Friday, November 30, 2007

We are snowpeople. Take us to your freezer.

What's this cult of snowpeople that has invaded my kitchen floor?


Why, they're the Christmas cards that arrived in the mail from our good friends at moo!

I painted a special Christmas snowperson a few weeks ago and ordered a bunch of greeting cards. The only problem? The little elves at moo forgot to print "Merry Christmas/Joyeux Noël" on the inside of the cards. I sent an e-mail to moo to let them know, but I don't want to send these back because I'll never get the corrected version in time for Christmas. Oh well, I guess that's what happens when one tells machines to write in one's Christmas cards instead of the lovely pen strokes of the human hand.

And speaking of snowpeople, I've already sold a few through etsy! Thanks to everyone who ordered snowpeople and thanks to those who have e-mailed me with special requests for bigger snowpeople or custom snowpeople! You've made me oh-so happy!

I can't blog about most of the crafting activity that's been going on here chez "words starting with p" since much of it is secret, but I can tell you about this little baby set I made for yet another friend who had yet another boy.


This is the sweet baby cap and Sarrtje's bootees. Both great patterns that I will keep coming back to. (Anyone recognize the yarn? It's every last bit I had leftover from the clap!)

Friday, November 23, 2007

Get your own snowpeople print!

1. Shannon and Courtney, 2. Tim, 3. Mike, 4. Marc, 5. Jill, 6. Janesta, 7. Ingrid, 8. Amber

The snowpeople are up in the shop! Please stop by and have a look.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

I apologize for the unexpected hiatus

Has it really been two weeks since my last post? It's hard to believe, and it's not because I lack things to blog about, I guess life just got in the way.

I've been working on a few secret, unbloggable Christmas presents, thanks to a lovely afternoon spent crafting at Sherrie's house. Since the coffee sleeve I made Jill went over so well, I decided to make a couple more. This time, I put experimental embroidery aside and tried out a little bit of appliqué. I think it went well.


I also tried a couple of different closures -- a button from Gramie's stash with a sewn loop from Ysolda's tutorial and a couple of snaps. I think the snaps are rather snappy (couldn't resist). I'm not sure who I'll give these sleeves to yet, but they might be Christmas presents.


And speaking of Christmas presents, I received my first early gift! My brother made me some steps for our back door. The steps that were there when we bought the house had almost become compost, they were so rotten. So, a big thank you goes out to Nigel for his handy skills!


Oh! and for you ravelers out there, you can see one of my secret knitting projects here.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Little things

I have left my evil sock yarn to marinate while I think of another pattern that will suit it (some of you suggested Jaywalkers since they're similar to the Bordello socks but have more stitches and, while I have already knit a pair, I just might do that. However, I am still too angry with the yarn to cast on.).

In the meantime, I've been knitting some little things.


These are Saartje's Booties, knit up with leftover bits of yarn from the Hedgerow socks. They are ridiculously small. Are babies' feet really this small? I guess I am about to find out because one of my good friends just gave birth to a baby boy. His tootsies will be warmed by these tiny creations.

I also finished a secret knit. It's a Christmas present and the recipient reads this blog, so I'll just show you an extreme closeup. This person is not on Ravelry (and probably never will be), so all you ravelers can check out this FO here.


Since we're talking about little things, here are some other little things that I love:

-waking up and seeing that Jesse has cleaned the kitchen.
-early morning cuddles from a purring kitten.
-a big mug of hot tea on a cold day.
-an invitation to an afternoon of pre-Christmas crafting with some great friends.
-unexpected phone calls from people I love who live in three different provinces.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

The curse of the evil sock yarn

After finishing the Hedgerow socks, I couldn't wait to dive into my chocolate cherry Claudia Handpainted Yarn.

First, I cast on for some Monkeys. I knit the ribbing, took a look at it and realized all of the chocolate was on one side and the cherry was on the other. (I wish I had taken a photo of the ugliness, but I'll leave it up to your imagination.)

Okay, so I need a pattern with more than 64 sts. So, I cast on for the Bordello socks (pattern comes with Fleece Artist Sea Wool) with 68 sts. It was striping nicely and I liked it.


I just went to try it on and guess what? It doesn't even fit my size 6.5 foot!


I am so frustrated! How can yarn be so lovely in the skein and turn out to be an evil bitch when knit up? Argh!

Friday, November 02, 2007

All of my hedges in a row

One day late. I finished the Hedgerow socks one day after the Socktoberfest deadline. Will you forgive me?


I logged a lot of knitting time yesterday. Jesse had his first chemo treatment (which went well, thank you for all of your kind notes!) and I knit through most of it. It took three hours, which was just long enough to finish my second sock.

Pattern: Hedgerow by Jane Cochran
Source: Knitter's Review

Materials: two hanks of Oceanwind Knits Merino in sweetgrass
Needles: US 1/2.25 mm bamboo dpns
Started: October 2007
Finished: November 1, 2007

Verdict: The yarn is very nice to work with. The squishy factor is high, especially when knit up in a fancy rib like this. I'm not sure if I'll keep these socks or not. I really like them, but I might throw them in the Christmas present pile.


I also whipped this up the other day. I will not try and pass the idea off as my own -- I shamelessly stole it from Erin.


Here's the button, from Mum's (can you believe we have two generations of button stashers in my family?) stash.


It's going to a good friend who's birthday is today.


I hope she likes it!