Yet again, I find myself falling behind on my blogging due to a sudden desperate case of “Finishitis”.

UFOs have been dropping like flies off my list to make room for new projects:

The February Lady Sweater for my sister was first off the list.

I opted for a couple of handcarved wooden buttons from Equador that matched better than the plastic ones I had originally picked out and I did end up having to rip back the entire body of my Zen Pullover to do the sleeves, but, no matter…

I like my newer version much better .

Using 8mm needles and increasing at the sides whenever I felt like it resulted in a well fitting comfy sweater that I’ve already been wearing quite a bit.

LOL – I guess they can truly be called “sister sweaters” now.

~~~

There was a bonus square pattern included this month for my Afghan CAL, so I cheated a little and finished off the 2009 Sampler Afghan a bit early:

These squares were quite fast and fun to do – great for a stash buster all-over motif afghans if you’re looking for a pattern.

November 2009 Bonus Square
(“Julia’s Flower” by Melinda Miller)

November Square
(“Gem Star” by Chris Simon)

As for the blanket’s recipient, Danny is thrilled with it – as evidenced by his stretching out on it and napping in front of the TV every night for the past week.

The December CAL square (or squares if there’s another bonus pattern) will become a matching pillow for him – which seems to be needed .

~~~

Not really a UFO, but a FO nonetheless, last week BadgerDan requested a scarf for a buddy of his who was just getting out of hospital after successful treatment for prostate & colon cancer (menfolk, please get thyselves checked!) and I was more than happy to oblige:

Pattern: Misti Alpaca Chunky Diagonal Rib Knit Scarf by Alicia Fleitas
Yarn: Mystery Chunky Blue Wool from Stash
Needles: 10mm

I cast on 20 sts and made an 8 row keyhole about 12” from one end of the scarf.

~~~

And last but not least, the decision was made to call it quits on the idea of the Forest Witch Mittens due to time constraints. With an additional cable repeat and some clever decreasing, the mitten in progress became a pretty awesome camera cozy:

Those bobbles still crack me up.

~~~

Some other UFOs have been taking a bit longer, but progress is slowly being made:

Regent Hose for Hubby

LOOK! A COMPLETED INTARSIA SOCK! AMAZING!!!!

(And it only took me how long to knit? *groan*)

This is what the leg looked like before the heel:

The cuff for the 2nd one is finally done and I’m on to the leg of it later today. Alcohol might be involved, just sayin’…

~~~

Wings of Horus is in the final stretch, and like most large shawl projects at this stage, is taking FOREVER to knit (beads not withstanding).

This is how it looked after Clue 5:

and here is where it is now (Clue 6, Row 230), only 16 rows from completion:

So close, yet still so far…

~~~

In the next posts – a new pattern for sale(!) and what other things I’ve been getting up to.

Stay tuned .

… your husband wakes you up, not with a “good morning”, but with “I need a cardigan”.

My uncaffienated brain tries to reconcile this statement with the fact that Dan hates cardigans and is always overheating. In response to my muffled, groggy request for clarification from under the covers, he said “you know, a smoking jacket with patches on the elbows – for around the house”.

Now this totally threw me. Elbow patches do not mesh with the image of the Thurston Howell III red velvet number that immediately springs to mind. It took a minute or so to sink in that he was talking about a late 60s chunky shawl-collared cardigan with leather patches.

Well, I’m quasi-awake by this point – mentally doing an inventory of the chunky wool stash and trying to remember which magazine in her extensive library has that pattern.

I mumble something about stripes and Lopi.

“Fine.”

Apparently, it doesn’t take a cold day in Hell him to get him into a cardigan, simply a frigid October morning on our 5th floor balcony.

I’ll go have a rummage through the stash later and see what I can come up with.

* * * * *

Now that I have a steaming mug of coffee beside me and motor skills returning to my extremities, I’ll fill you in on what I’ve been working on this week.

Building duties have been keeping me busy, but I’ve still somehow managed to finish a couple of pairs of socks:

Hidden Hearts

This photo shows the actual colour:

Pattern: Hidden Hearts by Jeannie Cartmel
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM, P818183; Broder Medicis 2-ply lace, Midnight Blue (held double)
Needles: 2.25mm

You’ll notice that these socks actually have a short-row heel – not my favorite heel, but the lace pattern is stretchy enough that it does accommodate my high instep. I had been going to change the heel, but decided to keep to the pattern instead of driving myself crazy.

Other than lengthening the toe to 3″, the only other modification I made to the pattern was to do a twisted rib (K1tbl, P1) instead of the regular 1×1.

The colours remind me of African violets – gorgeous.

The other pair I whipped off sprang from a “What the heck am I going to do with you?” moment with a big ball of partially felted, variegated Lopi-ish wool from a frogged thriftstore scarf (originally purchased for my Vintage Vertical Stripe Afghan project, but the variegation looked weird.)

I had been assessing potential sweater yarns in my stash and this ball just stuck out like a sore thumb. Doesn’t match any other yarns, too rough, too felted, too … hey, wait a minute… worksocks!

BadgerDan can felt a pair of socks simply by looking at them, why not make him a pair that’s already half-there? Nobody’s going to see them in his boots anyway and it gets the eyesore out of the stash.

A bit of swatching, pattern browsing and calculations later, I came up with this:

Whirling Woolly Worksocks

Pattern: Thuja by Bobby Ziegler
Yarn: Recycled Icelandic Wool, Variegated White/Grey
Needles: 5mm DPNs

There were definitely some changes made for gauge with these (14sts per 4″!). Ultimately, I cast on 28sts, did 2″ of ribbing, 8″ of leg, 18 rows for the heel flap and reduced to 26 sts on the foot.

Not the most attractive of socks, I admit – but they’ll keep the hubster’s feet warm.

Work has also been progressing on my sister’s February Lady Sweater:

I’m actually almost finished the main body right now and should be on to the sleeves later today – might actually finish it this weekend.

There is one sad realization that I had to come to last night while knitting Robin’s sweater.

I’m running out of yarn.

It looks like the body of my Zen Pullover (same yarn) will have to be sacrificed for the sleeves of the FLS.

**sigh**

Oh, well – it needed to be re-knit anyway.

I dug around last night and found 2 balls of really chunky cream Shetland that will work for the new body of the pullover.

Yep. With some 8 or 10mm needles, those should do nicely.

TTFN.

On this weekend of numerous fiber festivals (Rhinebeck, Creativ Festival, etc.) that I (yet again) will not be able to attend, I have decided to focus on some simple things that bring me joy (not necessarily in this order):

1. Electric Purple Koigu Socks

(It might not look it in the photo, but I do assure you that the yarn is, indeed, electric purple.)

Pattern: Hidden Hearts by Jeannie Cartmel
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM, P818183; Broder Medicis 2-ply lace, Midnight Blue
Needles: 2.25mm

I’m using the leftover laceweight yarn that I dyed for Mystic Star held doubled for the toe (elongated to 3″), heel & cuff of these socks because the colour was perfect and I only have one single gorgeous skein of the Koigu.

(Trust me, if I could’ve, I would’ve cleaned Lettuce Knit completely out of this luscious yarn.)

2. The Magic of Blocking Lace

The transformation of crumpled mess to gorgeous lace never ceases to amaze.

My Autumn Leaves Scarf blocked out to about 7″ wide and 61″ long.

It also looks fantastic with my Levi’s jacket:

Pattern: Feuilles by Eric Hinsch
Yarn: KnitPicks Palette, Autumn Heather; Patons Kroy 3-ply, Col. 305 (Khaki Green)
Needles: 4mm Brittany Straights

3. Trees That Match My Wardrobe

This is the view from my 5th floor balcony. Oh, how I love this time of year!

4. Wool Blankets, Sweaters and Socks

It’s October in Ontario. See above.

5. My New Haircut

I feel so sophisticated. And a little like Audrey Tautou.

6. Lace & Ruffles in Chunky Yarn

There is just something deeply satisfying about knitting lace in thick wool on chunky needles.

My Solstice Stocking

Pattern: Ruffled Lace Christmas Stocking by Kathy North
Yarn: White Buffalo Elenka, Cream; Reynolds Lopi, Gold
Needles: 6mm DPNs
Hook: 6mm

That crocheted ruffle just cracks me up.

7. The Perfect Beads

I finally picked up the beads for my Wings of Horus Shawl this week – they’re #8 Miyuki beads in a matte gold colour that works incredibly well with the cotton/ramie blend yarn.

They remind me of Egyptian jewelry, which is entirely appropriate.

8. Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

I use the recipe from “Eating Gluten Free” by Shreve Stockton.

(A really good basic GF cookbook, btw. The buckwheat pancake recipe is the BEST! I just sub out the buckwheat with teff flour as it’s a no-no for me.)

9. A Place For Everything & Everything In It’s Place

Those of you who know me well, know that I abhor doing dishes and laundry. However vital, it simply takes too much of my valuable knitting time.

This week, I have actually managed to thoroughly clean & organize my kitchen, keep up with the dishes & get all of the piled-up laundry washed, dried and put away. We can actually see the floor in the bedroom – it’s positively amazing!

An uncluttered house = uncluttered mind. Or at least in theory… it sure as heck feels like a weight has lifted off of my shoulders.

10. My Wonderful Husband

Tomorrow will be BadgerDan’s and my 11th wedding anniversary and as much as I like to grumble about him, he is the love of my life.

We’ve been through quite a lot together these past years and marvel at how we’ve (a) survived and (b) haven’t killed one another yet as we are both *quite* headstrong individuals who think in very different ways. (We have been known to have some very loud arguements, only to find out afterwards that we were actually arguing the same point.)

He is the Mathematician to my Visionary, the Costello to my Abbott and the Yang to my Yin.

And even though we won’t be going out for dinner tomorrow night (we’re actually on duty this week & next while the building managers are on vacation), we *will* be cracking open the bottle of 2007 Folonari Valpolicella Classico Superiore Ripasso in the cupboard.

I love you Honey. Have a cookie.

Or rather from Nuts to Books…

So, with no further ado, I present to you the long awaited pattern for the “Little Knitted Acorn Project Bag”!

Little Knitted Acorn Project Bag

Click on the above link for the PDF instructions and enjoy!

My humblest thanks go out to my testknitters and the people who have been patiently waiting for me to get around to writing out the final copy… and then re-writing it when the original died along with my Dell laptop. You guys rock.

I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am that things are finally settling down enough for me to start transforming my patterns and ideas from jumbled notes & sketches into tangible instructions that others can follow. That and having a computer that can not only keep up with me, but actually do what I tell it to do, when I tell it to do it! (If only the husband was as well trained…)

As of right now, the pattern for the Classic Crocheted Shawl is being tested and should be available for download soon. Progress!

In addition to my new computer, I’ve acquired another couple of useful items recently that have made me squee with joy:

This would be my “brand new” Singer 306K (circa 1955) picked up for $20 at the local Salvation Army Thrift Store. It fits in my Nana’s sewing machine table perfectly and BadgerDan is on the hunt for a new pedal (the current one is kinda wonky) and some of the missing attachments for me. Colour me happy

However, not as happy as my new spindle makes me!

I picked up this gorgeous little guy from Butterfly Girl Designs over on Etsy. Now I just need to get some fiber worthy of spinning on it!

Now to bring on the yarn pr0n…

As I mentioned in my first blog post of the year, I have given myself some rules for stash enhancement and that also entails that I share with you my yarn acquisitions, full price or otherwise, lest the guilt monster haunt me for life.

In the spirit of full disclosure, the following was a bit of a splurge – but it was a special occasion. And I felt entitled as I completely missed WWKIP day.

Cables & Lace Dragon Toes in “Strife” and Lizard Toes in “Beltane”. Incredibly, it was the first mail we received at our new address. (They are destined for a pair of socks & a scarf – as soon as I’m able to stop petting them.)

I also ended up purchasing the yarn for the Lover’s Knot Wedding Afghan (2 (400g) balls of Phentex Worsted in “Natural” and 1 (125g) ball of Loops & Threads Impeccable Solids in “Chocolate) due to a lack anything suitable in my stash for it. As it was for a wedding gift with next to no yarn leftover from the project, I think I can let myself off the hook for this transgression.

However, what follows now is the Yarn Score of the Century found at my local Salvation Army Thrift Store:

20(Twenty!!!) balls of Jade Sapphire Lacey Lamb and 4 200g hanks of Worsted Wt Wool (I think they’re Romni Wools house brand, but could be wrong.)

All for the grand price of… $16 CDN.

(I’ll allow you a moment to do the math.)

Needless to say, I think I broke the landspeed record getting from the cash register to the car and after getting home, spent a good 3 hours jumping up and down.

Deciding to share the joy, I subsequently gifted about 10 balls of the Lacey Lamb to various knitterly buddies of mine over on Plurk, still leaving me with at least 5 shawls-worth. (That delicious wine colour has Mystic Roses written all over it.)

There has also been some forays into dying, both project-related and otherwise:

Not having enough yellow yarn in the stash (read: next to nil) to do the Sock Knitter’s Anonymous September 09 Mystery Sock (the challenge this month was the colour “yellow”) written by the illustrious Nancy Bush, I had to improvise. A little digging around yielded a couple of skeins of cream mystery 2-ply “workhorse” wool and a box of Gold Tintex Dye.

The resulting combination henceforth officially dubbed “Mango Margarita”:

Not too bad for a fabric dye. (The socks, btw, have been worn and washed with little to no colour-bleeding – so far, so good.)

Yesterday, after colouring my hair, there was quite a bit left over and inspiration struck. I re-skeined 2 balls of some seriously ancient laceweight wool and had a bit of fun.

Following the same directions as for hair – I did one in solid and one “a la Jackson Pollock“:

It worked – who knew? (lol)

Last, but not least, some books magically made their way into my library…

In separate trips to the local Value Village, I scored these (both in hardcover and $3.99):

Family Album by Kaffe Fassett & Zoe Hunt

Welcome Home by Kaffe Fassett

Thus, bringing my Kaffe book collection up to 9 (not including Rowan publications.) MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!! One day they will all be mine!!!!! (Ahem.)

My friend Betty (of Sheeps of Egyptian Cotton) sent me her extra copy of A Gathering of Lace by Meg Swansen and earned my ever-lasting love and devotion.

And on the “free for the taking” bookcase in our building’s party room I found a copy of this:

Knitted Shawls, Stoles, and Scarves by Nancy M. Wiseman

Note to self: check bookcase every Wednesday after little old ladies needlework group.

Wishing a very Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians (and happy Diwali to those celebrating it).

TTFN.

{Note: *Wince* I realize after reading this entry that my writing style leaves plenty of room for improvement. I’m working on it. Really.}

Okay, time to update you on the rest of the little stuff I’ve been up to these last months… and there’s a lot of it, so stay with me here…

I decided to opt out of the Dishcloth KAL group I was involved with, but did complete the KAL cloths for May:

Daisy Dishcloth

Cabbage Patch Cloth

A summer top managed to make it off my needles:

Pattern: Coachella by Fathom Harvill (Knitty, Summer 2007)
Yarn: Teal Braided Cotton from Stash
Needles: 3.75mm, 4.5mm, 5mm Circular needles

I used the Extra Small size instructions, worked the first 3 rounds of collar on 3.75mm and the last 2 rounds on 4.5mm to transition to the larger needles.

We needed a rug for our “Library” (dining room area):

Pattern: Tweed Shells Rug by Katherine Eng (from Scrap Yarn Rugs)
Yarn: Chunky Thick/Thin Acrylic blend from frogged 2nd hand, handknit sweater-coat; Olive Green Cotton (Sleeves from frogged Sweater) – Yarn held double throughout.
Hook: 10mm

The cats just love it.

I did a wee bit of spinning with my Rakestraw spinner and decided to make a flower pin with it:

Pattern: Crocheted Rosettes/Flowers by Lion Brand
Yarn: My own handspun, 8.5g 2-ply lt worsted wt.
Hook: 4mm (row 1); 5mm (row 2)

The Oddballs Ravelry Group was doing a CAL for the awesome Inga Bag and since I found had all these little pieces of DK acrylic in my stash (don’t ask – NO frickin’ idea) I made them into a “magic ball” and voila:

A new project bag! I even lined it:

The liner is made from an old black t-shirt. The bottom of liner is square and double thickness for strength.

It seems I’ve been on a bit of a hat kick lately…

I improvised this baby hat for one of BadgerDan’s clients who just had a baby girl.

Spring Cap was the Woolly Wormhead KAL hat for September. I’ve actually been wearing this one alot.

The Emerald Star Cloche is my version of the her October KAL hat.

This beret was made to match these mitts, which the husband dubbed “Dr. Suess Mittens”. Aren’t they hilarious?

I whipped off a pair of wristwarmers (aka knittin’ mitts)

and… a few scarves…

Mmmmalabrigo Scarf

Manitou Passage Scarf

Peacock Track Scarf

This last one is a great mystery CAL scarf by Charles Voth (aka StitchStud of the Stitch Stud & His Bride Podcast).

There have also been socks. Many socks.

Summertime Blues Socks

Lichen Rib Socks

Kaffe’s Cross Rib Socks

Tuffy Slipper Socks

Redwood Forest Socks

Southwestern Socks

Fabled Sunrise Socks

Nancy Bush Mystery Socks

Plus one holiday stocking:

My 2009 Sampler Afghan is almost done with just 2 more squares to go:

June Squares

Pattern: Eliot Square by Julie A. Bolduc

July Squares

Pattern: Kingfield Square by Julie A. Bolduc

August Squares

Pattern: Jupiter Granny Square by Patrizia Pisani

September Square

Pattern: Amazing Grace by Bonnie Pierce

October Square

Pattern: Carousel Square by Priscilla Hewitt

You will note that I have changed to single monthly squares. This is due to running low on the lighter main colour wool. The 4 singles will make a transition row in the middle of the afghan – see? Design feature. I’ll be starting to sew these babies together fairly soon.

Thus finally bringing us to my current projects:

My sister recently saw my Noro/Kathmandu February Lady Sweater and made with the grabby hands, so I promised her I’d make her one for Christmas.

I’m making Robin’s FLS in Cascade 220 “Dune Heather” for the yoke and Briggs & Little Heritage “Sheep’s Grey” for the body and sleeves.

So far, so good.

It’s soon to be mitten weather around these parts and I’ve begun a pair of Jared Flood’s Green Autumn/Druid Mittens (aka the cover mittens from Vogue Knitting, Fall 08).

I’m calling these my Forest Witch Mittens and they have been quite the challenge so far. After swatching AND knitting a cuff twice, I finally ended up going down 5 needle sizes to Size 0/2mm so that the mitts would fit my relatively small hands. The yarn is a dark green heather 3-ply wool from a frogged 2nd hand sweater-vest.

Knitting is slow – but with all the cables, to be expected. Got to say, against my better judgement, I’m finding those itty bitty bobbles amusing as hell.

The Sock Knitter’s Anonymous October Challenge calls for, among a couple of other options, “Socks for Men” and, being a good knitter wife, I allowed BadgerDan to choose a pair from some of my vintage sock pattern books.

He chose the last pair on the right – Regent Man’s Socks No. 2058 (from Hand Knit Socks by Regent, Vol. No. 20)

Yeah… once I picked my jaw up off the floor, I asked him

“Really?”

He replied

“Go large or stay home”.

Lesson learned and challenge accepted.

Regent Hose for Hubby in all their intarsia glory are being made on 9″ long 2mm DPNs using the following stash yarns: Opal Designer Uni 4-ply, Dk Brown; Lang JaWoll Color, 82.0198 (Green); & Patons Kroy 3-ply, col 390 (Taupe).

Yep. Bobbins. Up to 9 of them at any one time. On 2mm needles.

He’s lucky I haven’t stabbed him with one yet.

My newest project is a great little lace scarf I’m test knitting for my friend KnittingDragon (of the Sweaters for Dragons Podcast & talented dye-master of Cables & Lace) which I’m calling “Autumn Leaves“.

Pattern: Feuilles by Eric Hinsch
Yarn: KnitPicks Palette, Autumn Heather
Needles: 4mm Brittany Straights

I will be using a yet to be determined contrast yarn for the end lace sections as I’m a little short on yardage.

Project update complete.

**THUD**

Tomorrow… yarn pr0n & a free pattern.

As for now, I need to go prepare a peach crisp and some gluten-free biscuits for Thanksgiving Dinner at the parents.

I had been going to title this entry “What I did on my Summer Vacation” but as we are now well into October this one seemed more fitting. These last few months have been truly manic – full speed and stop with nothing much in between.

Without getting into to too much detail, lifewise, this is what has been going on in a nutshell:

- The death of my laptop left me bereft of a computer life until BD surprised me a couple of weeks after the move with blue one of these, which I love and immediately dubbed my “Not Mac Feegle” or “Feegle” for short (So I like Terry Prachett, okay?)
- We moved to our new apartment.
- 2 days later, we began work as the Asst. Managers of the building. (Huge learning curve for me, but I’m getting the hang of it.)
- 3 family weddings (one in Victoria, BC!) and a baby shower.
- Health issues with FIL & some minor ones for both myself & BadgerDan.
- Cats ruined our 2 expensive couches, forcing us to throw them out.

Plus a whole bunch of other stuff that doesn’t bear mentioning. As usual, I’ve been using my craft as a coping mechanism and as such, quite a bit has flown from my hands these past 4 months. I won’t go over everything as it really seems to freak you guys out – I’ll just touch on a few of the biggies. If you want to see everything, just head over to my Ravelry page – they’re all there.

I’ll start with the stuff I left hanging from my last post.

Sock Madness Round 6 kicked my butt and I conceded defeat due to a very unfortunate yarn choice that couldn’t be allowed to live:

EEEEEEEEK! (insert Psycho music here)

I adjusted the pattern to 48 sts with a DK yarn, and my “Snow on the Mountain” version turned out absolutely lovely:

Pattern: Fire on the Mountain by Julie Sprague
Yarn: SandnesGarn Peer Gynt, White; Twillings of Stamford Freedom Spirit, Air
Needles: 3.25mm DPNs

I haven’t knit the final Sock Madness pattern yet, but I will before next year’s competition.

The 52 Pair Plunge II challenge was successfully met with the completion of 5 more pairs of baby socks and 4 pairs of adult ones…

My Kiilla Socks (yes, I changed the yarn):

SuperMeida Socks:

My Cable Rib Socks:

And a pair of WendyKnits Cabletini Socks :

My friend Elaine & her hubby over in Nebraska welcomed their new son Cpt. Adorable not too long ago who became the recipient of the majority of the wee baby socks and this Cowichan Baby Sweater:

Still waiting on a photo of Baby G in the jacket, Elaine .

My little Grand-Nephew is taking his sweet time making his appearance, but his shower was great fun. My contributions were the BSJ & Baby Huntsman Socks of last post and this:

Because every kid needs a binkie (preferably bulletproof).

Pattern: Radiant Star Afghan from The McCall’s Book of Afghans
Yarn: GAP Cotton Sweater (frogged), Taupe, Navy Blue, Olive Green
Hook: 4.5mm

The Zen Pullover has been done for a while:

But I find it a bit snug in the body, so I intend on ripping back and reknitting the body on 8mm needles when I feel so inclined.

Wings of Horus is coming along nicely, I’ve finished the 4th clue and am well into the 5th one now:

Gorgeous. I can’t wait until I hit the 6th and final clue with all the beads .

Onto the weddings…

My cousin Jeffrey and his lovely bride Susan were first to celebrate their nuptuals

and I did end up making them an afghan:

Pattern: Lover’s Knot Afghan by Lion Brand
Yarn: Phentex Worsted, Natural; Loops & Threads Impeccable Worsted, Chocolate
Needles: 6mm Addi Turbos

(I added 10 rows of garter stitch to bottom and top of afghan and an additional thick garter border of dark brown around the entire afghan.)

I believe I finished it with a day or two to spare before the wedding. We had a great time and even allowed ourselves to be photographed for posterity…

I think we clean up rather well .

A week before my cousin Tessa’s wedding – my Aunt Kay (who is an amazing quilter btw) called up my mom and offered to fly us out to Victoria for the weekend so we could attend. Stunned, that Friday found yours truly (on a plane for the first time in about 16yrs) with her mom on her way to British Columbia and a stay in one of the oldest, most elegant hotels in the country – The Empress.

We had a wonderful weekend catching up with family that we hadn’t seen in literally decades and wandering around downtown Victoria.

Tessa’s gown was one that had been passed down in Kay’s family – first worn almost 100yrs to the day of the wedding. She looked every inch the Edwardian bride:

Absolutely beautiful.

As you can well imagine, less than a week is not much notice for someone like me who always makes her gifts. Thankfully, after a panicked phonecall to my aunt in BC and finding out that not only is Tessa’s favorite colour blue, but that she is also a knitter, I decided that I could manage a set of thick woolen placemats:

Pattern: Placemats by Debbie Bliss (from her knitting magazine, premier issue)
Yarn: Chinook Carded Pure Virgin Australian Wool, Royal Blue (504)
Needles: 12mm River John Swing Needles

Tessa and her hubby are also expecting their first child pretty soon – so I have some more baby knitting to do!

A lovely fibery souvenier also followed me home from this trip:

Oh, but yes. Qiviuq. SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! (ahem.)

Never in a million years did I think that the teasing of my Uncle Dan that if he was going to the Yukon, he’d better darn well bring me back some qiviut would be taken seriously.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To all my family in BC – Danny & I hope to come visit really soon.

Wedding #3 of my other cousin Connor (Jeff’s brother) to his charming Annalynn was a couple of weeks later.

(Unfortunately, this time I forgot my camera and cannot regale you with photos.)

What I can share with you is their gift:

Pattern: Delft Pillow by Eunny Jang (Interweave Knits, Holiday Gifts 2008)
Yarn: Cascade 220, Charcoal Heather (4002); Naturally “Perendale” (DK, 8-ply), Cream (col. 64)
Needles: 3.75mm 32″ Addi Turbos

I really cut it close on this one – it was still slightly damp when it was wrapped.

Other wedding news: my sister and her fiance Danny (yes, it does get a little confusing) have set a date for next year. They just moved in together and have adopted a wee fluffy puppy named “Roxy” who my mom assures me is a little angel. Robin – I want a photo of the cuteness!

Well, I think that is more than enough for today.

Tomorrow (before we head to my mom & dad’s for Thanksgiving dinner) I’ll update you on the projects I’ve finished recently, what I’m currently working on, the progress of my 2009 Sampler Afghan, some yarn pr0n and perhaps have a free pattern available for download.

A demain mes amies.