These FOs Fell Through the Cracks

I knit 24 gifts for Christmas!  You heard me....24!  That's like one a day from 1st December until Christmas Eve!  Yowza!

Due to the blur that WAS Christmas, I didn't blog about quite a few of the gifts, so here are the finished objects that fell through the cracks.

In no particular order:

Viking Surprise Jacket

Pattern:  Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann

Yarn:  Viking Ragg Sport

Kitty Catnip Critters

Pattern:  Friendly Little Bugs by Dawn Finney

Yarns: Odds and ends from stash

Amazing Labyrinth Cowls

Pattern:  I adapted the pattern from Labyrinth Duo by Roxanne Wood

Yarns:  Cascade Eco Wool & Aslan Trends Royal Alpaca

MIL Felted Clogs

Pattern:  Felted Clogs AC-33 by Fibre Trends

Yarns:  Cascade 220 & Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted

Canadian Trooper Helmet Liner (for troops in Afghanistan)

Pattern:  Helmet Liners by Knit 'n Style

Yarn:  Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted

Amazing Labyrinth Duo

Pattern:  Labyrinth Duo by Roxanne Wood

Yarn:  Knit Picks Bare 100% Merino (I dyed the yarn)

Sandi Pandi Neck Warmer

Pattern:  Sandi Pandi Neck Warmer by Isa Webb

Yarn:  Sandi Pandi Smooch Pooch (Yarnmarket)



At the moment I'm working on finishing Seneca by Jared Flood. This sweater was put on the back burner since September when I started knitting for the Ilderton Fall Fair.  I'm almost finished it!!  Hopefully just a few more nights and I'll be done.

I'm also working on the Dark Mark Illusion Scarf by Lindsay Henricks.  This is a fairly mindless knit, but it too has been on the back burner while I'm finishing Seneca.

Ta daaaaaaaaa!

The Day After...

Thankfully the 30cm of snow predicted for today was just pie in the sky!  We had the odd little flurry, but for the most part, it was dry.  Even the sun made a few guest appearances!

So we took the opportunity for some digging out.  Here are the last pics of the snow storm:

Front of house

Side of house

Back of house

Car Park at Shop Entrance

Three Tier pond

Side Door to house

Grandma's pond

Well, I've just been informed that it's snowing like crazy outside (7:30pm).  Bah humbug!



Every Year - Same Thing

... No matter how early I start the Christmas knitting, I'm scrambling to finish my projects by mid November.  And where's the joy in that?  The added agony is that I must finish the knitting in plenty of time for Canada Post and Australia Post to deliver my yarnie goodness in time for Christmas!

Can you believe that I started knitting Chrissie projects in ... [just checking] ... July!!

Note to self ... there are special places for people like me ....

So, massive knot in back of neck, aside [I wonder whether I have knitter's knotty neck syndrome?], I feel like I've knit a mile a minute during the last three weeks.  This morning I cast on the second Easygoing sock for Mum, thus completing the knitted gifts that are Oz bound!  Yay [reads:  freakin thank you God YAY!!].

Hopefully my family won't take a sneak peek at this blog....cos I'm blogging the FOs (finished objects).

SPOILER ALERT! 

MY FAMILY SHOULD NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER.... 

GO FIND SOMETHING BETTER TO DO!

IF YOU DO NOT CLOSE YOUR BROWSER IMMEDIATELY,

YOU WILL ENDURE TWO WEEKS OF ROTTEN LUCK....

OR SOMETHING BAD WILL HAPPEN ;-)

Dad's Mistaken Alpaca Sox

Cougar Cap (for Jaycee)

Whale Cap (for Karlia)

Tease's Cell Phone Cozy

Emily the Tiger (for Emily)



And because I'm truly MAD, I attended the first of two classes last week (taught by Joan from Little Red Mitten) to knit the Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman.  This one is pretty mindless knitting, and there's no deadline for completion!  I'm using Viking of Norway SportsRagg yarn in variegated royal and dark blues.

Seneca, by Jared Flood has been on hold for a while now.  Poor Seneca.  I'm hoping to get back to her in a few weeks!

WAIT, THERE'S MORE....

More Christmas knitting that is!  That lot up there, plus a whole whack of other projects, is Oz bound.  There's still the Christmas knitting for my Canadian family.....including three spoiled cats [whispering - and if they are good little kitties, Santa might bring them some felted catnip toys!!].

Now I'm done....LOL....

A Festival of Lights

Yesterday I went on a bus tour operated by Take a Break Travel Inc. to the Festival of Lights in Niagara Falls.

What a fantastic tour!

We departed London Mall at 9:15am. Following several pickups throughout London, our bus load of 56 headed off to our first stop! Shopping for 45mins at Coyle's Country Store. What a nice little surprise for us all! I bought a cute little plum pudding, and a few Christmas gifts!

From there we went to Woodstock for lunch at the Truck Stop. This was only a short stop to grab an early bite since we were having an early dinner.

Once fed and watered, we drove off to the next destination - Kittling Ridge Winery & Distillery. This place was awesome! Rich in history and rich in wine and spirits. Kittling Ridge is the only place in Ontario where you can experience the wine-maker's art and the distiller's craft in one visit. Although not a wine drinker, I did sample three delicious beverages at the tasting bar.

First was an exquisite and multi-award winning Icewine & Brandy! Not too sweet, with a lovely blend of brandy - it's mostly used as a dessert wine. I came home with a few gift packs of this!

Second was an Oh Canada Maple Liqueur. Since this is a blend of maple syrup and whiskey, it was not my cuppa tea. It's often used in baking and cooking, mixed with coffee, hot chocolate and egg nog, and brushed on meat after baking.

Last was a Bolivar Coffee Liqueur. This is an all natural liqueur made from deep roasted, freshly ground, South American coffee beans. It's less sweet than other coffee liqueurs, and somewhat like Tia Maria or Kahlua. It's often used in hot chocolate, over ice or any recipe that calls for a coffee liqueur. Delicious mixed with milk or cream and an easy dessert served over ice cream.

On the road again! Our next stop was the Niagara Parks Greenhouse. The greenhouses feature two ponds, a collection of plants from around the globe, and tropical birds flying around. We enjoyed a lovely Christmas Show of poinsettias, cyclamen, azaleas, and Christmas cactii.

Our next stop was Horseshoe Falls. Although very cold, this attraction never disappoints. You could take a hundred photos every day and still never capture the power, the noise or the vastness of the falls.

Dinner in the revolving restaurant in Skylon Tower was included in our tour. What a fabulous view! The restaurant completes one revolution every 1hr. We arrived just before 6pm, so we saw the city "light up". It was simply breathtaking! The food was great too - hot buttered bread and salad for starters, followed by chicken breast with potatoes and green beans. Dessert was a peach melba and that was followed by a lovely cuppa tea.

After dinner it was back on the bus to view the Winter Festival of Lights. There are over three million sparkling lights along a 5km route! Light displays included: Dufferin Islands Displays, Winter Wonderland Displays, Enchantment of Disney® Displays, and Displays in the City.

I made good use of all the bus travel - of course I knitted like a demon! I'm making another pair of felted mittens!

Although there were no more stops on the way home, we did enjoy a classic black and white Christmas movie "It's a Wonderful Life" starring James Stewart, Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore. For those who've never seen it, the basic plot of the story goes like this: an angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would have been like if he never existed.

9:45pm - buss pulls up again at London Mall! Exhausted, but exhillirated, we all shuffle out the bus, thank our driver, Darwin, our host Barb, and head for home!

Christmas is all but Wrapped Up!

It's not often that I can boast about having my Christmas packages all wrapped up early! But it's a fact. Last week I sent them by airmail hurtling towards their final destinations in Australia. God's speed my little boxes of goody knittedness!

Just because my Aussie Christmas knitting is done, doesn't mean I can rest on my roly poly butt! I still have a little knitting to do for my mother out law ... AND ... can you believe that there are three birthdays around Christmas I have to knit for too? One on Christmas Day, one on Boxing Day, and one just a few days after Christmas.

Since my last post I finished those darn socks for Mum. Excuse the language, but bloody hell! I thought these socks would never end. I used up all but about 30yds of the availalable 437yds! Why is it that the older parents get, the longer they want their socks? The sock style was a pretty generic sock construction, and I improvised the pattern from a cable pattern book.

Gerlinde Cable Socks

Following my sock madness, I needed some project satisfaction, so I cast on my gorgeous cashmere/silk yarn for the Darkside Cowl by Sarah Fama. I had exactly 100yds, and when I cast off, I had exactly 1yd to spare! Weird thing is that you knit it inside out...there is no outside pattern....and that was a little deceptive cos I kept thinking I was making mistakes!

Chocolatey Darkside Cowl

Last week I went with Maria and Barb to Shall We Knit. We'd signed up for a two hour workshop entitled Candle Flame Cowl by Julia Allen. I didn't need to learn how to knit a cowl, but I did need a good road trip and fibre fix! I knit my cowl from left over yarn from the Central Park Hoodie. A very fast knit, easy pattern to remember, and very effective.

Ozmoss Candle Flame Cowl

After I cast off the cowl, I cast on for a pair of Aran Felted Mittens #132 by Shirl the Purl . The pattern is by Cabin Fever and sized for a medium lady's hand . This project was a bit of stash busting of Cascade 220 from all those Ayla back packs I made for my nieces! I followed the pattern fairly closely; just made a few mods for a man sized hand. Final thought: if you don’t like to purl, then I would suggest you probably not knit these mittens. It’s ALL purling except for the cabling. And I don't understand why you would purl the palm with stockinette on the inside....I get it if you garter stitch the palm for thickness......it's a mystery!

Jaran Mittens

Whilst the mittens were drying, I cast on for a vest.....at last! I've been wanting to knit Hilja by Niina Hakkarainen, for quite a while. I dyed the yarn three weeks ago, but the Christmas knitting had to be finished first! Remember the caramello yarn??

I searched books and Ravelry for hours trying to find a simple pattern I could incorporate into this mindless stockinette vest. The difficulty is that this is a fitted vest. The front and back increases and decreases are made six inches in from the sides. This left me with only six inches available in the middle.....which would have been OK if the vest had not been a deep(ish) V neck.

I contemplated a cable on the sides, but the cable would have gone wonky where the knitting joins in the round. I thought about off-setting the cables just an inch in from the sides, but that woulda looked a bit weird!

Then I thought about a celtic symbol cable in the middle of the front, but since the largest vest size was for a 36" bust, I will have absolutely NO wiggle room for a cable that has little to no stretch.

Now I coulda put a cable on the back, but since I'm such a cold fish, it would be covered up most of the time.

So, stockinette simplicity it is:

Hilja Caramello

Now, in between all this vest contemplation, I decided that I loved the Jaran Mittens so much that I want a pair. And then Nick saw the Jaran Mittens drying and told me he wants a pair!

Since he's a Christmas baby, I told him I'd knit him some for his birthday, and that he could choose any colour other than black, dark brown, dark blue or dark green. As much as I love those colours, I do most of my knitting at night in front of the TV, and it's simply too much eye strain for this blind bat. So he suggested silver and dark silver??? What the....?

I went through my stash three times....I just didn't have any worsted weight yarn that was the right colour with the required yardage. So....to the dye pot OzB!!

Here is the yarn for I dyed last night for Nick's mittens. He likes it, and that's all that matters in the end:

Silver Bells

Phew!! I've been busy!