Fred&Toots

Damaged Goods

I finally finishd the Jess Hutch Robot I was working on. 

He was a special request from the mysterious M (a.k.a. Marsha or you know who) who had spotted it over at CRAFT.  I was able to borrow the pattern from Gwen (whose Mum had the foresight to purchase a booklet as a gift for Gwen!!).  So it all turned out pretty good but my intarsia needs some work.  The special delivery took place over a legendary combo at the White Spot and as I handed it over I noticed a stitch that just wasn't right.  With the tine of my fork I attempted to smooth out some stitches when out popped a loose end.  No problem.  I just got out my trusty swiss army knife and snipped it out of the way.  I'm still not quite sure how I managed it but 'Pogo' the robot ended up with a hole in his centre!!!  He's undergoing surgery at the moment.  I will never attempt to smooth out my knitting again with a fork.  I will take a good second look before I go in with the scissors.  I will never hand over a gift that I am less than happy with.  Lucky for me, M has known me for 25 years so I'm not totally mortified...'Pogo' will be just fine.

Speaking of damaged goods, check out what Miss Z found on a recent walk.  The top of a figurine.

Such a mystery!  She looks like a Hummel???  The closest thing I found as to what type of figurine she's from was this.  This poor little head now rests on Miss Z's shelf but someone is not amused...

 

True Loves Wednesday: Sweaters

I love sweaters - especially ones that are handmade.  Both my Grandmothers were amazing sweater knitters.  Growing up my Gramma Olof knit Icelandic sweaters for the whole family!  How cute is that?  (This was before my baby sister was born though I believe there is a photo of all 5 of us including her with matching sweaters).  We were just coming from a Christmas party...

My Grannie Jean knit beautiful Cowichan sweaters for everyone, family, friends & neighbours!  I think she could do them in her sleep!  There is a family picture of us in our matching Grannie Jean sweaters somewhere...where did I put it?

On the needles...

I've got two things on the go right now knit-wise:

First, this is a scarf I started um, in June.  It's something that gets put to the side often but is fairly easy to pick up again.  I was given some baby alpaca wool and the weight

of it just called for something lacy.  Having never knitted anything lacy before, I tried to find the simplest pattern I could.  I found this baby blanket pattern which can be increased or decreased by 15 stitches (for this scarf I've used 60 stitches).  I wrote out the pattern by hand using my own symbols just to make it easier for me to follow.  It wasn't long before I was able to knit the pattern by feel!  However, I did get a bit overconfident and dropped the odd stitch which was a real pain.  Now after every row I'm sure to give it a little tug to see if I've dropped anything so I can repair ASAP. 

I have quite a few more balls of wool so when I'm feeling more daring I'd like to make something like this:

It's an Icelandic shawl that my Great-Aunt knit, I just have to find the right pattern.  This is on my list as well, I love it!

Also on needles, just finishing up some fingerless mitts for Master C.  I'm just knitting rectangles and will sew up the side leaving a space for the thumb.  Real simple.

Miss Z will get a pair from this which I purchased on a recent trip to Vancouver's new knit shop, Three Bags Full.

Furball

A couple of years ago I started collecting my dog's fur.  She's a yellow lab, golden retriever cross so her fur is on the short side and extremely soft not to mention a lovely cream colour.  It was my Brother-In-Law's Grandma who inspired me to do so.  She is an expert weaver/knitter/spinner and had once spun and knit herself a tam from dog fur!  I had forgotten about my fur collection until the other day when J.T. sent me an interesting link:  Knitting With Dog Hair : Better A Sweater From A Dog You Know and Love Than From  A Sheep You'll Never Meet  I'm always looking for something to do with Una's abundance of fur.  At this time of year I put it out in my garden for birds to take for their nest building.

Another possible use is for art, of course.  I once went to an art show where the artist had framed some used sticky rectangles from one of those tape lint rollers.  Remember that Robin?  Any other ideas?      

The Coral Mohair

Long ago I purchased some coral mohair from Elann with great plans to make a cardigan, then a shrug which then became a poncho for Zoë.  Ta Da!  I did two rectangles of 52 stitches across on 5.5mm needles and sewed them up like this.  I then crocheted a double chain row, then triple chain then double chain around the neck.  I crocheted two rows of double chain around the bottom then added fringe by doing this every other chain.  Double-plying the yarn I crocheted a cord to thread around the neck attaching pom-poms to finish. 

Out of the cotton I purchased along with the mohair I have knit up a hat.  I was going to do a granny-square poncho but couldn't get into it so out of not even one ball I made this from the Rowan Knitting Magazine, Number 26 (which I cannot find a link for exactly but you can go here).  It is Design number 31, Scarlet, designed by Kim Hargreaves for Rowan.

Next on the list is a seat cushion from Weekend Knitting!

Knit Nite

The other night I hosted 'Knaughty Knitters'.  It's a group that started probably about 10 years ago.  We meet once a month to eat, drink, share ideas, knit and crochet.  Over the summer there were two new additions to the group.  Baby Emelia & baby Henry.  ('Henry & Emelia', that could be a movie).  To welcome these little people to the world we knit up a bunch of squares for two blankets.  Here are some pics of Emelia's blanket...

Bunny

Check out the cutest little bunny ever.  My sister made her for Zoë's second birthday.  The pattern is from here: Last Minute Knitted Gifts, dress designed by my sister, Auntie Annie. 

for the a view of the back continue on (0;