Lake of the (Ninja Turtle Barf) Woods

I've wanted to knit Ilga Leja's Lake of the Woods from the moment I first saw it - same colourway (Nova Scotia) and yarn (Fleece Artist Silk Stream). When I went in search of the yarn, I was dissappointed to discover that it had been discontinued.

When looking around on Ravelry, I learned that Fleece Artist had produced a "Very Special Limited Edition" yarn for Knitty-Noddy (Merino 3/6) that would be a perfect substitution. When I went and checked it out, they had it availible in the colourway I wanted, but the photos of the yarn looked darker than those on Ilga's pattern. I went with it anyways, thinking "such is the nature of hand-dyed" and that it would still look beautiful.

Merino 3/6 in the Skein

From the time that the yarn came in, I had a bit of an uneasy feeling about this project, so I let it sit for a few months. I finally decided to get to it, and this is what I got:

3" into it - Chart A

Close-up - the blue is more vibrant/bright in person

The funny thing is, while I was knitting, all I could think was "Ninja Turtles", and when I showed this to DH...

Me: Can you come look at this? I want to see if you see the same thing I do.
*DH comes in*
Me: Is it just me, or does this look like...
DH: Yeah, it looks like Ninja Turtles

I didn't even have to say it. I don't know about you, but I don't think I want to walk around looking like the blue Ninja Turtle exploded all over me!

I will definitely knit this pattern with a different yarn, but this one is off to the frog pond!

January Knits

I really don't feel like I've knit much this month, especially when compared to how much I churned out last year. At the beginning of the month, I lost my knitting mojo - I actually went a week+ without knitting a single stitch! It was weird, but I think I just needed a bit of a break from it all to focus on some other stuff.

The break wasn't really bad - I finished unpacking the last of the boxes from our move back in July - and 7 months to unpack everything is a new record for us (by a long shot!). I also used the opportunity to go through and get rid of a lot of stuff that we weren't using and hadn't used in a looooong time! All in all, 8 large garbage bags of stuff went (or is going - there are still bags of clothes that need to be delivered to their recipients). So really, not a bad thing!

Anyways, here's what I managed to finish:

1. The Emergency Mittens
2. The un-blogged (before now) Selfish Socks (which, IMO, are kinda fugly, but comfy)
3. 11 Repeats of my Branching Out scarf
4. What was (hopefully) going to be a mini-scarf/neck warmer out of some of my handspun (but isn't long enough and needs to be frogged)
   

I suppose it's nothing to scoff at, but I still wish I had managed to get more done (like actually finishing Branching Out). Perhaps February will see more knitting time!

Emergency Mittens

I love mittens (and I mean REALLY love) - especially hand-knit ones. Last spring, I finally finished a pair that ended up being my favorite ones ever - my Mermaid Mitts. Oh, how I loved those mitts - and I didn't even manage to get a full winter of wear out of them! "Why?" you ask? Because my cute little monster of a boy flushed one down the toilet!

The beloved Mermaid Mittens

I had them in a bin, soaking in wool wash. I had put that bin in the bathtub, thinking that it would be a safe spot, as it has been since we moved here (seriously, neither of the kids have bothered with it before now). Plunk! Splash! Flush!

Losing my favorite.mittens.ever. is bad enough on it's own, but then there was the fact that they were my *ONLY* pair at the time (I had gotten rid of the other mittens I had at the beginning of the winter because they were ratty and old), and it was right in the middle of the ABSOLUTE FREEZING spell that we had.

I have to admit, I don't have much in the way of worsted weight yarn in my stash, so when I (somewhat frantically) went through my stash, I was lucky to find a remnant that was big enough for some mittens.

So now, I present my emergency mittens:


They're quite warm and squishy - they're rather plain, and not my Mermaids, but they'll do for now (and as a permanent back-up).

And, yes, I've learned my lesson - always have more than one pair!

Tagged

Ok, so I know that I never got around to posting about recent projects, or doing an end of year post. Quite frankly, I got quite sick in December, and wasn't up to doing much of anything (other than plurking). Then came the new year, where I haven't been able to concentrate on anything other that a massive re-organization/de-stash of our entire house (just got sick and tired of all the "stuff", ya know?). Anyways...

Today I got tagged by Michelle over at The Zen of Knitting for 5 Projects (+1), so here are my projects:

1. Knit myself a pair of Thrummed Mittens - I have a Fleece Artist kit that I got for Christmas, so all I have to do is find the time to knit it up!
   
2. Paint the rest of the rooms that I want painted - This means the bathroom, the kitchen, master bedroom, and possibly the office. This is going to take awhile!
3. Knit a blanket for the back of the couch - Pretty self-explanitory. I think I'd like to knit a blanket from Knitting Nature (the name escapes me at the moment), possibly in Cascade 220 Superwash.
4. Knit Stockings for the 4 of us - DH, Miss J, the Little Man and myself that is. Still trying to decide on patterns, but leaning towards the Cascade 220 SW again - I like the stuff!
5. Knit up either the Special Limited Edition Fleece Artist or the sweater quantity of Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light - Both of these are taking up too much room in the stash container, and are the 2 largest yarn purchases I've made to date (combined total is just above $120, IIRC). I don't like that they're just sitting there!
   

Now, I'm supposed to tag 5 other people to do this, but the few people I can think of to do this are already doing it! So, if you're reading and would like to do this too - consider yourself tagged, and leave a message in the comments to let me know!

Considering that I haven't posted any photos for awhile, I'll end this post with a photo of my lovely Thrummed Mitten kit! Ta for now!

I'm Alive!

Eep! it's been 2 months since my last post - sorry about that! My mind has been so scattered with trying to prepare for the holiday season that I haven't been able to put all of my thoughts together. I still have 2 projects (in their entirety) left to knit, so my mind is still scattered, but I'll try to get a photo-filled post up in the next few days so you can see what I've been up to! Hope you've all been well!

Falling for Brown

Autumn is my absolute favorite season. Why?

Take this for example:

(Taken from my balcony yesterday. Yes, those are cows - I live close to a farm.)

Then combine that with the cool weather, and you have one very happy me. I really do love this time of year!

That being said, since the cooler weather hit, I seem to have been drawn to the colour brown - it's showing up in just about every project that I've knit this month!

Just take a look and you'll see:

Mr.S' Hat

DH's Hat (I know, I need a better photo!)

Miss J's Hat

My fingerless Mitts

And, last but not least, brown even found it's way into Miss J's sweater

Ok, so that's not a photo of the full sweater, and while it's not completely done yet (just the button bands to go!), I need to get a better photo of it before I post one here! That is, however, the swatch for the yoke colour work. It might not be very feminine, but I know Miss J will love it (DH thinks so too).

Wanna hear something crazy? I'm almost done my Christmas knitting! For the stuff that I really wanted to get done, all I have left is Mr.S' sweater, socks for my Dad, and fingerless mitts for my BFF! I was also going to knit the kids each a toy, but I think I'm going to save those for their birthdays instead!

I especialy think that being almost done is especially great, because now I'm starting to feel the urge to knit stockings and ornaments, so I won't end up getting sidetracked by those things and ending up in a rush!

August FO's and other such things...

This "no real set goals" thing really seems to have worked this month!

What have I knit?

• Matching socks for Miss J & Mr.S (2 pairs total)
• Creamsicle socks
• Finshed up the Bleue et Noir socks
• "Autumn is Coming" anklet-ish socks
• Evangeline
• the teal Barbie dress
• Finished one sock of my Whitewater Monkeys

And, I'll likely have another pair of socks done by Sunday. Oh - the coolest part of the pair I'm almost done? They're pair #12 for this year (and pair #7 of the 52 pair plunge II)! I will have actually finished one of my resolutions (to knit 12 pairs of socks this year)! I'm so excited about this - especially because it was starting to look like I might not make it for awhile! And here I am with plenty of time to spare!


I also came *thisclose* to finishing Mr.S' hat - in fact, I did finish it - but then discovered that I need to add 1-2" in length to it! I'll get back to that as soon as I finish the sock I'm on as there's no huge rush for it yet (need the socks for the chilly evenings/mornings, where the hat can't really be used yet).

Ok, so now it's time to move on to September...

I know that I didn't really set any *real* goals for August, and that really seemed to work well, but I feel that I need to get back to goals for September. Why? Have you looked at the calendar lately?! It's (almost) September, and I still have gift-knits that still need to be tended to!!!

So, for September, I'd ideally like to knit:

1. Finish Miss J's sweater (I've started it, but I want to write a separate post about it)
2. Finish my Whitewater Monkeys
3. Finish Mr.S' hat
4. DH's hat
5. Miss J's hat
6. My hat
7. The second pair of Evangeline mitts
8. Re-start Dad's socks

Doesn't seem too bad - now if only I can keep focused!