Close to my Heart

What I did on my summer vacation

I've been home for a week now, so it is about time that I write this post!

I spent almost a week visiting with my sister and her husband in Vancouver.  They moved from the Okanagan to the big city this past spring.  This was my first visit to their new condo.  Quite a lifestyle change for them, from their big house with pool to a much smaller but very nice condo.  The condo is in a wonderful central location in downtown Vancouver, located just a block from Robson Street (great for this shopaholic).  I'm actually quite thrilled to have a free place to stay in Vancouver, it's been a long time since I've had that, probably since one of my childhood friends got married and moved to the burbs 15 years ago!

While in Vancouver, I was able to visit areas I frequented in university and haven't visited in a long time.  Not too surprisingly, these neighbourhoods have changed in almost 25 years!  Although I'm glad to be back to the relative peace of the small city I live in, it was great to be in the big city.  I love the diversity, hearing different languages spoken, observing the big city culture (I love people watching), and of course all the ethnic food.  I ate Greek, Japanese, Italian, Mandarin (great restaurant just across the street from my sister) Cantonese, and Ukrainian.  Other highlights of the trip were the Richmond Night Market (warning, there is some audio on the website, very worthwhile for those of you in the Lower Mainland or those planning a visit) and Granville Island, a place I frequented while living nearby during my university years, but haven't visited in some time.

But if you're reading here, what you're probably really wondering about is the Fiber purchases.  I managed to visit three yarn stores while in Vancouver.  The first stop was Birkeland Brothers, where I purchased the silk blend roving I showed you on the last post.  I had heard about this store from a local knitting friend, and was really looking forward to visiting.  It was a lot smaller than I expected, and nothing too exciting in terms of yarn.  Great source for spinning wheels, spindles, fiber etc., and I wish I lived close enough to take a spinning class.  In addition to the fiber, I also found something I was especially looking for, a nostepinde:

It's already been put to good use. 

Next I ventured up to Urban Yarns.  The bus ride took me through one of my old neighbourhoods as well as part way on the route I used to ride to UBC.  Very lovely store that I will return to, however I showed great restraint and didn't make any purchases this time.

I had checked the website for Three Bags Full prior to leaving home, and was disappointed to discover that they were closed for their own vacation during my time in Vancouver.  They did however open on my last day in the city, so I dragged my non-knitting non-crafty sister there with me, after a stop at Solly's for their awesome cinnamon buns (are you noticing how much this trip was about the food?  You'll be glad to know that I'm returning to my noon hour workouts at Curves beginning tomorrow).  I really enjoyed this store.  I found some lovely rovings from Yummy Yarns, whose Etsy store I have previously purchased roving from.  I brought this one home with me:

And am looking forward to spinning it up.  An impulse buy on my way to the check out was some Koigu:

I justified this purchase simply because it's been a longggg time since Koigu has found it's way into my stash.

So there you have it, what I did on my summer vacation.  I had over two weeks off from work, and it really was a great break that seemed longer than it was.  A week of it was spent in Vancouver.  I'm sure I'll be there much more regularly now that I have family to visit and stay with.

Now back to the weekend chore drudgery (can't complain though most of it is done).  Why do weekends always go by SO quickly?

Resistance is Futile

Long time no post.  The last week has been rather busy, with two overnight business trips, a visit with some friends from school days, a class at the scrapbooking store, etc.  And my yarnplay lately has been a crochet gift which I can't show here quite yet, so there was just no blog fodder.  Said gift is however completed, and I can now move on to other projects which I'll be able to blog about.

During the first business trip last week, my car went on auto pilot and found itself in front of the LYS.  I honestly wasn't going to go there as I really don't need more yarn.  They did however have a Bagsmith Project Bag that I wanted,(current bag that sits by my spot in the living room is close to twenty years old and has seen better days) and I was happy to pick it up without having to mail order.  For the first time, I saw the Namaste bags that I've been drooling over on the internet for a while.  My first thought when I saw the bag was that it was too big, so I resisted and left it behind.  Well, let's just say that by the next day, I couldn't stop thinking about the bag.  Thoughts of this bag consumed me throughout the week (I know, I'm weird), and I eventually called the LYS and asked them to hold said bag for me.  I returned to the store yesterday, and brought my new friend home with me.  Yeah, she's a big girl, but she'll definitely hold everything I need for those long work days and excursions down island.  To see some better pictures of someone else's Namaste Jetsetter bag (including the inside), you can check out this Flickr page.

Canucks hockey game on in the background, going to go sit with my knitting and watch the rest of the game.  I hope to have some finished socks to show you later in the weekend.  Enjoy yours!

Saturday Shopping

Here it is Saturday, it's already my second day off, and I still have three more to go.  Gotta love a long weekend!  Monday is a stat holiday here, and Tuesday is my flex day.  The last couple days have been all about shopping and stash and craft supply accumulation, the next few days the crafting production will hopefully occur.

I decided to go for a drive to Courtenay today, which of course meant a stop at the LYS.  I was specifically after some yarn to make something for spring and summer.  And because there has not been any crocheting here for far too long, I chose a crochet project:

I also bought some sock yarn.

I hadn't seen this particular yarn before, and it was very inexpensive.  And we all know that sock yarn doesn't count as stash!

Next stop was Winners.  I'm told that Winners is a lot like Ross Department Store in the States, although I've not yet been to one myself.  I needed to replace my beloved cute pink and brown purse.  Unfortunately, it's rather cheaply made and keeps ripping.  The store I purchased it from has already replaced it for me once.  I'm not interested in a second replacement, I just want my money back.  Obviously the construction is very poor.  Too bad, I so loved this purse!  So today I found this funky brown leather number:

It has lots of compartments inside (an essential as far as I'm concerned) and plenty of room to hold my a take along sock WIP (also an essential feature).  And it's quite obviously much better made than the pink and brown one.

And finally, I just couldn't resist these brown shoes:

They'll look nice with the brown and pink floral skirt I bought last week (no pictures of this to show you) to go with my new shawl.  Now if the weather would just co-operate, I could show off my new outfit!

Yesterday's most significant crafting purchase was an embossing tool, which should help take my papercrafting to the next level.  I played with it a bit last night, and know I'm going to have a lot of fun using it.  I'll fire it up some more tomorrow, the remainder of this Saturday is going to be spent playing with yarn.

Thanks for all the sympathetic comments about my tooth extraction.  All went well, nitrous is my friend, and my mouth is feeling a lot better with the offending cracked tooth gone.

Finally, Happy Easter to those of you that celebrate!

Bag Ho

Wow, already a week since my last post.  I wanted to check in with you all much sooner, but it's been a rather busy week.  I really need to get back to regular posting.  I've done only minimal knitting this week on my current sock wip, which will hopefully become a finished object this weekend.  So no knitting to show you here today.

Those of you who visit me regularly know that I have a little (ahem) weakness for bags of any size, shape, or form.  It is my opinion that a girl can never have too many handbags, totes, knitting bags, or any other kind of bag.  It really is quite amazing that I haven't yet ordered the Knitpicks bags, although I may one day succumb. I've come really close in the past.

I have however been trolling Etsy looking at great handmade bags there.  I should also mention that in the last couple months, I've been completely obsessed with the colour combo of pink and brown.  I showed you the shawl I'm knitting in my last post, and remember this purse, which I'm continuing to love using.

Anyhow, back to Etsy.  A few weeks back I saw this bag:

And look at the inside:

And the seller offered the wristlet below at half price:

So of course I had to buy that too! 

The bags arrived this past week, and I'm thrilled with them, they're much nicer than in the pictures.  The large bag is the carry all that I take with me to work each day, and I'm sure it will do double duty as a knitting bag.  I haven't used the wristlet yet, but it is a great size for a packed lunch, cosmetics, or even a small wip.  Since I purchased these bags, the seller is now selling cell phone holder wristlets.  A matching cell holder is now on it's way to me.  I figured I needed the matching set!

I highly recommend this Etsy seller, go check out Midnight Creations. All of her bags are beautiful, and if the truth be known, I would love to have many of them.

Anyone still with me?  I've recently discovered that my new papercrafting hobby is also sympathetic to my little bag obsession, as well as my pink and brown obsession.  I attended a class at my local scrapbooking store the other night, and this came home with me:

It comes filled with some supplies that I needed, so turned out to be a great deal.  That's my story anyway!  I'll keep it filled with my supplies, and then I'll be ready to head out to more classes, scrapbooking get togethers, etc.

Quick, send help before my home becomes one big pink and brown bag! (I just may be tired and a little too giddy)

Knitting content coming soon, I promise.  I'll hopefully have new socks to show you soon, and next weekend's Knitting Retreat is bound to provide some knitting blog fodder.  Off now to knit and catch up on some podcasts.  Have a great weekend!

Monkey on my Feet

(I know, completely unoriginal title)

I finished my Monkey socks the other night.  I love my new socks, the Artyarns Ultramerino 04 was wonderful and I'd knit with it again.  And Cookie's pattern was fabulous too.  It is the perfect combination of an interesting stitch pattern that is enjoyable to knit, yet not so difficult to be frustrating.  I'll knit this pattern again at some point too.  Here's the (probably too many) clickable pictures:

(Had to use this picture because of Buttons appearance in the background)

Because the yarn is 100% Merino, I knit Woolly Nylon into the heel through the gusset decreases.  You can't even tell it's there so I'm pleased and will use this again for other socks that don't already have nylon in the yarn.

And a non-knitting note, regular readers know how I have this purse problem.  I think I've shown great restraint, the last purse I purchased was WAY back in October.  But yesterday, while out on a lunchtime walk with a co-worker, I came upon this:

I HAD to buy it, it's so cute, and it goes with that pink and brown yarn I showed you in my last post. Not pictured is a shoulder strap, which combined with the inside compartments, sold me on this bag.  And speaking of my last post...thanks for the Etsy recommendations.  If you haven't already added your favourite Etsy shops in the comments of that post, please do so.  I've added several more sellers to my Etsy favourites.  Dangerous, I know!

Shopping Success

I arrived home last night from this week's business trip.  I'm happy to report that no overnights away are in store for the next little while.  At least my overnight this time was spent at my parents nice clean home where I enjoyed a home cooked meal.  Much better than last week where the hotel left much to be desired. 

My Monday afternoon day off Nanaimo shopping expedition was very successful as I found everything I wanted: 
Black pants, check.
New shoes, check (in brown).
Overcoat, check .  I'm particularly pleased to have found a great overcoat from Eddie Bauer that was on sale for less than half the regular price.  Perfect for fall in a neutral colour.  I've been looking for something for about a  month.  Hard to find here, lots of warm winter coats but we really don't have a huge need for that in our mild west coast climate.

And of course there was a trip to the LYS where I succumed to the lure of Fleece Artist.

Sock Yarn:

Way prettier than in the picture.  Maybe too nice for feet?

And this pretty silk:

Destined for a small spring shawl/scarf.  I actually feel kind of guilty about this somewhat extravagant purchase now, but it's just SO pretty!

Home Again

SO glad to be home from this week's business trip.  The hotel was less than desireable, and the forum I attended was for the most part underwhelming.  The shopping wasn't too hot either (there was really no time for that), and the only redeeming thing was that I found this great Rosetti purse:

I love the red colour and the fun and funky style.

Shortly before leaving home on Monday, I received an e-mail from Genevieve, my ISE 3 Partner, that she had received the scarf I made her.  Now I can show you all what I made:

I used the pattern from Yarn-a-go-go here, and Lang Pearl Yarn (3 skeins).  The yarn is lovely and soft, and the pattern was great fun to knit, easy enough to memorize, yet fun with the cables and seed stitch.  I'd definitely recommend this pattern.

Off to drink more coffee and catch up on blogs before getting ready for work.  Have a great rest of the week!

Home Sweet Home

I had a great week away, but am so glad to be home.  It was busy and hectic, and I've been too tired to knit; I haven't picked up the needles since Monday!  It's been a long, long time since I've gone that long without knitting.  Knitting is definitely on the agenda for today though.

I did end up packing long pants and socks, and that was definitely the right choice.  The building we were in for the course was freezing, and it didn't help that one of the days it rained all day.  Fortunately, that weather is now behind us, and the forecast for the week ahead is great Autumn sunshine.  I'll even be able to wear my skort when I go downtown to do some errands later today.  And look at all that blue sky in today's Saturday Sky picture:

I mentioned that I planned to do some shopping while in Victoria.  I did indeed spend many hours in the stores, but let's just say that the colours that are in the clothing stores this fall are completely underwhelming.  Lots of neutrals and earth tones, which are just not my thing.  I did however buy a pair of brown dress pants, an ivory colour button up blouse, and a pair of black shoes.

I also visited Beehive Wool, and came away with my planned purchase:

Purple Misti Alpaca Lace Weight yarn.  Not sure yet what lacy lovely this will become, but there is 1200 metres so there are lots of options.

And finally, as intended, one of my first Weekend Tasks was blocking the Swallowtail Shawl.

Finished object pictures coming soon!

ANOTHER Bag?

Yes, you read that correctly, I've bought yet another bag.  I think when you see this one though, you'll agree that it had to come home with me.  It came from yesterday's Farmer's Market, and was made by my sister-in-law, and it's always good to support family, right?  And it's the perfect size for a sock knitting bag too.  Here it is, DPN added for scale:

And here it is with my current sock WIP inside:

And speaking of my current sock WIP, I finished the first Marmalade sock yesterday.  I LOVE how it turned out, and it fits my foot perfectly.  Here it is just a few minutes ago, being held out our door (too lazy to actually get dressed and go out and take a proper picture, haven't had my coffee yet!):

And a close-up of the foot, I love how the colour is kind of striping on the plain stockinette section:

The second sock has about two inches of the leg knit.  I'd really like to get past the heel on that today, but we'll see.  All those psso's have made my wrist hurt, so I probably shouldn't overdo it.

A Day at the Filberg

Today's Saturday sky is brought to you by the Filberg Festival:

I think the picture turned out kind of neat, with the sun and the jet stream.

It was a lovely sunny day to meander around the Festival.  One of my first stops again this year was the Sweatermaker booth.  I bought a kit to make a simple garter stitch shawl. 

(All of the pictures in this post are clickable.  And you should click on them too, because everything is very beautiful, if I do say so myself.)

What first caught my eye was the hank in the middle, which is 50% silk, 50% merino.  It is truly gorgeous.  The other yarns are a mohair and a mohair loop.  I love Sweatermaker yarn, I think it is as good as Fleece Artist, plus she is a local artisan and I like to support anything local.  Just to refresh your memory, I knit this shawl with yarn bought from her at last year's Filberg.  The Diamond Fantasy Shawl that I've been neglecting is also Sweatermaker.  You can purchase her yarns through Fun Knits, if you are interested.

The setting of the Filberg is gorgeous, it's a garden-like park near the ocean:

And a couple more of my purchases:

The beads in both the necklace and earrings were from the same artisan.  I am calling the necklace my Project Spectrum August necklace because of it's neutral colours.  And the purple earrings were just so gorgeous that I couldn't leave them.  Both of these items were very inexpensive too, so I didn't break the bank at all.

I'm tired now from spending the day in the sun.  Time to relax with my knitting now.  I may very well wind my new yarn and cast on for the shawl this weekend.