So I knit Mini-me a hat in about 5 hours today.  I’m glad I’m done, I’m allergic to the yarn (alpaca isn’t any better than wool for me, even with a high silk content); however she’s not and it will keep her super warm since it’s getting cold out.  Mini-me is a fan of the HP world, just like I am.  I saw some Andean Silk in Slate a while ago when I was browsing Knitpicks to add some more things to add to my cart since I had purchased some books during their sale.  I couldn’t help but throw two balls into my cart to make a Hermione Cables and Eyelets Hat for mini-me.  I’ve been wanting to knit this pattern since it was posted.  I finally got my order in the mail today.  It came while I was out, but the lovely postal worker hid the box under a pair of shoes I have outside and our outdoors broom.  Thank you so much Parcel Delivery Person you made my day!  I cast on for this hat around 3 pm and finished it around 8 pm.  I love quick knits!  My gauge was a little off so I omitted the repeat of rows 28-40.  Mini-me was so happy with the hat and she claims she is going to wear the hat all day tomorrow at school.  Maybe I should have saved this hat for X-mas or her birthday!  Here’s a few pictures of Mini-me hamming it up for the camera

Happy Socktoberfest everyone! Being an sock knitting addict, I love socktoberfest and look forward to it every year. What is Socktoberfest It is a month-long celebration of sock knitting of course! It was started October 2005 by Lolly of Lollyknitting Around and you can find more info on her blog. Join us on Ravelry and help celebrate Socktober!

To celebrate the first day of Socktoberfest, I cast on for the mystery sock that Kristen of Knitting Through the Loops designed for Socktoberfest ‘09. Kristen will be posting a new clue every Thursday and it’s a lacey pattern! The first clue is up on her site, so join in the fun. For more details on my project click here to check out my Rav project page

Clue 1 of TTL Mystery '09 sock almost complete

I’m sad to say my Milkweed Shawl is going to be frogged!  I ran out of yarn during the cast off and I would rather frog it all and re-knit it removing a few rows here and there instead of just ripping back a bit. Since I was really sad about my Milkweed Shawl I was in need of some instant knitting lace gratification so I cast on another shawlette called 198 yds. of Heaven with a hank of BMFA Luscious Silk in Korppi (Raven Clan Colourway).  What can I say I’m in heaven, Luscious Silk is just so….luscious!  I did add another repeat of the body since I am using a different weight yarn that also has more yardage.

198 yds. of Heaven WIP in BMFA Luscious Silk in Korppi

If that didn’t make you smile, this will here’s a picture of Faye in her Halloween costume.  She is a monkey!

Faye the Black Lab Guide Dog off duty dressed up in a monkey costume

So I haven’t really signed up for a lot of swaps lately, mainly just little ones like Reducio Sock Swap.  So I’ve decided to join two, one being the Starbucks and Yarn Swap mmmm coffee and a Christmas Swap.  They both need more participates so come out and play!

Another project that I didn’t mention last post was my Milkweed Shawl.  The yarn BMFA Luscious Silk is a sport weight instead of fingering plus it’s got 360 yards so I’m a little worried that it might not work out.  The colour of this yummy yarn is absolutely lovely, it’s a rich red honey colour which the colourway name of Oregon Red Clover Honey is the perfect fit.  Not a colour I’d normally fall in love with and I meant to gift it to mini-me since she is in love with yellows lately (especially since they go well with her other fav colour purple).  Thing is it may never really get to her since I am smitten.  The photo below doesn’t give this yarn justice.

Milkweed WIP (top down trianglar garter st. shawl)

I know it’s been a while since my last post.  I had a lovely month last month, mostly at the cabin.  September has had a bit of a rough start since I had some surgery (nothing too bad, not fun though) and I’m recovering slowly.  It was dental surgery so I’m stuck eating soft foods for a about a month till everything heals and I get to do it all over again in another few months since I also have to get my back wisdom teeth pulled, yay me!  Well enough complaining about that.  I’ve been doing a lot of casting on since my surgery trying to find something to knit that will help deal with the annoyance and pain.  The pouring rain yesterday made me have this sudden craving to knit a sweater and after a lot of searching, looking into the stash and queue I finally casted on for the Riding to Avalon Sweater I’m using a lovely dark chocolate brown yarn (Berroco Comfort DK)  Here’s the progress I’ve made so far.

Pictuer of my Riding to Avalon Sweater (it's knit from the bottom up in the round)

Also I have a few FO’s to show you.  I’m a little tired so I’m not going to do my normal specs, but I will post links to my projects on my Rav page.  You can get to it by clicking the picture of the FO.

Strawberry Waffle Socks in Panda Cotton

Gryffindor Market Bag made from Lion Brand Cotton

Ishbel shawl in Crazy4Dyeing Silky Sock

Swallowtail Shawl for my great grandmother's 99th Birthday made with Handmaiden Sea Silk in Ruby Red

Cute Headphone Whale made for the LG Dare (that I got rid of after 3 or 4 malfunctioning phones now I'm a happy owner of a Samsung Omnia)

Mini monkey socks for mini-me in SockPixie Vegan Alice colourway

We are off the cabin and I’ll be back from my little over a month hiatus (that started in mid June) soon.  Keep knitting and drink lots of water with all this heat!!

A Very Merry Blogiversary to me, who me, yes you. Lol got the Mad Hatter stuck in my head today. So it’s been three years since I’ve been blogging about my crafting both crochet and knitting. Since I’ve started knitting it’s mostly been about knitting. So it being my third year blogiversary I’m giving away a few prizes. Due to the current economic conditions, it’s been easier to stick to knit from one’s stash. What is your favourite item that you have knit or crocheted with your stash yarn this year? Don’t forget to let us know the details or link to your rav project page. If you add a picture or link to a picture of your favourite item made from stash yarn, you will get entered twice! Now due to the high cost of shipping, I’m going to have to limit this contest to Canada and US, sorry all you International folks. I will post pictures of the prizes later; however I’ll let you know what you are getting yourself into

• Two balls of Jamieson 2 ply Jumper Wool and the Slouchy Hat by Yarn Forward – The winner is Heddy of ewegottaknit
• $25.00 gift certificate from Knit it Up (I won her socktoberfest contest when I made a purchase of her lovely gift tags for knitters last year and instead of a skien of sock yarn that I was allergic to Knit it Up nicely sent me this, which I am now passing on to some lucky knitter/crocheter) – The winner is Andrea from Papermonkey Knits!!
• and for those since this is a no-sheep blog I’ll be giving away a hank from Yarntopa Treasures (must be a non-animal fiber yarn), winner’s choice. I am in love with their laceweight yarns and the cotton bamboo is yummy as well  – The winner is Bubblesknits of Alabama Fiber Dreams

So enter before June 20th July 13th and I’ll announce the winners sometime the week after this contest closes. Please remember to post your answers on this post for it to count! Good luck! Congrats to the winners and I apologize that it took so long to get the winners out.

Oh and my favourite stash busting item that I’ve made so far this yarn didn’t really bust a lot of stash, but boy were they cute! They are Owlets that I made for my HSKS 7 pals wee ones. I used up a little bit of Cotton Ease that had been sitting in my stash and the reminder of the Cotton Ease will probably make some more of these cute owls if not a washcloth.

So I’ve been home from guide dog school for little over a week and I’ve managed to knit a few rows on my Wing-’o-the-Moth Shawl.  During training as well as last week I did knit three washcloths.  Two were for my awesome trainer C, I used these patterns Get a Clue (which is a paw print)and Guide Dog 1 every other row washcloth You can find pictures up on my Rav project page.  They were a fun and simple knit.  I also finished a washcloth for HPKCHC June Charms class.  The project assignment was we had to knit or crochet a item using shadow or illusion knitting.  I found this cute pattern on Ravelry, it’s Illusion Witches Hat All these patterns are free and the Illusion Witches Hat is a free Rav download.  So if you aren’t a member of Ravelry (one where have you been for the last few years!?) then consider this incentive for joining.

So I’ve been busy packing and haven’t really had time to knit.  The only thing I did get done was a few rows on my Ishbel shawl when I met Julia and Monica at Steeps.  Funny thing is I really should have counted my stitches since when I finally did I was over the stockinette part by about 16 sts.!  Oops.  Well I’m not bringing this project with me while I’m training with my new guide, though I do plan on taking on of my newest lace projects.  I started the Wing-o’-Moth shawl for my OWL in HP Knit and Crochet House Cup.  This is my first year participating and it is super fun so far.  Of course I was sorted into Ravenclaw and I signed up for two classes this month, DADA and Muggle Studies.  Once I have more time I’ll blog about that more   Here’s a picture of my swatch.

So other then not really knitting much and packing, I have been planning on what knitting projects to pack.  Boy has this been hard!  I decided to bring a few balls of Panda Cotton (to make into socks from Wendy’s toe up book), my on-hold socks (from Wendy’s book), my clapotis (good plane knitting especially since I’m using Knitpicks Harmony needles), my Rose Wristwarmers (another HPKCHC project) and some cotton to make dishclothes (good travel projects).  I really want to bring more, but I don’t really see myself having a lot of time to knit and my house cup class projects (except the OWL project) are due by the end of the month.

So with that being said I’ll be taking a 3 week hiatus from this blog.  I did set up a blog to document my adventures in training with my new guide.  You can find us here.  Well back to packing and cleaning for me!

So I’ve been hit by another bad case of startitis.  I’m trying to stop the mad cast on urges.  I already have too many projects on my needles Here’s a list of the  active WIP that I currently have I’m not adding UFO’s on it because that would take way too long right now!

1. Mountain Peaks Shawl (for my great grandma’s 99th birthday)
2. Clapotis (take out of the UFO pile and worked on during my trip to the cabin) the ravelry button for this project does seem to be working right now I’ll try again later
3. Baktus scarf
4. Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet (mods – making the sleeves longer and the body length as well)
5. Anne (crochet lace scarf)
6. La cumparsita (lace shawl, using lovely Handmaiden Sea silk in Pumpkin from Andrea)
7. Mystic Roses (Mystic KAL just finished and the pattern is available now)
8. Los Monos Locos aka Crazy Monkey socks
9. Rogue Roses (BMFA March sock club shipment, using Whimzy Pinzy Panda Cotton, yum!)
10. Ishbel (laceweight shawl version)
11. Frances Revisited (one and two — both of sorta become UFO’s but I plan to pick them back up this week or so)
12. Alhambra (lace scarf — just picked it up again after a break today)

Okay this is is not including a lot of other projects I haven’t picked up in a while like Cables and Os.  I seriously need to finish up a lot of these projects before I can start any new ones.  Especially since I leave for training in Oregon in two weeks!  I still have to figure out what I want to pack in terms of knitting projects.  I can’t have anything to difficult and not easily memorizable since I won’t have too much spare time while training with my new dog.  I might take Wendy Johnson’s book, Socks from the Toe up with me because I’m thinking socks and maybe an easy knitting tank or shirt.

So now to the main reason why I wanted to blog today, besides the fact that I really needed to blog since it’s been a while.  I am working on the Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet to wear at the Boring campus and maybe for my pictures and graduation if I like it alot.  The yarn I’m using is Knit Picks Comfy in Pomegranate.  It’s soft and machine washable which is perfect!  I’m having problems deciding if I should use this wonderful pewter button that my SP 13 gifted to me, a lovely antique button I purchased from Knitting for Brains or no button at all and use the many lovely shawl pins I have here’s some pictures what do you think?  Help! 

Anthro capelet with Pewter button

Anthro capelet with Vintage button

Anthro capelet with no button and fastened with a shawl pin

I want to start this post first by thanking my downstream SP 13 pal Ruth, she sent me the most fantastic thank you package!  She makes these awesome stitch savers (many LYS’s sell them, so does the Loopy Ewe or you can purchase one and get it personalized at her etsy store) She made me one with my name on it and sent me some cables and pockets for my Options sets as well as some really yummy yarn.  Thanks Ruth, you rock!

I also finished my Norwegian Woods shawl and it’s currently blocking! I’ve had a lot of practise knitting this shawl (I knit the scarf size) I had to rip back after finding out that I didn’t have enough yarn a row or two till the end of the shawl because I added an extra repeat of one of the charts. See the picture below for the sad picture.

Then I ended up knitting back from my life line at Chart B all the way to the cast off with no problems till I decided to cast off when I was really tired. Oops not a smart idea and ended up having to remove the beads and rip all that knitting out because I ended up dropping a few stitches beyond repair. So I ended up casting on for the third time (i’m sure there was more than this in the beginning but for the purpose of this story I’ve will limit it to the three important times) and I’m happy to report the third time is a charm! Norwegian Woods is now blocking in my living room, see

Philmore Point on Galiano Island, BC taken from a canoe trip

OMG WTF!!  I can’t believe it’s been a month since my last post.  Seriously I didn’t mean to go on hiatus from my blog for this long.  It’s been a very busy month for me.  I had tons of doctor’s appointments and tests, plus my home interview with GDB because Maylee is being retired due to her allergies. A dog allergic to pollen when you live in the suburbia of Vancouver, BC  is not good!  We have lots of trees on our property, plus we live near a very large park that I love walking through.  Sadly May is allergic to many of our coniferous trees (plus grass) and folks I live in an area of the world known for it’s rain and coniferous forests.  It’s beautiful in all it’s green splendour and I know that Maylee loves it, but I can’t go exploring like I used to.  We like to a few long weekends over at the cabin in the Gulf Islands (probably be there for Easter) and even though my guide dog loves every minute of it especially canoeing and vegging in front of the fireplace it makes her a very itchy dog.  I need a guide dog that will be able to handle all this greenery without having to take lots of anti-histamines, it’s bad enough that I have to take them!  Good news is I go back for training with Maylee’s successor in May.  I get to go down to Boring, OR to train for three weeks with my new guide dog.  It’s bittersweet because I’ll be saying goodbye to Maylee and meeting a new puppy breath who I will be working with for many years to come (cross fingers).

I’ve been doing a lot of knitting but not really any finishing.  I was binding off my Norwegian Woods scarf two nights ago and somehow dropped a few stitches and didn’t notice till I had casted off half of the stitches!  So not good.    I wasn’t able to save it so I frogging it then right away started it again.  I have to say this is an awesome pattern Sivia is very talented she wrote a pattern that I don’t mind frogging a few times and still continue knitting it! The reason why this project is taking so long is a little while ago I had to rip back to my lifeline that was at the end of the repeats of Chart A due to the fact that I ran out of yarn!  I tried to add a repeat, but didn’t have enough yarn, doh!  I’d add the pictures I took, but my camera is hiding on me somewhere.  I’ll upload them here later when I get a chance to locate that rogue camera of mine.  I finished Ishbel and gifted it to a friend for a belated x-mas present/birthday present.  The yarn I used was SWTC Pure in the Blue Depths colourway (soysilk, squee!) and it was so yummy.  I love this pattern it is a fast knit and so pretty.  I made the small option for my friend’s and I’ve started one for myself in laceweight that I will knit the large shawl option.  I’ll post more details and pictures in the near future.  I’m also working on a few other projects and I think April is a good month to finish up some of the projects that have been on my needles for a while.  Sadly I’ve have a case of startitis, which I seem to suffer from quite a lot lately.  So I am in need of some motivation to finish a whole bunch of things like both Francis Revisited that I knit, one just needs some weaving of ends and the cowl back sewn onto the back of the sweater and mine needs the cowl knit then the same finishing as Mini-me’s.  I just haven’t found the will to do this yet.

I need to stop casting on more projects, but it’s so hard not to go ohh shiny, must.knit.this.now.  See here’s something that has caught my eye, any BSG fans reading or just fans of pretty cabled socks please drool over this lovely knitted socks of geekiness!  I know I shouldn’t be starting any more projects but I saw the first clue of Knit & Knag’s Mystic Roses Shawl KAL and signed up.  I know I’m starting a little late, but I really want to catch up to everyone.  Sign ups are still open, but the price is $8 CDN instead of $6 CDN if you had signed up before March 20.  It’s still a great price and looks like it will be another beauty from the talented Anna.  Come and join the fun!