| 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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| Monday, September 29, 2008 |
| new blog link |
Ok, here is the information you need:
As of Wednesday, October 1 2008, I will no longer be using Blogger to run my blog. I am switching to Wordpress.
If you:
a) visit me by typing in http://www.jeloca.com/ then you don't need to do anything different. It will automatically send you to the right place.
b) visit me by using any type of feed reader (like Bloglines) then you will need to update your link. Please add the following link: http://jeloca.wordpress.com/ as this will replace the Blogger one.
p.s. Obviously, if it doesn't work for you, please let me know! My email address won't change, and any comments sent to this blog will still get to me.
I can't wait to see you in my new home! All new content (posts, patterns) will be over there, so come on by!
thanks for reading,
Jennifer Lori.
http://www.jeloca.com/Labels: admin |
posted by Jennifer Lori @ 2:10 pm   |
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| Friday, September 26, 2008 |
| upcoming changes |
I know my posts have been a bit sporadic lately, and there is a good reason for that. I've been working hard behind the scenes setting up a new blog over at Wordpress.
I'm posting this announcement here in advance to inform everyone that my blog address will be changing as of Wednesday, October 1 2008.
What does this mean for you?
If you visit me by entering http://www.jeloca.com into a web browser- this changes NOTHING for you. My new blog will be sent to my actual website, so you can keep visiting me there, and you will see all the fancy new changes.
If you visit me by entering http://www.jeloca.blogspot.com into a web browser OR through Bloglines OR any other feed reader- you will need to update your link. I will make the new address available on September 30th before I go to bed. :)
Why bother making the switch? As of October 1st not only will the blog have moved, but there will be new features available. The look will be cleaner and more organized, and there will also be patterns! Both my free patterns and my sale patterns will be posted.
I hope to see you on the new site, and will post the new address the night before. See you soon!Labels: admin |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 10:23 am |
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| Tuesday, September 23, 2008 |
| kat-tun |
You people are good!  I can't believe it was guessed! And by two of you, no less! Good job! Yes, I actually knit a Japanese "boy band". During Secret Pal 12, my pal posted the following photo, with the explanation that it was a band she loved and she wished she could go see playing (they were in Japan at the time).
 Seeing those cute little cartoony figures reminded me of the Pocket Pal I'd knit for Jakob a loooong time ago (Ravelry link), and I had a brain-wave. I'd knit her her very own boy band!
I used the basic shape of the Pocket Pal design, and changed the colors/clothing to reflect the cartoon figures.
All the KAT-TUN members were knit with scraps of Anchor and DMC embroidery floss, and on size 2.5mm needles.
If I knit more Pocket Pals with floss I would go down to a 2.25mm or even a 2mm needle, as I found them a little loose when stuffing. However, I think my next batch would be with worsted weight yarn, to have larger toys for my kids to play with.
 AKANISHI JIN He was the first one I completed, and I realized belatedly that he should have long sleeves, and not short sleeves, as I accidentally knit.
 NAKAMARU YUICHIYou can barely tell, but I actually knit his pants in fair isle to get the plaid effect of the original.
 TANAKA KOKIIf I were to change the pattern, I would only work 2 rows of the white shirt, instead of 4. I find it wider than the illustration and it bugs me. You can't see it in this photo, but I actually used silver floss for the chain hanging around his waist.
 KAMENASHI KAZUYAI had fun with this one, although his hair left much to be desired. If you look closely, you can even see the fringe I embroidered below his leather jacket!
 TAGUCHI JUNNOSUKEI should have stuffed this one more, but misjudged how much I would actually need. Luckily he's so busy with his funky jacket and pink waist-scarf, that you can barely tell. UEDA TATSUYA I struggled with how to include the gauzy over-shirt this guy is wearing, but in the end I decided to omit it. My photo doesn't show it, but I did include the white patches on each shoulder.  Here's the back view of the 6. Please ignore the jog on the black & white striped shirt!
Here's the group shot with all 6 lined up in front of their respective cartoon icons. I am very pleased with how they turned out, but they weren't for me, after all...
Want to know what my secret pal thought? To see her reaction, and the cute box I sent them in, click here.
Labels: Akanishi Jin, FO, Kamenashi Kazuya, KAT-TUN, my patterns, Nakamaru Yuichi, Pocket Pals, secret pal 12, Taguchi Junnosuke, Tanaka Koki, Ueda Tatsuya |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 7:50 am |
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| Monday, September 22, 2008 |
| thisclose |
 You people are good! Two letters left...unless you want to make a guess...
Labels: secret pal 12 |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 10:10 pm |
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| so close... |
 Another letter on the board!
And the hanged-man gets an arm. :( So close! Only a few letters left!!! Labels: secret pal 12 |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 9:33 am |
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| Sunday, September 21, 2008 |
| almost there... |
 The board is filling up nicely!
Unfortunately, we are now have a hangman on the noose too. :( Good luck! Labels: secret pal 12 |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 2:59 pm |
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| Saturday, September 20, 2008 |
| on a roll people... |
So far, so good! Labels: secret pal 12 |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 5:34 pm |
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| so far so good... |
Keep those guesses coming! So far, no hangman necessary... Labels: secret pal 12 |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 3:10 pm |
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| Friday, September 19, 2008 |
| and we're on the board! |
Good job KTE! Any other guesses? Labels: secret pal 12 |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 10:12 am |
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| Monday, September 15, 2008 |
| strangeness |
I tried posting a few times on Saturday and for some reason I could read other Blogger blogs, but not connect to my own. Weird!
I just realized I never showed you the finished BSJ, nor my recent progress on the Pinwheel Blankie (which might actually end up finished this week!). I need to clear some room on my camera's memory card, but check this space for those photos very soon!Labels: Baby Surprise Jacket, FO, Pinwheel Blanket, WIP |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 10:22 pm |
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| Thursday, September 11, 2008 |
| thank yous all around |
First of all, a big THANK YOU! to those who left me comments, both here and privately, wishing me a happy birthday. I don't remember if I replied to everyone personally, but I appreciate it all the same.
I spent a quiet birthday at work with Jakob and my dad, then passed the night away in my hairstylist's chair having my highlights redone. Nothing like a good cut and blow-dry to make a woman feel new again!
In the birthday spirit, I wanted to share some gifts I got recently.
Last Sunday Yannick and I did some shopping. We finally spent a store credit we'd amassed when returing some duplicate wedding gifts waaaay back in 2006, and picked up some nice household items. Before returning home Yannick decided to treat me to a little anniversary gift. See, we'd decided that since we have a lot of home renovations to do before the new baby comes, we wouldn't do our usual "go all out" on each other's anniversary/birthday gifts this year. We'd put the money towards our renos and just go out for dinner and a movie for each birthday. Last week I took him to see The Dark Knight on Wednesday and then out for dinner for calmari and fondu (mmm) on Friday.
Well, he decided that a little anniversary gift was in order. We have been following the traditional gift lists and exchanged paper gifts last year for our first anniversary. Anniversary # 2 is...cotton! (How perfect for a knitter?) We went out yarn/pattern shopping, on the provisions that a) the pattern be for me, and b) the yarn have cotton in it, preferably as the main "ingredient".
We found something!
 The pattern is Waves of Lace (Rav link) by Ilga Leja, and we bought enough yarn so I can make myself the tank top only. We thought it would be perfect to wear over a black or white tank, and go with either jeans, dressy pants or even (gasp!) a skirt. I always hesitate to buy blue yarn for tops even though I know it will be nice with my eyes, because I always wear blue or black pants and am afraid of looking like a bruise. I was going to choose a dark brown shade instead...however, Yannick convinced me. I really wanted a yarn that would be a bit slinky and dressy, not just a workhorse cotton. This Sirdar Duets yarn (Rav link) was the perfect weight and I think the shiny sections will give the tank just enough "oomph" without being too formal. Plus I can always order more yarn and make the shawl if I want.
On Tuesday night we had the first MKG meeting of the year, and Robyn brought me a gift bag stuffed with tissue paper. Being the anticipation-whore that I am, I insisted on resisting opening it until my actual birthday (Thursday). When I finally did open it, this is what I found:
 See a theme? Robyn knows I love ladybugs. :) There is ladybug-dyed sock yarn (of secret source, for now), a ladybug yarn cutter, some ladybug buttons, a pendant needle gauge and some Udderly SMOOth udder cream which matches the ladybug red/black theme (and works really, really well too!). Thanks Robyn!Labels: stash enhancing |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 8:01 am |
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| Wednesday, September 10, 2008 |
| SP12 QOTW |
Question 12 (a little late):
I'm sure most of us have a proudest moment when it comes to knitting. A project or technique that you've tackled and completed beautifully. What is your proudest knitting moment??
I'm still trying to come up with an answer to this one. There are so many moments I'm proud of with my knitting- my first a-ha! moment learning mattress stitch...Yannick's first pair of socks (also my first)...the first time I realized I could alter a pattern and not need to follow the exact directions (like doing short row shoulders and a 3ndl bo instead of binding off and seaming)...my first official pattern. I think everything that got me to *here* is my proudest moment.
And on the flip side? What is the one thing that you can't get right? What is that one project that you've never been able to complete? Or that you did complete but then hid away instantly because it was too embarrassing?
Honestly? None. I'm not thrilled with my Fair Isle but I know it will get better with practice. That doesn't stop me from using it. I have no hidden projects, and my only ufos are unfinished because of lack of time, not lack of skill or embarassment. I don't think there ARE any knitting skills that one cannot learn...so I have no answer to this part.Labels: secret pal 12 |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 9:26 am |
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| Saturday, September 06, 2008 |
| package # 2 |
I took these photos about 2 weeks ago and feel horrible that I haven't posted them yet. Sorry Secret Pal!
Package #2 from my secret pal had arrived, and I am so happy with it!
 There is a cute knitting card, a sheep magnet, a candle (cucumber-melon scent, yum!) and a set of post-its, 'cus you can never have too many! The best part is a skein of Dream in Color Smooshy!
 I tried taking the photos in natural light but for some reason they kept coming out blue, whereas the yarn is actual dark green. The label says "Giant Peach" which is clearly wrong, so after browsing DiC's website, I think the actual color is not listed there. It might have to be Good Luck Jade by default, but it's not dark enough. (Unless of course, my memory is failing me, and it actual IS blue, in which case it is probably Midnight Derby). Either way, Yannick is trying to claim it as his, so I might need to eke a pair of socks for both of us out of it!
Thanks Secret Pal!
Because there hasn't been enough lately, here's a photo of Jakob on his Rock 'n Roll trike:
 Labels: secret pal 12, stash enhancing |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 9:00 am |
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| Friday, September 05, 2008 |
| mmmmmmmmmmmmm food |
I swiped this from Laura 'cus it looked like fun:
Bold the one's you've eaten.
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (I ate alligator)
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O -Shots
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake
Now I'm hungry!Labels: meme |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 10:45 am |
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| Thursday, September 04, 2008 |
| Hanukah Dreidel Pillow, part 6 |
The finished pillow! Yay!
After finishing the front, I cast on for the back. The back was worked in 2 overlapping sections so that the pillow could come out easily for laundering/changing of the cover. My original intent was to leave it as is, but once seamed, the center of the back kept gaping, so I added a row of buttons. Had I had more time, and a proper plan in place, I might have sewn down a strip of Velcro instead.
 When it came time to join the front to the back I had been planning on working icord but since speed was still a factor (I had to mail it to Mary Maxim before the contest deadline) I chose the easiest and fastest way for me- single crochet. For fun I decided to use white around the blue areas, and blue around the white areas.
 And there you have it. One completed Hanukah Dreidel Pillow. Not a contest winner, but makes me proud enough to see it come out of my head and land on my couch.
Labels: FO, Hanukah Dreidel Pillow, my patterns |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 7:41 am |
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| Wednesday, September 03, 2008 |
| hey look- some of that stuff I've been knitting (and a special day too) |
I finally got around to taking some progress photos last night. It was really late so forgive the flash...but feel free to admire my new couches as the background! :)
This is the progress on the BullsEye Pinwheel Baby Blanket I've been carrying around as my "work anywhere" knitting. It doesn't look like much right now, but will hopefully look good once the bind off frees it from the confines of the circ I'm working on.
 I'm at row 38 and have calculated that I want to be at row 47 and either bind off, or work an edging, so the end is in sight!
Also, this weekend Maaike and I started knitting(along) Baby Surprise Jackets. Here's the progress on mine as I went to bed last night.
 I am at row 76 of the 114 row pattern.
 Here is how it will look when properly folded and seamed. I've decided that I will make the buttonholes on both sides as per the pattern, and will wait until our baby is born to choose buttons. The blue and green is pretty unisex in my opinion, but if we have a girl I think I'd like to put little flowers or something to push it over the girly edge.
I couldn't end today's post without mentioning 2 special things. 2 years ago, today, Yannick and I got married. Happy 2nd anniversary, my love!
 And perhaps even more special than that, today also happens to be Yannick's birthday.
 (Yes, chosen so he wouldn't forget the date).
Happy birthday sweetheart!
Labels: Baby Surprise Jacket, Pinwheel Blanket, WIP |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 7:49 am |
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| Tuesday, September 02, 2008 |
| book meme |
I swiped this from Dianne's site, mostly because I want to see how many of these "top 100" books I've actually read.
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The Big Read is an NEA program designed to encourage community reading initiatives and of their top 100 books, they estimate the average adult has read only six.
*Look at the list and bold those you have read.
*Italicize those you we intend to read.
*Underline the books you LOVE.
Share this list in your blog, too, if you like.
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (I've read most, so I'm counting it)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot (rings a bell, but I'm not 100% sure)
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald (half, then I got bored)
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
So I've read 30 out of 100. Hmm...I guess the hundreds of other books I've read don't count? ;)Labels: meme |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 2:49 pm |
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