Knitted helmet

What's wrong with this picture? Oh yeah, it's spring and past the time for hat/scarf combos! Still, at least I'm ahead for next winter (which will be a while coming cos we're flying back to the southern hemisphere in October, towards warmer weather - yay!). I've started another one as a gift for a friend, cos I was so pleased with how it turned out, despite its old-fashioned military look! The pattern is from Knitty: Toasty Topper. I added the red diamond detail after it was completed - very satisfying to add stitching/embroidery to a knitted work. Finished it off nicely, in MHO...

Some completion!

Finally finally finally, I finished that pair of mittens I've been working on for aaaaaages! Well, hardly working on, otherwise they wouldn't have taken ages! Gave them to my mother-in-law as an extremely belated Christmas present - so belated, in fact, that she won't even be able to wear them until November, cos the weather has taken a turn for the better (warmer) here (in what was once snowy Manitoba)! I didn't even get a photo of the completed pair, but just wanted to note here, purely for myself, that they are DONE, and that yarn is off to the thrift store, cos I don't want to knit another thing with it!

There... I feel better now!

Another project finished: a hat for myself, again, too late to be of any use, but we'll be back in Canada another time, and I'll enjoy wearing my own hand-knitted head-warmer then! I plan to line it with polar fleece for extra warmth. Here's an in-progress shot and a shot of me knitting it while I was sick for 2 weeks with a nasty cold - oh yeah, Jasper was sick too - he doesn't usually cuddle up in my arms like that!

This is the final product (as you can see, I messed up the increasing at the crown, using different yarn from the pattern, but OH WELL!). I love the earflaps...


Also while I was sick (honestly, I was resting too!!), I somehow managed to complete two oft-contemplated projects for Piper: a texta/marker roll, and an apron, both out of the same doggy fabric. I felt VERY satisfied with how easily these two items came together (both on the same day, and the apron in half an hour), and satisfied with how useful they are to her. Love that, when one's craft is appreciated!


We went to my husband's grandma's place last week to bake cookies, so here's Piper and her apron in action!



Piper and I enjoyed creating this map of a zoo together. She stuck animal stickers on the page, grouped how she saw fit, and I drew cages or fences around them as she directed me. She was pretty into cages, which is unfortuate for the animals! Well, if they were real! What I mean it, it's not very politically correct! I really enjoyed the process of working with Piper, with her directing, and the control freak in me not freaking out about not knowing what the end product would be like... just being in the moment...


I'm quite into sewing, as of the last few weeks (at the expense of cardmaking/any kind of creation with paper, stamps, etc). I'm making a rag quilt for Piper - just simple squares, and I know it's a well-done concept now, but I've never gotten around to making one. With a little guidance from Knit and Tonic, I'm on my way. Tanell, the lady who owns my local quilting fabric shop suggested that I use coarsely-woven muslin between the two layers of flannel, as opposed to batting, because it fluffs up the raggy bit very well, and it makes for a quilt that's not quite so heavy. Here's a shot, in progess in the basement:


I hadn't necessarily planned to make a quilt for Piper. Originally I walked into the fabric shop wanting to find flannel in chocolate/green/turquoise colours, with hopefully one animal print, to make a quilt for Jasper, whose first birthday is next month. They didn't really have those colours - I'll have to look further afield - but I did walk out with fabric for a quilt for Piper instead!

I meant to blog about this ages ago: this was my Christmas gift to my husband. A box of surprises, one to be drawn each week. Each bit of paper has a code written on it, which corresponds with a particular experience or gift, which I present or do for him that week. Needless to say, at least half of them are sexual - ha ha! I was happy with how it looked in the end...



Last but not least, I bought this book off Amazon: Chic Knits for Stylish Babies. I love looking at it. Don't like all the patterns, of course, but the ones I like, I like a lot. There's something lovely and coordinated about a funky knitted outfit. I'll just have to have another baby to have an excuse to knit up some of these patterns (if I start now, I might just have an outfit done in a few years'time!). It's put out by Phildar, the French yarn company - bit expensive to get hold of that yarn here in Canada, so I'll do my best at substituting, but sometimes I just want to follow a pattern EXACTLY, cos it makes for less brain strain - I feel like I've modified a few knitting patterns lately, and although they've worked out, a part of me feels the tension as I knit, wondering if I got my maths right!

Vintage finds...

Savers had a 50% off sale yesterday. Usually I avoid the madly overrun place on such days, but then, I just happened to be walking past, and my Mum just happened to take my three-year-old for an hour, so I moseyed on in! At first I felt like I was never going to find anything, and certainly the kids section seemed to have been picked clean, but then I kept thinking of things I'd been looking for. Bumped into a few old friends and had a pleasant old natter, and then, right at the end, I found myself in the crockery section. I've decided I love vintage teacups (hardly a novel idea, but who cares?), especially with an accent of orange. I trawled through the pricier stuff and this is what I found:

Look - that chip on the platter happened as I lifted the bag off the counter - I heard something go crunch and that was it. What a total bugger, cos I probably like that and the teacup the most. Oh well. Around twenty bucks for all that... not bad.

In other news, I have been making stuff, believe me! I've been working mainly on my hat, lovely Noro yarn with this IK short row pattern. Almost done, to the point where I might as well take a photo when it's all done, rather than right now...

And in other news, I'm having my wisdom teeth out next Tuesday. I am remarkably calm about this, having met the friendly oral surgeon (his discreet Irish accent is quite soothing!) and sussed it all out today. He had a cancellation, that's why it's all happening so quickly, but I figure, why not get it over and done with! Any tips for surviving the aftermath??