A Little of This, A Little of That
photo copyright to Lesley Karpiuk
I’m here for just a quick drive-by (or surf-by?) post to show off what I’m currently working on! On the needles today is a lovely lace-edged toque with my even more lovely Nova Scotia yarn that I purchased over the summer when I was in Halifax with Lucas celebrating our anniversary. I know this picture doesn’t do the yarn or the pattern justice (and I’m quickly learning that lace doesn’t look quite right until after it’s blocked) because I took it at work instead of at home with my good digital camera, but I think you get the idea. I’m finding the yarn to be just delicious — if you don’t remember, it’s the Tanis Fiber Arts yellow label DK weight yarn in Spearmint, and I purchased it at the Loop Craft Cafe in downtown Halifax. The color is gorgeous and the yarn is so nice to work with. It was my first hand-dyed hank of yarn and I don’t own a swift so Lucas and I did our best — it turned into a huge pile of mangled mess, but in the end we managed to get it wound into a cake. Whew! It was totally worth it.
Tanis Fiber Arts yellow label DK weight in Spearmint, photo © Lesley Karpiuk / pinktoque, taken on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia on the Cabot Trail.
The pattern is the Lace-Edged Hat from Julie M. Hentz at Head Huggers, and I really think it’s turning out pretty. I featured it over on the Knitting Under the Desk blog last week, and my favorite part of the hat is that there’s enough excitement with the simple lacework for a brim instead of the typical ribbed brim to make the hat interesting, but enough stockinette to keep me in my comfort zone, too. The best part is that once you do all of the lacework, you’re home free, since it starts from the brim and works to the crown. I highly recommend it! I can’t wait to finish it and post a better photo of me wearing it.
Also recently I’ve been working on a pattern en masse as Christmas presents for family and friends. Remember all of the jam? I’m also knitting Christmas ornaments to go along with the jam packages, so photos of that will be coming shortly. I’m nearly halfway finished on the lot!
In RL news, my baby nephew is due any day now and Lucas and I are moving into a new place this weekend, so it’s a busy week! I can’t wait to meet my nephew and snap some photos of the baby things I’ve knitted for him over the last several months. You can be sure photos will follow :) Take care!
Back Home Again, in Indiananaaaaaa…
photo copyright to Lesley Karpiuk
So we’re finally settled (mostly) back home in Indiana. The move from Calgary, AB Canada to Indiana was a long one, but well worth the drive. It was quite an adventure with Lucas and the two boys — three long days of long hours in the car. You’d think anyone would go crazy being cooped up in a vehicle for such a duration, but I tackled my very first sweater on the trip and completed a set of baby mittens, too!
My future nephew is due in October, so I’ve been on a bit of a baby knitting kick lately. I’ve made bibs, spit up rags, toques, and now mittens and a baby sweater. The mittens were super simple and super quick and I love the result. A friend of ours suggested that they were mittens for Vulcans based on the way I posed with them, haha. Live long and prosper… warmly! The mitten pattern I chose was [Ravelry link] this one, “Baby Mittens” by Sassystitches.
Live long and prosper... warmly!
The baby sweater was the big project that took most of my time on the trip. I chose the very simple 5 Hour Baby Boy Sweater by Jesse’s Branch Charity Crafts. [Ravelry link]. I love the great little garter ridges on the yoke area and the matching garter trim on the jacket body and sleeves. I’ve never knitted a sweater before, so it was probably a good thing that I chose a baby-sized sweater to familiarize myself with the process. I knit starting with the yoke and went back and forth, increasing in a regular pattern, doing the cute little garter ridges until it was time for the sleeves. It got a bit complicated for me at this point because I had a lot of separating to do. Thank goodness for having a full interchangeable Knit Picks set, because I used extra short lengths of cables to hold stitches while I worked the sleeves. I think I would’ve rather knitted the sleeves in the round via magic loop now that I’ve gone through this pattern once, but I was worried about trying to modify an unfamiliar pattern on my first try. I should also admit that the “5 hour” of the 5 Hour Baby Boy Sweater actually took me more like 12 hours, but I chalk that up to my inexperience in knitting sweaters and the fact I was trying to spread the project out over a long car ride and taking my time. And, well, I’m also a pretty slow knitter! I blocked the sweater after we arrived and I think after adding the little car button as a finishing touch, that it turned out really well.
Speaking of little car buttons, I picked up a small pack of them and used them on my Modern Cabled Baby Bibs, too. Don’t the buttons add an adorable little boyish charm?
photo copyright to Lesley Karpiuk
I recently had a few more people purchase my Crochet Cthulhu Toques so I barely had time to get settled in Indiana before I was busy crocheting away to complete the orders. While I’m job searching, it sure felt good to have orders to fill! Cross your fingers that something comes along soon… I’m starting to get antsy! :)
Recycled Wallpaper QP Freebie
Recycled Wallpaper QP by pinktoque
I’m baaaaaaack! Hopefully you liked the Recycled Wallpaper mini pack freebie given away yesterday :) Today as promised I’ve got the coordinating quick page to give away, too! It’s 3600 x 3600 pixels (12″ x 12″) and 300 dpi. It uses a little from the Recycled Wallpaper pack and then I added some other random stuff as I went. It’s a little pink, but pink is a very good color :)
Download the Recycled Wallpaper QP here!
Don’t forget that unless otherwise specified, my digital scrapbooking elements are for personal use only. Be sure to check out the TOU included and let me know if you have any questions. I hope to make some more new stuff in the near future, as time allows. Right now I’m back home in Indiana for a brief period this weekend in order to interview with the school district I taught at before I moved up to Canada. Cross your fingers! If I get a job offer, Lucas and I will pack up the boys and we’ll be on our way.
And of course, finding out last minute (Wednesday) that I was going to need to take a plane to Indy the next day (Thursday), one of the most important aspects of the packing wasn’t which outfit I was going to wear for the interview, or my teaching portfolio… but what knit projects I wanted to take with me for the flight! Haha. Ok so I’m probably exaggerating a lot (It took a long time for me to decide on an outfit, and I spent several hours touching up my portfolio), but it was a very important part of the packing. I had to figure out the patterns I wanted to take and wind some yarn for those projects into cakes to pack in my carry on. I’m going to be working on Danido Crafty’s Bebeh Earflaps Hat and the Modern Cabled Baby Bib by Andrea Pomerantz. I’ll let you know how it goes! :)
Have a great weekend, and wish me luck!
It's (Gonna Be) A Boy!
Think we bought enough?
My brother and sister-in-law found out today that they’re having a BOY! I am so ecstatic that I will have a nephew in October that Lucas and I went yarn shopping right after work. Do you think we got enough? The next few months will be filled with baby toques, booties, bibs, puke cloths, blankets and everything in between. I’m planning to pack the blanket pattern I’ve chosen to knit (the Organic Baby Wrapper by Fawn Pea [reg link] [Ravelry link]) in something soft baby blue, and Lucas is planning to take the Lion Brand Hooded Baby Wrap ([LB link] [Ravelry link]) to knit on the plane for our trip to Nova Scotia this weekend. We leave Thursday; I am SO excited!
Yay! His first pair of socks and first official project!
Speaking of Lucas knitting — we both have finished our pair of socks now (his first official project!!!) for our dads for Father’s Day, and our socks will be shipped off first thing in the morning. They’re gonna be a little late I think, but that’s ok. Lucas did a fantastic job; I am so proud! Here he is finishing up his second sock.
I am too excited right now to write anymore; check back tomorrow because I have some FOs (that are successes) in response to yesterday’s failure post. lol.
