A new year..a new pair of socks.

My niece in Geneva picked out the yarn for my birthday (in 2009).

Hmm...maybe I should start every year with a pair of socks,

and see how long it takes me to finish knitting them.  

A good challenge.

Socks...done

I've finally finished them.  Yeah!

If only every week could be this productive...

...crafting wise.  

I've finished knitting the sweater, 

buttons have been sewn on, and 

it is currently being blocked.  

Only a few stray threads to snip away once it's dry.

Yeah!

Tick

Legwarmies done.

They are "skinny legwarmies".  I used a smaller needle than the last pair...

...so they might end up being for my newest niece and I'll have to whip up a pair for her big sister.  

It feels good to finish a project!  

New inspiration

I went to a pre-natal pilates class on Thursday night.  It's a new studio that I'm trying.  

I have discovered that I will have to be careful when I go, because across the street from the pilates studio is Urban Yarns...temptation, temptation, temptation.  

I gave into temptation this week.  

It'll be perfect to try out a new pattern in my newest knitting book- a birthday gift from my Crafty Sister.

I think I'll try to make this big lace scarf.  

I have to finish off a couple of other projects before starting this one though.

Leg Warmie Update

One down...one part way to go.  

These might be for wee Fiona...I used smaller needles, so they are quite narrow.

Leg Warmie Progress

I've made a bit of progress this weekend.   

Hopefully they'll be wide enough...

or maybe they'll be "skinny leg warmies".  

It's been 1 month...

My crafting updates have been really bad the past while.  Here are my excuses:
- A trip to Hawaii
- 2 sets of visitors from Australia; and
- it's just been really busy.  


While I haven't been crafting, I did mak it to a great Craft Show - Circle Craft.  One of my favourite booths were selling cute felt fish made by West Coast Mermaid Designs.  Too many other inspirational things to mention.  


I've hardly done anything myself crafting wise.  The only thing I managed to do was to make a bit of progress on that lone sock.  The first of the pair has been finished for awhile...the 2nd one still isn't done.   I also managed to block and sew in all the loose ends on that grey lace scarf....that's about it.  Quite pathetic for the month of November during my "Year of Craft".    


I've just started a test swatch for a new pair of leg-warmies.  I made a set for one of my nieces a couple of years ago...and now that her little sister has shown interest in wearing them, there is renewed interest in the leg-warmies...time to work on a second set.  Here's the test swatch:

I'll try to get back on track with my updates!  

Knitting projects that keep dragging...

I'm making progress on getting other projects done.

I've been working on this scarf for ages.  I still have to sew in all the ends...but almost there.  Yeah!

Sweater progress

I'm making progress.

And I found some great vintage buttons on the weekend, 

from a Vancouver shop called Button-Button.

Crafting at the Grand Canyon

How's this for an inspiring place to knit!  

I didn't take my sweater project - just a pair of socks.  

I've had one done for ages. I figured it was time to start the second one.

It's not finished yet...

I didn't make much progress on this hiking break... 

too much beautiful scenery to look at.  

Sweater progress

I'm making some progress...

Are you getting tired of my sweater updates?

I'm telling you, this is lightening speed knitting for me!  I'm still thinking it might be a bit small...maybe it'll get bigger when I block it out (she writes hopefully).

A new post...finally

Finally, a crafting post after a 3+ week hiatus.


I have been doing a bit of crafting over the past few weeks, but it has mostly been knitting and progress has been slow.  One project hat I've picked up is a sweater that I started last winter and then put aside once the summer rolled around.  Because who wants to knit with wool in the summer?  

It's knit from the top down.  I've finished the ribbed part around the neck...now for the body and the arms.  If all goes well, I should be finished by Feb!  Ha, ha.  

Heart Dishcloth

Here it is:

A heart dishcloth to go in the gourmet kitchen basket.  

Knitted dish cloth

I'm off to a "kitchen themed" bridal shower for one of my knitting friends.

A couple of us are putting together a gift basket, 

so we decided to knit a couple of dishcloths to go along with the gift.  

I'll have to churn this one out because the bridal shower is on Monday night!

And it's an opportunity to use up a ball of yarn that has been in my stash for far too long.  

Knitting Update: Grey Scarf

I've been trying to finish some of those projects that have been hanging around for awhile.

I started this scarf sometime in the winter - I don't remember when now.  

It's a lovely merino wool.  

Perhaps not the most cheery colour for those grey vancouver days...but it was a bargain.

The end is in sight.  

I think I need a couple of more nights of knitting to get it done.  

Heather's Birthday Dress

The Birthday Girl in her dress:

 It's longer than I thought it would be. 

I'll have to find her a pair of matching leggings or tights.

A Secret Project Revealed

All of my secret projects and hints have been keeping people in suspense.  

It was my nieces 3rd birthday yesterday, so I can finally reveal one of the projects.  Ta dah!  

It's a little dress/tunic.  There are a couple of wee buttons on the back.

My Crafty Sis reported that it got my nieces seal of approval.  She instantly stripped down and put it on.  Yeah!  

A place of zen

I have a place of zen near my office.  The Chiba Garden.

(That's the Vancouver skyline in the distance.)

North Vancouver became the sister city of Chiba, Japan in 1969.  In 1986, North Vancouver redeveloped some of the waterfront area and decided to build a Japanese garden to commemorate the friendship between the two cities.  The City of Chiba presented North Vancouver with two carved stone lantern that are featured in the garden.  

It's a lovely little garden, only 2 blocks from my work.  When you enter the garden (at the bottom left of the map below) there is a waterfall and stream that starts at your left next to one of the lanterns.  The stream then splits and flows along two pathways.  The pathways join up again at the opposite end of the garden (top right on the map below).  

It is so calming and peaceful to stroll through the garden.  

There are even a couple of benches - one in a sunny spot and one in a shady spot.  

I had a little zen time at lunch today.  I sat and knit on the shady bench (because it makes sense to knit when it's 24C outside).  I'm knitting with hemp, so I figured it was ok.  

What a lovely spot to relax at lunchtime.  

Day 2: AM Crafting

A confession.  My alarm went off this morning and instead of immediately leaping out of bed to start crafting, I hit snooze.  The guilt started to set it.  I didn’t want to fail on my second crafting morning.  So, I dragged my butt out of bed and was into the shower before the alarm went off again.  I managed to get in about 20 mins of knitting in before going off to work.  Better than nothing.