Absence

I've been away from my blog. I'm busy separating from my husband. So I'm moving... and busy, and stressed. Your regularly scheduled Kristy Knits blogging will return sometime in June... for now, I just don't have the energy. So see you all in June :)

Just keep knitting..

Finish Undulating Rib Socks in a camo colorway. Not big on the camo, didn't realize what it was until I started knitting. I only picked this color up cuz I liked the combo of greens and browns. Oh well, they still turned out quite nice :)

What else am I working on? Welllllllllllll on the bus I'm knitting a baby cardigan that has been taking forever (mostly because I am SO ready to be done with it, don't like the yarn), Starsky is still ongoing although it hasn't been touched in weeks... maybe tomorrow, and some Entrelac socks:

Lots on the go, a few things almost finished... just keep knitting, just keep knitting :) Happy Saturday!

Thanks and looky!

Thanks for all the camping advice everyone! I've decided to go ahead with my plan of camping alone in Strathcona Park this summer, should be very relaxing :)

I'm working on Undulating Rib Socks right now, knitting on two circulars. It's my first time using two circulars for socks and I'm finding it... interesting. Seems to be faster. I've also been sewing, see:

Caitlin

All I can really say is that I love it. Love it, love it, love it.






Finished last night, and wore it to work today. The Details if you're interested.

Question to all; I want to go camping this summer, but it looks like I'll be solo. The trip is about 10 days long with a ton of day long hikes into the wilderness to some breathtaking views (for the locals - Strathcona Park). I'm absolutely itching to go, but a little hesitant on the solo thing... what do you think?

• Would I be nuts to go alone?
• If it is nuts, where would I find someone willing to go with me (friends and family already questioned with no takers)?
• If I do go alone, safety tips (bears, cougars, rednecks)? I find I can typically handle my own, I'm honestly not even a bit worried about the camping/night time part, it's the hiking part... alone... in the bushes... alone... how do I make noise to scare away animals when I'm all alone? Will I just look like easy prey to a hungry cougar?
• Ugh, but I really, really want to go... advice?

One done, couldn't wait

love it!

Enablers!

So I know there is a craft fair thing on in town this weekend and I think 'no, I won't go. Must. Save. Money.' Then I had a bunch of enablers...

1) co-worker informs me that Fabricland is having one of their 50% of EVERYTHING sales

2) mother reminds me that Cloth Castle has a sale the last Saturday of every month.
3) husband buys the groceries this week...

Yes, of course I went fabric shopping! eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehehehehe and I got some lovely stuff:

3 blouses (I made one of these in plain brown last week and got a bunch of compliments on it therefore I must make more)

2 summer dresses, cuz well... cute!

and 1 satiny top for going out. Not that we go out much, but darnit these shirts are so expensive in the stores so I want to see if I can make one on my own.

And now for your regularly scheduled knitting content :) Progress on the Caitlin Pullover is slow and steady, I can't wait to wear this one! Starsky has less progress, but it is still coming along nicely. This is the finished lower body and start of a sleeve on the Caitlin.

Goal Update

So we're a quarter of the way through 2008, time for an update on the 'Goals for 2008 ':

Lose 20 lbs! Lost 15lbs so far and re-evaluated my goal, going for another 10lbs.

Learn. Thai cooking class and Photography class are complete and were both awesome. I actually took a second photography course because I liked it so much. Greg is looking into getting us scuba diving lessons this year as well.

Actually figure out this whole politics thing. I'll get around to it, I swear.

Home: tile backsplash, bar stools, and window coverings that the cats can't destroy. Done, done, and almost done (only the dinning room, office and gym left)

Compile a cookbook of my favourite recipes and publish it through Blurb. Cancelled. Why? Well in order to lose weight and also as a result of a nutritionist coming to talk to everyone at my work we adopted the Clean Eating Diet which is amazing and we have both never felt better. Unfortunately that means a lot of my favourite recipes are things we can't eat anymore... so yeah. Cancelled.

I really need to clean out our 'stuff' so Garage Sale this year, promise! I have a stash of stuff ready to go for the summer (actually a whole closet full). And I'm going to talk to my grama about having it at her house, maybe make it a whole family thing.

House insurance, I know our coverage isn't enough, and that's just tempting fate people. I are dumb. I are now smart and adequately covered.

Go skiing again, it's been years. Ski Trip was a blast.

Go on one of the following trips: West Coast Trail (still looking for a trail partner), Houseboat vacation, Cruise somewhere hot. Greg is looking into the cruise, and I found a partner for the West Coast Trail, but she would like to do this next year, so 2009 it is :) I have also been invited to Las Vegas for free - my uncle is sending me, my mom and my two aunts for my mom's 50th birthday in October. So I may not get the cruise or houseboat vacation in this year... depends on if there is time/deals.

Pay off at least $3500 of my credit card debt. Don't gasp, yes it's high, and yes I know I need to learn from past experience... I'm working on it.
Another one I've been putting off is insurance, I don't actually know what my life insurance coverage is, only that I have some through work. Must get that figured out.
I have lumped these two together for one reason Suze Orman. I've been reading, in fact I've devoured two of her books since February. I admit I suck at money, until now that is. Her books have really opened my eyes and I feel like for the first time in my life I am really getting all my financial ducks in a row. Admittedly I have a lot of credit card debt to pay off, but now I have a solid, feasable plan to attack it. So we can mark these as in progress for now, but I'm feeling very good about it.

Knit only from the stash or gift yarn until it runs out. Which is plenty, trust me. I have been SO good in this respect. I only slipped once and that was recently. I got the promotion at work and wanted to celebrate. So one slip up in 3 months isn't really that bad. Right?

How is your 2008 so far?

Plants and how they die

I have a history with plants... it's not a proud or happy one. I kill them. Not that I mean to, it just sort of happens, they are either neglected too long or overwatered, or well I don't really know. All I know is that I'm no good at it. However the rising cost of fresh herbs in the supermarket has driven me to try once again. Here is what I have so far (picked up some pretty spring stuff too, just for fun).

Tips, tricks, or any kind of help you can give me would be much appreciated. I am the suck when it comes to plants (seriously, my husband just laughed at me when I brought this all home... for an uncomfortably long time).

There has been much progress on both sweaters I'm knitting right now, but as the long weekend is just getting started I won't post pictures until it's over - just to see how far I can get :) Happy Easter!

Sweater Addict

Not one, but two at a time :) I was getting a bit sick of laceweight, fingering, yarn overs and tiny needles. Not that I no longer love lace, but I just really felt like knitting a sweater, or perhaps two... Here is the progress to date:

Caitlin Pullover knitting in the round like pretty much everyone else that has picked up this pattern. LOVE IT!

Starsky, knitting up super fast and soft. I cannot wait to wear this bad boy to work :)

Break-fast

I have broken my yarn fast! I admit it, I bought yarn. Let me explain how I justified the expense: I got a big promotion at work which will pay a lot more money, I worked my butt off for this job so I deserve a reward or two, and I haven't bought yarn in about 6 months.

I saw a sweater online that I simply had to have, this one. Then I remembered Starsky and how much I wanted on of these for work, the air conditioning is killer. Caitlin Pullover and Starsky it is! I bought Lana Gatto Wool Gatto with the main colour being grey for the Pullover and have already done my gauge swatches - ready to get started. I also bought Patons Shetland Chunky in a lovely medium blue and am already done 4 reapeats of the leaf pattern on the back. I love knitting with Chunky yarn - so fast!

I'll post some pics of the progress later this week :)

Photo Friday - Surreal

Surreal

Another Finished Scarf

I love the way this scarf turned out. It's for my Grama for Christmas, I know, quite an early start on Christmas... meh. It was fun to knit and I loved the Silky Wool. Also I heart my lace blocking wires, jus' sayin' :)

Photo Friday - Fuzzy

Whhheeeeeee!

I'm so happy to have finally finished this scarf, it feels like it took forever. I love it! Greg helped me pin it out for blocking last night before the ladies showed up for Knit Night. I heart Knit Night :)

I have a few projects on the needles right now and am anxious to finish them up as well. Hopefully at least on more FO this weekend... maybe. I have the green scarf for my Grama, Merino Lace Socks for myself, and I started a cute little baby jacket out of yarn I have had forever, it cost $2 at a garage sale! I'm thinking the scarf will be the next on to come off the needles, followed closely by the baby jacket...

Also, it's March (can you believe it?) that means the year is almost a quarter over. Time to take a look at those New Years Goals soon and update them. But more to come on that later in the month.

Photo Friday - Art

This post inspired by photofriday. After taking that photography class I wanted some inspiration to keep going so that the skills learns actually stuck. So each Friday I'm going to try to post a Photo Friday :) And yes, I know it's Thursday, but I'm out of town all weekend so you get this one a teensy bit early.

Photo Heavy Update

Two weeks have flown by faster than I care to reflect on for too long. I took a photography class in there, so yes, this post is picture heavy. So in a nutshell;

Haircut, new makeup. 10inches of my lovely long hair went to BC Cancer Agency.

Thai cooking class, hmmm no photos... Photography Class

Making curtains for our bedroom.

Knitting

Finally caught up all my scrapbooking for 2007, 2 Salmon Kings hockey games. Work, Eating Clean still (yay 11lbs gone), Rock Climbing, Running, plus some personal stuff that has taken up A LOT of my time (sry no details, too private). This week doesn't look so quiet either, Blog, Ravelry, finish curtains for bedroom tonight, tomorrow and thursday are rock climbing nights, Wed is swimming with a friend and I hope to take some pictures after work to get the most practice I can after that photography class, and then Friday I'm off to Vancouver to visit my cousin for two days, Sunday is another rock climbing day and I'll have to do all the household stuff that day as I will have been away most of the weekend. Well, at least I can't say I'm bored. Definitely keeping busy.

Looking forward to the ferry ride too and from Van - great knitting time. I hope to finish the SecretPalYarn Scarf, and maybe even GramaRobbins Scarf too... I'll let you know how it goes :)

And the curtains

As promised, one with flash, one without:

Another wonderful weekend comes to an end

I made some more wonderful things this weekend, well really I started them throughout the week, it's just that weekends tend to be when I finish things up. First Winter Sunrise Hat in Lana Gatto, which is a dream yarn to work with, but kinda pricey... Pay no attention to the pajamas in the picture, no, no attention at all.

Second I made some placemats before going to a sewing lesson (the lesson came free with my new machine and was somewhat helpful). My mom also started a set of placemats. We were going to make them together, but well, I don't get it, she was just really slow and only got two done. I made my full set of 4 and love them. Greg really likes them too.

And last, but certainly not least (especially considering the time and effort) I made curtains for our kitchen. No pics right now since they are in for a final wash before hanging. I'll be sure to post some pics before Valentines Day :)

Sew much to do

So little time... or wait, no, I mean; lots of time and lots of FO's, yay! First the sewing. I found these neat pillowcase kits at a local fabric shop. This took under 30 minutes to make and my husband loves it, which means I have to go get my own now.

And Grocery bags! This seems to be the big 'thing' right now, not using plastic grocery bags, but canvas ones. I think it's a great idea but feel funny about going to Thrifties with Fairways bags, or The Market on Millstream, or, or, or... I shop around and didn't want the brand thing to make me uncomfortable so I decided to make my own. They are denim, and loverly. I can't wait to go shoppping this weekend :)

And finally some knitting and kitty content for you. Pattern: Parallelograms from my Knitting New Scarves book. I love this scarf! I'm going to wear it to work tomorrow (just finished it tonight). I used Patons Classic Merino and have enough left over to make a second scarf easily. This took 3 days from start to finish... really less than 48 hours... hmmm... weird. It was kind of scary how fast this knit up, I kept double checking, then checking again, absolutely positive I must be doing something wrong. Nope, it turned out perfect. You'll notice I am short a human model for this photo shoot, never fear, Sylus will do just fine. Oh, Ah, show me sleepy...

Good, good, now show me 'it's cold outside and this scarf is so snuggly'...

He's a natural :)

It's Fetching Cold Outside

So I made some mittens, based on the Fetching pattern available from Knitty. I can't begin to explain just how easy these mittens where, the whole pair took me maybe 4 hours. I'm quite satisfied with my new mittens; they do their job quite well :)

Arwen, finally

Pattern: A Cardigan for Arwen
Yarn: Berocco Peruvia colour 7137
Status: DONE! yay!



One with the hood up, just for you Jennifer :)

Weekends are my time

I finished up another chili apron and a baby dress this week. I know, I know - that's not knitting! But it was fun. I made button holes! It was amazing. I, however, do not have a baby nor do I ever plan on it - so Growly Bear is your model for today (only cuz the cats wouldn't hold still wearing a baby dress). The dress is for my new neice, Grace.

Cardigan for Arwen is coming along nicely too; I am just about finished the sleeve and all that'll be left is the hood and seams. Voila! Next post will be a finished Arwen, promise.

Pajama days

While Greg did the tile backsplash in the kitchen all yesterday (which meant I couldn't cook or clean - yay!) I did a few things. 3 to be exact.

1. Made a spicy apron that had no photo model around and was therefore draped on Greg's chair.

2. Made a circular knitting needle case (which matches the straight + DPN case I made a while back)

3. Finished the snowflake socks. Please note: Sylus has again managed to get his socks in the sock photo :) He is SO my cat.

Very, very productive Sunday I'd say. I also did some more of Arwen and am hoping to be done by the end of this coming weekend.

Houston, we have a problem...

As a 'thank you' for getting her addicted to knitting, my mother bought me a really, really nice sewing machine today... the competition for my spare time just got tough!

She's calling it fair revenge, since she was a quilter first and then I introduced her to knitting... I see through her evil plans to make me a quilter. Yes... yes, I see her plans... yet somehow all I can think is 'oooh! shiney! Where's the closest fabric store?'

Progress

After posting about the lacey scarf, I really felt bad. What did the scarf ever do to me? It was being neglected, and I wanted to make up to it. So I knit. And knit, and knit and knit. Only 9 more repeats of the leaves left... although I might make it a bit longer, I do have enough yarn to make it longer... then the end piece and voila! It's just that easy LOL

The sock that ate my weekend...

is done. And it fits perfectly! Now to complete the pair...

You'll notice Sylus modeling his socks in the background as well.... ooh, ahhh, strike a pose.