cher·ry

When I looked up the word Cherry in the dictionary today, I particularly liked definition:

"7. Slang.
a.
something new or unused."


I've got something new!! Last week Rhonda gave me some of her Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn that she wound wound using her new yarn meter she bought herself from all her hard work. I've never used Cherry Tree yarn before, but it felt so nice and sat in my bag all week taunting while I worked on the hat. Well, it certainly got the best of me be because as soon as I was done the hat (haven't even tied my ends in yet) I just had to cast on for some silly socks. I'm using the Broadripple pattern again, but I've modified the pattern slightly so that I can use sock yarn instead of a double knitting yarn. The actual pattern calls for 56 sts and I'm using 64, so really there's only 2 extra stitches on each needle which I don't think makes too much of a difference at all. I'm making wicked progress so far because as I've mentioned before, the Broadripple pattern is addictive (and easy). The yarn did not disappoint either, it knits up wonderfully and feels nice on my feet when I tried them on. The colours are all over the place, but it doesn't seem too overwhelming for the pattern. I just can't wait until they are done and I can wear them. :-)





I'm almost done sock number one, so I guess I've popped the proverbial cherry.

When I was trying to take a picture for my blog, Paisley had to get in on the action. She named this pose her "Grandma Face" (I'm not kidding). As much as she has been rotten lately, this kid makes me laugh. Where do they come up with this stuff???

We're off to Owen Sound this weekend for a little winter fun. We're going to take Paisley & Lucas skating and quite possibly some tobogganing. It will be Paisley's first time doing both. I will definitely be posting some pictures when I'm back. It's going to be fun times, ohhh I can't wait!! :-)

One more thing before I go...
I don't think I mentioned that Paisley saw The Needle Emporium on CH Morning Live yesterday. She had to inform Ron and I that she goes to "Julie's house" with Gramma all the time and she also has too dogs. What a girl, I just thought it was so cute. :-)

Have a good weekend everyone!

That Darn Hat!

The Army Girl Ear flap Hat is nearing completion and it's a very, very good thing because I really did not like this pattern. It started out a little rough, got a little better and then once I got to the crown, I was lost again. It's kind of like knitting blind and I'm sure you all know what I mean by that. I felt as though the pattern was a little vague in explaining things and the way it was written was a little confusing. I'm not even so sure I like how it turned out! There is a positive to this whole thing... I learned two new techniques!!! On Saturday night Rhonda taught me the cable cast-on method and I also learned how to do an attached i-cord.

That's it for me today, just a short little post. Going out to one of our Ontario Early Years Centres very shortly (Paisley calls it playgroup). For any parents (in Ontario) who have never heard of OEYC, you should check out their link to find a centre in your area, it's a great place to take your kiddies. They have all kinds of fun and activities for them there as wells as it allows them to interact with children in their own age group. Did I mention that it's free too? I believe it's for children 0-6 years old.

Back in Blogland

I have been without internet access since the wee hours of Friday morning and going nuts. It's just amazing how much we use the net getting through our day to day. When you don't have it...you realize just how much it is used. Really...lol how could we ever have lived without this invention years and years ago (kind of sad??). On the upside to lack of interent, we apparently have the fastest highspeed in the city. We had sympatico before but I think it was dsl light so the cable is alot faster (so far, we'll see how it goes). Unfortunately I don't have any exciting knitting content to talk about (and you'd think with less computer time I would have something crazy knit up). The Army Girl hat is still on the needles and needs to be frogged and restarted. What really sucks is that it's like -50 degrees out in Manitoba right now so it would be nice to have it all finished so I can send the hat, mitts (which could probably really be used right now) and the rest of the Christmas parcel out to my best friend Kerri. Soon..soon...soon...

In the meantime...I've been tagged with a meme by Samantha and since it's been a while since I've done one here we go:

Alphabet Meme

A- Available or single? The equivalent to being married(I'm entitled to 1/2, j/k).
B- Best Friend? Ron, Paisley, Kerri, Bex, Berns {I guess that's friend(s)}
C- Cake or Pie? Apple pie (warm with ice cream)
D- Drink of Choice? Tea(pref. Earl Grey)
E- Essential Item? Computer(w/Internet), knitting, music
F- Favorite Color? mauvey purple (can't really describe it)
G- Gummi Bears or Worms? Not a big fan of either
H- Hometown? Owen Sound, ON, Canada
I- Indulgence? Fudgeo Cookies (Damn them)
J- January or February? February, one step closer to spring
K- Kids and names? Paisley May Johnson (3 years old)
L- Life is incomplete without? Ron and Paisley
M- Marriage Date? We've been together since Sept.20th,2002 (that's what really counts!)
N- Number of Siblings? Sister (2 years younger) and brother (8 years younger).
O- Oranges or apples? Both, just depends on the day.
P- Phobias/Fears? dying, fires,tornadoes.
Q- Favorite Quote? BooooUrns! Can't really think of any
R- Reason to Smile? I'm back online and Paisley's sleeping.
S- Season? Summer
T- Tag three people! (If any of my facebook friends are reading) Kerri, Genna, Christa
U- Unknown Fact About Me? I used to be afraid of the dark and had a night light until I was 16.
V- Vegetable you hate? brussel sprouts.
W- Worst habit? Repeating myself when I'm talking.
X- X-Rays you’ve had? When I was 12, I broke my nose while playing baseball and then again when I was 18, I sprained my ankle really bad sliding into 2nd.
Y- Your favorite food? Pasta.
Z- Zodiac? Pisces.

That's it for me tonight! Knit on Knitters Knit on!!

A Perfect Gauge (hopefully)

Now that the camo mittens are all done, I'm onto the hat I've been wanting to make for Kerri. It's called Army Girl Earflap hat from Interweave Knits (winter 2005) about 1/2 way down the page on the link. When I was out visiting her in October, she saw a knitted hat that her hubby's bestfriend had and she asked me if I could make her a similar one and I've been on the hunt for a pattern ever since. Now I've finally found one that's perfect (with a little help from my MIL Rhonda) and I'm itching to get started on it. I'm taking a short hiatus from socks because I need to mail this gift out (along with Christmas stuff for Kerri & family) before it's too warm for knit wear. So, Bex...if your reading, I have to pause on your socks temporarily. Becky will eventually be receiving a pair of Emobssed Leaves socks (also a pattern from Interweave Knits), more on the socks a little later and back to the hat!! Keeping with the "Knit from your Stash" project, I took two odd balls of yarn from my stash, one was worsted and one was fingering weight, I thought I'd try and get a tweedy look and put them together, did up a gauge (16sts and 25 rows = 4")and sucess, it seemed to work. I don't always do a swatch before I start a project, but I thought this time I didn't really want to be effing around and I really want to use up my stash yarn, because alot of it was stuff that I got or that was given to me when I first started knitting (almost 3 years ago) and I would love to buy something nice for myself when it's all gone. :)

Today I started the hat. I've done about 10 rows on the pattern and something doesn't seem right. I'm going to rip it all out and try it again tomorrow. I just can't seem to maintain the ribbed garter stitch pattern (R.S. k1, p1, WS purl). I think the m1's are throwing me off, not too sure. I may have to consult a professional knitter about this.....

Camouflage Mittens

Yes...you read it correctly, I am making camo mitts. The yarn is from my stash, woot woot! It doesn't even have the ball band on it anymore, but my guess is bernat because I think they have the camouflage shades. Now, you're probably wondering why I'm making camo mitts? The mitts are for my best friend Kerri's hubby, he's in the military and I thought Kerri and him would get a kick out of them. They are cute though, even if he's not a mitt guy. I thought he could wear them outside with their boys or something since it is freezing in Manitoba. I am contemplating making an ear flap had to match, I just haven't decided yet because I still have to knit Kerri the hat she wanted. :-) I'm busting in on the stash with this project, how sweet is that? This is also my first time knitting mitts in the round and I'm loving it. It's also been over a year since I've made mitts and I have to live up to the title of my name. As far as patterns go, I'm not really using one. I just looked at a few patterns for men so I could get the correct number of stitches on the needles and steps for the gusset and top shaping. I'm using my new dpns I got for Christmas (3.5mm) as well. One mitt done and another on the needles, I'm almost done the ribbed cuff on the 2nd mitt. Mittens are such a quick knit, gotta love it! :-)

Well, I'm off to bake banana bread, Paisley wants to bake and I have 3 bananas that are really yellow and have brown spots on them (I will NOT eat banana's like that, they have to be slightly green for me to eat them).

Christmas Madness and a Quiet New Year!

Christmas flew by like a whirlwind! Christmas Eve was spent at work (what a crazy day but there was lots of good food from our potluck) followed by Christmas out at Ron's parents house in Smithville. We did everything but "Santa" stuff on the 24th and by 7am Christmas Day, Paisley was out in the livingroom slightly disappointed that she missed Santa but excited about more gifts. We let her tear through her stocking first so we could wake up a bit and let Gramma & Grampa get up too. This was a very exciting Christmas for us because it's the first year that Paisley really understands what's going on and she was very impressed with her stocking (Yes that is Opal sock yarn in the picture to your left, I got it from my wonderful MIL and I also got some new dpns from Paisley). My only real disappoinent was our lack of snow on Christmas this year. Although I'd rather drive on snowless roads, it just doesn't feel like Christmas without a little snow on the gound. Boxing Day was spent looking for a new keyboard because our wireless decided to die on us that moring and then we were heading out to Ancaster for more Christmas at Ron's Grandma's. We also had to pick up 2 gifts on our way, one for a man and one for a woman, so we could swap gifts. A quick stop at Shoppers and Canadian Tire did the trick and we were on our way for more Christmas madness. Afther that was all said and done, we had one more day to clean up our house and find homes for the new stuff before my parents came on the 27th. We did our Christmas with them shortly after they arrived and the next day we did our big dinner and just look at our poor tree after they arrived!! I think we are in need of a larger tree next year. :-)

Onto the Christmas socks:

The Broadripple Socks (yellow) that I made were gifted to my mom and the 2nd pair of Jaywalkers (pink) I made were for my brother's girlfriend Genna. My mom wore her's the whole time they were at my place, I had to wash them for her. There's nothing more gratifying then watching something you made getting a work out, I bet my mom's even wearing them right now. Ha ha!

What a crazy week eh??? On Saturday the 30th we got my parents to babysit Paisley so I could go to my friend Becky's birthday party. It was good times and nice to get out for an evening (something we don't do very often). It was at a steakhouse in Niagara Falls called Wildfire, the food was good and so was the Carlsberg, MMmm Beer! New Years Eve I had to work 8-4pm and my parents were heading back to Owen Sound so I was up at 6am. Ron and I had planed to stay up and bring in the new year, but by 10:30 I feel asleep on the couch.

Can you blame me???? ha ha. We certainly had fun though!

Happy New Years and Blogoversary!

Just wanted to post a quick Happy New Years to everyone, also a few days ago was my 1st Blogoversary. I see every one's slowly changing to the new blogger, all of your blogs are looking good!
It was a very busy Christmas for us (hence my lack of posts lately), I will fill you in on all of our fun soon, but I have to go now! The socks were love by their recipients too, I have pictures to show. :-)