sunset with mother seagull

why knit when you can buy yarn?

money spent in a wool shop equals many hours of browsing entertainment.... who could ask for more?

well today it sort of all came together....


today's formula: 2 skeins @ $20 per skein/3 hours = $14 per hour.... a little more expensive than the movies.... but look at what i came back with~

this is a hand dyed fluffy angora goodness called 'peter rabbit' which i found in point grey village at this 'worth the 40 minute bus ride' yarn shop called urban yarns.

two stores down from urban yarns is~ the cloth shop which sold these wonderful vintage style small people patterns from oliver + s, this beautiful book cupcake!, and amy butler fabrics.

and to top it all off this neighborhood had a sushi restarant & a cheese and wine bar, oh my...

blue top and a salty sea breeze

well, i heart sunny and much cooler (than texas) vancouver. even better, from where i am currently sitting i can see large (!) furry baby seagulls wandering about. with luck they will get close enough for a picture but i am not hopeful, i have been watching them for a while and they seem to like the "just out of my lens distance."

~ camera shy big furry babies.

i have been working on the short sleeve top. i have finished the back and the size looked right so i started working the fronts (working both at the same time) and about 4 inches in~ decided there was no question it was going to be too big. i need to run out today and buy a tape measure to work on adjusting the measurements because mine did not find it’s way into my travel knitting bag.

(mental note for travel... a place where one can buy a tape measure is not the sort of vacation attraction i prefer to spend my time hunting down....)

what i have noticed with this yarn is that the hardest part of working with it is the cast on. if you pull the stitches tight it tends to separate and bunch the strands and for me i ended up with a inconsistent loose edge. i can’t be bothered with finding a solution because this pattern has a crochet edging that i hope will hide it.

i was surprised that it was easy to rip out the front pieces with out any problem though. so far i have not split any stitches (silent sigh of relief) which is common complaint with cashmerino astrakhan…..

motoring on

our little malnourished dehydrated stray boston terrier

meet the new member of our family.

homegrown figelettes

yes these tiny little almost immature fruits grew from a tree in our yard.

…… even better we decided to sauté them with simple syrup and cointreau with a bit of nutmeg.

tasty……

projects to come...

i have been searching for a project that i will take with me to vancouver. i really had been looking for some time when i found this pattern in an old(ish) vogue knitting magazine i had in my fairly large bookcase(s) of patterns that may or may not be knit someday.

pattern: short sleeve top vogue knitting spring/summer 2005
pattern #05 by gabrielle hamill

yarn: karabella yarns empire silk

as you can see the pattern is written for a tall skinny nicole kidman… which i am not. my idea is to make something that would not have the v-neck down to my belly button and not to emphasize my petite upper proportions.


my solution begins with a nubbly bouclé yarn and an empire waist.
more details to come…..

duck and cover…..

there is a drought.

this is our next generation of toad who repeatedly frequents my garden shoe for cover. i understand because it is the second week of over 100-degree weather. poor little thing.


well a dear friend of mine had a baby shower last weekend.

i decided on a spotless giraffe~

the details:
yarns: crystal palace yarns merino frappe 1 skein 061 gold & naturally hand knit harmony 10 ply dark brown

needle: size 8

pattern for sale here: mochimochi gargle.

not sure what i was thinking. i don’t like felting and i am crap with double pointed needles. but the shower is a jungle theme… i know a giraffe is not really jungle "theme" but who could resist this cute guy? so i picked a fairly fluffy yarn that i think might give it a slight felted texture and i knit it on straight needles and added and extra stitch at the beginning and end for each piece that i used for seaming.

well it is done.

alterations to the original lion brand pattern

worked to 17.5in in length.

shaped waist with 2 sets of ssk & k2tog closest to arm hole split.

pattern:
- -II- -II pm - -II- -II
1st decrease:
- -II-II m -II- -II
2nd decrease:
-II-II m -II-II

Added the increase stitches to the next 2 inches (adding back the lost purl stitches)

started to knit the front bands with buttonholes but ripped them out. the holes were lost and i did not feel like reinforcing them~ decided to add pearl snaps instead.

same recipient, addition… pony softie

did i say i liked the book stitched in time?



look at this sweet face?

don’t all little girls want a pony for their birthday?

humm? or am out of touch with little ones? would it go in the closet with other generational outdated toys in favor of hannah montana posters and lip gloss?

whatever fate awaits this little purple pony he was a joy to make.

a weekend full of birthdays…

i am sure everyone has a month out of a year that is overloaded with birthdays. for me it is a weekend overload. 3 birthday parties in one day next weekend along with 2 of my favorite small and adult people who are back in boston who i cant be with. yeah… that is five in one weekend.…

and wait… is sunday father’s day?


did anyone know you could print on ribbon?!



i didn't. but for one of the sweet little ones i decided on a flower pin made in lightweight summer color cotton. not at all an original idea. i owe a depth of gratitude to alicia paulson and her book stitched in time.

happy june

more garden blooms....


and thank you sister for the best photo album ever!

got green day tickets with franz ferdinand and deciding the shape of things to come

still working on my cropped raglan sweater. so far i have miscounted my stitches, ripped out 15 rows, re-balled two skeins due to knots a kin to spiderwebs and dropped two stitches. i amaze myself that i knit and not pick up a less stressful craft like play doh.

the few modification i have made (on purpose) thus far have been to size the small pattern to an extra small, decrease the size of the crew neck and i have started knitting in rib (dropping needle size) shortly after joining the body.

modifications i plan to make if i get that far.... increase the lenght and add buttons.

....it looked like such as simple pattern....

happy anniversary.

meet the new member of our koi pond... mr/mrs/miss (name tbd)

happy anniversary sweet.

and a picture of the strangest pond lilly pad

i am knitting a multi color terry cloth bathrobe?

for those of us who have owned a chenille sweater, you know how wonderfully soft they are and the temptation to knit one is huge.

here is the pattern (no it is not a bathrobe but a cardigan)

the yarn: araucania quellon hand dyed yarn in coloring 08

not sure about the chenille, so i am going down a size in the needles in case it sags. fell in love with the yarn when i saw it but came to my senses after i looked for a pattern that would be able to carry off hand dyed yarn & the difficult drape of chenille.

i am knitting two rows and alternating a skein to blend the yarn because there are huge differences in the coloring…. i am not optimistic.

the alternate: something i know i will knit quick and love for no reason at all.

a bunch of radishes...

can't see the forest through the... house plants..?

dont knit with acrylic

but doesn't it look snugly next to a bunny?

*free pattern can be found here.

bob the dog

bob is the official mascot of ravelry.

bob has become such an icon over the few years ravelry has been in existence that fellow members have dubbed april 11th (the day in 2005 that ravelry was created) "bobmas" day.

i am sure i am not the only raveler who has fallen in love with the first few seconds of the video put together celebrating "bobmas" day by the website creators posted on "bobmas eve".


Happy Bobmas! from Ravelry on Vimeo.


it was only yesterday that i noticed my boston fall asleep while having a good go on her chew toy...

had she done it before and i had not noticed?....

or is miss opal spending time peering over my shoulder while i spend endless hours on the ravelry website?...

does she have interest in knitting?
.... or maybe bob?

what is going on with my favorite food blogger, i need to knit & happy fiesta friday

my blogging idol last posted on march 4th. i understand that these personal sounding boards that we devote to much time and energy into are not a priority, however i miss reading about her devotion to all things edible.

that being said today is fiesta friday so “c'est la vie” to the rest of the united states~ us san antonians get this day off to party. or, in my case…. i get to knit (at last).

in my desperation... argh!!!!!

i looked everywhere for the cotton ease the pattern called for and could not find it.

i am way to impatient… i should have held out for cotton but i needed a knit-fix & i have a day off.

soon miss ella will have a summer dress. it may be acrylic~ but it will go in the washing machine and dryer without fear.

... and i will have succeeded in fulfilling my need to knit something worth devoting my time and energy into another useless post for my personal sounding board.

i heart birthdays

i cleaned out my craft room.

i am now able to make my way from the door over the four feet of floor space (recently having been used as temporary junk space) to my sewing machine. the machine had been drawing me to it for a while now~ only i was put off (completely) by the thought of going through boxes, bills, bags of yarn, more bags of yarn and of course the dreaded graveyard of projects less loved and unfinished.

wait, i have a window in this room?

a friend’s birthday really served as my motivation. she really hates her birthday & i think birthdays are fun… but sadly i am forever sending her late gifts. this year i was a bit better (by degrees of lateness) and got her gift off to her at least the week of her birthday.

last year i sent her something bright and cheerful, knowing she loves only black in a conservative non-color committal way. black is always a safe bet for her so this year i chose black.

the pattern though has the somewhat bright and cheerful name that fulfills my need to convert her (in the most subtle way)…

pattern:
buttercup bag by made by rae

i love groovy bloggers with free patterns.
and what a neat little pattern.
thank you rae.

i hope you like it leigh.
happy birthday my friend.

happy easter

these are not dorothy's ruby slippers

.... so i turn a little bit texan today. because anthony had his citizenship interview we each bought a pair of… yes, cowboy boots.

when in texas…

our choice~ texas hand made boots from lucchese. our company while we were shopping~ joe pantoliano (ralph on the sopranos)

thoughts~ just finished a no-blister 3 mile trek to our pub. i give them a big hearty yeahaw.

why i think my sister is cooler than the easter bunny (in 19 words or less)

who else but my sister would ship a box full of jelly beans (my favorite) from nyc to texas?

happy spring!

work/life/knitting balance

ok so i joined the club of all of you do-it-all’ers.

only i can’t seem to do it all. two weeks ago i started my career again and am learning again how to manage the work/life balance…. but to all of you who do it~ how do you manage to knit?!

i don’t even come home to hungry children & soccer practice and i still cant find the time.

but to make my day, my week, my month.. i got love from a dear friend supporting my decision to come out of retirement…

and i will make the time to knit something for her.

she is the best.

i love you leigh.