Love and WWYD?

I can't quite believe I haven't posted since February. Time flies I guess, when you're having fun!!! I just checked my Ravelry page and I really haven't been knitting much this year, or so it would seem. Just a wee bit of catching up to do then.

So, the title isn't suggesting a warm and fuzzy or even heartsearching post. It's the colour name of the STR I used to knit up Irishgirlieknits pattern Dotty.

The colour striped almost perfectly throughout the whole sock, even on the heel. And another simple yet effective design from our very own knitting superstar Carrie :0) I knit these at the beginning of the summer (end of spring?) and had that gorgeous strawberry plant to accessorize. Isn't it pretty?

Speaking of the garden, I made myself a little tomato patch. Being renters, we're not supposed to do anything with the garden. It has a bunch of pine needles where a 'border' should be. I really wanted to grow some toms this year, so I just scooted a bunch of needles out of the way, dug in some topsoil and got planting.

I went out to this morning to take this picture of the beauties.....

....and discovered two of these beauties......

Not so small, these are at least as big as my middle finger. There are two of them out there munching away. I've been following their progress all day and they sure are enjoying a mighty big meal.

So. What would you do? Pick them off (or get the husband to) and take them across the street to the communal trees? Or, let them eat your plants, hope they leave some for you and also that when they turn into whatever they're going to turn into, that they stick around so you can enjoy them? And do you know what these are? I am kind of grossed out by them, but also morbidly fascinated.

Laters......

Babette Blanket

Quickie of my Babette blanket. 8 skeins of Socks That Rock Heavyweight. I started crocheting the squares together last night with the 9th skein, The New Color of Love. It's a really, REALLY bright green and I think it makes the blanket pop.

Keepin' warm

I never did show you pictures of my Noro Log Cabin blanket, did I. Well, excuse my self-indulgence, as I post a few pics.... I LOVE this blanket. The boys LOVE this blanket. They call it "Mommy's colourful blanket". It has pride of place on the back of the sofa, so I can see it when I'm in the kitchen :0)

I love it almost like my child. Only this thing took longer to gestate.

It's super warm and perfect for napping under.

Yarn - Noro Kureyon for the squares. Cascade Eco-wool for the border.

6 rows of 5 squares, or 5 rows of 6 for a total of 30 squares.

One ball of kureyon for each square. I think I made 3 full squares with the leftovers, so this blanket has 27 different balls of Kureyon. I only have 23 listed on my Ravelry project page, but that means little.
Finished Measurement: 67" x 60" roughly.

Pattern: I totally copied KathyMarie's instructions from her blogpost here.

I heartily recommend this project. Making the squares is like eating peanut M&M's - just one more.....

I have to admit to one thing I'd do differently. If you can't guess already. I wouldn't have included the 'natural' coloured kureyon skein. It sticks out like a sore thumb. I'm looking at it as an artistic statement ;0)

The Softest Feathers in the World......

I feel like I've told this story before, so forgive me if you're hearing it again. I have these awesome friends in England, Danny and Lucia (we call her loose!). One time, Danny said, quite randomly and out of the blue, "Did you know that owls have the softest feathers in the world?"


We didn't quite know what to make of that statement and it's been a running joke ever since.


Loose's birthday is on Dec 31st. She asked if I would whip up a little something for her, my choice. I looked up owl patterns and couldn't resist this hat. Prepare your eyes for some more overexposed photos.... Being on this necessarily thrifty kick right now, I used some stash yarn. The colour is a nice mid-brown.

I only put eyes on the one owl, trying to make it stand out a bit more.

Pattern: Who? by Sara Amoroso

Yarn: Cascade Eco Wool

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Talking of owls, and I swear the connection will become clear eventually, I have been thinking of telling you about a couple of blogs I read that I really, really like (rather than just really like!) and don't know if you read them too.

Needled is written by Kate Davies, who works at Newcastle University. Newcastle-Upon-Tyne is the biggest city near the town where I grew up, and home of the world famous Brown Ale :0) Kate writes about knitting, crafts, textiles, walking, history and a hundred other interesting subjects. If you wander over to her blog, you'll see another dimension was just added to her world too. Spend a little time reading back over her past posts, I'm sure you'll find something fascinating to engage your eyes and brain.

Oh, and that owl connection? She's the designer of the lovely owl jumper you can find here.

Calvin & Ripple

I finished these late last year. A knitalong with the Socks that Rawk group on Ravelry. Designed by the wonderful Turtlegirl :0) and named after her gorgeous kitties. The yarn is a socks that rock rare gem in a brown, ginger, cream and green. I think it's a great cat-like colour for these kitty inspired socks.

Here's Calvin's slip-stitch pattern up close.... And Ripple's, erm, ripple stitch pattern......

And the two of them, side by side.

I won't say who my favourite is, but I do enjoy wearing them both a lot. And I love the matchy-and-yet-not concept.

Pattern: Calvin & Ripple socks by Cristi Brockway aka Turtlegirl

Yarn: Socks That Rock Mediumweight Rare Gem

Blackberry Brambles

For the life of me, I couldn't get a good picture of the colour on these bad boys. Here they are in the "snow" we had last weekend - or is that the one before, by now. The yarn is malabrigo sock, which, for the life of me, I cannot find the colour name-tag for. Anyway, it's a sort of blackberry colour (appropriate), with a pale green running through it every now and then. The yarn is sooooooo thin. Combine that with a lace pattern and teeny needles and it took me a good while to knit these. Of course, throw in a good dozen other projects and that added time too.

I'm super pleased with the end results. The socks are very light indeed and fit great.

Pattern: Blackberry Brambles, by Irishgirlieknits

Yarn: Malabrigo sock

Another washed out pic, but see the pretty lace.

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I worked at "Books & Nooks" last night. It was pretty quiet. I got home just in time to see the Saints player make that last touchdown - wow, what a move! Now, if only the rest of the game could be so exciting, maybe I could get into this 'American' football more ;0)

Small things!

My cousin-in-law Danit (if that's a real term - my husband's cousin's wife), asked me to make a baby gift for her friend who'd just had a boy. Well, I love the old standbys, so I whipped up a Baby Surprise Jacket and a pair of matching Christine's Booties with some sock yarn I'd had forever - Misty Mountain Farm Jubilee.

Knit on 4mm needles, it turned out a great size for maybe 3-6 months. My own baby-gauge is gone, now my own are ginormous, so that's a very rough guess. I'm pleased with how it turned out. The colours didn't pool, which is always my biggest worry with these yarns. I had already made Danit's baby a pair of these booties, so I know she likes them.

Love the garter stitch. And I already had these buttons, in a massive multi-pack from Joann's.

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It was my birthday at the beginning of January. I didn't really get gifts from Tommy and the boys - y'all know we're trying to save, right. But I had some lovely gifts from family and friends. My mom gave me some money, which came in handy as I spotted yarn on sale during my trip to England.

Here are my favourite gifts. Two lovely friends gave me (among other things) these keyring fobs. First, my English BFF Hubbs gave me the Union Jack sparkler. Then my Knitster BFF Carrie sent me the teeny-weeny-stitch-picker-upper-crochet-hook-thingy. So exciting, I had just read about it that morning and thought what a neat idea. And doesn't its pink bead go well with the flag :0) Thank you ladies :0)

Just going to show that the best things can really be the smallest.

:0)