A swift for g

A few weeks ago I had comments back and forth with gMarie and mentioned that I'd just made a yarn swift to wind the hanks I'd just received from KnitPicks. She asked to see the swift and I agreed, however that procrastination gene of mine kicked in and I've only just now taken a couple of pics - sorry g :-(

This is the link I used. I was missing a few pieces but made do.

The supplies - 4 coat hangers, 2 pieces of elastic, a bunch of clothespins and a 4x4" container. It also calls for a gripper pad and a lazy susan so it will spin while winding.

Tie the hangers together at the top and one corner (shown in the 1st pic), open them out and put them top first into the container (instructions called for a UPS box but my little rubbermaid container works great). Put 8 clothespins on the container one on each side of each hanger. The clothespins at each outer point of each hanger will sit just above and just below the hank once it's set on the swift.


And here is a hank of KnitPicks Tonal Stroll set up and ready to go (just as soon as I untie it LOL).

I don't have a lazy susan so I set it up on the floor and sit on a stool for height and unwind a few rounds at a time. So far it works ok, although slower. The whole contraption is sitting on a roll of packing tape just to raise it from the table for the picture. I'd like to find a small lazy susan (about 6") but haven't come across one yet - one of these days.

Some actual sewing ?

Nope, not yet, but soon.

I've wanted to sew since the year started and just haven't been able to make myself go into the sewing room much.

Sometime ago, I couldn't say exactly, maybe November, a friend asked me to hem some pants for her. I detest hemming pants, even mine, except hubby's (don't ask me why LOL). But if she asks, I will always do them for her - she's one of those friends that you go running for at any time and she will do the same for me. Hemming fits in there somewhere - even if it's 5 pairs. She made a major tactical error though, and told me they don't quite fit yet so 'no rush'. Yep, so 2 or 3 months later I'm still avoiding them. Since then I bought DH 2 pairs of pants and my friend's DH bought 2 pairs of jeans - all needing hemming. 9 freaking pairs of pants all ganging up on me and keeping me OUT of my sewing room. As of tonight they are all done and it's a load off my mind. Not even picture worthy, I didn't want any reminders !

Next in the queue of 'real' sewing is simple but at least more interesting. My niece is due to have a little boy in mid-April and I'm going to make crib sheets & receiving blanket for her shower at the end of Feb. So simple it may not count as actual sewing :-)

I started another pair of socks - hmmm, at the beginning of Jan maybe - only just started the gusset yesterday so there's still a long way to go, the rest of the gusset, the heel and leg.


Ah, here's a pic. Of the four of us in this house, Skippy is the only who is liking all of this snow ... This was taken Wednesday after work. They called for 10cm, said afterwards that we got 20cm but you wouldn't know it from my deck or driveway what with all the drifting. And yesterday, another 10cm or so.

Socks !

3 pairs done but not yet blogged...in order of most recently completed...


SFTTU #7 - Trilobite Socks - I made these ones for me but finished them tonight at my SIL's - turns out they fit her perfectly & she likes them so I gave them to her !

My stats-
Cast on Nov 23, 2010
Cast off Jan 11, 2011 (counting as a 2010 project since on Jan 1, I only had 2" to finish!)
Zitron Trekking (XXL) Orange
Purchased at Ariadne Knits in Montreal, Quebec - February 12, 2010
2.5 mm needle
JMCO 28 stitches
inc to 66 st for pattern
Heel - sl st heel with the stitches offset by 1 - don’t know the name for it
JSSBO
Magic Loop - 2AAT

The only adjustment to the pattern was to make it 68 stitches on the calf - I added one stitch at the beginning of each needle and knit that one stitch all the way up



Plain Vanilla sock with 2x2 rib leg

My stats -
Cast on Oct 15
Cast off Oct 30
Patons Kroy Socks Jacquards - Denim Color
Purchased at Michaels in Saint John, New Brunswick - December 2008
2.5 mm needle
Judy’s magic cast on
SS foot (62 st)
regular gusset
slip stitch heel
2x2 rib leg (64 st)
JSSBO
Magic Loop 2AAT



SFTTU #6 - On-Hold Socks

My stats -
Cast on Sep 17
Cast off Oct 15
ONline Supersocke 100 - 1129 (Yellow/Orange mix)
Purchased at Romni Wools Ltd. in Toronto, August 2010
2.5mm needle
66 stitches
Magic Loop 2AAT
Judy's magic cast on (JMCO)
Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind off (JSSBO)

only adjustment to the pattern was to make it 68 stitches on the calf - I added one stitch at either end of the heel needle.

My Look Back on 2010

I spent a bit of time looking over my posts from this year. In no way was it a sewing year - in fact, the only piece I made completely during the year was my orange dress. That's not to say there was 'nothing' sewing - the absolute highlight was the 2010 PatternReview Weekend in June in Montreal !!! It was such a fabulous weekend, working with Connie, Kay and Anne-Marie to plan it and finally after months of anticipation, meeting all the sewists who were able to come and share the weekend with us.

Knitting was pretty productive this year - I finished 8 pairs of socks and 2 hats (socks take me about 6 weeks to do a pair - the exception being a stockinette foot and rib cuff, 2 weeks for those !) The 9th pair of the year is still on the needles with a couple of inches to go, they won't get finished before midnight tonight but in the next couple of days for sure. November and December were busy and I didn't post much at all *smile*. The 2 hats and 3 pairs of socks are still due to be pictured, posted and added to my logs.

Personally, the year improved somewhat - I got off the short week and was back on full time in April, thank goodness. Work is busier and that gives a bit of security. Our owners are very optimistic for an improved 2011.

In October, I got off my duff and started a treadmill walking program in addition to making a concerted effort to walk more often and longer. Took off a couple of pounds too - bonus !

New Year's resolutions and I don't usually get along - the quickest way for me to NOT do something is to SAY I will LOL. There are a few things though...I want to keep up the walking and exercise; make sure I get some sewing done (I've a capsule/collection in my head just waiting to be made) and finish some of the sewing and knitting UFO's. Both the yarn stash and the fabric collection have grown and need to be worked up.

2011 is a big year for DH & I as a couple. Come November we will have been together 25 years - our wedding anniversary is 11 years behind that though :-)

I want to thank everyone who checks in on my rambly posts and comments with such encouragement. It is much appreciated and truly makes me feel a part of a very welcoming community.

I wish you all a very happy, healthy, prosperous New Year !

Anyone still out there ?

Have you all given up on me ?

Life sure does throw curveballs once in a while doesn't it ? My last post was the beginning of my Christmas to do list. Since then, all the cookies were baked, gifts bought & wrapped, the party was held Dec 11 and in the blink of an eye it was all over. How does that happen anyway ?

So, now for the past couple of weeks, I've been looking forward to traveling to Toronto to visit our friends for the week. And here comes the curveball - DH was sick last week, I'm sick now and I'm not sure which it is but either a herniated disc is acting up or I have sciatica in both legs - what a freaking week ! The pain is worse than the flu and all I really want is to be able to get some sleep.

All that means we are now having a quiet Christmas at home, just the 4 of us, although I'm sure Alex & Skippy really have no idea of Santa LOL :-) I have to admit, now I'm looking forward to it.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year !

...and so it begins again

LOL - to answer Ann - Yup, 'already' :-)
and for everyone who may think I'm batty - I booked my Christmas dinner date this past week and let everyone know. Then I checked the calendar - I've only got 7 weekends to get all these cookies made. Oh, and there's another couple coming so I have to make up 1 more cookie box than usual. Let the baking commence, er continue...

First up...spritz

From UFO to FO - Part II - the Dress (Finally !)

It it now Thursday, I posted this last night and this morning, checked to find that pretty much all of the text was gone. So I try again.

Wow - 3 posts in as many days - must be a record for me LOL

My first post on my Marjie/GMarie sewalong lace/PR Weekend Cocktail/Niece's wedding dress was way back on July 7. Since then I finally finished the dress - before Aug 1 actually - that's quick for me LOL.

The full review is on PR (but for some reason, I just cannot get the link to work)

I've worn this dress and while I was happy with it after the fitting process, I see so many things wrong now. The 2 worst to me are the bust seam is too high and those folds at the back shoulders. The folds may be a normal feature of cut-on sleeves but I don't know. If I could fix those two things, I'd be pretty happy with it.

Oh, and don't look at that 'not invisible', invisible zipper ! I looked and looked for a matching zipper forever. At some point it was suggested to get one in cream and paint the pull with nail polish - Yeh, I won't actually ever recommend this to anyone. Blech. Anyway, days after the zip was in you'll NEVER guess what happened. Yup, found an orange invisible zip that matched just about perfectly. Murphy just loves me :-(

DH took a few pics. Sorry for the horribly squinty eyes - it was a VERY sunny morning !
All of the lines are shadows - it was impossible to get a clear pic.

The shoulder folds and that wonderful zipper !

I kind of like this one.

Butterfly Socks - SFTTU #5

I figured I'd better get my sock log uptodate before the next pair is finished LOL

This is pattern no. 5 in Wendy Johnson's Socks from the Toe Up - Butterfly Socks

It was a LONG 6 weeks making these - I absolutely detested working with the yarn. There is a black thread running the length of the yarn and it's not really twisted into the yarn so it's splitty, and so easy to not pick up all of the yarn on a stitch. With all of the double YO's in the pattern, I didn't enjoy making the socks at all. It was just a matter of getting them done.

Now they're done and I really like them after all. When trying to figure out where to start each sock to make the pattern the same, I realized the changes between colors was extremely gradual. You'd need better eyes than mine to line them up ! I just gave up and cast on to let the pattern fall where it would. Turns out the socks coordinate nicely although the pinks and purples are offset by one pattern from one sock to the other.

My stats -
Cast on Jul 22
Cast off Sep 12
Regia Hand-dye Effect - 06553 (Purple)
Purchased at Tricot Quartier - Montreal, Quebec , June 2010
2.5mm needle
64 stitches
Magic Loop
Judy's magic cast on
Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind off

Sewing - but not sewing

Still no sewing going on here. Still have tee partially done and waiting for me to get my act in gear.

BUT - I'm still Buying Stuff ! There is a problem with this as I haven't yet kicked DH out of his computer room and switched it with my sewing room.

Saturday's acquisition ? We went to a local open air flea market and while we saw 5 or 6 sewing machines, none came home with me. This did...for $5



It's huge - I put the one I bought from Fabricville on top and measured them. The longest part of the small one is 18 inches - the large one is 30 inches.



I'm going to recover both of them - I don't want the silver covering on the small one and the new one needs to be updated. I've got a green/white stripe twill (a mistake from fabric.com) that should be enough to cover both. Just need to find something for padding.

This weekend was about finishing up things - there are 2 posts in draft mode now - 1 sewing / 1 knitting. First one - tomorrow.

Whoo boy - a busy 10 days !

A week and a half ago, I headed to New Brunswick for my niece's wedding. As a lucky coincidence, our friends from Toronto were also planning a visit home at the same time and volunteered to pick me up on the way through Montreal ! Yay, a one way ticket saved.

The wedding was wonderful, the bride radiant and the groom never stopped smiling ! They are young and in love and I wish them all the best.

One of the high points of the wedding was, unbeknownst to any of us, my niece called my Mom's nursing home and made all the arrangements necessary for Mom to attend the wedding. Wow - she hasn't been outside in a whole year ! This would be quite an undertaking - how much would be too much for her ? Well, they got her all dolled up - made arrangements for 2 tentative pickups for the Handi-Bus depending on how she was doing through the day and as you can see, she arrived in great spirits ! There was a bunch of us all waving and smiling at her and she just started laughing.

Wow, what a difference from when I last saw her in the spring - my sister said she's been very animated and chattering and happy for a couple of months now. Mom did very well sitting through the service, 20 minutes wasn't too long for her. Afterwards, though, there was 3 hours before supper. The hall where the reception was held is attached to a mall with a very bright atrium set up perfectly to sit and chat and people watch. A few of us sat with her and the 3 hours passed pretty easily. After supper (and 6 hours !) after she arrived it was time for the Handi-bus to come back to pick her up. She had such a good day - it was wonderful to have her there.

Here are a few shots of the bride & groom - I don't take great pics but the first one is my favorite.



Once I got home on Sunday, the fur she was a flyin'...

Otherwise known as, a a 10lb pom playing tug with a 3lb yorkie - believe me it's a fairer game than you might think. At least til Skippy shakes, then the yorkie doesn't stand a chance LOL
Hmm, did I forget to mention we're babysitting the Toronto dogs ? Yeah, AND DSIL's pom, Charlie, as well. A group shot - can you pick out all 6 ? A cookie bribe was the only way to get them in the same place at the same time.
Clockwise from top left - Sophia, Kelawney (lord knows if I spelled THAT right !), Alex, Lester, Skippy & Charlie

This morning the Torontonians all went home, dogs and people and Charlie's mommy called about 1/2 hour ago. DH will take him home shortly. In the meantime, this is what our day looks like LOL

This was a filler post - I do have a couple items to post (dress & socks) but have to admit I just haven't got to taking pics and posting. Soon.