Close to my Heart

TGIF

It's been a busy week and despite my best intentions, I haven't gotten around to blogging.  I thought I'd do a very quick post while I wake up with my coffee this morning.

Here's what I've been up to this week.  I listed something new in my Etsy shop:

I finished a pair of socks (only my second pair this year, shamefully):

Details will be up on my Ravelry page sometime this weekend, hopefully.

And yesterday morning, I was unable to make our bed before leaving for work:

A midweek post

What, a third post in less than a week?  It's certainly been a longgggg time since that has happened.  It's been a pretty good week though, some stress but overall not too bad. 

I do however think it to be rather pathetic that until now, you have not seen a newly completed sock yet in 2008.  After all, it's mid March already!  Finally though, this past weekend I finished the socks that I cast on a couple months ago.  I love these socks, cause the yarn is yummy Koigu.  Always lovely to knit with, and pretty to look at too.  Behold the Koigu socks:

The picture does not really do this gorgeous colourway justice.  And why this is only the second pair of socks I've ever knit with Koigu is way beyond me.  I definitely need more of this lovely yarn in my stash.

Here's some cards I've made recently.  First of all, with Spring break about to start here in British Columbia, a couple of my friends are taking their families on vacation.  I think it is pretty obvious where they are going:

And this card is for a niece who turned 16 yesterday.  Seems it was yesterday that I had just met my then boyfriend's family and celebrated this niece's first birthday.  I cheated a bit on her card since I was more into spinning this past weekend, and used a pre-made card background from Michael's:

Off I go to cast on a new pair of socks now.  I've enjoyed this more frequent blogging this week, sure hope I can continue!

Two weeks

Wow, I can't quite believe the time that has elapsed since my last post.  I have  been knitting though, and have two finished projects to show you today.  First, the fifth and final pair of Christmas gift socks:

Yarn is ONline Supersocke 100 Holiday Color 90 in colourway 1001.

I also finished an early gift for myself:

Beautiful, yummy cashmere which feels SO soft around my neck.  Pattern is a shop pattern from Fun Knits.  Hand dyed yarn is from Sweatermaker, also available from Fun Knits.

Part of the reason I've been absent from the blog and only lurking and not commenting on friend's blogs, is because I've been busy studying for a selection panel at work.  I'm happy to report that all went well, and I have received a promotion into a supervisory position.  I'm moving departments so will have a bit of a learning curve, but I am SO pumped and excited about this that I've been lying awake at night thinking about it.  I have been ready for a change for a while, and am so thrilled to have this opportunity.  I anticipate a bit of a learning curve and longer work hours (as well as going away for some training in February), so I'm sure the blog will once again be neglected in the new year.  But as I said,  I'm excited and  really looking forward to some new challenges.  I officially start the new position on January 14th.

I'm on vacation here shortly, I work on Monday and then am off until December 31.  I'm looking forward to having a bit of time on my hands (the Christmas knitting is pretty much done and the shopping completed as well, just wrapping left to do) so I plan to blog much sooner than two weeks from now.  I have some cards and things to show you.  Bye for now!

Snow Day

I've really been neglecting the ol' blog lately.  What with Ravelry and Etsy, I just don't have the time for everything!  I miss blogging though, I really do! Since I last "talked" to you all, I've continued to knit Christmas gift socks.  I've finished another pair, with the LAST pair almost half done, yeah!  I think I'm getting sick of self striping yarn now.

Anyhow, here's the most recently completed pair of gift socks:

Yarn is ONline Supersocke 100 Holiday Color 90.

Over at my Etsy store, I'm having a sale on my Christmas cards, so be sure to go take a look.  Here's my most recent offering:

I thought it appropriate to list today, given this:

1. PC010341, 2. PC010353, 3. PC010358, 4. PC010338

Yes, winter is here on the West Coast.  Cuppa hot chocolate anyone? 

An Untitled Post

Last night Joe and I had front row seats for an AWESOME concert, Colin James and Craig Northey.  I think Colin James is fairly well known here in Canada, but not sure if that is the case elsewhere.  His style is blues/rock, and he is an amazing guitarist.  Craig Northey is the lesser known of the two, and prior to attending the concert, I was unware that he co-wrote and sang the them to the great Canadian television show, Corner Gas.  He sang that at the beginning of the show, which was pretty cool.  I found a clip of the two performers on You Tube:

They are coming to the end of their Canadian tour, but if you are able to see this show, I highly recommend it. My latest knitting FO is another pair of Christmas gift socks:
Yarn is Opal 6 ply, a sport weight yarn, so these socks knit up quite quickly.  Pair number 4 is on the needles and will be finished in the next few days, thanks to two work days spent knitting while attending a conference last week.

Finally, I've been tagged by Raven, so I'll end this post by answering her meme, click if you wish to continue:

Getting ready for Christmas

I finished Christmas Gift Socks pair number 2 last weekend:

Yarn is ONline Supersocke 100 Fun Color #768.  I knit these toe up and did a short row heel.  I seem to go through phases as to what kind of heels I knit, and I am definitely in a short row phase at present, having already knit short row heels on pair number 3 last night.  It's nice not having to fuss with picking up gusset stitches and decreases.  These socks are knit for a friend whose feet are considerably bigger than mine, I'm a size 6 1/2 or 7, and she is a 9 1/2.  They look huge to me and I just hope they fit.

I've also been busy with papercrafting and adding holiday items to my Etsy store.  Here's one of my newest creations, a gift card holder.  Clicking on the picture will get you to its Etsy listing.

In other Etsy news...I now have three colour combinations available of my Knitters Gift Tags.  I am now able to take custom orders for different colours of knitters gift tags. If you are interested in a particular colour, please let me know me (a convo over on Etsy is the best way) and I'll see what I can do to fill your request.

Actual Knitting Content

It's been a while since I've had any knitting content here on the ol' blog, so I figure it is about time to include said content.  I have some finished objects to show you.  First of all, the first pair of Christmas gift socks:

Excuse the crumpled up picture, I couldn't use my blockers since these socks are bigger than those I would make for myself.  Yarn is ONline Supersocke 100 City Color #923.  The matching pattern was going quite well until I encountered a knot just past the heel on one of the socks (the one on the right I think) after which one colour was repeated.  I couldn't be bothered to rip back, I don't think the recipient will mind though!

Yesterday I cast off the Autumn Leaf Shawl (Evelyn Clark's Leaf Lace Pattern), however you'll have to excuse this unblocked picture for now:

You may recall that I hurt my knee while skating last month.  Although said knee is about 95% back to normal, it still hurts to crawl around on the floor, thus crawling to pin this thing out will have to wait for a bit.

Speaking of skating....although I went back on the ice after taking about ten days off as per doctor's orders, I'm finding it rather difficult.  The knee no longer hurts on the ice, and I'm wearing a support, the problem has now turned into a psychological one.  I'm finding it really hard to push myself even slightly now for fear of re-injuring.  Except for during my lesson time, I pretty much skate around the ice not doing much.  I hope my fear will vanish soon and I'll get my mojo back!

Typepad introduced some new templates today.  Always one to enjoy playing around with the ol' blog, I've changed my template.  I reserve the right to change it several more times in the next few days!  Time to go knit now, especially since this is the only night this week without other obligations (even if they are fun ones!).

Catch Up

So did anyone even notice that I've been gone for a bit?  I knew I was going to have a busy couple weeks and was going to post about taking a blog break.  Then I thought that I would still have a few minutes to blog and wouldn't need the break.  Well that never happened.  Here's a recap of the last couple weeks:

Had a bad fall while skating, hurt my knee, and was off the ice for two weeks.  Just back this week and the knee is feeling much better now.  I was really nervous going back on Monday, and could really feel the tension in my skates.  I actually hemmed and hawed about going back, and am now really glad that I got "back on the horse" so to speak.

I've been devoting more time to my Etsy store and have been making more sales.  I have a few Christmas cards up as well as more of my Knitters Gift Tags (which are doing quite well, thank you if any of my purchasers are amongst my blog readers) including some in Christmas cards.

Busy in the evenings overall, few evenings home these days.  Am only home tonight because a meeting was thankfully postponed until next week.

Continuing to knit on the Leaf Lace Shawl I showed you in my last post, but unblocked lace on needles isn't too exciting to show.  Just picture more rows than shown in that last post.  Really enjoying this knit though.  Lace knitting is definitely about the process, because I don't have a lot of need for shawls in my everyday life (although I like to picture myself needing them).

Finished my September socks almost down to the wire.  I'm part of the

and just always have to finish at least one pair per month.  Here they are:

Apologies for the picture, there's been nothing but rain and clouds the last several days.  Yarn is Panda Cotton, top down, 3 X 1 rib on 56 stitches, standard heel, German round toe.

Bought this great boxy bag on Etsy:

It arrived today and I love it!  Highly recommend Etsy seller ZigZagStitches.  A girl can never have too many sock project bags!

So there's a quick recap for anyone still there.  Back soon, hopefully!

Some FOs

I have two FOs to show you today.  I guess I'll show you in the order I completed them.  A week ago, I finished these Opal Flamingo Socks:

It initially looked like they were going to be a close enough match, however when knitting the sock on the left, I hit a knot in the white section just above the heel, and that section repeated itself after the knot.  I can live with that though.  And the sock on the right...for some reason, while knitting this sock at a staff meeting last week, I put it down for a moment, picked it up and managed to get my stitch placement off.  Didn't notice until into my toe shaping, and as a result, the decreases are a little off kilter.  I can live with that too, since after all, the toe will be hidden in my shoe.

My second FO today is this Bigger Booga Bag:

I pretty much followed WendyKnits pattern adaptation  here.  A somewhat disappointing project from start to finish.  I was trying to think outside of my usual colour box when I purchased the Cascade 220 in greens, and grew to dislike it as I knit with it.  I liked it better when I added my own handspun pink yarn to the top.  Also, I picked yarn that would have a kind of gradient colour effect.  I think in the future I would go with something that had more of a contrast to it.  This bag also turned out smaller than I anticipated, but may be from agitating during the felting process for too long.  The I cord handles are too small as well, although I did knit them the recommended length.  I will probably eventually re-do the handles.

Note that the socks were Knit as part of the sock Sock a month 4 KAL, and the bag as part of the Summer KAL CAL Purse Round up.  Blogger appears to be down this morning, I will link to these Alongs when it is back up and running.  I've also started a crochet purse for the Purse KAL CAL.  I will post about it soon.  The pattern I'm using for it is also from a Blogger Blog.  Makes me glad I made the leap to Typepad several years ago!

Vacation!

As per usual, the weekend has gone by very quickly, and I've had little crafting time it seems.  This weekend though, it doesn't really matter, because I'm on vacation for two weeks!  The first week will be spent at home, while the second week I'll be going to Vancouver to visit my sister.  It's SO nice to have a bit of a break from work and the day to day doldrums.  It also helps that things are in better shape on the home front due to hiring our niece for some housekeeping chores, and we also finally got some much needed new blinds in our bedroom and in the kitchen.  Makes a big difference and really does affect my mood and attitude around the house.

I have my latest Etsy purchase to show off here.  A new spindle and Lazy Kate from Spinsanity, same seller that I purchased my Flower Spindle from.

I'd been looking for something from which I'd be able to ply yarn, and now I have it.  The ladybug spindle is too cute, and it spins like a dream.  I just may have ordered yet another spindle from Spinsanity the other day.  What can I say, I have no resistance!  If you go check out her sold items, and you're a regular reader of my blog who knows my colour and style preferences, I'll bet you can guess which one I purchased.  I will however stop here, I now have four spindles which I think is more than enough at this point (famous last words anyway).

I finally finished my July socks:

Yarn is Confetti Cotton 49% Wool, 35% Cotton and 16% Nylon.  I enjoyed knitting with this yarn more than any other cotton sock yarns I've used this far.  I was a little disappointed to find them a bit baggy when I slipped them on, but not to the point where they are unwearable.  A trip through the washer and dryer should remedy that problem.

I do have some crafting plans for my vacation.  I would like to finish the felted purse I showed in my last post (your comments made me feel much better about the colour, so thanks!), cast on for Breeze, and I just may even finally begin Kauni as well.  There will also be some spinning and papercrafting, which reminds me that I also need to update my neglected papercraft blog in the next few days.  Ah, gotta love vacation!