Knitting for My Boys

Winter, if not yet knocking on our door, is definitely walking up the front steps.  Although I may not be emotionally ready for it this year, as far as wardrobe is concerned, the boys are ready for it this year.  Mittens.  Check.  Neck warmers.  Check.

I do believe his mittens are on the wrong hands.

Knitting for the boys was a much easier task than taking pictures of those hand knits on said boys.  Quick and dirty photo session.

For those of you interested, the neck warmers were knit using Amanda's Wintry Weather Cowls pattern found in her latest book The Rhythm of Family.

Better Late than Never

It was my sister's birthday August 1.  She will receive her gift this weekend as we celebrate Thanksgiving.

I know it is over two months late but this year I really wanted to knit her something.  To be truthful, I had meant to knit her something for Christmas last year but that didn't happen.  I am not a terribly fast knitter so here it is October.  Besides, wouldn't you rather receive a hand knit scarf in October?  I though so.

I am a little concerned that she won't like the scarf.  She and I have such different tastes.  If that is the case, I just may have a new scarf for the fall and I will have the opportunity to knit a new pattern.

Should I admit how long it took me to figure out how to take my picture in this scarf using a mirror outside? Several minutes.  I couldn't see how to take the picture without the camera being in the picture.  Then suddenly, I saw the light.  It wasn't as difficult as it had seemed a few minutes ago.

For those of you interested, the pattern is Guernsey Wrap by Jared Flood.

Squirreling Away

It has been a great summer so far.  Lazy days intermingle with busy days, both flying by far too quickly.  Spending time with friends and family, enjoying the company of both.

Some, I know, are preparing for the cooler days ahead with canning, pickling, preserving, jamming.  As much as I love seeing other people's jars all lined up on shelves, I am just not a  canning/jamming/pickling person.  Even as I was reading my book last night, I read a passage in which the woman was taking stock of her pantry with a deep satisfaction.  "I counted over my hoard like a squirrel reckoning nuts, and felt soothed by our abundance." (Drums of Autumn, Diana Gabaldon)  As I read of Claire's rows of potatoes, jars of dried tomatoes and braids of onion and garlic, for a brief moment I felt her satisfaction and thought, "maybe next year."  Then I shook my head and realized I really didn't want to preserve food, as much as I appreciate the act itself.

But there is one thing I  am doing to prepare for the cold days of autumn and winter.  And again, this activity is mentioned in the same book but it is not Claire with whom I share this activity but the brawny Jamie.  Apparently, both Jamie and I can knit a mean pair of socks.

A recently finished pair 

in progress

to be mended

 Not that I particularly like darning socks but I set about learning how to properly do it last fall after finding that wooden sock mushroom (at least I think that is what it is called) at an antique shop.  It makes me feel very grounded to mend my own hand knit socks.

It may not be nuts but in my own way, I am squirreling away for the winter days to come.  (I know I just said the "w" word.  My deepest apologies to those I have reminded.)

**  A little aside:  I have begun listing soaps in my Etsy shop  here if you feel so inclined to take a peek.  Soaps are being added slowly as I find quiet moments during the day . . . and evening.

Knitting Mojo

Knitters will know what I am talking about.  You are working on one project only to see another pattern that you would like to knit, then another and perhaps another.  It seems there is just not enough time to knit all those sweaters, hats, mittens and scarves to keep loved ones warm in the cold months.  It's a good feeling.  And then all of a sudden it's gone.  The knitting mojo.  Gone.

It happened a few months ago when I decided to take a break from knitting for my Etsy shop.  As much as I enjoyed knitting for the shop, I was excited about knitting something from the mental list in my head that had been getting longer and longer.  But where to begin?  I quickly cast on for a sweater  that I had wanted to knit for a year but ended up being a bulky green mistake.  I think that sweater was responsible for sucking away my knitting mojo.  Or maybe all my creative mojo was being directed toward my new passion, soap making.  I couldn't seem to keep up with all the ideas for soap.  A balance of sorts, I guess.  Either way, after that green seater, I didn't want to knit much of anything. So I worked on a pair of socks, the occasional face cloth and I was bored.  Bored by knitting.  

Then Saturday afternoon happened.  A rainy Saturday afternoon when I found myself with a few free hours.  Yes, that's right.  Lego had provided me with a whole afternoon to browse knitting patterns at my leisure.  And it came back.  The knitting mojo returned.

 
I now look forward to sitting down with my knitting in the evening.  It is relaxing, that clickity clacking of the needles.  But far from boring.  I am already planning my next project.  Welcome back, knitting mojo.

A Grass Green Funk

Yesterday was a funk of a day.  The sun was shining, the snow was melting and I was in a funk.  I had ideas in my head, things I wanted to do but my body just didn't want to do anything.  I did manage to volunteer in Quinnie's class in the morning and it was a lot of fun.  But after that I floundered.  So I headed home for tea and a little knitting.

Caramel Cocoa Rooibois Tea in my Favourtie Cup

I worked on a sweater for myself.  It's the first sweater I have knit for myself in almost two years.  A simple sweater in a beautiful grass green in a chunky yarn.  The chunky yarn meant this sweater was knitting up quickly and I was looking forward to having a new sweater when the weather warmed up just a bit.  With just the sleeves left to knit, I could have a new sweater by the weekend.  The construction of the sweater allowed me to try it on as I was knitting.  Yep, not too snug.  Falls at the right place on my hips but . . . nope, don`t judge it until it is finished.

For the rest of the day, the fit of the sweater bothered me.  That evening, before knitting, I decided to try it on.  Yep, just as I thought.  I walked down to Mike and asked him what he thought.  Bless him.  He has been listening.  He looked: ``It has no shape.``  Good man.  Not ``you`` but ``it``.  And he was right.  The combination of that sweater pattern with a chunky yarn did not a good sweater make.  I look in the mirror again.  I mean, I know I am not greatly endowed but I am pretty sure I am not that flat chested.  (Not that I have ever had much of an issue with being on the smaller side.  Quite perky,  my breasts BC (Before Children).  I mean, I admit there have been times when I have wondered how the other half live.  One day at the beach might be nice.  But enough about my breasts.)  Nor am I that straight.  Straight and flat-chested.  I was not going to spend any more time on a sweater that was going to make me look flat-chested, straight and thick.  This sweater is toast.

I gave into the funk.  I made tea, grabbed a book and watched TV with Mike.  In that book, I found inspiration for the pile of grass green chunky yarn in my possession.  And it`s not going to be a sweater.



      

Embracing the Mis-Stitches

One of the things that I appreciate about handmade items is that they are not always perfect.  They are beautiful but not necessarily without faults.  It`s just the nature of handmade and I have embraced that philosophy when it comes to my knitting.

One example I can think of is the blanket I knit for Mike as a Christmas gift two years ago.   It was my first and only blanket, so far anyways.  You see, Mike has what I call a man cave in the basement.   Once the boys are in bed, he disappears downstairs to the basement.  I join him later in the evening.  Before two years ago, I would find him wrapped in any old ratty blanket he could find, complaining of the cold.  Well, it is a basement.   So being a knitter, I saw my chance to make something for him that I thought he would actually use.  I chose manly colours and I began to knit.  (For those knitters out there, I knit it entirely in seed stitch.  Great looking stitch but a pain in the arse to knit.)  Since it was going to be a surprise, I only worked on it when I didn`t think he would see it.  I stayed up late some nights, probably not late for some but late for me.  And well, I may have fallen asleep once while knitting.  The strange thing  though is that I kept on knitting and for a 3 inch by 1 inch section in the middle of the blanket, I knit when I should have purled and purled when I should have knit.  Oops.  Even funnier is that I didn`t notice my goof until a couple of nights later.  Well, I wasn`t about to frog the several inches that I had added to the length of the blanket since then.  Somehow I had fixed my mistake, again probably in my sleep, so I left it as is and kept knitting.  I embraced the mis-stitches and they became part of the story behind the blanket.

The rest of the story behind the blanket is that Mike was completely surprised even though he had caught me working on it a couple of times close to the end.  When asked if he had any idea, his response is that he thought I was knitting a sweater for myself.  Apparently, people, I am the size of a small beluga whale.  He was actually doubly surprised.  This part of the story is a little bit mean but I`ll tell you anyways because it`s also kind of funny.  The blanket was huge.  My mother and I put the blanket in a old cardboard box that a DVD player had come in.  We giggled as we did this because we both knew Mike wanted a new DVD player and he just might think he was getting one when he saw the box.  Yes, I admit it, this went through our heads and we giggled in anticipation.  And yes, judging by the look on his face as I pushed the box towards him, he was thinking exactly that.  Oh, the poor man.  I think we laughed.  Okay, we laughed.  In our defense, we had been drinking champagne and orange juice and the look on his face as he opened the box and pulled out this huge knitted blanket was pretty funny.  Confusion, sheer confusion.  Anyways, in the end, he loves his blanket and I can find him wrapped up in it every cold winter night, sometimes even in spring and fall.

Once I began selling my hand knit items on Etsy, I had to stop embracing the mis-stitches.  I could not with a clear conscience sell an item in which I had made a mistake.  The item was as near to perfect as I could make it.  I balanced this by sometimes making socks in which the stripes didn`t match.  So much in life already has to match, sometimes you just need to rebel vicariously through your socks.

Since taking a step back from my Etsy shop, I have begun embracing the mis-stitches again.  It began Friday night while I was knitting a pair of socks for myself.  I was tired.  (Note to self:  Perhaps I shouldn`t knit when tired.)  I noticed that I had messed up the pattern.  I fixed my mistake to the point that I could continue but I left a little mistake, a little gaff.  Just a little reminder of the night when I decided to start knitting for the fun of it again.

If you have made it to the end of this post, thanks for bearing with me.  I really had not meant for it to be this long.  I think it`s the glass of red wine talking.

The Yoga of Knitting

Lately, i've been feeling the need to make a change.

Over a year ago, I opened a shop on Etsy out of a need to do something that was just for me, not as a mother or a provider but as a maker.  Since I loved knitting, it seemed like a natural choice, a good fit with my life at the moment.  But lately, my attitude toward knitting has changed.

In addition to allowing me to make something unique either for myself or someone special, knitting has been a way for me to relax and unwind at the end of a long day, sometimes even in the middle of a long day.  Knitting has been the woolly equivalent of a relaxing child's pose in yoga.  I'm there, I'm present in the moment and I'm happy.  Recently, however, knitting has lost its "yoga-ness" for me.     When I knit, it is for the shop.  When I think of knitting, I'm trying to think of what I can knit that people (buyers) might like.  I'm not enjoying the moment but rather thinking of how long it will take to complete the item in my hand.  I rarely knit for myself or others anymore and when I do, I feel guilty.  Guilty?!  I have actually told my boys that I cannot knit something they have asked for at the moment because I don't have time.  That's right.  Someone whom I would give up everything for has asked for a hand knit item and I said no.  Something had to change.

So I'm taking a step back from my shop.  I'm not saying good-bye to it.  I'm just taking a little break, going on a retreat of sorts.

The above yarn was a birthday gift from a good friend who insisted I knit something for myself.  So last night, I started a pair of socks . . . for myself.

Sammie would like to congratulate Anushka!  I'll be contacting you soon, Anushka, and the mittens will be on their way to you soon.  I would like to thank everyone who entered my giveaway.  I appreciated each comment thank you for your extremely kind words.  It was also ridiculously fun and hope to host another giveaway in the future.

Happy weekending, everyone!

Sammie the Sock Monster was knit from a pattern designed by Rebecca Danger. http://www.etsy.com/shop/dangercrafts

Hugs and Kisses Mittens

My sister requested a pair of mittens and I was more than happy to oblige.  I just hope she likes them.  I know I do.  In fact, I like them so much I added them to my shop.  I also think I have to make a pair for myself.

Day 1 and Yarn Along

Over the weekend, Keegan realized how close December 1st was.  Since then, it's been a long four days for the boys as they waited for today to arrive.  Last night, our Advent calendar was hung.  This will be our second year using this Advent calendar.  Each stocking is made from upcycled denim, cotton or linen and embellished with wool felt and embroidery.  Many evenings last December were spent finishing the stocking for the following morning.  It's nice to just have to worry about filling the stockings this year.  As far as the filling is concerned, last year I put a small toy for each of the boys in each stocking, only to see most of the trinkets tossed aside shortly afterwards.  This year I've decided to put chocolate in each (yes, chocolate first thing in the morning) and a note describing a craft or activity for that day.

I thought we could all do the countdown together.  Each day I'll show our Advent stocking for that day since each is different.  As you can tell from the above picture, I didn't iron the stockings before hanging them.  Confession:  I don't iron.  I found out this weekend that my mother didn't even think we owned an iron and ironing board.  We do.  I just don't use either too much.  Oh, except to iron fabric when I sew.

Today when Keegan gets home from school we'll be making gumdrop trees.  Quinnie has already told me he'll probably be eating more gumdrops than making a tree.  I didn't pretend to be shocked.

I'm joining Ginny for Yarn Along this week.

I'm currently reading a book that I had started several months ago and then misplaced.  I found it under a pile yesterday.  The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel is about the role of libraries throughout civilization and it is a great book.  In addition to taking the reader into his own personal library, he walks us through libraries throughout the world and history.  On my needles is a pair of convertible mittens.

Wishing everyone a wonderful start to the season, maybe with little chocolate surprises too.

My New Favourite Hat (For Now)

I usually like to start with a picture because, well, it just seems like a nice way to start.  But today, I want to say a few words before the first picture.  I don't like having my picture taken.  I'm uncomfortable in front of the camera.  Do I look at the camera?  At the person?  To the side?  Smile?  if yes, teeth, no teeth?  If no smile, how do I not look grumpy or sad?  Yes, this goes through my head every time a camera is aimed in my direction.  However, I really wanted to show a hat that I knit a while back and a hat just doesn't look the same if it's not on a head.  So today the camera was aimed at me.  Oh, and I was doing the aiming so keep this in mind when you look at the first picture.

(See, I went with no smiling.)  Anyways, on to the hat.  This hat was knit several weeks ago.  I wanted a slightly slouchy, simple hat.  I came up with a plan and I knit.  When I finished, I thought the hat was perfect.  tried it on the next day, and I didn't like it as much as I had the previous evening.  After several more tries, i gave up.  I didn't like the hat.  It's been sitting on my dresser since then until I have the time to rip it out and start over.  So basically, it has been forgotten.  until this morning.  No time for a shower.  Saw the hat, plopped it on and you know what, now I kind of like it.  It has just the amount of slouchiness I wanted so it looks more accessory-like than toque-like yet is still warm and cozy.  It covers my greatly-in-need-of-a-cut hair fairly well.  I like the colour.  I just like the hat.  I can't promise I'll like it in a couple of weeks because that seems to be the way I am with all hats.  But for now, it's my new favourite hat.

After that first picture, I think I am owing some pretty pictures.  A gardener I am not but sometimes you don't have to be in order to find pretty things in the garden.

 

Yarn Along and Sour Candies

I'm joining Ginny for her Yarn Along this week.  On the needles, a pair of fingerless mittens.  I really enjoy knitting stripes lately.  I am still reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods which I am loving, just not finding enough reading time during a normal day.  After paying my sizable library finds, the boys and I are getting ready to start Charlie and The Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl.

My diet this week has largely been a fluid based diet -- tea, juice, broth.  See, I have an infected gland under my tongue (sublingual) and it's painful, especially when I eat.  It makes me grumpy, very grumpy, and I feel for those who have to live with me this week.  However, on the up side, my mom (who under different circumstances should have been a nurse and a wonderful one at that) was researching my condition which is often caused by a stone blocking the duct.  She called last night with the advice that eating sour candies sometimes kicks the salivary glands into overdrive, thus forcing the stone away.  Heck, I've just been given an excuse to eat my favourite candy.  The only problem is I don't have any candy and it's dark, very rainy and windy.  Ugh.  Standing ovation for Mike who agreed to change out of his pyjamas and go out into the rainy night to buy me candy.  I guess I made a good decision all those years ago.  I'm not feeling much better today but I do get to enjoy a sour candy every now and then -- guilt free.

Our Day's Little Things

Today's post is a mish mash of the little things that make up our day.

Keegan recently inherited Mike's old wallet.  The last couple of days, he has been occupied with making his own money and credit cards.  But they are counterfeit.  He wants that made perfectly clear.  As Quinnie replied to Mike when he joked that Keegan could buy us supper the other night:  "Dad, didn't you hear the 'counter' and 'fit'?"

We have also started decorating for Halloween.  Meet the ghosts --  a juggling ghost . . .

and a silly ghost.

I was reading Ginny's blog small things a couple of days ago and she had taken a picture of her current knitting  project with her current book.  What a great idea!  Ginny graciously allowed me to share in this tradition of hers.

The knitting :  The beautiful aqua yarn will eventually be a pair of felted clogs and are so much fun to knit.  The books:  I have two books going at the moment.  The first is a collection of short stories by a favourite author Neil Gaiman.  The man is just so creative.  The second book, I'm afraid, may have been a mistake.  It's the book that inspired the TV series True Blood.  I don't watch the show.  Not really interested in at all, to be honest so I don't know why I suddenly decided to read the book.  I'm not enjoying it.  I don't like the writing style and I don't like any of the characters.  I've put it aside at the moment.  I may come back to it; I may not.  Any thoughts on the book?

Quinn can't seem to stop playing with playdough lately.  It's everywhere, especially on the bottoms of my socks.

And good days are always better with chocolate chip cookies, right?

May the little things be making your day a good day.

My Grandmother's Slippers

A couple of weeks ago, a friend asked if I could make a pair of slippers for her grandmother.  They had to be roomy, warm, non-slippery and a cheerful colour.  Maybe a flower too.  She wanted these slippers to keep her grandmother's feet warm at the same, bringing a smile to her face.  I was more than excited at the prospect of knitting a pair of slippers for someone's grandmother.

I think they turned out perfect.  These slippers are squishy soft and cushiony.  I love the "little old lady" flower and the mesh of pinks and purples.  I made a leather sole and hand stitched it to the sole so it is now non-slippery.  I think they are the perfect little grandmother slipper and I want to make a pair for myself and my inner little old lady.

My own grandmother died several years ago.  She always wore slippers around the house. I wish I could have knit a pair of slippers for the woman who knit so many pairs of mittens and socks for me.  I would like to think these would have been her everyday slippers as she worked in the kitchen or watched her shows from her favourite armchair.  I also remember the slippers my grandmother would wear on special occasions.  One pair in particular made quite an impression on me -- high heeled slippers with feather trim.  They were beautiful and dainty, probably not very warm but she looked great.  I love how the everyday things about a person such as their slippers can leave such an impression on others.

To end this post, here's an acorn that K found yesterday and some splashes of colour from my oh-so-neglected garden.  This was the year when I stopped deluding myself that I am a gardener.  I am not but I have great aspirations.

Meet Stewie

Quinn and I spent the morning getting to know Stewie the goat at Dutch Mill Country Market.  I have always enjoyed goats wherever we happen to run into them which makes it sound like we just meet goats around the neighbourhood.  We don't.  I mean at petting zoos and farms.  I can only wish it was around the neighbourhood.   They jump, they head butt, they eat food out of your hands.  Very cute and then you leave.  (As an aside, as a child, my husband was butted by a goat and has a bit of a phobia.  He would never admit it.  I don't know how he did in the first place.  Oh wait, yes, I do.  His brother told me.  We have been teasing Mike for at least 15 years.  We think it's hilarious, Mike does not.  Back to Stewie ...)  Stewie is not one of those crazy little  goats.  Stewie is one of those goats that makes you want to have a pet goat.  He's quiet.  He likes to be petted, truly petted.  He follows you around the yard.  We fell in love with Stewie.  Interestingly, Stewie is the mascot for one of the local Santa Claus parades and leads the parade through town . . . until he gets tired.

Here are a few more pictures from our morning.

I think this chicken is so pretty but she did not really want me to take a picture of her.  (If this is a rooster, I won't be embarassed if you let me know.)  Then I spied her asleep on the ground by the bunny hatch.  Here was my chance or so I thought.  She heard me and did not seem at all pleased with me.  I'm actually kind of glad she woke up before I took her picture because she kind of looked like she was dead and then I would have looked like the person who takes pictures of dead animals.  I'm not.

An outing wouldn't be complete without a baked good treat, in this case, a yummy butter tart.

 We will be returning tomorrow but with Keegan.  I think he's going to like Stewie too.

And finally, I'm working on a pair of felted slippers.  i love felting wool.  It turns knitted fabric into the most amazing fabric.  They don't look like much now but just wait until next week sometime.