Finishing Frenzy

I've just started into my Christmas crochet. I know, it sounds a bit worrying, but I have it under control. Five days in (and one where I couldn't do anything because my wrist was really sore) and I already have the first pair of mittens done. Considering I only have 5 or 6 projects left and that I really could have done those mittens in just over a day... I think I'm safe.

I finally got a free moment the other day to take some photos of recent finished projects. Life has been more than a little crazy- I haven't had a weekend without at least two major events or travel since... September. 

I have got a lot of crochet finished, though. Like this fun Brioche stitch cowl, and my sophisticated chevrons cowl. I got this beige/brown yarn at a yard sale ages ago. It's not my usual style- I do go for bright, happy colours. But then I saw a knitting pattern and thought that this would be perfect in a simple tunisian knit/purl combo. I love how it turned out.

 

These fingerless mitts were made with some yummy alpaca blend I got on my vacation this summer. I loved the pattern (Himbeerwellen, if you're wondering)  because I love all things slip stitch right now, and these just turned out so well. All the knitters think they're rib.

 Speaking of fooling the knitters, I just finished this simple slip stitch hat. It's made with a possum blend yarn, and it is so soft and cuddly and warm. My angora hat has some serious competition now!

And I finally finished my weekend cardigan! I absolutely love it. It's not a super flattering, curve hugging thing- but everyone needs a sweater that is just cozy and relaxed and snuggly. This is mine, now.

I also finished a shawl last month for my best friend's wedding. It was a really wonderful day, and both of us needed the shawls I made at a few points during the day!

I'm in love with the finished shawl. I've made a Maia before, and the last one was out of crochet cotton. Great stitch definition, looks beautiful. This one, though, is made from merino silk blend. What a difference. Drape, softness, sheen, warmth- I adore this shawl. 

I photographed it on a trip away. I was lucky enough to head to a cottage for a weekend, and I got a lot of work done! There was a lot of knit and crochet done that weekend,and it was so relaxing.
Here I am finishing my cardigan as I wear it. I was cold!

And this is the pile of yarn and spinning I found it necessary to bring for a 2 night weekend. Addiction? What? No!

Now if you'll excuse me, my brother and his girlfriend are coming for dinner tonight and I have to get the slow cooker going. Then I'm heading back to bed for a nap, because we stayed up until 3 chatting with a friend!

New Shinies!

I finally finished the shawl I've been making my best friend for her wedding.

It's huge! I gave it to her last night, she seemed quite happy. I hope it keeps her cozy and warm. It is lightweight, but all wool and long enough to cover her whole arms.

I spent this weekend at the Creativ Festival, and came home with more than a few treats. These babies are the big one, though. A new sewing machine and serger. Oh man, they are awesome. The sewing machine is so much smoother than my old one, and I love all the features it has. It's got automatic tension, an automatic needle threader, and automatic bobbin string puller-upper (that's the official terminology, I swear). It's also got 99 different stitch patterns, and a bitch is one. I'm not kidding there, one of the stitch patterns is a doggie. That alone won Andrew over to the dark side of the sewing machine. He's fascinated by the sewing machine stitching the cool patterns all on it's own.

I was going to lug them home on the subway, but my boss and her husband told me I was crazy and were kind enough to back that up with a ride home.

I realized the other day that I've surrounded myself with a moat of yarn. I had to take a picture.
Sometimes Andrew tries to wheel over from his side of the room to look at something, and is thwarted by a stray ball of yarn or a hook that I need to pick up. 

The green bag on the floor is holding the rest of my treasures from the show. I got enough yarn for a cardigan from the last Interweave Crochet I've been dying to make, a few balls for a brioche stitch cowl, a ball of yummy red possum yarn and 4 little bags of spinning fibre. Not to mention the yarn I got last week when my friend Alia was destashing some lovely extra yarn she was given.

Getting the spinning fibre means I need to use up what's on my spindle before I can start with the fun new stuff. That means I've actually been spinning! I'm thoroughly enjoying it and wondering why I put it down in the first place. Too busy, I suppose.

And this is my desktop this morning. The pink shawl I'm making to go with my bridesmaid dress, the red beads and silver spacers I got yesterday and made into a super simple necklace. The sparkly bit in the back is a ball of yarn I got from our booth because I loved it too much to pass it up.
The heathery oatmeal kind of colour yarn is one of two that I got at... a yard sale, maybe? I bought it with a grab bag type deal somewhere. I never cared for it until I pulled it out and decided it would make a very sophisticated cowl. I'm doing a sort of textured herringbone wave based off a pattern I love in a pattern book for knitting.

Cool Weather

My recovery continues to go well, but I've been surprised at how long it's taking to feel really back to normal. I'm pretty much better now, but I still tire out really easily. Last week I was still having pain around my incisions, although that was possibly from the cats that were jumping on me in the night. I was looking after my boss's cats for a few days while she went on vacation.

She got me this- isn't it perfect? The kitty, the crochet hook... I love it. It's a little compact mirror and it's sitting in my purse now.

She also got me a bit of yarn. She started by telling me it was BC grown, sold by the gram, hard to find... it's handspun and it is so soft and yummy. It has a fair bit of angora in it. There was just enough to make a nice headband for the fall.

I was on a frenzy this week. I finally used up this roving I got in the early days of my crochet, before I knew anything about yarn weights or fibre content or what roving even was. It makes the squishiest little rug in front of the fireplace. 

Don't you love our ridiculous mantle? All the fun stuff from our old "nerd shelf" and some of my decorative stuff, along with usually a couple bottles of my nail polish.

A friend of mine was destashing this week to move across the country for a job. I got this ball of Manos, and it just screamed to be made into a cowl. I love it, it's so squishy. I'll think of Emily when I wear it, and hope she can come and visit often.

Yarn surrounds everywhere I sit in this house. Around my computer, my side of the couch, hooks by my bedside table.. I've been busy.

I finished the project I started on vacation this summer. It's a huge, cuddly sock weight Venus shawl.
I didn't have enough yarn to finish all the repeats, but it's plenty big as is. I really need to block it, though.

This is the start of the rainbow ripple blanket I'm making. It's going to be so bright and pretty! I can't wait to get into the blues and pinks. That's my favorite part of a rainbow blanket. When I had just the reds, it looked really 70's in an awful way. The more colours I add, the better it starts to look.

And this is the project I might be most excited about right now. I'm making the Weekend Cardigan, and I'm loving it. The pattern has a lot of mistakes, but I'm kinda ignoring it and doing my own thing. The pattern also ends up giving you a big line down the back, so I'm totally ignoring parts of it and making the fronts and back all one long piece. No seaming, no ugly line, less yarn used. Which is good, because I don't have enough yarn for what it calls for. I'm not too far off, and I can leave off the big patch pockets to save a lot of yarn too. Still, I don't want to run out!
I love the yarn. It's hard to see, but it's the most beautiful soft heathered gray, with purples and blues and indigos in it. I can't wait to be finished with this cuddly cardigan.

Today, though, I have to start sewing my bridesmaid dress for my best friend's wedding. I'm going to make a muslin first to try and get a better fit. This dress does kinda have to be perfect. I don't know if I can handle perfect, but I'll certainly try.

Moving, Recovering, Crocheting

It feels a bit like life is finally settling back down. I'm mostly healed, and after tomorrow I can start doing some light lifting and carrying. I'll be able to get the house in shape! I can't wait to finish unpacking this place. It's going to look so wonderful once I do.
We went out yesterday to the dollar store and local bargain store to get some things we needed. Exciting things, like soap and a garbage bin and toilet brushes. We also got a bit of candy and Andrew found a little T-rex that has a trigger operated mouth. He spent the rest of the trip making the little guy nom on everything in the store, and I wasn't surprised when he got added to the pile of things to take home.
On the trip home, I laughed at how many toys our future children will already have.

Speaking of buying things, I got myself some absolutely lovely treats on my birthday.

These fantastic sparkly shoes are for the wedding! I just love anything sparkly, and sparkly silver heels did me in. And look, a short heel! I can't wear the tall spike heels that are popular right now.
I adore these. I wish I could wear them to work!

 

This is the crown jewel, so to speak.  I finally found my wedding tiara! A girl who loves sparkly things and being a ridiculous princess and the centre of attention just couldn't pass up the perfect chance to get a tiara, no? I adore it. I wish I could wear it to work every day.

And aww, it's a picture of the old apartment. How I don't miss it. I love you, new apartment.

 

Speaking of old apartment and weddings, here's a shot of the wedding blanket I whipped up for a dear old friend for her wedding. I only had a week to make it, and I'm pleased with the results. I am absolutely addicted to granny stripe blankets.

I ran out of the yarn and had to pop out to get some more. Unfortunately I couldn't find the same purple, so I got the only one they had. Since it was so different, I added small stripes to the top and bottom with the new purple and the different dyelot blue. It's a pretty andd snuggly blanket, and my friend told me she teared up when she saw it! Just the kind of lovely friend I like to make things for. I hope it keeps them warm for many happy years.

  

Earlier in the week when I started feeling better, I decided to do some baking. My upstairs neighbor kept her little daughter very quiet for me when I was healing from the surgery, so I decided to bake some muffins to say thank you.

As you can see, the first batch were fail muffins. I found out the hard way that my oven overheats by about 25-50 degrees!

  

The second batch turned out much better, even if my muffins never seem to rise properly. Yummy little oatmeal chocolate chip muffins. I gave some to my neighbor and some to my new superintendent, a nice man who tells stories so long that I will always have to budget some extra time to pay rent. Not that I mind- he tells a great story!

  

My next baking was a bit more adventurous- I made a french loaf. I haven't baked bread in quite awhile, so I wasn't sure how it would turn out.

  

Thankfully it turned out to be the yummiest, nicest looking bread I've ever made! I still want to get my bread a bit lighter and fluffier, but this make absolutely wonderful honey toast. Hmm, I should go have some for breakfast.

My sweet new nephew was born in early August. It was lovely- we all found out on the family reunion. Nothing quite like getting to walk down a little path by the shore with your Dad to the cottages of all your family members to announce the newest addition! It's a memory I will treasure. I love technology- we got to show off his picture on the Ipad and got to do some brief FaceTime to chat with my brother and see the new baby on the other side of the world in China.

I made him a little set of booties and bib. The bear is for his nickname, Teddy Bear.

  

I also made a little jacket. I don't know if it will fit him or his older brother. Either way it was fun to make and I love how the yarn striped and pooled.

Andrew was watching me make all these baby things, and asked in a slightly concerned voice if there was something he should know. Silly boy, he knows there is a new nephew!

I finally got some pictures of the Lace Pullover I made. Isn't it beautiful? It was love at first sight with the pattern. I found some gorgeous silk blend yarn on sale, and it just seemed to fly off my hook. I had the whole thing done in a week.
This is out by our bus stop. The condos across the street are quite pretty, and I love that there is green space in this neighborhood.

This is my current project, and one that I'm very proud of. The cable pattern took a bit of fiddling, but I really like how it turned out. I can't wait to finish these sockies and wear them.
They've also really inspired me. I am thinking about an e-book of slip stitch socks. Fun ones- lace, cables, all the fun things that knitters have and that crocheters have so little of.

Forgive my very long post today, but I think I've just about caught you up! I feel like I'm just starting to catch up to my own life after surgery. The first bandaid fell off yesterday, and the other two get pulled of tomorrow, 2 weeks after surgery. That's the date where I can start doing things again, and I can't wait!

Recovering

Life got really crazy for me this week.
Sunday we moved into our new apartment. It's fantastic. Monday I started a two week temp job. That evening I had some severe stomach pains and passed out- luckily Andrew caught me. We headed to the hospital. After about 15 hours in the ER they confirmed that I had appendicitis. So Tuesday around 11 pm I went in for surgery. It was a complete success and I was released from the hospital Wednesday evening- my brother and his girlfriend were kind enough to come pick me up and take me home. I'm now home recovering and doing fine. Sore, but fine! I haven't been able to eat all day, but the pain is better so I've stopped the pain meds and am hoping that takes care of the nausea. I'm trying to eat some plain noodles and genmaicha right now. So far so good.

It's a bit frustrating to be stuck and home and not able to unpack this mess, but I'm glad to be back here. The temp job might even want me back for the second week, which would be wonderful.

Moving, Packing, Insanity

Life is absolutely crazy right now. The only time I have to crochet is on my commute and quiet evenings at work.
That's because I move in two days! I'm on a quick break from packing right now. Ugh. I can't wait to be in the new place, but packing sucks.
I promise an update on all my projects and things once I'm moved!

Summer Heat

 It's been a hot, sticky, humid summer here. I'm glad to escape to the store every day.
We bought a little air conditioner for our room last week, and it has been heaven. Being able to escape the oppressive humidity for a little while is wonderful. Last summer I just went grocery shopping almost every day.
I've really been doing most of my crocheting lately at work because of the heat. It's just miserable to work on anything some days. Last week was a bit cooler, and I just got access to our Netflix account, so I crocheted like mad. Still, most of what I've done lately has been on my commute or at work.

 I finished blocking this shawl. It's absolutely huge- I love it. I'm just looking forward to a chance to wear it. I think the only time I'll be able to in the next little while is to combat the overly cold AC at work.

This little shrug is perfect for work! It's not enough when they have the air really, really cold- but it helps. It's also going to come in handy for covering up bra straps. I'm thinking about you, adorable racer-back dress!

I've made some progress on my laceweight cardi, too. Another inch or so and I'll be moving on to the armholes- and this time, they'll fit properly.

 This is what I was working on- a super yummy cotton tank. I call it my fake crab tank, because that's all I can think of with this colourway. I love it. I'm not a fan of organic products, and I usually try to avoid them... but sometimes a clearance yarn comes along that you just can't resist. Well, that's not entirely true. I resisted this yarn the first time we had it. When we got it again, it was too much for me. I had to have it!

 

But I haven't been working on my tank lately, because of this beauty. It's the lace pullover from the vogue crochet issue. It's basically the whole reason I bought the issue. I went to Romni the other day after work and let me just say, trap! They're having a 20% off all yarn sale, and I was looking for some fingering weight for this, and this gorgeous 50% silk blend just sorta fell into my arms. It's Diamond Silk 4 ply, and it's awesome. Splitty as anything, but worth it. So worth it. It's 35% microfibre, 15% wool. 

I'm getting near the end of this pattern, and I can't wait to wear it. It will be a bit warm, though.

I've noticed a few errors in the pattern. The last row in the sleeve section is just bizzare, so I rewrote it, and the front yoke was written so that the pattern would be on the wrong side, so I just started at the other end. 

It's getting there, though. Just need to do the other side of the sleeves, seam at the top and weave in the ends. And block- it's gonna need some serious blocking! I'm excited, though. We're heading to my family reunion in New York state at the end of the month, and I really want to wear it there.

I have a busy month before then, though. We're about to leave for a showing for a new apartment, and we have more tomorrow. We want to move by August, although September works too. I am really excited for us to finally have a place just for us, no roommates. Wish us luck!