Celtic Cast On

Where has the time gone???  Its been two months since I posted last YIKES!!!

All I can say is…. It’s Tadpole’s fault!!!!

I’m well into my second trimester now, have gained most of my energy back and am still eating like a horse.

This picture is a couple of weeks old now as I  haven’t got around to taking  anything recent. It was taken at 19 weeks and I’m currently 22 weeks. I’ve seen massive growth in my belly over  the last 3 weeks which apparently is another doubling  in size stage for tadpole, I’m beginning to wonder just how big I’ll grow!!

The knitting mojo has returned! After several casting on attempts, running out of yarn…. *did you know Paton’s Classic Merino is discontinued???* I finally cast on for something extremely cute with an ample supply of yarn.

This is the “If Tadpole Is A Girl Cardi”

 It’s from the Sirdar pattern book Baby Bamboo Too. I’m using Rowan hand knit cotton that I’ve had in my stash since last year. The back is complete and I’ve started on one of the fronts, I think this will be a sweet cardi over a summer dress next year.

I cast on for this yesterday because I was a little scared that we are unprepared for a girl. I’ve had a notion early on that I was having a boy and began collecting boy things with a few girl items on the side. Then it hit me that Tadpole just might be a girl and I might want to knit a few girly things that would be nice cover ups  dresses etc. There just aren’t that many boy things that I want to knit so I may as well knit what I want and be prepared for a girl as well.

Soooo how are you all??? It’s been a while!!

 

 

My lack of knitting mojo can only mean one thing………

I’m gonna have a BABY!!!

 

13 weeks 4 days

Hopefully my mojo will come back soon, I’ve got some cute baby clothes to knit!

 

Pattern: Garter Yoke Cardigan by Melissa LaBarre

Yarn: Tahki Donegal Tweed

Needles: U.S. 7’s

Start Date: January 26th 2009

Finish Date: March 7th 2009

This poor cardi has suffered a lot since its cast on date.

Trying to capture my attention while startitis had a hold on me, suffering a complete loss of my knitting mojo, not to mention troubles finding the perfect buttons.

 It did eventually all come together in its own time and I’m quite pleased with how it turned out!

 

I love the simplicity of this cardigan!

The garter yoke and trim really makes the pattern come alive and adds interest to an everyday cardi.

I made a few modifications to this cardi that were all about length. I lengthed the sleeves and added a few more rows of garter to the cuffs. I lengthed the stockenette that came right after the yoke as I found it still too short compared to where it should have ended and I also added a few inches of length to the body of the cardi matching the garter trim with the cuffs.

I can’t imagine what the end result would have been had I not been able to try it on as I went. My noodle like body needs all the length it can get in order to have a comfy and wearable sweater.

I also love the colour of this yarn. Red always surprises me, I’m not too fond of it in the skein but when I see it on it totally pops. For some reason I avoid red clothes, I have no idea why its just not something I gravitate towards. Show me a green shirt and the red gets left in my dust but I must admit to my mum being right.

She always told me I looked good in red. Maybe it takes the attention away from my pastey white skin who knows but I’m starting to agree with her and will give some thought to adding more red into my wardrobe.

Even though I have 2 sweaters, one tunic and a sock to finish I feel myself being pulled towards the stash in search of something bright and fun to knit.

I’ve been wanting to knit the Baby Surprise Jacket forever but hadn’t realized that the pattern was not only in the book  The Opinionated Knitter  by Elizabeth Zimmerman but that it was also for sale as a single pattern at Webs.

I’ve had the pattern for a couple of months now and its been calling to me, begging to be knit. Of course it just so happens that I have yarn in my stash for it too.

 This is Lorna’s Laces shepherd sport multi in Bittersweet, a bright combination of pinks, purples and oranges. If this colourway looks half as nice as Rebecca’s did, I’ll be very happy.

Wish me luck!

Enough already with the SNOW!!!!

At 8 o’clock this morning I was out shovelling snow from the fence, no not the driveway the fence!!! 

We’ve had to dig a trench all the way along the fencing of our property. There is just sooo much snow that it was actually higher than the fence we put up and Boston was able to just walk right out on to the road. Leave it to my little devil to find a way out.

We were blattered with 30cms of snow in a meer 7 hrs in the early hours this morning which easily filled the previous trench we had dug on saturday. This morning it was back to trench digging while Moose plowed out the driveway.

All that work for this little Bohemian trench jumper!!

I did of course have my trusty trench guard on duty to make sure there was no trench jumping while I dug it out again. 

After 3 hours of digging we’re back to a jump free zone only to find out we’re getting another 5-10cms before the day is out.

PLEASE SEND SPRING!!!

 

I’ve wanted to knit nonaknits‘ sidewinder socks for quite some time.  I debated back and forth which yarn and colourway to use for them for about a month before I finally cast on.

I wanted pooling, lots of pooling *not typically something I want in my socks but this pair was an exception* long flashes of pooling look awesome on these socks. I thought I would  use a yarn from Spunky Eclectic that I’ve had in my stash for a while which  I’d used to knit *start to knit* pomatomus’s in my early sock knitting days on size 0 needles….. can you say wayyyy to tight. I thought colourwise it  would be the best suited yarn in my stash for this project but was concerned about the amount, if any of pooling, Amy’s yarn’s are nicely variegated but not a lot of pooling from the skein’s I’ve used.

I pondered the other yarns in my stash, in particular Art Ultramerino 4 in a green and blue combo. I remembered seeing a picture of the sidewinders someone had made on ravelry in similar colours,  I really liked them so decided to give it a go.

I was concerned at first because there seemed to be a lot of stripes happening but I had faith that as the pattern progressed the stripes would dissipate.

This first sock turned out quite well, not as much flashing and pooling as I would have liked but that can’t be helped. I really like the garter stitch short rows at the back of the leg, they create an interesting design in the sock and helps the sock  fit nice and snug around the leg.

I can’t say that I enjoyed grafting up the entire sock, from the ball of the foot all the way to the ribbing on the leg and a small horizontal graft along the ball to close it up. I actually cheated and used the three needle bind off for the horizontal graft, regular grafting just didn’t seem to work for me at that point.

All in all I’m pleased with the sock but I’m not exactly thrilled to graft sock number two once the time comes!

The second storm in 4 days is about to hit again tonight dumping approx. 30cms on us, winter is starting to wear out its welcome!!!

January was bitterly cold, wool hats, helmet liners, snowpants, nothing seemed to keep you warm. I had finally accepted the fact that I was going to be cold when I was outside and I’d just have to suck it up and get warm when I came back in.

 I cast my wellies aside in SEPTEMBER because my feet were too cold and I needed my winter boots to keep  my wee tootsies warm. Moose however continued to wear his throughout the winter and  I just assumed his wellies had  winter liners in them and thats why he was still wearing them even though his feet were always cold when he came in. I asked him if he’d like me to make him some winter socks to block out the cold and was pleasantly surprised when he replied that yes he would like a pair.  I thought “man he really must be feeling the cold!” he’s always sweating.

I started knitting the socks and then realized that Moose had been wearing plain old  rubber boots this whole winter, no liners and with only store bought socks on his feet. GOOD GRIEF!!! We immediatley went out and bought WINTER boots, apparently the ones I THOUGHT he was wearing this whole time had started to leak so he through them out .  I  worked solely on his socks, so I could get them on his feet pronto,  no knitters’  household should have cold feet!

The day before our anniversary he asked if the socks were done yet, geez he really did want these things. I was almost to the toe on the second sock so I told him I would have them done sometime the following day.

Pattern: Briggs and Little Heavy Socks

Yarn: Briggs and Little Tuffy

Needles: 3.25mm dpns

Start Date: January 3rd 2009

Finish Date: January 15th 2009

They fit to a T! They are very warm and most of all, HE WEARS THEM!!!

SUCCESS!!!! This goes down in history as the first pair of socks made for and worn by Moose…. maybe someday he’ll actually wear sock yarn socks….. or maybe that’s still wishful thinking!

While knitting these my dad complained about the cold, he works outside in it everyday and wears 2 -3 pairs of socks sooooo I wasn’t about to let that go unnoticed. He tried on one of Moose’s liked them, said he’d wear them so I told him I’d put him on the list.

 Mum and Dad are actually on vacation so I started them in hopes of having them finished by the time they got home. I chose green for his and am off to a great start….. I can foresee winter socks for the whole family in my future!!

The socks were definitely worn during a big ice storm we had in January. There was at least 4 inches of ice on our main road so Moose took that opportunity to go skating.

He actually skated up the driveway and out onto the road, it was crazy!!

 Poor Boss was stuck behind the gate, watching all the action!

We’re gearing up for another storm this afternoon.

Stay warm!

This year I decided that I would break out of my normal baking and cooking to try some new things that I love but have just never known how to make.

Soup is something that I eat all year round but especially during winter, warms me right down to my toes.

I’m a pretty picky eater and had never really found a recipe for soup that I like… that is until christmas 2008. I had an operation on my gums about two weeks before the holidays and was left to eat mushy foods and lots of soup. Let me tell you, you really find out how much you love food when you can’t eat the half of it.

My good friend Lisa was so kind to make me some soup to get me through the weeks of  the few foods I could eat. I was a little nervous at first because it was carrot soup and… well…vegetables and I don’t normally get along.

I heated it up, dipped the spoon into the edge of the soup gingerly and tasted it….

Oh my gosh it was awesome!!! It didn’t even taste like carrots!!!

I asked her for the recipe so I could give it a try hoping to come out with something edible…

Success!! This is the most wonderful creamy soup that I had to share with you all!

• 4T butter                                                               5 cups of chicken stock                     
•  1 chopped onion                                                1 cup of milk or cream
• 4 carrots sliced                                                   salt
• 1chopped stalk of celery                                 pepper
• 2 potatoes peeled and diced                         parsley

Add the potatoes and parsley and stir until coated.

Stir in the stock and cook, partially covered until potatoes are tender, about 20mins.

Puree in a blender or food processor.

Return to pot, stir in milk and add salt and pepper.

Reheat without boiling.

The only difference I made was that I didn’t use parsley *because I didn’t have any* and I threw in a few more potatoes because I like it nice and thick!

Let me know if you try it out and how you like it!!

My current WIP  *one of many really* is the Garter Yoke Cardigan from the latest issue of Knit 1. I’m using Tahki Donegal Tweed in a deep red shade. I’ve had this in my stash for quite some time, originally I had started making the Tweedy Aran Cardigan with it but ended up frogging the whole thing.  Its waited several years in the wings for the perfect project, and now the wait is over.

I’ve been working on this non stop so I only have the sleeves left to go. I don’t think this sweater is going to be as fitted as some of my other sweater but a nice comfy, cosy sweater is just what I need right now.

Pardon the unexpected blogging break but I changed  hosts making the blog  down for a bit. The lovely Missa at Knitblog hooked me up. I love my new template, that punch of colour is just what I needed. I think  I’m going to be much happier with this host.

I may not have  been able to blog but I most definitely have been knitting!

Pattern:  Thorpe by Kirsten Kapur

Yarn: Handspun from a local farm

Needles: 5.5mm ’s

Start Date:  January 6th 2009

Finish Date: January 22nd 2009

 The last few weeks have been bitterly cold on The Ridge with temps dipping down to the -40’s with the wind chill. I had a dire need to cast on for some wooley necessities that would make the month of January go by a bit easier. The first project I was in need of was a warm winter hat. Snowshoeing with the dogs has become a daily event and the hats I was wearing  just weren’t keeping out the cold or covering my ears. Thorpe had been in my queue for quite some time and seemed like the perfect fit for what I needed.

 

The yarn has been in my stash for quite a few years, the only handspun I’ve ever owned. I knit it doubled for extra warmth and used Queensland Kathmandu left over from Moose’s Cobblestone for the trim.  Knitting the hat itself was quite a chore… I didn’t have circs in the right size so the whole thing was knit on dpns, talk about annoying. It didn’t help that I had to start the thing 3 times either! I’d noticed alot of Thorpe’s on Ravelry that were knit in the large size and were loose fitting, I wanted mine to hug my head so I cast on for the small. About half way through I realized it   was wayyy to small so I frogged and started again with the medium. Let me tell you casting on 4 stitches on 4 different needles is no easy feat, I deemed this would be the last time I cast on. The medium just didn’t seem be enough again so before I went any further I put a life line in the last increase for the medium. *had my thinking cap on that day* Once I reached the end of the increases for the large I was still unsure that it would be big enough *top down hats and I aren’t the best of friends* so I increased a few more rows and carried on my merry way. It wasn’t until I had the hat finished and tried it on I realized it was loosing fitting…… just how I DIDN’T want it.

Thank goodness for life lines!!!

I ripped back to the medium life line  added the few increases back up the the large and knit on HOPING this would produce the final Thorpe. This one fit to a T!!

  The result was a warm and snug hat perfect for all our snowshoeing adventures.

Thorpe is a very popular pattern around the blogs right now. If you haven’t knit it your already you should only just make sure you try the large size first

You know its bad when your husband is whinning about not having a new post to read….. I didn’t realize my knitting captivated him so much

Pattern: Quick Mustard Scarf by Jane Richmond

Yarn: Patons Shetland Chunky in Mustart

Needles: U.S. 15

Start Date: December 22nd 2008

Finish Date: December 23rd 2008

I was in need of a quick simple project that would distract me from the finishing frenzy just before christmas. Chunky needles and some bright yellow yarn proved to be just the pick me upper I needed.

I knit almost all of this over an hour or two of telly, with only a row or two to knit the following day. A simple soothing knit that grew quickly, ahhhhh instant FO.

2009 has arrived and I thought i’d start off the year with a small project that I’ve been dying to cast on for…. Thermis by Kristen Patay. I’m using Patons Classic Merino in Grey Mix, the same as in the pattern. As soon as I saw this pattern I knew I had to knit it and grey seems to be a favourite colour of mine in the past few months so it only made sense that I make it in grey. This pattern reminds me of a sweater, the waffle stitch and the way the little collar flap buttons over like the top of a sweater, ahhhh I love it so much!

More new knits to come and plans for 2009.