Halloween 2015

Since I talked yesterday about my Christmas window, I totally forgot to show you my Hallowen window from this past Halloween! We had fun with this fall/Halloween window this past year. You’ve already seen the Katia cushion that we turned into the witch, but there was some more fun parts to this window that I’d like to show you.

We had a skeleton knitting….

 

And a pumpkin that I knit using 4 strands of Cascade Lana Grande on 15mm needles. I followed the Jack Be Little Pumpkin pattern by Elizabeth Murphy except for the fact that I super sized it! The stem was Diamond Luxury Collection Embrace held double stranded.  

 

I crochet some overalls for the two scarecrows in the window.

That was just a freeform crochet project, with no pattern. I used a 5mm crochet hook and Schachenmayr Wool 125 in orange.They were both a one evening project.

Not part of my window, but a project I wanted to finish in time for Halloween was my Hallowig, which I had started the year earlier but then got sidetracked from it. This did not come out big enough and I knitted it as per pattern. I am very disappointed in this project. I am going to see if I can undo the cast off, rip it back, add length to it, and fix it… Though, I am not sure I would ever wear it at this point, so I am not sure if it’s actually worth it.

And to end my Halloween post, here is a pic of my boys on Halloween night. I’ve got a hockey player, a Batman and a G.I. Joe trooper of some kind. They had a great time trick or treating this past fall.

Christmas Window

This was my wonderful Christmas window at the shop. It was a whole community event! We held some knit-along dates where we had the customers come in & knit the bears together. It was a lot of fun, and brought the community together. One of my suppliers supplied us with yarn to knit up the bears. Once the bears came out of our store window, they were donated to a local women’s shelter, where they will be distributed to little kids who come to the shelter, to bring smiles to their faces. This is the window I talked about in this post back in November 2015.

 

Naturalia Dégradé Cowl

I knitted up this Naturalia Dégradé Cowl as a store sample back in November. I absolutely loved working with the Borgo dePazzi Naturalia Dégradé yarn. It was knit up on 12mm needles and it was a very quick knit. And it only took 1 skein! That’s my fave part – no extra ends to weave it & it’s a super long cozy infinity scarf that you can loop over your head. I couldnt’ find the pattern on Ravelry, but it’s a free tear sheet that I got from one of my suppliers, that we have in the shop.

Polar Bears

Today I was in the West Island section (page 23) of the Montreal Gazette. I was called by the Gazette last Thursday and they tried to come out on Thursday evening to my knit-a-long that I hosted at the shop, but they couldn’t get a photographer. They were able to get one for the next day, during my 4th knit-a-long at the shop for this project. The whole idea was that we were going to get the community together to knit these bears, I would have them on display in my shop for a brief period of time, and then we will donate them to charity. The West Island Women’s Shelter will be taking a large portion of them, and then the rest, we will either try to find another charity to donate them to, or I’ve had requests to sell them, and then give the proceeds to charity. I will see how many are leftover after the shelter takes them. My goal is to have 100 bears. I have given out over 120+ kits with the pattern (which we adapted from another free pattern we found, but I made some changes to it to look more bear like) and gave enough yarn (in either white or off white, some of which one of my suppliers donated (to fill the first 70 kits), the rest (about 50 kits now), I donated from either my personal yarn stash and some from the shop too). From the over 120+ kits that I handed out, I have already received just over 50 bears back, completed. They are all so cute, and each have their own personality! Here are some that I have made:

These two above, are little ones I made, to test out the pattern. The first one, on the left, was made using the original pattern that I found for free online. I wasn’t 100% happy with the face, so I made the one on the right, which was test number 2.

Above, is teenage bear. I used some very thick yarn (Bravo Big by SMC) on 10mm needles to knit this guy up.

And this is Mama bear. I used SMC Bravo Big with the yarn held doubled on 15 mm needles to knit her up. She is awesome. I just love her. You can see below, how much bigger she is from the teenage bear. You can also see in the image at the top of this post, that was in the newspaper today, her size compared to the little baby bears.

I really hope this project brings smiles to children’s faces. That was the plan from the beginning, when I decided to launch this project. I cannot wait to see the entire project finished. I have 2 more bears that need to be completed, I have been playing around with different textures of white yarn to create the bears. I will definitely post a picture of the display once all the bears are up.

Fingering Weight Weaving

This was A LOT of work. It was quite challenging to weave with fingering weight yarn. It took 2.5 balls of 50g Regia sock yarn to warp this project. Then it took another ball and a half to weave this project. I wanted to show that we offer weaving in my shop, and that one can weave with any weight yarn. This woven project is in my current window display at my shop. I used my 20" Ashford Knitter's Loom to weave this project. I warped it on Feb 27th and was done on March 4th. The quickest project I think I have woven to date! You can view more details & pictures on Ravelry here.

Valentine’s Window

After my Christmas window won the best window in the mall contest over the holidays, I started thinking about the next window – for Valentine’s Day! I found some fun ideas on the internet (thank you Pinterest), and came up with a few ideas of my own.

After making a pompom rug to cover the floor of my window, I don’t think I want to see another pompom for a VERY long time. My hands were hurting after finishing most of those! I did have some help of some of my knitting friends, and I am so very grateful for their help.

Here are some close-ups of what’s in the window.

Some yarn “chocolate” boxes.

One of my customers makes these beautiful dolls. Their hair, is yarn from my shop. Aren’t they stunning?

Now, to start thinking about my next window!

Xmas Window 2014

A few weeks ago I got up the Xmas window display at work. The shop owners are having a contest (deadline to vote was yesterday, we’ll see who wins soon). From all the other windows in the mall, I honestly feel that our window is nice, but we’ll see what the other shop owners decide to vote for.

In my window I have some knit stockings by the fireplace. The pattern is free on the internet. I used Uptown Worsted held double to knit these adorable stockings on a 7mm needle. They’re knit flat and are super easy & super quick. Each sock weighs 51g. You can see the other 2 stockings here & here.

Also in the window are some crochet candy canes. The cane weighs 16g and I used leftover Uptown Worsted from the stockings with a 5mm crochet hook. The pattern is from here. This was a fast project as well. 

Yarn Bombing

For work, over the summer, I worked on a secret project with some of my knitting/crochet friends. I decided to yarn bomb a bicycle that had been sitting in my parents shed at their house for many years. I thought it would be a neat window display, and a fun way to attract people to the shop, and definitely make a conversation piece. Well, it’s certainly working. It was a fabulous idea. I started off with crocheting a bike seat cover in Berroco Vintage Colors.

Then I made streamers for the bike handle. Those were a lot of fun to make. I used leftover neon scraps for the handles and N.Y. Yarns Twinkle for the streamers. What a ton of fun!

Then I made a basket for the bike. I based my pattern loosely on the pattern I linked on Ravelry, however I didn’t buy her pattern, as I understand the basic design so I made up my own. And it came out very lovely. It was pretty simple to figure out how to make one. It was a lot of single crochet! The yarn was also leftovers from my stash.

Then I used swatches that I had made to cover a bike helmet. No real pattern for it. Instead of fighting with the shape of the helmet for seaming, I used my trusty hot glue gun to put the swatches on the helmet.

So this picture above is the finished window display. I love the way it came out. I want to thank all my knitting & crochet friends that made a piece or two (or a few) to cover the bike. I absolutely love it and it’s just very awesome. It was a fun project to work on. I am already dreaming up what we can yarn bomb next…

Come by Pointe-Claire Plaza to check it out! It’ll be on display for a little bit longer while we prepare the next window.

New Website!

I am very excited to announce my new work website! After a lot of work, it launched yesterday. Let me know what you think!

Big News!

 

Things have been super busy around here. I started working again – full time! I had been looking for a job since June, something full time, but couldn’t find work. I sent my CV everywhere, went on plenty of interviews, but nothing was quite the right fit. So instead of going out and finding a job, I decided to buy a business instead. Owning a business is a lot more work than working for someone else, but I think this job will be much more rewarding that anything else out there.

I think it was karma that I couldn’t find a job. A local yarn shop went on the market over the summer and I looked into it, and placed an offer my offer was accepted. I did my due diligence period and today, the deal was finalized and I am now the owner of Les Lainages du Petit Mouton (aka The Wool Shop), a local yarn shop near my house. (The website is a work in progress, I’ll let you know when I launch a proper site). You can like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and join our Ravelry Group.

I am very excited for this new venture, and it couldn’t be a better fit for me. I have so many ideas and have already started to order new stock to come into the shop. Owning a yarn shop was my dream back in 2007 when I started Robyn’s Nest (2007-2010) and finally I made this dream a reality. It really is a dream job.

If you ever find yourself in Montreal, feel free to stop in the shop & say hello as I’ll be working at the shop.

1.13.11 :: 134 weeks old

Mackenzie is 134 weeks old today.

I took Quentin to the CLSC this morning to get weighed, as I was concerned about his eating as of lately. He's been only drinking about 1 oz at a time and then passing out for 2-3 hours, waking up and only drinking about another ounce, before sleeping again for 2-3, sometimes even 4 hours. I was right, he was only gaining on average about 15 grams per day, when he should be gaining 20-25 grams per day. He's now 6 lbs 12 oz (3080 grams or 3.08kg) at 6 weeks old 2 days. Two weeks ago, on Dec 28th, he was 6 lbs 5 oz. (2860 grams or 2.86 kg). And the week before that from Monday, Dec 20th (weighed by the CLSC) to Tues, Dec 28th (weighed by his doctor at his 4 week check-up) , he had gained in those 8 days 45 grams per day. It really cut in a 3rd his weight gain from 45 g to 15 g. Though, I can't force him to eat more than he wants to, or he spits it ALL up. When he's done, he shuts his gums and that's it. He's not letting any more food in. I'm hoping this slow weight gain is just his own curve, but we'll find out in about another 2 weeks when he has his 2 month check-up.

After leaving the clinic, I ran to my 6 week postpartum appointment. My incision is healing nicely and I was cleared to work out/exercise. I'll probably still start light on the exercise, but I plan to make a routine for myself, something that will work. I was supposed to have one test done today, but I unfortunately couldn't so I have to run back to her in 2 weeks to do it. And then I'll be free of doctor appointments from there for 1 year. Everyone at the doctor's office couldn't get over how small he was!

As I arrived to the doctor's office trying to undo Quentin's Bundle Me to not let him overheat, one of the side zippers got stuck. I tried for a while to get the zipper free, but it just wasn't going anywhere. At least it got stuck at the most closed point, and luckily the other side opens and has it's own zipper, so I am able to open it. It's the same side that I had the zipper replaced back in October 2008. Anyhow, after my doctor's appointment, I went to pick up Jamie and while at the office, my dad happened to be there (family business) so I had my dad take a look at it. He used vice grips to try to get the zipper free, but he ended up breaking the zipper slider in half.

Jamie's car was at the dealership today, so he needed my car for work. Since I hadn't actually been to the new store we opened in November, I decided to go with him to check it out, since his trip today was going to be a quick one. First we went to our original store, where I was working until I started my maternity leave, and then we went to the new store. The new store is really nice, I like it.

While Jamie did some work, Quentin napped & I got to knit on a new project I started.
I'm on a chunky yarn kick right now.

Quentin also enjoyed checking out daddy's new office.

After we left, I dropped Jamie back off at his car (which was then ready) and went to get a car was for my car. There was a long line up today (it was a nice day to get a car wash apparently) and I worked even more on the neck warmer during the 30-40 minute wait I had for the car wash.

View from inside the car wash.

Almost clean.

After the car wash, I ran across the street to drop off some dry cleaning and I asked the woman there (who happens to also be a seamstress) if she could fix my bundle me. She told me she'd be able to pry off the broken slider and put on a new one. I told her I couldn't leave the bundle me with her as Quentin needs it for outside, so I'm stopping by there tomorrow and she said it would take a maximum of 15 minutes to fix. I'm quite happy.

Tonight I prepared a healthy meal, some protein, brown rice (starch), and lots of veggies. I try not to eat meat & starch together after 5pm, but we had an early enough dinner today and I've been so good all week, that I allowed myself to have some rice. Tomorrow is weigh in, so we'll see how the diet is going. Hopefully I've lost a bit more.

I leave you tonight with a link to Quentin and his new best friend on Project 365.