A New Beginning... And A New Direction!

Hello all!

I know it's been way too long but life has taken some turns (mostly in the areas of career and hobby stuff) and now it's time to accelerate and lean into those turns! Woohoo! ;)

First of all,  I'm still knitting, designing, creating art, and crafting up a storm. So expect to see creative stuff!

Second of all, I'm focusing on my voiceovers more these days and I may try to post some voice samples to my blog just to get my voice out there.

Thirdly, every now and then I may want to review a book (or several) that has inspired and moved me! Be it fiction (with mostly an emphasis on romance) or books on knitting patterns, arts & craft projects, and perhaps even inspiring books on teaching and education.

Which leads me to my new direction in life...

Starting in September... I begin my training to be an educational assistant. Making a difference in children's lives has always made me happy. So I'm going to give this everything I've got!

Well there you have it! A new beginning. I stand at the start of this new career path and to be honest... I am excited... And terrified! :D

*fingers crossed*

WOOT It's 2014! Wait... WHAT?!?!

where did the time go? it's been 2014 for almost a month?!

oops! ack!

as you can guess i've been knitting up a storm since my last post sooo...

quick 2013 wrap up / catch up to 2014...  annnnnd... GO!

• i tried to design a neckwarmer - i wanted to try something knew so i cast on a bunch of stitches, took my favourite rib pattern and started knitting in-the-round... i thought it was looking pretty good until i realized (after i was done...doh!) that i was following a "knit-flat" pattern and knitting in-the-round without modifying it for circular knitting. i really love how it ended up but it was not what i was expecting. so i call it "My Beautiful Mistake" neckwarmer ;)

• i finished my Elegant Travels Fingerless Mitts - And I LOVE LOVE LOVE them! They're so pretty.

Elegant Travels Mitts

• i finished my first cable project... Rainbow Twist by Thao Nguyen - this is one of my favourite neckwarmers. the yarn i used was not as thick as the pattern wanted but it came out perfect for me. it's basically like wearing a cozy thick turtleneck. i had never tried cables before and i probably should have started with something a little less chunky, but i'm so happy with how it turned out!

Rainbow Twist

• something for the family gift exchange - i was told that the gift had to be under $10 and gender neutral. so i made this. no pattern just 2 chunky yarns held together and knit in a 1x1 rib. i can post it now because Christmas is over and hopefully it found a good home :)

Gift Exchange Neckwarmer

• *sigh* Christmas REALLY took it's toll on our family - the plan was to spend Christmas up-island. and it was a pretty exciting plan... except that our family was not well. you know how when you're sick... you stay home. we were away from home and it was just not as pleasant as it could have been. there was stress all around especially with my little boy. he was not himself at all. it will probably go down in history as the most memorable holiday we've ever had. but it's also totally blurred. i can't remember a whole lot... oh wait! there was a surprise wedding... but for the most part i can only remember what i was feeling... *sigh*

• i FINALLY knit up an Arbutus cowl - Jane Richmond's designs make the most wonderful knits! i have been itching to try and knit up the Arbutus since her book (ISLAND) came out last year but i was nervous about all the complexity of the pattern. what are"short rows?" erm..."wrap & turn?" so i put it aside for a while. then just after Christmas i realized i wasn't knitting anything *GASP* :D i saw on instagram that a couple of people i was following were having a "jane-along" (a knit-along using patterns designed by Jane Richmond) so i decided that it was the perfect time to start the Arbutus. it was an open group so i joined... and guess what! here it is!

Arbutus 

• crochet (or knit) mood blanket 2014 - i saw on instagram an idea that a crocheter had started and it boomed in popularity over instagram and facebook. it's quite simple. you can make one square a day for 365 days or one square a week for 52 weeks. it started out awesome! the first couple of weeks were so exciting... i seamed them together and saw that it was looking not too bad for a strip of knit squares :) then i started thinking about other projects and well... i'm kinda falling behind now... but i know i'll pick it up again... why? because i am tenacious when it comes to my knitting... some might even say i'm TOO tenacious! :D

Colours for my Knit Mood Blanket 2014

• i'm designing something new - bu-u-ut that is for another time! ~.^

there! all caught up! woot!

Knit Project: Travels Fingerless Mitts... PLUS, I WON!!! ~.^

Life is crazy! Tis the season :D

Between knitting, sewing, getting food organized for Christmas and trying to clean around the house... Life has been a non-stop whirlwind.

Since finishing my pair of Rathtrevor by Jane Richmond, my newest obsession has been on fingerless mittens. 

Let's start with a couple of new ideas...

Cozy Travels Fingerless Mitts
I found a ball of bulky yarn in my stash and looked up a bunch of different patterns in The Knitting Book that I got for Christmas last year...(Someone obviously knew me ~.^)and came up with these. They are so warm and cozy... They are a bit big for me but it's a cool first try! They turned out better than I had expected...

But then...

I wanted something a bit more elegant and pretty. So I used the same pattern, chose a finer yarn and adjusted the number of stitches and came up with...

Elegant Travels Fingerless Mitts 

I found a ball of Martha Stewart Crafts 100% merino (colour: Buttermilk) in my stash and thought "I just have the one ball so why not try it out." I have to admit it took me a couple of tries but I think I've got the pattern almost perfected. I finished one piece. I seamed it up and tried it on. The fit is comfortably snug. But I like the look of it. Because of the stretch it looks almost lacy... The width of my palm is about 9cm. I will play with the number of stitches so see the different fits I get.

PLUS!!!! 

I WON an ebook copy of Journey from reading Melissa's MisoCraftyKnits blog and entering the giveaway. Journey is a NEW book of knitting patterns by Jane Richmond and Shannon Cook.  All three of these fantastic ladies are incredibly talented crafters from Vancouver Island, BC. This TOTALLY made my Christmas! I am so excited to start on these patterns. Squeee! ^.^ 

Knitting: Moving on to... The Marian Cowl ^.^

In light of yesterday's weather development I decided that it was high time that I make the Marian cowl by JaneRichmond that I've been itching to make since last spring... I bought some Lion Brand: Wool Ease, Thick and Quick yarn in Charcoal, brought out my 12.75mm 24in circular needles and got ready to go.

I wanted to try out a few rows. So I started it late last night to see how comfortable it would be for my hands to handle knitting. I stopped after a few rows to take a few pics but kept going. I got so into it I forgot to stop. It's knitting up so fast and easy. I could have stayed up and finished it but my body was screaming for sleep so I got about 3/4 through it and put it down. Now I'm ready to finish it up!

But first... To Christmas-ize the house a bit!

Stay tuned!

^.^

Hey There! Long Time No See!

Hello all! Long time no see! :)

I took the hiatus from knitting for what seemed like an eternity and did other things with my time...
Such as:

• Seeing my little boy fall absolutely in love with Kindergarten!
• Getting the opportunity to work on my voice over work. 
• Watching my darling husband take on the challenge of a new job... as well as biking and swimming three times a week...
• Working at honing my beginner sewing skills because... well... I NEED to craft! :)

I remember looking in the closet in the spare bedroom last week and happened to stumble upon my fabric stash. I remembered that I wanted to try a cowl pattern  I found on line. It didn't quite work out the way I liked so I started playing with the fabric a bit, found what worked and then got totally hooked. I sewed together some cowls out of my a few different types of fabrics: fleece, flannel, some coordinating "fat quarters" and some funky fabric called "missoni." I totally got addicted to making them... so er... now I've got a TON! A few went to my sister in-law's craft booth at the Christmas craft fair last weekend. And the others are just waiting around for Christmas... ~.^

Here's a few styles I tried with different fabrics...

top left: Three coordinating fat quarters
top right: Missoni fabric
bottom left: solid fleece and brushed cotton in plaid print
bottom right: Three coordinating fat quarters and solid flannel

But now...

I'm sooo super happy to be knitting again... However, I have learned my lesson and I'm taking it slowly and carefully this time! I decided to start with a project just for me...

The cooler weather is taking it's toll on my hands so I've started a fingerless mitten pattern by Jane Richmond Designs called Rathtrevor from her Island collection.

Here's the first one so far. Please pardon the double pointed needles. I'm just getting the hang of using them and wanted to see how the wrist fit.  :D


Wish me luck!

Me: Good News & Bad News...

Knit Night at
 Good Earth Coffeehouse at Uptown

Last night was our monthly knit night... and to be perfectly honest... I was a little worried.

I had mentioned in a previous post that my wrist was giving me problems (carpal tunnel) to the point where I could barely move it without a surge of pain shooting through my arm from my pinky to my elbow. It's been like this for about a week... So I thought it was because I had been knitting like a mad woman for the passed month and a half. So for a week I didn't knit. It was excruciating not being able to knit because I wanted to but I couldn't...

But then knit night came and I picked up my needles... Much to my surprise, I noticed that when I started to knit, my wrist felt fine. Yay! BUT... Then I noticed that I had to concentrate on relaxing my grip on the needles. When my hands were relaxed, it felt fine. But when I tensed up, it got achy again... *pout*

So... Needless to say, I really want to concentrate on healing my arm. So I'm going to start by only knitting every other day for twenty to thirty minutes. If that get's to be too much I will space the days out even further.  But I can't not knit. I just started a design project...  At the very least I NEED to finish it! PLUS I really really really want to start on my cardigan soon... But it's not crucial. I just wanted to make this sweater.

So the good news is I can still knit... The bad news is I can't knit as much as I'd like to... *pout*

But all that being said we did have a great night knitting, chatting and sipping beverages!

Woot! Funtimes!

Design Project: Sparkly Mesh Cowl is S...L...O...W... Going...

My sparkly mesh cowl design is coming along but sadly I've had to cut back on my knitting a bit. I seem to have done something to my right wrist and it is causing some pain to do anything at all. So this already SLOW project is taking SO... MUCH... LONGER. But so far I'm happy with how it's looking.

I'm really getting the hang of knitting with beads. It's a lot easier that I thought it would be and I'm enjoying the little bit of sparkle it is adding to my design. I have a bit of a pattern emerging. we'll see if it holds up.

^.^

Design Project: Beaded Mesh Knit Cowl

I LOVE beading... I LOVE knitting...

Who knew I could put the two together?

I needed a project for my skein of Malabrigo sock yarn in the beautiful colourway: Zarzamora (grey, lilac, blue & green) but I wanted it to be something a bit different... Something special.

Now I JUST finished knitting up my Lacy Mesh Linen Cowl and I really liked how it turned out. I thought about doing something like that with this yarn but I wanted it to have a little bit more oomph to it. So then I thought about adding beads to it. 

I'd never added beads to my knitting before. I was intimidated by the thought because I thought that it would be incredibly complicated. But, after watching a couple of how-to videos, I realized it didn't look as difficult as I thought. So I decided to give it a shot!

So here's my yarn, my beads (bigger seed beads in silver) & my incredibly tiny crochet hook (1mm)... 

Wish me luck...

*clickety clickety click*

A-a-and a few hours later...
(err... I mean last night. It got so late I had to go to bed after knitting this row.)


Voila!

So here I go on another knitting adventure! Squee!

^.^

Knit Project: Strathcona... FINISHED... No really! Plus... My FIRST Knit-Along!

Yay! My Strathcona scarf (designed by Jane Richmond) is now completely DONE! Woohoo! And I'm loving everything about it. Well... at least now I am. :D (Please forgive the picture I uploaded earlier. I was just so excited that it was done that I had to take the picture immediately :D) But I think I'm going to call it my "Sunset" Strathcona. That's what the colours remind me of. The pinks, oranges, taupes & bluey greys. After I've blocked it I will be wearing this EVERYWHERE! Plus I know that I will definitely be making more of these!  ~.^

But now... Onto something NEW!

Knit-Alongs.

I've never done a knit-along before! I have to say... I'm a little scared. But as usual, I think I'm making this out to be more complicated than it needs to be. And here is all the information... Tees Tanks and Tops Knit-Along. Hosted be the incredibly talented Shannon of luvinthemommyhood.

I have a few patterns that I'd like to try for this knit-along. It's just a question of what I think I can handle in the time that is given. I'm kinda new to the whole garment making scene but I'll never know if I don't try! :)

Wish me luck! *hugs*

Me: Rainy Days and Mondays...

Oh the rain... One of the many wonderful (and depressing) things about the west coast of Canada. SO much rain. The dreary grey clouds and dark days... Definitely a day to stay inside and get cozy (cue "Rainy days and Mondays" by The Carpenters.)

But it also makes it a great day to put on a pot of coffee and knit, knit, knit! Yay!

I'm just passed the halfway mark on my Strathcona scarf by Jane Richmond. I was a bit nervous because I thought the ssk (slip-slip-knit) stitch would be really complicated but it turns out it's quite simple. I really shouldn't be afraid of learning new knit stitches.  :)

SO here we are coffee, knitting and (for the 4 year old crowd...) Dinosaur Train! :D

Knitting: Funny... Because It's True

YES! This just says it all for me... ^.^

Knit Design Project: Inara Cowl... DONE!

So it's finally done! *phew*

I think my Inara Cowl that I designed turned out pretty good. :) It's warm and cozy but light and airy so its great for the transitioning weather between winter and spring. Plus it gets breezy here on the island so it keeps the chill off quite nicely.

The only complaint I have about making this cowl was the yarn. The Patons Lace that I used was crazy to work with. No matter how carefully and slowly I pulled from the ball it would get snagged and cause a bunch of problems. I guess that's due to the mohair cling to itself. Plus I counted at least four yarn barfs that slowed things down a lot. If I absolutely HAVE to use this yarn again I will definitely draw the yarn from the outside.

But all in all it was a wonderful little project. It makes a nice snood too, doesn't it? :)

Knitting: Sadly...

I know that this may seem a bit sudden... 
But sadly, I may have to take a break from knitting. It's supposed to be relaxing and enjoyable but lately I'm finding it to be neither. It's a bit of a time suck and a money suck. Neither of which my family can spare. So it's just bringing on a bunch of stress that I just don't need. So I will probably finish the projects I've started and then move on to other things...

Thank you knitting... Maybe we'll see you again.

Knitting: New Issue of Knit.Wear for Spring 2013

I cannot wait until the spring 2013 issue of Knit.Wear magazine comes out. I am so excited! 

Check out all its beautiful projects. 

Specifically, I've got my eye on the Cable and Pleat Tunic, the Brickwork Cardigan and the Godet Skirt but they all look so lovely that everything else is a wonderful little bonus :) 

Family: Sun!

The boy and I had an "ok" start this morning... Long story short we ended up settling our differences by having some quiet knitting time together... He was curious about knits & purls (or as he calls them: "Vs" & "bumps" ^.^) So we started him a pattern of 5 knits & 5 purls and he's recognizing what they look like as he's knitting them up. When he sees the Vs he knits... and when he sees the bumps he purls. It was so exciting to see the little lightbulb go off and his eyes just popped with the realization...  Then our delicate Mother/Son balance was restored :)

But then out came the sunshine! Woohoo! So we decided to get some fresh air. Today is the first time we've played outside this year. It was a bit chilly but we warmed things up by attempting a walk up the street but about half way up the street I remembered that a package was being delivered today and I REALLY wanted to be home to receive it. Sooo to make up for it we sprinted back just laughing and giggling all the way home... I never thought racing my son could be this fun! When we got home he was so wired that I had to quickly find the ball so he could start kicking it around. He's such an outside kid. That's his father in him... Sadly, not so much his mother (lousy allergies... and... and bugs.) :D lol!

Knit Project: Rae Scarf #4... DONE!

And... Also on my list of finished projects... My fourth Rae Scarf by Jane Richmond. I just finished a few minutes ago and so excited to share. It's so soft and the colours look great! With greens, purples & yellows (although my pics NEVER do the colours justice)... It's my new multi-seasonal scarf.

I can't express enough how much I love making this scarf. It's such a simple pattern. But such a classic and versatile shape. My absolute favourite!

And it's SO great for knitters of all levels.

Class Project: One Button Wonder... So Close!

So I buckled down last night and finished the raglan seams (Ugh!) and started on the yoke. It's not perfectly done but it's good enough for me right now. Plus... It's a sweater... I'm making a freaking sweater! Go me!

I'm at the point in the project where if I mess up a little, I record it in the book and learn from it for next time! But other than that, It's full steam ahead! Now all I have to do is finish the yoke, do the sides seams, weave in ends AND choose a button! Woohoo!

Knit Project: Rae Scarf #4

I know I should be working on my sweater for my knitting class... but I HAD to start my Rae scarf... and well... now I can't put it down. It's looking pretty good so far. The colours are beautiful! Plum, purple, green and a golden yellow. It will definitely be my all season scarf :)

And now I'm on to my 2nd ball of yarn and that means speedy decreases... woot! I can't wait ^.^

Family: My Darling Boy Likes Knitting!

So as I've mentioned... For about a month now my son has taken an interest in knitting (Woot! ^.^) and he's consistently getting better. His tension is becoming much more relaxed and he can chat and knit at the same time. It's really cute.  So he knits little squares and rectangles and my husband or I will bind them off when he's done with them... So I collect these little swatches and maybe I'll do something with them later. But I had to keep this one for myself...

He asked me to bind it off and I asked him if he wanted me to make it into a cuff to wear on his wrist. He said "Sure!" Then I finished it and handed it to him and he said to me. "It's ok Mommy. You can keep it."

Awww... SWEET!

Knitting: Making Stitch Markers

Springtime
(colours: lemon yellow, aqua & lilac)

So with the combination of my knitting obsession and my long hibernated beading obsession, comes a brand new obsession altogether... Beaded stitch markers!

I found a tutorial on making stitch markers from Handmade By Knottygal... then I searched my vast beading stash... and voila! 

I absolutely LOVE making these. But more than that, I like seeing them hanging from my knitting needles in a knitted project. It gives the project a little sparkle and I enjoy seeing pretties while I work on something. It makes me smile.