last day of secret pal10

Well, it's the last day of Secret Pal 10... it's been fun and I've gotten some super cool stuff from my pal. I also sent my last / reveal package to my pal a couple of days ago. The last package I sent her seems to have gotten lost somewhere along the way (which sucks, especially since we only live one state apart when I'm on the south side of the border) so I'm tracking this one to make sure that Canada Post doesn't screw up. Again. (Unrelated screw up... I'm just not having any luck with posting things lately...)

I should also find out who my secret pal is soon... she said she would send me a reveal email today and that my reveal package will be on its way in the next week or so!

In actual knitting related news, I tried mission: knitting impossible to get the bday present done for my mom in time for yesterday and failed. I'm about 1/2 way done, but it's a much more difficult pattern than I had thought originally. It's the swallowtail shawl from Interweave Knits Fall '06... It's beautiful but very intricate (I'm pretty sure I might have messed up a couple of times, but it's so hard to tell with the tiny stitches and tiny needles... and I just couldn't bear the thought of ripping back on lace... no, I don't use lifelines, but perhaps I should learn how). In any case, I don't know who Evelyn A. Clark thinks she is (other than a torturer of knitters who love beautiful lace) but purling 5 together - especially when those 5 stitches were previously a K1 yo K1 yo K1 worked from one single stitch... well, it's damn near impossible. I can get 4 stitches picked up purlwise all at once, but 5 is just one too many. Occasionally I'll get it on the first try, but most times it takes me anywhere from 2 to 10 minutes to convince all 5 stitches to get on that needle. I'm hoping to be done within the next week... although I'm also hoping to be done another paper left over from the Spring Semester today too... I'm all full of false hopes! I'll post celebratory posts if either happen in the next little while.

Happy Knitting!

When did you learn to knit?

Skeins her way is having another contest! All you have to do is post what age you learned to knit... I wrote 9, but to be honest I think it might have been even earlier than that...

no knitting... but new hair!

I have this dorky side that likes to do crazy things with my hair... as a teenager you could tell when I had been bored or needed to feel change because my hair would change radically over night. I think that's kind of a normal teenage thing, right? I've had it all kinds of colours, and from the time I was 14 until I was about 18 or so, it just kept getting shorter and shorter and shorter, until my high school graduation photos, in which I had the shortest hair of my life - cut but barely above the "shaved head" look. Anywho, a few of years ago I dyed my hair pink... and I loved it. I wanted to do it again but my brother got engaged and I was in the wedding party and I started my master's the year afterwards and I felt like I needed to be a bit more "professional" in order to teach... especially since I don't look that much older than most of my students - and in fact, sometimes I am actually younger than them. So I haven't done anything wild and crazy in the last few years... and I was just in a friend's wedding a week ago, so I had been growing my hair out for that as well.

So, courtesy of my mac's photo booth and without further ado, I give you "craziest haircut I've had in 4 years":



Hope this distracts everyone enough to forget about the lack of knitting related posts lately!

I'm sad to admit that there hasn't been much knitting going on lately. Despite that, I have acquired some beautiful yarns recently (both from my secret pal and some things that jumped into my arms at a recent sale...) I just haven't had any time to use them.

I have been slowly working on #6 on the Summer Knits List but it's a surprise, so I'll save it for when it has been finished and delivered. Also, the progress has been very slow, so I'm just hoping that it will be finished before its "deadline" in a weeks time!

secret pal package!

I got a package from my secret pal today! I don't have a lot of time to elaborate so I'll cut to the chase:

The goods:
3 balls of Grey Rowan Kidsilk haze (70% Super Kid Mohair, 30% Silk) 229 yards each; 3 balls Red Phildar Licorne (100% cotton) 131 yards each; 2 balls of Blue Phildar Detente (100% cotton) 153 yards each; 3 skeins Beige Rowan Summer Tweed (70% silk, 30% cotton) 118 yards each.

And the close ups:





The astute observer might notice that (especially in the close up on the Red Licorne) that the yarns look dull or even whiteish... this is not from the camera or the lighting... it's from the fact that my package took quite a beating between France and Canada and so a package of bath bubble stuff sort of exploded all over the place. Luckily it was dry bath bubbles, so it didn't ruin everything but the cottons do still have some stuck in them. I figure that once I knit something up and wash it there will be some brightening of the colours. Miraculously it came out very easily from the kidsilk. Also not pictured: 2 jars of french jam, papaya body scrub and a small pot with mini sunflower seeds to plant!

Thanks secret pal!

new pictures, old projects

I'm staying with my dad and sister this week while the OSCBF and my mom are both out of town (just to clarify, they went on separate trips!). In any case, I'm using my old laptop to check email and the like. I didn't want to be moving tons and tons of stuff for just two days, so I left my Mac at the apartment.

So I found some new knitting photos to share. Ok, they're not actually *new*... they're photos of things I knit as gifts last Christmas, but since I forgot my camera, I never took pictures of people wearing them. Apparently my mom did, but never sent them to me. In any case, they're new to most of you and it distracts from the fact that I haven't done much new knitting lately...


Drop stitch scarf from Stitch n' Bitch Nation. Handpainted ribbon from Stitches East '06. Gift for Nana, Modelled by Mom.


Berroco Touche "Cashmere" Cowl... not so cashmere but still soft and warm! From LMKG. Gift for and modelled by Mom.


Back of the "nightie"... I did it to specifications but it was (obviously) quite short. But she wore it as a tank top Saturday night and it looked awesome!


And a shot of the front...


And a better shot of the "edible undies", on the lingerie line at the bachelorette party Sat. night.

Blogger and internet explorer have teamed up to annoy me tonight (I heart my Mac) and so this is the second time I've written this post... cross your fingers that it works this time!

naughty knitting

I don't know how many of you might have seen the naughty issue of Knitty from Summer '04, but it's kind of funny, and fun, and not really that naughty. Anywho, tonight if a friends bachellorette party and we're supposed to bring underwear that symbolizes us and she's supposed to guess who's is whose. So I thought... I should really knit some underwear. I know, I know, I've said before that I draw the line at knitted underwear, but I couldn't resist, and I figured I'd just use up some of my stash and it would be a fun joke. So I thought I'd search around for a quick pattern and came up with this: 302 calories. Edible, knitted underwear: finally, someone has brought together two loves: food and knitting. Licorice thong string, not so much... in fact, it's sort of really totally icky when you think about it. But it took about 20 mins (well, not if you count the two days of driving around the city attempting to actually find licorice shoe strings...) and it's going to be hilarious. So, I give you my version of 302 calories:


(Sorry about the crappyness of the picture... I had to find somewhere that I could hang it and the lighting is really really bad in the bedroom... I'll try to get better ones tonight.)

Also in related naughty crafting news, I was recruited by the sister of the bride to be to make a very special item... keep in mind that this is a cowboy themed bachellorette:



Yes, that's what you think it is... and yes, I made it myself. It will go great with the cowboy hats we ordered!!

After the Wash

Well, I can check #5 off my summer knitting list! (No one said they had to be done in order did they?!)

Here are the Baby Denim Drawstring Pants post-wash & dry:



They're still a bit damp so they're now hanging with the rest of "do not tumble dry" laundry. But they definitely shrank (which is good... everyone kept saying they looked odd... the legs were ridiculously long pre-wash) and all ends have been woven in and the drawstring is firmly where it is supposed to be. One problem with my modification (4 st i-cord instead of 2) is that it was harder to get into the slot for the drawstring... I didn't take that into consideration ahead of time. It still works, but it doesn't tie into the best bow ever... still, I think overall a thicker i-cord is needed to hold up baby pants. If I were to make them again I might try 3 sts. The baby shower is next weekend, so there is lots of time for them to dry out! Unfortunately I already had plans to be away that weekend, so I won't make the actual shower, but I wanted to do something for her anyway... hopefully these fit the little guy on the way!

Stay tuned later today (or possibly tomorrow) for some content considerably more "adult"!