| Free Patterns |
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Sale Patterns |
- Phlox Socks - the Robyn's Nest June Sock Club
Pattern will be for sale as of October 1 2008
(You can email me or leave a comment and I will notify you when the pattern is available.)
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| I Want to Knit |
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| Thursday, January 26, 2006 |
| I Would Kill for Sleep |
I don't know what's with me lately, but I'm always freezing and always exhausted. And not just "oh I'm kinda tired". I mean falling-asleep-at-my-desk-at-work tired. Last night I fell asleep so fast that I didn't even have time to put in the earplugs I usually sleep with because Yannick's snoring is so loud. And I didn't wake up until 7am. THAT'S tired!
I know, I know, it's 11:30pm and I'm posting when I could be sleeping. I'm just doing a quick install of some software on my Palm and then I'm crashing, I swear. I had planned to go to bed so early tonight, but CSI and Without A Trace were both new episodes and I convinced myself that I just HAD to stay up and watch, because Valentine's Day is in about 2 1/2 weeks and I need to get a move on Yannick's Mega Socks which I finally frogged and restarted last night. (That frog was for you Robyn). :)
At least tomorrow I get a good night's sleep, somewhat. In an attempt to suck up for ditching me the other night, Yannick wanted to go out to a coffee shop somewhere and knit together. The plans he ditched from were to knit together because he's still working on that blankie for me, and he thinks by volunteering to do it publicly that he'll earn some extra credit. Normally he would, but Saturday I need to be up nearly at the crack of dawn to be at my mom's 'cus all the bridal party women are pilling into her van and meeting the other bridal party chicks at a bridal salon for 8am. And the salon is on Chabanel, like 30 minutes drive time. Well, Saturday 7:30am...maybe 20 minutes. Still, it means waking up reeeeeallly early. Luckily Yannick agreed to work for me so I can go with and see what my bridesmaids et al try on, so instead of going to work afterwards I think I'll come home and nap. |
posted by Jennifer Lori @ 11:25 pm   |
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| Tuesday, January 24, 2006 |
| Happy Birthday Auntie Mimi! |
Today is my aunt's birthday, so after work I went out with her, my mom, my other aunt and my cousin to Daou, a Lebanese restaurant on Marcel Laurin. Apparently it's THE birthday spot to go to, because 9 tables were occupied, and 8 of them had birthdays! When it's your birthday all of a sudden a loud tape comes on playing the Lebanese version of "Happy Birthday" and I swear it came on 8 times, and 8 times they brought out baklava or some other dessert for the birthday people. Kinda funny. The food was great though. It was my first time there and I would definately go back.
Yesterday I did manage to make a swatch on the bulky machine with the Homespun yarn. It took a lot of effort. I wound up making only 2 samples, as seen below:
The Homespun gauge is 14 sts/20 rows = 4" st st. The narrow-looking part was done on every needle at the loosest setting (10.2 I think). The looser part was done on the tightest setting (0) but on every other needle. Here's the thing. Both are pretty close on the stitch count. Every needle gives me 14 sts to the 4" on the nose. Every other needle gives me 13.5, and the jacket is too large anyways so I can play with that. Unfortunately I'm not even close with the row count. Counting 20 rows on the tighter one gives me barely 3", and on the looser one I get around 3.25"/3.5". I know that the pattern is basically a rectangle and I can recalculate my gauge to make it the correct length...I just don't know if I want to bother. I can barely see anything with this yarn and my skill on the machine isn't that good. It's common for me to have an odd loop at the edge of a row from not pulling the yarn taut enough, or to accidentally drop a stitch. A big part of me is leaning towards doing this by hand just so I have complete control over it, because I really feel that when I use the machines I'm NOT in control. We'll see. I'll ask Yannick later which fabric he likes better- the one from the machine or mine by hand, as I have about 4" done so far. My fabric has more drape, that's for sure. There's nothing stopping me from doing it by hand. It's slower, and I have to keep scrunching the yarn down 'cus it bunches up along the core. But it's soft, and a relaxing, easy knit. I just feel so silly having 2 knitting machines and not using them, especially on a pattern as easy as this one. Oh- I finished 1 Fibonacci sock last night! I'll post a pic tomorrow. |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 10:35 pm |
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| Sunday, January 22, 2006 |
| Rethinking the Homespun Jacket |
| This just popped into my head: I love the texture and the feel of this stuff, and I can't wait to cuddle up in my jacket. Just the more I think that I could probably do it on the machine, the more I'm loathe to keep working on it by hand. I know I tried Homespun on my new standard bed machine and I couldn't get it working. I'm thinking if I try to swatch it up on the bulky machine I might have more luck. Hmm. A project for tomorrow I think. |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 10:22 pm |
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| New Post and Pics! |
Haven't really done much knitting over the weekend...in fact, haven't done much of anything. Yannick went up north Thursday morning for a few days, so Thursday night I was on my own. I thought I'd get so much done, but I only get home from work at 8:30, and by the time I got into bed I had such a headache and have been so utterly bone-tired lately...I knit a few rows on my Homespun jacket and then did 1/2 an hour of puzzles over the phone with my brother Mike. You know I was close to a migraine when I called him after only 1/2 an hour to stop playing!
Friday night Yannick was still up north, so again I thought I'd get SO MUCH done. Hm. I don't think I knit at ALL Friday night. I've been playing a video game called Beyond Good & Evil, and was so addicted that I worked on that all night.
Saturday I worked, then Yannick came home really late. We went for supper around 9pm at Oggi, the new place that replaced Spaggio's. The food was good...but... Let's see: the decor is almost exactly the same. The menu has less choices than before, but the prices are about the same (under 20$ for almost every main course, basic meals starting around $11). The main difference? The portions are tiny! Everyone knew that at Spaggio's you'd be buying dinner and lunch for the next day 'cus the portions were so huge. I ordered a calzone (kudos for having whole wheat pizza crust, although why no whole wheat pasta?) and the size was pretty big. I couldn't finish it. Yannick's pasta, however, didn't even fill the center depression of his plate. Really small portion, so small that I was thisclose to saying something about it. The only consolation was the OHMYGODTHISISNOWMYFAVORITECAKEEVER slice of Reese's Pieces cake. Oh my. dietdietdiet. After dinner we came home and started watching Mad TV. Since it was a repeat we switched to Saturday Night Live at 11:30 but were both so tired that we shut it off and went to sleep. I don't know what's up with me lately but I'm constantly tired and usually very cold.
This morning I was a good girl and went to Curves and worked off that slice of cake I shared with Yannick last night. After getting home and showering we went to try out that new breakfast place near us called CofeToast (their spelling error, not mine). It was good although my omelet was a bit watery, but my fault for not asking for "well done". I came home after 'cus Yannick had to go help a friend with car troubles, so I decided to tackle what was left of my video game. [insert drumroll here] I beat the game! I'm so proud of myself!!! I don't usually play video games that aren't on the PC 'cus I'm not too good at the controls and I really don't like fighting games, I prefer puzzles and strategy stuff. I like to walk into a room and have to figure out that if I move that block over here and jump on it then get the light to reflect in the mirror before the sun sets that I can get to the next room...etc. Well, not only did I play the entire game by myself (except for one boss I had Yannick beat 'cus after dying 3 times I got fed up) I finished the whole thing, INCLUDING the Big Boss at the end. Who is absolutely evil. And annoying. But I DID IT!!! I keep switching between flying high with pride and being really sad that the game's over. I don't think I'll find another game that I can handle like this one. There wasn't too much fighting, and the game didn't let you fall off ledges and stuff, which would be a problem for me anywhere else 'cus I can't handle the controls too well.
Yannick picked me up at supper time and we went to my parents' house. My aunt Fran was over, as well as my other aunt Miriam who just got back from spending a month or so touring alone around China. She brought some stuff home for all of us, as did my parents from their cruise this holiday season. Wanna see what I got? See below! |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 10:08 pm |
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Can you see what this is? I couldn't believe it when I saw it...it's a giant can of Red Bull Energy Drink! This pic is taken right at the corner of the street I work on. I was heading away from work to the closest nursery, 'cus I'm having issues with a cactus garden. Anyways, I thought the car with the giant can was so cute that I took a picture. :) |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 10:08 pm |
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This yarn is a gift from Auntie Mimi, brought all the way from Hong Kong! You'd be amazed to see how excited I was to get yarn, actually dancing around the kitchen and making everyone touch it. The pink ones have a texture similar to an extremely soft terry cloth, and the blue one is actually 3 strands, a thin pale blue, a slightly thicker dark blue, and an even thicker gray that together all feel like a polar sweat suit. Now I need to figure out how to gauge the yardage! I'm guessing I can take out a pre-measured amount, weigh it, then weigh the whole thing and do the math. If anyone has a better idea (short of me buying that $30 US gadget) let me know! |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 9:53 pm |
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Up next are the gifts from my parents' trip. Those who were following along knew that they took a cruise to the South Caribbean (sp?) over Christmas, and tonight they gave some of us our gifts. First there is a lovely blue shawl, really silky and very finely woven. My mom said it was so I could have one that I didn't have to make for myself! :) Next is a case for my cell phone with a "J" and a little mug on it, perfect reminder for me to go grab a cup of tea! The blue necklace is strung with shells of a really soft, pale blue that goes so nice with my eyes (if I do say so myself), and then the REALLY large black bag from Curacao that will be perfect for holding, guess what? Knitting! There was one other gift, shown below this pic. |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 9:49 pm |
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Last but not least, a gorgeous pearl bracelet from Iles de la Marguerite or somewhere. They even come with a certificate proving their authenticity. Isn't it gorgeous? 3 different shades. My sister and I both got the same bracelet (so we wouldn't fight about whose was nicer!) |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 9:46 pm |
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| Friday, January 20, 2006 |
| So Many Knitting Meetups, So Little Time! |
This has been quite a knitting week. After barely getting anything done last week, my fingers have practically been flying...
Monday Yannick and I met up with my parents to check out some display stores. Before hand Yannick realized he needed some stuff he'd left at our store, which meant that we had to drive all the way down to work just to go pick it up, and drive all the way back...a 40+ minute round trip. Guess who brought her knitting? :)
Tuesday night was the Montreal Knitting Guild meeting. We had a speaker there, a woman whose name I forget right now but she makes and sells these wonderful felted bags, really inspiring. I worked on Yannick's Mega Socks. I was worried because the last socks I'd knit him had 17 sts to the ndl (4 ndls) and after getting my gauge and following the Simple Socks Plain & Fancy directions I had 21 sts/ndl. They looked huge! Later that night I had him close his eyes so I could try it on him and still end up with somewhat of a surprise...sure enough they were WAY too big. I pinched the extra and counted the stitches...guess how many sts I need to remove? Enough to end up with 17 sts/ndl! RRR
Wednesday night was the meetup for the Montreal Knits girls. I really wanted to go this time, and since Yannick promised me that Wednesday nights were for him to work on my little blankie, he agreed to come with. :]]] Then, after mentioning it to my cousin Robyn who knits and crochets, she decided to come too! So we were there almost all night, I think we only left around 9:30 or so. I had a really fun time, although either they raised the music volume, or I'm going deaf, 'cus I could barely hear anything said more than 1 person away from me. Next time I'm sitting in the middle! :) I only got one pic of all that knitting Wed, the one I just posted. |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 8:24 am |
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Unfortunately this is the only pic I managed to get that night, a funky tangle of Mona's and Molly Ann's yarns that looks strangely like an art sculpture. |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 8:24 am |
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| Sunday, January 15, 2006 |
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I just finished my swatch for making the free jacket and hat pattern off the LionBrand website. It's my first time using Homespun. I have to say, it's a *bit* annoying to knit with 'cus I have to keep scrunching it down as the yarn bunches up, but the feel of the finished product is sooooooooooooo comfy! I'm already dreaming of blankets and throws and pillows...this stuff is sooo soft!! Now that my gauge is spot-on, I'm ready to start my jacket. |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 11:34 pm |
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Here's the Lace Sock I finished a few weeks ago (only started last year LOL). |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 9:05 pm |
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And a close-up of the lace itself. It's my first pair of socks for myself! |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 9:03 pm |
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Here's the mega sock so far. I'll be working more on this tonight 'cus Yannick's not home. These will hopefully be a Valentine's surprise. |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 9:02 pm |
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| Socks Pictures Up! |
Friday night Julie and Rich came over to play poker. I won. :] I'm allowed to be excited- usually I'm one of the first out 'cus I work the next day and I want to go to bed. This time I was actually doing really well, neck-and-neck with Rich. It was almost 12 and we had 16 chips different between us so we decided to bet it all on one more hand. I won with a pair of twos and we felt so bad that Yannick decided it would be "best of 3". Rich won the next hand but on the very last one I managed to pair my Ace on the river card and won. $15...woo hoo!
Saturday after work Yannick and I went to Debbie and Gregg's place for dinner, movie, more poker and football. Had a really good time, although we watched the movie Red Eye and while I LOVE Rachel McAdams in anything, Cillian Murphey's eyes totally creep me out. He plays evil waay too well, first in Batman Begins and now in this. The movie was pretty good, although the ending was just a tad abrupt. I was first out in our poker game but luckily I never go anywhere without knitting in my bag so I got more work done on the Fibonacci socks while they played. I finished the 34 rows of cream and have 55 rows of pink to do. I've decided that these rows will finish the sock, and I'll probably do some kind of twisted stitch rib.
Today we slept in (FINALLY) and then I played video games for a bit. Yannick got me totally hooked on Beyond Good & Evil on the Gamecube. I normally don't play, even though I love anything that has stuff to figure out, because I'm not very precise with the controller. I want the character to move a certain way and sometimes it moves the wrong way and I get very bad vertigo when that happens. I'll get really naseous and once threw up, just from trying to play video games. In any case, this one is totally up my alley, very cool game, very good premise and a lot of fun to play. I'll get more into it another time 'cus it's almost 9 and I want to get into bed and knit. :)
I played most of the afternoon and then started knitting Yannick's Mega Socks. It's a new yarn I found at the LYS, called Mega Boots Stretch. More info here: http://www.lanagrossa.com/produkte/02_2005meilenweit_single.php?id=51
I'm making him the color pictured, dark with blues. I also bought the burg/black combo for myself. Up next will be the pic of the sock so far (just the toe, about to turn for the other side) and also 2 pics of my finished Lace Socks. Enjoy! |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 8:53 pm |
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| Friday, January 13, 2006 |
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As promised, here's the pic of the Fibonacci sock now that I've turned the heel. I still don't know what to do for the cuff though...ribbing seems too boring for this sock, but I need something to give it elasticity... Still thinking about it.... |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 7:05 pm |
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| Thursday, January 12, 2006 |
| Can't Think of a Title... |
Too tired to think of a title. My dad was on vacation for the 2 weeks from Christmas until this week and I opened the store every morning on time, and now that he's back he's been opening on time, so I've been very tired 'cus my body still wants to stay up at night. Blah.
I turned the heel on the Fibonacci sock last night. This toe-up sock thing is so cool! The other way is easy and great too, but with these socks I didn't know how long I wanted the cuff part, and so I decided to try it toe-up. I love the heel! So easy! It's basically a short-rowed hourglass shape that makes the toes, then do the length of the foot and the same short row toe for the heel, then do the body. I don't know why I'm finding it faster this way, maybe it's just my imagination. More pictures this weekend though.
I went to my LYS on Monday to get a needle gauge for my cousing Robyn, to pick up more cream Regia 4ply for the Fibonacci socks, and another 6mm needle (an Aero this time) so I can start working on a Homespun jacket without finishing my Goldilocks shrug (remember it?). While there I made the mistake of looking at the sock yarn...don't tell Yannick! :) I bought 3 100g balls, good for 1 full pair each. 2 for me, 1 for Yannick. I keep wanting to start it so I can have it as a Valentine's day gift, but each night I sit down to knit he comes home early and wants to hang out!
I can't believe it's 2006 already. I'm getting married this year. How cool is that??? Happy belated New Year to everyone. |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 9:20 pm |
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| Thursday, January 05, 2006 |
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I also finished the lace socks this week (picture coming soon). I had about 20g of the cream color left in each of the 50g balls and was wondering what to do with it when I remembered the raspberry sock yarn I had stashed away. I thought the two colors reminded me of those raspberry 'n cream candies, so I started these socks. They are my first toe-up socks, following the directions in Simple Socks Plain & Fancy by Priscilla someone (the book is at work). The stripe pattern is the Fibonacci sequence: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, etc... where every number is the sum of the previous two numbers. I think it's supposed to make a sequence that's pleasing to the eye. I like it, anyways. |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 9:04 pm |
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This is a closeup of one of the shawl's corners. |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 9:02 pm |
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Today I finished the Tasha Tudor shawl. It needs to be blocked big-time, as right now the garter stitch pulls it up too short, and pulls the bottom point into a strange curve. I'll have to soak it in Eucalan and pin it out on our spare bed- I think that's the only place big enough! It's made from Noro Kureyon. |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 9:01 pm |
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Here he is counting stitches. The blankie is a made-up pattern- seed stitch checkerboards with a center of stockinette. |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 8:59 pm |
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On Saturday Yannick came to spend the day with me at work. He took the opportunity to cast on for the blankie he's making me as an anniversary gift. This will be the first and last thing he'll ever knit. :) |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 8:58 pm |
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