Rainy Wednesday..........

I don't have anything new started with knitting.  Just trying to concentrate on getting wip's finished which isn't easy at this time of year.  I've been purchasing bedding plants here and there as the quality seems to be really good right now.  Later on in June everything seems to be picked over so in the meantime I store them in the garage and pull them out during the day to get some sun.

Today I was scarifying (scarification) the sweet pea seeds, and also the nasturtium seeds.  The sweet pea's I've started in the tray pictured below.  The nasturtium's are soaking in luke warm water and tomorrow I'll plant them in trays as well.  So hopefully in 10 days I'll see some sprouts and in mid June transplant them outside.

 

I just realized that I have finished my Multnomah Shawl.  It's been so cold and rainy here today that I've been wearing it and totally forgot to blog about it.  This shawl was a fast knit, and I loved this yarn Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light.  Pattern:  Multnomah designed by Kate Flagg.  The shawl pin was bought from Twist of Fate out of Kamloops, British Columbia at Fibre Week in Olds, Alberta June 2009.  Hopefully I'll make it there again this year.

Here's hoping you are having better weather than we are....I'm looking forward to some sun after four days of rain.  

Take care and Happy Knitting!

Where there once was a wall......Now there's a window.

This is my DS house which we're helping to reno. I have since figured out that between doing renovations at our home (because of a flood) and working on DS house, I much prefer the demolition side of tearing down and throwing out. Finishing work like drywalling, sanding, and trim work is a pain in the backside, and takes long to do.It started out all innocent, 'Oh let's open this up and it'll make it brighter in here!' To then actually stepping back and thinking that this is a support wall so we'll have to do some creative building. Thus an extra wall was built to support the support wall and put in a header before we cut the opening. (The headers not up yet in this picture.)

Renovations continue as well downstairs in DS house so that we can utilize the basement suite, and make it it's own contained space. So a couple walls were put up to close it in. The entry into the suite. (Primed and waiting for molding and baseboards)The kitchen area.

Finally the last wall in the laundry room. Enough about renovations.....there's been some weaving going on at my house.I can't describe how exciting it's finally been to sit down and finally start weaving. I'm using left over yarn from the stash, and if I would have had one straight afternoon I could've had this scarf done. Saturday night I couldn't stop. 10:00pm rolled around and I thought I should really stop, but then it soon turned 11:00pm and I was starting to make mistakes and I decided to quit for the night.

The biggest challenge was warping, and then tieing on, threading it through the heddles, and getting my coordination working with the loom. I was exhausted but just thrilled that I had tackled it along with a couple great books which were a BIG help
Weaving Made Easy by Liz Gipson
Hands On Rigid Heddle Weaving by Betty Linn Davenport

More sock knitting is happening as they're great for packing along.Calloway Sock Pattern by Cookie A. I'm using Knit Picks 2.25mm dpn, Yarn: Briggs & Little Durasport 1 ply in colourway: Smoke. It's a tough little yarn and I'm putting it through it's paces. I like to knit my socks with a tight gauge and this 1 ply seems to be holding up. 80% Pure Wool 20% Nylon.I love this pattern. Diagonal Lace Toe-up Socks. What makes it even more loveable the price is FREE!! From a wonderful designer WendyKnits. You'll find the pattern on her website under Free Patterns with the added bonus of over 40 more free patterns. I'm using Knit Picks Harmony Wood 2.00mm dpn's. Yarn: Regia The Sockwool Jet Set Color. 4 ply.One more shawl that I spied on Smoking Hot Needles. Monika was knitting this up and I had to follow. I'm such a follower of people with great ideas ;)
Pattern: Multnomah designed by Kate Flagg. It is a free pattern you can find on either Ravelry or Hello Knitty. I'm using Knit Picks Harmony Wood Circular needles 3.25mm. Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light. Colourway: 4275

Anyways that's all folks! Time for a nap....

It seems the Olympics are still in the news,

......and I was in Vancouver during that time, for a month and a half for personal reasons, and I thought I'd share some pictures of where DD and I ventured.......The crowds of people on Granville.

Looking south on Granville and Robson. More crowds.

The Olympic Flame. This was as close as you could get to it. I took the picture through a chain link fence which went around the perimeter. You could only get in closer if you were a dignitary, athlete, olympic staff, police, or Wayne Gretzky.Downtown Vancouver just before sunset.

Canada Place looking toward North Vancouver. If you look at the upper portion you'll see some lights which is Cypress Mountain where Olympic skiing events were taking place. A Russian Tall Ship at Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver.

A visit to Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park. Very colourful.

Vancouver Art Gallery all decked out for the Olympics.

A visit to White Cliff Park in West Vancouver with the most important people in my life.

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory on Robson in downtown Vancouver. Yumm. Made too many trips here for anything chocolate.

How can a person choose!?

Oh Lord....chocolate.This made me happy just looking at it for about 10 days. As well as my knitting and reading blogs gave me needed distraction while in Vancouver. There was a fair amount of knitting going on...one of the finished projects....The Haruni Shawl designed by Emily Ross. A free pattern on Ravelry.comI used Knit Picks Gloss Lace, 70%Merino, 30% Silk. Colourway
Aegean. I used two strands of lace as I wanted a shawl with a little more weight. So I bumped up my needle size to 4.00mm Addi Turbo Lace circular needles.
I saw this shawl on Smoking Hot Needles and fell in love with the border. It was fun to knit up and it went very fast and has already been mailed out as a gift to a friend.Oh and I can't forget we finally met up with a little chap we had heard so much about and finally got to meet. Introducing Jean-Pierre Manning. (aka Muscles for short).