Not-Sims update

I was reading through my blog the other day and came across a few pictures of this alpaca scarf I was knitting last year. I know I never finished it, so I dug around my apartment until I found it. Apparently I had screwed up the pattern somewhere (and I couldn't remember what the pattern was), so I pulled it all out, found the pattern online, and started again. No pictures yet, but Hamlet has a taste for alpaca (almost as strong as his taste for lamb) so I have to keep the scarf in a box. Good thing kittens don't have thumbs!

And now, a random alpaca picture:

Ski vacation - the picture edition

So, as promised, here are a few pictures from the ski weekend.

The first little while, the cottage had no heat. Man, was it cold! I was wearing loads of layers and we buried ourselves under blankets. Fortunately there were electric heaters for the bedrooms so we didn't freeze while we slept, but that doesn't mean it wasn't chilly!

Highlights of the weekend include:

Skiing at Sir Sam's

Cooking dinner after skiing (I'm making pesto for the couscous)

And playing of musical intruments

And, because I started working on my So-Called scarf, using yarn that I think looks like cooked veggies (or vegetable pasta according to Dee), here's what I have so far.

(oops. sideways picture. sorry!)

I squee every time I start knitting this. I love it so.

Dinos and Yarn

It was a fun weekend of friends, yarn, and dinosaurs.

Dee and Pete came for a visit, and we headed to Lettuce Knits for a 30% off sale (whee!). After taking pictures of my stash and putting it on Ravelry, I decided that I needed to stock up on more yarn... so I did :)

I love this Misti Alpaca. It reminds me of vegetables, for some reason. Even though it will shed a great deal on my black coat (like my other alpaca scarf does), I'm going to knit it into a scarf. But first, I'm making a hat out of this:

It's called Fatty, so I'm making a Fatty Hatty :) And I'm learning to cable! So it's a steep learning curve for me, since I'm knitting this on DPNs (when I usually knit in the round) and I'm doing cables. But I LOVE knitting with this yarn. It sticks to needles. It's fantastic.

So, back to the ROM. I guess it was the first weekend for the re-opened dinosaur exhibit, because when we got there, we found a looong line.

That's only part of it. And I'm still unimpressed by the addition to the ROM. It seems weird to me (and thank you to the few people who agree with me)

So we got in to see the dinosaurs. There were lots of nice bones and fossils, but it was crowded. I think I'll go back in a few months when things have settled down some and try again.

I remember this dinosaur from the old exhibit!

JAZZ HANDS!

Last post of 2007!

It was a merry Christmas at my household this year, and Hamlet's first Christmas ever! I wanted to get a picture of him amongst the tree and presents, but he wouldn't go near them :)

He did, however, help me pack.


I got home after working for a few hours on Dec 24th to help wrap gifts. My aunt and uncle came over for Christmas Eve dinner (which is always "nibblies" - cheese, crackers, salmon, hardboiled eggs, etc) and then it was time to sleep in anticipation of getting stuff Santa.

The stockings are hung by the chimney gas fireplace with care.


My sister receives the Gift of Cheese:

(it's not actually cheese)

And after the festing, while waiting for the turkey to cook, I completed my diagonal scarf!!!


Happy New Year, everyone!!

As I promised...

Here are some photos of the scarf I made for my dad.

It started so simply...

The finished product!

It matches Hamlet!
(I know the picture is dark, just trust me on this)

My dad, trying on his new gift

OMG! Dutch appeltaart! Just like Oma used to make.

Holy crap! One week until Christmas!
Why is it that when you're a kid, Christmas takes *forever* to arrive, but when you're an adult, it sneaks up on you?

I DID IT!!

I got the scarf finished on time!!

The party is tomorrow, and the scarf has been washed and is drying in the bathroom (which is the only room with a door where I can keep the kitten out over night). Hopefully the fact that the scarf isn't *completely* flat won't affect the drying. And tomorrow morning, I can lay it out on my bed (and close the door to kittens) where it can complete its drying.

Yay! Pictures will follow at a later date.

:D

Knitting update

I've been frantically knitting away at my dad's birthday scarf, which needs to be done in less than a week.

I measured it yesterday (when my elbow started to ache and I had to put the needles down for the night) and I'm at 30". Only 24" to go, which may be do-able since I have today off.

But I ran out of TV to watch! I finished the Tudors last night (after another historical inaccuracy that made me stare at the TV slack jawed and exclaim "WHAT?!?" a la Doctor Who) so I've only got two episodes of Rome to knit through. I suppose then I'll have to put on a movie or something. I bet the Lord of the Rings trilogy will help make the knitting go by faster :D

No pictures of said scarf yet, but take my word for it. It's gorgeous. I can't wait to give it to my dad... to the expert knitters out there, do I have to block it first? Because that'll add an extra day to my deadline that I don't think I have unless I skip work.

Scarves!

Here's a long awaited knitting post!

Okay, remember way back in October I posted about the diagonal scarf I was starting? And then later, I ran into some trouble with the same scarf?

Well, everything is okay with the diagonal scarf and it's pretty long now! I'm on the last ball of yarn and I'm still loving the pattern!


But this scarf has been put on the back burner temporarily while I try to complete a scarf for my dad by December 13th for his birthday.

I bought the yarn on Friday, and knitted like a madwoman all weekend while watching Hairspray with Corinna, and Rome with myself (what an amazing series!). So after three days of knitting, this is what I have:


(modeled by the very lovely Hermes)

The pattern is from a Yarn Harlot post that Heather sent me, although, like with any pattern I attempt, mine doesn't look quite like hers... but I love mine anyway!


It's about 11 inches now... only 43 more to go... and 10 days to do it in... yeesh.

But, so I don't end on a downer, here's another shot of my pretty diagonal scarf!

Ooooo... look at the pretty colours....

The Knitting Challenge

13 days.

One scarf.

Think I can do it in time for my Dad's birthday?

The challenge is ON!

(I'm starting the count from this Friday, since I don't have time to go buy yarn until then... so 13 days if I manage to get yarn on Friday. If not, considerably less time...)

Hmmm....

I may have made an eensy mistake while knitting my scarf....


Is there a way to undo that whole triangle without unknitting the whole thing?

The thing that bugs me is I know exactly what I did wrong too... and that I didn't catch it until just now. I really ought to pay more attention to what I'm knitting when I'm knitting it!

I'm thankful for...

Some photos for your fine turkey weekend ...


My cousin's baby, Hannah, came to visit from Ottawa. Here she is, at 8 weeks old, with my mom. Technically, she's my first cousin once removed, but it's a lot easier to just say my baby cousin Hannah. Isn't she adorable?

And, Dee sent me a fantastic pattern for a nifty diagonal scarf. I'm enamored with it :D
You caught a brief look at it in my last post, when I held it up in front of the ROM, but here's what I have done so far:



and...



Now I'm off to pack and visit my family for some turkey! Yum!

Knitting question

I seem to be back once more knitting hats and scarves (in light of the cooler weather)

I was thinking about knitting a scarf with an interesting pattern or design. Something not too complicated, but a little more complex than straight knitting.

Anyone out there know of such a pattern? Perhaps one of you who subscribes to Ravelry?