cottaging, take 2.

I had a lovely weekend away! G-unit & I went to a cottage with his family in Fenelon Falls where I did lots of swimming & lounging about & drinking...

I carried the watermelon.

I started the buddy to a lone sock I had finished a while ago while we were driving up there, a plain & simple sock using some DGB confetti sock yarn that was sent to me in a swap.
You know you've found the right one for you when they point out a quaint wool shop & even turn around so you can go in & see what's what. For the record, Ferguson's Wool in Myrtle Station is a cute shop with tons of great sock yarn. I bought some tofutsies & some lana grossa Cotton Maya. YUM!

My knitting had fallen out of my bag without me noticing, on the way back to the car I had a bit of a mindfreak when I spotted it on top of this trash bin. MINDFREAK!

I kept the knitting to a minimum while at the cottage, but still managed to get quite a lot done. On the way back I reached the toe.

Ingenious wool holder?

And this morning I sewed up the toe!

This photo shoot was almost painful it's so. hot. SOHOT!

And in Thermal land I've hit a snag. I finished the neckband & giddily put it on to discover...

The neckband is far too tight. One of the things that drew me to this sweater was the scoopy neck. I guess I didn't pick up enough stitches because the band on mine is sort of pulling everything in - and the neckline hits at a weird place. I'm going to have to rip it out & try again.

Ain't it dead yet?

In case anyone is wondering, it's not a sweater yet.
(I'm all like "come ON already!)
Neither is this....
Or this (a serious case of castonitis going down over here...)


And the 'secret' projects have just turned the corner & are almost ready to be given away.

is it a sweater yet?

Almost! Or...well...not quite yet.
I divided for the armholes this morning! Exciting!

For some annoying reason, blogger won't let me type in a title for this entry. That's fine since I didn't really have a clever name.

This weekend my friend Peter & I took the Casino bus to visit our friends Naomi & Ryan in Orillia! It was TONS of fun!

Mostly we cooed & awwed over Lucy, their amazing pug:
we even put her winter coat on so we could take pictures. She wasn't very happy about that.
We ate incredibly delicious food:
This was last night's desert - homemade Shortcake, with Strawberry Salsa & whipped cream on top. Dinner was amazing sauteed vegetables with freshly made mushroom ravioli! AAAHH! I think it was the *napkins matched to the colours of the food* that made everything extra tasty!

We jammed!
der ner ner ner!!!!
par-rum-pa-pa-pum! ba-dum-bum-bum-dum
Peter not only plays a Guitar Hero on PSP, he's actually a Guitar Hero IRL! I played the drums for the first time ever! I wasn't very good, but I had lots of fun!

I had the cutest guest bedroom set-up ever!

This quilt was amazing! All white, with handquilted circles all over it!

so cute! and Cozy!

Naomi & Ryan have made a beautiful home, it was like a mini vacation. The only time I brought out the pointy sticks & string was on the bus. I managed to get the leg of a sock done, but I didn't take any photos of it. I did take almost 100 pictures of Lucy - she's cuter than any sock could ever be.

don't call it a comeback.

Miss Muffy & Rahime, and, to an extent Simon did a very good job of making me feel like a worthwhile blogger. A summer break? Who was I kidding? Eff that! In fact, maybe I'll even post *more* than usual! maybe. probably not.

To be honest, I only logged into blogger today to edit a previous post. One single word, used so innocently, seems to be steering 'undesirables' to my blog. It sucks to feel sick to your stomach after checking your stat-tracker & seeing the types of google searches that led people here. So I opted to self-edit.

And while I'm logged in, why not take Rahime's advice & show you a progress shot?

I've started the neck placket! hoorah!

I know it looks wee, but the waffle stitch creates an increidbly stretchy fabric - I tried it on & it's all systems go. And the sleeve...that poor sleeve is growing just a little bit every lunch hour.

And oh yeah, I maybe sorta kinda cast-on already for Demi. It was an accident, I swear. I was only going to knit a few rows to see how the yarn looked & before I knew it, I had decided that yeah, the yarn looked pretty awesome & why not just finish the bottom ribbing? And hey, what the heck, lets go for some of those cables?

summer summer summer

I was wondering if I should just declare summer holiday from blogging. I’m knitting and sewing lots, but I just don’t know what to say about any of it. Maybe it’s because for the last couple of weeks I’ve been knitting endless rounds of waffle stitch. (on size 2 needles…fingering weight yarn...308 stitches per round…if ever there was good incentive to lose a couple of inches round the ole tummy, this is it)

To break up the monotony, I started 2 other projects – both surprise gifts, so I can’t really go blabbing on about them since I’m pretty sure both of these people drop by my blog now & then.
I considered teasing you with the secret projects like some bloggers do – giving you up-close detail shots & promising more when it was done & in the hands of the recipient, but my camera sucks balls at close-up shots. A blurry shot of the delicious Fleece Artist Suri Blue I’m currently seeking respite with wouldn’t do much to show how absolutely beautiful this yarn is. When I first brought it home, I sat on the couch with the skein pushed up against my face, breathing in the Great Eastern.

I’ve also been spending a good amount of my time on ravelry – hiking up my knit-nerd quotient just a little bit higher. I’ve decided that my next sweater project will be the Demi sweater from Rowan Vintage Knits. I ordered the book from Amazon (it came last Friday) and I ordered my yarn from Elan (along with Nancy Bush’s “Folk Socks” book. I’m expecting it today - note to those waiting to get into ravelry – it’s a mother-freaking enabler!) After I emerge from the land of endless waffle, I’ll be stepping into the township of cables and bobbles. I have to do a little adjusting since the largest size in the book is 40” – I’ll need to add a couple of inches to the width so that the sweater is attractively roomy instead of uncomfortably snug.

I may also cast on for “On the Road to Golden” from the new KnitScene magazine. This sweater is gorgeous & I have a stack of Romini gift certificates burning a hole in my pocket. I think it’d be best to select the yarn for this in person since there’s a bunch of colours involved & I don’t want to take any chances ordering it online.

And socks. I was recently given Interweave’s ‘Favourite Socks’ book (hooorahhh!) by my awesome BFF, Tim. I’ve already chosen which socks will be next. I’ve knit the retro rib socks, but there are 24 more to go & I like all of them. While I’m on the subject of Tim, I’d like to hand out this bit of life advice – get yourself a friend in publishing. Seriously. My knitting library wouldn’t be half of what it is today if not for my dear friend T-gain. I love him to bits, but the fact that he can get me Interweave books, (AND a signed copy of Tim Gunn’s book!) Vogue Knitting books, and does it without me asking makes his little halo shine all the more brighter.

Consider this an update. Posts throughout the summer will most likely be sporadic. I may not show my face again until my Thermal resembles a real live sweater. Right now I’m 14” into the body, ready to make the placket! And the one sleeve I carry around with me is about 6” long. Chug chug chug.

In the meantime, don’t forget your SPF and eat lots of local fruits & veggies!