Uli's Creative Corner

A little outing to the park on a lovely Sunday morning.........

The lovely sweater is the creation of Erika's Auntie Cheryl.  It's perfect for this time of the year and Erika had fun at the park and was snuggly warm and comfortable.  It was a good day for her.

Tomorrow will be a busy day so I thought I'd quickly update tonight - but I'm tired so this will be short.

Today wasn't much of a knitting day.  I was too busy with the housework and running to the mall to do errands etc.  I did manage to finish the second sleeve for Candace which I started yesterday and knitted on during a lovely afternoon at the LYS meeting up with the lovely Sarah.  Both of us managed to get ourselves into some trouble...... we bought the same yarn, in the same colour for the same sweater.  Take a look at the free Phildar pattern Sarah linked to in her last entry.   What can two girls do if they both like the same pattern and the same yarn in exactly the same colour............... Go figure.  It was a fun afternoon except for my getting stuck in traffic and panicking about being late.  I took the long way around and got there about 15 minutes late.  I hate being late..... 

Well, this last yarn acquisition has left me with the feeling of "how are you ever going to do all those projects?".  I haven't felt overwhelmed until now but as of this last purchase I feel just that way.  I think that's a clear signal to slam on they buying yarn brakes and work through a few projects first.  Let the spring knitting begin!!!  There are about 3 really pretty spring projects I'm still thinking about for Erika and those may be added to the stash but that's about it.  It's time to knit up some of my lovely yarns rather than building more cubbies to fit all my yarn into. 

Enough of that little lecture. 

One of the sleeves for Earnshaw is also finished.  I'll maybe start the second one tomorrow night.......... garter stitch, garter stitch, garter stitch.  How boring when all these pretty spring projects are waiting for me.

I'm not making much sense tonight.  I'll be back tomorrow to make some sense out of this rambling entry if I have the time.  But if I don't..... have a great Monday.

TGIF - yeah.............. I'm tired.

And nothing seems to be getting done easily this morning.  For some reason, I'm feeling like molasses................ slow................... slower.................. I don't have time for that today though so I'd better just get over this feeling.

Patchy, our oldest................ kitty cat that is, is at the vet today.  She's getting some dental work (expensive dental work - especially because it's just a cleaning for very heavy tartar build up).  She'll be put right under.  I'm not really worried but I do hope she'll be okay.  I get to pick her up tonight after work.  Evan dropped her off this morning and she wasn't a happy camper.

I didn't have much time last night.  We had to go grocery shopping.  I was planning on going by myself but Erika put up such a fuss about wanting to go with me that we all went.  She is at the point where I can't handle her in the grocery store by myself.  She won't stay in the cart and she won't stay close by.  So Evan chased her around the store while I shopped.  At least the groceries are done for another week and all I need to go out for this weekend is produce.  I like buying produce at this little produce farmer type market rather than at the grocery store.

Garter stitch sleeves............ yawn........... you knew the time would come when I would complain about Earnshaw.  Well, that is now.  They seem to be going very slowly and they're boring.  I have about 2/3 of the first sleeve done but just the thought that I have to make another one after that............... I really want to have those sleeves done soon though.  And then, there's the garter stitch hood..... but I still think it will be a very pretty, comfy, warm sweater when it's done.

And then all by itself, the Tiny Tots DK shirt for Erika is growing when I don't even notice.  It's stocking stitch in the round.  What else could be more mindless but it's fun.  I pull it out at lunch time.  I pull it out when I'm on a long phone call, I pull it out when I only have 5 minutes between meetings when I'm not at my office.  It just follows me around.  So it's just growing on its own.  I still have quite a way to go to get to the armhole shaping but until then it's my constant companion.  Once I get that done, I'll either make another pair of socks my constant companion or another kid size project that I'll stick on circulars. 

We have a retirement luncheon at work here today.  Yummy food coming up.

Have a great weekend.  Hope to have some more progress shots next week.

She likes it, she likes it............... got an e-mail from my Sister-in-Law and she says that she likes the yarn and the needles and that she can't wait to get started on her shawl.  I'm so pleased.

Just saw the Knitty Surprise, the Cold-Weather Corset.  I think it's very nice.  One more project to add to the growing list?  I think not but I do want to.

I started the sleeve of Earnshaw last night.  It will be garter stitch boredom but I will get through both sleeves.  Just have to keep pushing along and not put it down for any length of time.  I got about half of the increases done - that's not quite half the sleeve.  After Erika went to bed, I came downstairs to fix lunches and I needed to wait for some laundry to finish in the dryer.  So I was hoping to finish fixing lunches and then sit down for even just 5 or 10 peaceful minutes to knit just a few more rows before the dryer finished.  But as soon as I switched off the kitchen light to go sit down, the dryer buzzer went off.  So then it was time to get the clothes and hang them all up since they were dress clothes and then it was bed time.  No more knitting last night.

I did find a pattern that went missing last night just before bed though.  On my stash list is a sweater for Erika that I called Cotton Lace Sweater - that's a boring name - and I have had the pattern for some time as well as the yarn.  Over the weekend I was looking for the pattern and couldn't find it anywhere in my room.  But last night, I dug around a bit and there it was.  It's a cute little project and I'm going to start some time soon.

Have a good Thursday.  This week went by quickly.  I have lots to do before Friday.

Spring is coming soon............ out here anyways. I saw the first sign of Cherry Trees blooming yesterday. I couldn't believe it. I was driving along and it was actually quite cool, cloudy and very stormy looking. The wind was blowing and as I was driving down the street on my way to daycare, I looked up and I saw some Cherry blossoms already blooming or ready to bloom. Seems a bit early maybe so I hope that the major frosts will stay away from now on.

I hurt my eye last night and it's still bothering me a bit today. I think my eyelid is swollen a bit. Erika was flinging a gift bag around by the handles and got a corner smack dab in my eye and my eyelid. She broke skin on top of my eyelid and that's sore to the touch and I think she got the inside of my eye, too. It doesn't feel too bad but I do feel a bit funny focusing my eyes on the screen. Not too bad with knitting something simple though because I hardly have to look. Fortunately, I'm only at the computer in the morning. I'm going to a workshop in the afternoon so mostly I'll be listening.

I can't report much on the knitting front. It was a busy evening and I made yummy peanut butter cookies. My new stand mixer is awesome. I loved on having to stand there holding the hand mixer and trying to get it to work through all the flower etc. They turned out good.

I worked the Oregan Vest to the armholes. I lengthened the body by 2". I think it will be a bit more flattering for my body shape now. I would another hank for Earnshaw this morning so tonight I'll be ready to start on the sleeves. I think it's Earnshaw I really want to finish in a flash now and then get back to the other stuff. I did measure the vest dimensions yesterday though and now, I'm totally on gauge. Good thing. I'm not ripping again.

I'm a big list person......... lists are everything as you can see from my blog. In progress list, in my stash list, want to do list, quilting list............ it's just a way to stay organized since I'm not inherently a very organized person. I think in very organized patterns but my actions sure don't show that sometimes. So this morning, I came up with the grandiose idea of prioritizing my "stash list" so I would always know what project to go to next. Impossible task and I think it would take the fun out of it all. That would be just a bit to organized and to restrictive. I want to be able to start to knit what feels right when I'm groping through my stash and list of things to do. However, I do know that the V-neck T-shirt for which I bought the Phildar yarn on Saturday as well as the Cables and Lace Cardigan are really close to the top of my next to do list. And I also want to tackle the Tote of Many Colours. I think those are my top 3 rated projects.

I got the Spring/Summer Ram Wools catalogue in the mail yesterday. Yummy. Evan reminded me that there are $ signs attached to each of the projects though. Can't quite understand why anyone would charge for their yarns. There are some lovely projects. Many are not sized big enough to fit me but I can drool nonetheless. However, there were enough bigger sized projects that I have my eyes on. Today, I'll show you the Tussah Silk Jacket. It's on page 5. That's the right page on the link I've included. And while you're looking at that.......... Isn't that silk cabled shell on the opposite side just the cutest. I'd love something like that if I could fit into something like that. Oh to dream. Another 2 favourites of mine are on page 18 and 19. The Breeze Pullover on page 18 and the Denim Cables on page 19. I also like the men's sweater (Sporty) but Evan isn't keen on sweaters with a zipper type neck opening like that. I think he'd look so nice in that though. I alsoe really enjoy the Easy Mesh Triangle Shawl on page 23 and I think I'd make it in the Fleece Artist Lady Godiva Colour Teal. Then there's the Lin Cardigan on page 28 and the Cable Trim Jacket on page 29. On page 31 the Leaf Lace Shawls by Fiber Trends are just beautiful and I think the option of making it in Koigu KPPM is just fantastic. And last but not least there's the Pretty Jacket on page 35 that I think would be just an adorable little addition to Erika's wardrobe. So, I guess I'll have to prioritize and pick and choose and maybe I can order a couple of things one of these days. Maybe a bit later in the spring when I've already finished a few other projects off my list. One of the shawls will be a definite just because they're so pretty and I think the Tussah Silk jacket will be most definite since it's such a versatile little garment.

And last but not least, since I was snooping around, I found a preview for the spring Family Circle Easy Knitting magazine.  It shows a release date of March 16th.  I'm generally fond of the magazine but I didn't buy the winter issue and based on the preview I'm not entirely sure about the spring issue unless there are some designs in it they don't show in this preview.  I always question knit Bikinis.............. but then, let's not discuss bikinis in the first place.  There is one thing that caputres my interest a bit and that's the bright flower blanket on the bottom of the page.  That would be a perfect knit for Erika's room.  Just perfect!!!  But I'm not sure that I'd ever actually make it.  Afghans and blankets is one thing I've never had a lot of patience for.

Hope you're enjoying your hump day.

Tuesday...... and nothing much to say today.

Not a whole lot going on right now from my corner of the world.

The front of Earnshaw is all done so now I'm back to winding another ball and starting the sleeves.  I think I can knit those garter stitch sleeves up in no time.  Or at least I hope so.  Then there's only a hood left to do.  I think that's pretty cool.  I've been working on it about 4 weeks now and I figure I'll be done in another 2 weeks.  That's a good amount of time for a sweater for me.  I admire those that just finish sweater after sweater but I work on so many different things that I don't finish stuff as quickly and I also am pretty busy most days.  Gone are those days of taking a whole entire weekend "just for me" and doing nothing but devoting time to my crafts.  I wouldn't want it any other way though.  I love my family and the energy they bring to my life.

I'm making another trip to the LYS on the weekend.  The owner of the store called me on Saturday to say that a book I was interested in had come in and they had a couple of copies.  So now I'm wondering whether it's my Dale book that came in - that's one I had specifically ordered - or whether the Elsebeth Lavold book is in.  I was belly aching about that one last time I was in there and they had received a shipment of "1" book the day before and that one book was pre-sold already.  So she was getting more of those in.  Doesn't really matter which one it was.  Looks like there's a book there waiting for me.

I think I'm going to try out my stand mixer tonight and make some Peanut Butter cookies.  The mixer book came with a recipe book and these PB cookies soud really good.  We'll see how much energy I have when I get home and what time Evan will get home today.  He is working off site today, further away from home than usual, so I'm on daycare pick-up duty tonight.  We'll see if cookies are going to be in the books.

Better go.......... I'm getting a slow start today.

Monday once again.....

Thanks for the birthday wishes.  I did have a lovely weekend.  Yesterday was a great day.  The weather was perfect for a spring day and we played outside for quite some time.  Unfortunately, the week (and today) look a lot more wet and we will take some of the blame for that since we washed my car yesterday.  I even sat out in the backyard and knitted for some time while watching Erika play on her slide and I didn't even get cold hands.  I still have tons of leftover housework from the weekend that just didnd't get done but we had a great time so I don't care.

I just had to shatter another knitter's hopes.  One of my colleagues is making her first Booga bag and she was at the I-cord stage.  She had never worked with DPNs before (although she's been knitting her whole life and is almost at retirement age) and has never done an I-cord.  So she was travelling on the weekend and had her yarn and needles with her but not access to a book, myself, or the internet and interpreted making a 5-stitch I-cord to mean that you cast on 5 stitches on each of the needles in a set of 4 DPNS.  So she showed me her by now about 2 feet long 15 stitch tube and I had to break it to her.  We unravelled right away and I showed her how to make I-cord.  Obviously she picked it up right away as she is a good knitter but she was quite upset by the concept that she had to buy a set of 4 needles if she was only going to use 2 of them to make this I-cord thing.  I hate telling people that they are actually doing something wrong and that they have to undo what they did and have to fix it but I couldn't let this one go.  But she's on the right track now and I'm glad I could help before she had the whole thing done.  She's one great lady and one great knitter but I don't think she's ever knitted one darn thing in her life for herself.  I am trying to change that but..............

Tomorrow is the day of truth.  My sister-in-law is going to get her knitting present from me.  If you recall from some earlier blog entries, I was speaking of selecting a present for a new knitter.  I bought her some pretty, pretty Fleece Artist Boucle with a pattern for a very simple (garter stitch) triangular shawl to help her expand her knitting beyond just basic eyelash yarn scarves.  I hope she likes it and I hope she's interested in expanding her horizons.  We talked about knitting a bit yesterday and she said she had "too much" yarn already and while we were talking she was casting off a scarf she was working on.  So she is getting into it.  And I said to her to just wait until she got into knitting more than just scarves and she certainly didn't object to that idea.  I'm going to call her tomorrow night.  I hope she likes it.  If she doesn't, I'm most certainly willing to take the yarn and to knit it for her.

In knitterly news, an update on my current projects:

Earnshaw: I split for the neck last night and only have about 10 rows left to do on one side and then the second side.  If I work on it tonight, I should get it done without too much problem.

Oregon Vest:  I'm within less than an inch of the armhole shaping for the back, depending on how much longer I choose the vest to be than in the pattern.  I want to do a bit of research on zipper lengths as I don't like manipulating zippers to the right length.  I like my piece to match a commercially bought basic zipper length.  I'm not sure what increments they come in.  The pattern calls for a 24" zipper so I know I'll want a longer zipper but I'm not sure how much that would be?  Do they go in 2" increments?  It's crazy.  I've bought and put in many, many zippers in my time of knitting and sewing and I can see myself and imagine myself standing in front of the zipper rack at the fabric store.  I can visualize the rack exactly but I can't remember the different zipper lengths available.

Candace: I'm almost done one sleeve.  Erika has short arms (or so it seems) and the pattern seems to call for a sleeve length that would support a kid with monkey arms.  So I'm trying to find a good place in the middle - not so long that she won't be comfortable wearing them now but not so short that she'll have outgrown the sleeves tomorrow.  But try and measure the arms on a 2 1/2 year old.

Magical Mitered Vest: I haven't talked much about that one.  I kind of started it to see how it all works.  I did two triangles at the bottom and the first square (as well as a good swatch).  But now that I started that first square there is no way I'm getting the same square size as described in the pattern.  If I continue I think it will turn out way small so I'm starting over.  I'm almost thinking of taking it off my WIP list and getting back to it when I feel like it and I'm really going to devote some real time to it.

Mom's Shawl: No new progress this weekend.  I'll try to get some time on it this week.  It's not urgent yet.  Her birthday isn't until the end of March so I'm not feeling the pressure.

Tiny Tots Shirt: Just working on it as a get a break here and there.  I'm working the body in the round and it's growing quickly.  I'd say I'm about 3" into the body.  I was taking that one to meetings on Friday and I got a bit done during some of the idle times we were having.

Opal Socks: socks go so quickly for me once I get past any ribbing that I do.  So I only worked on them while sitting in the computer room with Erika while she was watching more trailers of her friends the Rubbadubbers.  I'd load one trailer for her and then I'd go and knit for about 3 minutes etc. etc.......... And then Evan came and played with her on the computer and I sat on the bed in the room, not able to move because I was absorbed in working on my sock.  I really like the Opal sock yarn - enough that I'd love to sell it.  I find it's really hard to get around here.  Certainly not as common as the DGB or the Regia.  I'm hoping that my aunt who is coming from Germany this summer to visit my parents will be willing to bring me a whole bunch of it.  Fortunately she is a most wonderful knitter and she does the most beautiful lace knitting.

That's the extent of the progress report.  I'm itching once again to start something else but I'm holding off until a few things on thi sprogress list are finished.

Have a nice Monday.

Thanks for all your birthday wishes.  That was nice.  As you can see, I had a lovely birthday cake and I had a very nice day.  Erika loved to help unwrap the presents and to her, the boxes were just the greatest fun. 

Everyone was so generous with their gifts but since none of them contained any fibery or knitty type goodness, I'm glad I treated myself to a few things at Aunt Debbie's.  We had a lovely drive going there and back in the most lovely spring weather you could imagine.  The scenery was just perfect.  It was a nice day for an outing.

I came back with some of these goodies: Enough Phildar Lamme Cotton in a denim blue colour way to make the V-neck top down T-shirt that's on my list of things to be added into my stash.  It's a design by Knitting Pure & Simple.  To see the design, click on Women and then scroll down to the Neck Down V-Neck T-shirt.  That seemed to cost a fortune but it was so worth it because it was the perfect yarn for the project.

Then just 2 hanks of Cascade 220 in this lovely purple.

Aren't the colours great.  This may be destined for Julie's Lily Bag over at Black Sheep Bags but at the same time, I love the yarn so much I might have to call the store back to reserve a few more balls for me to make something more substantial.

I also picked up a couple of balls of sock yarn.  I just really liked the spreckles and flecks of colours on this Socka Fortissima Colori:

Last but not least a picked up a nice little Sirdar pattern to revive some old, almost unused, Sirdar Tropicana yarn.  I stumbled upon it some time ago.  I had knitted about 2 inches of the back of a cabled spring short sleeved cardigan that now would no longer fit me nor would the yarn be ever enough if I made it a bigger size.  But this new little pattern will turn this yarn into a pretty summer, buttoned in the front sleeveless cardigan and hopefully I can get my arms in a bit better of a shape that I'll be willing to sport something sleeveless.

So, you can see, my spring knitting has started to take some shape.  I've got a few spring like projects in my stash now.  I'm ready to go but not until I finish Earnshaw and the Oregon Vest.

All the yarn items are a real treat.  I was very sure that someone in my family would hear my pleas for a ball winder and a swift but no such luck.  And I do not want to sound ungreatful in any way........... because I'm not.......... but I'll be winding hanks into balls by hand a whole lot longer than anticipated.  Evan said he wanted to get me an actual present not something that I already knew about and would order on my own after he gave me a little note in a card that I could go ahead and order and the gift was really great.  He gave me a foot spa for my always cold and really not very nice feet.   I also got a lovely bracelet from my husband's sister's family as well as a really nice bowl and mug set for my breakfasts.  My inlaws gave me a subscription to Stoney Creek Cross Stitch magazine and my parents, who are always way more generous than they need to be, gave me a great big stand mixer that I've wanted for a long time.  I do have to do some baking with it today.

I knitted on the first sleeve of Candace in the car.  I got quite a bit of it done.  As I said before, it's a really cute sweater but I'm not motivated by it.  But, I do want to finish it before moving on.  But......... when the sleeves are done, I still have to do the back.

I'm hoping that today will be a bit more of a knitting day.  I need to wind another ball for Earnshaw.  That will be the ball that will get me to finish the front.  I knitted a bit on the Oregon Vest while family was around and we were all just talking.  Erika had Opa, Oma or Papa constantly on the go so I actually managed to sit back just a little.  Then after they all left, she was so wound up but so tired at the same time that it was tough to do anything with her.  Evan remembered that he had to take some movies back to the video store so he went off to do that and I let Erika play on the computer.  She wanted to go to the Rubadubbers web site.  Another new kids series by the makers of Barney, Thomas, Bob etc.  They had a bunch of story trailers on the web site and Erika quite happily watched those with me stopping and starting them for her.  So while she watched each of them (and they were a few minutes each) I was driven to pull out my pink Opal sock yarn to start a new pair of socks.  I got them started and a bit of the ribbing done.

I had a lovely comment on my post a few days ago (Feb 16) that I didn't get a chance to respond to.  Sorry, I don't know your name but I hope that if you come back to read this post, you'll know I'm answering your question regarding the Sandnes knitting book I was talking about.  Sandnes is a Norwegian yarn and pattern maker.  They have some lovely yarns and I've made a few things with their yarns before.  The orange/brown Tiny Top Down is made with Sandnes Smart yarn and in my knitting gallery 2003, the blue variegated hat with ear flaps and the striped Raglan is made with Sandnes Sisu garn.  Both are superwash wool yarns and I enjoy knitting with them.  The book I mentioned I bought at the knitting store that day was called Sandnes mandarin and Mandarin is their line of cottons.  There is a mandarin petit that's a small gauge cotton yarn and there are also patterns for a mandarin classic (which is a DK cotton).  I haven't found the classic around here yet but there are some cute patterns that will work with a DK cotton.  The book is #9902.  You may be able to find it on line.  The books and the yarn seem to be fairly common up here in B.C. available in many LYS stores.  I would lead you to the company's web site but it seems the web site has gone off line.  I can't get to it any longer.  Hope this helps. 

I'm signing off for today.  I got up at 6 am because my back was sore and I was being pushed out by my little girl who wanted to join us in bed about 5 am.  And now it's already 7:20.  Where did the time go.  I wonder how much quiet time I have left before the two of them wake up.  I'm willing to let them sleep as long as it takes.  Do I have enough time to do some organizing of my stash?  That would be a nice thing.

Have a lovely Sunday, wherever you are.

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!!!!!!!! 

 Now, I'm closer to 40 than to 30 but who is counting?  Right?  You're only as old as you feel.

Pictures of my new birthday knitting stash tomorrow - the results of a field trip out of town to a yarn store.............  Erika and Evan stayed in the car so you go figure out whether I went nuts or not.

Now there is family downstairs and some mighty big boxes on the table downstairs!!!  I'll be back tomorrow.

A second entry in one day............... shows you how excited I am about spring and am getting very interested in spring knitting

So, I noticed today that RamWools has their spring catalogue online now.  That means they'll probably be mailing them out soon, too.  I can't wait to get my first spring knitting catalogue at home to flip through, admire, think and dream......

Check it out.

This week I feel like I'm in a different time zone, different world maybe even?  It should really be Friday today, shouldn't it?  Yesterday was Thursday, wasn't it?  Nope, it was Wednesday and that makes today only Thursday.......

Therefore, not too much knitting going on this week.  Last night was grocery shopping night.  When I did sit down in the evening I was going to pick up Earnshaw but instead I settled in on the Oregon Vest.  I didn't get a whole lot done but I'm close to finishing up the pocket shaping on the back which has made my rows extra long and the progress slow going.  What the pattern calls for is to cast on after the ribbing for the pocket linings.  Those pocket patches, which will become the lining on the front pieces for the side slash pockets are knitted right onto the back.  An interesting concept but a pain to knit while knitting it.

I have my last quilting class tonight.  I only made one lousy block since the last class.  I just haven't been able to get myself into my sewing room while Erika is being extra clingy.  So at this point, I have no motivation left and I'm really close to just blowing tonight off but I don't think I will.  And with this course looming over me, I haven't let myself work on anything else in my quilting stash.  I think after tonight, I'm going to shift gears and get myself up there to put together a simple pieced flannel quilt in really bright colours.  It came as a kit and the squares are all pre-cut.  All I have to do is lay them out in a way that I find pleasing.  Stitch them together.  There are no borders on this one.  Sandwich it and quilt diagonal lines.  That should be a quick one and help me get some of that inspiration back.  I think Erika will really like it, too.  I should say that the only reason I think I haven't been enjoying this course as much is that it dragged out over 5 months and that I stretched myself really thin by taking 3 courses in a row in the fall and not one quilt is finished yet.  I started feeling pressured to get stuff done.  Lesson learned............. one course at a time - because I do love taking courses.  New tips, tricks and hints all the time and the companionship is fun, too. 

I also still have some other sewing projects from last year waiting for me.  I have some cute flannel PJ patterns for Erika and the flannel to go with it.  I have some fabric for a nice duvet cover for Erika's crib sized duvet.  I also have a really pretty fabric for a nice little summer dress for Erika.  I'll make that a little later in the spring.

But knitting will keep me going................. and what is it about knitting?  The big thing is that I can be with my family while I knit.  We can all be in the family room, chatting, playing and hanging out and I can still get some work on my projects done.  I can't do that in my sewing room.  The sewing room is for those moments when I need/want/can be by myself and those moments are far and few between.

Have a nice Thursday.