KAL standstill

My Featherweight Cardi progress has come to a screeching halt!

The body is finished, and I just bound off the collar part….and tried it on…well, let’s just say, I’m going to have to redo the last part.

Here’s my dilemma. I decided to work the collar in a K1, P1 rib. But because it is a lace-weight yarn worked on larger size needles, it looks a bit like a lace pattern, and I like that, but, still, a K1, P1 rib will end up gathering the fabric  (if you know what I mean), so now the front looks short, and almost ruched.  NOT a good look. So I will have to unravel it and redo it in a plain stockinette……ahhhhh, frustrating!  I Can’t bring myself to undo it just yet…..

Boston

I've always complained that I feel isolated living in Montreal, that all vacation destinations are too far. To overcome this mental block, this year we took a road-trip to Boston.

A six hour car ride may sound like a nightmare when traveling with a three-year old, but a trip to the Dollarstore provided us with enough distractions for the drive. The studio booked, the directions printed, and our stops strategically planned out, we left early on a Saturday morning. I took full advantage of the long drive to work on my KAL cardigan and made great progress.

Now let me tell you about Boston. I loved it, we all did! It did not stop us one bit that we were there during the heat-wave, we were out all day, every day. We stayed in the North End, or Little Italy, within walking distance to a multitude of restaurants, cafes, pastry shops, as well as Quincy Market and the harbor. A great location! We spend a lot of time in the Public Gardens and Boston Common to cool off, but we also visited Beacon Hill and Harvard, the Children's museum and the Museum of Fine Arts. Quite a bit for a five day trip. Our planning was based mostly on information from Frommers, a great source.

I will leave you with a few of my favorite shots of our trip.

Next time... I'll tell you all about Ogunquit beach in Maine.

KAL Progress

What a summer! I can say that this one is the first in a long time that I am thoroughly enjoying. I’ve been able to put worries aside, but to be honest also housework and all other chores to really focus on absorbing the good weather. I could get used to this!

I’ll be posting about our trip to Boston and Maine in the next few weeks, but I wanted to give you a glimpse of the progress I’ve made on my Featherweight cardigan. I knew that a 6 hour drive each way would come in handy. I really like how this is coming along. My sister was kind enough to model this time. Not bad right?

The Dog Days of Summer

All’s been quiet on the blog-sphere, at least for me. I guess that my plan of updating the blog every week was a little ambitious. A lot of things have been going on lately, and between selling a house, building a new one, finding a new daycare and another job, my mind and time have been occupied.

So here’s the plan. As I have joined the luvinthemommyhood summer sweater knit-along, I’ll be posting about my progress. Because this is one project I will not give up on. It’s my first KAL ever, it’s my first real project for myself, so this is something I will see through. Following the progress of my fellow KAL participants, I cannot help but freak out when I see that some have already finished a sweater, and starting on a second one!!! Talk about motivation!

In parting, let me share some summer-feelings with you. I cannot believe we are already in July. I always panic when I realize how fast the summer is passing. It is my favorite season; I can never get enough of lazy afternoons, spent in the shade, with a good book or an interesting knitting project, enjoying a nice breeze, while bees are buzzing around and kids splashing in the pool, laughing and squealing with delight. I love packing up a blanket and a picnic basket, finding a cool spot to lie down, looking up at the leaves and seeing the sunshine peek through. These images, these thoughts are what gets me through our long, cold (did I mention long?) winters.

So keeping this in mind, can you blame me for slacking off on my knitting???

Best friends and a Debbie Bliss cardigan

Do you still remember your best friend from childhood? Do you still keep in touch? How special are these memories to you?

As a mother, I find it fascinating to see my son forge relationships. There’s his best friend from daycare, his partner in crime, whom he plans on taking along for a ride when he gets his own motorcycle and his girlfriend, whom he wears his Super-man T-shirt for. And then there are the friends he sees on weekends, the ones he goes on vacation with and meets at activities.

I am a little obsessive about capturing little special moments for him to remember. I love this picture of A. and one of his buddies. Don’t they look like they’re up to no good?

What does this have to do with knitting you ask? Well, I wanted to show off a new FO. It’s another Debbie Bliss Pattern from “Baby knits for beginners”, specifically the raglan cardigan. I chose a bright-red cotton acrylic mix yarn for durability, and I am really happy with how this turned out.

As this was made for a 3 year old, I enlarged the pattern a bit, and it looks like I’m getting better at adjusting knitting patterns. Now I just have to knit a matching one for A. so they can go out and charm the ladies.

Summer Sweater knit along

Can you believe that I have never tackled an adult sized knitting project? I mean, ok , I’ve “only” been knitting for 3 years, but I’ve always focused on small, fast projects, mainly baby clothes and accessories. But now that I have gathered some experience, I figured I am ready for a new challenge.

Then I saw this post on Luvinthemommyhood, and it was the push I needed to make a commitment. I’ve wanted to knit Hannah Fettig’s Featherweight Cardigan for a while now, and I had even purchased the yarn. The color is this intense red-orange-y-pink/fuchsia. Not my usual color, but something about it just made me think it’d be perfect.

I have never joined a KAL, I simply have no time, but since this is on-line, it’s the perfect alternative. So get ready to hear about this project and its progress, I am myself curious to see how it will turn out.

Kindle love

I am a bit of a bookworm, I love reading, and because I take public transportation to and from work, I do get a lot of time to do it. This quiet hour in the morning helps me prepare for work, and relax after, on my way home. I consider it “me” time, and I look forward to it every day.

This is why, a while back, I bought a Kindle and I have to say that I love it. Because it is one of my most prized possessions I want to take good care of it, but keeping it in my purse can easily lead to it being scratched or damaged. It needs a sleeve. I got one on Etsy a while back, and it’s really cute, but I thought I would “marry” my two passions, reading and knitting and make my own sleeve.

I had leftover yarn from this project, so I set to work. I tried a few different stitch combinations, but ultimately what showed off this yarn best was a simple stockinette stitch. I made a moss stitch border and a matching button flap. The lining is made from matching-color felt fabric.

Quick, simple and stylish, I think!

If anyone feels like making something similar here are the details:

CO 36 sts.

1st Row: *K1, P1* repeat to end.

2nd Row: *P1,K1* repeat to end.

Repeat these 2 rows forming the moss stitch 5 more times.

Beginning with a knit row, work in stockinette until the piece measures 14 inches.

Knit another 12 row border in moss stitch as indicated above.

Bind off.

FINISHING

For the lining, cut a piece of fabric (preferably felt) to be about 5.25 inches wide and 16 inches long and sew the sides together. Join the sides of the knitted case as well and insert the fabric into the kintted piece. Sew together in several places to secure.

For the flap:

CO 42 stitches. Work 5 rows in moss stitch.

6th Row: knit the first 5 stitches in moss stich, k2tog, yf,(this creates a buttonhole) seed stitch to the end.

Rows 7-11: continue in moss stitch.

Bind off.

Sew flap onto the case, positioning it in the middle at the beginning of the border. Choose a cute botton and sew on.

Voila, finished Kindle case!

P.S. Tanis fiber Arts is hosting a great give-away. Head on over for a chance to win. You can find it at http://tanisfiberarts.blogspot.com/2011/05/super-duper-double-giveaway.html