Sit Ubu Sit, Good Dog...

Fellow knitters, does it seem reasonable to you to press the dog into service as a fashion model because the kids are alseep and you really, really want a postable picture of your latest finished object? Thought so, seemed ok with me too. DH on the other hand is less convinced.

Haley is modeling Gillian's hoodie. This was one of those projects where I really should have cut my losses and frogged the whole thing before I invested SO much time. It is a very easy pattern from an old copy of Easy Knitting and I started it with the hope of using up some Pingofrance yarn that I had in my stash. The yarn knit to gauge (on 3.0mm needles!) but the fabric is a bit firmer and has much less drape than the intended yarn. I'll try blocking it out a bit to see if it softens, but I'm not holding out much hope.

Isn't Haley a really great sport!

It Followed Me Home...I Swear!

This was a gift from a former knitter, turned ex-knitter. She believed that I would give it a good home. She is probably right. Hey, if nothing else, her stash will have lots of companionship.

The partially completed sweater is from a Paton's pattern book (Sweet things for Summer,1990) that I vaguely remember. The yarn is Paton's Leila (a 100% cotton with a slight slub in DK weight) in taupe.

Bad Blogger...Bad!

Sorry, I've been a lousy blogger this past week or so...

In my defence, it's been crazy busy. After waffling for the six years since we moved into the Plywood Palace (DH's term, not mine), we bit the bullet and had the nasty 20 year-old astro-turf carpet replaced with hardwood. Now quite frankly, the installers from The Floor Shop did most of the work, but I did the prep.

Prep work in this case involved packing all the breakables on my ground floor and moving them to the second floor or basement as well as moving all the furniture smaller than a sofa to higher or lower ground too. It killed the better part of a week. The next week was spent with the kids and I crowded into our kitchen as it was the only habitable space on the ground floor of our house. Now, the floors are done and look rather nice, I'm trying to put things back into place. Oh, and while this was going on, dog training, School Council meetings, Therapy Meetings and Birthday parties were happening.

So, not much knitting. Well, I did manage to squeak out a few rows while watching Cars at Clare's birthday movie party, in between the six (count them 6) trips to the restroom that I chaperoned.

I'm working to finish Clare's Molly Bolero from Debbie Bliss' Junior Knits and to finally complete Gillian's orange hoodie. (the more I look at it, the more I think that skinny-minny Clare will walk away with that one too!)

Anyway, here's a preview of the stairs...

Today's Blog is Brought to You By...

The colour Red!

Lots of red on the blog today, well many pictures of one red finished object!

Here is the substantially complete Saturday Market Bag, by Jodie Danenberg

Specifications and Modifications:

- I used Butterfly Super 10 mercerized cotton in bright red. It is very strong and doesn't stretch much (great for shopping bags) plus I had it on hand, (great for stash reduction...see shameful stash picture on sidebar) It requires exactly one skein to complete a bag that is slightly smaller than Ms. Danenberg's original.

- It is knit in the round to eliminate seaming.

- It has a bottom with a pocket suitable for grocery lists, debit cards or a couple of dollars for shopping.



I started by knitting a small garter stitch rectangle (about 4 X 6 inches) added a purl row to allow it to foldover nicely, continued until the piece was equal on both sides then decreased one stitch each side, every row to create an envelope point. I seamed this rectangle to create a pouch and picked up the 90 or so stitches that I needed for the market bag from the edges of the pouch. (a crochet hook is a must for anyone trying this at home)

If I had to do it again, and I just might, I would make the pouch a teeny bit larger. I did have a gauge swatch left over from the original skein of Butterfly Super 10, so this would have been possible without requiring a second skein.

- When not in use, the bag can be stored inside itself. Picture this with a cute button, I just haven't had a chance to pick through my collection for a suitable specimen.



Anyway, that was this weekend's project. That and moving all the furniture from our downstairs to our upstairs and our basement in anticipation of new flooring. Lots of fun.

Happy Birthday Gillian and Clare!

My babies turned 7 years old yesterday. Not much of a celebration last night, Clare is having a movie party next weekend and is saving the excitement until then. Ellery made a small low-fat chocolate birthday cake using her new cookbook.

Ellery is what might be charitably described as a "picky eater" and has recently added "vegetarian" to her list of requirements for acceptable food. Coupled with the pre-adolescent girl's newly discovered fascination with thinness, it can make mealtime trying. I'm trying to react with positive support for healthy eating choices and found some healthy cookbooks at the library. This one, Looneyspoons: Low Fat Food Made Fun, is great!

In knitting news, I'm working on a variation of Jodie Danenberg's Saturday Market Bag




A couple modifications, per Zibibbo's suggestions , I started with an envelope-style pocket and picked up the stitches for the bag around the edges. The hope is that the bag will be able to be stored in itself when I'm finished. I fear that I may have made the pouch too small. Well, that is the point of experimenting, right?

Anyway, the bag is made from Butterfly 10 cotton in lipstick red! Very festive!

Well, I should scoot, my break is over and I have to return to moving all of the junk from our downstairs to our upstairs in preparation for flooring work next week. I'm looking forward to the finished product, but neither the noise nor mess necessary to get there.

Another Photo Finish

They're setting up the craft table at the Fun Fair as we speak and I've just woven in the last end!!


Here is the Bernat Satin Pinwheel Baby Blanket. Note the looped crocheted border, just to keep things interesting, I taught myself how to do that very late last night.



The Australian Merino Clapotis, longer and skinnier to be worn as more of a scarf than shawl.

Ok, now that my craft projects are done I can return to setting up the cash office for tomorrow. I have found my calculator, cash boxes, coin wrappers, coin sorting machine, tally sheets and other assorted office supplies.

Wish us luck tomorrow, the weather isn't looking very promising, so the rides and slides could be scrapped. On the other hand, while we lose on ticket sales, we might make it up on the themed tables and auctions which are held indoors.

Catch you later!