will be my very first mystery KAL of any sort and I have to say that I'm super excited about it. How fun is this going to be, to knit a shawl with 600 other knitters from all around the world?

I'll forewarn y'all: be prepared to see several posts regarding the KAL in the coming future. This shawl is all I can think about lately. Seriously. I was colouring with the Munchkin and noticed that all I could do was pair up possible colour combos for the shawl! Hence the photo above...oy vey!

It's a Mystery

Images via flickr/Westknits

I've been hemming and hawing over whether or not if I should partake in Stephen West's Westknits Mystery Shawl KAL for the past few days now. Then at knit night last night I was talking with Ursa about it (yes, I'm slightly obsessed) which has gotten the wheels turning even more. Before, when I was just merely thinking about joining, I had only heard about the KAL from one of the forums on Ravelry. But then Ursa, evil temptress that she is, just had to show me the flickr page of Stephen West's favourite colour combos for this mystery shawl (for the curious, check them out here). If that wasn't enough, she also showed me the Westknits group page where everyone else was showing off what they were planning on doing.

Crap.

Being a sucker for colour, I was completely drawn in. If I wasn't already thinking about it a lot before, now I'm absolutely consumed with thoughts about this KAL. Last night when I got home from knit night I was a woman possessed. I poured over the pages of colour combos on Ravelry, I feverishly went over my stash page to see what I could come up with, and I checked out numerous online shops for other possibilities. Heck, I even had yarn dreams last night and woke up thinking about colours.

And yet I'm still undecided if I should join in on the fun. Crazy, I know. Why be so obsessed with something that I'm not sure if I'm going to do, right? I think a lot of it has to do with having a fair bit on my plate already. I have way too many projects on the needles already, I still have my 12 in 2011 goal to complete, I've committed to knitting a few new projects that have come up over the past few months, and I'm also determined to knit at least one sweater for the Munchkin for the fall. I'd be crazy to take on another project. Right?

I don't have a problem with not knowing what the shawl will look like ahead of time. The mystery is the fun! After all, I like every single pattern that Stephen West has put out, especially the last few (I've moved my queue around quite a bit to put Spectra at the top of the list!). There will be plenty of time to knit this up, a whole month in fact, since you get a part of the pattern once a week. Plenty of time. And totally enough time in between to work on other projects...tons. I could totally do this. Right? Why am I so indecisive? What's the whole point of this post? What am I going to do?

Hmmm...well I do have 2 weeks to think about this, since the KAL starts August 1st. Is anyone planning on joining the KAL?

WIP: Trillian Skandal

Ok, I know in the last post I mentioned that I couldn't start a new project until I finished at least 3 projects that I had OTN. Well, this project was started the second I had finished my Lintilla shawlette. I really couldn't wait any longer and had decided then and there to immediately cast on a new project with another skein of Wollmeise. I really want to find out if I do like knitting with and wearing Wollmeise before I "invested" any more money on this yarn, cause if I find out that Wollmeise and I do not mix...well, I would need to find new homes for the 60+ skeins that I have in my stash! Eee...just saying out loud just how many skeins I have kinda alarms me...maybe I should think about wrangling my yarn stash??

Anyhoo, I'm knitting up another Martina Behm design. This time around I'm knitting her Trillian shawlette. Just like Lintilla, this pattern is super duper easy and totally memorizable. The only issue I've had so far is my tension on the fishnet lace border on the first half at the beginning. I know I was pulling the yarn tight which makes the lace not so lace-y. It kinda bugs me but there is no way I'm ripping back to the very beginning just to fix that! I'm going to have to be super aggressive while blocking this part and hope that it'll open up more. In the meantime I've been keeping a conscious eye on the rest of the fishnet border and making sure that I'm knitting it loosely enough to be considered lace.

Since I had made Lintilla in Wollmeise 100% Merino, I decided I would give the Twin a try. So far I haven't notice much of a difference weight-wise, but the Twin is definitely less splitty and I've only had a few issues with single plies being tugged out by my sandpaper dry hands. I'm using my coveted (by me...for what seemed like forever!) skein of Skandal um rosi, which is absolutely gorgeous in skein form. Now that I'm knitting it up though I can't say if I'm 100% in love. I think it's the stark white parts. To me they really stand out against the black and dark fuchsia. This piece is definitely a stand out piece and is something that is going to have to be worn with a subdued outfit.

Just like Lintilla I'm a bit surprised as to how long it's taking me to knit this up. Mind you I haven't been giving it my full attention. So far I've only been knitting on it whilst at work. On a break. And even then I only get a row knit up here and there. I do have the best intentions for working on it though. I do bring it with me wherever I go in hopes that I'll be able to work on it some more. But I will admit that I just don't feel the pressure to finish it since I'm not counting it as one of my 12 in 2011 projects (the yarn was purchased this year), and I still have another shawlette OTN - which I feel extremely guilty about, as it's almost finished but I can't seem to bring myself to work on.

Ugh. Now that I think about it, I have quite a lot OTN that I should just force myself to finish. Hmm...maybe that should be the theme for the rest of the summer? Well, while I think about this idea I should really get cracking and finish up a cardigan or something.

'Til next time, happy knitting blogging Friends!

Happy Wednesday Randomness

Whew, what a weekend!! This here household had a really awesome weekend, especially the Munchkin. After a super productive knit night on Friday, Saturday was spent playing at the park/playground (twice...in one day!!), saying hello to the elderly ladies at the community centre up the street (the Munchkin just loves hamming it up for the elderly folks there), a quick trip to the grocery store sans stroller (which the Munchkin was pleased as punch about...and who knew he would be so helpful at "carrying" the basket and "picking" fruit and veggies??), and then chilling out at the James Bay Market where we listened to acoustic music, sampled homemade jams, and coloured (in the kids tent, of course!).

Sunday, while I was at work, Brett and the Munchkin enjoyed the Pride Parade. Not only did the Munchkin watched the whole parade (in utter awe), but he scored quite a bit in free swag! When I came home he was so proud to show me his collection of colourful necklaces, beach balls, noise makers, stickers, and stick-on tattoos, as well as share his bubble gum and lollipops with me. Luckily for me Brett caught it all on camera!

Monday was another "Daddy and Munchkin day of adventure" while I was at work. I know the Munchkin can't get enough Daddy time cause every Tuesday when Brett has to go back to work it's so hard to pry the Munchkin off from around his waist, and yesterday was no different. After work I high-tailed it to my dentist appointment (yay, no cavities!!) to come home to find a super sad Munchkin. Needless to say, Rice Krispie treats had to be made to turn Munchkin's frown upside down!!

Other things of note that don't fit this post but I felt compelled to mention...here comes the random goodness:

1. I finally managed to plow through and get both sleeves knitted up on the Tahitian Tea Leaves cardigan!

2. I discovered that I used the wrong needle size for the garter cuff on the first sleeve and will have to rip back to fix it.

3. Before ripping back the cuff I decided to knit up the second sleeve just so that I could get it out of the way. This time around I used the correct needle size for the cuff...

4. ...Just to find out that using the correct needle size means my sleeve is slightly too short in length.

5. I honestly feel like this cardigan should've been finished by now.

6. I bought buttons for the baby sweaters that I had knit for the babies that will be arriving soon.

7. I discovered that all the buttons I bought were about 3 millimetres too big for the buttonholes. WTF??

8. I don't know if I have the time this week to seek out new buttons.

9. I want to cast on a new project and promised myself that I could AFTER I finished at least three of the WIPS that I currently have OTN.

10. I better get knitting.

WIP: Tahitian Tea Leaves

I have a confession: I had actually started this back in March when I went to the Okanagan for my MIL's birthday/retirement party. I didn't think I would get around to starting it since I had other projects with me. I guess I did a lot of knitting while I was there, cause I had burned through the 2 balls I had brought with me on the drive back to the island which got me as far as the yoke section.

Fast forward to now. I decided to bring this with me to the Kootenays cause it's an easy knit and I don't have to pre-wind any skeins of yarn. Knowing that I had gone through 2 balls of yarn on a 4 hour drive last time, I decided to bring the rest of the bag with me. So glad I did! Before we even left the lower mainland I had already separated the sleeves from the body and was onto the fourth ball of yarn for the body. The only complex part (if you can even call it that) of this entire cardigan was the yoke, the rest is knit back and forth in plain stockinette with only 1 set of increases under the armpits. The recipe for the perfect mindless knitting when you've got to deal with two toddlers in the back seat and are having to constantly put down the needles so that you can hand over sippy cups and snacks, and to retreive soothers, "Buppy", trucks, and Cheerios containers (without getting car sick yourself from all the turning around that you have to do!).

I didn't have much knitting time once I was in Nelson, as I was passing out pretty early in the evening from sheer exhaustion. I did manage to bind off the body and start a sleeve when I had that alone time. During the ride back to the coast I worked on the one sleeve and that's where I got stuck. I got bored halfway through the drive and decided to work on another project. *sigh* Sleeves. They get me every time. I was really hoping that I would have this done by the time I got back to Victoria, but those elusive sleeves are such a time suck. I keep knitting and knitting and in Magic Loop too, and still don't get anywhere! And that's where I am today. Still on that one sleeve. I just need to power through these sleeves and all I have left to do is pick up stitches for the button bands, and then finito!

But first...those sleeves. *sigh*

Trip Recap

Here's a little trip recap...but rather than repeat myself over and over and over (cause if you really want to read a bit about it, you can read this post), I'm just going to let these photos give you the gist of it all. I didn't want to add every photo I took, or you'd be here forever waiting for all the photos to load, so I just added the general ones that to me speaks for the trip as a whole.

Every time during the summer when I drive back to and from the Kootenays I always make an effort to stop in Keremeos (or any other Okanagan spot that has fruit stands) and buy a crap ton of whatever is in season. This time around it was cherries. The plan was to make jam, but I've eaten way too many that there's not enough to make up a batch and it wouldn't be worth it to make any with the little amount that I have left over. Oh well, maybe next year? Just glad that no staining cherry juice got on my knitting. It's amazing just how much you can get done with a DK weight yarn and about 8 hours of straight up knitting time. I know I say this about every knitting project, but this one seriously flew off the needles! Seriously, check out how far I had gotten on the way to the Koots!

Although it was warm and quite muggy, it rained. A lot. And hard. So most of the time was spent indoors playing rounds of fishing and Hungry Hungry Hippos. Oh yeah, and there was a lot of bubble blowing too. If one toddler was demanding bubbles, then the other one was. Not a day went by where we didn't go through a huge container of bubbles!

My alone time consisted of walking around the town center and then stopping at a cafe for a cup of coffee and a yummy Mayan chocolate cookie. Oh, and to do some knitting! Always with knitting!

No Canada Day is complete without a visit to Lakeside Park! This year the Munchkin was big enough to enjoy the awesome playground that they have there. It's just unfortunate that this time around the lake was way too cold to swim in. But that didn't stop us from enjoying the little beach that was left (the water levels are at the highest that it's ever been in decades!), and the view of BOB (aka: Big Orange Bridge).

Also a Canada Day tradition: a huge family and friends BBQ at my aunt and uncle's house. Last year there were about 60 people in attendance. This year, there were about 90 people! Luckily my aunt's backyard is huge and was able to accommodate everyone and still have plenty of space for the little ones to run around in and for the "older kids" to throw a ball and frisbee around. I just wish I took a photo of the 'Giant Roasters' marshmallows next to a normal marshmallow. Those things were seriously huge! Just one of these bad boys was the size of at least 6 regular marshmallows! Insane! But soooo dee-lish when roasted over the fire pit during the fireworks!

Ooohh...did I mention that I bought some yarn? Yeah...I bought yarn. No surprise there though, right?

Ok, vacation time is totally over. Now back to the salt mine that is regular daily life...and back to normal blogging (whatever that means!). I do have some FOs to report back on, and what feels like a million WIPs too.

What has everyone been working on lately?