Mitts to match!

I got busy this weekend after I finished the hat and by Monday I had myself a pair of mittens to match my cozy cabled hat. I still have 2 balls of the Alpaca Silk left....what to do???? A scarf? Hummm....
I love them, they are very warm but my only beef is that the Alpaca Silk is very silky and my hand tends to move around alot. I even did them on a smaller needle size them the pattern required. Today I got smart and wore a pair of magic gloves underneath them and that seems to elimate the moving around on the hand and now they're extra warm.


I also have a sneakpeak of the Seamless Yoked Baby Sweater too, I'm not quite finished it yet, but soon. :-)

Gettin' Cozy with Cables!

Hello again!!
Maaaan we sure had some chilly days this week and I wanted nothing more for myself then a nice warm hat to wear when I go out to take Paisley to school and back everyday. I searched a bit on the net this afternoon for a free pattern and finally came aross one that I liked (alot). First I'm just going to say that sometimes free patterns are the best patterns, I loved making every inch of this hat. I've never visited this blog before and found the hat pattern/blog off google, but man it's cute. It's called Cozy Cabled Toque (from Domestic Affair). It called for bulky weight yarn, so I just double stranded some Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk DK that Rhonda gave me a while back and I used 6mm needles instead of the 6.5mm the pattern was using. I really love how it turned out for the most part. The only part I wasn't too crazy on was how I did the baby cables, I don't think I did them quite right but I still really love the toque anyway. Let me know what you think, I'd appreciate the feedback. I'm thinking it may need a pom-pom as well......?? This is the very first hat that I've knit that I actually enjoyed, I was never too fond of making them before. If you're looking for a last minute Christmas gift to knit, this would work great!
I'll be making this toque again, so I'll have time to get those baby cables right!!!! Next on my agenda is cabled mitts to match perhaps, sounds tempting. I'm more then 1/2 finished the Seamless Yoked Baby Sweater as well. I've been pretty busy this week with.......knitting! :-)

Oh yeah, I haven't mentioned my sweater (Tiltled Duster) in a while. It's been done for quite some time, I just need to (groan) sew it all up and get some nice buttons for it, I really would like to wear it soon. :-)

Finally...some knitting!!

It was pretty chilly last week in Southern Ontario and since Paisley's in school this year I thought why not knit her some warm mittens and I also needed to live up to my title "Smitten4Mittens". I created my blog nearly 2 years ago and I don't think I've made any mittens since the very first few posts. I was browsing on annypurls blog and noticed that she had recently made mittens for her son. I fell in love with the pattern that she used and had to get it! The pattern is called Target Wave Mittens from Norah Gaughan's Knitting Nature. It was a pretty straight forward pattern to follow and now I'm on a mission to make more. By the suggestion of Rhonda, I did the pattern on 3 1/4 mm needles for a tighter and warmer knit. I did it in the medium size and the fit turned out perfect! Paisley would like to give a pair to her cousin Lucas and her best friend Briana for Christmas this year. :-) I hope you enjoy my rather uncooperative model. If you're looking for a super quick knit, this is it! It only took my 2 days to make these babies working on them on and off.


It's also time to start another Seamless Yoked Baby Sweater. My sister's due date is appraoching and fast (January 10th).

The many reasons for being MIA

Hello to all! Wow, LOL it's been quite a while since my last post. Geez, I've even missed Halloween!! Paisley went out as a pumpkin, although she's lucky she even went out at all, she was sick with a fever and vomitting the day before and then the Thurs and Friday she was also sick. Some kind of flu bug took out my whole family last month and part of this one too. I think it's finally gone now though, at least I know I'm feeling better. Last month was the worst though, the evil bug got me first, slow taking Paisley out, then ME AGAIN, then Ron. Terrible, LOL sooo terrible! Not much knitting was done last month either, I started the monkey socks and still have it 3/4 of the way done on the needle. I've just been so damn tired. I will get back to it...soon but I just had to cast on for a baby sweater last night. My sister's date for her c-section is January 10th, I'd better get moving!!!!! It's the first knitting I've done in weeks too.

I also have some exciting news that I would like to share with you all. I think it's pretty safe at this point to spill the beans and it will explain some of my lack of blogging and knitting as well. There are actually 2 things now that I think of it.....

Ron got a job!!!! He starts friday. It's at a company called Challenger in Cambridge and.....

we're expecting again, I'm about 11 weeks along and I've been freaking TIRED (I think I'm starting to come around though)!! LOL

So that about sums it all up.....


Birthday is my next focus, Paisley's birthday is on December 8th and she wants a party this year. My child also informed her gramma and I that she wants mitts and a hat made out of Alpaca! How hallarious is that??

Oh yeah, LOL We went for a drive the other night and I couldn't believe how many people have their Chirstmas lights up!! I LOVE Christmas but I would wait at least until the Santa Claus Parade, that was always a tradition with my family.

Okay, that's really it for now!!

It's Crazy Sock Day!

Every month the teacher sends home a calendar for Paisley and it keeps us informed as to what's going on in the kindergarten class. Well, this month on October 19th it said it was "Crazy Sock Day". What a great day especially for moms who love to knit socks and it's Socktoberfest too. These are the socks I came up with for Paisley. It took me a little longer to knit them due to the flu that was kicking my $## all last week and most of this week as well but I finished them last night. I used some Bernat Sox yarn that Rhonda gave to me waaaay back just for making socks for Paisley and I used the Broadripple pattern that I've used many times before but I kind of made it my own. Using 3.5mm dpns I casted on 48 sts and divided over 3 needles (16 sts on each). The cuff is just done in garter using the ripple pattern. It's a very easy pattern, I think I'll write it out incase anyone is intersted in making kiddie broadripples.

Now that I'm done those socks, I've cast-on for a pair of monkey socks using my new knitpick sock yarn. Yet another very easy pattern. I've had this one lying around for almost a year and I'm kicking myself for not trying this pattern sooner. Everyone's getting a pair of monkey's for Christmas this year. :-) I will post a pick of my progress next post but I'm almost to the heel of the first sock. I'm quite enjoying the knitpicks essentials and I think they are going to be nice to wear although this pair I am working on are not for me. :(

It was like Christmas!

My order from Knit picks arrived on Tuesday. I would have posted sooner but it was just one of those weeks! I was surprised at how fast the delivery was and everything looked and felt great. So far, I am very impressed with it all. :-)
I took some pictures of my newly acquired stash. The first pic to the left is for the pinwheel sweater that I am going to make for my sister's baby girl (due in January). The yarn is swish(100%) superwash. It feels awesome and I can't wait to start knitting with it.



The yarn I got for the argyle cardigan is shine sport. I actually started knitting with this one and it seems to be knitting up great so far. It say it is 60% cotton & 40% modal. It feels nice!! :-)




The sock yarn looks delicious! mmm mmm......






Alright...I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. I'm off to work now!!

Excited!!

I just put in my first ever online order for yarn tonight from knitpicks, so now I'm anxiously waiting for my delivery. It said approximately 15 business days, I'm totally excited. *LOL*
I ordered the yarn for the pinwheel sweater I'm making for my sister's little baby girl (due in mid Jan.) and the yarn for my co-workers baby boy (also due mid Jan.) and I decided on the Argyle Cardigan for him from Debbie Bliss Special Knits. I also ordered some sock yarn....
I assured the hubby that this purchase was strictly baby gifts and Christmas gifts but I had to get myself a little something too, the colours in arugula looked really fun!! It's gonna be like Christmas when this package comes!!! :-)

I also promised first day of school photos! Wednesday Sept. 12th was the big day and this week was the first full week of school. She goes every afternoon from 12:25-2:55pm so during that time, I've been having nice quite knitting time, house cleaning and socializing with the neighbours and the DH. I think I could really get used to this!
She's been enjoying school so far and has been eager to go every day. I'm also proud to say that she has went to bed 3 nights in a row all by herself after story time with no problems. Bedtime has always been a bit of a battle with us. It hasn't all been as peachy as it sounds (a few tantrums this week) but overall we had a good day today. :-)

Alright enough of this typing, it's back to knitting MY sweater.......

"Till death do us part" Lucky Stitch Markers.

Well, it has been quite a while since my last post but rest assured I have been busy!



This past weekend my DH's best friend and his fiance of 2 years got married. Ron was a groomsman and Paisley was the flower girl and I did the wedding photos so maaaannn was I ever a busy woman (as you can probably imagine). It was a beautifully fun wedding and as the wedding favours they did up cute little frames and attached hershey kisses to it with ribbon and a little heart charm. Clever me came up with a way to always remember they're special day...I made the heart charms (I had 2 of them) into stitch markers. I will always use them and hopefully it will bring them good luck in their marriage together.

Congratulations David & Alexis!!!

I have scrapped yet another sweater and started a new one from Interweave knits Fall 2007. It's the Tilted Duster.
So far it is going great and everything is measuring up. I think I'm more them 1/2 way done too. It's done on 5.5mm needles and is knitting up pretty quick, it's also done in a few pieces so it doesn't seem to be taking as long. I'm not photographing it unitl it's finished, so you will just have to wait and see. I'm very happy with it so far!!

I also found out a few days ago that my sister is having a little girl, so I'm thinking a pinwheel sweater might be a good choice. I've been looking through the knitpicks catalouge.......hummm.... :-)

Tomorrow my baby has her first day of school. Both her and I are very excited. *LOL* I will be taking pictures.
This weekend is also another very busy weekend. It's my nephew Lucas's birthday party on saturday so we will be heading up after school on Friday. It just seems like it never ends these days, there's always something going on.

Finally...Do you think I'd actually end the post without putting a picture of my little flower girl up here????

What colour are you???

This is exact...eeeshh. I love purple. (not sure about the graceful part though, lol)

You Are a Purple Crayon

Your world is colored in dreamy, divine, and classy colors. You hold yourself to a sky high standard, and you are always graceful. People envy, idolize, and copy you without realizing it. You are an icon for those who know you. And while it is hard to be a perfectionist, rest assured it's paying off! Your color wheel opposite is yellow. While yellow people may be wise, they lack the manners and class needed to impress you.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Creative Juices

First, I must start out with that today I'm very proud of myself. About 2 weeks ago I was at the mall (or at least I think it was the mall, I can't quite remember) I saw a watch that was made out of shells and I instantly fell in love with it. Now since I can't remember where I even saw this watch, the ideas started spinning, I needed to have this watch or one just like it. We took a trip out to the dollar store bright and early this morning (since Paisley had me up at 6am) and I got myself some shell beads which were apparently "genuine" and some beading elastic as well as numerous other things that you end up getting when you go to the dollar store that you did not intend on purchasing. After we got home, I went through my jewelry to see if I had any old watches that may be suitable for my little project and this is what I came up with. I'm so thrilled with how it came out looking. I wish I could show you the one I saw originally.

We also stopped off at Shopper's Drugmart on our little trip this morning and Paisley decided on the lunch bag that she wants for school. Now...I am not often sucked in to gimmicky stuff like Bratz, but this little bag was just too cute to pass up on. *LOL* I think it was the little skulls with the red bows in their hair that did it for me so I immediately had to say yes to my darling little girl. Spoiled...I think?
I'm so lame, I actually had to take a picture of the thing.

One more thing. I had to return stuff to the Hamilton Public Library today and on my way out I find an old beehive knitting booklet with patterns in it, so for 25 cents I bought it just to have in my collection.

The blanket is coming along, I should be finished it within the next day or 2. I ran into a few minor problems, but Rhonda bailed me out and got me back on track yet again. Thanks again!!

Well, I guess that's it for me. We're off to Owen Sound for the weekend. hopefully we can hit the beach this year (unlike last month, last year or the year before that). We also have a family reunion on Sunday for Ron's family in Fergus, so it should be a pretty busy weekend. I really looking forward to getting away though because I worked 7 days in a row straight right over this long weekend past and then today was my only day off and then I'm back in tomorrow night. Pheeeeww, I need a break. Lately, there's been a lot of drama at work too so I want to get away from all that.

Okay..I'm off now... off to bed that is.

zzz zzz zzz

z
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A sneak peak!

At last! Some knitting to share. I have been working on a blanket by Marie Grace Designs. Rhonda just finished this blanket for Samantha, it's the one that starts at the center on four needles and eventually you change to circulars. It's knit around in a circle and you end up with a square at the end, amazing!!! :-)

I haven't be able to work on it for a few days because I'm still trying to figure out why I have 100 stitches in between one set markers and all the rest have 101 (which is what they all should have), maybe I missed an increase or something. It's frustrating though because I just want to work on the damn thing, the pattern is one of those addictive ones.

There's something about knitting in the round that seems to make it progress quicker too....

I have some good news to share....

Remember back in January when I posted about my DH getting permanently laid off from his job of 5 years? Well, all these months he's been on EI, trying to get government help to go back to school. The process of it all is quite a lengthy one (some may get frustrated during) because he started his mission back in March and it stuck with it. He finally got a call last week saying they will cover the cost of the program he wants to take, yay!!!! He's going to get his A-Z truck license and no, this does not necessarily mean he will be on the road all the time, there is alot of option available in this field because there is such a demand for drivers. I'm so proud of him, all I wanted him to do was find a job that he could enjoy instead of going back to some stinky factory to be miserable for a lifetime or to get laid off again the way manufacturing is going these days. If all goes well, he should be starting school on Monday or the next Monday after. It's a 6 week program and he should be working by September (hopefully). :-)

If you're a Canadian citizen, unemployed, on EI and going through the motions of trying to get help to go back to school, my advise to you it to just stick with it. It does happen for some so just tough it out, even when you're frustrated and it is not looking hopeful. It just takes time, unfortunately a long time.

Well, that's it for now. Everyone enjoy the rest of your day!

Wow Samantha, I have been a slacker. Geeezz!! It's been over a month since I've posted anything. My excuse is ligit, I've been working ALOT these days (5 days a week) and spending alot of time outdoors and we also bought a pool pass for the family.

I have no fun knitting content as of late to show, so instead I'll post some fun pictures from our long weekend in Owen Sound. Most of these pictures were taken a place called Story Book Park just outside of Owen Sound. Ahh, childhood nostalgia

My sister is expecting again in January, so I will have baby knits to show for very shortly. I'm very excited about this news because I have never knit a blanket before, so oohh boy is it ever gonna happen. At the end of July, early August we should know the gender and that's when the fun is really going to begin. (I want a niece, girls are fun to knit for).

Rockin' with my socks out!

Just a quick post to say that I finally found a pattern to knit my friend Becky's socks. The yarn and pattern look just freakin' awesome together, I'm so impressed! I've also finished a pair for my sister (the not-so secret birthday socks) in the same yarn but a different colour and both suited this pattern really well! I don't want to ruin the surprise too much for my sister so I will hold back from putting a picture of them up until after I give them to her. The pattern is one that I borrowed from Rhonda called Horcrux Socks. The yarn I'm using is Invicta Extra by Scheepjes (on 2.5mm needles) and I'm finding it really nice yarn to work with.

Still Knitting!

Wow!! It's been a while since my last post. :-) I'm still here and still knitting!!

I'm working on secret birthday socks. I have one of them completled and almost to the heel on the next. The pattern's a breeze! I think my friend Bex will be getting her socks sooner then she thinks now. I'm still working on the sweater too!!

My parents finally came for a visit about 2 weeks ago. They brought a birthday present(btw,lol my b-days in March) from my Grandma (she mailed it to my parent's place because she lives in Quebec). It was a box full of yarn, all differnt colours. I also got a really nice gift from my brother's girlfriend's Mom, it had a teapot, tea and chocolates in a really nice, BIG basket. I know a few weeks ago on Rhonda's blog, she was asking to see everyone's baskets. Now I know it's late, but I'm posting mine. I also got myself a little purse at work and guess what???? It's a basket too, I thought it was so cute and summery and perfect for socks!!

Paisley's been getting right into summer these days with sidewalk chalk and rocking out on the guitar just like her daddy. We've also been eating outside alot on my new patio set that I got for mother's day. I've been knitting there too. :-)

I've got new Stitchmarkers!!!!!

First off, I would love to thank the ladies who made my stitch markers.

Robyn (letters) and Leigh (b&w ones) made these ones, aren't they lovely??

Barb made these ones! The tea was a nice touch. Thanks!!! :-)

Karine made these beautiful markers!

I'm still waiting on one more set coming from someone out there! Hopefully I will get them soon.

As for the one's I made and sent out, here they are! I was pretty happy with they way they turned out because this was my first time making stitch markers. I did have a tiny bit of help though (credit where credit is due), Ron helped me twist the wire just right. What a nice husband! :-)

I currently have another pair of jaywalkers on the needles, actually they're almost done. Ohh, I can't wait to wear another new pair of socks. Mmm mmm!! Two very different socks, yet the same, gotta love it. After the socks are completed, I'm going to get back to the sweater and finish those arms. :-)

A few weeks ago Paisley asked for (more like demanded) slippers, so I went surfed the net in search of a pattern for slippers. Finally I found a pattern from Knitting at Knoon and this is what I came up with. The pattern is family of slippers. Of course now that I knit her slippers, she doesn't want to wear them! I still think they're cute. :-)

Fudge.

Have you ever experienced failure in everything you've casted-on for?? Lately that seems to be the case for me! Arrrg.

Tierra was going along beautifully! I have the front and back finished and I think it looks fabulous, but unfortunately I've cast-on for my sleeves 3 times now and it doesn't seem to be working. I don't know what to do now because I really want to finish the sweater. I've already come so far! The sleeve just seems like it's going to be waaaay to big even on the smallest size given (unless I'm just not understanding the pattern quite right, but it seems like it's knit up from the cuff and then it decreases at the top to fit the shoulders).

Being anxious to knit SOMETHING for now, I got my sock needles out, my green birthday sock yarn that I got from Rhonda and the Embossed Leaves pattern and started to cast on for them. I don't think I even knit 3 rounds and Riiiiippp, and I did that about 3 times until I finally called it quits for the night and came over the computer to vent it all out on my blog!!!!!!!

What's a woman to do??

Unto something a little less melancholy.

I hope everyone had a great Easter/long weekend!!

On Saturday we finally painted the ceramic eggs that Ron made out of poly-fill, it was a really great family event. Ron even painted a golden egg with the year painted on it, too funny. The multi-coloured ones are Paisley's eggs.
Later that night, Ron and I enjoyed some not so child friendly television. We watched the 1/2 of seasons 3 & 4 of Viva la Bam. Quality tv if you enjoy laughing so much you may have to pee. It's not for everyone though. :-)
Paisley was so excited Sunday morning. because the Easter bunny left her a trail of chocolate eggs all the way downstairs to her basket, he also left things at Gramma's house and her Auntie Valerie's place. Come to think of it, I think she even has some stuff that he left up at her Grandma's in Owen Sound too. What a lucky girl!!

I'm almost done the my stitch markers for the exhange too, I have until sunday to get them all mailed out, so I guess I better get cracking.

P.S. I did have links on everything in here that required them, but then netscape just randomly closed on me and I lost everything except for an early draft I saved, but I'm too lazy to go and get the links for everything!!! Double fudge I guess.... :-)

Oh yeah...my new members of the family that I've been meaning to show off :

Weight and such...

First I'm going to start off with "YAAAYYY" because I haven't been able to log into blogger for days. Internet Explorer was being a pain in the arse so Ron got us Nescape to use instead of IE and ever since we got Netscape I couldn't log in. Still trying to figure out why it's just shutting down on the main blogger page. Hummm!

Not too much progess on the knitting this week, but I am on day 5 of my Healthy Eating Diet. I want to loose some weight by the summer, this winter has me feeling a little frumpy. I'm charting my progress through ticker factory (bottom of blog). I even bought myself a scale with a wal-mart gift card I got for my birthday last weekend from my DH. He laughed and said he wouldn't dare buy me a scale, but was impressed that I bought myself one. This is actually the first time ever that I feel motivated to do this. I would love to loose 40 lbs eventually.

Oooohhh, I almost forgot to mention my MIL Rhonda gave me a wonderful birthday gift. I got a set of bamboo circular needles. The really cool part about them is that the cable part is all flexible and bendable which means you don't have to straighten it out in boiling hot water. HOW cool is that??? I also got lime green Cherry Tree sock yarn with it, which I thought was such an appropriate colour for me since my birthday's on St. Patty's Day. My my SIL Valerie, I got a yarn kit in really cute colours. I will have to post a picture on here soon of my new stuff. :-) Thanks Rhonda & Valerie, loved it!!!

Well, I'm off to bed. Itl will be a long day at work tomorrow since it's 20x the points day at Shopper's Drugmart and we're having wicked, mad Saturday Only special deals. EEAkkk! :-)

I love cables!

It's been a while since my last post, but it's been productive time away. I started the sweater for myself and I've already knit 16". At 19" I get to start the decreasing for the armholes, so I'm moving right along.

I was also going through my patterns and I found Irish Hiking Scarf and started it on the Fleece Artist that I won from Cynthia's contest last year for Warming Grace. It is beeeeaaautifuul. The bad part is that I think I'm going to run out of yarn before the scarf is finished and I already love it sooo much that I don't want to frog it and use the yarn for something else. So now I'm on the hunt for another skein of yarn in similar colourway. If someone out there has some and would like to sell it to me, please, please let me know. I'm on a mission to find the yarn!! I'm looking for the ball band because I think it has the colour on it and I know it was a Favourite fleece socks/mittens kit. Hopefully I will find something close. :-)

Onto other non-knitting things! We've decided that we are going to take Paisley to Disney on Ice on Thursday. They will be at Copps Coliseum here in Hamilton Mar 14-18. She's very excited. We thought instead of going out for dinner for my birthday (which is Sat. 17th) we would do this instead, so it should be fun. Paisley's all ready for it because Peter Pan and Little Mermaid were advertised on the commercial.

Oh, two more things, I also join the Stitchmarker Exchange. I can't seem to access the sit to post a link, but I will. If you are interested you could also visit Robyn's blog (from knitmamaknit), she's the host for the event. You have until Thurs to sign up! :-)

I did the quiz "what kind of sock yarn are you" from Samantha's blog, apparently I'm "Fruity".