A Pile of Little FOs

So I've been finishing a bunch of projects lately. And by lately, I mean since about April and I am just finally photographing them. I mean, I made these amazingly cute booties while I was still working at the store. I got pictures of them yesterday.

This cardigan was something I started on a whim when I went into a shop and saw the new Paton's Metallic yarn and decided I wanted to have something made from it. I don't know how much I'll wear this, but it was fun to make and I love the colour. It's one of those projects that will either get a ton of wear or I'll never find an outfit that it suits.

This shawl is another thing I finished while I was still working at the store. The dark pink middle square is a gorgeous mohair my former coworker got me as a Christmas present one year, and the lighter pink is Kidsilk Haze that I got half price when I was working at a needlework festival one year.

This little sweater is made to replace another I made from the same pattern that I wore so much I started to felt the armpits. Whoops. I got the yarn at Romni when I went back to get a second ball of the yarn I used for my stripey neon/sparkly cardigan- I saw this and just could not resist.
It's the Chevron Lace Cardigan, but modified a little bit so that it didn't buckle at the top. Instead of working it exactly as written, I worked an even row in between each increase row. It lays much flatter than it did when I worked it as written.

This is just a simple stripey baby granny blanket I made from some Sirdar Countrystyle I got at the store in the final days. It was on sale and I could not resist the colour combo. So much fun! I still have some left over and eventually will use it to make my future spawn a blanket. I've got awhile for that, though!

This is the newest finished project and the one I am most proud of. I went out to Len's Mills to get some yarn to finish and blanket I was making, and decided that since I hadn't found a purse I liked and I wanted to try a tutorial I'd seen, I would get all the supplies.

The tutorial is here, and I was really happy with how it came out. I made everything about an inch bigger than what was suggested because I do like a large purse, but I didn't want anything too huge because then I just fill it up and carry a million pounds of stuff around.
The outer fabric I chose after a lot of careful mulling about at the shop, and the interior is from the fat quarters I bought on my honeymoon.
I also got some Star Trek fabric at the shop, whaaat! I am going to make project bags out of it. I also have some Star Trek fabric already that I'm going to make a dress out of. 

Look at all those beautiful interior pockets! It has one zipper interior pocket and four patch pockets, and then the front pocket too. It's quite excellent- although I might switch those two little pockets that are currently carrying a pack of emergency Nerds and my old camera to my phone and Ipod. Not that emergency Nerds aren't important.
My favorite bit about it is hard to decide- I love that it has an adjustable strap, but the best bit might be the leather flap. I found leather scraps at Len's Mills and they were only 25$ a pound- my little scrap was 5$. It really adds a nice professional finish, I think. I love my new purse!

My Pretties

I promised pictures of what I got in NYC on my yarn crawl, so here they are!
Let's see- the pom poms and the pink cone of wool/stainless steel at the top were from Lion Brand, where I started the day. I also talked to the crochet person from their store, and we decided that we should be best friends because we are both store crochet people. But since I don't know her name and I'm not store crochet person anymore, this plan seems flawed.
I went to Purl Soho next, and it was just as awesome as I hoped. I got the yellow and blue in the bottom left there- yummy alpaca. I also got the bright pink Purl Soho Line Weight there, and the two skeins of grey Loft at the top that I've caked up. They will be legwarmers sometime soon.
My last stop was way out after walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. I let Andrew come along on the last bit to explore Brooklyn together a little. He waited very patiently for me in the store- mostly because we'd spent several hours walking and there was a comfy chair for him to sit down in.

I have close ups of this pretty- lookit her, cashmere! I'm so excited for this. It's going to be a perfectly plush, soft little cowl.
In the back of this, you can also see the three colours of Barnwool I got. They're going to be a cowl too- it'll start with the darkest colour and move up to the lightest. I can't wait!
And they're both store brand, too. I tried to do a lot of that, because I wanted things I can't get here. I love me some MadTosh, but I can get MadTosh all over TO- Purl Soho Lineweight, not so much.
After the stop at Brooklyn General Store, Andrew and I went off to the Doctor Who themed pub, which was most excellent. The bathroom is a TARDIS! My little nerdy heart sang with joy. We also had a drink called the 10th Doctor. Eee!

I didn't just get yarn, though. At Purl Soho, I bought this little stack of fat quarters. They're so pretty! As you can see, two pieces have already become new bags. I'm probably going to do this for all of them- sew up one project bag with a matching zipper notion bag.

I did get a few other things- some stitch markers for my friend Alia, who looked after my froggy while I was gone, a pack of adorable embroidery patterns for Kate, and the pom poms which I am so excited about. Pom poms. I love 'em.

Two Trips and an Unemployment

It feels like Andrew and I have done nothing but travel, although he's gone to Calgary without me this weekend. This shot is on the bus to Buffalo on our way to Seattle, working on a sparkly cardi.

This is on one of the flights out, the baby blanket I've been working on.
Seattle was a great trip- we met some awesome people, went out to some good pubs and met some really nice readers of the comic. I got to meet Karen Gillan from Doctor Who for a very pleasant 14 seconds, and got to meet readers of the comic who are fans of me, which is a bit strange. I'm just a character in the comic! I don't even make it! Still, it's cool to meet someone who loves the comic and I'll admit, it's kinda fun for me. I do little of the work and still get to meet great people. Mwahaha!
I also got to see some friends and meet some comic creators and other nerdy awesome people. And of course, I popped out to Pike Place Market which was ten minutes down the road and has a yarn store. I had too.

I bought a skein of a sparkly, lovely gold yarn.

The weekend after Seattle, we left for NYC for our honeymoon!

This shot is where I was winding the ball of pretty sparkly gold I got in Seattle in the hotel room. I had to get creative.

I made a little cowl with it that was a great project for the evenings. Andrew and I are not night life people. We like going for a pint with friends, but nightclubs and stuff are so not our style. And after spending all day walking around the city, we were tired in the evenings. So we watched awesomely bad movies in the hotel room, and I crocheted.

I finished this cowl during the week. I also got about 70% through a sweater, even started weaving the ends from the stripes in, when I realized that I messed up the fit and had to pull it back all the way. Sigh.
Other than that, and a few issues with the hotel and a jerk on the bus on the way down, it was an awesome trip.

Here we are in front of the library, being all newlyweds and stuff.
We did so much- the Met, Central Park, the Tenement Museum, the High Line, seeing Book of Mormon, walking the Brooklyn Bridge and going to the Doctor Who themed bar- and of course, my yarn crawl. I went to the Lion Brand Yarn Studio, Purl Soho and Brooklyn General. I was too busy admiring the yarn to take any pictures, and I can't believe it, but I still haven't. I'll have to get some photos of what I got. I had fun, let me tell you, and I got some yummy stuff.

Then I came back to find out that for sure my store was not reopening, and we were closing a week after my return. I worked the last week, went away for Easter, came back to help pack the store and had my last day this week. So now I'm unemployed! I had my first interview already, and it went well although the job ended up not being right for me.
So I have to find myself a new job, and figure out where I want my career to go. In the meantime, I'm hoping this means I'll be able to get some more pattern designing done and maybe even rest a bit. Funny concept.

Yaycation!

Today, I finished my cable cardi!

Isn't it super pretty? I love love love this cardigan so much. The Malabrigo worsted is sooo soft, and so cozy. It's like wearing a hug. I know it's going to need a lot of shaving (especially at first!) but it is so worth it. It was a dream to work with and it's a dream to wear.

I love absolutely everything about this cardigan. The fit, the cable, the closure- I wasn't sure if I was going to go shawl pin closure, zipper, buttons or what. Then my coworkers suggested the clasps. They're perfect! They suit it so well. At first I had them spaced further apart and starting up higher, but I took the top and second from bottom off and re-spaced them so they're all lower. It's much better now.
I'm so happy this is done, I am going to wear it all weekend! Andrew and I are spending the weekend in Seattle for ECCC. It should be a lot of fun- I get to meet all his webcomic friends, and we'll spend the weekend meeting the usual assortment of generally awesome readers and cool people.
And now I get to do all that wearing a kickass new sweater, heck yeah!

This is another project I'm working on, a ten stitch baby blanket. It's for one of the scores of pregnant/new parent people that we know, who knows who gets it yet!
I have to start packing yarn projects. We get back from Seattle Monday, and then leave on Friday to NYC for our honeymoon, yesss! I can't wait!
In the meantime, I'm a little under the weather today and feeling kinda dizzy, so I'm heading off to bed super early in the hopes I can kick the buns of whatever is making me feel so lousy before I head off to America.

Happy Rainbow!

Here is the rainbow cardigan earlier this week, with the first sleeve done.

Look at it's sparkly magnificence!

It is finally, finally finished. I thought I was never going to get this done, but I'm actually wearing it.
I love how it turned out. The lower arms are a wee bit tight, but that doesn't bother me. It only ever bothers me when upper arms are tight.

It needs a good blocking, but otherwise it is all done! I love the colours and the fit, and I'm so pleased that it actually turned out just how I planned. When does that ever happen?

Life has been a wee bit crazy for me and things are happening around here. Some of it I can't even talk about yet, but most of it has been positive. Hubby and I spent the weekend in Niagara Falls having a mini-vacation, getting in some practice for our honeymoon next month. I can't wait.

This is the American falls- it was so gorgeous with the snow piled up in front. And I was impressed with the low light photos my camera took.

And here we are in front of the falls, with me decked out in a great deal of handmade yarniness. Andrew isn't wearing his scarf, for once.
It was a great vacation. So relaxing, we both needed it. I can't wait for the honeymoon already... that trip comes with a yarn crawl, aw yeah! Then again, we'll be in Seattle soon for a yarn crawl, and that also includes a bit of yarn shopping.
I'd better get back to it. Gee, darn.

Winter Blahs

I have some serious winter blahs going on. I think the whole city has the same thing. It's been so cold, so miserably cold for so long. Spring can not come fast enough for me! Really, though, I'd just like one day with nice sunshine and temperatures above freezing. One degree above freezing would be ok.

Thankfully I at least now have something to help keep me from freezing at work, where there is something wrong with our heating system. Here it is before blocking.

I finally finished my Bel shawl, and I am so happy with it. This is it after blocking.

I got around to blocking it yesterday, although I'd already been wearing it two days. I got so many compliments at work with it unblocked, I can't wait to see what people say now that it's blocked. I love how the edging turned out, and I'm so glad it didn't open up too much. I wanted a snuggly, snuggly warm shawl, and thankfully I got it.

Last weekend my crochet projects were not playing nicely with me. I had to pull out more than I accomplished. I came out of the weekend with less finished on both of them than I had started with.

Thankfully, I also finally finished this cross stitch! I love how cute the birdy is, and I can't wait to get it backed and hung up. I did a teeny little strawberry after finishing this, but I'm going to be starting another big project soon.
I also finished my lecture last weekend, and that means I have finished both my extra projects outside work. It's so nice to come home and not have anything else on my plate (other than needing to draw a piece of art for Andrew's book, which is coming out very soon). It means that I can focus on more important things- specifically, going to visit my grandparents more often now that they live closer. We're going out today, and my parents are going to be up to visit too. I can't wait to see everyone!

I've been working on hats- I finished one for Andrew, and I'm almost finished mine. Then I think I will turn back to my rainbow stripey cardigan. I love it, but after pulling out the sleeves for the third time, I'm feeling a bit burnt out. Still, I think it's time to give it another go. Sigh.

A Rough Weekend

This has been a rough weekend for me. I've been stressed out lately- the cold, the extra work I've been taking on, everything has just felt like it's been piling up, ya know? So I was really excited for the long weekend to get a chance to relax.
Friday night I found signs of moths. Signs bad enough that Andrew and I spent all day Saturday cleaning. I did well over 24 loads of laundry, and spent a bunch of money on that. Still, at least the apartment got cleaned, and hopefully this is the last of the moths. I'm gonna be extra cautious from now on.
Yesterday I went out to the store to grab some groceries and stuff for people coming over. Husband gives me some money to help because of the excess laundry costs. I get to the store, reach in my pocket and find the money is gone. Sigh.
Thankfully the rest of the day was fantastic. We had friends over for our usual DnD session, which was full of nonsense and laughter. Then most of them stayed, and a few more friends came over for a "blackout party", ie we turn the lights out, put on candles and pretend there is a blackout. Mostly we ended up playing video games, which really didn't fit the theme but no one cared because we were having a good time.

Then this morning I woke up and found one of my little froggies had died. I don't know how, but I'm gonna miss that little guy. They're such cute and fun little pets, I hope my other little guy isn't too lonely on his own.

I have some friends coming over for brunch soon, and I'm really looking forward to seeing them.

I was really hoping for a relaxing weekend. Well, I suppose you can't always get what you want. I'm glad my friends made it at least a weekend where the good and bad balanced out more equally.

Thanks to the horrid moths, most of my projects are bagged up right now and I didn't feel like working on them, so instead I was working on my cross stitch this weekend. I finished up the tail decoration bit and am getting very close to completion! I'm really excited because this is my first cross stitch, and I want to do a few little wee ones in between this and my next big one, which is going to be a super fun nerdy Firefly cross stitch.

I hope you all had wonderful weekends, and have friends (and partners) like mine who make the lousy times much better.