November 21 of 30

While cleaning up today, by the fireplace, there is a spot to store your wood in our new house. Next to some wood, I noticed the name Katia... and thought "Hey, that's a brand of yarn!". Upon further inspection, I realized that it is, and it wasn't mine. Was the previous owner a knitter? Did someone she know or someone in her family knit? I thought it was pretty cool.

I've never heard of this brand before, but now I'm curious. I googled it. Turns out it's a narrow ribbon yarn - looks like eyelash. (NOT my style!) Released in Fall of 2004 and Discontinued in Fall of 2006. So it's a recent ball of yarn, not something vintage. 2004-2006 wasn't that long ago!

Today I got some stuff done around the house, but it's really hard with Sean. All he wants to do is touch everything and play - so getting work done when he wants my attention is impossible. I've filled some Robyn's Nest orders, and will be getting to the post office hopefully tomorrow (crossing fingers for no snow - my winter tires are at the old house until Saturday when Jamie is borrowing a cube truck from someone to get the rest of the leftover stuff out of the house). Then I can make an appointment for Monday to get my winter tires put on.

Tonight I went knitting with Montreal Knits. I outted myself to my Secret Pal 11 pal, who happens to be in my own city. It was fun (yet tricky) spoiling her, but in the end, she said she had a hunch it was me. Oh well. She still had fun. I gave Sarah, my SP11 pal her final package, which she seemed to love. This is the first time I was able to watch my pal open her parcel! SP12 won't be until Summer of 2008, as the hostesses are taking a break for a bit. There will be plenty of other swaps going on, so that if you're looking to swap, you won't miss out. All you have to do is google knitting + swaps, it's amazing what pops up! Maybe I'll head over and check out some other stuff that I've been missing out on, because I wanted to concentrate only on SP rounds as a participant & as hostess. I've had some good times with SP, and I can't wait for the next one, next summer.

I was able to work on a few rows of my nephew's Drive-Thru Sweater this evening, which was nice. I haven't knitted a stitch in a few days, and was jonesing to get some knitting done. I have until Xmas to get that sweater done, which I know is plenty of time, but still! I hate deadlines.

My Contest #2 Answers (SP11 Robyn's Group)

I've got a contest running for my SP11 group. I figured I'd join in on the fun. So here are my Q&A's:

1. What is the one knitting accessory you could not live without?

That would definitely have to be stitch markers. Especially handmade ones.

2. If you're heading on vacation, do you take knitting with you?

Socks or any lightweight project. If I'm going by car, I'll take any project because it's my car and it can be left without any worries.

3. Where have you travelled to that you'd consider your favorite spot?

Europe. Been three times (1998, 2002 & 2006) and love everything about all the places I've been. Is that too general? LOL.


4. What is your favorite knitting book at the moment? Do you own it?

Fitted Knits & yes I do!


5. Do you listen to podcasts? Which is your favorite(s)?

I have not yet listened to any podcasts, but I have three downladed. Lime & Violet, Scraphappy & She Knits. I do have every intention on listening to them! (Eventually!) (It's on my list of non-chores things to do!)

6. If you could only knit with 1 color for the rest of your life, what color would that be?

PINK!

7. If you were far into a project and then noticed a mistake near the beginning what would you do?

Depends on the mistake. If it's huge & noticeable, why didn't I notice it before? If it's tiny & not noticeable to the eye, I'd just leave it. Unless my son accidently grabs my needles and I drop too many stitches to fix, then maybe I'd re-knit after frogging!

8. Where is the most unsual spot you've ever knit?

At the Jewish General Hospital in the post-pardum wing after Sean was born (labor was too difficult to knit while hooked up to too many machines while lying down and not being able to move).

34 Weeks

Look at this hair people. Sean's got the Kramer 'fro going on. He gets that from his father.

Sean is 34 weeks today. Yes, that's me in a purple shirt! I am diversifying people!! My grandmother came over today to watch Sean while I did work and says I look good in this color!

People, I am behind on emails. Please forgive me. I have 3 pages of emails in my inbox in hotmail to sort through. I will email all of them back. Just be patient if you're waiting on an email from me.

Tenant number 1 moved in today. The 1 girl. (There are 3 boys moving in on Saturday). So far so good. Went smoothly, and she is very nice. I'm hoping she keeps the boys in line!

I worked on my Turtleneck Shrug a little bit tonight while watching TV with Jamie. (Big Brother 8 - Glad Jenn's gone, rooting for Eric!) It's not done yet, but SOOO close. Check back tomorrow for an FO! (Crossing my fingers).

I am beyond exhausted. Haven't been sleeping well lately. Sean actually slept through the night last night without waking up for a bottle. Also - tonight, at just past 10pm I put Sean in his crib, awake but groggy, with the "routine" and he's asleep! I think this will be successful. Our trick is - no late afternoon to earling evening nap (NO NO!) and make sure he has just had a bottle before putting him to bed. I think we're broken the falling asleep in my arms thing. We just need to work on the naps in the afternoon! Relief!

I am working on a real shopping cart for my shop, paypal's version is not so great, but okay for the meantime. Hopefully it'll be up and running in the next few days. I need to get some technical issues solved, and figure a few things out, but it's pretty neat what I have going on. There also will be some amazing products coming my way in the next few weeks for the shop. I am very excited about that. So stay tuned! October Club kits have been selling and I am very excited about that. The yarn is going to be delicious!

I have not heard from my SP11 Pal yet, but I hear she or he is on vacation until August 29th. I hope she or he is having a good time on vacation, and I hope to hear from them when they get back! I'm very anxiously waiting the first email!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGELA! You are the bestest friend a girl could have. Hope you had a nice day. All the best today, tomorrow & for the year to come.

August 13 of 31

Today I spent the entire afternoon getting out all my SP11 matches. It took me a good couple of hours, and even had an Exel problem. Gosh, I hate that program sometimes! Today, it decided to insert a hyperlink to every single column & row, for no reason at all, and link it to one of my friends' email address. Grrr! Computers! I was able to do all this work because Sean took a long nap this afternoon. Someone asked me via comments about Sean's napping. He only usually takes 1 nap in the afternoon, but sometimes he takes a nap after getting up in the morning and having his morning bottle.

Finally this evening, while Jamie played softball I hunted down these Oreo's at Walmart. I had a return to do, and while picking up margerine, garlic butter, milk and a few other items, I saw they had these....! I wanted to buy them the other day while doing groceries, but when I asked the girl that I saw who had a package where she got them from, she said "Sorry, last package"... I was sooo mad....! Well, I found them tonight, and the verdict.... DELICIOUS! Pink cookies! Woot!

Sean now has a Nunu. It's a little bear that has a blanket coming out of his head. I am hoping his Nunu will be a comfort to Sean and help him sleep. I will take a picture of Nunu tomorrow, he's currently in the crib with Sean right now, and I'm not risking it! (You can see part of his blue and white Nunu in the bottom right hand corner of the photo).

A few of you asked what the finished Turtleneck Shrug looks like. It will look like this (above).



You can wear it as a shrug, or you can wrap the sleeves around your neck like a scarf (like above picture). I think it's a super awesome knit. And really fast too! I am just about done the first sleeve!

Here is my progress. I am IN LOVE with the colors. It's Cascade 220 Quatro, and I'm using color 5014. I am a total pink person, so this is going to be awesome once finished. I am glad I chose this colorway!

There is ONE (1)! spot left in the September Sock Club over at my shop. Better hurry up if you are interested before someone else snags that last spot! Once the September kits are sold out, I will work on the October club kit, and as soon as I have all the details finalized, I will be putting it up for sale, and you can purchase that one up until October 1st. The October club kit will ship mid-October.

SP11 Questionnaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

I do NOT like Acrylics. I can’t stand the feel of it. I love sock yarn (I’m a sock yarn addict) and I love anything that is soft! I am NOT a mohair fan… nor do I like to knit with chenille, popcorn yarn, fun fur or eyelash yarn. ICK. I right now would love to check out Koigu (I keep hearing nice things about it). I've also never gotten my hands on Cherry Tree Hill Sock yarn, or Yarn Pirate. (Just to suggest a few things I'd like to try out!) Not a fan of Tofutsie sock yarn. I think it's the only kind I don't like.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

I have a wooden case that my grandmother gave me, as well as a large a nice Double pointed needle case I made for my bamboo DPN collection. Click here to see my beautiful handmade case. My circulars are now housed in a shoe bag that I got at the dollar store. Click here to see my awesome creation! Each pocket houses another size, and it came in a crazy color! My other regular straight needles are in this needle case that I made with my friend Jennie, click here to view. However, since making these all, I've acquired more needles - that need a home....!

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I consider myself to be an intermediate knitter. I’ve been knitting since about mid-Novermber 2005, and have accomplished a lot since then. I tried knitting once when I was about 9 years old, an old non-live-in babysitter/housekeeper Irene taught me to knit. She was later fired for stealing from my parents. Then, my friend Faye got me knitting needles and some really expensive yarn for my birthday in June of 2004, while in my 2nd year of professional photography school. I knitted a garter ridge scarf (only knew knit stitch back then, didn’t know how to purl yet) and then put down knitting until November 2005, when I started working on a scarf in chenille (yick!) yarn for my mother-in-law. That yarn got so gross to knit with, that I won’t ever knit with chenille yarn again, and that scarf died. That’s when my sister-in-law introduced me to crochet (or her version of crochet anyhow!) and I didn’t touch any knitting for another month and a half until January 2006. And I haven't put down the needles since. That’s my knitting history for you in a nutshell.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? I did, but then I bought myself everything off of it. So, I will work on another one, and when I have, I'll let you know. Currently, I own every single knitting book that I want. I need to check in with Amazon to see where my Knitting on the Road is though, I ordered that book back in May, and they said 4-6 weeks shipping, and now it's been like months. It was supposed to arrive the same week as my Harry Potter. Got the Harry Potter... I will look into my Knitting on the Road.

5. What's your favorite scent?

Peach, Watermelon, Cinnamon. Nothing too strong. I don't burn candles or incense. I'm not into that. So please don't send any.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

Not a fan of chocolate…. sweet tooth - not really. I like to chew different mint flavored gum. I love gum. Gum is a good thing to add to a package for me!

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

I sew, take pictures, do graphic design and sometimes crochet (but rarely anymore). I do not spin, yet, but want to learn as my SP10 partner Tammy got me a bag of pink fiber and a drop spindle. I hope to learn soon. When we move (hopefully early next year) and have a bigger house, I'd like to get a spinning wheel. (But I need more space for that).

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

I do not like rap or country music, or church music either. I can play MP3’s that’s no problem. I am into learning about new artists.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?

I love pink, peach, blue, turquoise, , any shade of green, and I like yellow and red too. Right now I'm hot for lime green and yarn with a bunch of green colorways. Pink tones too! I just just just just just recently started taking a liking again to the color purple. I hated the color for years, maybe it was my pregnancy, I don't know...!

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

I live surrounded by males. I live with my hubby and our senior 2 cats and my beautiful son Sean. He was born Dec. 28th, and that makes him 7 and a half months old.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

I wear hats & scarves and mittens. I think I would wear a poncho.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

I don’t hate anything. I’m loving socks and anything baby!

13. What are you knitting right now?

Oh gosh, you don't even want to know. Here's the list:

1. Anniversary socks for my husband. 2nd anniversary modern gift is cotton, so I'm knitting them with Cotton Regia.
2. Jaywalkers for myself (1 down, 1 to go)
3. "Married" socks for myself (already finished Jamie's got 1 more sock to go for myself)
4. Irish Hiking Scarf for my father-in-law's birthday in October
5. Turtleneck Shrug for myself
6. Sophia for myself
7. Chevron Scarf for myself
8. Tank Top from Debbie Bliss for Sean
9. Woven Trellis Scarf for myself
10. Thrummed mittens for myself
11. Sean's Cabled Pullover
12. Sean's Leftover Sock Yarn Blankie Project

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

Yes, but it depends on what. I love handmade stitch markers. I collect them.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

I don’t really care for straights, but will use them. I like DPN’s for socks, or on a pair of 12″ circs. I have not tried magic loop yet, though I want to. And bamboo vs. aluminum - well it all depends on what type of yarn it is…. some yarns don’t mix well on bamboo needles (and it also depends if it’s circulars or DPN’s as well - it does make a difference in my opinion). Plastic - I guess is okay as well.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

I own a ball winder and a swift. Hubby was getting annoyed being my swift, so he convinced me to buy one. A knitting accessory – how could I say no!

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

I think my oldest UFO is the Woven Trellis Scarf. I wonder when I started that? Actually, I think that's the only project I forgot to upload to Ravelry. (Oops...!)

18. What is your favorite holiday?

Any holiday that brings family together.

19. Is there anything that you collect?

Stitch Markers. Elephant statues. Oh and I collect yarn and purses!

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

I have a subscription to Interweave Knits that I just treated myself to. I am dying to get my hands on some Koigu. Keep hearing really good things about it. Also there are a few Vesper Yarn colorways that I’m in love with – and the ONE retail shop in Canada that carries them is out. (And a 6 hour drive from my house!) And Knitting on the Road if it's not on back order still.... I have to look into that, because I did order it. I bet, I'm going to get an email stating that they cannot ship this item and it's currently out of stock. Just watch my luck. I'd also like to try Handmaiden Sea Silk. I fondle it whenever I go to the LYS!

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

Entrelac, magic loop, and how to use my drop spindle.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

I am a size 8 women’s sock/shoe. I am a sock knitter.

23. When is your birthday?

06/16

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?

Knitpurlmama

31 Weeks

Jamie got me an anniversary gift early, and decided that it's stupid for it to sit in the drawer for the next 46 days, so he gave it to me early. It's exactly like the one online that I saw, except it's from a store here in Montreal and has a certificate and all that jazz (for insurance purposes, etc). It's also better quality than the one online (I won't complain!) I fell in love with it's simple design, and it looks good on me! Thank you Jamie, I love it.

I love it. I love it. I love it. Now I just need to figure out what to get him (besides the socks I'm knitting for him!) Why are men so difficult to shop for?

Today Sean is 31 weeks old. He spent the afternoon playing with his grandmother. My mom watched him while I plugged away at their computer doing work. I need about one more day of work, before I can let you in on what I've been working on. It's looking good though, I'll tell you! And I'm using my skills I learned in school. Finally! I was hoping that education wouldn't go down the drain once I became a mom - as much as I want to be a stay-at-home mom!



Secret Pal 11 sign ups have closed. I'm hostessing again this round. I'm so excited to start making my matches, but that won't be until next week. And then I'll have until August 15th to make the matches. Also - sign ups for the Fall Stitch Marker exchange are also closed. We have reached 50 participants, and I think that is a good number for the exchange. Those pals will also be matched up in the next week, and sent out also by August 15th.

I missed the recycling guy this morning (shoot!) You have to see how much we have this week to recycle. I love how much less we're throwing out in the garbage, because we're recycling. I won't throw out anything anymore if I'm out in public and I know the item in question can be recylced. I toss it into my bag, and bring it home for recycling.

It's sooo damn hot around here, that I'm glad to have spent the last 2 days working at my parents computer in central air. I know central air uses up a lot of energy, but I sure miss it. Sean slept last night in our bedroom in his playpen, because it was too hot in his room, and we have a portable A/C unit in our bedroom. Tonight, he's already asleep in our bedroom, which is fine by me.

For those of you who are curious, I have not yet tested out the 2nd little light I bought for after dark reading. I will let you know when I test out the 2nd one. So far, the first one I tested out, has proved to be good.

This evening I meant to get some work done, but after Big Brother 8 was on, I took Sean into our bedroom to lie down to try to get him to sleep, and we both passed out for almost 2 hours. He stayed asleep and I transfered him into the playpen, and now I should get to bed. I hope it rains soon so that this heat wave is broken!