kataish

Enough.

2011-09-23T01:41:00.004-04:00

I'm not perfect, nor have I ever claimed to be. I'm very far from perfect, actually, as are most people that I know. I've been under a lot of stress lately for many reasons - job stress, medical related stress, money stress, etc. I actually can't think of a time in the last ten years of my life that I've ever felt stress-free but the past few months have proven to be quite the hurdle. Some days I wake up not feeling like myself, living in a cloud of worried thoughts, rushing through the day to get home, only to not want to do anything but sleep when I do. I don't quite know how to deal with it, and every once in a while, like tonight, when the sum total of stress becomes too large for my brain to figure out how to handle, I lose it. I cry like a baby for hours on end, mope around like a rag doll, and just want nothing to do with myself.

Despite the fact that I know I am not perfect and never will be (nobody ever will, quite honestly), I try to live my life with a solid set of morals, and infuse everything I do with as much creativity and love as I can muster. Some days I can only muster a small amount, and others I could fill a stadium with the amount of love I pour into everything I do.

I try not to be a negative person, but with stress eating away at my very core its difficult not to sometimes. I know that a lot of people think that I'm a negative person because I don't put up with a lot of shit. I don't play well with strangers: I hate small talk, fake smiles, feigning interest in their sometimes boring little lives. It irks me. I tend to shy away from others that I don't know, and those that I do know and let in to my life, I love and adore with everything I am inside of me.

I am lucky. I live in a country where free speech is allowed. I have a roof over my head (despite sometimes not knowing how I'll pay rent). I have food in my fridge (even if its not appetizing some days when we're out of grocery money and pay day isn't for another week). I have a wonderful and beautiful man who loves me for who I am and for what I stand for. I have the cutest hamster in the world (yes, I said it), who supplies endless hours of entertainment in a cute, fluffy package. I have a few friends who I think are pretty damn amazing. I have passion, desire, and creativity. I marvel at the small yet spectacular things in life, and I feel not nearly as many people who should, do.

I am not perfect. But I have love, and that is enough.

My newest addiction: MACARONS!

2011-09-05T14:34:00.007-04:00

For years I've been hearing about macarons from my penpal Nadine in Germany. She lives very close to the border of France and often takes day-trips into France to get local groceries, treats, etc. I had heard of macarons before but after seeing her love of them, I knew I wanted to try them. Heres the problem - there was nobody around that made them! I couldn't find a single bakery in London (Ontario) that sold them. Until last month...

While my friend Ari was here from Wisconsin (and let me just say sorry for not blogging about her visit. I have a few photos, I'll be doing another post soon about knitting stuff and that visit), we were walking around our local Saturday morning farmers market. All of a sudden Will and I both gasp - we spotted macarons! There was a little bakery stand that was closing up, she had some jars of baked goods leftover, and in one jar... MACARONS! There were only two left. Will and I bought them IMMEDIATELY. They were green matcha tea flavoured with a ginger cream frosting. They were TO DIE FOR. Immediately I wanted more. Thats when we found a new bakery opened up inside the farmer's market called Petit Paris (see photo). HEAVEN. Immediately we picked out half a dozen macarons, but at $2.25 each (or $12 for a half dozen), we knew this would become an expensive addiction. That was the moment we decided to learn how to make them.

I found these helpful instructions using my google-fu, which is an expansion of Martha Stewart's recipe (which has even more suggestions for different flavour combinations, just so you know), and I went to work - after a short trip to the bulk store to get a few things.

Since then, I've been in macaron heaven. I've made about 5 or 6 different batches... they take forever and they are SUPER DUPER SWEET, but they honestly are a little piece of heaven! Here is my most recent batch - chocolate macarons with chai cream frosting:

mail art tutorial!

2011-08-20T13:11:00.018-04:00

I've been asked several times by several people (some more patient than others, thank you!) for a mail art tutorial. Please note that this is just my current personal style of mail art that has made me happy, and things can be customized to use tools that you have... I just wanted to share a way for people who may not be into it, to get into it! Its easy, promise!

So to start... you need a canvas/slate... for me, thats a blank piece of paper I'll turn into an envelope. To do that, I drew up this little picture so you can see how I easily turn a piece of paper into an envelope, without an actual template:

Please note that you can put off the GLUE step of the envelope until you're done decorating the envelope, but thats up to you! Personally, I do... so you won't see my envelope all together until I glue it. :)

After MAKING the envelope, the process of decorating the envelope begins... I use markers, pens, washi tape, stamps, ink, pencil crayons, other papers to layer onto it, etc. You can use ANYTHING, I've even seen simple objects like playing cards incorporated into this!

My first step for decorating envelopes is to give myself a background. I'm often intimidated by a blank piece of paper, so I start to add colour to it, using COPIC markers.

After this part is usually when I glue my edges up (as opposed to the first step), but if you're skipping a striped envelope (and it doesn't have to be striped, let your imagination go wild!), you can do that at any point that you're comfortable with, or even wait until you're done altogether.

After creating a pattern and gluing up my envelope, I use stamp ink to distress the edges of the envelope, to make it look grungy or old. To do this you can use any colour stamp ink you want! What I find works best is a brand called "Distress Ink" by Tim Holtz. It dries to a light colour, so it doesn't outshine anything you're adding on top of it, and just gives a nice grungy look. I tend to do this on every edge of the envelope that the recipient will see, both front and back. Again, if you don't like the grungy look, skip this step! YOUR mail art that you send should be stuff that YOU enjoy and that you think the recipient will enjoy also!

The next step I usually take is to address the envelope, or to at least add the recipients name, since that will be the main focus of the envelope. For this tutorial, I'm making a pretty piece of mail art for my friend Katie! Usually I either draw a name on or use stamps, or a combination of both. For the purpose of this tutorial, I'll use letter stamps! I have one set of letter stamps that I use on a regular basis, that I bought at Wal-Mart for $4 in the clearance bin! Stamp sets are usually pretty expensive, but if you're going to continue creating mail art (and why wouldn't you?!), investing in a good set of stamps you love is a good idea! Unmounted clear stamps are also cheaper, because you can buy an acrylic block to reuse with your stamps over and over again, and don't worry if your recipients name has multiple uses of the same letter, you can stamp 2-3 letters at a time of a name if you have to!

After your recipients name is on the envelope, you can add the address (or wait until other decorations are applied), or keep decorating! I tend to keep decorating and add the address last! I don't have much else to add, but I'll snap a few little photos to inspire different elements for your mail art!

The above photos are several techniques that I use to decorate envelopes. Use as many or as few as you want to achieve the perfect envelope for your recipient. I tend to go overboard - the crazier the mail the bigger the smile would be on MY face!

Hopefully you've found this guide to creating pretty mail art inspiring, and now you want to make your own! If you do, please share photos in the comments (or links!). I'd LOVE to see what everyone else creates, and also feel free to share some of your own techniques!

A few tips and pointers to keep our postal worker friends happy:

- always use a return address, just in case something can't be delivered!
- always make sure the address AND return address are clear and legible!
- always use enough stamps!!! If you're not sure how many to use, take it into your local post office to find out

From my experience, postal workers LOVE seeing unique and creative mail, so long as they can clearly read it and safely deliver it! Be sure to check your mail regulations and guidelines before sending anything in the mail!

And always remember, the best way to receive fun mail is to send it! I'm a member of a site called sendsomething.net. Its a private site (for members only) where you can search for new people to send mail to (use at your own risk, of course). I have met a few awesome penpals through that site, and mail art buddies, too! You can also join sites like swap-bot.com or join penpal or mail forums online... if you're also a knitter, there are several Penpal groups on Ravelry.

Ari's Walk for Paws

2011-07-29T10:53:00.007-04:00

I know I said in my last post I had more to update about and don't worry, its still coming. Adventures are planned for much of August, so there will be lots to talk about.

In the mean time, please please please check out my friend Ari's fundraising page.

She and her housemate's beagle/blue heeler cross are participating in a Walk For Paws event on September 10th, and are trying to raise money for her local no-kill animal shelter.

Every little bit helps (even if its just a dollar or two!), animals need our love and support too. Help her help an awesome shelter and raise money for cute fluffy things!

My hamster is begging you, you wouldn't want to disappoint Duchess Malabrigo Chunky Lioness Fluffernutter von Hamsterstein, now would you?

Whats up, pussycat?

2011-06-19T18:53:00.009-04:00

You know, I really love to read blogs. I particularly love the blogs of other crafty women, who are often stay at home moms to several children, yet despite that still have time to craft, and write lovely blog posts about their lives. So whats my excuse? I don’t know, I don’t think I have one. I am not organized, I am not an uber-clean person at home (let me clarify... our apartment is clean... it is not organized. It is cluttered, there is stuff everywhere), I spend most of my free time watching tv AND knitting. I do accomplish a lot of crafting, and I document it all on my Ravelry project page... isn’t that enough? Any of you blog readers who have somehow managed to stick around through my hiatus are probably saying “HELL NO!” I don’t blame you... but I’m really not that interesting, I promise.

I do often live moments and think “that would make a good blog post...” but it just never happens. Currently in my head I have archives of Cool Things Every Knitter Should Have, interesting things that have happened, pictures I should post, etc. It just NEVER happens. Do any readers who are also bloggers have any suggestions or ideas on how I can fix this, other than “stop being lazy and write, damnit”? No? Okay. Well, I AM HERE AND I AM WRITING NOW! Is anybody still out there?

Two weekends ago Will & I attended PodCamp London, which is a social media “unconference” – basically anyone can show up (registration was just $2), ANYONE attending can teach a session as long as it somehow relates to social media. Will and I have joked about starting a podcast, but really... we have nothing to say. Can you imagine a podcast as sparse as my blog? Too funny. Well, we had a great time at PodCamp London. Aside from some drama (not relating to us, just going on around us) with a friend’s podcast, Vinyl Countdown (see silly boys pictured above, note, this podcast is NOT for everyone, you have been warned of explicit content) and a woman who felt it her mission in life to be offended on behalf of everyone who has ever lived, it was a great time. We attended some sessions on use of language, media, and being authentic. I feel that no matter what I’m doing, I am always authentic – one thing I have always believed in is being yourself. Here in my blog I don’t often edit anything unless there are spelling errors or if I’ve made some grammatical error that I just can’t live with (hee), but often I just type the words that come into my brain as I think them. I think thats the best type of blog – no watered down thoughts for me! I think thats part of why my job drives me so damn crazy – I don’t often feel like I can be 100% myself, because theres always someone to answer to.

Despite the fact that my job isn’t 100% satisfying, I know that it is temporary. Once my darling Scottish husband can work in the great land of Canada, things will change, and we’re slowly getting there one day at a time. Currently we’re waiting on immigration to set us up with part 2 of the paperwork process – 9 more months and we should be golden. Fingers crossed, eh? (Yes, I’m Canadian, and I just typed “eh”...)

So what have I been doing? Well, knitting. A whole hell of a lot of knitting. I won’t post everything here that I’ve worked on since, uh, what? January? Yeah you don’t need a year’s worth of knitting posted here (but if you’re a member of Ravelry, please click through the link in my first paragraph to check everything out if you’re interested). Recently though, I have started a sweater. It will be my first! Now I’ve knit a vest or two before, and baby sweaters, but not a real life adult sized sweater! Let me just say, this sweater isn’t for me (though there is a few for myself in the planning stages currently). I am knitting a sweater for a good friend from Wisconsin that I met on Ravelry, who will be coming to visit me in August! She may be coming to London to attend University of Western Ontario within the next few years to finish off her degree, so she’s going to come to check out the city. We’ll have a grand time, and I promise to post pictures, because we have so many things planned, including a tea party themed birthday celebration for her, with tons of baked goods. We’re planning a trip north to North Bay to visit another friend who has 100 acres with forest, trails, a waterfall, etc! I am very excited for these things. Anyway, we met on Ravelry in a yarn swap group, and we’ve known each other for a while now, and I offered in a swap to knit her a sweater... so I started it about 3 days ago now. Here is my current progress:

Hmm, what else? Well we went camping at the beginning of June with my mom and stepdad. We tried out our new tent that we got for Christmas and are VERY HAPPY with said new tent. Aside from a 2 hour storm that included lima bean sized hail (according to my mother it was lima bean sized... what does she know? She doesn't eat vegetables at all!), we had a very good time. The good thing is my mom and stepdad have an RV so we escaped there during the storm. All in all we had a great time. Oh I have a campfire pic to prove we went camping, haha. We did take the camera, but didn't think to actually USE it, so I took this with my Blackberry:

So, I guess thats all for now. Its about time to get dinner started (Will and I - mostly him) made some homemade gnocchi pasta earlier). I have another post percolating in my brain (foodie-themed) so maybe if I remember, I'll post that sometime this week. I am going to make an honest effort to blog more, though, I promise!

intermission

2011-02-18T22:06:00.002-05:00

My mom recently got the internet... the phonecalls about "OMG WHAT DO I DO?" have mostly stopped (I know, I know, she's still learning!) but she's started passing along forwards. She promises its "only the really good ones"... well this one today made me teary-eyed (in a good way) because she knows how stressed I have been lately, and dealing with a lot of crap at my "real job". I wanted to post this here, because this applies to most, if not all, of my friends I know read this blog:

She can deal with stress and carry heavy burdens. She smiles when she feels like screaming, and she sings when she feels like crying. She cries when she's happy and laughs when she's afraid. Her love is unconditional. There's only one thing wrong with her. She forgets what she's worth!

A real post is coming soon, promise!

Knitting In Public

2011-01-02T13:44:00.003-05:00

Will and I often go out simply to get out of the house to knit. Since I work from home 95% of the time, its good for both of us. Often we go to our local Starbucks (which ROCKS!), as theres plenty of room, wonderful employees, and just a nice chill environment.

Yesterday evening was one of these times. It was New Years, I was sick during Christmas, and Will sadly caught the same sick so hasn't been feeling up to par the last few days (refer to his "forced smile" in the above photo), so we didn't do anything for New Years Eve. We stayed home, watched tv, ate good food (I baked like a mad-woman!), listened to podcasts, and knit. We're a fairly boring crowd, we're easily entertained, I guess. So, we decided we should get out and do something on New Years Day, right? Thankfully, our Starbucks was open.

Because of the location and its size, this particular Starbucks is almost always busy. Yesterday it was not. At one point we were the only people there besides the employees. Later in the evening before we left, a man about our age, and his father came in and sat down near us since we were in the "comfy chair section". For a few moments I noticed the father watching me knit. Finally he asked me what I was working on. I told him it was a sock for Will and he said he was just baffled about the number of different ways people can hold and complete their knitting. He then started talking to me and telling me that as a young boy he knew how to knit but hasn't knit anything in a few years. The last thing he knit was a scarf for a friend.

Since I'm addicted to knitting and fiber-craft (and non fiber-craft for that matter), it makes me very happy to have random people ask me questions about knitting, or start reminiscing about a time that they knit. A lot of the time when people ask me about it, they remember someone from their past (their mother/grandmother/aunt/etc) knitting, or trying to teach them to knit. Its really interesting to hear of all the stories and memories that a simple "craft" (which to me is more of a way of life than a craft) can bring out in people.

This post really doesn't have a point, most of mine don't, I just like to ramble and rant, but I just wanted to throw this out there and ask anyone possibly reading to share some of their knitting in public stories.

Happy 2011, folks!

Knitters make the world go 'round.

2010-12-30T17:54:00.006-05:00

Okay, maybe not. Nah, I'm lying, we do! My entire life lately is about knitting... yarn, knitting for other people, Ravelry, etc. Since I joined Ravelry and have made many friends (both online and "IRL") through the site, my life has pretty much revolved around knitting since. February 16th will be my 3 year anniversary on Ravelry, and specifically the last two years on Ravelry since being part of a huge swap group of people who are so many things (thats a generalization. Specifically they are talented, kind, amazing, wonderful, giving, etc.), I feel I have become a better person.

I was listening to my very first episode of Sticks & String today whilst spinning. There was a segment about Christmas/holiday gifting, and it made me think about how wonderful and kind the knitters are that I am very privileged to know, especially since today was an amazing mail day. As you all know, I'm a total mail geek, and being in a large swap group helps me combine mail AND knitting. How wonderful is that? Well, today I got a huge box from Dawn of Knit Naturally which included a skein of beautiful malabrigo sock that I claimed from her in the swap group, and some homemade cookies. However, she also included some other little goodies for Will and I... two HUGE bags of Hershey's Kisses (fancy ones that we can't get here in Canada!), some Adaigo sweet potato tea, and some Scentsy samples (a candle company she is a rep for). I just thought it was so adorably sweet of her to include stuff randomly that she knew that I'd like, and it started making me think about knitters being super kind and generous, which was then reconfirmed when I was listening to Sticks & String. As knitters, we make a lot of gifts (or, some of us do). In said gifts, we spend hours and hours picking the right yarn and pattern combination, and knitting each stitch lovingly (or sometimes not, but trying to!), etc. To give a gift of knitting, in my mind, is the ultimate gift, as it takes so much time, love and precision.

I was lucky this Christmas to give many knitted gifts. I apparently have too much time on my hands though. My stepdad got a Mustikka cabled hat, my mom got socks (she LOVES socks), Will got socks, and my friend Jenn got socks also. Now, her socks were my favourite project I've worked on all year I think. I used some beautiful glowing Wollmeise in "Campari Piccolo", and the pattern was a highly modified version of Knitty's Salto socks. They were 72 sts on size 0 (2.0mm) needles, with tons of cabling. Beautiful! Now, to knit a pair for me (yeah, right).

Speaking of Christmas, I have news! Will and I have a new pet... she is a darling little hamster, and that is all we know! Okay, back it up here. I should explain... We didn't choose her. She, apparently, chose us. Let's go back a week and a bit. Saturday night, one week before Christmas. Will and I are sitting at our kitchen table eating dinner. I see something out of the corner of my right eye and my head jerks sideways. Nada. Will thinks I'm losing my mind (which is probably a little bit true, mind you). I shake it off and start to think maybe hes right. But then about three minutes later, I see something out of the corner of my left eye. Something white and spherical moving along the floor. My head jerks to the left, and I immediately put my feet up thinking OMG HOW DO WE HAVE A MOUSE IN OUR APARTMENT? Keep in mind, we're on the 12th/top floor of our apartment building, which isn't an old building, so its highly unlikely we'd ever have mice in our apartment. I tell Will to get over here (our table is in the corner, and beside the table is a shelf with craft stuff on it), he moves some stuff away from the actual corner, and TA DA! Theres a wee little hamster sitting on the floor staring up at Will.

This began a chase around our apartment that lasted about 10 minutes until we captured the little thing (gently, of course). We put her in a box, and walked around to every apartment on our floor, knocking on doors and asking (ridiculously) if anyone "lost a hamster". Ha. We went out several times since there were no answers, and nada. It was getting late on a Saturday night so we figured we'd continue the search the next day. Will ran out to the pet store nearby, bought some bedding and food so she could at least be comfortable while terrified. The next day we waited to see if anyone hung flyers in our building, or came knocking looking for a lost hamster, and nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. So, we decided at that point that we'd have to give up and get her a cage and stuff so she'd at least be comfortable.

We went out to Pet Smart and bought a cage and treats, came home and set it up. She was reluctant but prefered the cage to the big plastic tub we were keeping her in. Since then, she's settled in fine with us, and we even took her to my mom's for Christmas (where she had a little stocking waiting for her from my mother, who is hilarious and wonderful for doing so). At this point now, she's comfortable with us and will even eat treats from my hand and let me pet her.

Oh her name? Her name is the best part. We go a little all-out with names in our household. Her name is Duchess Malabrigo-Chunky Lioness Fluffernutter vonHamsterstein. Try saying that three times fast, Will and I have. We call her "Mal" or "Miss Mal" or "Miss Moo" (she has a chunky butt, just like her mom) for short. We like to think she is our little Christmas miracle :)

Cookie Day!

2010-11-15T17:58:00.009-05:00

I've been busy knitting and working and knitting some more, and dyeing yarn of course. One of these days, I'll get around to updating my shop instead of only dyeing for yarn clubs. Some day!

I had a really amazing weekend, and wish I had more photos (or any photos, for that matter) with my amazing and wonderful friend, Jenn. She lives in Toronto and we met on Ravelry, later we met in person because her mom and sister live here in London, so we decided we must meet! Since then we've become very good friends. Like Anne Shirly and Diana Barry, I would even say we're bosom friends, to be geeky about it. She knows what I'm thinking before I'm even thinking of it, and I can tell her anything and everything without judgement... I'd trust her with my life (but maybe not my stash, all of my Malabrigo would be gone!)

Anyway, we had a wonderful time. She arrived Saturday, we went to Starbucks (she knows the way to my heart!), had PANINIS and lattes, stopped at Fabricland for buttons, and then rode to St. Thomas to the Little Red Mitten. We fondled yarn for hours (almost literally hours, we were there about an hour and a half), running back and forth between the new rooms and got a tour of the new class space at the shop which is AMAZING. Its seriously my favourite yarn shop anywhere, and the owner (Joan) and staff are so nice. Of course we brought presents... they're collecting helmet liners for Canadian troops, so Will and I managed to pop out three of them, and I also brought Joan a felt Christmas ornament I made for her inspired by her logo, which got front and center on their Christmas tree. Oh and my wonderfully talented husband brought a loaf of challah bread for Joan that he baked fresh that morning!

Jenn bought me a beautiful project bag which was made by madbird, in a beautiful fabric spotted with birds, flowers and raccoons, which you can't see from my picture, unfortunately. And I treated myself to a wee sheepie dpn holder, or at least thats what I'm using it for. I'm honestly SO overwhelmed with my stash so no yarn for me. Jenn, however, did not live with that same rule, lets just leave it at that ;) Besides, I was spoiled by other goodies from her earlier in the day when she arrived (Malabrigo Rios, Malabrigo worsted, and some beautiful Fiber Optic silk and merino lace!)

After Little Red Mitten, we made our way to a local winery that you may remember from just over a year ago after Will and I got married, Quai du Vin. After sampling a selection of their wines, Jenn settled on a bottle of Red Signature Series 2008, and Will and I couldn't decide, so we got two bottles... cherry cabernet (OMG AMAZING) and raspberry merlot, which is tasty from the sample, but we're saving that for a special occassion (or next weekend, you know, whatever).

We knit in the car on the way home while Will chauffeured us home, pizza and wine for dinner, and junk food (mostly chips and chocolate), while watching The Bucket List (yeah we're a bunch of saps). Sunday morning was spent having breakfast, a small arm burn on my part (oops), and then more Starbucks and knitting until Jenn had to leave (sniffle!).

Well, this post wasn't intended to tell you all about my weekend, but it was pretty awesome, so I just HAD to share!

The reason for this post was to gush all about the amazing cookies that I created today. Its been a pretty crappy day, mostly because some jerkwad that lives in our apartment building had his car alarm going off ALL NIGHT LONG. It really went off about 8 times, and the last time was at 5:30am. I was NOT a happy camper and got a combined total of approximately TWO HOURS of sleep. Today was a rough day at work, and I couldn't nap afterwards (I tried, but just couldn't!) despite being absolutely exhausted... I was getting pretty cold from being so tired so decided that baking would help warm me up, and make me happy. I've been dreaming of coffee flavoured cookies for a while, but had never found a recipe that I was pleased with, so I decided why not try to make my own? So I present to you:

Cappuccino Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup margarine

2 eggs

1 tbs vanilla extract

1-2 tbs instant coffee granules (or more, I used a Starbucks Via Christmas blend pack), dissolved in about 1/8 cup of warm water

1/2 tsp allspice

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (or half all purpose and half whole wheat works great too!)

1 1/2 cups jump semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Cream together the sugar and margarine, add eggs, vanilla extract and dissolved coffee, stir until well blended.
Sift in the flour, salt allspice and baking soda, stir until well combined
Fold in the choclate chips gently
drop by heaping tablespoon onto a greased cookie sheet (or onto a Silpat on a cookie sheet, that thing has saved my baking life!)
(Recipe will make 24 large cookes)
Bake in preheated oven at 350°F for 8-10 minutes until the cookies are golden brown around the edges. Let cool (if you can) before devouring!

Enjoy! Now its time for me to get back to knitting. I'm working on a wicked pair of BRIGHT RED lacey knee socks for a friend of mine!

Happy Birthday to my Amazing and Wonderful Husband!

2010-10-20T10:32:00.005-04:00

I wanted to post today to wish my amazing husband Will a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! He is my rock and my life. I don't really believe that there is ONLY one person out there for everybody, but if I did, I know that I've found him. He is so many things that I can't even describe, this post would be the longest blog post in the history of the world if I told you everything that he is. I just want to thank him for being my husband, and for being the most patient, kind and loving person I know, and especially for putting up with my nonsensical, rambly self. I wish I could spoil him as much as he deserves, but I did my best! Tonight I'm making curried Israeli couscous for dinner (at his request), as well as some type of yummy baked good that I haven't decided on yet. Maybe chai cupcakes or chai cake... we'll see! I also ordered him a Dalek magnet from an etsy seller, got him a Leatherman multi-tool, and knit him the Windschief set from Stephen West (though uh, the hat isn't done yet, but should be by the end of the day...) Whee!

On a side note, you know its a good mail day when it arrives in a bag. Whee! I know, I know, I'm a mail addict. There I've admitted it. Most of this is yarn, some for me to keep, some for me to knit for other people, a book (People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. I read her Foreign Correspondence book over a year ago in a read-along with a Ravelry group filled with pen and correspondence lovers. Its a good read, check it out!)

The last package that I got was from an etsy store, kNotes for kNitters (aka localgringos). Some of you may have seen her Ravelry banner ads at the bottom of your forums pages, and I couldn't resist. This awesome Pirate Knitting tote bag is now my favourite tote bag I own. I'm pretty much a bag "hoar" and I lovelovelove it! Theres also a greeting card, some postcards, and she threw in a knitting gift tag. Seriously, go check out the shop, its amazing!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

2010-10-14T07:08:00.007-04:00

Things here have been busy busy busy. I'm not sure why but September just zoomed by. Will and I did manage to go camping again though, and the same weekend was the Kitchener-Waterloo knitter's fair! A good time was had by all, as we met up with some friends there, including Heather of Joey's House, whom I know from Ravelry. You should go check out her cute little minion knitting patterns!

Camping was a blast, there aren't many photos to show off from it though, they kind of all look the same as our last camping trip, except it was just Will and I this time. It rained after dinner on Saturday night, literally 5 minutes after we finished eating dinner around the campfire. We'd been prepared though and had a huge tarp hanging over a picnic table, strung up in the trees, so we had shelter from the wet. We sat around and played cards all night. By the time we woke up in the morning, the rain had stopped and our site was dry. It was a lot of fun.

September was a busy work month for me, which is why we didn't do much else and I don't have a ton to write about. I'm trying to catch up on correspondence, take some time out to relax and enjoy the forest before the snow hits, create as much as I can, knitknitknit, and enjoy the scenery of it all.

I don't have much to say but I want to share some amazing and/or fun photos:

a hat that I've recently finished knitting, called "Edith the Hat" (pattern is for sale on Ravelry), out of Wollmeise in Die Auster and a We're Different which might be Brombeere.

Gnomes in the forest! These little guys are just 2" tall, and are multiplying in our household like you wouldn't beleive. I cast on for the first one just 2 days ago and we already have two more. My mom will be getting a box of them for Christmas (perhaps made into a garland for the tree)

A spectacular sunset panorama shot, taken off of my balcony. Click to see the original uploaded size.

A shot I took in the forest on a particularly beautiful day when Will and I went on a little hike

And a stunning piece of mail art made by Liz (swap-bot user "peony"). I've been trying to create mail art as much as possible lately, as it makes me insanely happy!

Happy Anniversary

2010-08-15T12:35:00.006-04:00

The above picture was taken on my wedding day, exactly 366 days ago. (I meant to post this yesterday, but I didn't have the time). It has been exactly one year since Will and I were married, and its been the most amazing and wonderful year of my life.

I can't thank him enough for the joy he brings into my life. We are by no means well off, we're rather poor and just barely hanging in there most weeks... its hard being a one-income family, but we manage. We have his residency paperwork here to submit, which we'll be going through over the next few days and then figuring out what our next step is, so he can finally be a permanent resident, and be able to work here and all that fun stuff.

Despite the fact that things aren't always easy, I would not change a second of our life together. We have our ups and downs, just like everyone else, but at the end of the day, all I want to do is curl up in his arms and everything is good and right in this world once more.

The below picture was the top tier of our wedding cake. We saved it, as is tradition, (one I'd never heard of, but my family growing up was pretty non-traditional). It sat in my mother's freezer for about 11 months and she brought it over last month. Surprisingly, it didn't suffer from freezer burn, and was pretty tasty, save for a slight plasticy taste the frosting had.

The cake was absolutely beautiful and was made by a very close family friend. I think I'll have to send her another thank you note and let her know we dug in to the top tier on our anniversary and it was just as tasty as when we had it on our wedding day.

Also, Will and I share our wedding day with another amazing couple, Daniel and Victoria of Uncast. They're kind-hearted and hilarious people, so please check out their podcast! I wouldn't want to share my anniversary with anybody but them!

Strength.

2010-07-26T14:28:00.003-04:00

I would like to introduce you to an amazing friend of mine. This is Rhian (pictured with another dear friend, Rick). She was the maid of honour at my wedding just under a year ago, and I feel very honoured that she would be there to stand up for us and support our marriage. I can't even begin to tell you how amazing she is. They say you can't pick your family, but I have. She is my family. We're not related by love, but theres a much stronger bond shared between those that meet her and have the pleasure and honour to get to truly know her. She has touched my life. I love her so much, and I will forever stand up for her, and help her as much as I can. This little blog post is nothing, but I AM writing this for a reason.

I want you to do me a favour. I want you to go read her blog, and possibly donate to her if you can. You see, Rhi has lupus, which is such a misunderstood condition. If you're not sure what lupus is, let me tell you... it is pain. Basically your immune system malfunctions and can't differentiate between your own body tissues, and germs/viruses/bacteria, so as a result, your body begins to attack itself.

She used to be a beautiful dancer, and now she deals with this shit, day in and day out. If you ask me what is strength? This is strength. And courage. And beauty. And grace. She is in pain, but fights for herself, for her life. I can hardly imagine what she goes through on a day to day basis, but for those of us who can't imagine it... she writes in her blog to educate us.

Please go read it. Donate if you can. If you can't, click on some ads on the side. Thats all I'm asking of anybody reading this.

Thank you.

What is art?

2010-07-16T14:57:00.005-04:00

So, I went out today to run some errands. Will and I went to the farmer's market up at Masonville mall, which was nice, though expensive. Prior to that we stopped at Chapters as we wanted to check out a few things. We wanted a book on Ontario Birds, and looked over a couple and picked what we thought would be best for us. We love watching the birds off our balcony (and in the forest) so now we have a sort of field guide to take with us, as we often wonder what certain birds are.

I also wanted to pick up the most recent issue of Juxtapoz. I used to read this magazine all the time, but stopped a while ago since magazine's are so friggin' expensive and why do I need magazines when i have the internet? However, Kirsten Vangsness (Garcia on Criminal Minds, though Juxtapoz spelled her last name incorrectly as VANSGNESS... eh, I can forgive them) interviews Matthew Gray Gubler (Dr. Spencer Reid on Criminal Minds), about his art and inspiration, etc... his art is a-freakin-mazing, inspiring and beatiful. Check out his website to see for yourself!

The reason I am blogging about this is because there were two quotes in particular that made me swoon and go YES YES YES! (um, not in that way, mind you) that I really wanted to share here, because it got me thinking about what art is and isn't, and inspired me to sit down and draw, since I haven't in a long time. The reason I haven't in a while is because everything just started looking the same to me. I'd draw the same shapes and the same people, and it was starting to annoy and frustrate me. Thats not a good excuse. Just draw! Whether you're a trained "artist" or not, pick up a pen (or pencil... or crayon... or marker... or anything that makes a mark!) and a piece of paper (or anything you can make a mark on!) and draw. Don't be afraid to make mistakes! Don't be afraid if it looks like shit, just be inspired by anything and everything around you and just freakin' draw!

I will laeve you with the quotes that inspired me:

"Art shouldn't be about training or materials or the ability to afford expensive paints and fancy schools. It should be about making something out of nothing... If you really want to make something, you'll make it with whatever tools are available."

And at the end of the interview: "Luckily I don't believe in pressure, fear or failure. Only smiles, monster and magic."

And with that, I'm going to go draw!

Mail Call!

2010-07-12T11:10:00.004-04:00

Anyone that knows me, knows I'm big into sending and receiving mail. If you know me, and didn't know that fact, well, do you listen to anything I say? ;) So I thought in order to keep my blog going, I'll start blogging about some things I receive in the mail. I know theres a load of mail addicts out there (seriously, I'm friends with them!)

So, if you're reading this and aren't into mail but want to be, let me tell you where you can go to start getting into it. The two sites I use the most are sendsomething.net and swap-bot.com. Both sites are pretty awesome and you can exchange anything you want with people.

Sendsomething is more open, you post your profile and address (its only public to those on the site and logged in, so its at your own risk, of course) and you can write anything you want in your profile, like what do you want to receive? Are you looking for penpals? Do you love postcards? Things like that!

Swap-bot is more organized. Your address is only made public to those who you're partnered to swap with. You can join different swaps of all sorts, electronic swaps (via email), "flat mail" (letters, postcards, etc) or packages. They're organized into different categories and each swap (hosted by other members of the site) has different rules and requirements.

You could also join the Letter Writers Alliance, where I've met two cool penpals through. You're matched only when you request to be matched with someone and your address is private except to the person they match you with.

So go, get started with mailing!

I really wanted to share two things though. One is a package I received from The Missive Maven (check out her blog, its very inspiring to those interested in snail mail!), it was from a swap-bot swap called "My Stationery Is Not Stationary" (hee), and she SPOILED me. She was so thoughtful in everything she picked to send me, and it brought me much glee. Look how pretty the envelpe was:

And look at all the cool stationery that was inside:

And I would be a bad penpal if I didn't mention this, which arrived from my good friend Colleen. Now, just to show you how cool penpalling is (seriously), Colleen and I met on a knitting website, Ravelry, in a penpalling group. We started writing, and became instant friends. We not only exchange handwritten letters (long ones, at that), but we PM each other through Ravelry often. Also? We're so close, she was on the top of my invite list at my wedding. Not only did her and her husband John come to our wedding, but she played the flute for us as we walked down the aisle, and signed our papers. She's so sweet. Anyway, this letter came from her today and the envelope made me giggle:

So, get to it! Now, its time for me to write some letters!

Camping Fun!

2010-07-12T10:50:00.006-04:00

So from Thursday to Saturday this past weekend, Will and I went camping with our friend Mary-Ellen. We arrived Thursday afternoon after a few stops in the city (to get some camping chairs, groceries, and alcohol, of course). It was a LOT of fun, save for Friday morning. This picture shows what we woke up to and what lasted all day until about 3pm. We were camping at Port Burwell provincial park, which is located along the northern short of Lake Erie. It was absolutely beautiful there, the lake is stunning!

While it rained we escaped to the nearest large town, Tillsonburg, where we had Tim Hortons (yay coffee!), walked through their small but impressive mall, and a trip to Staples, we made our way back to the campground when the rain stopped. We made friends with a wee snail that called our picnic table home, it was pretty cool and hung around for a while with us! Once everything dried out, we went to the lake, had a swim, came back and made the most amazing dinner of portabello and swiss veggie burgers with cheddar cheese, baked potatoes, and roasted corn, all over the fire!

I think Will's favourite part of the whole experience was tending to and cooking on the fire. He was an excellent forager too, our first night we didn't need to buy firewood, since he found a ton of fallen brush around our campsite. The second night we purchased a bag of firewood though since all the brush was soaked. The dry wood definitely helped with the fire.

On Saturday mroning we made a full breakfast on the fire. We used some leftover baked potatoes from the night before, fried them up in a skllet, and even fried some eggs, and made toast (the toast was my responsibility, I think I did a pretty good job!) and we even brough homemade rhubarb and ginger jam that Will made here at home about a week before the trip. It was fantastic. We even made tea over the fire in a large pot. It tasted a bit smokey of course, but thats ok! our pots and pans now smell of smoke when we use them on our stove, but it just brings back good memories of camping, so thats ok.

Will and I are planning another camping trip for August sometime, but we'll need to get a few things before we do. A tent, for one. We actually borrowed one from my boss for this trip, which was awesome of him. We have a lot of other stuff we'd need since we bought it all for this trip (chairs, water jug, etc). My mom might be able to get a good discount on a tent for us from her work, so I'm going to keep my fingers crossed.

Oh, and I took a picture of my favourite part of the camping trip to share with you all:

Of course on our last day, we spent so much time at the beach we ended up burnt to a crisp, but it was still worth it!

A new love: Garlic Scapes.

2010-07-03T21:00:00.008-04:00

Early this afternoon, Will and I went to the Covent Garden Market in beautiful downtown London (Ontario, not England). We weren't looking for anything in particular, but happened upon a booth that had garlic scapes. Will had never heard of them, and I've only heard them a few times thanks to the Food Network.

According to wikipedia, Garlic scapes are removed in order to focus all the garlic's energy into bulb growth. The scapes are sold separately for cooking. Here is a pic I found through google images that shows the full garlic plant. Basically the scape is the stem.

So, upon purchasing them, I had to twitter and ask what on earth do I do with them? I couldn't pass them up, they were just $1 a bunch (I bought two). Stephanie, of Goth Socks fame responded and said she prefers them just sauteed. Other suggestions were to make a garlic scape pesto with walnuts, or to cut them up and cook them like green beans. I had other ideas.

Once we got home, I used my Google-Fu to find a recipe that sounded good. I found this beauty posted in a blog from Clagett Farm (which appears to be a really cool farm, I think I may have to bookmark their blog even though I'm not close to them at all!).

So, the above photo was my results. Let me tell you - if you've never had garlic scapes, go out and get some, STAT, and try this out! My only alterations to this recipe were the following:

- We pan-seared the haloumi cheese instead of grilling it, since we don't have a grill.
- We used red wine, since we don't have any white. We also just used less of it, but found we had to add a bit of white sugar while it was cooking down the tomatoes, since the sauce was a bit too wine-y.

Well, thats actually it for what we changed, we'd like to try it the original way still, so maybe next time... we may have to go back to the farmer's market next Thursday when its on again so we can grab some more. They're only available for a short time of the year since its basically the "waste" from growing garlic. Waste or no waste... YUM!

My darling husband also made super yummy falafels to go with dinner tonight, and some tahini sauce, as this was meant to be an "appetizer". I'd definitely make it as a main dish again though. Oh the good thing? I had to send Will out to get the haloumi at the grocery store after I found this recipe, so we have more haloumi to eat sometime over the next few days, AND he found some really great gourmet onion dip that was only $1.50 since it was being discontinued. Woohoo!

For anyone wontering about the taste of the scapes themselves... its sort of like a long green bean, but tastes garlicy. Not bitter and strong like raw garlic, but just a hint of garlic. They're really freakin' good. Try them, seriously.

Failures

2010-07-02T12:24:00.009-04:00

So, I've had many failures over the "years" of writing this blog. Mostly, I just haven't updated it. I have always found it very hard to believe that anything I have to say is important enough to make people flock to my blog to read my words. I think I need to get over that.

So, I promised a Ravelympics post, and I didn't follow through with that. The reason? I am lazy. I knit so many darn things in the Ravelympics this past February (yes, its July now), that I just got too lazy to edit that all into a post, so I apologize. Any knitters that are read this are generally already friends, so check out my Ravelry page for pictures, but I will list what I completed for Ravelympics, for anyone who really wants to know:

House Hippo out of sock yarn my dear friend Jess (jessnyc) dyed

Meret hat out of Malabrigo worsted in Huertas

House Hippo out of Wollmeise 80/20 in Jung Maus. This actually won me a prize in the WM ravelry group! :D

a chunky hat (I called it Chunky Monkey, no pattern, just made it up as I went along) out of Malabrigo Chunky in green sapphire

Forest Canopy shawl out of Wollmeise 100% in Die Auster

plain stockinette socks out of my own self striping hand dyed yarn!

Bella's Mittens for my neice Julia, a Christmas present for this upcoming year (at least I'm ahead now, right?) in Purple Mystery malabrigo worsted

Jaywalker socks out of Wollmeise 80/20 in Zenzi

During the Ravelympics I also knit the Pomotamus socks (see last post) mostly during the Ravelympics but didn't finish within the time limit, despite trying really hard. I finished them the next day though. Phew, that was a lot of projects!

So, my sock of the month club? Also a failure. I complete socks in March, which I'll include a photo of right here. The pattern was made up by me, and is just a shifting rib, which actually worked out pretty cool. The yarn is Yarn Nerd 1200 mHz Merino in "Buttered Popcorn" and is damn gorgeous! Since then, I've been a knitting FREAK. Seriously. I am so busy knitting (and working, sad!) and swapping!

Yes, swapping. Well, some of you know I run a major yarn swap group on Ravelry that was passed down to me, but recently I've fallen back in love with mail art. I've been on sendsoemthing.net for a while and now I've become a member of Swap-Bot recently and I'm an addict. I love getting mail: letters, stationery, fun lists, etc. I love learning about different cultures and different places to live and meeting new friends to correspond with. I have several penpals, and love hearing about their lives, its so interesting. People don't value letters like they used to. Email is so impersonal and lame these days. I get emails from spam companies and crap I do online. From friends, I want words. I want ink and paper and respect for communication as an artform! Sure, maybe I'm cheesy, but so what?

I've also been creating a lot of things for my etsy shop including these cool letter booklets. They are hand bound with waxed Irish linen, and hand sewn. I used to really enjoy book binding, but I only remember the basics, so I'm trying to get back into it a little bit. Thing is, it all costs money... and thats money that I don't have (so pleaes, go to my etsy shop and buy something, haha!)

Oh, speaking of my etsy shop, as I write this, I have 3 spots left in my Non Club. Normally I don't pimp out too much on my blog here, but if you read ths and there are spots left, GET ONE. I have serious goodness planned for this club, and also, $10 from every club sale is being donated to a good cause - theres a girl named Robyn who has Crohn's disease. She is a friend of a friend and has been screwed over by jobs/insurance, is stuck in the hospital with insanley increasing hospital bills, and she needs help! Please, please, PLEASE help if you can by purchasing one of those Non Club spots!

So, thats what I've been doing. I'm writing this post in an attempt to resurrect my blog (though I'm not sure why, ha!), so we'll see what happens! Posts will be random and sporadic, but I'm going to actually try to post more!

2010 Sock of the Month, February

2010-02-25T10:05:00.004-05:00

As promised, a post with my February sock information! I decided on a pattern called Pomatomus which was from Knitty in winter 2005. Its one pattern that I've been in love with since the first time I saw it. Its just absolutely to die for. The thing that scared me about this is the fact that 1) I'd have to use dpns and 2) I'd have to knit the socks cuff down. Those are the only two reasons why, until now, I hadn't gone anywhere near the pattern.

Don't get me wrong, I'd consider myself an advanced knitter. I can read patterns easily and understand instructions, and knit complicated things on teensy tiny needles, but sometimes I just don't WANT to. I prefer to take the easy route to acheive something that fits better and feels more comfortable. I like toe up socks, I don't like picking up stitches. I wouldn't call myself a "lazy" knitter at all though because I love lacey patterns, cables, etc. I just don't like fiddly things. This pattern, albeit drop dead gorgeous, is definitely a fiddly thing.

That being said, all the "fiddlyness" that I had to "suffer" through knitting these socks was worth it. They are freakin' adorable! Oh and for anyone who is geniuinely interested, they were knit out of Malabrigo sock yarn in the colour "Chocolate Amargo".

Be on the lookout for another post before March's socks (which I still haven't chosen yet from my list), because I'll be posting about my success in the Ravelympics!

2010 Sock of the Month, January

2010-02-01T07:42:00.006-05:00

Wow, has it really been two and a half months? It has indeed. I'm the worst blogger ever, and still am shocked that anybody actually still reads this thing. Alas, I have stuff to update about. I do suspect that most people who read this are friends with me on Ravelry since thats the only place that I really shaer my blog, so most people are familiar with what I've been working on anyway. It'd be one hell of a blog post to tell you everything that I've knit between now and last November.

I did a metric crapton of Christmas knitting this year. Money is tight (as it seems to be for everyone), so we decided a handmade Christmas was in order. The only things I did purchase, were from small businesses, mostly handmade items also. I bought Will a cute tea saucer from Luckalilly Ceramic Studio on etsy, a Lamy fountain pen from Lamy Pen Shop (a small online retail operation from Malaysia, my favourite source for Lamy pens!), and I bought my mom a funny little tractor charm called "She Thinks My Tractor is Sexy" from Charms4You, also on etsy. See, my stepdad loves tractors, has some vintage tractors that he restores, and also goes to plowing matches, despite the fact that they are not farmers.

Will also helped me knit some Christmas gifts, he made a pair of socks each for my mom, stepfather, sister-in-law (and a pair for me!), a hat for me, and he also made 5 Minor Minions (Ravelry link) for my step-brother's kids. I made a pair of socks for my stepdad and brother, a shawl for my mom, hats for my neice and nephew, and for Will I made an Incognito cowl, and a hat for him, as well as a (late) pair of socks. Phew! November and December were both super busy with knitting, so you can see why I didn't have time to post!

But what I DID want to post about is this "Sock of the Month" club craze that Yarn Harlot posted about on Twitter. The general idea is instead of spending TONS on a year long sock club that comes with yarn AND patterns... cull the stash a little bit! Pick your OWN 12 yarns and 12 socks patterns that you want to knit, set them aside and randomly pick one per month. By the end of the year you have 12 new pairs of socks.

So, I was convinced by one of the moderators in the Socktopia (Ravelry link) group to join up there and participate in their Sock of the Month thread. So, I present to you, dear readers, my January 2010 socks, Jaywalkers, knit with Lana Grossa Color Tweed. These were originally going to be knit out of Goth Socks, except the colourway I was going to use had a thin stripe of white in between each major colour section, and with the Jaywalker pattern, didn't stretch far enoguh to complete a full circle. It was really bugging me (but I'll use that lovely yarn for something else).

Since today is the 1st of February, and I'm itching to cast on for a new project, I'm going to cast on for my second pair of lovely socks out of the bunch. Unless you go check Ravelry, you'll have to wait to see what I've chosen!

Cool Things Every Knitter Should Have #3

2009-11-10T19:13:00.006-05:00

So, its been a while. Don't I start every blog post like this? Yeah... I do, don't I? Well, I guess it just means I have a very low maintenance blog, and won't annoy you all with my updates. And by "you all", I mean all two or three readers... HI MOM! Just kidding, my mom doesn't know how to use the internet... that makes one reader, huh? Hi... you!

So, I have some pictures and stories to share, but I just haven't had a lot of TIME to post much. I've been busy with the second installment of my Yarn & Tea club, and even started another NON CLUB (which is still available in my etsy shop right now...) BUT ANYWAY... I have a new addition to my Cool Things list! So the item I'm featuring is two-fold, sort of. One is knitting related and one is non-knitting related, but crafted by the same person! So first, I'd like to direct you to Knit-O-Ramaa. Julia runs this whimsical etsy shop providing stitch markers for all, in any theme you can imagine. Of course you can all imagine which ones I purchased specifically for my darling Scottish husband:

How very fitting, huh? And seriously, when I say ANY THEME, I mean any theme, including custom themed stitch markers! Firefly, Buffy, Star trek, Flight of the Conchords, Lost, and even innanet speak! You can also buy CUSTOM sets of stitch markers. How cool are these guys? I mean, really. They're cool. Admit it, you want some.

Julia is so sweet she even sent me an additional little set for myself:

So, go get yourself some cool new stitch markers. Now! Do it! And while you're at it, check out Julia's other etsy shop which features her amazingly beautiful earrings.

Thats all!

Nutkin Fingerless Gloves

2009-10-13T19:56:00.002-04:00

Yarn: Malabrigo sock, just under half a skein
Needles: 2.0mm
Note: I put this pattern together from two other patterns, and definitely am not taking credit for any of the creativity. The two patterns I used were Nutkin from Beth LaPensee and Kat’s Paws by ScarlettKnits. Please download the chart for the Nutkin pattern from knitzi.com.

CO 64 sts using longtail cast-on. I did magic loop, but you could easily adjust the pattern to be used on dpns. Join to begin working in the round, being careful not to twist.
Knit in stockinette stitch for 10 rounds.
Purl every stitch for 1 round.
Knit in stockinette stitch for 11 rounds.

Fold at purl round so CO edge is touching the live sts. Using the tip of the right needle, pick up one side (the closest side) of the first CO st. Move that picked up stitch to the left needle. K the first live st together with the picked up st. There is now one st on right needle. Repeat this all the way around until all CO sts have been picked up and knitted with the live sts.

Knit one more round.

Work rounds 1-10 of the Nutkin chart 4 times (or as many times as you’d like for longer gloves). Please refer to the original Nutkin pattern at the above link for this chart.

Now you will continue the Nutkin pattern on the front of the glove, and knit stockinette on the back of the glove (palm side), while doing the following thumb gusset:

Row 1: k1, pm, kfb, kfb, pm, knit to end (4 sts between markers)
Row 2: knit all stitches
Row 3: k1, slip marker, kfb, knit to last stitch before marker, kfb, slip marker, knit to end
Repeat rows 2 and 3 until there are 24 sts between the markers
On your next round, place the 24 sts between markers on scrap yarn, and continue knitting the rest of the stitches on the palm-side of the hand in stockinette until the end of the glove.

On the second glove, you’ll want to shift the thumb gusset to the other side of the needles, so you’ll do this instead:

Row 1: k29, pm, kfb, kfb, pm, k1 (4 sts between markers)
Row 2: knit all stitches
Row 3: k29, slip marker, kfb, knit to last stitch before marker, kfb, slip marker, k1
Repeat rows 2 and 3 until there are 24 sts between the markers
On your next round, place the 24 sts between markers on scrap yarn, and continue knitting the rest of the stitches on the palm-side of the hand in stockinette until the end of the glove.

After starting the thumb gusset and switching to stockinette stitch on the palm-side of the glove, I found 4 Nutkin repeats to be the perfect length for the gloves. After the last pattern repeat, knit stockinette stitch for 7 rounds.
Purl one round.
Knit 8 rounds. BO loosely. Cut yarn, leaving a tail approximately two feet to sew in the top edge. Fold the purl row down, and sew down the BO edge inside the glove.

Using dpns, pick up the 24 sts for the thumb. Continue knitting in stockinette stitch until desired thumb length. Purl a row, knit 5 more rounds, and BO loosely. Fold at the purl row and sew in, as you did with the top cuff.

There will be a small hole where you started the thumb. You’ll need to sew this shut. The easiest way to do this is with the glove on. You can work the needle back and forth between stitches until no hole remains.

the honeymoon is over.

2009-09-06T09:34:00.012-04:00

I still don't have any wedding photos to share. Our friend John who was our photographer has over 700+ pictures to edit for us, and I suspect that his schedule is a little like mine lately... way overloaded. I do have some pictures from our "honeymoon". That is, we didn't quite have a honeymoon since well, we're pretty poor and I barely got time off of work as it is for the wedding. Goodie. But I've picked out a few pictures to share!

We were quite busy the whole time, never not doing anything... it was really nice. What was especially nice was my very bestest friend (besides Will, of course) in the entire world, who I met through a penpalling group in Ravelry... was able to come for my wedding. Colleen means the world to me as a friend, and it was awesome that her and her hubby could make it to be there on our special day. Not only be there, but participate! She played the flute for us during the ceremony and it was absolutely wonderful.

So, lets skip to after the wedding. We got married on Friday August 14th. On Saturday morning, we had a lovely brunch with our out-of-town guests (mostly Keith and the Girl peeps, plus John and Colleen). We got takeout from Prince Albert's Diner, and all went to Victoria Park. Will and I thought this would be a good choice for several reasons. First, we love Victoria Park with a passion. It is one of our favourite places to be. We go there all the time for picnics and just to hang out and have coffee or knit, so we wanted to share that with our friends. Second, Prince Alberts... well... its a London classic. One tradition we have is going to Ottawa for Thanksgiving to spend it with our KATG friends, and on the Monday, before everyone heads out, we all go to a little place called Elgin Street Diner. Prince Alberts Diner is London's version of Elgin Street Diner, so... we thought it to be fitting.

After brunch, everyone went their separate ways... most heading for a long trek home. Colleen, John, Will and I headed to New Hamburg to visit Shall We Knit. Its one of my very favourite yarn stores ever, and they were having their anniversary sale! So, we went. We spent. We also took a peek in a local book shop and grabbed a few books. On our way back into London, we stopped at Remark (a local market that I believe I've written about before), grabbed some picnic fare, and headed back to Victoria Park. By that point, we were sick of eating at restaurants, so a nice healthy picnic was enjoyed by all four of us.

Sunday we didn't do much, just relaxed in the city. Will and I met up with my parents and uncle at the airport to see my uncle off. We went back to the hotel where Colleen and John were staying with dinner (made at home), and went swimming afterwards.

Monday was another busy day. We went to a few places, the first being another yarn store of course! We stopped by at Little Red Mitten in St. Thomas for a bit. We met the owner Joan, who is lovely as can be, and of course, bought some yarn. From there, we headed out to a rhea farm just on the outskirts of St. Thomas called RheaLife. Rhea's, to me, are sort of a cross between an emu and an ostrich. We were able to see the creatures, and even try some products made with their oil. We ended up buying some lavender rhea oil, which is great for the skin, and some lip balm. It was interesting.

After the rhea farm, we stopped just up the street at a winery called Quai du Vin, where we got to sample any wine we wanted that they had in stock, but also sample some of their fabulous wine jellies. It was an unexpected stop, and a nice surprise, since we had no idea it was there! We ended up leaving with a bottle of sangria, a bottle of maple dessert wine, and a jar of baco noir jelly, which tastes so fantastic. Will and I do plan to head back to this little jewel when we can, its a great place, and we're happy to know that its open year round!

A little further in our travels on Monday brought us to Winter Wheat, just outside of Sparta. It is a really fun and whimsical place, filled with artwork and mixed media statues nestled in the forest and gardens, and little sitting areas playing relaxing music, with coffee, tea and cookies. Of course we settled in a little sitting area for a little bit and pulled out the knitting. It was a beautiful day and a nice place to be. There are so many little treasures there to discover that I can't even begin to describe it, but if you're anywhere near Sparta, you HAVE to go there! I ended up buying some greeting cards featuring the art of the owner, Lucy Ogletree. Her work is fantastic, and I love it all!

After leaving Winter Wheat, we ended up turning in the wrong direction down one road, so ended up "getting lost". I like to call it "exploring", but we managed to find our way back to the road we were supposed to be on. We drove down to the beach in Port Stanley, had some lunch at Mackie's, which is quite an interesting place. The lineup was enormous, but we didn't have to wait too long, and we were all surprised (and happy!) that they had veggie burgers on the menu. After lunch, we walked down the shore of Lake Erie a bit and enjoyed the water. We should have brought the swim gear, we didn't think we'd want to swim at the busy beach, but we did. Alas, we didn't bring beach stuff, so we just walked and walked, and enjoyed the hot (seriously, so hot!) August sun. It was the perfect day.

Tuesday was another big day for us. After a late start (thanks to traffic), Will and I met up with Colleen and John at the cinema to see Julie & Julia. After the movie (which is really cute, for the record), we headed out to Toronto. We managed to miss most of rush hour traffic, despite having left later than planned. We drove right to the The Purple Purl! There we met up with Cindy of studioloo fame, Manspun, and the wonderful and adorable Rachel of MADE by rachelm, who you all know I've mentioned many-a-time before.

Colleen, John, Will, Rachel and I went to dinner down the street at a little thai restaurant. The food was great, but the service was pretty slow, and it wasn't until about 8:30pm we got back to The Purple Purl (we left TPP at 7 to have dinner). We settled in, knit for a bit (even John!) and chatted. Also some photos were taken, of course:

On our way home, we stopped for a bit at the home of Rachel and her hubby, hung out and made our way (very sleepily) back to London.

Wednesday was spent hanging around the city. We had lunch at the Covent Garden Market, knit for a while there, headed to Museum London, wandered the city, and met back up for dinner at Veg-Out, a fantastic vegan restaurant here in the city, and actually ate in the park. It was a nice last night with Colleen and John (who I miss terribly!). They headed home on Thursday after breakfast with us at a coffee pub, and then it was back into schedule and routine for me. No fun. I miss all my time off!

So that is that, a long overdue (again) blog post, that was promised to several readers. Now I must be off to dye about a kilo of yarn and then I'm all caught up in my club stuff.

Speaking of club stuff, theres still spots available in the next installment of my Yarn & Tea club. I think this will be the last installment for quite some time, as I feel like I need a break from it for a while. I haven't even been able to stock the shop with anything new because all of my dyeing time is for club dyeing, and I just haven't had time to do much of anything else. So if you're interested, get your spots while you can!

Also, there will be no August (or probably September) Phat Fiber posts, because I just haven't had the time to put any samples together, so I did not get my box this month. Sadface, but you know... it happens. I hope to return to Phat Fiber for October, but we'll see what happens, since Will and I are moving at the end of the month.

Wedding & Rachelm

2009-08-16T09:34:00.004-04:00

So, I did it. I'm married. I'm now Mrs. Law. I know, right? Crazy. But anyway... I don't have too many pics of the wedding yet, so you'll have to settle for this awesome and hilarious pic of rachelm and I as the ISHBEL BANDITS. Thats right. THE rachelm of MADE by rachelm. What a rockstar!

I couldn't have asked for a better day for my wedding. It was absolutely beautiful, and everything was absolutely perfect. Once I get some more pics back, I'll post more!

Speaking of rachelm, she turns 30 on Monday and because of this, she's having a sale in her shop! Heres what she wrote:

i’m turning 30 on monday and in honour of my birthday, i’m offering to my wonderful ravelry friends a discount of 15% off any purchase in my store between now and monday at 11:59pm pacific time!

just put your rav name in the comments and your 15% will be refunded as soon as i see the transaction come through!!

So go check out her shop and buy yourself something nice!

Cool Things Every Knitter Should Have #2

2009-07-31T13:52:00.006-04:00

So its been MONTHS since I first posted my Cool Things Every Knitter Should Have post, and well... I've been a slacker, what can I say? But its time to overload your brain with cool things that you OMGNEEDNOW.

So I've picked out not one, but TWO awesome things from stuff that I've acquired through swap groups, barter, buying, (etc), and am showing them off today in hopes to stimulate the handmade economy. A lot of people are going through hard times with money right now, me included, since weddings are expensive, yo... but you know... do your part and make a hand-crafter happy by buying some of thier goods.

Cool Thing #1: stitch markers from Yarn Demon Designs!

This photo here is my collection that I've acquired through a few different ways. I met this awesome crafter, Anita, through the Phat Fiber box. My first was the little black sheep on the end that I got a few months ago in my box. I went to her shop and requested a custom design of goats for my friend in Germany (Nadine) who loves goats. That was part of her birthday parcel, AND she sent extras for me! A whole extra SET for me (which I split with Will after months of hoarding for myself). I also got a hot pepper in another Phat Fiber box that was immediately claimed by Will. So, I bought him a WHOLE SET of his own. Since then, I've worked with Anita to offer some of her cute little critters in my Yarn & Tea club, and she's always sent me extras, because she's a doll. AND I got her to make cows for a friend's upcoming birthday (I think we're safe since I don't think she reads my blog. If she does, she knows who she is and I've spoiled the surprise, but we'll both live!), AND she sent me octopus stitch markers (a purple one was claimed by Will of course... but really, I don't mind sharing with him. We ARE getting married in two weeks).

So, go to Yarn Demon Designs and order yourself a set. She has many designs to choose from, and I promise you will not be disappointed by her attention to detail and amazing quality of work!

Cool Thing #2:: Tote bags from Lisa Bruce Knits!

Isn't it gorgeous? Its my favourite bag EVER. I'm not even joking. I was offered up this GORGEOUS bag in a swap group on Ravelry, and accompanying it on the journey was just over a dozen chewy ginger snap cookies that were to DIE for. That was my first encounter with Lisa. Since then, I've come to know her through Ravelry and Twitter, and she's just a darling sweetheart. She's also good friends with a previous Cool Things lister (THE rachelm of MADE), and I know Rachel wouldn't steer me wrong because she herself is an amazing crafter and cool thing ;)

I use this wonderful tote every day (except rainy ones) to bring my stuff to work. Look how much I can cram in there! From left to right, we have: my pencil case, wallet, moleskine date book, granola bar (I'm addicted), TWO rachelm box bags, and a 22oz water bottle. theres also a notebook slipped down the side of the bag, my cell phone and house keys in a pocket, AND an extra HUGE pocket that was empty at the time I took the photo. Seriously, stuff can be PACKED in there like nobodys business!

Lisa also makes really awesome zipper pouches that can fit a whole slew of things. I used to use mine for a notions pouch but then I realized how perfect the size is for a pair of socks that are on the needles. So go check them out in her shop (and don't you dare touch that listing thats reserved for me... unless of course you're going to BUY it for me, in which case, thank you in advance!).

Go get your handmade goodness today and make someone's day!

Phat Fiber July box!

2009-07-31T13:03:00.010-04:00

So, in two weeks from today, I will be getting married! Squee! I've been neglecting the blog again (what else is new?!), but I've been busy planning said wedding, and dyeing up a storm for my Yarn & Tea club and my non-club. The non-club is being shipped out next, followed by the last isntallment of Yarn & Tea. For anyone following along at home that wants to get in on Yarn & Tea (version 2.0!), I have a listing up in my shop, Odd-ish Creations. These sold out pretty quickly last time, and I'm hoping will do the same this time, also. Get your spots now, before you regret it!

So, what brings me to the blog today? Well, The July Phat Fiber box, of course. I'm a little behind in everything so sadly won't be participating in August's box (and maybe not Septembers either, since Will and I have to move after the wedding. So much to do in so little time!), but I'll be back in October (MAYBE September) with my blog post about it. I'll try to keep the blog updated in the meantime though with other goodness. (I have another "Cool Things Every Knitter Should Have" post coming today or tomorrow also). So, on to the Phattie goodness!

I took this picture and another closeup of the non-fiber stuff, since the fiber stuff was just OVERWHELMING this month. Now, the July box was a "non-wool" box, because Jessie wanted to feature other fibers. It was difficult for a few people I think, but it ended up being pretty awesome, and now I have new fibers to play with and card into my batts. I can't wait for the day that I get a spinning wheel and can card batts for myself! (Oh and speaking of batts, I do have some up in my etsy shop also!)

So we'll start with non-fiber since the fiber will be a laundry-list again. I got two adorable stitch markers this month. One from one of my favourite stitch-marker-makers, The Twice-Sheared Sheep. The other is gorgeous and sparkly and from Miss Becca Designs. I was also lucky enough to receive a gorgeous little hand crafted penannular copper brooch/shawl pin from Dawning Dreams. This is perfect for me beacuse I can use it for my Ishbel shawl at my wedding!

I also got two cute cards that will come in handy when writing to my penpals. The first is an angora bunny card from Wine Maker's Sister (the stamp on the card was hand-carved. She's so talented!), and a Thank Ewe card from Shady Side Farm.

Accompanying all of my Phat Fiber goodies were two patterns. One called "Twinkle Star", which is a cute little hanging star (perfect for Christmas, I'm thinking!) from Fickle Knitter, and a crochet bag called "Shadows Floral Bag" from Holiday Yarns.

I got some cool upcycled t-shirt yarn from Shredded Trees, and some 100% viscoe rayon in "Pomegranate" from Mad Angel Creations.

Now to finish off the list, the fibery goodness:

- Shimmah! batt in "Watermelon" (75% tussah silk and 25% firestar) from Strike My Fancy
- a tube of (I think hand dyed) bamboo noils from It's A Colorful Life
- a handblended silk and bamboo batt (which I also think has glitz in it!) from Greenwood Fiberworks
- little "Cantaloupe" silk pieces of roving from Enchanted Yarn
- FOUR generous samples from Natural Obsessions Fiber, 1) silk 2) milk 3) tencel and 4) bamboo. Very cool.
- some beautiful "Silver" mohair fiber from Wonders Mohair
- GORGEOUS 100% tussah silk from Gale's Art
- handdyed bamboo/silk from eXtreme Spinning
- an itty pretty ruby coloured sample of mohair/bamboo (50/50) blend from My Fair Yarn (sorry no url... it wasn't included on the sample, and I haven't tracked it down yet on the Phat Fiber site)
- A beautiful batt called "Mikhail" from Ambrosia & Bliss, which is a blend of alpaca and firestar and is the softest fiber I've ever touched!
- Last but certainly not least, a batt of blended mohair, alpaca, bamboo and acrylic pieces called "Whisper" from Wooly Hands. This one is such a gorgeous blend of my favourite colours!

So there you have it folks, my July box. Packed full of fiber and goodies, and I couldn't be happier!

Non-Club!

2009-07-05T18:40:00.005-04:00

Hello fellow yarnies!

I have an announcement! I have a new "non-club" up in my shop right now. Its a non-club because its only one month. I call it the "customs non-club"... every skein of yarn I send out will be dyed TO SUIT YOUR LIKING. I will send out a survey to everyone who purcahses, and with those survey answers will put together a package based on stuff YOU like.

Check it out here! Help a sistah out. All proceeds are going to my wedding which is August 14th. We need all the help we can get right now to make it our very special day, so even if you can't order, spread the word. I promise you it will be worth it!

Also, use the code BLOGFREESHIP in your yarn club purchase in the notes to seller, and I will refund you the shipping cost for the order!

June Phat Fiber "Oceanic"

2009-06-24T14:44:00.014-04:00

So, I'm on the ball this month (mostly because as I'm writing this, Ravelry is broken... you win some, you lose some!), BUT I got my June Phat Fiber box, and it was splendid! With Will back home, and someone to go through the box with, it made me enjoy my experience about one hundred-fold. Seriously!

So what would a box thats theme is "Oceanic" be without a treasure map and some booty? There was tons of booty to be had in this month's box, which you'll see below, but look at the wonderful treasure map and message in a bottle put together by Jessie! I have a closeup of the treausre map, also, that I'll post a bit later. I fear I may have gone overboard with the photos this month, but thats probably not a bad thing. There was a lot to show off this month, and everyone seems to keep out-doing themselves with the samples they are sending in. I know it was a rough month for Jessie herself, she fared some strong winds, but in true pirate style, she managed to wrangle together all of the boxes, and pull off another fantastic month.

As you can see in the above picture, I got a few patterns this month which I can't wait to try (save for the crocheted one, because I'm bound to just make a huge mess of that, but we'll see!). First there is a pattern for a beautiful bracelet called Sandy Bracelet from Katherine Vaughan Designs. According to the Phat Fiber blog post about Katherine Vaughan Designs, she also has a Ravelry shop too, which I can't see right now but hope that the link is correct because things are still a bit Shaky-Bob a the moment for Ravelry. I also got an adorable Crocheted Fish pattern from SunnieFairy who has a TON of cute amigurumi patterns in her shop (as well as other goodies), and a Phat Pacific Octopus pattern from Miss Becca Designs that I can't WAIT to knit up. I love sea life! This pattern is available for purchase in her shop right now, so don't hesitate to go buy it and knit one up for yourself!

I was very lucky to receive not one but BOTH of the stitch markers I coveted from the Phat Fiber June videos, I squeed like a little girl. First is another BEAUTIFUL freshwater pearl stitch marker from Twice Sheared Sheep, whose stuff I adore. I received another one of the same stitch marker a few months ago, and you may remember in earlier posts, I bought even MORE of her stitch markers (the black pearl mobius ones), so seriously. Go buy yourself a whole set NOW. They are awesome. The other stitch marker I got that I absolutely adore is a little skull and cross-bones from Designs by Tami. Seriously. What is cuter than that? Will and I had a little fun playing with the piratey themed things, we reunited the pirate with his treasure:

I told you we had fun with this box!

I didn't get a closeup of the yarns that I got, just one big group shot which I'll share shortly, but I got three mini skeins in this month's box, and love them all! First, a skein of Panda Sox (merino, nylon and bamboo!) from Flying Wright Farms (which is a sister store of WC Mercantile, in the colourway "Sea Glass". Its gorgeous, and super soft. Moonlight & Laughter sent in mini skeins of a merino, alpaca, and nylon blended sock yarn in bright pretty colours which didn't have a colour name but also reminded me of beach glass, or schools of fish. Also attached to this mini skein was 5 little rubber-washer stitch markers which are quite possibly some of my favourites, even though I keep losing them (so itty!). And my third skein I got was from Holiday Yarns that is beautiful and super squooshy, and I want about a hundred skeins of it! It was their Flock Sock base which is superwash merino and nylon, but really light and airy with a lot of plies and a high twist. Its gorgeous. I think I know whats on my wishlist now!

Last but not least, heres a picture of all my goodies from this month. I got a CRAPTON of fiber, not that I'm complaining, since I have a new (to me) drum carder I've been using (oh, did I spoil a surprise for a future blog post and potential new product in my shop!?) to card up a whole heap of lovely batts. So instead of making paragraphs and being all formal, I'll just throw down a list of all of the fiber that I got, because I do love to share the links and spread the indie love whenever I can. On with the list:

Corgi Hill Farms sent in some spectacular candies ("ginger zest" organic gluten-free lollipop from Yummy Earth, and two coffee & cream flavoured candies) along with a scrumptios batt of superwash merino, silk and firestar.

Sneaky Pig sent in a mini "skein" of 100% wool pencil roving in charcoal greys and purples that looks really fun to play with. Why, oh why can't I have a spinning wheel NOW?!

Hampton Artistic Yarns sent in an adorable mini "spinning bun" that contains: merino, BFL, corriedale, tussah silk, bamboo, milk fiber, angelia AND recycle sari silk! Oh my!

Dawning Dreams sent in a beautiful 1/4oz sample of "Murano Graphite" which is a blend of natural/undyed wool. It is a BEAUTIFUL graphite colour and to create this she used grey, black, white, and brown wool. Its very soft and VERY gorgeous!

Silver Sun Alpacas & I had a similar idea, since our samples shared the same colour name "Great Barrier Reef". Mine was laceweight yarn and theirs was a super soft and glitzy blend of mohair, bamboo, superwash wool & glitz that sparkles like diamonds!

Mad Angel Creations sent "Oceania", 1/4 oz batt with hand dyed wool, white silk noils and silver angelina, so very pretty!

Twisted Fiber sent in some superwash merino roving in deep purpley colours.

Goat Goat Sheep (who possibly has the best name ever in the history of time) sent in some painted mohair locks that are both soft, squooshy and VERY twisty.

Natchwoolie sent in a beautiful sample called "Blue Hawaii", which is a blend of silk milk and bamboo top dyed with natural plant dyes. I can't wait to card this in for a bit of softness!

Into The Whirled sent in some mystery roving. My package doesn't SAY what it was (if I had to venture a guess, I'd say its merino or superwash merino roving), in a colour called "Mercer's Pier" that is deep, saturated, and GORGEOUS.

Gale's Art sent in a sample called Black Blue Face Wool in a pretty colour called "Deep Blue Sea". It appears to be hand dyed BLACK BFL wool... the colours run deep in this one... blues, purples and greens, so gorgeous!

Last but not at all least, theres a big sample of Falkland wool roving hand dyed by Smoky Mountain Fibers in a pretty colourway called "Oceana".

Thats all, folks! Its definitely a lot this month, not that I'm complaining. HOWEVER, along with my samples, I got a big bag of alpacas from My Fair Bag Lady which may or may not be part of a future club shipment (you know, cos I wouldn't want to give any teasers), that Will and I had a lot of fun playing with. It seemed to take over my Phat Fiber booty:

Yarn "Non-Club"!

2009-06-16T20:09:00.004-04:00

Hey all, I'm back with one quick announcement! I posted a new yarn club in my etsy shop.

Well, really, its a non-club, its only one month, but it'll be a LOT of fun! Ch-ch-ch-check it out!

Also check out Big Mouth Yarns, my friend Niseema's etsy shop. She's currently offering a yarn club also. If you end up joining, please let her know I referred you!

May Phat Fiber!

2009-06-14T14:14:00.008-04:00

Phat Fiber box! Phat Fiber box! Phat Fiber box! Phat Fiber box! Okay, I'm not THAT excited, since I got the box nearly two weeks ago, but I can fake it for the blog post, right?

Okay, so I've been absolutely busy the last few weeks. Well, Will had also been gone back home to Scotland, so I was trying to fill my days with keeping busy. I managed to do that successfully, but whilst doing so, managed to ignore everything I actually meant to do. Like blog. And catch up on correspondence. And read. And relax! And, and, and... the list goes on. Instead, I went out for coffee far too much, didn't accomplish much knitting but pretended like I did, watched three whole seasons of Bones, and well, ignored the world.

So, getting the May box wasn't as exciting because I didn't have Will there to pick through it with me (that could be a plus. He wasn't there to STEAL anything either hehe. Did I mention he's started knitting socks and he's a phenomenal sock knitter?!), and no Blackie (R.I.P. little pup) to stick his nose in everything. It was rather uneventful to open the box alone, but I still felt like a kid at Christmas.

This month I'll start with NOTIONS! I got a mini bar of soap (What? Do I smell?) from Smoky Mtns Apothecary called Yuzu. Its old-fashioned soap, made with really cool ingredients (olive oil, coconut oil, soybean oil, palm oil, shea butter, lye, french rose lcay, and fragrance). The smell? Well it smells like a really strong soap, but a NICE soap. I like it. It hasn't been used yet but it will be added to the shower over the next few days. I also got a needle holder from Jessie of Phat Fiber fame (probably commissioned from someone, but I don't know the back story of this), a mini KIP bag from Ruddawg, stitch markers from the following shops: In Stitches, 4 Stitch Me Knot, Baby Dragon Jewelry, Crazy Cat Lady Mel, and Vickie's Knitted Things. I also got a cute bookmark from Greenwood Fiber Works.

Next up is FIBER! Lots of fiber this month which makes me happy because I JUST GOT A DRUM CARDER! Oh yes, a drum carder. More about that in a future post where I will feature my first EVER two art batts that I put together. Squee! Anyhow, on with the fiber show! I got a big poof of texel wool from Desert Garden Farms, a BEAUTIFUL purple batt with lots of sparkle from Beesy Bee that includes wensleydale wool, local mohair, suri alpaca, and angelina. 100% NZ merino called "Wellington's Wednesdays from Maude & Me. A generous 1oz braid of superwash merino and bamboo in a colour called "Midnight Tigerlilies" from Port Fiber. A small sample of SUPER SOFT milk fiber top hand dyed by Feeling Sheepish, this is the SOFTEST STUFF EVER. Seriously! And a small, but ADORABLE sample of handpainted organic wool top with a little felted flower on top from Wild Hare Fiber Studio.

Time to look at some YARNS! One of my favourite Phatties, Twice Sheared Sheep sent in some more of her wonderful recycled yarn, this time is it 100% silk COBWEB LACE. Yowza. People actually KNIT with this stuff!? Polyart Girl sent in a sample of bamboo and superwash wool in a pretty colour called "Cooling". Katsara Yarns sent in a super soft sample of beaded peruvian cotton in "Rose Mist" which makes me want more. Black Tie Fiber Arts sent in a pretty sample called "Summer Sky" of hand dyed and hand spun corriedale. Chimera sent in a pretty sample of hand spun 2-ply merino called "Orchid". i got a merino bamboo sample from Fiber Friendzy, a sample of handpsun from Sheep Shape SPinning called "Strawberry Patch", and last but not least, crazy coloured spun baby alpaca plied with rayon slub from Plum Crazy Ranch.

It was a good box indeed, and it brought much cheer to my Will-less day. Can you tell we're head over heels for each other? Speaking of which, we finally set a date for our wedding, and are working on planning that all out. Oh man. More about that in a later post as well. For now, signing off, as I have another blog post to write a bit later... maybe I'll save it for later this week since I'm on VACATION, despite having to dye up about 2 kilos of yarn for my first club shipment! EEEK! Well, I'm half done already. Just waiting on some goodies to be sent in, and I can start putting packages together!

Yarn & Tea!

2009-05-20T05:18:00.004-04:00

Hey folks, for anyone interested in my yarn and tea clubs, there are TWO SPOTS LEFT to be filled. They've gone quickly, so you better hurry if you're still interested in joining up! I have one spot open in my laceweight club and one spot open in my sock club. If interested, check out my etsy shop - Odd-ish Creations. I have many goodies in store for club members and I am getting excited!

I have a real blog post to write tonight, but for now, at 5:20am, I must be off to my "real" (the boring!) job. Happy Wednesday everybody.

INTRODUCING!

2009-05-09T10:57:00.003-04:00

The brand-new and very-cool YARN CLUBS being offered in my etsy shop!

Two yarn clubs are now being offered up at Odd-ish Creations, so go and buy your spot now before it sells out!

The two clubs have 10 spots opened up between them (if they sell out fast, I may open it up to 15 spots), and are designed for yarn and tea lovers. Each shipment will have at least one skein of either sock OR lace yarn (your choice), 25 grams of my favourite looseleaf teas, AND notions from not only me, but other indie businesses. Surprises and spoils galore!

Join now, before its too late!

Cool Things Every Knitter Should Have #1

2009-05-01T11:10:00.010-04:00

First, I want to show you my current WIP, which I've definitely showed off before, but now I'm on the SECOND the sock. The picture I'm going to show, is of the first sock, but I'm roughly at the same spot I was when I took this pic. Anyway, this pic was taken with my Blackberry when I was brave enough to not only KNIT on the #17 Oxford West bus, but I was brave enough to CABLE on the #17 Oxford West bus! I didn't even lose my cable needle, or drop anything. I tend to drop my cable needle a lot when I'm at home for some reason (lack of co-ordination, maybe?), but I did it on the bus, successfully! And completed a whole pattern repeat (6 rounds). Woohoo!

So next up is a new blog feature I'd like to call Cool Things Every Knitter Should Have!, because I'm a nerd and can't think up a better title that explains what the hell I'm talking about! I'm going to write this feature every time I discover/acquire a cool-thing (and hey, if anybody wants to send me stuff to write about, feel free, but its not like there are that many blog readers here, I don't think) that I feel that EVERY KNITTER NEEDS. I have a few posts half-written in my head already, some that can't be shared yet since I can't give away certain surprises for a certain German friends birthday, HINT HINT! Anyway, this first post is going to feature not just one, but TWO things every knitter/crocheter/fiber artist should have (I'm grouping it all as "knitters", just for the ease of use, by the way). The good thing about this, I'm doing my part to buy handmade whilst doing this, and promoting independant crafty business, which I think everyone should do.

Cool Thing #1: Made by RachelM box bags

So, its kind of a funny story. I first found RachelM's etsy shop through a Ravelry ad which had a gorgeoud patchwork bag on it (you may still see this ad around, I squee everytime I see it because THATS MY BAG NOW! My bag is a Rav-ad-celebrity!), which I promptly purchased. About a week or two after I bought that bag, got it, and immediately fell in LOVE with it, I went back to her shop and bought another bag, which was Christmas gift for the earlier-mentioned certain German penpal, who also fell in love with hers.

So lets fast-forward a few months now, and I'm invited to join a certain swapping group on Ravelry, which I join. I am almost immediately sent an excited PM from the owner of said group saying "OMG KATA YOU JOINED MY GROUP! YOU'RE MY FAVOURITE BAG CUSTOMER!", and its from none other than the wonderful and glorious RachelM, who I've since developed a mad-knitter-crush on, and since have purchased my third and fourth bags (bag #4 is a birthday gift for Courtney of The Inner Stitch, and hopefully will be trading for bag #5). Yes. I am addicted to RachelM bags, and I believe EVERY knitter should have one (or ten!).

So, why am I such a fan? Well not only is RachelM made of pure awesomesauce and cuteness, but her sewing skills are fantastic. As are her choice of colours, match-y-ness (I'm full of all sorts of made-up words today, if you couldn't tell), and presentation in her etsy shop. The outside of the bag is cute, the inside of the bag is always made of matching fabric, and it is always cute, the zipper always matches, and its the PERFECT SIZE for one of my WIPs (socks, usually!) And the bags look teensy from the outside, but on the inside? Its like the Tardis, I swear. It can fit SO MUCH STUFF.

So please, everyone go to RachelM's shop RIGHT NOW and buy one of her bags. She has many different prints you can chose from, all of which are G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S! This is definitely something EVERY KNITTER SHOULD HAVE, whether for your WIPs, or your notions, or whatever. GO GET ONE! And hey, if you're reading this and you're NOT a knitter, go buy one and then learn how to knit. Or just go buy one to use for a purse, since they're so. darn. cute.

Cool Thing #2: Get a Grip fiber-friendly handbalm from Knit It Up.

From what I've heard through the grapevine, some lucky Phat Fiber box recipients a few months ago got little samples of this balm, but I was not one of them. I was, however, intrigued. So when I had a bit of "extra" cash in my paypal I promptly purchased some of this unique-looking stuff, to see what all the fuss was about. Well-deserved fuss, indeed. This stuff is the shiz. (Yes. I said shiz. Welcome back to the 90s, my friends).

So when I turn over my little 1 ounce tin of this stuff (and trust me, 1 ounce is PLENTY of this stuff, and will last for ages!), the ingredients listed are: lanolin, bergamot, orange, lemon and grapefruit essential oils. Thats it. Its just scented lanolin, but OH MAN, lanolin on its own makes the BEST. HAND-GOOK. EVER! I'm going to gank this right from the selling page:

I love to knit, but I started to notice my hands getting dry and cracked from all that fiber running through my fingers. Then I'd put on lotion, but after my skin absorbed it, my fingers would be really slippery and the yarn would be all over the place. I started thinking back to my gymnast days, when I used chalk to both protect my hands and improve my grip - I set out to find something like that for knitting.

I found the answer in the same place most of my fibers come from - sheep! Lanolin is a natural, slightly sticky substance secreted from sheep to help waterproof their coats. It is actually removed from their fleeces when they're made into wool. Now I use it to protect my hands while I knit! Talk about full circle.

I bought the CITRUS scent, as you can see, but there are two others that also sound fantastic... theres also SPICE which is scented with essential oils of cinnamon, cloves and orange, which I'm oh-so-tempted to buy since that sounds fantastic, and then theres ROMANCE which is scented with essential oils of ylang ylang (which is fun to say) and lavender. I'm not a huge fan of lavender personally (which is surprising because one of my favourite new discoveries Will and I made last summer was a lovely little lavender farm in Sparta which I can't wait to go to again this summer), but I bet the ylang ylang would make it smell a little fruity and a lot fantastic.

You only need a little dab, rub it all over your hands until its a little bit tacky, knit and/or crochet like crazy. It smells nice, it doesn't get stuff oily, it doesn't leave your hands slippery, and even non-knitters love it! Seriously! I brought it to work and shared with a few people (who think I'm a crazy/addicted/obsessed knitter - they're right), and they all loved the stuff too, and even asked me where they could get some!

So, my dear fiber-addicted friends. Go buy yourself a RachelM box bag (or ten) & a tin (or three) of Get a Grip fiber-friendly handbalm. You'll thank me later.

That concludes this ~~lesson~~ post about stuff that YOU need. And hey, if you don't need/want it for yourself? Buy it for a knitting friend!

Testing 1, 2, 3!

2009-04-26T19:41:00.001-04:00

So, I can now post by email! I'm actually posting this from the email on my Blackberry. That seems a bit easier than the whole SMS posting.

I should be casting on a toe for my 2nd Brainless sock, but I've been procrastinating that all day, it seems. I've played DS, browsed Ravelry, cuddled with Will, dyed yarn, and done everything BUT cast on this toe. Oh look, time to get dinner ready. The toe will have to wait!

Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Phat Fiber feature!

2009-04-26T11:47:00.009-04:00

Look! Look! I was featured in the Phat Fiber blog today! Check it out!

Really thats the only reason why I wanted to post. I feel like a fiber rockstar today. Thanks Jessie!

I guess I could continue on with a bit of an actual post... I updated my shop with a WHOLE HEAP of yarns (theres about 10 skeins up there, which I know isn't a ton for most indie dyers, but as you all know this is my hobby moreso than my job so 10 skeins up is a landmark for me). Picture time:

Also I have a FO to share, and a WIP. First the FO... its the Undulating Ribs socks from Favorite Socks by Interweave. I did mine slightly different, as I've still never bothered to try a cuff down sock. I did mine toe-up with magic loop, and the heel and gusset was my favourite - Wendy Johnson's Toe-Up Socks with a Difference. They fit him spectacularly! The yarn is The Alpaca Yarn Company's Pada Peds in "Fireside" which I got from the lovely Colleen who is surrounded by the stuff at her LYS. Its so soft and nice, and seems to hold up pretty well (so far, anyway).

Next up, Yarnissima's "Brainless" socks, out of Fleece Artist Sea Wool in "Mineral". These aren't for me, but are for someone on Ravelry who has become a friend of mine :) I will be knitting myself a pair as well out of my own hand dyed yarn! I'll be sure to share photos once I get them started. I'm starting the second of the Brainless socks in Sea Wool today. The only different thing I did, I didn't start the ribbing after the heel,because I proabably would have gone INSANE, but I continued in stockinette stitch between the cables, and then did a ribbed cuff at the top. So pretty!

Last but not least, for anyone who was reading Will's blog, he has updated again! Its been a long time, but he thinks he may start updating again. Since he's a great writer, I think its a good idea. So, if you read it, or want to read it, go over there, comment and tell him you want him to continue blogging! Lets petition until he updates regularly again!

That is all. Happy Sunday to everyone. I've got some tea, some homemade biscotti (Will's gotten creative lately), some podcasts to listen to and great music after that. Oh and knitting. Always with the knitting ;)

Phat Fiber box-gettage!

2009-04-24T12:51:00.014-04:00

Yes folks, its that time of month again. The time of the month where my mailbox is full of joy (okay not so much the mail box. The teensy mail slots in this apartment building are no Tardis!). Let me just say, Phatties, the April box? Phenomenal! I love everything inside of it! So, as I'm sitting back with one of my treats (which you'll read all about later), let me share the contents of the box with you. For those of you who are new to my blog (hello!), educate yourself with the awesomeness that is Phat Fiber.

First, I'll start with the fiber-goodness, and then move on to the other-goodness. Mmm. Goodness.

Yarns: I got 6 mini skeins of yarns this month, and they're all lovely. In no particular order (just the order I wrote it down in), I got a skein of BFL sock yarn in the colourway "Gnome in the North Sea" from Snicklefritz Yarns, a skein of handspun blue and white merino from Sheep Shape Spinning, a skein of hand dyed greeny goodness in "Spring Grass" colourway from Chicken in the Woods, a skein of Oriri Draco Designs Li'l Squish Sock Yarn (merino, bamboo and nylon! Mmm) in "Moss", a mini skein of dk weight yarn called "Duckweed" from Earthly Hues, aaaaand a skein of upcycled t-shirt yarn from The Cupcake Factory.

Next up is FIBER!. I was fiber-spoiled this month, and a little birdie named Jessie told me that this month there was more fiber than yarn sent in by contributors. I'm starting to looove the fibery goodness, and I'm thinking I really need to start spinning again. I need to get myself a nice spindle to use. Maybe that will inspire me. On with the fibery goodness!

Corgi Hill Farm sent in super soft roving called "Green Eire" AND some candies (including a maple candy that was snatched up by yours truly almost immediately after I took the photos for the box!). Kangaroo Dyer sent in another generous sample, some roving which is all sorts of pretty. White, greens, pinks, etc. Beautiful! From Wooly Hands I got a sweet bundle of CORRIEDALE (my first corriedale ever!) in colourway "Cool Waters". Perhaps my favourite (sorry ladies!) of the fiber I got, was a little artsy batt from Wild Hare Fiber Studio. Its called the "Dafodil art batt", and is a mixture of all sorts of eco/green/earth-friendly things: hand dyed local wool and wool mill ends, inego/corn fiber, Tibetan sari silk thrums, ECOSPUN (recycled soda bottle fiber!), and for some nice beautiful shine, firestar AND angelina. That thing is PACKED with goodness, and is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Can I have about 200 more so I can spin myself up a cocoon? Dicentra Designs sent in a pretty bit of roving called "Vernal". From Danido Crafty, I got an awesome bit of "sapphire" roving, dyed with Greener Shades dyes. So pretty and saturated! Last but not least, from Smoky Mountain Fibers, a generous 1/2 oz of pretty merino in "Bronze Green". I think by mixing all of my fiber samples this month, I could end up with some veeeeeery funky handspun yarn. I'll need to get myself a decent drop spindle first. I have sources. I just needs the cash. (Help a sister out, buy something from my etsy store!. There will be a restock coming up either tonight or tomorrow with new sock yarns and laceweight yarns!).

And now, EVERYTHING ELSE! I got spoiled with my "everything else" this month too. Totally love it all, especially the yummy biscotti I got and pictured above (which is now totally gone) from Matilda's Italian Cookies. Seriously, go check out her website NOW, and buy yourself some cookies. You will NOT be disappointed! I got a very funky knitting gauge from 7 Yaks. I am totally going to get a set of their awesome acrylic sock blockers as soon as I can afford to! Those are funky looking, and I love supporting my fellow Phatties. This is a very cool treat! I got a little sample of Yarns & Musings Shea Buttah all natural hand cream. The scent is "Garden Mint" and contains essential oils of spearmint, peppermint and a touch of lemon balm. It smells fantastic, I almost wish it were edible, ha! I got 3 lovely cute stitch markers from In Stitches AND a chilli pepper stitch markers from Yarn Demon, which Will grabbed and said "MINE! YOU DON'T LIKE PEPPERS!". Do I really have to share? My Yarn Demon stitch markers are my favourite, and not only do I have this one, and the black sheep from last month... I have a set that I can't divulge just yet, since I bought a set of the same for someone and she sent me extras for myself. Seriously guys, go buy yourself some Yarn Demon stitch markers, because you will NOT be disappointed by the precision that goes into her work!

I also got a lovely button/badge from Wild Hare Fiber Studio that says Whats in the box?. A GREAT Phat Fiber promo item that I adore! A pattern for some crocheted balls was sent in by Sunnie Fairy, AND last but not least, a lovely hand sewn envelope full of business cards (as usual, yay!) and promo codes, etc. Jessie, our lovely Phat Fiber mom, commissioned these from a local young woman who is legally blind and an American veteran to sew these. What a great way to give back to local handicraft community, and support veterans at the same time. I am a strong believer in supporting your troops, whatever country you're from, so thank you, Jessie, for doing this. They are very lovely!

So, thats that! Thanks for looking everybody! As usual, if you find any broken links, let me know. I've tried to check them all but things slip through the cracks, so to speak. Let me get back to my dye pot. I have some yarns to cook up!

A Tragedy.

2009-04-18T09:54:00.009-04:00

Well, Will is out for a cycle, I'm at home listening to the new Peaches album, and drinking some spiced assam tea, and the weather is fabulous... time for an early morning Saturday post. I guess its not so early anymore, but I've been up for a few hours already. Sleep has been hard lately.

Not to be a bummer and bring everyone down, but Will and I both suffered a great loss in the death of our little pup, Blackie. He would have been 14 this summer, he had a long and happy life (at least since I had him... I got him when he was 6), and he was well loved. He will definitely be missed. He was the best dog ever and brought hours and hours of laughter and amusement. Will and I have many inside jokes. Blackie truly had his own personality (whether we forced it upon him or not), and was just an amazing little creature. Rest in peace, little pup.

On to less frustrating and tear-inducing subjects, I've been stocking my etsy shop in preparation for the next Phat Fiber box. It will be shipped out in the next few days and hopefully people will go buy stuff. If you're interested in anything up there, you better act fast!

My stash has been growing by leaps and bounds lately. Through swaps on Ravelry, and birthday goodies I've gotten, I've come to the conclusion that I need to actually knit some of my yarns. Earlier this year I had enough yarn for 27 pairs of socks. Now, just a few months later, I have enough for about 50, not including any yarn that I currently have coming right now. And thats not including the small lace stash I've been building up, and not to mention an absolutely beautiful skein of Wollmeise that will soon (but not soon enough) grow up to become either a Swallowtail Shawl or an Ishbel shawl. I haven't decided yet. Knitting lace absolutely terrifies me, but I need to get over it eventually, right?

Currently I'm working on a pair of socks for my darling. The pattern is "Undulating Ribs" from the Interweave Press book Favorite Socks. Its quite an easy pattern, and I even converted it to toe-up because really, I've never done a sock cuff down. I might have to suck it up and learn though, because I got the new Cookie A. book and some of those socks are bee-ooo-tee-ful! But, I also got the new Wendy Johnson toe-up socks book, so I'll probably conquer something out of there first. Next up after Will's socks though is "Brainless" from Yarnissima, because they look fun and fab. That will be a KAL with my friend Deb.

I guess thats all to report for now. Going to finish my tea and work on Will's socks a bit.

Birthday Madness! '09

2009-04-04T10:44:00.017-04:00

Happy Birthday to Me!
Happy Birthday to Me!
Happy Birthday, to me and Courtney and Phil and Jennie Garth
Happy Birthday to ME!

Okay, so now that my horrible singing was over (c'mon, you totally heard every off-key note in your head while reading that, right? I know it!)... On with the recap of festivities! It was such a great day and I felt so loved by all, and Squee!, I'd say best birthday in a long while. (Oh and I'm officially not ending my birthday until SUNDAY, because its all about ME for once). Haha. Okay I'm really not self-centered, just trying to stay relaxed and stress free!

SO... on with the show! It all began when I woke up after sleeping in. That was lovely in itself because I've not had much sleep lately. Lets rewind a little bit. Very early morning (a la 2:30am, EST)on April 2nd. Blackie hasn't been feeling well, so as we're trying to sleep (since I worked at 6am on the 2nd and sleep is important when I work at 6am so I don't randomly kill people or snark at customers), Blackie keeps jumping on the bed. Off the bed. On the bed. Snuggle RIGHT UP to Mommy's face. Off the bed. On the bed. Off the bed. On the bed. This went on for about an hour. Ick! THAT makes it hard to sleep. When 15 pounds of fluff lays across you, it definitely feels a lot heavier than just 15 pounds! Anyway, it was driving Will and I crazy, normally he picks one spot, and is fine to lay there all night (and usually its on the floor, or the laundry pile if there is one, or HIS OWN DOG BED, etc...) but nope. Not that night. So at 3:30, Will gets up, frustrated, since neither of us can get any sleep, and decides to take the little ~~bastard~~ fluffy Bubby outside. End scene.

Scene 2: raise curtains, dim lights, queue... stink?!?! Yeah. The poor dog was sprayed by an evil nasty skunk. Right in the face. Sigh. So, begin the batheing process and not-sleeping process. Will bathed the poor little shivering guy for two and a half hours with every single "rememdy" we could find on the internet. I'm happy to report it was successful, but not without much stress and awakefulness (or semi-awakefulness, rather). At 5:30am, Blackie was still in the bathtub and I departed from work, after having gotten MAYBE about 2 hours of sleep the entire night. The day just got worse, customers snerked, complained about what horrible days they were having and I just wanted to cry and say "Please don't go there". But oh, they went there. Anyway, it was just a long and crappy day, thankfully the crapiness did NOT seep into my birthday fun. I guess it just made my special day even better.

The only redeeming factor to the whole day was the fact that I came home to two lovely packages. One from a swap on Ravelry, from Laurel of Queensborough Farm (who farms alpacas!). It was a big package, that included some Fleece Artist BFL, some interesting merino wool from the fiber mill her alpaca fleece gets processed at, a super soft and warm skein of alpaca/angora/wool blend in laceweight, AND 3 LUSCIOUS skeins of suri alpaca and bamboo mix. I guess I'm a ho for alpaca and bamboo mixed together, and this stuff is just divine. With this... oooh, I'm going to start knitting lace eventually. I'm terrified, BUT DETERMINED!

The second package was from my wonderful friend in Germany, Nadine. She absolutely SPOILED me for my birthday. She sent me a goat mug (she raises goats) which is now my favoruite tea mug (Will broke my last one, eek!), some organic honey wafers (I remember eating those as a kid, my Oma used to buy them at the German shop), not one, not two, but THREE foutnain dip pens, made of beautiful glass (and hand twisted, Will says. Did I ever tell you he does glass design?), an adorable fountain pen with pink ink, some special erasers for the ink, other cute pens, chocolate (It didn't last very long at all), yummy teas (Mmm, a girl after my own heart!), some fiber sample packets, a notebook, and a super long letter. How awesome is that? Aren't you jealous!?

So, lets fast forward a little bit until April 3rd. My birthday! I had a very sound sleep, and woke up around 9am. Will went and got me breakfast. I'm sorry to tell you that I adore a McDonalds breakfast on a rare occasion and its a special treat when I have it, so that was my birthday breakfast. After breakfast, I puttered around online, had many birthday wishes on Ravelry, and my BFF, Colleen, sent me a birthday surprise via studioloo.com in the form of a gift certificate! After not a lot of deliberation (since I've been drooling over these two skeins for a while now), I chose "Saffron Sweet" (left) and "Sun in the Blue Sky" (right). Yum. (Photos ganked from studioloo and edited together by me to show off my new goods. But seriously, go to her site, and buy some of her goodies. You won't be disappointed!)

After breakfast, and choosing of yarn, and puttering around on Ravelry, it was time to bake the birthday cake. Now, Will did most of the grunt work, but I wanted to help, since this cake was special. Not just because it was my birthday cake, but because it is a RAINBOW CAKE!!! How awesome is that? So this was saved for later in the evening's festivities, but it was SO MUCH FUN to make, despite there being purple, orange, green and white sprinkles all over our kitchen floor. We had fun baking it and if you want to see pictures of the process, check out my flickr birthday set.

Around 4, we departed London with our friend Deb, and picked up another friend, Isa, and departed for Alpaca Acres. Isa gave me a present, which was a skein of Opal yarn in beautiful blues, browns and purples. Pretty. She ALSO baked a cake for me! Two birthday cakes!? I'm such a spoiled brat. Anyway, hers was a "pineapple hummingbird cake" which had pineapple and almonds (aka hummingbird beaks?) with a cream cheese frosting and it was SO GOOD. Now we have two halves of each cake leftover, and man, are we going to be on a sugar high for the next few days!!!

We got to Alpaca Acres, and hung out with Annie and her lovely alpacas. I got some more pics (I haven't edited them yet, but you've seen the adorable creatures in my blog before), I bought another skein of Jesse Boo (Jesse, my favourite alpaca, mixed with bamboo. I'm a ho for the stuff, I said that earlier!), while there we metup with more friends Laura and Kat who continued on our way with us. We departed once again, to arrive at Shall We Knit. I made some purchases, which included a teal skein of Estelle's Cadenza merino/tussah silk sock yarn, two skeins of Shelridge Farm Soft Touch Heather sock yarn, and a Chibi needle case (since I keep losing my darn darning needles!).

We shared some cake with a few patrons that were there for knit night, and we did a little bit of knitting ourselves. Also, we purchased our tickets to see the wonderful Cat Bordhi in May (which I wrote about previously). On the way home from Shall We Knit, we stopped for a very late dinner at Boston Pizza, and had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs.

It was a fantastic birthday with wonderful people, and it was just a really great day. The celebrations continue tomorrow for dinner with my mom and stepdad.

HAPPY APRIL, EVERYBODY! Hopefully it won't snow like its supposed to (and did a little last night, ick). Welcome, springtime, we need some warmth, please!

OH! ONE MORE THING! Laura from my knitting group bought some of my Silky Toes! sock yarn from me a few weeks ago, and she's knit it up into socks. She brought them along to show me last night (as well, she gave me a box of Bernat Sox and other acrylic/wool blended yarns that she had a ton of and was looking to destash, nice socks for my mom or stepdad, anyway...), she brought a finished sock out of my sock yarn to show me, and OMG I'm in love! See? Isn't it pretty? Swoon!

Spring Cuteness

2009-04-01T13:49:00.005-04:00

So, thanks to the blog of Courtney of Inner Stitch fame, I found a cute little giveaway that I'm lusting after.

Hit up Edward & Lilly and post a comment to enter this happy little spring bunnykins giveaway. Blog aboug it for more entries. How adorable is this?

Giveaway closes on Sunday night 9pm Brisbane (Australia) time. International readers are more than welcome :)

Aside from knitting, reading blogs, and making stitch markers (oh and stalking Ravelry), I've not been up to much lately. Theres a few new skeins in my etsy shop, with more coming soon (I placed an order for more FABULOUS base yarns, and even a new one to try!). Also, my birthday is in two days, so I've been getting excited about that (finally!). We're planning a trip to a local alpaca farm, Alpaca Acres that I've mentioned NUMEROUS times before, and then we're going to Shall We Knit for a knit night, and stopping at Boston Pizza for dinner on the way home. It'll be fabulous.

Oh and speaking of Shall We Knit, they're currently having a contest... socks and tea cozies, in either the theme of red or Wizard of Oz, and the entries are being judged by the fabulous Cat Bordhi. I didn't enter, but the wonderful and talented Isa did, and her red socks are GORGEOUS. Anyway, after the judging, Cat is going to be doing a sock talk at a local cafe, so I feel privileged to be attending. Woohoo!

Today I got a loverly birthday package from Penny Penguingirl that included some Muji pens (yay!!!), pretty beads, magazines (beading and wire work!!!), a Doodle diary (so awesome), a stamp block to carve, and some eye popping orange yarn called Astronaut's Drink from Black Bunny Fibers. So pretty and springy and cheery. I can't wait to use it! I have so many sock ideas churning in my mind after queueing about 20 sock patterns (I managed to cut it down to 5 or 10 that I really want to knit though).

Other than working on a pair of socks I'll probably finish today, today is fabulous so far. The weather is nice, the sun is out, I have a pot of mango tea, and I have Brother Love in my earballs. Happy Wednesday!

March PHAT FIBER box!

2009-03-25T12:15:00.008-04:00

As you all know, I'm part of a wonderful group of contributors for the Phat Fiber sampler box. As a contributor of a certain # of samples per month, contributors also receive their own box in return. Woohoo! So what a fabulous day it was today to wake up to a Phat Fiber box to open and swoon over! And a cute little address from the wonderful organizer and mother of Phat Fiber, Jessie. Yes, I am Odd Kata ;) Theres nothing wrong with being odd at all. Its a title I wear proudly!

So!... on to the goodies that I got in the box! I'm trying to take closeups so everyone can get the proper exposure they deserve. I was very happy with my March box, I just want to point out. Not that I wasn't happy with my February one, but I think everyone is getting into the groove of this new and wonderful group Jessie has created, and it shows in the quality of EVERYTHING in the box!

I'll start with the YARNS I got in my box. First, from Callizona Designs there is an amazing sampler package that included many things BESIDES yarn. There is a mini skein of yarn, 2 beautiful crackled glass stitch markers, a pair of beautiful Irish themed earrings (made with Czech glass beads, Swarovski crystal, pearls AND sterling silver findings!), a $10 coupon that will DEFINIETLY be put to good use, AND a pattern for a Springtime Headband. Phew! A lovely little treat. I unfortunately can't wear the beautiful earrings since my piercings are stretched, but I think that they'll make a great gift for somebody... possibly my mother. I think she'll love them!

Theres a mini skein from Moonlight & Laughter in oranges, greens and I think pinks called "Kilkelly". Handspun "Celtic Path" from Wooly Hands. A 25 yard skein in beautiful "Autumn Sunset" from Mad Angel Creations that also included a cute stitch marker on her card! A mini skein of bulky handspun yarn from The Fox Hop. A very generous 100 yard sample from Kangaroo Dyer in beautiful purples with splashes of other colours. This will likely turn into being the toes and possibly heels for a pair of solid coloured socks. Yum! And also a mini skein of GORGEOUS handspun from Simply Twisted Yarns, it is spun so evenly, I didn't even know it was handspun right away. Its so wonderful!

Next up is FIBER (or if you're Canadian like me, FIBRE)! Such beautiful fibers, I feel like such a lucky girl. Theres some hand dyed soy silk from Teresa Levine Studio. BFL roving from We Love Thor. A mini roving medallian called "Irish Glade" from Northern Lights Fiber (and go check out the Phat Fiber blog for a giveaway for some lovely yarn from Northern Lights Fibers!), 100% merino roving from Hedgehog Fibres in "Amazon". And last but certainly not least, a mini batt from Whorling Tides that was cleverly packaged, and included some iridescent little stars inside. Lovely!

EVERYTHING ELSE! I got quite a bit of "everything else" this month, and I love it all! Not pictured in this photo (but is pictured in the big photo at the top of this post) is a pattern from Bohemian Knitter Chic for Bocca Baciata which is a beautiful vintage looking hair comb. A BEAUTIFUL knitting themed bookmark (which will be used IMMEDIATELY!) from Becky's Paper Creations. A tube of Bunky Girl blueberry lip balm from Bunky Bobos. A lovely lavender sachet from Ambrosia & Bliss. A mini KIP bag from Ruddawg. A pretty stitch marker from Vickie's Knitted Things. A lovely row counter from In Stitches. A super adorable cute little black sheep stitch marker from Anita at YarnDemon Designs (I was SO GLAD to have gotten one of these, you have NO idea!) For those of you that recall my contest a few days ago, Anita was the lucky winner! And ANOTHER goodie I feel VERY lucky to have received is a hand felted little llama from My Fair Bag Lady.

So that's all folks. Isn't is lovely? I ADORE everything I got this month, of course, and everything will be put to use. I've decided to save up almost all of my mini skeins from my boxes, and eventually will make either crazy stash buster socks, or start myself on one of those little sock leftovers blankets with mini mitred squares. We'll see. Many months ahead of saving up, I guess that means I have tons more work to do on samples in the coming months, but I'm ok with that. I love the idea of Phat Fiber that Jessie has put together. Not only is it an amazing sampler box that customers can buy and swoon over, but as an indie dyer, its a great way for me to promote my business, however small it is. AND on top of all that, as a contributor, if I do my part, I get my own box of samples, which is great because I highly believe in supporting indie artists and buying handmade. As you can see on the bottom of my blog (see footer ALL the way down at the bottom), I've taken the HANDMADE PLEDGE and hope that you have too.

As usual lately, I'll leave you with a cute picture of Blackie, who was very skeptical when Will and I told him he's the cousin of this little cutie:

***As usual with these posts, PLEASE let me know if any links are broken, I will fix them ASAP!***

Jesse Boo!

2009-03-22T22:31:00.001-04:00

I FINISHED MY JESSE BOO ALPACA HAT!

Isn't it cute? Yes, yes, I adore it. As I got around to the end I wasn't sure how it would turn out. It looked VERY long (the turned over cuff is SO WIDE), and sometimes hats look good on me, and sometimes they don't. This one, I'm afraid, DOES! So its mine, and not Will's like I think he'd secretly hoped ;) I'll have to get more yarn from Alpaca Acres when we go for my birthday. I can't wait!

WIP updates & randomness

2009-03-22T11:51:00.007-04:00

Four new skeins of yarn made it to my etsy shop last night. Two skeins of each colourway, but two skeins will make ONE pair of socks. I'm quite happy with how they turned out, I tried different dyeing techniques on them. If interested, head on over to my etsy shop to check them out in greater detail.

I feel like I've been really busy lately but not exactly sure where all of my time goes. This week has been very relaxed for once. Monday was my doctor's appointment in my hometown. Will and I had free reign over my stepdad's monster of a pickup truck, so we took a little drive (down memory lane for me). I even took Will to my dad's grave which was a big thing. I haven't been to his grave since the funeral and it was very hard. I thought I would be ok with it, but the closer we got to the grave yard, the more unsure of myself I was. I ended up bawling, but it was good crying. Next month marks 5 years since he passed away. He is dearly missed. Sorry, I don't mean to be a bummer... writing about it is just about cathartic as being there again (minus the crying, thankfully). Lets move on to happier subjects!

I'm still awaiting my Phat Fiber March sampler box which I should get Monday or Tuesday (preferably Monday!). I'm impatient, and seeing everyone else's blog posts about their boxes is KILLING me. Theres some GORGEOUS stuff in there. I'm also waiting on a shipment of base yarns which I should get next week... which means MORE STOCK. Woohoo! I've been rationing my dyeing time, but I'm ALL OUT of stuff to dye now. Well, I have a skein of pale blue Fleece Artist that I think I'd like to dye, since its pretty solid... but I don't want to ruin its beauty, so I'll hold off for now until I decide.

I've been working away at my current main project, my Jesse Boo Alpaca Hat. Jesse is one of my beloved alpaca friends from Alpaca Acres if you remember my post from last autumn featuring him and his yummy soft yarn. I decided to use the Simple Pleasures hat pattern from The Purl Bee as a light suggestion since I'm not knitting doubled, using different yarn, different needles, etc. I knit a guage swap (OMG! Thats a new one for me, actually doing something to benefit myself so I don't have to frog my knitting, WHAT?!), and ended up casting on 108 stitches on size 3.25mm (US3) needles. Its SUPER stretchy, and awesome and soft, and I can't wait to be done. I think I'll finish it tonight and will have to post some pics as soon as I get them. I promised Annie (from the farm) that I'd finish and bring the hat when we stop by on MY BIRTHDAY which is coming up at an alarming pace. Eekeekeek! I guess we all have to grow up, huh?

Hmm, theres not much else to share. I'm still plucking away at the poor old Chevron socks. I don't have too much left to do, maybe 15-20 rounds but different distractions seem to be presenting themselves in various forms... it is second sock syndrome? I'm almost DONE the second sock but just can't bring myself to finish it. Maybe because that means I have to start other socks. I'm also working on a pair for my friend Mary Ellen as a (very) late birthday present (it was in November but at the time I was busy with Christmas knitting). Oh, and I did this lovely 10"x10" afghan square for a patchwork afghan thats being put together for one of the members of a Rav group I'm in. I won't give much else away about it even though I'm sure said person doesn't read my blog or even know much about it. Anyway, the pattern is a slight variation of Square Counterpane with Leaves from Knit Wiki. I really enjoyed the pattern to be honest. Its done out of Kashmir Aran from Louisa Harding which was AWESOME to work with, and so soft and washable!

I guess thats all for now. My brain isn't working properly, I was up at 4:50am to work at 6, after a night of Blackie jumping on to and off of the bed every hour. He's acting a bit weird today, so I think he's exhausted or sick or something. Poor guy, we're all a bit exhausted today after hardly any sleep. I think he should get some cuddles. Just look at this face:

WINNER!

2009-03-21T20:00:00.006-04:00

Congratulations, Anita!

randomizer.org chose #2 as a winner for my contest, so congratulations to Anita of Yarn Demon (a phellow Phat Fiber contributor)! Your stitch markers and magnetic pattern marker will be on the way shortly, I've sent you an email for your address.

Thank you to those who participated, keep an eye out for future giveaways!

My Very First Giveaway!

2009-03-18T18:59:00.003-04:00

In honour of introducing my new stitch markers to my etsy shop, I figured I'd have my first giveaway. I know a set of stitch markers isn't much but I'm proud of these babies!

So heres the scoop... between NOW and Friday (March 20, 2009) at MIDNIGHT (EST), visit my etsy shop. Come back here and post a comment about what your favourite thing is (a product, a specific part of my shop, etc). On Saturday at some point (in the afternoon, after I'm done work), each comment will be assigned a number (comment #1 = 1... comment #2 = 2, etc...) I will use randomizer.org to pick a random number, and the person that left that comment will win a set of 5 stitch markers AND a magnetic pattern marker from my etsy shop.

Make sure when leaving a comment, you leave a way for me to contact you. If you don't leave contact information, I'll generate another number.

So have at it. Let people know. It takes about two seconds and you could win these:

Etsy shop update

2009-03-18T12:04:00.005-04:00

So, I've been slighly productive this morning (about time!). I listed 2 new skeins of yarn in my etsy shop, as well as 6 sets of my new stitch markers. Some of you may have seen the yarns either on Ravelry or in person, since I've been debating whether or not to keep these two skeins or list them. They're gorgeous. I adore them. But in the end, money is money, and they needed to be listed so they can go to a good home where someone will pet them and love them and perhaps someday even knit or crochet with them. If they stayed here with me, they would be admired from afar since all I seem to be knitting lately is socks, and this is not sock yarn. Its superwash DK.

Just one skein is enough to make a pair of "Newfie Mittens", as demonstrated by Nadine of Balkan Style Blogger. Check it out, theres a link in her post to the FREE PATTERN in her blog, and also a GORGEOUS picture of some of a pair knitted from my hand dyed superwash dk merino yarn. Love!

So go, check out the new loveliness at Odd-ish Creations and let me know what you think. In honour of my new stitch markers, I'm going to be posting a giveaway for a FREE SET of stitch markers later tonight. Details will be in the following post, I must be off now, as Will and I have a busy day ahead of us. (Not really, we're going to go see The Watchmen and then head to our new favourite market, REMARK! so we can get some groceries. I need coffee... this much productivity in the morning warrants me a nice cup, I think. Little Red Roaster, here I come!

Colours!

2009-03-11T17:05:00.007-04:00

So, I told you a while ago that I'd been toying around with the idea of dyeing rovings, thanks to the wonderful and darling Colleen. So I finally got around to dyeing the roving she sent me, and am LOVING it.

I'm in dyer's withdrawl. Money has been too tight lately to buy any base yarns, so I'm temporarily on hiatus from dyeing for a little bit... I'll be ordering some more yarn to dye over the next week or so though, but probably won't RECEIVE the shipment for 2-3 weeks after that. I've found a source of organic high-twist dk merino for some nice stury sock yarn, and also another source of some superwash merino and nylon sock yarn, thanks to the help of Courtney from The Inner Stitch who is a lovely new penpal of mine (and we share the same birthday!)... Oh and check out her blog, because its definitely colourful and inspiring!

Just to remind everyone, the March Phat Fiber box will be coming out soon. Be sure to subscribe to the notifications so you know the secret sale date and time so you can get one for yourself! Head over to the Phat Fiber blog to see the video for the March box which was added today. You can see my stitch markers in it! Woohoo! The samples that were sent in from March all look AMAZING, and I've gotten to know the wonderful contributors over the last month or so, and they're all super-creative and definitely inspiring when it comes to fiber arts! I'm so glad I was invited to be a part of the sampler... not only is it a sampler, its a great community.

Oh and, happy new KNITTY day! Theres an awesome write-up by Amy about Phat Fiber in there. Also, I'm lusting over the Shipwreck shawl, and really wish I had the patience to do laceweight... someday!

Not much has been going on over here, but I'm enjoying all of this non-snow weather (even though its rain... its not snow!), knitting a ton (I'm almost done my chevron socks and a pair of socks out of my hand dyed yarn for a co-worker who asked me to knit them for his girlfriend! Pics when they're done... probably tomorrow, I hope). After that I'm not sure what I'll be working on. Maybe something for Will. Maybe something for me. I have an idea for a near pair of socks for Will but I can't decide what yarn to use for it. It'd look better with a dark-ish more solid colour and the only thing I have that I could use is a skein of merino/seacell from Gaia's Colours. I kind of wanted them to be for me... but I should share the yarn love. I have TONS of sock yarn for me ;)

Off to knit or read or procrastinate and play Bomberman on my DS...

EDIT: Adding another picture, I rebraided the yellow roving. I think I prefer dyeing it out of the braid because the colour saturates deeper. I'm a beginner, so this is probably a "duh" moment, but I definitely still love the other one I did:

stitch marker love!

2009-03-04T21:25:00.004-05:00

Okay, so I know I already wrote a review of the Phat Fiber box, but I wanted to share one of my favourite things out of the entire box (aside from the fudge from J.D. Melaine but sadly that didn't last more than five minutes... Oh and just to warn you... Phat Fiber is becoming a huge part of my life right now, so you'll likely hear a lot about it in the coming months ;)

One of my favourites out of the box was the Infinity freshwater pearl stitch marker from The Twice Sheared Sheep. The stitch marker is what drew me to the sample immediately... as you can see its totally gorgeous. But then when I touched the yarn I fell in love! Its recycled extra fine laceweight merino, in the colour "wine", and you would not BELIEVE how soft this yarn is!

At first I wasn't sure how the stitch marker would work out, as its a little bit big, and I don't really like HUGE stitch markers normally, but it sits well in knitting, as you can see from the picture of the start of my gusset (ugh I cannot WAIT for these socks to be finished so I can just wear them!), and the stitch marker BEHAVES. It doesn't snag. Its perfect! I want more more more!

Check out her etsy shop, The Twice Sheared Sheep, to see many of her other products! Not only does she have very cool and gorgeous stitch markers (which I plan to buy another set of sometime soon!), but she has recycled yarn, fiber related greeting cards, beaded row counters, gift sets and more. Its definitely been added to my
etsy favourites for the future.

Sneak Peek: my March PHAT FIBER samples

2009-03-01T16:03:00.006-05:00

Ladies & Gentlemen (mostly ladies!), I present to you, the Odd-ish Creations samples for the March Phat Fiber box:

These are my new "itty bitty sock & lace stitch markers" that I will soon be offering in my shop. I am kick-starting them in the Phat Fiber box and will be posting a whole bunch very soon in my etsy shop. Stay tuned!

P.S. Yes, I know I'm a post-whore today. I'm in the mood to blog, I guess. I'm going to try to actually use my blog more in the future. If I can find the time amidst this mess that I call a life.

Pen Review: Pilot Hello Kitty Cap LE Hi-Tec-C

2009-03-01T15:05:00.008-05:00

So as you all know, I'm a big fan of pens. If you are a new reader, or stumbled upon my blog by chance, NOW you know this ;) Thanks to the joys of facebook and the JetPens group over there, I was sent one of these lovely Pilot Hello Kitty Cap Limited Edition Hi-Tec-C's to review. Thanks to the likes of The Pen Addict, I already knew that Hi-Tec-C's were great, AND I have not one but TWO Hi-Tec-C Coleto multi pens (with three inks in each), so I am privy to the wonderfulness (yes, I make up words) of the Hi-Tec-C family.

Of course I jumped on the chance at being able to review one, and the fact that its a limited edition Hello Kitty pen... yes please! Now, for anyone that knows me "IRL" knows that I'm a big kid, and I love bright, and coloruful things. I'm not that girly though... Hello Kitty just isn't my "style", you'd think... but I'll be honest with you. When I was a kid (and a teenager), I LOVED Hello Kitty. Heck, even in college. I have MANY Hello Kitty items around my apartment that you'd be surprised at. One of my college classmates was from Japan and every time she went home, she'd bring me more Hello Kitty themed items, especially pens and pencils. Lucky me! I was swimming in the stuff.

So, the pen I got in the mail from JetPens is aqua blue and has a cute Charmmy Kitty figuring on top. Adorable! I was sent a 0.3mm pen, there is also a 0.4mm pen available from JetPens. With my use of the Coleto pens, I think I've come to the conclusion that I do prefer the 0.4mm pens for writing, but I like the 0.3mm ones for drawing, and other things. I've actually been using this pen to carry along with me in my knitting bags, since I can make little pattern notes on my teeny tiny Post-Its and keep track of what row I'm on, etc.

I must admit, when trying to write with the 0.3mm Hi-Tec-C, I find the ink sometimes doesn't flow right away, or at least, not how it should be. With a half-secong of scribbling on a piece of paper, it gets the ink flowing properly. I think that might have to do with how thin the tip of the pen is. It makes sense. I have the same problem with my Uni-ball Signo Bits with their incredible 0.18mm tip that I've reviewed in the past. But you know what? I'm okay with doing this. Any excuse to scribble or doodle more is fine by me. It doesn't do it enough that I'm annoyed by it, and its not like it stops working altogether, just the lines are a bit lighter than they should be.

Overall, I'm quite happy with the pen in general, and who doesn't love a touch of cuteness? Whats really great is the figurines on the top come off (see second photo), so they can be used on other Hi-Tec-C pens once your ink runs out... which it will because I guarantee if you have one of these pens, it'll be what you're grabbing the most out of your pencil case. The variety of colours alone attract me to the this line of pens. Good job, Pilot, for making another great pen, and thank you to JetPens for sending me this pen to review.

Sewing Night!

2009-03-01T11:43:00.008-05:00

So, I know I have a JetPens post to do about the Pilot Hello Kitty Cap Limited Edition Hi-Tec-C Gel Ink Pen (*phew!*), which I may even do later today while I have daylight to take photos through my window (the photos I've taken of the written page were really crappy)...

Anyway, today's blogpost is about SEWING! On Friday evening, Will and I went over to Nadine's (of the Balkan Style blog) house. First we stopped at an AMAZING little market that somehow Will and I had never been to, called Remark. So much foody goodness! We ended up getting broccoli for 99c for two heads, some Tofurky (yay for vege goodness!), and some asparagus. Yum.

When we got to Nadine's adorable house, we sat around for a bit while Nadine prepared dinner (and denied our help with it!), and while cooking, we looked at Sabrina Ward Harrison books, knit a small amount (actually I frogged more than I knit on Friday, eek), showed off projects, etc. Dinner was a lovely broccoli and mushroom quiche, with a yummy salad, and Will's oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips, raisin, ginger and cinnamon. Yum.

After dinner began the sewing marathon! We didn't really have anything particular in mind other than "WE WANT NEW PROJECT BAGS!"... so we were looking at bags that she already had (she had some ADORABLE bags made by her friend) and based them loosely off of that. We ended up making three bags in total in various fabrics in the style that I just pictured. (I'm not showing the other two because well, one is Nadine's and at her house, and the other matches but is for a swap partner so I don't want to give anything away!) Nadine did most of the sewing, I did some ironing and cutting... I'm not so good with the sewing machine thing. We don't get along at all.

After sewing we were playing with beads (or rather, I was showing Nadine how to make stitch markers since she had everything she needed to make them but just didn't know how), and then decided it was late, so we should probably make our way home. We didn't have enough of sewing, so we decided that Saturday night we needed ROUND TWO!

Yesterday afternoon we were picked up by Kat, and after a quick stop at a grocery store to pick up buns, went to Nadine's who was busy making dinner for us all (awwe!). She made another lovely quiche, some potato and leek soup (with lovely beautiful leeks from Remark!), salad AND apple crisp for dinner (omnomnom!). So yummy, again.

After dinner commenced the sewing marathon again. Kat had left as she wasn't feeling up to par (hope you're feeling better, darling!), so it was just Nadine and I. She had pre-cut and matched some beautiful fabrics to make lovely little zipper pouches, inspired by my new (but not well-put-together... compared to ours!) Namaste pouche. So we made those, with the help of my dear William who hand sewed the lining into the pouches. Did I ever mention that his parents used to have a leather-work Highland-wear factory and he's pretty crafty himself? Oh and he's done stained glass before too? I've bagged me a craftster-man. Oh and HE KNITS! Aren't you all jealous?):

After that, I really wanted to try a sock project bag (pattern courtesy of Crazy Lanea!), which we'd thought Friday would just be far too complicated for us to figure it out... IT WASN'T! It was super easy and our favourite out of all of the bags we'd made.

Its made of gorgeous fabric scraps... its reversible, the perfect size, neat construction, etc. Its cute! CUTECUTECUTE! (and the current inside fabric, the green is Kaffe Fassett Fabrics! The current outside is just some Fabricland fabric Nadine had (and I only know that since it was printed on the white strip around the edge). I just really love the bag. *swoonyswoonsoon*.

Of course when we got home I rearranged my bags, and started using this one IMMEDIATELY, while Will was finishing sewing the last of the pouches (and redoing the black and white one since he accidentally sewed the lining in inside out, oops). So TA DA... here is my new bag setup:

Thanks for all of your help (and sewing!), Nadine! I lovelovelove my new bags. So now its time to actually knit and read for a bit... In case you were interested, I'm currently reading The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennet, on the recommendation of Teabird. Happy Weekend!

Phat Fiber! (and a bunch of other stuff, too)

2009-02-25T17:40:00.017-05:00

So, I'm not 100% sure I've mentioned this before... cos you know, I don't blog often anymore (if anyone can figure out how to add about 5 or 6 more hours in a day so I can do more and still get enough sleep, PLEASE, let me know)... but in mid January I was asked to be a part of a group called Phat Fiber. Jessie, the group's founder, can say it best herself in the Phat Fiber blog:

The Phat Fiber Sampler box is a way for independent fiber, yarn and related needlecraft companies and artisans to promote their products through a tactile goodie box that goes on sale once monthly. Our contributors get exposure while the consumers get to handle and experiment with products before making larger purchases.

You can also find out more at the website, www.phatfiber.com. So anyway, I participated in the February box, and will be also in the March box (and hopefully April, May, June, etc... you get the point!). So, I am posting because I am SUPER EXCITED that I got my Phat Fiber contributor's box today:

And I'm crazy enough to make a list of ALL of the samples I got in my box (in no particular order, I just dumped them all over my desk and put them in as I grabbed them):

Local Gringos sent Happy Hands goats milk & shea butter "Tea & Roses" handcream, YUM!
Buttermilk & Honey sent Spoonin' Time chocolate dipped coffee spoon! I had this with a hot chocolate while writing this, and wow, I've gotta say... so tasty!
Extreme Spinning sent a felted bead kit with instructions, and a beautiful business card
SLV Folk Arts & Fiber Fest sent an adorable mini project bag AND a magnet AND some hand dyed BFL locks from Poly Art Girl
Knit It Up - sock yarn stationary! card + envelope, great printing, and I love mine. Its almost personalized with Sock yarn doesn't count. written on it.
Avalon Fiber Arts sent in a pretty pattern for worsted socks, called "Berries"
Ganiggle Knits sent in a pattern for "Under The Rose" fingerless gloves. These are gorgeous!
Hags Funky Fibers sent in samples of recycled/reclaimed yarn
Fire Lizard Studios sent in a sample of pretty hand dyed sock yarn in the colourway "love"
Twisted Fiber Yarns sent in a sample of merino yarn in colourway Aurora-Leaf
Teresa Levite Studio sent in "fairy dusty" sock yarn
Twice Sheared Sheep sent in a BEAUTIFUL skein, 90 yards of recycled merino laceweight in the colourway "wine". So soft and squooshy and lovely, and I want a cocoon knit out of it please! AND along with that sent in a beautiful stitch marker, the "infinity fresh water pearl stitch marker. Lovelovelove.
We Love Thor sent in an itty bitty adorable piece of roving (twisted on itself to look like a mini skein!)... 100% BFL in colourway "chocolate strawberry cookies". Will (my darling fiance) commented that this colour looks exactly like what its called. Its gorgeous.
Snowberry & Lime sent in a sample of handspun soy silk. This is so soft and gorgeous, and I want a cocooon knit out of this too, please.
The Unique Sheep sent in a mini skein of sock yarn in colourway "Posey"... it reminds me of Easter and spring time, and makes my cold bones ache for warmth and colour and spring. Go away, snow!
Quite Nice sent in a crochet sample in pretty colours
Feathers & Fleece Farm sent in some BEAUTIFUL washed natural yearling mohair curls. So gorgeous and actually reminds me of Blackie's curls. I bet I could wash, card, and spin his fur... but who would want cockapoo yarn?
Sheeps of Egyptian Cotton (clever name! I love it!) sent in some samples of Isis cotton yarn, hand spun and hand dyed. So soft for cotton! Lovely!
In Stitches sent in a lovely row counter. This will DEFINITELY be useful when I get around to lace knitting (if...)
Natural Obsessions sent in a full 1oz braid of GORGOUS red and white merino/tencel roving. Love this, and its so soft. I keep petting it.
Abstract Fiber sent in a pretty bookmark with some soft yarn on the end of it, and on the bookmark is a beautiful pattern for a "Lace Slip Neck Wrap"
JD Melaine sent in a GENEROUS soft gooey hunk of chocolate fudge. Oh wow, I think I'm in love. I split this with Will (he got about 20% of it, and I got about 80%, hehe)... it was so tasty! Seriously! I want about 20 lbs of this, right on my arse please.
Spinning Sisters sent in an ickle piece of roving (twisted like a mini skein!) of merino in pinks and whites... pretty!

Such a great list, and this doesn't even include the TONS of business cards, coupon codes, etc, that I got... (sorry guys, I just am burnt out of staring at my screen and trying to link everything! Ha! If I have a broken link, let me know and I'll edit it.) One of the things I love about the Phat Fiber box is that everybody gets a DIFFERENT box. The contributors get to decide how much they want to contribute, so everyone gets something different. It keeps people interested, I think.

So, EVERYONE... go check out Phat Fiber RIGHT AWAY! Be sure to sign up for the mailing list, because you'll be let in on the secret sale date of the boxes (usually mid-month). This month there were two times on the sale date, and the boxes sold out in 5 minutes and 2 minutes respectively. Wowee! Fiber lovers are insane! (Including me!) Speaking of me, I'm including a picture of the samples I sent in for the February box... hopefully everyone who got one is shopping at my shop, which by the way, is stocked with tons of things I've been working on lately... hand carved stamps, yarns, hand made gift tags, etc. Go check it out!

I have tons more to write about, and I'm wired on the hot chocolate that I had while writing out that giant list... so I'll keep on going! I just have to remember what I was going to write about... Oh right, I have more pictures to share and more mail love stories to tell!

Okay, sorry. I'm back, its about half an hour later, I got sidetracked reading Penny's blog, since I haven't in ages. I won't lie to you. Not only have I not kept up on writing in my own blog, I haven't kept on READING any blogs in a long while. Once in a while I'll pop by and read one that I think of at the time, but I just can't keep up. I've been too busy!

So as I mentioned earlier (I think? Sorry my brain is adled, my shifts this week start at 6:15am, and I'm on day 4 of 7 right now, ugh. I'm exhausted, today was a GREAT mail day. Not only did I get my Phat Fiber, but I got a letter, a project bag and dpns (from two different people from a group I'm in on Ravelry), and a SWAP PACKAGE! OH EM GEE! It is such an awesome swap package and i'm so super duper happy with it, so here, I present to you lovely blog readers, is a picture of my wonderful swap package from the lovely Katrina in Ottawa:

She sent me a skein of Malabrigo sock yarn, a skein of mystery yarn (hoping she can clear up what it actually is!), 2 16" 2.0mm HiyaHiya circs for socks, a box of Lindt chocolates (which may or may not be half gone already... just saying), an ADORABLE white and light green project bag that I love, an entertaining letter, and some treats for Blackie. Thank you, Katrina, since I know you've stalked my blog to send me lovely surprises! Also, Blackie thanks you for the nomnoms.

Also today I received my first issue of the brand spankin' new Handknit Heroes comic book. Yes folks... a comic book about knitting heroes. If you don't already know about this, you NEED to go check it out, so you can still get episode one in your yearly subscription! And what a great price, $20 for the year! The books come out (as far as I can tell) four times a year.

Oh and yesterday, I also got a package from a lovely girl named Karin from Rhode Island (from the same Ravelry group) who off of my wishlist sent me a beautiful project bag and an Ashford NIDDY NODDY! I now have a Niddy Noddy! LOVE LOVE LOVE. What a nice surprise! I actually used the Niddy Noddy last night to rewind a skein of laceweight yarn that I dyed, and wowee, my arm hurt so much for a while! At one point I thought maybe my arm would turn bionic... you know, that would have been pretty cool... (Am I losing my mind? Yes. Yes I am.)

So what else have I been up to?, you ask. (Or maybe not). I've been dyeing yarn, carving stamps, making gift tags, working my butt off at work, knitting a ton of socks, writing letters, etc.... AND my wonderful darling friend Colleen from Iowa sent me a wonderful package a few weeks ago that included some bare merino roving (2 x 4oz. braids, and an extra little bit to practise on)... the deal is I dye up both 4oz. braids, one for me and one for her. I send them back to her, and she spins them into yarn and sends back my hand spun yarn out! So I thought this was a great idea and something fun for us, so above you can see what I dyed up for her, and below you can see the yarn that Colleen spun. We've fittingly nicknamed it our Love Child. What do you think? I personally love it. But I'm probably slighly biased. Oh and, Will and I aer *hopefully* going to be making a trip to Iowa this June to go and visit Colleen AND go to the Iowa Sheep and Wool Festival! Squee! Keep your fingers crossed for me. This will (sadly) replace our annual NYC trip in April since we're too poor to go this April. Money is just too darn tight.

The last thing I'm going to write about and share a picture of is my current WIP. Since I've taken this picture I've finished the first sock and started the second, but I am too lazy to take an updated picture right now. Theres no pattern, its just a bunch of things thrown together... the basic sock construction is Wendy Knits Toe-Up Socks With a Difference, and the pattern is from The Daily Skein's Cruiser Mitts (I made a pair for Will for Christmas), and then at the cuff, I just did a picot hem bind off, which is awesome. I've been bitten by the sock bug and all I've knit since the start of 2009 is socks socks and more socks. BUT thats ok with me. Oh and I just lied. I knit a cowl too:

Once this exhausting week is over, I have Friday evening to look forward to. The talented Nadine of Balkan Style Bloggers and I have a sewing/crafting/knitting play date which I am very much looking forward to.

Bye!

Kat Told Me To.

2009-02-07T21:23:00.005-05:00

I'm only blogging because Kat told me to. I guess I'll show off my WIPs:

A cowl made from Louet's "Bonnie" bulky yarn, gifted to me by my lovely penpal and wonderful friend Colleen:

And a pair of socks that are almost done (one inch to go!), for a swap:

Not a whole lot has gone on lately, I've been busy working my ass off lately trying to keep up with bills and stuff. I've been on a yarn diet, but that hasn't stopped me from acquiring a ton of yarn that has been gifted to me. I'm not complaining, seriously I'm not... at my SnB I got about 17 skeins (!!!) and the lovely Colleen sent me a box full of yarn and fiber goodies (including undyed rovings and pretty alpaca yarns!... and the Louet Bonnie that I'm making my beautiful cowl from. I can't wait... warm neck! Not that my neck is cold, since Colleen also sent me a BEAUTIFUL handknit scarf, the Kata/Felicity Scarf (how fitting!)

I'm not sure what else to write about right now... I'll try to keep this updated regularly. Kat has demanded a few posts ;)

Welcome, 2009!

2009-01-13T19:15:00.006-05:00

Hello world! Happy 2009 to everyone! Wishing you all a healthy and happy, creativity-filled 2009. There isn't much to report here so far, other than hating winter (I don't even think "hate" is a strong enough word in this case, seriously!), being sick (ear infection, ugh!) and working my ass off. Oh and being poor (so uh... see that little donate button over there? If you're feeling generous ;)...)

Christmas was lovely, everyone spoiled everyone else, and everybody loved the knitted items I gave them, yay! I just finished a pair of socks for my Uncle George, who was unable to make it to my mom's for Christmas this year... so I'll be mailing those shortly. They're lovely, I think!

Speaking of knitting, I'm currently working on some toe-up socks for myself using some awesome bright yarn that the lovely Nad sent me... its called Tausendschon, and its from an indie dyer in Germany. Its so lovely. I call them my PARTY SOCKS. They remind me of a candy store, and thats something to party about, isn't it? I am in love with the yarn, seriously! I'm hoping to turn the heel tonight, wish me luck, I may need it!

Other than that, I've been dyeing yarns, and posting random stuff on my etsy shop. Mostly because I've done a bit of this and that lately, and well, as I mentioned already, I'm poor. So go! Have a look! Buy stuff! (If you want...)

L'chaim!

Pen Review: Uni-ball Signo bit 0.18

2008-12-21T20:13:00.005-05:00

Another review for a wonderful JetPens.com review for the Uni-ball Signo bit 0.18. What the heck can I say about this pen that you can't see from my pictures? Its truly wonderful!

From the JetPens website:

Introducing the world's thinnest gel pen...in new colors! The Signo Bit is the latest contender in Japan's race to make the thinnest pen. The tip is so small you can write words on a grain of rice... New colors, same amazing 0.18 mm microscopic tip.

As you can see from the above picture, this is true. It writes on grains of rice! Just so you know, the top grains are arborio rice (to make risotto), and the bottom grain is Minute Rice. Of course, the pen isn't really MEANT to write on rice, so it takes a little effort to get them to ACTUALLY write on the rice, but as you can see, its possible! Its a neat party trick though, I guess! Now what the heck am I going to do with this rice... ;)

The pens lay down a nice super thin line, but my only complaint with it is you have to be using the right paper. If the paper isn't the greatest quality, the pen is a little sharp and will TEAR the paper. But honestly, if you're as much of a pen snob as I am... you have nice paper, and its not really a huge issue. It writes perfectly in a Moleskine notebook, which is what I use 90% of the time when I'm testing pens and writing for my own purposes.

One of the really great things about the Signo bit is that it comes in a whole bunch of colours:

black

blue

blue-black

emerald green

fuschia

light blue

light purple

lime green

mandarin orange

orange

pink

purple

red

sky blue

So, my take on the pen? I love it. I've had a blast drawing with them. I bought some from JetPens in a few colours, and then they sent me a blue one to review... just so you can see it, heres some art I've done with them:

Neglectful.

2008-12-13T11:31:00.010-05:00

Yes, yes. Thats what I am. A neglectful blogger. Will you ever forgive me, my dear fans? My loyal readers? (All two of you!) hehe. Well, I'm not letting myself knit OR write (two things I REALLY need to do lately) until I write an actual blog post. So... heres about a thosuand updates (or at least five) crammed into one. With pictures and everything!

With Christmas just around the corner (almost literally) as most knitters probably are, I've been overdoing it just a little. Okay, a lot. I have a lot of WIPs, but thankfully I can say I have a lot of FOs too. (For non-knitters... WIPs are "works in progress" and FOs are "finished objects"). Woohoo! And I have pictures to prove it!

The WIPs
Here are my current WIPs. Theres a pair of fingerless gloves (my own pattern!) for my mom, socks for my mom (one finished, one ready for the heel to be turned), and the start of a pair of socks for my stepdad. Oh and the big smooshy ball of Paton's Classic Wool in the background is going to be a pair of mittens for Will. Oh and then theres going to be a pair of socks for Will... and then something for my Uncle George (which will be sent to him after Christmas probably). I'm a busy girl. Also not pictured is the Multi-Directional Scarf for my niece, which is coming along slowly but surely, but that doesn't need to be finished until January. Its really pretty though!

The FOs
Heres some of the FOs that I have for Christmas. From top to bottom, theres a ribbed toque for my stepdad out of The Fibre Co.'s "Organik", a cabled scarf ("Palindromes" I think) for my sister-in-law that Will made out of Bernat Satin, a brioche ribbed scarf for my brother out of Rowan Felted Tweed, and then another brioche ribbed scarf for my nephew out of Moda-Dea's Tweedle-Dee. Lots done, still lots more to do, isn't that always how it goes?

Aside from the knitting, I'd gotten sucked into the Twilight series for a few weeks. I finished all four books in almost no time, and I feel silly writing about it. I know they're silly teen fic romancey novels, but they sucked me right in, I couldn't help it!!! Now that I'm done all four books, I can go back to things as normal and stop ignoring the Christmas knitting and the letter writing. Speaking of letter writing, I have a huge stack (ok not huge... 5 letters) of letters waiting to be responded to. So if you're waiting to hear from me, don't feel you've been forgotten. I've just been busy with everything else going on!

Speaking of everything else going on, I'm going to take the time right now to give you my official position on WINTER: I HATE IT. I hate snow. I hate cold. I hate wind. I hate work in the winter time. I hate hate hate hate hate it. And yes, I know hate is a strong word, but in this case it almost doesn't seem strong enough. I'd rather be a shut-in/hermit for the winter, but unfortuantely bills need to be paid and stuff needs to get done. Blargh! GO AWAY SNOW!

Hrm.... what else has been keeping me busy? Oh! My new toy! Well, not really a toy... my new stunningly beautiful phone! A Blackberry Bold. Mmm, I love it! It was offered by Rogers customer retentions (since they effed up my account so much). Will upgraded it for me as an early Christmas present, and I couldn't be more in love with any other cellphone ever. And of course I had to knit a quick little cell-sock for it. Its knit out of a mini skein of Opal's Harry Potter yarn that Nad sent me. Isn't it adorable? I like how the yarn worked out for it. Woohoo!

Wow, nice segueway... stuff people have given me (since I'm tired of writing "OH SPEAKING OF WHICH!..."), a wonderful lady that I work with (who I often refer to as my Knitting-Mom since she taught me how to knit over three years ago) gave me a huge stack of knitting magazines and books she doesn't use. She shocked me at work when she brought them in, I could barely hold the bag on my own, and somehow she dragged it along with her on the bus. So sweet of her. I have yet to go through them all but look at the stack!!! I think I'll spend an hour or two this afternoon going through them once I get a bit more knitting and writing done. I have to be responsible and use my time well today, and not fritter it away.

The only other thing thats gone on really is Will and I went to see Hawksley Workman at The Music Hall here in London a few weeks ago (the end of November, actually). He was wonderful! And a great Canadian band Hey Rosetta! opened for him. That show was droolworthy and drool we did. It was one of the most fantastic shows I've ever ever EVER been to (and I was happy to share it with our darling friend Rhi by calling her on the cell when her favourite songs played so she could hear them too!) It was so wonderful and we had the greatest time. So, I'll leave you with this wonderfully colourful and fun video of his "Jealous of Your Cigarette" and I need to go write and knit some more...

Dinner Bell Show & Tell

2008-11-15T17:36:00.004-05:00

Well, I made a really yummy dinner, so I thought I'd share. Its steamed broccoli with parmesan in the background and the front runner is Israeli couscous with, well, stuff. Theres onion, mushrooms, zucchini, garlic, crumbled herbed tofu, diced tomatoes, and a sort of everything-in-the-fridge type of sauce... theres a little honey mustard, a little red pepper sauce, a little tamarind sauce, veggie broth, nutritional yeast (my new favourite cooking staple!)... and it all blended together REALLY nicely to make an excellent dinner.

Show & Tell

2008-11-14T22:45:00.007-05:00

Just playing around in my moleskine with my new Copic Multiliner that I got in a lovely swap package from Trinette via Ravelry's Pen Fetish group swap. I've been doodling a lot more lately, but not as much as I've been knitting. Currently I've started a new knitting project, Squirrelly Swedish Mittens (Ravelry link) by Elli Stubenrauch. Heres my progress so far:

Yeah, that Buckley's in the corner of the pic means I've been getting over a flu. Or trying to, rather. Its been a week and I just want it gone now! And with that, its time for bed. Or reading and then bed. Whatever.

pen review: Kuretake Fudegokochi Brush Pens

2008-11-11T18:13:00.007-05:00

So in my last JetPens order I purchased three of these lovely brush pens to try out. Normally I'm not a fan of traditional brush pens, since I find them hard to draw with since the tip is so bendy (technical term!). Copic brush markers are nice to colour with but thats a whole other post someday...

So, these are the Kuretake Fudegokochi brush pens. They are $3.15 each and are wonderful for what they are.

My favourite is the super fine black one, since the tip is nice and hard (plastic, not felt), and its great to draw with. The two regular ones I bought (black and grey) are better for calligraphy writing, instead of drawing, in my opinion. I don't generally do a lot of calligraphy but I think I may have to start. I love how my test page came out with the brush pens. Heres a closeup of the calligraphy:

I'm looking forward to playing around more with the regular black and grey pens doing some calligraphy, and using the super fine one for drawing.

Definitely check these out.

Random Facts Meme

2008-11-09T13:12:00.004-05:00

I’ve been tagged by Nadine of Balkan Style Bloggers for a Random Facts Meme. This could be interested.

HERES THE RULES: Link to the person who tagged you. Post the rules on your blog. Write six random things about yourself. Tag six people at the end of your post. Let each person know he or she has been tagged. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Random Facts About Me:

1) I listen to so many different types of music, I can't really say what a favourite "genre" is. I ilsten to everything from 90s music to Massive Attack to Mark Ronson, to Justice to Tom Waits. My laptop is a very eclectic mix of music.

2) I am a very anti-social person. My knitting group is probably the best thing to happen to me to get me out of the house once in a while. I can't stand concerts or bars or crowds. Ick!

3) It took me ages to get on Ravelry even though everyone and their moms were telling me to sign up. I have addiction problems (uhh, yarn, pens, stationery, penpalling, etc) and I didn't want ANOTHER website to be addicted to. Now its top of my arsenal.

4) I've never been happier in my life than I am just now. I've also never been as poor as I am now. Damn addictions!

5) I went to college for "Art and Design Fundamentals - Graphic Design Production". I decided halfway through that graphic design just wasn't for me. My art is something more personal. As much as I'd LOVE to sell some art (check my etsy shop to see what I currently have for sale please! Buy stuff! I'm poor!), the art that I do is what I WANT to do. Its not something that someone told me to do and then told me to redo and then told me to redo again. I just can't handle that when it comes to my artwork.

6) I've only been knitting for about 3 years. Maybe 4 years. I think I've learned a lot since then. I'm not a super knitter, I don't do lace, I don't do afghans, I don't do fancy socks (much), but I enjoy the process of knitting more than having the knitted objects. I've knit a few pairs of socks for myself, but I rarely wear them. I'll definitely wear the Noro knee socks, but I am scared I'll ruin stuff. The knitted item I wear the most (that I made) is my Star-Crossed Slouchy Beret.

I'm not going to tag anyone. If you want to do this, do it. Let me know if you do though because I want to read it!

Super Happy Fun Day!

2008-11-09T11:35:00.011-05:00

Well, Friday was one of the most fun days I've had in a while. Aside from the doctor's appointment in the morning that I need to rant about - my appointment was scheduled for 9:30am. My docter sauntered into her office at 10am, and I got to finally see her at 10:30am. How unprofessional is that? So annoying! Anyway...

After the doctor's appointment (which was less stressful than I thought it would be), Will and I drove back to London, picked up our friends Isa, and after a quick stop at Michaels (yay for coupons!) for a few things I can't mention here (Christmas pressies!), picked up Liz at Starbucks along with some drinks and headed north out of London. After a quick stop at Crunican Brothers apple orchard. Mmm. Will and I have eaten TONS of apples lately. There, you can get 20lbs of apples for less than $10. These are "hail damaged", which means they just don't look as pretty as the apples in the store, but they are fresh and haven't been in storage for months and months. We ended up getting some Mutsu apples, honey mustard, and some maple lollipops. Oh and some salt and vinegar flavoured local peanuts. Yum.

From there we went to our first FUN STOP destination, Alpaca Acres. It is a lovely alpaca farm owned by Annie & Dan, who are both lovely. We played with the alpacas a bit, pet a few of them, and learned a ton. After, we went into her little shop and drooled and petted the yarn for ages. I decided on a skein of Jesse Boo, which is 80% Jesse the Rockstar, and 20% bamboo:

After Alpaca Acres, the four of us stopped for some lunch at A&W (their veggie burgers are AMAZING, actually and onion rings, YUM!). After lunch we headead BACK to London to pick up the lovely Kat who was stuck at work all day and couldn't come with us. After picking up Kat, we headed BACK out passed Stratford to New Hamburg for Friday Night Knit Night at Shall We Knit? After getting lost because of improperly labelled roads and having our rental car's mirror clipped by some asshole busting ass through an amber light (there was no damage, the mirror just snapped forward, it was freaky!), we made it there.

I settled on some pretty yarns that I just couldn't pass up... a skein of Colinette Jitterbug in the colourway "blue parrot" (#16), and a skein of Malabrigo Sock "Abril". Lovelovelove my purchases, but it took me a while to decide. Plus I got a package of super low tack "highlighter" tape, for help with charts/patterns. Not that I need it, since I don't use charts much, but oh well. It was pretty and bright colours. Woohoo!

We sat, talked, drank tea, ate snacks, and knit. Liz finished her awesome February Lady Sweater which looks FABULOUS. This was all after a struggle with a Debbie Bliss skein from HELL on the ball winder that was tangled on itself and had a knot in it, etc. I worked on my Noro knee socks ALL DAMN DAY (woohoo!) and I am happy to tell you all that I AM ALMOST FINISHED THEM! Last night I finished the two rounds of fair isle (fair aisle?) when Will and I went to Coffee Culture to hang out for a little bit, and today I'll finish the 2" of 2x2 rib, so I can wear them Monday maybe. Woohoo! I'll post pictures once I'm done them, of course.

Once we left Shall We Knit at 10:20, we stopped in Stratford at Boston Pizza, and all had some great food for dinner. By the time we got back to London (while listening to Richard Cheese on the way home) and dropped everyone off, Will and I got home at 1am. Dead tired!

So that was the super happy fun day! Ta da!

SPOILER ALERT!!!

2008-11-09T00:13:00.005-05:00

COMING SOON: A post in which details a really busy day which included a doctor's appointment, a trip to an alpaca farm, another trip to a yarn shop, a Friday night knit night, and a late trip to Boston Pizza.

Happy Election Day, America.

2008-11-04T09:59:00.005-05:00

As liberal and extremely left-leaning as I am, I'm not going to post propaganda and whine and bitch about something that doesn't affect me directly, but I just want a post a message to my dear American friends on this fine election day:

Please make the right choice for your country, and for the rest of the world. This choice affects more than you think. If you think your vote doesn't count, it does. It really does. Make a difference for your country, and for the world.

Thank you.

Uni-ball Signo DX 0.38mm from JETPENS.COM!!!

2008-10-24T11:54:00.006-04:00

So as you all know, I'm a huuuuuge fan of pens. Colourful pens. And drawing with colourful pens. Thanks to The Pen Addict I was able to get in touch with JetPens.com about becoming a reviewer for some of their new products coming out.

I placed an order with them recently, and was sent along two sample pens to review. So, here, ladies & gents, is my review of the Uni-ball Signo DX. JetPens were really great, they let me pick the size of tip I wanted (I chose the 0.38mm), and two colours. I'm on an ORANGE kick lately for some reason (maybe because its autumn?), so I picked "golden yellow" and "mandarin orange".

The colours of the pens were PERFECT and exactly what I expected them to be based on the pictures (sometimes when you look at pen colours online, they just don't turn out to be what you expected, I've had that problem in the past with fountain pen inks). Of course out of my entire order (pictures to follow), these two were the first that I grabbed to try out.

Immediately, I was really impressed with them. You know sometimes when you get a new pen and you have to scribble a bit before it works? Not the case with these at all, they wrote IMMEDIATELY as I put them to paper and they lay down a nice, thin, clean line. The gel ink doesn't "smoosh" into the paper and make a thicker line than expected either like a lot of gel pens do and theres no gel-ink mess. They dry quite fast. As far as gel pens go, I would definitely use these again for writing and drawing... and if you know me well, you know that I write a lot and draw/doodle a lot.

I definitely think in my next JetPens order, I'll be ordering the rest of the set of these pens. For just $2.25 each and AWESOME colour selection for doodling (aside from the two I got, theres "lime green", "pure pink", "sky blue" and "baby pink") they are definitely worth it. Go buy some now!

As for the rest of my order, I have a lot of playing to do:

"Mommy, pay attention to me NOW!"

2008-10-24T01:12:00.002-04:00

My poor Bubby McGoos, he was laying on my lap as I was playing DS and then all of a sudden decided I wasn't paying enough attention to him. Poor Bubby!

Back From the Dead

2008-10-23T11:24:00.004-04:00

Hello, hello! I've not had much to say recently, and have been quite busy. Currently busy working on a wholesale order of my magnetic pattern keepers. Prior to that was a trip to Ottawa for Canadian Thanksgiving. Prior to that, Will was in the UK for a week (sadness), and prior to that... well, I'm not 100% sure, but I was busy!

I've been busy with knitting as well. Most people that read this blog are either on my flickr or Ravelry, so feel free to look at pics at either of those places, but I've recently knit two berets (one for me and one for a dear friend on flickr Biffybeans), three pairs of socks (for Will, my mother, and myself), two scarves (for Christmas presents). Currently I'm going to be starting another pair of socks (likely for myself), and another scarf (another Christmas present).

Currently I've been off sick for the last couple of days. I went to the doctor yesterday and have some sort of gastro-intestinal virus of some sort... basically the flu in my tummy. Not happy. Its just painful.

I'm going to try to keep this thing updated... I'll be getting a JetPens order soon and am going to be reviewing one of their new pens, so keep an eye out for that.

Until then, I'll leave you with a piece of the German apple crumble cake that I baked for Will's birthday (which was the 20th of this month)... it is lovely and goes very well with chai tea.

Blog Award!

2008-09-19T22:27:00.005-04:00

So, I was nominated for this award by the lovely teabird for this award. Her and I met on Ravelry through a penpal swap, and haven't stopped writing to each other since, she's lovely :)

So heres the rules of this award:

The fine print:

1. Post the award on your blog.
2. Add a link (in this case, links) to the person/people who awarded you.
3. Nominate at least 4 others.
4. Leave a comment on their blog so they can pass it on.

So, my turn to make some nominations:

Musings & Rants - Will's blog. Yeah, yeah. I'm not being biased because he's my fiance, I swear! He's actually a really great writer, and his blog is always very interesting to me.

Balkan Style - "We're two friends that read blogs for crafty inspiration and friendly competition! And don't give us none of that Balkan Style yogurt!"... N of Balkan Style is one of the many creative and wonderful ladies in my knitting group (she's the one that posts most often in this blog too). All of the posts are colourful and creative and inspiring. Its just awesome.

The Pen Addict - Teabird linked me to The Pen Addict and I never looked back since. If you know me at all, you know how obsessed I am with pens, and this blog definitely feeds my addiction. Not to mention The Pen Addict is awesome, and kind (and now we're plurk friends, woohoo!) and has caused another site addiction, jetpens.com.

& last but not least, The Spiritual Evolution of the Bean is a friend I met on flickr when I first joined AGES ago. Her colourful and interesting art (especially her mandalas) is what drew me to her. She also shares a love of fountain pens (Lamys especially) and moleskines, and her blog encompasses all of these things as well as her amazing art. Seriously, amazing. Go check it out!

I wish I could chose more blogs! There are tons I love, but these four are four that I always find inspire me and make me smile and laugh, and educate me on the things that I am already interested in. It took me almost a week to narrow down the list of blogs I posted. I hope you all enjoy them as much as I do.

So, besides all that, HAPPY INTERNATIONAL TALK-LIKE-A-PIRATE DAY!!!

(its an old pic, I don't have a lip ring anymore)

poor blog.

2008-09-15T23:08:00.000-04:00

I know its been a while. I've been stressed. Overly stressed, and greatly annoyed with certain people and certain situations.

I don't really feel like expanding on that. I'll write again when I have something to say.

Finished Brioche!

2008-08-30T21:52:00.004-04:00

I finished the brioche scarf for my brother, finally! It only took me a month. Well, it didn't really... I set it aside a few times (for weeks at a time!) It was pretty much completed while out and about, instead of at home.

The same three stitches OVER AND OVER UNTIL THE END OF TIME made it really annoying and boring to knit but I'm quite pleased with the final result (and I really hope my brother likes it, its the first of my Christmas knitting):

Now its time to start my mom's birthday bag... a felted bag (probably Knitty's French Market Bag by Polly Outhwaite. It'll be knit in the GALAWAY Irish worsted (100% wool), I have two skeins in a nice pale cornflower-ish blue, and one skein in a pretyt chocolate brown.

Fire & Ice

2008-08-26T19:39:00.002-04:00

Heres the evidence of todays yarn dyeing adventure. The "fire" yarn is merino laceweight and "ice" is superwash merino sock yarn. Mmmm... so pretty. These will be up on my etsy shop soon enough (once they dry). I also used my ball winder to cake-up the other laceweight yarn I dyed, because the skeins were a bit wonky after dyeing (not sure why, all the others are fine). The colours for these are Mermaid and Honey Dew Melon:

They look absolutely beautiful though (not to toot my own horn or anything), and I really want to keep them ALL for myself! Eek!

JetPens!!!

2008-08-25T10:21:00.006-04:00

I got my JetPens order in the mail today! That was suepr fast shipping, and oh man am I excited to use these!!! I foresee a lot of Christmas shopping done at this website... Squee!

And my review:

(click to enlarge)

my very own dyed yarn!

2008-08-24T00:41:00.001-04:00

I'm a poor neglectful 'mother' to my blog. Oh well, I'm sure nobody has really missed me. After Thursday I was planning to blog about mine and Will's roadtrips (Wednesday evening we went to Ikea, and it was my first time and it was AWESOME, and Thursday we went out to St Thomas, Sparta and then Port Stanley). Will wrote all about it over at his blog so anything I could write would be repeated, so I'll send you over there to check it out if you care to read about it all. Thursday was a really incredible day though, and I think my favourite part about it was the lavender farm (Lavender Blue, so beautiful and such a wonderful little place it was!)

Anyway, today I've been quite busy dyeing yarn! I finally got my order of bare yarn (25 skeins!) and dug my hands right in. I only managed to get three skeins done, we do have an itty bitty tiny kitchen... sigh! Oh well, despite a few hiccoughs, some blue fingernails (again!) and a bit of blue countertop (though to quite Tiff, "Thats what bleach is for, right?"), everything turned out just fine. The yarn has finally dried, hanging up on our shower bar, so I took pics to post here.

I love the colours, the texture, everything! So, in the above picture, from left to right is Mixed Berries (DK merino), Mermaid (laceweight merino), and Cherry Cola (DK merino). Tomorrow I plan to dye up some sock yarn. I'm excited, and of course I'll be posting pictures here.

Thats pretty much it. Other than that, I spent today writing to my dear friend Colleen, trying to rest my back (its been hurting a lot lately) and Will and I watched Donnie Darko. I really do love that movie... it was his first time seeing it.

And now its time for bed. Zzz...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLACKIE!

2008-08-15T23:41:00.003-04:00

My little boy has turned into a man. Okay, maybe not quite, but it is his birthday today, and he turned 13. THIRTEEN! Wowee. He's an old man. Or just an angsty grumpy teenager. Sometimes hes a mixture of all that and still a puppy.

We cheated and celebrated yesterday since I worked at 6am this morning, and wasn't sure how I'd be feeling today (which is perfectly fine, evidently). So, we had a little puppy party for him, or a Bark Mitzvah, whichever you prefer. I made him a puppy cake, a peanut butter carrot cake from a pet recipes site, iced with mushed banana mixed with a wee bit of flour, vanilla, and cinnamon. HE LOVED IT. And of course he gobbled it up in about 2 seconds flat, the little piggy.

It was good fun, but his party hat didn't last long. Ah well, hes not much for stuff on his head, other than his piles of fluff, that is.

Today I worked all day, it was actually a decent day at work. I was hopped up on caffeine most of the day and knitted a ton on the brioche scarf. I'm about three quarters done it now, since I'm halfway through my second (and final) skein. Its looking quite sharp indeed, and I've gotten a lot of compliments on it. I'm pretty sure my brother will love it (its his Christmas present). And if he doesn't, well then, too bad. He'll have to pretend he loves it until he goes back home! SO THERE!

Speaking of knitted Christmas gifts, I went out yesterday to go grocery shopping and buy Blackie's birthday present (some special treats), I stopped by one of the LYSs, Needles and Pins. Its not a bad store. Okay, let me rephrase that. THEY HAVE FABULOUS YARN. My main beef with them is the customer service. The owner, more specifically. I've heard tons of horror stories about the store, and even have my own of insanely, unbelievably wretched customer service there. One time my non-knitter friend Mary Ellen and I went there (she used to knit as a child), she wanted to get back into it, and was dreaming up a sweater. She actually found a pattern book (Rowan or Debbie Bliss, I can't remember. Either way it was $30 for the book and roughly $350 for the yarn she was going to buy for it. On the spot (she's a bit crazy, but I love her for it). I told her I'd help her as much as I could (considering I've never ventured into sweater territory, but I really have no desire to just yet. Its scary!). I had a look at the pattern and managed to work out the basic premis of it in about two minutes or so, and figured I'd be able to do it if I tried.

Anyway, she went up to the clerk, who was MAYBE 20 at best, and asked her opinion. All she said was "I don't think you can do it" and turned her back to us pretending to be busy with something else. FLABBERGHASTED WE WERE! Wow. How awful is that? Another knitter in our group used to work there a few years ago, and has worse stories than that. I can't even imagine.

Anyway, I try not to go there very often (but they really do have fabulous yarns, and I could spend a grand in there in about three minutes flat). I initially went in because they'd sent out an email announcing they had the new Noro Silk Garden sock yarn. Holy hell is it fucking fabulous! (Pardon the f-bomb but thats really the only word that helps kick up the fabulous a few notches!). It feels A-MAZ-ING and I want to knit myself a cocoon of it to live in (but then people really WILL think me crazy... crazier than they already think me, that is. Anyway, after fondling it for about five minutes and trying to decide what colour I wanted I made the mistake of using my peripherals. I saw Malabrigo sock yarn. I drooled over the Malabrigo MORE than the Noro. Now as much colour as the Noro (who has more colour than Noro anyway really? Any more colour than Noro, and you just have TOO MUCH colour!) but fabulous palettes, and wow. Soft amazing kettle dyed superwash merino. I wanted to knit an inner lining for my Silk Garden cocoon with the Malabrigo! (I can safely say that merino is by far my favourite fiber).

So I ended up leaving with this beauty:

Of course it took forever to decide on just one colour and I wanted to leave the store with every skein of the stuff they had, but at $23.95 a pop, I really couldn't afford to. (I could have gotten another two skeins or so, but I did need to stop in to get some groceries after that, and I figured food is almost more important of a necessity than yarn... but the nourishment of my darling William is important. I guess... but oh... yarn... Oops, sorry, I got sidetracked.

Anyway, yes. I am insanely in love with Malabrigo sock yarn and if I wasn't already engaged, I'd consider proposing to the Malabrigo sock yarn. Seriously! (What was I mentioning about people thinking me more crazy? Oh right...)

This beautiful skein will be lovingly (or frustratingly, who knows... I tried the pattern once and gave up after less than an inch!) Lace Ribbon Scarf, thanks to the inspiration of Nadine and her gorgeous WIP Mini Maiden lace ribbon scarf. We'll see how it turns out and how I end up liking the pattern in the end. I MIGHT just have to make one for myself!

YARN DYEING PARTY!

2008-08-13T19:21:00.006-04:00

Isa from my knitting group hosted a YARN DYEING PARTY last night. Holy crap, Batman! It was such a fun time! We all brought food and had a potluck, and it was all great. I made my Greek Lasagna casserole, and there was tons of yummy stuff I can't even name it all! Isa's cousin Sina from Germany is visiting and she fried eggplant slices and made homemade tzatziki sauce (assuming I spelled that correctly) that was fabulous, There was quinoa salad, potato salad (other salads I don't remember because they had meat in them, or I just didn't eat them, sorry ladies!), some chicken pasta casserole which looks like it would have been good (if I ate meat), Kat brought some HOMEMADE cheese (or, you know, store bought, but it was old cheddar and it was really YUMMY. I generally don't like the taste of old strong cheeses either, but I wanted to eat that all night!) and some buns, etc. The lovely Isa made Pavlova (named after the Russian prima ballerina Anna Pavlova from the 1920s, Will looked that up for us all), Shelaine made a yummy cherry cheesecake... Oh so good.

Anyway, thats not the focus of this post. CONCENTRATE KATA! Geez. Okay, so the point was... YARN DYEING PARTY! The wonderful Jenny was so kind to teach everyone how to dye with Kool Aid and assists Shelaine, Isa and I with acid dyeing. I've Kool Aid dyed years before, but I did two skeins with Kool Aid and two skeins with Jacquard acid dyes. Remember the skeins of BARE yarn I posted a bit ago? Well, HERE THEY ARE NOW:

How beautiful are those!? I plan to get more into dyeing and will be posting some yarns for sale on my etsy shop soon enough (once I figure things out and order more acid dyes), so be on the lookout for that.

It was so much fun, even when the sun went down and I was being eaten alive by a bunch of bastard mosquitos. It was a blast, and I hope we can do it again sometime. (Whenever the day comes that I have a house, I plan to host dyeing, spinning and tea parties! Woohoo!)

books books and more books!

2008-08-10T21:11:00.005-04:00

(lovely mural on the wall at Starbucks)

Today was quite a lovely day. I got to sleep in and bum around in the morning, and then in the afternoon we went with Kat to Chapters. We stood in line at Starbucks FOR-EV-ER to get our drinks (its a super busy location since its attached to Chapters), picked a table, and sat down. Will and I went to peruse the books and I ended up with The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Not that I'm an omnivore anymore, but I still want to read it, its been highly recommended. I also got a 50 pack of assorted greeting cards and a 3 pack of mini notepads by ecojot.

We made our way back to Starbucks, and ran into Isa and her cousin Sina (who is visiting from Germany) there, who sat down with us for a bit. We were fortunate enough to move into the comfy leather couch area, and we sat and talked and knit (well, I did), and enjoyed each others company.

After talking about yarn dyeing for a bit, I decided since we were there I'd check out what was available as far as books about dyeing, and I ended up grabbing a book called Natural Dyeing by Jackie Crook. Its pretty damn neat, and is about all natural ways to dye your own yarn. While walking by a bargain table, I quickly snatched up a copy of You Suck by Christopher Moore (one of my favourite authors) since it was hardcover and only $7.99! Insane! So, I ended up with way more books than I intended to buy, but am happy with them either way. Like I need any more books though! Geez!

We long ago ran out of shelf space for books, so I think with the gift certificate I won from work a few days ago ($375 to Wal Mart), we'll get another shelf, and maybe some plastic storage units to go into the shelf I currently have (since the shelf I have next to my desk is SO damn unorganized. Ah well.

Time to go read a bit before bed!

Even lovers drown

2008-08-10T00:05:00.008-04:00

“A mermaid found a swimming lad,
Picked him for her own,
Pressed her body to his body,
Laughed; and plunging down
Forgot in cruel happiness
That even lovers drown.”

William Butler Yeats

I finished the mermaid painting. I'm proud of myself for actually accomplishing something amongst the rest of the crap the day through at me.

Its posted for sale here in my etsy shop.

I need monies!

2008-08-09T14:20:00.005-04:00

Remember the mandala on canvas that I painted and posted a few posts down? Well, its up for sale in my etsy shop.

I also still have some of my magnetic pattern keepers up there as well (with a lowered price, $7/pair).

Just sayin'.

Also, today I've been working on this painting:

SnB, coffee and good music.

2008-08-08T22:12:00.003-04:00

Today was a good day. Well, aside from calling in sick to work (long story). I got some much needed ME TIME though. Will was here, obviously, but he was reading on the couch (and napping) for a bit today. I started spinning with my beautiful fibers from studioloo.com. Well, I'd previously STARTED spinning, but I got a bunch more done today.

Will and I also went to SnB tonight at Starbucks. It was awesome, just a small group. We had lattes and I had an espresso brownie (yum). We were also given samples of "London Fog" which is an earl grey based drink with milk and flavour. It was yummy. They offered samples of their breakfast sandwiches as well, but they were the ones with meat on them, so we didn't get to try them. Though, Will and I have had them before (the veggie one), they aren't bad, but they aren't the greatest. Tim Horton's breakfast sandwiches are better, and my favourite is an egg and cheese McGriddle from McDonalds (aside from their hash browns, thats the only thing I'll eat from there if I can help it).

Anyway, getting off topic. We sat and knitted and talked, and it was just really nice. After that, we caught a ride home with Kat and we sat in her car outside of our building for a good 15-20 minutes just chatting afterwards. She's good people (then again the whole gang there tonight was good people). Tuesday will be fun... yarn dyeing party at Isa's Bloomin' Bog and potluck! It shall be good times. For that, I ordered a bunch of Knit Pick's "bare" stuff.

Right now I'm just enjoying whats left of my Wild Sweet Orange tea from Starbucks, and listening to some damn good music (Damien Rice, "I Remember"... fucking beautiful song. Check it out here on youtube. (The woman is Lisa Hannigan and wow shes amazing). I pulled out my Upstairs Shawl that I haven't worked on in ages, adn I should probably get started on that again. If only I could remember where I put the actual pattern printout that I have... sigh!

SELLING SOME YARN!

2008-08-06T20:05:00.017-04:00

I know most of my blog readers are knitters, and well, I have decided to sell some of my yarns. The reason I'm doing this is even though I LOVE my stash, I'm really not going to use it all up, and I am desperately trying to save up for a spinning wheel and dyeing equipment, but at the moment it just seems like that is so far away.

If I know you (in person), you can pick these up from me, or I can bring them to a knitting meetup. If I don't know you (in person or at all) and these need to be shipped, ask me for a shipping quote, and I can get you one. If you have any questions, you can comment or email me: kataish@rogers.com

FIRST COME FIRST SERVE. I'll edit this post as soon as possbile after a "sale". Also, all prices are way cheaper than the prices I paid for everything. If you don't like the price, feel free to make me an offer to consider. Please pay by paypal (I'll send you a paypal invoice). :)

On to the yarns (sold as is, from a pet friendly non smoking home, all yarns are stored AWAY from pets in platic containers, very clean!):

Araucania Magallanes

Weight: DK / 8 ply (11 wpi)
Yardage: 242 yards (221 meters)
Unit weight: 100 grams (3.53 ounces)
Gauge: 20.0 = 4 inches
Needle size: US 6 / 4.0 mm
Fibers: Wool

2 skeins in beige $15 for both skeins

CONDITION: One of the skeins has been swatched, frogged, and reballed. This skein I will wind on my ball winder prior to shipping.

Mango Moon Recycled Sari Silk

Weight: Bulky / 12 ply (7 wpi)
Yardage: 150 yards (137 meters)
Unit weight: 100 grams (3.53 ounces)
Gauge: 12.0 = 4 inches
Needle size: US 11 / 8.0 mm
Fibers: Silk

2 skeins available, $30 for both skeins (worth $40-$50 depending where you purchase these)

CONDITION: One skein was swatched and frogged, the second is untouched. These are basically matching skeins with very little variance, I will rewind the swatched skein with my ball winder prior to shipping.

Reynolds Andean Alpaca

Weight: Worsted / 10 ply (9 wpi)
Yardage: 110 yards (101 meters)
Unit weight: 50 grams (1.76 ounces)
Gauge: 20.0 = 4 inches
Needle size: US 7 - 8 or 4.5 - 5mm
Fibers: Alpaca

2 skeins available, $10 for both skeins

CONDITION: One skein has been swatched, maybe a couple of yards missing, but otherwise perfect. SUCH a beautiful emerald green colour, and this yarn is SO SOFT.

SOCK YARNS AVAILABLE:

ON Line Supersocke 100

Weight: Fingering / 4 ply (14 wpi)
Yardage: 465 yards (425 meters)
Unit weight: 100 grams (3.53 ounces)
Gauge: 30.0 - 38.0 = 4 inches
Needle size: US 1 - 2 or 2.25 - 2.75mm
Fibers: 75% wool, 25% nylon (polyamid)
Texture: Plied, 4 ply

1 skein, $10

CONDITION: untouched/brand new

Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett

Weight: Fingering / 4 ply (14 wpi)
Yardage: 230 yards (210 meters)
Unit weight: 50 grams (1.76 ounces)
Gauge: 30.0 = 4 inches
Needle size: US 0 - 2½ or 2 - 3mm
Fibers: 75% New Wool, 25% Polyamide (nylon) (machine washable)
Texture: Plied

2 skeins available, $12 (worth $20)

CONDITION: both skeins swatched, frogged and reballed. I'll wind these with my ball winder prior to shipping.

art and productivity

2008-08-04T00:48:00.004-04:00

Some artwork I've done recently (finished it yesterday). Yay for being inspired to actually do something!

Not much else has been going on recently. I just worked the last two days but I was the supervisor for the weekend. It was pretty boring. Today I started reading The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs, which is pretty damn cheesy, but overall its well-written with decent character development. You just can't seem to forget the cheese factor of it all anyway.

Tonight has been a mishmash of watching Corner Gas, catching up on Keith and the Girl, and helping Will setup his own blog to play with. We're also currently working on setting up a website for his resume/CV and glasswork portfolio. I made the main image today, last night we registered the domain name and purchased a 6 month hosting plan, which of course we'll renew when the time comes. I'll post a link when thats done, but we'll be working on it over the next few days anyway.

Time for bed. We're both trying not to nod off as we're attempting to be productive.

Sharing just a little too much...

2008-08-02T00:35:00.005-04:00

I'm feeling a little bit stressed right now, so I just wanted to rant a bit. Will is fast asleep in bed, so I left him there with the puppy for a bit... too much on my brain lately, and not sure how to handle it.

I'm really going through a phase where I need change. I have been working the same job for 6 years now, and its really getting me nowhere. I dislike it to the point where I just don't want to do it anymore. I volunteer to leave early as often as I can, to the point where as of September 1st, I lose my health benefits because I'm not working enough hours to keep them. That will be reevaluated in a year. A YEAR. I'm definitely not going to be working there in a year. If I have my way I am hoping to not be working there in a couple of months. I just can't do it anymore.

The only problem is, there aren't many other options, aside from finding a similar job with another company. I don't want a similar job, thats the whole point!

What I want is simple, but at the same time, I don't have the money to afford what I want right now. Theres a few different things I would be quite happy with, but not a damn one of them is attainable right now, and apparently Will and I have communication issues when discussing HOW we can attain the things we want. I end up in tears (thanks to stress and girly hormones, not a wonderful thing at all!), and he ends up not knowing what to say or do. Like tonight. So he fell asleep. [The worst part about right now is I need to be awake in 5 hours to go to said Job of Doom, and work all damn weekend. Yay?] And "We'll figure it out" just isn't a good answer anymore. (Don't get me wrong. I'm happy with just about everything else in my life other than the job/money situation. I've actually never BEEN happier, as far as I can recall, in regards to everything else going on in my life.)

Theres a handful of things I'd love to do but just can't right now:

1) start my own yarn store/knitting co-operative.

2) start a vegetarian cafe/whole and natural foods cafe and eatery with Will.

3) get a spinning wheel, learn to spin and dye yarn, sell said yarn to LYSs, on etsy, etc, along with my artwork.

4) eventually retire, while being able to do what I love (spinning/art/whatever), and having a little farm-ish house with a big veggie garden, some free range chickens to lay me eggs for breakfast, and a big yard where I can lay out at night and watch the stars.

These would all be awesome. These are all currently unattainable, as they all require money that we just don't have.

Will can't work here yet, we need to figure that out too. We should just get married so we can get the whole process started, but then, theres not enough money for the wedding that we want. Plus, Will's mom still hasn't been informed we're engaged, for some reason. Sigh. What's a girl to do?

I'm just feeling kind of stuck right now... definitely in a rut, and going nowhere. I need out! I need out of this rut! And soon! I feel like if I keep going the way I am, I'll eventually crash and burn. I've gone through phases of depression in my past, and I don't want to do it again. I don't know how much longer I can be strong and just deal with my job, without snapping one day and walking out with no other options on my plate in front of me.

I need to figure this out, but I have no idea where to begin. I'm a pretty skilled person. I'm creative, I think for myself, I'm good at getting things done when I need to (though don't look at my knitting or painting as references for that statement, please). I'm efficient, I can type insanely fast, somewhere around 70 to 80 words per minute. I can edit. I can take notes. I can draw, doodle, paint, etc. I'm great with customers, I'm great with upper management. Why is it so hard to find something that will keep me happy in the meantime, and yet still allow me to save for the scary "future"?

One thing I am also excellent at: I can also freak out about not knowing what lies ahead.

Noro Love

2008-08-01T06:24:00.003-04:00

Thanks to Anne at Wool Tyme (in Kingston) who posted this in her blog:

Here are a few excerpts taken from the back cover of the new NORO Magazine Number 24:

About the raw material: NORO Yarn has always been particular in selecting raw materials from nature...Impurities in the raw wool are carefully removed by hand, without the use of chemicals or machines. This process prevents damage to the fibre, though it makes it impossible to remove impurities as completely as chemicals and machines do.

Making of the NORO Yarns: The basic principle for the manufacturing of NORO Yarn is "Spin yarn by hand," use machinery only for what cannot be done by hand. This hand-spun yarn is made from finely dyed wool, lined faithfully according to colour and weight, carefully maintaining the slow spinning speed by our craftspersons. Since the human hand is used in the spinning process, the natural luster and texture are obtained without considerably impairing the wool fibre. Lining up the yarn by hand results in irregular arrangement of wool, thereby giving the yarn more bulk...Because it is a handmade yarn...there are areas that are thick and areas that are thin. There are areas where the strand is tight and where the strand is loose, so please knit gently and discover the joy of knitting NORO Yarns.

Yay, now I think I love NORO even more... if not for the above statements, then because THEY ARE NOW PRODUCING NORO SILK GARDEN SOCK FOR THE AUTUMN. OMG I want four in every single colourway!!!

Ok, time to go to work. Sigh. I guess I need to be able to afford the yarn somehow, right?

A Long Awaited Update

2008-07-27T23:16:00.008-04:00

I've been busy. Okay, not really but its a nice excuse.

Things have been a little insane lately though. I'm not even going to attempt to catch you all up on my entire life at the moment, but I will write about a few highlights, despite being distracted by Rogue Nature on the Discotver Channel... its about octopus and squid attacks and is so fucking cool.

Anyhow... the weekend that Dark Knight came out, Will and I went to see it with the loverly Kat. It was amazing as many of you may know (if you don't know and haven't seen it yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? GO!!!!). I've never seen the Galleria Rainbow Cinemas so busy. I took some pictures to share of the lines there, that went all the way out the lobby of the theater, and DOWN THE STAIRS in the mall. Ah geez! Sorry for the shitty quality, but it was just taken with my cell phone. Oh well!:

Also while Will and I were at the Galleria (not the same time I don't think? I can't remember... no it wasn't, it was when we went to see Mamma Mia... yeah don't ask!), we saw that London is getting its very own BOOSTER JUICE! So exciting. Totally awesome. There was no ETA, but it said "coming soon". *squee!*

I haven't gotten very far on my socks for Will, mainly because I haven't been knitting much. Oh well. I just cast on tonight for another new project though. But... BUT! This is CHRISTMAS KNITTING! No shit, I've already started Christmas knitting. Since I've decided Will and I are going to be giving mostly handmade gifts this year, I figured why put it off and be rushing last minute? I'm doing scarves for my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew (Will is helping!) and a shawl for my niece. I'm not sure what kind of shawl, maybe a Clapotis? I'm not 100% sure yet, but I'll figure it out. I've cast on a brioche style scarf for either my brother or my nephew tonight out of Rowanspun DK, in a heathered grey. The heathered felty bits aer navy, burgundy and pale yellow and its really pretty yarn. I'll take some pictures to share in a bit when I have more than 4 rows completed.

Other than that, I've just been reading and writing letters... mostly to Colleen and Nadine. I just sent them both packages too. I hope they are enjoyed! Nadine sent me a KILLER package somewhat via a Ravelry swap (but we both missed the actual swap so we did it on our own). It was through the pen fetish community. Nadine wanted Sharpies, so I sent her Sharpies. LOT of Sharpies. Every colour Sharpie thats ever been made (minus the metallic ones, that will be for a future package for her), plus some handspun yarn I did ages ago (literally, like in 2005, I don't even have a pic of it, oh well!), and she sent me a KICK ASS PACKAGE:

You can check out the flickr page for the pic if you want to know the contents of it, since I added a fuckton of notes to the picture to explain everything. Whee. It made my day. She loved her Sharpies too. I've also just recently sent her another package, just a small one, but I'm not saying whats in it just yet in case she reads this. I know she's doing one with more fountain pens in it (squee!) that are cheap and from France... why oh why can't students be taught to write with foutnain pens here? I think thats awesome.

Today Will and I went to Victoria Park with some friends/co-workers and had a picnic. I didn't bring a camera, so I didn't get any pictures, but it was fabulous. I baked garlic cheddar biscuits, and chocolate chip cookies, Will made hummus and baked pita chips. Other people brought vegan potato salad, spiral mini sandwiches (egg salad and ham), pasta salad, fruit salad, tostitos and salsa, M&Ms, chocolate covered almonds, and soda. Whee. It was great, and good company.

I guess thats all for now. I'm off for the next three days still (AWESOME!), and we plan on relaxing a lot. We may go see the X Files movie, and we plan on another picnic, just Will and I, and getting stuff from the Covent Garden Market for our picnic (fresh bread, cheese, fruits, etc), and one day we'll probably have a Chapters/Starbucks reading and knitting day.

Bye!

woe is the neglected blog.

2008-07-23T23:40:00.005-04:00

Dear Blog,

Please don't be mad at me for being neglectful. I haven't had that much to write lately. I promise I will make a post in you before week's end!

Love, Kata

-----

Dear Blog Readers,

I would like to share the most awesome video on youtube with you.

RIGHT.... NOW:

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.
Goodnight!

Love, Kata