Thursday, December 27, 2007

I'm still alive and kicking....I've been negligent in posting because of Christmas. I'll be back as soon as I get all the dishes cleared from Christmas dinner, the floors wiped, laundry done, cats fed, sidewalks shovelled.....................And of course more knitting done. Happy New Year everyone! We'll see you back in 2008!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

The last of the ordered stash pictures.......These needles and fibre were ordered from The Yarn and Fiber Company. I was browsing through Ravelry and this came up as one of the places to shop online and the bonus is that they have free shipping to Canada. The roving was not in stock at the time, but they were great in notifying me about this. It took approx. three weeks before I got my order.
The fibre I purchased is Harrisville Fleece Roving in Hyacinth and Magenta colourways. This is not the greatest to spin after I've been spoiled with spinning Alpaca. It's kind of like when you go skiing at your local hill, and then skiing in the mountains....no comparison. It was inexpensive $12.60 for 1/2 lb bag. I could see using this roving more for needle felting projects, but for now it's going to be spun up and used in some felting project.




The Yarn and Fiber Co. had the best price on Addi Turbo Lace Needles that I could find online. I have to admit I've been using my Knit Picks Harmony Wood circular knitting needles on a lace project, and I'm loving them. I also picked up some sample packets of Soak wool wash. I've been using Eucalan Lavender, and I wanted to try something else with another scent. Out of the three that I got, Flora was my favourite Aquae came second.



Here's a close up pic of the needle points on both circulars................



The Harmony's are about half the price of the Addi's so it's nice to have an option if you're on a tight budget. Luv'n the Harmony's

Next package came a week later from Little Knits another online shop.




Out of all of the online stores this one was the quickest in delivery (two weeks). I found Little Knits ad in Interweave Knits magazine. I took a couple pictures documenting how things are packaged up..................... I hate admitting this, but I have a habit of liking expensive wool that I can't afford. So when I visited this website I was impressed with their sales on this.....
Sock yarn...
It's self explanatory I guess it'll be made into socks, for who I don't know yet, but I love the colourway of the Opal Hundertwassers Collection - The Soul Tree (Yellow variegated Color #1431).
The price of the Trekking XXL, another sock yarn, is approximately $8 less than what I paid here in Canada. Colourway: Crimson, Lilac, Midnight Tweed. Last sock yarn is Lana Grossa Multi-Effekt 3090, again another great price.

Also from Little Knits some Noro Kureyon colour 194, made in Japan,100% wool, 50gr. 100 meters. All four balls are the same colourway just wound up differently. Noro isn't a particularly soft yarn, I've never knitted with it, so this will be used on something like mitts or a scarf worn on the outside of a jacket.





Last package...really....I haven't posted for just about a month so now it's all coming back to me what's been going on..............



This is from The Loopy Ewe. Again pictures of how everything is packaged up.








Some extra little things Sherri from The Loopy Ewe included......................







The fiber bought this time was Lorna's Laces. Super soft so I'm hoping to use this in a chevron scarf inspired from the book, Scarf Style by Pam Allen editor of Interweave Knits.

Left view: Lorna's Laces, Color: Vera, Shepherd Sport, 100% Superwash Wool, 200 yards/70gr., 6 sts=1" on #4
Right View: Lorna's Laces, Color: Bittersweet , Shepherd Sock 80% Superwash Wool 20% Nylon, 215 yards 7 sts = 1"
These skeins will be used in socks. Lorna's Laces, Color: Tuscany, Shepherd Sock. Same ingredients as the above Bittersweet.

The latest Interweave Knits really got the juices flowing. I fell in love with the idea of the elegant little knitting bags that could hold a small project that a knitter could take anywhere....So I went looking in my material stash and came up with a couple of little bags that can hold my socks in progress.
I had fun making these. I feel a couple more of them being sewn up in the near future.



















Last but not least another new sleeping spot for Noodles......
Noodles, my shadow of late. She's not been feeling well. We went to the vet's about three weeks ago to get annual shots and some blood work done, and renal failure is continuing to haunt her. She's 14 years old now, and at present her kidney's are operating at 25%. She's lost two pounds, but I think that's due to an upset stomach off and on. So the goal right now has been changing her food over to a prescription diet, and I'm treating her sensitive stomach with some Zantac. So far she's really picked up. The appetite is back, and she's getting extra love and attention which is starting some bad habits. She only wants to drink out of the clear glass by the kitchen sink which requires lifting her up and down, but she's a great communicator with the meowing, and so far she's back to being her old self after the vet's visit.

Hibernation........
I'm coming out of my blog hibernation....I've been busy doing stuff, but now when I'm trying to recall what's been going on since Nov.7 I'm at a loss to remember......either way here's this.....Finished Father and Son Socks which were mentioned earlier......I knit these up with DH's knowledge, but I'm not giving them to him until Christmas. I gotta save something knitted for a gift Christmas morning even though it's a struggle having to wait to see him wearing them.

Next comes the Alpaca Cloud bought from Knitpicks.com. I mentioned in an earlier post that I planned to knit a shrug out of this, but I've since changed my mind. I didn't like the gauge I was getting when knitting up a swatch so it got shelved. I continued on perusing the new Interweave Knits Winter 2007 and I came across a neck/ring in their Top 10 picks for winter.
The pattern is Flared Lace Smoke Ring from Heart Strings Fiber Arts. So far I'm loving the pattern, it's been easy to memorize each row, and the gauge is right on. The lace pattern isn't coming through on this picture right now as it's bunched up on the circular needle. Which I also wanted to mention, I'm loving the Harmony wood fixed circular needles I ordered from Knit Picks. They are so smooth, and I can't believe how they have such a fine point on them which is great for lace knitting. I plan on ordering more different sizes in the new year.

Next comes the pair of socks I'm knitting for myself.....


Cable Rib Socks by Erica Alexander from the book Interweave Favorite Socks.

I'm using my first ball of Tofutsies which is a very soft yarn. Comparing it to another sock yarn I've used, Lana Grossa Mega Boot Stretch, the Tofutsies has no stretch when knitting.

Tofutsies content: 50% Superwash wool,
25% Soysilk, 22.5% Cotton,
2.5% Chitin (fiber from shrimp and crab shell

I would compare the feel of Tofutsies to more of a cotton yarn. I'm looking forward to wearing these socks, and testing their durability.

With the way the weather is going I'll be doubling up on wearing socks....I think the snow is here to stay....

Wednesday, November 07, 2007



I'm inspired of late by all the ufo's I've been reading about on Ravelry, and Knitting Daily. So I hunkered down and got a couple of big projects finished....which meant that I could start new ones!

Presently I'm k
nitting up my DH's first pair of knitted socks. I got him to try the socks on just as they appear in the photo, and they look really good. When I was knitting them I was worried that maybe my gauge was too tight and they would be too narrow. This is really nice sock yarn, and as it says on the label, there is stretch to it. When knitting up the gusset I tend to give the yarn a bit of a yank so that I'm not dealing with ladders. This is where I noticed there's a nice stretch to the yarn.

DH's foot is of average size, men's 9, but his foot is wide. So far this pattern is doing great for this size of foot.....

Name of Pattern: Father and Son Socks
Pattern by: Mona Schmidt......

You can find it in Interweave Knits Fall 2006

The yarn I'm using in this pattern is: Lana Grossa

Mega Boots Stretch, 100gr. 400 metre
Colourway: #714
Needles I'm using: 2.5mm dpn, 15 cm in length

One ball should do a pair of socks. The pattern says it needs 356 metre's.

Here's my sweetie Noodles.....I had to find some good light to take shots of this knitting, and of course as soon as the door is open she has to check out what's going on outside.....The ball of yarn was a good tush pillow.

Friday, November 02, 2007

Okay....Regretfully I haven't been posting (It's all Ravelry's fault) but I'll do a quickie here.....I've been tagged by Knitting in Chicago

So here goes the rules: once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they’ve been tagged.

1. I don't know what 'frogged' means in knitting language. I know, I know, that it means to rip apart a piece of knitting, but I've been racking my brains thinking that it's an acronym. I haven't the nerve to ask anybody yet...so I'll post it here.

2. I love gardening, and working in the yard, but by the end of August I hate it. I can hardly wait for the fall, and the colder weather so that I don't have to look at another weed. I love snow.

3. I'm a worrier. About everything. The older I get though it gets easier. (I think it started with having kids).

4. My daughter and I think that one of the hottest actors in the world is a fella by the name of Allen Rickman. e.g.: Harry Potter (Professor Snape), Sense and Sensiblity (Col. Christopher Brandon), Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (Sheriff of Nottingham).

5. I need to lose weight. I'm getting at that stage in my life that I know it, but do I give a rat's ass. I'm feeling pretty good. I don't sit around much, I'm always doing something. I eat healthy. Life's good, but I hate to exercise. I was an enthusiastic exerciser in the past, but now I've got better things to do. Well for now anyways.

6. As a young kid I grew up in a small northern Alberta oil town. Fort McMurray.

7. We have a family farm that we go to in the summer. It's my form of meditation.

8. I'm not a religious person, but I am spiritual. I believe in giving thanks in every new day.

Wow.....that took a fair chunk of time to think up eight things......so now I've got to tag other knitters....hmmmm Bonnie, unfortunately all the other knitters I would like to tag have already been through this. I'm a late bloomer...that's it that's all.


Thursday, November 01, 2007

Another shipment......
This time something for the spinning habit

I was browsing through Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2007 and there was an ad for Nancy's Knit Knacks. They had something I was thinking I needed to measure my spinning...low and behold it's called a WPI tool.

The DP needle tube will work great for smaller (1.0mm-4.0mm) dpn's, but nothing bigger (thicker) than that. I have some 5.0mm dpn's and they wouldn't fit.




I recently took my first beginner spinning class at my local yarn store....
River City Yarns I remembered my camera, which is surprising with all the other stuff I carted along, but do you think I remembered to take pictures...Nope. It's amazing when you get in a room with women you don't know, and yet you have so much to talk about. Fibre will do that to you. Three hours went by too fast.



Pictures of some spinning goodness.....I don't know what I'm going to do with this Alpaca... yet.... it's a bit intimidating as I want to start spinning it, but I need to get a bit better at my gauge.















The gauge that is needing refining, but it's coming along....this is Alpaca. I was thinking of just leaving it as a single because it was pretty fat, but I thought I don't have much of it, and I need to practice plying.....so this is the finished 2 ply, 50grams
















So I've since signed up with the same lys to try spinning some exotic fibres. I will bring my camera along again, and hopefully I'll remember to use it.


Look me (knittingnoodles) up on Ravelry... ...it's been taking up more of my time than I would like.....documenting, cataloguing.....a lot of the photo's are linked to my flickr page, but it all takes time uploading/downloading all of this stuff. It's all good though with the way the weather's going....cold, and snowy, and windy here in Alberta.



More deliveries....
I just can't stop touching this yarn, it's like a soft cloud. Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud, 100% Baby Alpaca, Colourway: Iris #C872, 50grams/440 yards, Gauge: Lace Weight


With the Canadian dollar doing so well the world is my knitting/fibre supply oyster. I've said before that the choices of fibre in the U.S. far out number what's available in Canada, and it's great being able to order online fibre that I've never known about. I have to mention Ravelry does have something to do with it as well.

My order from Knit Picks came in about 14 days. It sounds like it took a long time, but it's understandable as on the news this morning they said Canada Post can't keep up with the cross border shopping. Hell yeah!





This yarn from KnitPicks is designated for a shrug out of the Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2007.

Since starting on the Sugarplum Shrug I've decided that I would like some mohair in this to give it some extra bulk. Two strands of the alpaca lace is not enough. So I'm looking at ordering some Rowan kidsilk haze, Majestic colourway..........




I've been checking out Rowan yarn on The Loopy Ewe website, and Sheri has a lot to choose from. Sheri's blog is also full of great information on new and upcoming yarn.


Friday, October 19, 2007





WhooHooo.....I got a package in the mail I've been eagerly waiting for. It's from a contest Maia had on her blog.

This is the package all the way from San Francisco, CA to Edmonton, AB Canada.



Here's some pictures of the fabulousness of it.............


This comes from Tactile (www.tactilefiberarts.com) Hand crafted with natural dyes. Fingering wt. Superwash Merino Sock Yarn, 437 yds, 7-8 sts/in on US 1-2 needles. There was no mention of a colour name, but it has wonderful varigated blues and purples.
This special stash will be a pair of socks for myself....I'm still browsing patterns...any suggestions?

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Yes I'm a delinquent blogger....it seemed after Thanksgiving and then my DH's 50th birthday there was no time for knitting or blogging over the past two weeks....so warning....this a heavy laden picture post........

It started with trying to keep party plans a secret from DH, but alas it was not to be.....he found out, but I had a few things up my sleeve that I could keep secret. For instance......
His reaction was, Oh my god', when getting the newspaper first thing in the morning. The other was an advertisement in our cities newspaper.

It was an especially busy day this past Saturday, we were running all over getting balloons, food, etc., and without DH's help I don't think I could've have gotten it all done. Thank you D!! We invited approx. 36 people, and had a combination party for my Mom's 70th b-day.







A good time was had by all. It was great catching up with people we haven't seen for years, and of course ended with the blowing out of a lot of candles.....
I was very pleased by the cake we ordered from the new Walmart supercentre. It was deeeelicious. The decorating on it was great (autumn flowers) the only problem was that I ordered a white cake, and to our surprise when cutting it open it was chocolate.

I wanted to pass on the recipe that Sheri from Loopy Ewe posted on September 14.....everyone really enjoyed it, and I made it ahead of time which really helped.
Italian Shredded Beef

3 lb. rump roast
2 pcks. Good Seasons Italian dressing mix
1 pck. brown gravy mix
1 cup water
BBQ sauce (optional)

Put 1 package Good Seasons mix, gravy mix, and water in crockpot. Add roast.

Cook on low for 8 hours or longer.

Remove meat from cooker and shred (I use 2 forks to pull the meat apart.) Return meat to cooker and add second package of Good Seasons, plus barbeque sauce, if desired. Cook another 1/2 hour. Serves 8-10. Great with Frito-Pea Salad!



With halloween coming up my nephew was enjoying wearing a mask at the party
, as well as
DH wolfing down his cake, literally.




















So in the meantime I've managed to tackle some long delayed projects. One was our front door which was needing a makeover, unfortunately I don't have a before picture. It is a six panelled solid cedar door that had a tikki type design on the front which DH routered out and glued in flat panels. I stained the door with four coats of Minwax waterbased stain, colour Spice. Next came four coats of Minwax wipe-on satin polyurethane.....







Noodles is loving the new screen door. Favourite past time is lying in the sun and smelling the fall leaves.











Second thing on the to do list is a vest that I was hoping to finish for DH's birthday, but instead he's going to get it a bit late.....that's okay he got something else to tie him over.

So far this is the right side, and back of the vest. I loved working on this pattern from Elsebeth Lavold. All that's left is to start on the neck and arm edging, and sew together......more pictures and blogging to follow as soon as I have my cup of coffee ......Have a great weekend!!