Je Suis Prêt... Pour Noël!

It's been very quiet lately in the nursery, which although it's kind of bad when it gets too quiet (it's boring in the present and it probably means we're going to get slammed right at Christmas), there are some benefits. For one, we had time to start playing Christmas music at work! This festive time with my co-workers led me to discover the pleasures of vintage Christmas music videos. I would like to share them with you.

Wham's Last Christmas I Gave you my Heart is a great place to start. It's sort of a terrible song, but the story we're told by the video almost makes listening to the song bearable. This group of friends is as incestuous as the group I got around with in my early 20s (we are still all acquainted, but fortunately we each picked someone and stuck to them... eventually). Hopefully Wham and his friends made on okay too.

The group favourite, though was by far the entire Boney M Christmas album. Not only is it great music and classic Christmas fare from my childhood, but around the 20 minute mark of the video you get a great and lasting view of "Daddy Cool's" package (and his 70s dance moves too). I HIGHLY recommend having this video on loop until after Christmas. Also, you need to watch Daddy Cool (maybe not safe for work depending on how your employer feels about dry-humping microphones and faking orgasms).

Weeks in Review

I've had a lovely time these last few weeks! I've been spending lots of time knitting by the fire in preparation for Christmas, and as such I have a whole bunch of F.O.s. In fact - my Christmas knitting is done! I still have a tote bag to sew for my mom, which I will do next week if my fabric arrives (more on that later). I suppose I still have Jeff's sweater to finish, but I'm not going to kill myself trying to get that done by Christmas. I plan to pick away at it whenever the spirit moves me until it's done, and if that's not until after Christmas, then so-be-it. I'm thinking of making myself a pair of possum mittens for the Knitmore Girls Grinch-along instead :)

I've also been doing some non-crafty Christmas prep and my shopping is actually mostly done! Most of my gift recipients live in Seattle, so I like getting their stuff sent early so it's there in time to bask under the tree lights for a while. Also, my cousin Sophie, my nephew, and my niece all have birthdays ranging from Boxing Day to mid-February, so I sent their Birthday gifts too!

I got some really fun dyeing done today too, but I'll save that for another time :)

Acquisitions 

Last week I bought an OTT Lite at Michael's and I'm really excited about it! These lights emit a natural white light that is supposed to reduce eye fatigue as well as letting colours read more truly, which I think is wonderful. I expect it will also help me capture the true colours of my dye projects on camera, and I'm hoping that if I spend some time in front of it every day before work it might also help me stave off S.A.D. If nothing else, I think 30 minutes knitting or spindling every day before work will put me in a nice headspace. 

I also got a new pair of boots since I didn't have a pair for everyday winter wear. They are a leather exterior with rubber over the toes, flat grippy soles, and they're lined with wool!! They come up just high enough to let the top inch of sock show and I can fold the top down to show off the wool lining AND my hand-knit socks!

The mailman also brought me a couple of skeins of Knit Picks Stroll sock yarn. I have a goal this year to fill up my sock drawer (and Jeff's too) with squishy hand-knits, so I'm in the process of doing some stash enhancement. I've got a few things on order that I'll share as they trickle in :)

F.O.s

There is a lot to cover here! The first thing I finished recently were socks for my uncle. My grandmother (Mom's mom) always used to knit everyone in the family socks and mittens every year, and I'm not sure my uncle has had a pair made for him since she died 9 years ago. My mom mentioned to him that I knit and he told her he would dearly love a pair of wool socks, and so I knit him some. Now, to be fair, the yarn (Sirdar Crofter) is not wool. It's an acrylic blend with both cotton and wool in it, so it's not going to be as cozy as the big thick aran socks my grandmother used to make, but they are very cute, and the small amount of wool in them should make them at least warmer than white cotton socks. Actually, Jeff liked this self-patterning yarn so much, that I made him a pair too :) Today is Jeff's birthday and he was so tickled by his new socks that he wore them out with the guys tonight. I'm sure they will all be really impressed. If only all men were as easy to please as my Jeff...

I also finished Coffee Guy's coffee cozy, which I will give him tomorrow at knitting if he is working, and my aunt's mittens, AND my Dad's hat. It's made of merino and cashmere so it will be soft and luxurious on his sparsely-haired head and it's a beautiful shade of hunter green, which I think is very appropriate for my hunter Dad.

On my Screen/In my Ears

Last week Jeff and I watched The Grand Budapest Hotel, which was a fun and funny movie (as all of Wes Anderson's movies are, IMHO). I knit through the whole thing, which I think makes it even better. I recommend watching it, and I strongly recommend a good stockinette project to go with it.

The Minerva Turkey podcast made it's way onto my radar over the last couple of weeks too, and I'm so glad it did! She's a fun and colourful lady (both physically and figuratively), and a very talented knitter. I love hearing her take on knitting and spinning. She seems really upbeat and positive, but she's not afraid to be honest about things that are less-than-great, and I really like that too. I think everyone should hear her stories about sewing class. Take-home message: Don't let other people cut your pants.

I'm still very very much riding the audiobook dragon. I finished The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic and it was pretty good - a nice long listen. It wasn't super adrenalinish, but it was fun. It's a bit more out-there than some of the other witchy books I've read, in that it takes place in an alternate, Narnia-like world, but I think sometimes it's fun to test the limits of suspended disbelief, and also of run-on sentences. If there is a sequel, I will listen.

I'm back on Outlander again, to my partner's great dismay (I listen to it out-loud and he now knows the series by-heart). It all started because Melanie of Savvy Girls fame was podcasting from Scotland, and all her talk of the beautiful moors and all her interviews with Scottish people made me dreadfully homesick for Claire and Jamie. So I started with the Outlander novellas because they were new to me, then when they were done, I started from scratch with the first audiobook. Yes. This all happened since I last posted. I listen to audiobooks while I do EVERYTHING (almost - there is a limit). I was pleased with the novellas, in particular The Space Between, which actually answered some niggling questions I had the last two times I listened to the entire series. I look forward to listening to the series again I the context of what was in the novellas. Then to top it off, in the new year I'll watch the series. I've been putting it off since I wanted to get as close as possible to the second season so that I wouldn't have to wait too long in between. I have a problem.

Anyway, since I haven't been working on any other WIPs, I'll move on to photos :)

Show and Tell

My new boots are warm and the wool makes them cushiony.
Hopefully they will also prove to be comfortable and waterproof.

My KP skeins. They are quite lovely and a great price-point for
such nice tonal variegation.

My uncle Kevin's socks. Jeff's look just like them.
I used Anne Budd's pattern for sizing, but used a
Fishlips Kiss Heel cause I like it. And I held a strand of thread with the yarn
for the heels and toes to make them a bit more durable.

Coffee Guy's fancy lacy coffee cozy.

Chuck lounging in my freshly tidied yarn room. He's hanging out
with the sport and DK yarns.
You can see the light from my OTT Lite just to the right of him.

Lucy being so adorable that I wanted to bite her.

A sneak peek.
This is Spring Grass on my sport weight sock base
with Garden Soil for stripes, heels and toes.

This is Fruit Salad.
Mostly cantaloupe, with pineapple, purple grapes and kiwi fruit.
And sunshine for stripes, heels and toes.
Also sport weight.

Jeff wanted to look his best on his special day, so here Chuck is giving him a wash and style.

That's all for now!

Welcoming the Winter

After weeks of futile resistance, winter seems to be descending on PEI. The leaves have fallen, the grass stopped growing, I've cleaned the garden, and the woodstack is shrinking. Sad as this is, I'm taking solace in some small comforts. My knitting mojo is strong once again and I'm reminded now of how comforting and cozy it is to knit by the fire. So here I am now, sitting by the fire with three quarters of a pair of mittens and a cup of sweet spicy chai, welcoming the winter.

Weeks in Review

Rhinebeck, also known as the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival, took place the third weekend of October and I WAS THERE!!! I flew in to NYC Friday evening, rented my car and drove out to Poughkeepsie. Then on Saturday morning the fun began. The wool festival was more or less what I expected. It was busy, and crowded, and FANTASTIC! It took me the first part of Saturday to get the lay of the land, then I met up with the SavvyGirls at the podcaster meet-up Saturday afternoon. The lovely SavvyGirls showed me around a bit more that day and I got a ton of shopping done. Sunday brought more shopping with Savvy Melanie and Deborah, a great cotton-spinning class, and a class on spindle long-draw with Abby Franquemont. It was a truly great weekend and I'm looking forward to doing it again next year... With Moira.

Acquisitions

My new acquisitions are all Rhinebeck-related. 

I bought three new spindles - one is a tiny Turkish (weighing about 15 grams); a wooden tahkli with a little wooden bowl; and a medium-weight zebra-wood Bosworth. I also bought a color grid to help me with my colour work and dyeing, the Spinner's book of Fleece, a couple of shawl pins, and some Bengala dye (it's a really neat mineral dye that works on both plant and animal fibres). I got a Loop batt, three braids from FiberOptic, two braids from Into the Whirled, one braid of Merino/silk from Lisa Souza, and one beautiful skein of sock yarn from Miss Babbs. Phew! 

I also got a few little gifts for Moira and my SavvyGirls swapetition Buddy (more on this next time).

F.O.s

Over the last few weeks, my main project has been diaper covers for my co-worker Kim. She's having a baby next month and is planning to cloth diaper, and she thought it would be nice to have some wool diaper covers for night-time. Enter me :)

I've made her 6 diaper covers - two each of newborn size, small, and medium. Half of them will have Velcro closures once they're dry enough to manipulate, and the other three are a one-piece cover with a ribbed waist band. I made them all with superwash wool so that Kim doesn't have to worry about felting, and today I washed, dried, then lanolized them, and now they are out blocking by the fire. 

To lanolize them, I mixed about half a teaspoon of Lansinoh ointment with a capful of Kookaburra wool wash, poured boiling water over it to melt the lanolin, then poured it into a sink full of very hot water, and tossed the diapers in! I let them sit for about 15 minutes in the sink, then took them out, rolled them in a towel, walked on the rolled towel, then laid them out to block. Easy peasy :) Once they're all dried and the Velcro is done, I'm going to wrap them all up with a small bottle of Kookaburra and a tube of Lansinoh. I'm really hoping it will be a hit since it's a fair bit more work than I typically put into a co-worker's shower gift. 

I also knit my brother a pair of mittens for Christmas and it was a great knit! It's the same fool-proof pattern I always use (Ann Budd's basic mitten pattern), but it's the yarn that made it! It's Paton's Classic Wool Merino that Moira gifted to me last year, and I can't believe how lovely it was to knit with! It was soft and bouncy and wooly and I think it might be the best mitten yarn ever. I need more.

W.I.P.s

Right now I'm working on mittens for my Uncle Steven. I'm using some really fun yarn that Jeff's parents gifted me a couple of years ago. It's 80% merino and 20 % possum. A single ply, kind of hairy, and really warm yarn. 

I picked away a bit at Jeff's sweater too. I'm not making a ton of progress on it, but it's fun to pick it up every now and then.

I've also been working a bit on my Buddy yarn that I'm spinning for the Yanrraising Podcasts "New to You Spinalong". The two spindles of cashmere are done and my first spindle of Buddy/alpaca is also done, so now I just have one spindle of Buddy left to go, then some plying.

On My Screen/In My Ears

I'm still quite smitten with Moira's podcast (Knitting in Stitches) and this week was especially fun since I WAS ON IT! It was so much fun and I giggled the whole time I watched!! 

I have the next episode of Fat Squirrel Speaks all queued up to watch too, but I'm saving it to really enjoy when I'm in dire need of it. It seems that all my favourite knitting videocasts have slowed down (with the exception of Moira), and since they aren't releasing episodes as regularly, they must be savoured with a glass of wine and a particularly soft merino. 

Recently, I added the Minerva Turkey knits podcast to my list and I'm really liking that one too! 

I finished re-listening to the Seaside Knitters Mysteries and now I'm on a bit of a witch bender. I just finished The Witche's Daughter by Paula Brackston, which I really liked. It had some mixed reviews on Audible, but I found it really engaging! Good vs. Evil and regular people having magic gets me every time. Now I'm listening to a similarly titled, but un-related book called The Minister's Daughter - also witchy themed - by Julie Hearn. They both take place (at least partly) in the 17th century around the time witch-hunting was big business, and you really get a feel for how terrifying it must have been to be a woman in those times. Along the same witchy lines, I have queued The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic by Emily Barker and Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood. I'm going to have so much good listening to accompany my Christmas knitting!!

Show and Tell

Some adorable curly goats!

Coated sheep.

Isn't this so lovely? I want to buy 20 times that much and roll around naked in it!

Greg's mittens! They're so soft and wooly :)

These are the diaper covers for Kim. Ready to be velcroed
and packaged up with pink ribbon.

This is my first spindle-full of Buddy/Alpaca. I spun it on my 15 gram
Golding, and once I finish the next spindle-full, I'll be ready to ply them with the cashmere I spun supported :)

That's all for now!