WIP: Kirigami & Wetherell.

I’ve got two Twist Collective patterns on the go at the moment.

First up is the Wetherell sweater, which I began before Christmas. I’ve finished the front, and now I’m working on finishing the back. After that, the sleeves and the seaming! I might go with 3/4 length sleeves rather than full-length.

Second is the Kirigami sweater, which I began last night! It’s a breeze so far and I love the single-row stripes, which are achieved on pieces worked flat by sliding the stitches back across the needle to knit with the second colour.

I am very happy with the mustard yellow and light heathery brown combination. I didn’t want as high a contrast of colours in the original sweater, and I think these colours balance each other nicely.

Find more WIPs at Tami’s Amis.

“I Aten’t Dead.”

A few things happened since you last heard from me. I had been spending more time blogging about books but my other blog is out of commission at the moment as my friend is taking care of some viruses. The holidays are over and I have a few things to post.

I finally finished my Manu:

I sewed the Jasmine top from Colette Patterns:

I bought a new DSLR camera, the Canon T2i, and I am in love with it.

Christmas happened, and I finished Corey’s Cobblestone Pullover in time. Here he is, posing at his uncle’s house on a farm in the Eastern Townships:

And our little pup Sadie is growing. She is now 4 months old and getting bigger by the day.

I have some felt wool that I bought on Etsy for crafting purposes, and I’m going to join the sew-along for the Minoru jacket as created by Tasia of Sewaholic.net. I’m looking forward to 2012 as a crafty year!

Sadie.

One reason I haven’t posted for several weeks now is because of this little monster:

She doesn’t really look like a monster in that photo, but she can be when she’s awake at 6:30am and ready for a biting match.

Corey and I have had Sadie for almost four weeks now. We got her at eight weeks old, when she was a bit pudgier:

But she’s already lost a bit of her puppy fat and is getting leaner. Her mother is an Australian Cattle Dog (also known as a Blue Heeler) and her father is a black Lab Retriever. I can’t wait to see what she looks like as she grows, because it doesn’t seem to be a common mix. It could get intense though – she’s going to have a lot of energy and will need a lot of exercise. The Blue Heeler in her will probably want to nip at our heels even as an adult. But she is also lovely and I love her and I want to play with her all the time (except for when she bites me). The hardest part is that I want her to cuddle with me on the couch but she’s not allowed on yet… even though I find her asleep on the couch when I get out from the shower.

A leaf-eating photo from Gatineau Park:

I knit when she’s asleep. Expect some photos to come…

FO: Boundless

I’ll try my hand at FO (Finished Object) Friday now that I’ve got one to show off. Finally, the Boundless Cape is finished!

Pattern: Boundless by Christa Giles, from Twist Collective
Wool: Cascade Eco (1.5 skeins)

Hood up!

Back view!

Hood down!

I really need to start doing my hair more nicely when taking photos of myself to post online. Anyway, I love this cape. It was really fun to knit up, although the cabling was definitely complicated so I wouldn’t recommend it as a beginner pattern. There are cables to be done on both sides of the work so I couldn’t just purl happily away on the back side. The cables made it a really interesting and engaging knit, though.

I am very happy with this, but I’m not sure how often I’ll wear it out. It’s getting cold here in Ottawa, too cold for wearing a cape to go run errands. Still, it’s gorgeous. Maybe it’ll be more of a springtime piece for me.

Happy weekend! I’m going to have a great weekend because Corey and I are going to pick up a new member of our household tomorrow. Hint: she has four legs and likes to play catch!

Find more FOs on Tami’s Amis.

WIP: Cruiser & Honey Cowl

I’m still not finished my Cruiser mitts, but they are on their way to becoming real mitts. Apologies for the poorly-lit photography.

Knitting thumbs is pretty important for winter mitts, you know.

I was browsing through some cowl patterns last night, admiring the Honey Cowl and pondering which yarn I could use for that from my stash. It hit me: last year I received a gorgeous skein of pink/brown/white wool that had been part of SweetGeorgia Yarns‘ fibre club. I had it stashed for over a year because I couldn’t figure out the right pattern to show off the colours without looking too busy and overwhelming because the colourways are quite short.

I love those colours. Although I don’t believe in gender specific colours, I have to confess I love pink. I don’t love it because it’s a girly colour; I just think the hue of a dark pink is beautiful. It’s not a colour you often see in nature except in flora or certain vegetables. A vivid dark pink makes me very happy. Paired with the greyish browns and balanced by the white in this skein, I’m looking forward to seeing how the finished project turns out.

Find more WIPs today on Tami’s Amis.

Butternut squash soup.

It’s a very rainy day and we’ve had a busy time with visitors lately, so I’m home today with the potential to get a lot of knitting done.

Unfortunately that potential probably won’t be fulfilled because I burned my pinkie while making some butternut squash soup and knitting is a bit painful at the moment, as is typing. (Recipe from Real Girl’s Kitchen.)

So although it was delicious, I didn’t really get to enjoy it as much as I would have without a pinkie on fire.

WIP: Cruiser.

I thought I’d try something new on this blog: WIP Wednesdays. If you’re not a knitterly type, “WIP” stands for Work In Progress, and WIP Wednesdays was developed over at Tami’s Amis blog.

I’m working on the Cruiser Mitts to be gifted. After I finish the mitts I’ll knit a lining for them. They’re made out of Cascade Eco Wool, which I love. (Actually, this wool is left over from my Owls sweater.)

This is an incredibly easy pattern with a simple and easy to memorize cable pattern. Actually, it’d be a great beginner’s cabling project. Plus, with the eco wool, it’s knitting up fast.

I still need to sew a button and clasp onto my Boundless cape, but I hope to have it posted soon!

Find more WIPs today on Tami’s Amis.

Busy bee binds off Boundless.

After having a bit of a slow summer, my life has exploded this month. My good friend Adam came to visit us for one week. The three of us went to Oktoberfest in Vankleek Hill hosted by Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company and got to try some of their new beers. We did all the usual touristy things in Ottawa, like go to a museum (we chose the incredible War Museum), visit Parliament and go up the Peace Tower, visit the National Gallery, walk around the canal, and took a stroll in the Gatineaus.

Now my mum is here for a quick visit from Thailand before she flies out to meet my dad in Vancouver for a bead show in B.C. After she leaves tomorrow morning, I promise to start posting crafty things again. I’ve finished knitting the Boundless cape (save for the button). Here’s a sneak peak as it’s blocking:

And soon I’ll unveil my Colette Fall Palette Challenge clothes. I’ve got a skirt, a dress, and a shirt to show off at the moment. Maybe I’ll be able to add to that once my life calms down a bit!

Design*Sponge at Home

I’ve been doing some sewing for the Colette Fall Palette Challenge, but I think I’ll unveil everything in one go when I’m finished.

In the meantime, I’ve been pawing through this beautiful book:

Grace Bonney created the Design*Sponge blog in 2004 and has recently released this gorgeous collection of sneak peaks (into designers’ homes), basic DIY tutorials, DIY design projects, and a before/after inspiration section. I normally don’t like looking at pictures of other people’s houses in magazines, but I find that D*S chooses the perfect photos and highlight just the right parts of the house, focusing on one dresser or on one wall. I’m excited to try some of the DIY projects to spruce up my own home (which I have been mildly unenthusiastic over, lately). I’m getting so many great ideas from this book!

Colette Patterns Fall Palette Challenge 2011.

I’ve decided to do the Colette Patterns Fall Palette Challenge 2011!

I tend to wear a lot of black clothing, as I discovered this summer when I was trying to find a black shirt and realized I had several black shirts in a pile by the bed. I only own one brown pair of capris and one brown t-shirt which I never wear. I think this season I’ll try to incorporate more brown into my wardrobe, as well as some blues and yellows balanced by grey. I’m usually not crazy about the brown/grey combination, but some ladies seem to be able to pull it off. I’m going to try it. Here’s my inspiration mood board; you can find the original board and sources on my Pinterest challenge board.

I’ll be sewing a mini-wardrobe from a bunch of Colette Patterns that I have at home, as well as a few new ones that I’ll be ordering from their fall collection.

I’d also like to throw some red and coral in there with the grey, but that won’t be part of the challenge. I’ve got enough on my plate!