crimmus.

Christmas. It's over.

For the first time in a long time, I just sort of sat back & let Christmas happen - and it was awesome.

There were Christmas Miracles...
Gord's niece Sophie was finally moved to a hospital closer to his sister, and we got to visit. She's the sweetest little girl. I got a little choked up when Gord held her, they've managed to get past some pretty scary health issues - but they are both recovering so well. Hopefully Sophie will get to go home to her anxious parents soon.

We spent Christmas Eve at my sister's house - filled with good cheer, bad singing, and lots of wine
My family is quite large, and for as long as I can remember, we've gathered on Christmas Eve to sing carols & get excited for Santi Claus. My aunts say that we do it "you know, for the Kids!" But this year I noticed there was not one single child in the room as we barked and screetched our way through timeless classics.

Gord & my dad, doing it for the kids.
My sister & I re-created a christmas photo from when we were small.

And then I think I remember playing Guitar Hero very, very badly & passing out on the fold-out couch. My new year's resolution is to NOT drink so much wine next Christmas Eve.

Christmas knitting was small & cute.

Socks for my mother.
Pomatomus from knitty.
Meilenweit Cotton Maya (can't remember the colourway?)

I'm deeply in love with these socks. The yarn shows off the pattern beautifully & they are SO soft & sproingy.

Mittens for my sister
Bird in Hand
Patons Classic merino in black & grey & a bit of bright pink

I love these. They have so many cute little details, like the braiding around the cuff & the little birds on the thumbs (I made a mistake in the left mitt & the bird ended up on the top of the thumb.) and the flowers on the palms. It was hard for me to give these up, which means they are a good gift. I'll be making some for me soon.


I also made a pair of socks for my dad, but forgot to take a photo. boo.

So now I'm back to regular scheduled knitting. I spent some time ordering yarn online the other day, in preparation for some projects I'd like to start soon, but mostly I've been spending lots of time in my jammies, watching DVDs, eating bonbons & getting to know my new friend Quatchi.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas....say what??

By this time last year, most of my christmas crafting excel spreadsheet was filled in red (the colour I used to indicate a project was finished) or pink (the colour I used to indicate a projects' imminent finishing). I made *ALL* of my gifts last year - 9 pairs of socks, 3 adult sweaters, a full size quilt, 2 hats, 6 aprons, and I forgetwhatelse..... It was intense.

This year, despite having taken the Handmade pledge, I find myself sitting in a tiny pile of half- finished projects. A sock....a mitten....one half of a bag. I'm in the christmas spirit, I can feel christmas, I am excited for it - but the shopping, the crafting, even the thinking of a good gift - tires me out. I've ordered a bunch of stuff from etsy & even snuck in a couple of gifts that aren't handmade (shh!) but still, my arms are basically bereft of gifts to give. My spirit, she runs high, but I'm operating on like, 20% energy. Anyone I've confessed this to immediately jumps to my defense: "No one expects you to have gifts! Not after what you've been through." Sure, the past couple of months have been busy & tiring & draining & actually, I don't even really remember the month that Gord was in hospitals & being tested & diagnosed. But for some reason I just cannot let myself off the hook for having little to give.

Mostly I am looking forward to a whole week off where I will try to do stuff for *me*. I plan on making dresses, knitting myself some socks, finishing up some sweater projects & organizing my sewing room. I want to *finish a book* & take an afternoon nap. I want to play my parent's Wii. And drink wine. Lots of it.

I did manage to finally get a haircut. The Thermal photos were the slap in the face that I needed. My hair! It was getting huge & unruly & so gross! Now. Short. and sassy.

Secret Snowflake bonanza!

Well how about that? Here I am with another post!

Tonight, upon our return from the hospital (Gord's in radiation therapy now. Today was his first day & it went alright, I think.) I nearly tripped over the Large. Box. that was in our front hallway.

My Secret Snowflake had arrived!!

I signed up late for this swatch & was overjoyed when I found it I could still take part. This year, my partner Jennifer *really* outdid herself!

She definitely focused in on one of my all time favourite things.....*GORD!* included in the package was a pendant with Gord's picture on it, a quilted wall hanging with Gord's photo in the middle, and a softie photoframe with a picture of Gord on either side. Amazing! But that's not all! A super incredible 'Fuck Cancer" pillow! It's Gord approved! There was also a great hairband, a mini lunchbox keychain, pens with mini teeny tiny boogle, Yahtzee & pop-o-matic trouble on the ends !! These things are *AWESOME*, a book of krazy knitting photo postcards, a healing art doll & the mooooost beautiful bag *ever!* Perfect for my knitting!

I was really so touched by everything she sent - it was amazing fun to open everything & read her little notes. And the treasures inside were made with love, I can tell.THANK YOU!


So, the first completed christmas gift came off the needles the other day,

A hat for Gord's grandma.

Kind of sort of a Rangoli hat.

I rescued some Patons Decor from work to make this. I had no idea how much yarn I had, it was leftover from another project, so panic set in when I started to run out of yarn & still had a whole lot more to go. I began decreasing way, way earlier than the pattern calls for so it's not as slouchy as some I've seen. I also omitted the bobbles. I quite like it & Gord thinks his grandma will too.

Here I am trying to look like a grandma.

So now onto more christmas knitting. It won't be the craziness it was last year, I'm keeping it small & thoughtful this year. To be honest, I'm just *too* *tired* to put any sort of pressure on myself. I'll just have to design a lovely I.O.U. tag.

Yesterday I spotted this tote in the new Interweave & it struck me as something my mother would like. Before I knew it I was shuffling in my stash to find suitable yarn. I found some Patons Classic merino in 'Natural mix' that will work & so far, so good. I just hope I can get er done for christmas.


I've also cast on for these absolutely amazing mittens. I am totally in love with them & I've only done the cuff. They are perfect! I already plan on making a second pair for myself.

Speaking of myself:

A secret project. For *me.*

update.

Gord has been doing awesomely. He was released a whole week & a half earlier than they had originally anticipated. The first week home was a lesson in what his limitations were, but he got a lot of good rest. It's so nice to take the streetcar *home* after work each night. I started my new job the day after Gord first went into the hospital - I'd go to the hospital straight from work & then home. Now I know what it's like to cut out that pesky middle part & just get straight to the good stuff.

He had an appointment with his doctor on Wednesday - they did another bone marrow biopsy & the good news is that Gord is in remission (yay!) the not-so-good-news is that he's still not done treatments. Next week he'll begin phase two of his protocol. Radiation therapy. Lets hope that he does as well with this as he did with chemo. It seems somewhat unreal that he's already in remission, but I guess the Leukemia was detected early enough that it was a little easier to blast it out of his body.

It's been great having him back. I love coming home from work to Gord's awesome dinners & a delicious smelling apartment. I love sitting next to him on the couch & while I may not love the steroided out snoring, I certainly missed falling asleep beside him. The apartment feels like home again. Today we have to put up our christmas tree & make this place holly & jolly.

It's hard to believe that Christmas is coming so soon. By this time last year I had practically all of my christmas crafting under control. This year I barely have any gifts - I'm worried that a lot of people will be getting I.O.U's from me. Last week I went to City of Craft in an effort to cross some stuff of my shopping list.

This show was on the same day that I had made plans to go to a church bazzar, buy winter boots & be home by noon to visit with Gord's family. I had to go to City of Craft early & good thing I did, too, because I got this awesome tote!

Inside the tote was a whole bunch of really great free stuff:
Awesome!
I bought some very nice handspun yarn, and something for Gord. The place was jam packed & the vendors were top notch, I hope this becomes an annual event.

There's been some crafting going on, but most of it is for work. My job requires many swatches to be made & there's a lot of "OMG! We need a pair of socks knit in 3 days!" kind of knitting. I like it though - I like knowing that if I really need to, I can get a project done lightning fast. But I have been trying to get knitting time on my own projects in as much as possible.

Which leaves me with a fantastic segue to talk about *Thermal.*

*DONE*. I weaved in all the ends, put some buttons on it & I declare it officially & totally complete.

I cast on the first weekend in June, at my friend Peter's cottage. I had several false starts - I twisted the stitches a couple of times without noticing. About an inch into the 1x1 ribbing I started to seriously doubt my decision to make a Nicole-sized sweater in fingering weight yarn. But now, snuggled up on my couch typing this & wearing the finished piece, I'm glad I soldiered on. It's gorgeous.


I used 18 balls of elann Baby Cashmere in 'pewter', on size 2 needles.
The pattern is great, I had no problems with this other than my own tortoise-y approach to getting it done. When I snipped the thread after sewing the buttons on, I felt as though a million pounds had been turned into billowy soft cashmere clouds.

I could say that my puffy eyes in all these photos are from knitting this sweater for the past 6 months, but really I think I still need major naps to catch up on the last month of no sleep.

So what now? I still have my Tangled Yoke Cardigan on the go, I have a few Christmas gifts on the needles & a simple everyday cardigan to replace the one I currently wear.... everyday. I am about to cast on for a *gorgeous* cabled thing. There is certainly no lack of things to take Thermals place in my "to do" basket.

Hmm, that post wasn't so long after all.

He's coming home. Today.



More when he's actually here & it's not a dream, it's a confirmed *real* thing.

Mount Thermal.

It was a long battle - beginning in June & ending, finally, last night. I finished Thermal. I blocked it, I am wearing it right. now. And...

my camera batteries died - so you'll have to sit tight for some photos.

I've been knitting like crazy - I have lots of time to knit because I spend my waking hours either at work (knitting, talking about knitting, reading knitting patterns, etc..) or at the hospital - knitting. Gord is Neutropenic, so we can't touch at all. No hugs, no highfives, no nose nuzzles. So I keep my hands busy by knitting. More updates as projects actually get finished.

Today I got myself out to have brunch with some friends (much needed, even if I was iffy about fitting it into my schedule) & then I went to the hospital. The Santa Claus Parade was today & the route goes right past Princess Margaret where Gord is. Hospital for Sick Kids is across the street - so they bundle up the kids who can go outside and the others get to wave to Santa from the window. I watched the parade from Gord's window - my head pressed against the glass. Half watching the parade, half watching the patients from surrounding hospitals looking down from their windows. I gave Gord a play-by-play "And now Mr. Peanut is dancing in the middle of the street...and now Clifford the Big Red Dog is going by,YUCK! Shriners! and look! The Burlington teen Tour Band!" Then finally, the crowd went absolutely mental, police escorts, tons of booming noise & the great man himself on his sled - wishing everyone the merriest of christmases & HOHOHOing. And a 31 year old woman clapping & waving from 14 floors up. Can Santa bring my boy home to me for Christmas? I hope so.

Tuesday will be the official half-way point of this initial round of chemo & I absolutely could not be more proud of Gord. He's been through so much & he's handling it all with such grace & composure. His doctor told him last week that he was very pleased with Gord's reaction to the treatment. The other night he mentioned that he has it in the back of his mind that he might have to stay for longer than they had initially said, but for now....


This is it. This is it.
This is life, the one you get
So go and have a ball.

This is it. This is it
Straight ahead and rest assured
You can’t be sure at all.

So while you’re here enjoy the view
Keep on doing what you do
So hold on tight we'll muddle through
One day at a time, One day at a time.

So up on your feet. Up on your feet
Somewhere there’s music playing.
Don’t you worry none
We’ll just take it like it comes.

One day at a time, one day at a time.
One day at a time, one day at a time.
One day at a time, one day at a time.
One day at a time, one day at a time.

Do you guys know how long I've had that song in my head for? And how I ache every time I write a blog entry to include the lyrics somehow? FINALLY I got it out of my system. Stay tuned for Wilson Phillips' 'Hold On' to make its way into a future entry.

Day 8.

Gord's numbers are going low low & lower. He's now neutropenic which means he's super highly susceptible to infection & sickness. I wash my hands about 15 times a day (I'm not even joking.) Seriously - my kingdom for an intensive hand moisturizer. But I don't mind. Not *really*.

He's currently on Day 8 of his 28 days of chemo. So far, I'd say things are going pretty well. He's up & walking quite a bit, his appetite is HUGE (despite the limited & very crappy food he's allowed) and the side effects are pretty manageable. He's been sick to his stomach a couple of times & has become very light-sensitive, but on the whole, I'd say he's doing pretty good. At least his headaches are starting to go away. He's been meeting & talking to some people on his floor, which helps a lot. Everyone has a lot of good insight & there's some pretty inspirational people there.

And speaking of inspiration, did you know it comes in pint-sized babies? It does. Gord's tiny, tiny preemie niece Sophie has been such a ray of sunshine in all of this, and you can read all about her progress on the blog her parents have started! WARNING: Kleenex is a good idea.
Who would ever think that she would have so much in common with her Uncle Gord!

Thanks everyone, for your comments & your e-mails & phone calls. I may not get a chance to get back to you straight-away, but I really, really appreciate the kindness & thoughtfulness that has been showered upon both Gord & I. *Thank You.*

Day 2.

Gord started chemo on Tuesday - and technically, they call that day zero.

We have a list of all the days (28 of them) & what drugs he'll be getting on which days - with two sneaky "L.P"s listed in there (Lumbar Punctures). The chart looks so. long. He was feeling no side effects up until today - which was filled with dizzy spells, leg pain, extreme headache - I wrote down all the names of the drugs so I can research them & try to be a little bit prepared for what they might do to him.

My schedule is so topsy turvey. I get up, shower, go to work, go to the hospital, come home, make a few phone calls & go to sleep so I can do the same thing the next day. Things like grocery shopping or laundry are falling by the way-side - which is why it's so amazing to have such awesome friends. Three times now I've come home to care packages left by various thoughtful friends - food, (tonight I came home to lovely vegetarian chili made by Mary, and the other night was some deli counter favourites left by Andrea & Dave) wine, chocolate, care packages for Gord (Thanks Emily, Dave, Avril & Frank!) and even some extremely thoughtful snail mail (Thanks Geoffrey!) And last night many, many DVDs were dropped off to keep Gord occupied while he's in the hospital. It all goes so far in reminding me that although this has been a very hard & lonely 2 weeks - mostly spent at the hospital, Gord & I are not alone in this. Nowhere near to it.

I've been self medicating quite a bit - mostly with online retail therapy. Yesterday I bought a Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm CSA share! I'm incredibly excited about this! I think it's an absolutely fantastic idea - and I think you should buy a share too.

That's going to be my wool one day!

the new normal.

Gord starts his chemo tomorrow. For the past week I've just been staring at him - his arms, his legs, his face. trying to see it. How can he be sick? He's still so strong.

I've learned so much this past week - about Gord, about myself, and especially about us together, as a unit - as a team. I'm also learning other things, like how to properly wash my hands, what food Gord can & can't have, what Leukemia does to a person's blood, and what chemotherapy does to a person's body.

It's heavy - and I'm surprised by how easily I've slipped into the role of information retainer/relayer, as caretaker, as prescription filler, as The Strong One, or, as I said to some friends in an e-mail the Lovely Elizabeth to Gord's Macho Man Randy Savage.

I've been knitting a lot. mostly stuff for work (gasp! *swoon!*) but last week I finally got to the sleeve decreases on the second Thermal sleeve. That sweater is going down this weekend.

Words can't express how thankful I am to all the people who have reached out to Gord & I. It means so much to us to have such an amazing back up crew - I really believe it will help Gord to recover quickly & fully. Thank You.

What it is.

Gord's been diagnosed with ALL - Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. It came as a total shock - but I guess you're never prepared to get cancer. We went to the er 2 Sundays ago for severe back pain - and that's when they spotted it - the drop in Platelets & Red Blood cells.

He's home for a couple of days & then he'll be admitted into Princess Margaret Hospital for about a month. He's ready for the fight & I'm ready to stand by my man every single step of the way. I've never loved anyone the way I love him - we don't really have a choice except to beat the shit out of this.

So yeah...that's what's been going on over here.
I'll probably write about it quite a bit. So far we've both been absolutely amazed by the outpouring of support from friends and family - I suspect this support will go a long way to give Gord the strength he needs to get through this.

real life.

Thanks to those of you who have expressed concern & have wished me well.

I guess I'll just come right out & say it since I'm going to have to learn how I'm going to deal with - Gord went into the hospital last Sunday & will probably be there until early next week. They are running some more tests so that they can tell us for sure what is going on. It has been a pretty surreal week for the both of us, and for our friends & family, but my mind is put to ease by how Gord is handling it. He's vowed to 'fight the shit' out of this & I've promised to be there every single step of the way - so I figure whatever this is, it doesn't really have much of a choice except to get the hell out & stay out.

I'll probably be using this blog as a way to get what I'm feeling out - these are all new emotions for me, and I think I'll have a lot of knitting time ahead. Not to mention that I did go to the drop spindle workshop & I am hopeful, despite my first, sad looking attempts.

So there you have it. I'll try to update as often as possible, until then, just keep us in your thoughts.

xo,
nicole

gimmie a break.

Thank you, istockphoto for providing *just* the right visual image...

Real Life has suddenly become a little more complicated than normal. This blog will resume regular activity once the stars realign & I can think clearly.

MSPaint Monday

It is my very last week at this job. I drew this a while ago & think it's appropriate to how I'm feeling right now.

(oh, and p.s. - my fall down the stairs hasn't hindered my knitting!)

wickede

So last night I finally read some of the thousands of e-mails being sent to me on a daily basis from the sockwars yahoo group seeing as the war was to begin today. Turns out, I've accidentally gone AWOL. There have been so many e-mails from the group & I've just been deleting them - which means I deleted the one about having to submit your mailing address. I am not on the final list.

To console myself, I went out & bought a drop spindle & some roving, hoping I could teach myself how to spin if I wasn't going to be knitting socks.

I didn't pay attention to the label of the roving & bought some Merino - I'm under the impression that a coarser wool would be easier to begin with, am I right?

It says 'wickede' on the label!

I tried spinning for about 3 seconds last night & when I didn't catch on immediately, I threw it down & went to sleep. I think I might sign up for a drop spindle workshop at knit cafe, or do some more reading online.

Hey - here's some simple math for you:

these: (scary steep slippery narrow wooden stairs)


plus these: (very cute but very slippery crocheted Noro slippers)

equals one heck of a fall & a body that's achy all over. My left wrist is wickede painful right now --I'm going to go find out if I can knit.

TGIF.

Why is it that 4 day work weeks tend to drag on & on & on?

At least my beloved Friday is here & I can finally start looking forward to what my weekend has in store. Saturday is a work day, unfortunately, so that means a lot of standing. But after that, it's all about Thanksgiving 2.0 & getting my apartment in order. For two people who yearn for a simple lifestyle, we sure have a lot of stuff.

And speaking of stuff, I've been shelling out a whooooole lotta dough on etsy.com & have decided it's no fair to keep all my great finds to myself.

Today I am sporting this necklace I bought from Jewelry by Tara a couple of weeks ago. It translates as "I love you more than yesterday, less than tomorrow" I've also bought a couple of christmas presents on etsy, but everyone will just have to sit tight until after they are received.

I knit the tiniest hat ever last week:

This little hat is for Sophie, Gord's tiny new niece. She was born very prematurely last week. Of course when I found out she had been born, I went out on my lunch break & bought some needles & some Debbie Bliss 'Rialto'. When in doubt, KNIT. She's got a whole troupe of people routing for her, but judging by how fiesty she was in her incubator when we visited on Monday, I think she's going to be a little fighter.

Weapons of Mass Knitstraction.

Thanks for all the congrats! I can't wait for the job to actually begin!

In the meantime, I've got Sock Wars to keep me busy. My chosen weapon: this DK Superwash Merino from elann.com. It's so soft! And the colour is really nice, I think it'll work well. I just hope I can knit them in record time.


I mentioned the Hemlock Ring blanket in my last post - but howsabout a nice picture:

I'm out into the feather & fan section & it's a pretty fun knit. I'm using some Elann Super Cable Aran. I'm going to knit 2 of these for christmas gifts, but I might have to add one for me since I like it so much.

Happy Tanksgivin'!

Gord says Canada has Pioneers, not Pilgrims, and apparently Pioneers didn't have golden buckles, but whatever. Golden Buckles are hilarious!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE! (Well, everyone who lives in Canada....)

pinch me!

Exciting news! After a year and a half of working at a job that never really fit me, I had an awesome interview on Tuesday morning & a job offer Tuesday afternoon. I now work for a yarn company.

I know, right?

I'm officially closing the book on the book industry!(harhar!) I won't go into too much detail of my new job because A) I haven't actually started yet and B) I'd like to keep my blog separate from my 'real-life'. But know this - I am CRAZYEXCITED! GAah!

I've been such a bad blogger - I've received so much great stuff in the mail over the past 2 weeks & haven't blogged about any of it! I also have little-to-no progress to show you on my current projects. My second thermal sleeve is almost to my elbow, the body of the Tangled Yoke Cardigan is about 8" long, my second 'I heart Gansey' sock is almost to the heel flap, I finished the first sock of a pair for my father's christmas present & I cast on for the beeeeeee-oooo-tiful Hemlock Ring blanket (also for christmas presents). And not a picture to show.

This weekend marks the first (hopefully) annual Winer Thanksgiving Wasaga Weekend - most of my aunts & uncles & cousins have all rented cottages at a resort & we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving up there. I am so excited to be spending this time with my family, and even more excited to just get away from the city for a little bit. I've been working so much lately - this will be a welcomed break from it all.

And *hopefully* I'll come home with a finished Thermal sleeve!

MSPaint Monday

For Pam & Wilma, inspired by this photo

Le Slouch, C'est Chic.....

I have been one busy little such & such.

Knitting has been slow. I'm about 1/4 done the second sleeve on Thermal & I'm very slowly chugging away on the body of my Tangled Yoke Cardigan (which, OMG, felted tweed ....I think it's my favourite yarn I've ever worked with)

With all this slow chugging going on I needed something I could shotgun....something instantly satisfying & intoxicating & above all, cute.

Le Slouch!

I was skeptical of how a floppy tam type hat would look on me but after I slipped it on my head everthing was Irie. I didn't have size 9 dpns so I knit this on size 8 & added some extra stitches which worked out just fine. I used some Misti Alpaca from my stash & if I could afford it, I'd knit myself a whole body jumpsuit from this stuff because it is soft as a puppy's ear. This took me 2 evenings of extremely leisurely knitting, including a long break on Saturday night to bid my good friend Michael Adieu.

This photo was taken on New Year's Eve, 2006 - "No tears on New Years!" This was when Michael made me cry because he said I was too talented to work in a bookstore. Amen, brother! (This is also when I was in my 'Caramel Kiss' hair colour phase - a phase which still haunts me, I mean seriously - I want my dark brown hair back.) Too bad I'll be making clothes for plus sized girls & not handsome svelte men, or else this guy would be my muse. Knock 'em dead in Jolly ole England my friend, show those blokes how to wear a neckerchief!

MSPaint Monday

If you know me IRL, then you know that if there's one thing I like about windows (the ONLY thing I like) it's MSPaint. I've decided that I'll start a regular feature on my blog where I share my MSPaint masterpieces.

Today's art:
"Barkey's Tavern"

whoah.

Should cut off my other arm, or actually go through with knitting another sleeve?

It just kept going.....and going...and going. I've cast on for the second sleeve - I have about 2 rows of the ribbing done. I'm aiming for a completion date of Nov. 1st.

Also makes a cozy legwarmer.

Oh, and how lame of me to not link to the pattern source of the knitting bag I sewed up 2 posts back! tsk. tsk.
The lovely tutorial can be found HERE.

Annegurumi

A while ago I joined up with some other crafty kids to take part in a book-club-craft-along. The idea was that we'd chose a book to read & everyone would have to make a craft inspired by the book. We picked Anne of Green Gables! I hadn't read that book since I was a kid so I was eager to re-read it & what a perfect choice too, since there's a ton of crafting all up in that book! They're all knitting or sewing or making pies & stuff.

I made a little Anne doll! Amigurumi style...or, "ANNEgurumi" if you will.

I have only a little experience crocheting dolls, and I made this up as I went along so there are a couple of wonky bits (like, if you were to take off Anne's Wincy dress you'd see that her body is extremely gourd-esque)

I'd say her hair was the most challenging bit - but I'm glad that my technique used up so much of this bright orange acrylic yarn that's been tainting my stash for far too long now. I tried to make little french knot freckles but they just didn't look right - and I also tried to find a little straw hat but I guess they aren't as easy to come by as I had thought they'd be.


I think she's pretty adorable, I'm tempted to make a drunk Diana & a Marilla & Matthew.... but for now, Anne is all I need. And maybe a dress with puffed sleeves.

who loves the sun?

Holy Moley! Drops Jacket mania is sweeping the internet! AWESOME!

The more I think about it, the more I realize that a jacket like this is actually... totally perfect. I can't wait to see other people's jackets! And thanks so much for all the great comments!

Last week I took back the unused balls of wool I had from my Road to Golden so I could get store credit to buy some Rowan Felted Tweed for the 'Tangled Yoke" cardigan from the Fall Interweave Knits. I had the last bit of some gift certificates to use as well -- otherwise there's no way I could have afforded to buy the 10 required balls of this.

I was deciding between this blue/green or a brown and in the end made the decision that I wanted this sweater to be AAAP* so blue/green it is. I cast on Thursday night & have just finished the ribbing. Knitting with this yarn is an absolute dream and I've decided to take my time with this sweater.

The book in that photo was just given to me last night by my favourite book fairy. It's filled with *awesome* socks & lots of really useful information about sock techniques. It also has this...

Instructions on how to do a stitch pattern called 'when doves cry'. WHOAH!

Okay so...on a scale of 1 to 10, how much does it suck to untangle your sock project from your keys, headphones, pens etc when you're carrying it around in your bag? A lot right? I finally got around to making a little bag thing to carry my knitting around in...

It's totally floppy & loppy, but it was made quickly & out of desperation so it's all good. I bought that fabric from Ikea a couple of years ago & made curtains out of it but had some left over.

And inside?



My 'I heart Gansey' socks! This is a great pattern from the six sock knitalong group - you have to sign up with the yahoo group to get the pattern but there's a lot of cute patterns so it's worth the effort. The yarn I'm using is some Fleece Artist Merino that I've had a couple of false starts with but I think I've finally found just the right pattern for it.

And in Thermal news.......sleeve number one is a mere inch from being done. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.



*As Awesome As Possible

Sha-Wing!

Move over, Thermal! There's a new gal in town......

It's the little jacket from Drops design! This jacket needs a better name that simply '103-1'. The pattern has been translated so there were a couple of times when I had to really think about what it said, but overall this was an easy breezy knit which is destined to become a wardrobe staple.

This project was SO FAST and SO AWESOME! It clocks in at about 4 days - The yarn arrived on Wednesday & by Sunday I was seaming it all up.


I am SO INTO this thing - I want to take this jacket out for dinner & dancing & then back to an expensive hotel room for snuggling.

I used about 10 balls of Laines du Nord 'Softlight'. I don't have tons of experience with working in chunky wool, but this stuff is *super*! There's a bit of Nylon in it which makes it pretty strong - I seamed the whole thing with it and it didn't break once. And also, it is so.effing.soft.

I knit the largest size, which turned out great - it's slightly fitted at the top & then flares out with a bit of sass at the hem.

I took a million pictures of me wearing it - look! This is what it looks like when I smile wearing the jacket!

And that's me thinking "damn, this sweater is rad!"

And here's me being all "Why can't you be more like this sweater? I knit this in *FOUR DAYS* Awww, I can't stay mad at you baby..."