The Frog Pond

Well, the Not Quite Straight Scarf has hit a bad curve that's sent it to the frog pond. I actually hit the curve and it went this way.

1. I lost track of what pattern row I was on and got this weird wave effect again.
2. I couldn't find where I'd veered off the pattern row count.
   
3. As I worked with the chosen yarn (Sears Sayelle) I got more and more dissatisfied with the results. The scarf felt rough instead of soft and pliable. Not good.
   

So it went to the big ole frog pond in the sky. I'm reserving the yarn for knitting cat toys. At least Gambit won't care if it's rough. He likes it rough...

I am in the process of paging through my Complete Encyclopedia of Stitchery by Mildred Graves Ryan that I purchased 25 or so years ago. You can tell I've used it a lot. It has coffee stains on some pages, turned down pages, bookmarks with notes written on them and paper clips where I ran out of bookmarks. It's a fantastic book with hundreds of stitch patterns to choose from.

I'm looking for a reversible stitch pattern that will look good on either side of the scarf. I'm picky though; since I want to finish the scarf asap, I don't want to do anything that has cables in it since it takes me too long to do cable work but I want something more than just a plain stockinette stitch. I may have found something.... just need to figure it out. More to come

Magic Loop magick

Wow! If anyone had told me that it was this simple knitting using the magic loop way I would have switched to doing that a long time ago. DPNs are great, but magic looping is a prayer answered by the goddess of knitting herself. As I like to say "Desperation is the mother of all inventions" and someone must have been desperate!

I wanted to do up some quick Halloween decorations and decided to go for the Curly Purly Pumpkins that I featured in the Hallowe'en Fun post. I started digging around trying to find dpns of the right size and came across my one and only circular needle made of plastic. A few days ago while browsing Ravelry posts about magic loop, I followed a link to Knittinghelp.com where you can view teaching videos on just about any knitting subject from casting on, to binding off and everything in between including magic loop. After viewing the video via a mirror (I'm a left handed knitter) I decided to give it a shot.

Whatever it was that I thought would be too difficult to learn this method is beyond my understanding now. But WoW! no more ladders from knitting with dpns, no more dropped stitches, no more fussing with casting on and moving stitches to this needle and that needle.
I see the possibilities now. Imagine doing patterns and not having to move stitches from one needle to the other just to keep the pattern straight!


Here is one of the finished pumpkins. Going to do a few more until I run out of orange yarn. In the meantime, get your kitties close to the monitor so they can view some gratuitous posing by Mr. Gambit in all his glory, reclining on my unmade bed. Sometimes I wish I was him!

Not Quite Straight Scarf revisited

After a false start; I had to frog my first attempt since I missed a crucial detail in the pattern. (when to start the main pattern) 1 row, that was all I'd missed but it made the scarf do some pretty weird directional stuff.

Gambit passed judgment on the first version so I had to frog it (not Gambit!).

The good thing about messing up the first version was that I discovered that if I followed the pattern exactly, the resulting edge of the scarf would have loops sticking out. I didn't like that, so I went with slip 1, knit 1, increase 1 instead of the k1, inc 1 that the pattern asked for. The resulting edge is much smoother with no loops sticking out.

This is my second attempt at this scarf. The edges are now smooth with nothing sticking out.

I'm using a non wool yarn from my stash since there is a wool allergy where this scarf is going. I really like the wave effect moving on the diagonal. It's a nice change from the "hohum it's a scarf".

In other news, the baby hooded jacket is still at the hood part. I have to figure out the hood before I go any further.

My daughter's Lil Red Riding Hoodie is almost done. I just need to get to a store that sells zippers. Since that involves taking 2 buses, it's going to wait until I need more supplies before I go or I get desperate enough.

I'm not overly fond of using city transit, but it's either that or walking. In my husband's favorite distance descriptive words, "This is more than a fair walk".

Not Quite Straight Scarf

I found this pattern while helping someone on Ravelry with a stitch question. I was intrigued by the pattern and decided to give it a shot since I need to knit a bajillion scarves for Christmas presents!

So far, this is what I have on the needles. I'm using yarn from my stash. The tag must have fallen off and I have no idea what brand it is. It's polyester, I know, not really a good scarf yarn but with wool allergies, doesn't leave a lot of choice.

I really love my brand new bamboo needles from Rikki :) The needles make knitting a lot more fun. No more pain in my fingers from holding on to heavy needles. I also love the fact that after a few minutes using these needles, they seem to warm up in my hands.

Pet clothing

In a previous post, I had done a review of Garn Studios' Drops Designs. I had posted some really cute patterns for dogs and none for cats. Someone commented that they were quite disapointed in the fact that there we no cat patterns. To remedy this, I have scoured the web for cat related patterns and here they are.


Adventures in knitting has a lovely pattern called "Poppy Cat Sweater"

This should make any kitty who hates the cold feel all warm and cozy.




If you really are into patterns for and about cats, the following book would be of interest to you. This book was published January 2008. It's called, what else, Kitty Knits.

Excerpt from Kitty Knits.
The first knitting book entirely devoted to the funny, furry felines in our lives. Discover creative ways to knit up practical projects for kitties to love and cat-themed designs for owners to enjoy. Just like cat batting at a ball of yarn, it's a perfect match. Over 20 projects feature items for cats, their people, and their homes -- along with adorable photos of cats with their knitted treasures. Choose from toys, beds, mats, and more for cats, plus feline-inspired sweaters, hats, pillows, and bags for cat-loving knitters. Find projects in a variety of styles and skill levels, from felted designs to Fair Isle patterns.

Another lovely idea for your kitty is a Kitty Pi bed from Wendy Knits . Wendy takes you through the knitting of this lovely cozy bed step by step. It's an easy knit and a great stash buster since you can use any left over wool yarns you may have.

Some judicious felting, stretching and pulling to give it a nice deep flat-bottomed bowl shape and you have one happy kitty. I guarantee that any kitty who curls up in one of these will not want to come out for months. This would make a very nice gift to a cat owner for their little bundle of joy.

I hope this helps all cat lovers out there find some interesting gift ideas for their furry babies.

Hallowe'en Fun

Such a lovely time of year. Ghosts, witches, goblins, Britney, Elves, Paris, Devils, Orcs, The Hulk, and many more walk about unfettered on this night. What are you going to dress your little ones in this year?

Why not knit a costume? I went looking and these patterns were available free of charge.

The Darling Devil Set available free from Lion Brand makes for a quick knit of horns and tail for any age.

If you're looking for a quick fix to not finding a cool costume and it's Halloween day itself. Take out your knitting needles and sink them into this pattern. Flying Spaghetti Monster According to the pattern, it only takes 4 hours to make this costume and gauge is not an issue! No swatching involved.

Now for something retro. How about a Hallowig? Knitty offers a cool pattern for a knitted wig, but better start it today or you may not have it done in time.

Another option offered by Knitty is the Jackyll & Hide hat. If you live where it gets cold by the end of October as in snow flying and wind blowing up your breeches, this would be a great mask. It does double duty as a hat and scares the living tar out of kids when you pull it down.

You can also get the book Charmed Knits by Alison Hansel.

The book contains patterns for wizardly items such as: a wizard hat, robes, scarf, Errol the owl and more. If your little ones want to walk around looking like Harry or Hermione, this is the book for you.

Fans of "Nightmare Before Christmas" will adore this cute pattern for Zero the Ghostly Dog from Knitted Toy Box .

For fans of Futurama, the Brain Slug from Mychawd, Knitting SAMurai 's blog will be a sure hit.

For home decorating or gift giving, this knitted pumpkin pattern is adorable! You can make it any size you want, just change needle size.

Have fun on Halloween and remember to walk safely, carry a light and get home not too late after dark.

Local Church Craft Sale

During the past week I had seen signs around the neighborhood advertising a church craft sale. I hadn't been to a craft sale in years and thought since it's nearby why not go. So Saturday morning I walked over to see and came away rather disappointed to be honest.

To me craft sale means things that are handmade. Of the 30 or so tables displaying their wears, perhaps a dozen of them had handmade items ie: knitting, crochet, jewelry, clothing. The rest of the tables were dollar store type items or catalogue items.

The knitted / crocheted items were basic. A couple of tables offered 5"X5" washcloths knitted out of polyester yarn which felt rough to the touch for 1$ each or 3 for 2$. Other tables had short & skinny scarves knitted from dollar store eyelash yarn for 10$ each. A couple of one foot wide stoles done in some really ugly looking yarn for 15$ each.

Some tables had knitted or crocheted baby items, newborn hat and buttoned cardigan style jackets were going for 15$ each. At least they were nicely knitted using soft baby yarns in pink, green, blue and yellow. Considering the amount of time dedicated to knitting these items and the yarn used, I was surprised they were only 15$ a set.

Another table offered knitted baby blankets done in a basketweave stitch for 10$ or 2 for 15$ The blankets were 2 feet by 3 feet each and were done in a fingering yarn. Again, the price boggled me since there was obviously a lot of time dedicated to making each of those blankets.

Now my rant is: Has knitting fallen out of favor? Why would someone who has spent hours...days... weeks making something sell it for so little money? I know that some people who do not knit, do not know anyone who knits have the idea that knitted / crocheted items are cheap last minute gifts. They lack the appreciation that should be given to items that have so much sweat equity poured into them, nevermind the cost of the yarn used.

This bothers me a great deal. Do we let non-knitters / crocheters dictate what price we should put on our work? Knitting, crocheting, any work done with fibers should not be devalued to the point where people consider knitted / crocheted items cheap. I find this insulting and demeaning. We are proud knitters, crocheters, fiber artists, so why continue to encourage the wrong type of customer by under pricing our items?

When I look at fiber artists and designers' websites showing the new trends for the next season, I don't see cheap garments or accessories. I wonder how they would feel if someone cheaply reproduced one of their items and sold it for 5$ at a local craft sale.

Birthdays

Why do birthdays always have to congregate?
Why when I have no money? LOL

Today is my lovely daughter's birthday. I feel old LOL I can still remember her when she was a wee babe in my arms coming home from the hospital.


Then on October 29th, her husband, my son in law, is having his birthday as well. Same age as my daughter.

Followed by my darling husband's birthday on November 3rd! At least I know what I'm doing for my husband's birthday. And since he already knows, I can post it here. I'm cooking one of his favorite meals for him. I just have to find out which one he wants that day.


As for my daughter and son in law, I can't tell. Since my daughter reads my blog. I'm not about to tell what their presents are. They'll just have to wait and see :)

Happy Birthday to everyone!

Presents II

After fighting with Canada Post and losing. I took the 3 hour round trip to go collect my envelope from the sub post office far away from where I live. What killed me was the fact that there is a sub post office 3 blocks from where I live! This is the second time Canada Post has done this to me. I don't get it.

Anyway, I got home and opened the envelope, poured out the contents and turned into a kid on Christmas morning. As you can see in the picture below; I was RAKed by Rikki on Ravelry who sent me 2 sets of bamboo knitting needles, 2 balls of lovely organic cotton from Bernat and a wee package tied with some pretty black ribbon.

I figured while I had to go so far to pick up my package, I might as well drop by the Fortino's next door to the post office. I picked up croissants that were on sale for my husband since he adores eating them with peanut butter and nutella.

The beribboned package held 4 very pretty stitch markers. Three of the markers have stones with a pearlized heart attached. I really love the stones that were used. They have a warmth about them. The fourth marker has an angel attached. That will be my special marker and it fits my name as well. Thank you so much Rikki, I love your presents!

Presents

I know, several days have gone by since my last post. Blame it on the dead router.

But in the meantime, I have been RAK'ed with some very pretty items from my Ravelry friends..

In the mail yesterday I received a letter with some suspicious bulges. After further investigation, this is what I received!

A huge thank you goes to Angele for these really cute stitchmarkers. I adore them and will put them to very good use.

Then today, I get home from work and there's a package waiting for me. This is better than Christmas! It's so awesome to receive something you're not expecting.
I open it, and there in all it's splendor are several balls of superwash!

Thank you to Karen for these wonderfully soft balls of superwash merino. I love the colors. I'm closer to getting the Marie Grace Smith Darling jacket for my niece done. I'd never felt yarn so soft before today. Never thought wool could feel like silk.

Vietnamese Market

We had been looking for quite some time for asian ingredients. After being told I was diabetic, we had to make some drastic changes to our diet to keep my blood sugar down.

My husband had been researching recipes we could easily make at home that would be filling but easy on the sugar/carbs. Some of the ingredients he needed: galengal, Thai basil, jicama, etc were either priced beyond our budget at regular grocery stores or just not available.

Since Hamilton has a fairly large asian population, we assumed that there must be markets that supply them with ingredients that are fresh, local or imported. After 2 years of living here, we finally found the place. What was crazy is that we were 2 blocks away from the Farmer's Market downtown but had never actually walked down the street where they are located. It just never dawned on us that a store would be located there.

Whatever you may be looking for, they pretty well carry it all. From fresh local meats, fish and shellfish to fresh local vegetables, herbs and fruits to imported condiments, spices, soup blends, curries, durian fruit. Name it, they most likely have it in stock. If you go, be prepared to spend quite a bit of time just browsing the many shelves that are found in narrow aisles where shopping carts compete for space with the stock boys keeping the shelves filled to capacity.

There are also some specialties prepared and cooked daily like barbecue pork, duck, chickens, quails that you can buy and take home. They have sweet asian breads from a local bakery as well as cakes & pastries. Personally I love their Durian cake, Moon cake and my husband adores the red bean cakes. You get 4 pastry/cakes for $1.99. Blame Anthony Bourdain for my love of Durian. Ever since I saw the episode he did in search of Durian I wanted to taste it. Nevermind the stench, I wanted to know what the fuss was about Durian. Several years ago I had spotted a tube of paste that claimed to be Durian, but once I tasted it, I knew this could not possibly be what sent Mr. Bourdain into an orgasmic dream sequence. My search continued on until I found the Durian pastry like cakes at Tan Thanh's. One of these days I will have to buy one of the fresh Durian fruits they bring in seasonally. But that will be another time. I'm afraid I wouldn't know where to eat it since my husband will refuse to be present at the opening of a stinkball of such potency that I worry it may set off a 4 cityblock evacuation. And driving out to the countryside with no car is out of the question. Ahh well, I shall dream on.

Don't expect to get fancy cuts of meat there. You point to the piece of meat you want, they weigh it and bag it. That's it. You want it cut up, you have a knife or cleaver at home you can do it yourself. But you can buy some of the best tasting pork, chicken and beef anywhere around. First time I had a chop from a pork loin, I almost cried with happiness, it tasted like what I had been raised on as a child living on a farm. We grew our own meat.

If you like chicken feet, this is the place that carries them. The whole chicken area is self serve. You put on a plastic bag as a glove and take what you need and bag it yourself. They replenish the shelves constantly since the price you pay for chicken breasts, deboned, skinned is lower than anywhere else in town. The chicken is local and may be free range since the flavor again reminds me of home as a child with our own free range chickens.

You can also get fresh blue crabs for $1.99 a lbs, fresh mussels, scallops, and other shellfish all displayed in tanks with water circulating. The fresh fish is swimming around in a huge tank below the counter that has already cleaned fish displayed on beds of crushed ice. The guys behind the counter are more than eager to get your choices packed for you.

I love the fruit they carry. They will have seasonal fruits like rambutan, lychees, longans, dragon fruit, asian pears, oranges, mandarins, mutsu apples, those tiny bananas, and much more.

They also carry many brands of rice like sticky, jasmine, and noodles fresh and dried. You like bubble tea. This is the place to come to for your bubble tea supplies. From the tea, flavor powders and multicolored tapioca balls, you can make your very own bubble tea at home.

If you want to go there, just click on the store name, it will bring you to a google map. Tan Thanh Supermarket

Have a great time exploring and experimenting with new ingredients. I know finding this market made a huge difference in our diet and I wouldn't go back to the heavy meat/potatoes north amercian diet for anything.

The Perfect Hairband!

Ok, so it's Saturday. What have I accomplished in the past couple of days that has kept me from updating my blog!?!

I'll have to start back around 20+ years ago with wanting the perfect hairband. I have long hair, very long hair. I sit on it long hair. It hangs in my face if I don't tie it up long hair. I love my long hair but let's face it, there are times when it can be a royal pain in the patootie like when you're at work, the phone rings, you pick it up and try to put it to your ear, but your hair got caught in your earring and you end up with a phone covered in hair, earring wrapped in said hair and you can't hear the caller and you can't get the phone out of the tangle of hair... get the picture?

So over the years I have tried a variety of hair bands and each one had it's failings.

• I tried the cloth hairband, it kept sliding back, not good.
• I tried the plastic hairband that sits tightly behind your ears, slowly gouging a red welt into the space and heaven forbid if you wear glasses. Cause then the plastic hairband competes for the space with your eyeglasses that are supposed to rest behind your ears! Glasses 1, hairband 1, me big headache.
• I tried the metal hairbands which turned out to be a total disaster since long hair tends to tangle into the metal tines and removing said hairband is tantamount to the Spanish Inquisition's torture chamber.
• I tried macrame hairbands, they would start off tight in the morning, and end up sliding either forward or backward. Such fun.
• I tried a beaded leather hairband. After losing a handful of hair to the beads and developing a rash from sweating under the leather, let's just say I won't go there anymore

All this to finally lead up to a pattern I found, while cruising the web for knitting ideas, that offered an answer to my long quest for the perfect hairband. It looks simple enough; I-cord with a small buildup of stitches leading into a nice basketweave pattern then back down again to an I-cord. The pattern called for the basketweave area to be 12" long, after measuring my head where I want the hairband to sit, I decided I would make mine a bit longer but still keep the I-cord ties at 12" each end.

I found a tiny bit of leftover yarn in a variegated color that I really like and set to knitting this hairband. For some obscure reason, I could not keep track of the repeats for the basketweave even after repeated attempts, it still kept coming out wonky. Sorry Carissa, not your fault, just my brain not grasping basketweave at 2 am LOL I finally gave up on following the basketweave pattern and just kept knitting/purling my way through until I had the desired length. I figured to myself since this was totally experimental and that it would likely fail, why kill myself over the basketweave not being a real basketweave.

I did the last I-cord stitch this morning, gave it a good stretch to make sure everything was solid and tied it on exactly the way I wanted it and hoped. Four hours went by, nothing had moved. So far so good. My husband and I head over to the local Vietnamese market to pick up some much needed groceries. Instead of my usual tying up of hair, I left the hairband on figuring this would be the litmus test since it was windy. So out we went dragging our bundle buggy behind me to the bus stop. Full wind blowing in my face and it's still not moving! I have a flicker of hope that this may be THE hairband after all. We get on the bus, rode downtown, commenting on the gorgeous fall colors and the blazing sun. Great day in October to be out and about.

Once downtown we walk 4 blocks to the Vietnamese market, hairband still hasn't budged. Cell phone rings, I without thinking twice about it quickly raise the phone to my ear to answer and nothing happens! No tangled hair in the earring or cell phone caught in hair caught in earring! Amazing!


We came home, unloaded the buggy and we made supper, hairband still in place. It's now just before midnight and this awesome hairband still hasn't budged from where I set it this morning! That's 12 hours, no tangled disaster, no hair in the face. I am so thankful that I plan on knitting one of these for each of my nieces, sister, sisters in law, daughter and several more for myself.

Now, I cannot take the credit for this wonderful discovery. I found this hairband at Carissa Knits blog If you look down the right hand column, you will see she has a list of free patterns and the Basketweave headband is the 3rd item down. She is a member of the Ravelry community as well, so go check out her blog.

Thank you Carissa for the wonderful hairband! You have ended my 20+ year search for the perfect hairband.

Knitting, knitting, knitting...

Let's see, I have the baby jacket I'm designing, with the hood half done sitting here.

Then I have a hairband half done that I started today because I wanted to keep my hair out of my face at work without tying it up (I have hair down to my hips)

And then, since I'm back temping at the hospital, I'm also working on squares for the blankets for the homeless.

And last but not least, I still have to finish my daughter's Little Red Riding Hoodie for her birthday which is next week!!!!!

I hate having so many things on the go. Thank goodness it's Friday! I should be able to finish the baby jacket, the hair band and my daughter's hoodie during the weekend. That will leave me with the squares for next week.

I will post pictures! this weekend :) I promise!!

I will also do a bit of research in response to the comment on pet patterns, that cat patterns are difficult to find with some finds of my own. So get ready for pics and links

Meme from Get Yarnsatiated!

A Ravelry community member commented on my blog today and after visiting her blog, I saw this idea for a 'meme' that she posted. I liked it a lot since it reminds me of what I still need to try and what I've accomplished so far. The list below is from her blog I simply copied and pasted it to mine. Thank you for the idea Dana

The idea is to take this list of knitting techniques, projects, etc. and mark the ones you've done in bold. Then italicize (I made mine blue) the ones you plan to try, and leave the rest in plain text.

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting ???
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own hand-spun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book - One day!
Participate in an exchange
Scarf
Teaching a child/teenager to knit
American/English knitting
Knitting to make money
Buttonholes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on one or two circulars
Knitting with someone else's hand-spun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Knitting two socks on two circulars simultaneously
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener stitch
Knitted flowers
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegated yarn
Stuffed toys
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Free-form knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mits/arm-warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an on-line knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

I know it's a long list, but it's a fun one. Gives me a quick view of what I've done and what I plan on doing.

Knitting & Design - Baby Jacket Update

I know, it's Wednesday, where did Tuesday's post go??!!?? I started a new temp job and by the time I got home, did not get a chance to post.

To make up for it, here is a picture of the jacket all sewn up! I've started the hood part and it's coming along quite nicely.

Tonight, I didn't get very much knitting in since hubby and I went for a walk, enjoy the falling leaves and the last of the warm weather. The air was crisp and the sky was a beautiful pale blue. A tiny nip in the air to remind us we are in October. The squirrels were chasing around like mad fools, trying to find nuts to bury and never find again. They have their purpose, how else would we get to enjoy the mighty oaks if squirrels didn't bury their treasures.

On a side note, I found this somewhere a long while back and every time I see it, I have to laugh. Whoever made this has a real sense of humour. Enjoy!

Elections 2008 results

Looks like Conservatives won.

Let's hope we made the right decision and won't go on to regret this vote.

To all Canucks, wherever you may be. Enjoy Thanksgiving and remember why you are proud to call yourself a Canadian.

Thanksgiving is all about togetherness, love & giving thanks for all our blessings ! It is a time for celebrations... a time for family, friends, fun & of course 'turkey'. On Canadian Thanksgiving, reach out to all your friends, family members, colleagues & acquaintances with a special message.

In Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October. Unlike the American tradition of remembering Pilgrims and settling in the New World, Canadians give thanks for a successful harvest. The harvest season falls earlier in Canada compared to the United States due to the simple fact that Canada is further north.

In 1957, Parliament announced that on the second Monday in October that Thanksgiving would be "a day of general thanksgiving to almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed."

Knitting & Design - Baby Jacket

Here it is!!

The Baby Jacket I've been designing. I have all the separate pieces knit, now I have to assemble them so I can knit the hoodie part. So far I have used three 50 gr. balls of Baycrest Shetland-Style 75% acrylic / 25% wool and will likely need another 2 balls.

I still haven't decided how I'm going to carry the design through the hoodie, if I should carry the moss stitch around the hood to join the moss stitching on the back.

This is one of the sleeves. I carried the moss stitching up the sleeve and kept going to add an epaulette for extra shoulder room. Since babies are notorious for having no neck to speak of, I figured adding some extra space at the shoulder would help with keeping the jacket where it belongs.

I like how the front pieces turned out. The moss stitching wraps around the entire edge and will join up the moss stitching in the hoodie.

I should be able to get most of it done in the next couple of days. Will post updates as I go. I am still visualizing what I will do with the hood part. Finally, I still have to figure out how this jacket will close. I don't like buttons since I'm always worried that the baby will chew it off and swallow it. So likely I will experiment with I-cord closures in one form or another.

Browsing Garn Studio better known as Drops Designs

Sooo.. today, instead of knitting, I went browsing. Blame it on Ravelry!!! I ended up spending a lot of time looking over the gorgeous patterns on the Drops Design site.

90 pages of women's clothing designs, all more gorgeous than the next.
5 pages of men's clothing design! Where else will you find that many patterns just for men.
9 pages of children's designs
Ponchos, shawls, lace, toys, accessories. They have it all.
If you crochet, you will find patterns here as well.

I found this little boy's hat quite funny to be honest.
It's called "Hat with plaits or spiky tassel" knit using Alaska yarn. I can just imagine a 4 or 5 year old wearing this looking pretty cool.

Another 8 pages of baby designs

This little pink jacket using a Muskat yarn is adorable.
I love the lace at the bottom edge.

The pattern comes for sizes: 1/3 - 6/9 - 12/18 and 24 months
Size in cm: 50/56 - 62/68 - 74/80 and 86/92


And for those looking for dog jacket patterns.
They have them as well. For the fashion conscious pooch out there. Here are a few examples.

The first one is done in a moss stitch using Eskimo yarn.
Size: XS – S – M
Example of sizes of dogs this coat would fit: XS = Chihuahau, S = Bichon Frise, M = Cocker Spaniel

Then we have this lovely blue woolen sweater done with Eskimo yarn. Size: S–M-L
Example of sizes of dogs this coat would fit: XS = Chihuahau, S = Bichon Frise, M = Cocker Spaniel

What amazes me is that those thousands of patterns are all free!


Whenever you have time, take a few minutes.... or a few hours and lose yourself in the pages of Drops Designs. You'll find yourself bookmarking the site for future reference. The have such beautiful designs for every taste.

www.garnstudio.com

Knitting and design

I returned to knitting about 3 years ago. I would have been the last person to say back then that I'd ever consider working out some of my own patterns, but yes, it has come to pass. I didn't even realise I was doing it until my husband pointed it out. I was designing my own patterns! Shock... awe... gulp... moi?

I have reached a point where I am getting rather picky about what I want a certain item to look like when I knit and that sure as heck involves designing doesn't it. My latest design is a baby jacket. I have one arm and the hood left to do, which means I really should have taken photos as I was knitting. At least, I took copious notes, revised the pattern several times, tried different design aspects to make it as unique as possible.

I must admit that so far, I am pleased with what is coming from my needles. And yes, I will take pictures! Tomorrow! Hrm.. ok, later today! Just noticed the time which means I'd better get to bed.

Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite.

Gambit's View

Anyone who comes to this page was probably looking for an X-Men blog. Sorry folks, this is mostly about knitting and life in general.

Who is this Gambit you ask?

He is the master of the roost, the one we bow to. He is our Bengal Cat. He only lets us say that he is ours, but really, we belong to him. He came to us 7 years ago, a bedraggled bundle of fur, half dead, flea bitten little bit of misery.

Yes, he was named after the X-Men character Gambit, aka Remy LeBeau, since we took a gamble on him, and, my husband is a huge fan.

He trotted his way into our hearts, bouncing back from a horrible beginning and growing into a big solid kitty who likes to sleep in my knitting yarn, play with my knitting needles and generally terrorize my husband whenever he's sitting at the computer or trying to get some sleep.

I hope to use this blog to share my knitting with others. There will also be some non-knitting posts about cooking, and whatever strikes my fancy. Being a Gemini, that can change from one day to the next.