Lazy Holiday!

Happy whatchamacallit to anyone with a holiday today! Here in Ottawa we are enjoying Colonel By Day.

My laundry is drying in my bathroom. I have a stew in the slow cooker, and bread kneading itself in the kitchen (have I mentioned I love my bread machine?). Now I get to sit and knit to my hearts content.

I finished the tweedy stripes:...

...and cast on another pair right away:

These are the pattern and yarn from the January Sock Club Kit from Robyn's Nest (pssst...it's Robyn's 1 year anniversary today and she's having a sale! Head over now!)

The yarn is from Perfect Day Yarns (Free Verse Sock yarn) and the Pattern is Vintage Rose Socks by Mona Schmidt. I'm adapting the pattern from dpn-top-down to magic loop-toe up, so we will see how it goes.

I bit the bullet and frogged the Garter Stitch Jacket. I have now figured out how to knit the pattern so it actually does garter stitch and I am much happier.

Remember my garden? Well it's grown:

Tomatoes and Squash then:

and now:

Cucumber then:

and now:

The plants are a little scrawny. I think it is because the pots I have them in aren't deep enough. However I do have some veggies. I have about 4 cucumbers, 8 grape tomatoes, 6 early girl tomatoes, and 4 beefy boy tomatoes. The squash just began flowering with male flowers so the females should bloom sometime this week so we will see if I get any acorn squash. Next year I'll plan a little better. It's definitely a learning process.

Now I'm going to take advantage of some quiet knitting time and work on my socks!

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!

Plugging along...

Still knitting, but have become very distracted by my Wii Fit. I love that thing...

I did manage to finish the Summer Socks:

and I'm working on another pair:

These are Two-at-a-time, toe-up, magic loop socks. The pattern is available as a free download from Knitpicks. The wool is Lana Grossa Meilenweit Colortweed, and I love how it's striping.

I did manage to finish Witterings in time for Canada Day:

That's me in the middle with Parliament Hill in the background.

I've also cast on The Garter Stitch Jacket by Fleece Artist.

I have had that kit since last November, but was hesitant to wind the mohair without a swift (there is nothing worse than tangled mohair). However, since my wonderful boyfriend bought me a swift for my 30th birthday (yikes I can't believe I'm that old!), I managed to wind the balls with nary a tangle! I'm not quite sure about the pattern though. If I follow it word for word, it's not really garter stitch, but rather stockinette. I'm not sure if that's due to a typo, or if I'm supposed to knit stockinette and wear it inside out. I'm more inclined to do the latter because that's how it was written and I can't find any corrections for it.

Finally, I've begun Shedir.

This is being knit in Cabin Fever Tweed DK in Purple. It is for my boyfriend's sister who has recently been diagnosed with leukemia. The strain she has is very receptive to treatment and has an 85% survival rate, but the news was a blow to the family. Especially since she lives all the way in Philly.

Well, back to knitting and hopefully I'll have more fo's in my next post.

...and we're off!

The Summer of Socks 2008 officially began last night at midnight (or is it this morning at midnight?) anyway I stayed up and cast on at about 12:01am. My first pair of socks is shaping up quite nicely:

The pattern is one that Wendy of Wendy Knits designed especially for the SOS. This pair I'm trying two-at-a-time on two circular needles. My next pair I'll try two-at-a-time using Magic Loop and we'll see which way I prefer.

Mary Mary quite contrary how does your garden grow?

I am once again trying to garden on my balcony. This year I got a greenhouse in which I am housing my strawberry plant (so the squirrels and birds don't eat them) and some herbs:

Eversweet Strawberries.

Chives, French Lavender, and Cilantro.

Some Tomatoes:

Grape Tomatoes on the left, Early Girl Tomatoes on the right, and Acorn Squash on the far right.

Two different kinds of mint:

Spearmint and Apple Mint.

and finally some Cucumbers and Sedum:

Cukes on the right, Sedum on the left, oh and my birdfeeder (which doubles as a squirrel feeder, but the birds don't mind).

I hope....

Anyhoo, I'm off to knit some socks...

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!

Okay...

...so we've determined that I am a very inconsistent blogger. I find blogging takes away from my knitting time ( I really need to learn how to type with my feet). But since the Summer of Socks 2008 is coming up (yippee!) I have to start faithfully blogging again (so you all can see the socks I finish).

Speaking of finished socks:

Here's my first Blueberry Cheesecake sock:

This is TOFUtsies yarn in the 736 colourway. It reminds me of blueberry cheesecake (hence the name). The pattern is Wendy's Toe-up socks with a difference. The difference is that the gusset stitches are on the bottom of the foot. Really cool. I like them. I'm just turning the heel of the 2nd one. I'm trying to finish it before the 21st when the SOS'08 starts.

Also on the needles is Witterings. I'm hoping to get this done by Canada Day, so when I'm on the hill, my face wont burn (that's the plan anyways). I'm doing it in plain 'ol Handicrafter Cotton from Bernat. Pics will be posted along with pics of the AWESOME sock club kit from Robyn's nest which arrived today. The colours....yummy!

Well it's starting to storm here and I have to finish reading Careless in Red by Elizabeth George so I'll log off.

TTFN and KEEP KNITTING!