What a Great Idea!!!!

mmmm.... Earthy Computer Mouse Pad Wrist Pillow

Isabelle found this link and shared it with the rest of us girls at Knitting-Chicks! I love the idea and think I found my "weekend/stocking stuffer" project! Thanks to its creator, Jennifer Tallapaneni!

Linky, linky link!

Dishcloths anyone?!

I know, I know.... But I love the instant gratification they bring!!!
Oooooh and aaaaaah as needed.




ooooooohhhhh



aaaaaaaahhhhh



oooooooohhhh 'kay... One more then its off to bed for me tonight....



Thank you, and good-night...

Fall Exchange Presents!!!

I mentioned below that dear, sweet, Mary Anne sent me some lovely treats in the mail for our Canadian Dishcloth Group.

and.... ta dah!!!!



She blessed me with 2 cloths, 2 very lovely cloths, and a pair of crocheted hearts. Even though Mary Anne pointed out she didn't make them, that's okay, I appreciate the effort that went into making them, that's for sure! Such tiny stitches... To top it off, she sent me a very pretty card with one of my favorite flowers, a gerber, on it.

I opened my package in my car while I was waiting for my co-worker/commuter. When she got in and saw the pale yellow one she sighed, "mmm that'd make a nice sweater"... Totally what I was thinking! Such a nice light pattern would make a great main panel on a sweater or vest! I'm going to have to ask her what its called.

These exchanges are so nice! Not only do you get wonderful ideas and inspiration from them its nice to receive something other than bills all the time.... bleeck.

An Now For Something Completely Different

I decided to knit a hat (toque) for my son. He'll be 10 in a couple of weeks. I didn't want him to get teased on the playground because of mommy's apparent YO fetish. I frogged this. Poor kid. Imagine this pretty, lacy hat on a 5th grader?! Halloween is coming yes but don't scare the children for real!!!!!

..........


Instead now, I'm knitting this... Much more "manly," dont'cha think?! I might do the other one for me and spare him the embarrassment. Serves me right for wingin' it!
Looks as though I'm gonna have to rip back the last row I did. I have K2tog the entire last row instead of following Ms. Ackerman's instructions and only k2tog twice. Glad I caught that or he would have ended up with a beanie instead of a whole head hat... Super quick shaping.. I'm still afraid it might be too small for his big man sized head but we'll see how it shapes up in the end...

Link to pattern here for reference


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I can't wait to have this done for him! I might even forego sleep tonight to get'er done! My first knitwear for MY family.. The scarf for my niece doesn't count, nor does the scarves or dishcloths I've done for "myself". I'm excited... We went to post-Thanksgiving Dinner at my folks house on Sunday and my mom was amazed at my knitting prowess. I feigned off her enthusiasm politely saying it was nothing, really. Pretty simple stuff (it is I know), but I was glad that she took the time to give me kudos for something other than having raised a great son... That's not so simple..

Some of My Recent Forays

So I figure that while my boys are in bed, I'd better get some photo updates posted on my blog of the dishcloths that I've recently finished... Woohoo!!!! Plus a couple of other things that I've been meaning to share, too...

First, a special thanks again to my Canadian Dishloth exchange buddy Suzanna Eve for her cloth. I promised a better photo of it when I first posted about it. Love the lacy pattern, simple yet very functional... Its very pretty.



Thanks again... I'm probably the tardiest person with exchanges but they will get to their intended recipient, if not eventually.... Note to self, move quicker.









Plus, I did my first Mason Dixon ballband cloth.... Oooow that was fun!

I used two leftover balls of verigateds that I had kicking around, plus the swimming pool blue as my other colour. The result was.... Multi-pretty.... Here it is in my kitchen in our 5th wheel out at the lake (where I finished it.).



I'll definitely do this one again too... I tried carrying the colour up the sides and tried breaking the yarn each time.. It was a learning experience. I think I preferred to carry the colour as all that weaving was insane!

The pink/red verigated was from the mock lacy cloth that I did (again through my yahoo dishcloth group's KAL) and the purple/yellow verigated was leftover from the cloth that I made from a suggestion of a lacy pattern that Dorothy made in a comment on my blog.





Speaking of the Lacy Mock cloth, I don't think I ever posted a "OFN" shot of it... So, here she is!



OK! So what else?...Well, I've also done an Oak Leaf cloth, here. It was an interesting pattern to knit and I enjoyed making it, I just prefer to knit stitch patterns with repeats to learn. I'm sure I'll make this one again as this one is slated for my Fall dishcloth exchange buddy from my Canadian Discloth group, Mary Anne. Shhh don't tell her. Its in the mail so hopefully she won't stumble on my blog until she receives it. Now I see her blog roll includes my link so I'm taking a big chance... yikes.

I've also taken a whirl at making my own stitch markers. Its my first attempt and I'm curious about how they will work out.



I figured why not. I haven't done anything large or complex enough yet to warrant using them, but I can't resist jewellery of any sorts... If anything, I think they look decadent hanging off my needles while I pretend I know what I'm doing. ;)

Lazy lazy lazzzyyyyy

Has it really been a month since my last post?! Yikes! I'm so sorry... I have been so busy with "life" lately I haven't had any time to sit down and type out my thoughts... Mostly, I've been a flat out lazy blogger.

My needles haven't been resting, though. I've finished 3 different cloths, worked on my Irish Hiking Scarf which I love, but get bored of with because of the quick repeats (that's my own undoing), and plotted out numerous toques (hats) for my two boys (hubby and son) with colour changes and ribs and hopefully cables... Now if only I could just "get bizzy" before the snow flies. We've been lucky so far (knocks on wood).

With the weekend coming, I vow to reassert myself into the knitting bloggers universe! That is if the big pile of laundry doesn't get me first........

Again With the Dishcloths..

So, I joined in a new KAL for, yup, dishcloths. I love them because you can practice all the stitch patterns you can get your hands on! A usable gauge swatch, really.

On my two favorite sets of needles I've got two different cloths being worked up. One from the Monthly dishcloth KAL. Its the mid-month pattern, and one for my Canadian Dishcloth group's fall exchange. Nan has asked that I partner up with Mary Anne as her partner had to "bow out" unexpectedly and unfortuntely... She just lost her husband. Prayers are with her and her family... So, instead Mary Anne will be getting her gift in the snail mail now that I finished it.

Photos to follow.

What kind of knitting needles are you?

You are pink aluminum.Retro, straightforward and fun, you love classic things. If they're 99 cents at Goodwill all the better! You are moved by striking colors and tasty morsels, and you like a stitch-n-bitch session in the sun. Just remember, while you're being kitschy cool, don't get too cold. Ice cubes are best kept in your cocktails, baby!

Been A Long Time Coming

Posting anything has been difficult lately with the Back to School Craze that's swept the Country lately....

That and work, going to the lake, bombing around town in my new car, summer holidays... Blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada. This lil ol post is just a teaser....

Here's what's been occupying my needles mostly as of late. We had an exchange in the Canadian Dishcloth Group I belong to and I was lucky to exchange cloths with a super nice lady in Halifax (Hi Suzanna). She sent me the lovely blue/green/yellow cloth that's resting on the top right hand side of the photo. I should have done a better photo of it, what was I thinking.... I also got some chocolate that was "confisgated" by my son and a sample of some detergent for wool. Thanks again, I hope you enjoyed your cloth and goodies I sent....



This is the cloth I sent her.... Its the ZigZag Stripes pattern I've got posted here on my blog. It was fun to do but I really had to concentrate... Again, I don't think the photo captures the pattern well enough. I'll update it when I take a better one.



I finished my shawl that I started for my Triangular Shawl KAL.... Here it is in all its glory resting comfortably on our sofa out at the lake. There's a few boo-boos in it, but all in all, I'm pretty happy with my first big piece.



We decided instead of doing the "family summer vacation trip" together this year, we'd seperate our holiday time so that our son could be at home all summer instead of having to go to his grandmother's. My hubby took him to the Dinosaur Provincial Park earlier so when it was my turn to do something "summer vacation" like with the boy, we went to the beach! The sandcastle that my son and I made during our "mini-holiday" when we went to Sylvan Lake. It was hot and sunny and wonderful to be able to go just him and I, and hotel it for a few days.



... and my new car .... (Notice my hubby's head poking out the top.. heehee.) The back windows have since been tinted and now it looks really hot! I want to wash it and detail it again then I'll update this photo also.

My Cabled Irish Hiking Scarf

I love knitting these cables! The pattern is so nice. Its a simpe repeat that once you get going, you just don't want to stop! The Conquering Cables KAL was such a great idea, I'm glad I joined... Thanks ladies for organizing this one.

This is only about 2 hours worth of knitting and its already close to 12 inches long. I know there are some who have already finished theirs and probably faster than me too, but hey, its not a race...

My niece asked me to knit her a poncho for back to school. Maybe it'll have cables in it.